Kusuriya no Hitorigoto / The Apothecary Diaries / Maomao's Murmurs

[Death BOO Z]

Actually, my father is color-blind, so whenever I see Red and Green together I consider the option.
it doesn't affect him much, no problems driving or in daily life. he has a hard time telling flower colors apart and it affected how well he could play bejewled.
color blindess is rarer for woman, even if they pass the genes on to their sons. but simply knowledge of the condition means they have half the answer, and if they're smart enough (like MaoMao) then they get integrated back into the royal bloodline. so it checks for both bloodline (since they are taken from that region) and for intellegnce.

funny how Jinshi's mother only bowed down when the empress doweger came over, not for the previous emperor.
I'm not sure anyone can know who's the real father. we assume that Aoudo is the mother and the babies got switched, but we can't be sure it's really true, or who would be left to know about this. besides, digging this up doesn't benefit anyone.

Lakan being her father isn't that much of a secret, defintaly not important enough for them to hide it from the emperor. Lakan knows and told them himself, and maybe even told the empreor already (not sure how high up the food chain he actually is), maybe it was Gao-san who reported that to the empreor.

[DarthEnderX]

At first, I thought it was a logic puzzle, where you had to know color combos. So if it said no red, you couldn't pick orange, purple or brown either.

I didn't figure it out, even though I am colorblind.

Or that the Emperor is just casually mentioning that he's aware that Maomao is Lakan's daughter.

I'd forgotten who Lakan was, so I was like "Who's this person the Emperor keeps joking about asking permission for a new concubine from?"

[Ryllharu]

I like that the Emperor is generally a very chill dude. Maomao may have been overreacting all this time, especially since she's favored by the Emperor's three favorite people. Fairly humble, not afraid to show that he's not some divinely chosen genius, respecting dedicated people like Maomao's birth father, etc. He's also super open about liking big boobs.

But given the absolutely vicious look on face of the present Empress-Dowager, the previous Empress-Dowager was a tyrant who wouldn't hesitate to murder someone crossing her or her son who was quite obviously a figurehead while she ruled.

[neflight86]

Chillin' wit da emperor.

Certainly a different take of an episode, but its always fun to see Maomao squirm when she fears her interactions could lead to her doom.

[Death BOO Z]

not much happenning, but nice red lightting mood for the scene with the empress dowager.

[Death BOO Z]

episode 33, I guess that rather than just being a pedophile, the previous emperor was also slow of mind, which pushed him forwards to little girls.

[Ryllharu]

I did like the nuance that Anshi wasn't only a victim, she was also a perpetrator in her own manner.

She was very aware of how her family was using her and didn't disagree with it either for the sake of the authority it would get her but also knowing that if she gave birth to a girl, she might have been removed.

Anshi is honest about her scheming and ambition, unlike many others who pretend more.

[David75]

MaoMao could not be that girl the empress dowager said was born around the same time as our male MC? she's younger than he is by several years, is she?

[Ryllharu]

MaoMao could not be that girl the empress dowager said was born around the same time as our male MC? she's younger than he is by several years, is she?

No. We also know who all of MaoMao's family is. MaoMao is unmistakably Lakan and Fengxian's daughter. Fengxian genuinely loved Lakan and wouldn't consider anyone else worthy of her. Maomao was born in the back rooms of Verdigris House and raised by the Old Hag and the Three Princesses.

This daughter of the previous Emperor would be a few years older than the current Emperor. Anshi had him some 30ish years ago. We learned last season that the Empress Dowager Anshi is in her early-mid 40s.

Maomao and Jinshi are only a handful of years apart. The "swap" that Maomao dared to speculate on before burying it in her mind forever is about Anshi's second child (we see the conception of here) and Ah Duo's with the current emperor. One of them died at childbirth. That's the incident that got Loumen's kneecap removed as punishment and his exile to become Maomao's adopted father.

[Death BOO Z]

episode 35. such an ending...
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I feel like they shouldn't have explicitly mentioned the destination, if Jinshi isn't there as his eunuch persona, it seems weird to have people know Jinshi went there, this knowledge might spread and reach someone that it shouldn't reach.
I'm kinda angry they skipped one the jokes from the manga about the meal, I think it was a really good character moment.

What's the point of all that food anyway? is there some meanning?

[shinta|hikari]

Aphrodisiacs.

[DarthEnderX]

Oh...it was THAT kind of nosebleed.

[Death BOO Z]

but why?
are they targeting Jinshi specifically or are all the important guests getting these foods?
is there malicious intent? are these "go have fun" party drugs or "we need leverage on you so go fuck the maid/spy" honey trap?

[Ryllharu]

but why?
are they targeting Jinshi specifically or are all the important guests getting these foods?
is there malicious intent? are these "go have fun" party drugs or "we need leverage on you so go fuck the maid/spy" honey trap?

Kinda, yes.

Maomao is the only person at the party who doesn't know that Jinshi is the (presumed) brother of the Emperor due to how narrow her viewpoint has been the last two years. She has been given all the hints, but missed the obvious connection. The Emperor was invited but declined to go. But this 'Koumen' got sent in his stead.
What she does suspect is that the brother of the Emperor is actually Ah Duo's son and the son of the Emperor (i.e. the Crown Prince), but she hasn't made the connection that the reason Jinshi is placed where he in in the Inner Palace is because he's the Emperor's brother. She really just thinks Jinshi is a very attractive eunuch from a good family.

Publicly, the Emperor's brother is assumed to be very insular and makes very few appearances.

Loulan's father is trying to get the Emperor's brother all horny during a very rare outing.

It just doesn't work on a girl who grew up in the Pleasure District and is already very used to eating aphrodisiacs both as a matter of course and from her hobby as an apothecary, haha.

The same thing happened when Maomao made the chocolate fondue bread aphrodisiacs, and all of the younger servants got very hot and bothered but thankfully didn't go all the way with each other, they just passed out the same way that Basen just did.

[shinta|hikari]

Aphrodisiacs are practically placebo anyway, so she won't feel shit if she doesn't think she would.

[DarthEnderX]

Aphrodisiacs are practically placebo anyway, so she won't feel shit if she doesn't think she would.

I don't think all the drugs on this show exist in real life.

[David75]

Fortifying foods enable very stressed and tired body to get that needed boost, that's the way I see "traditional" aphrodisiacs.
Bad eating habits, no exercise, multiple energy saping conditions, a bit of age... at some point you lack some sex drive and although short, a fortifying boost can work. At least a few times. But also true, knowing the purpose of these foods also fuels sexdrive for a young and vigorous adult like Jinshi.

[shinta|hikari]

I don't think all the drugs on this show exist in real life.

I didn't actually check if all the drugs in the show exist in real life so I can't comment. I do know that aphrodisiacs, particularly the ones shown in the episode, are placebos, though. Basen is just horny and finally had an excuse to let it loose.

EDIT:

[DarthEnderX]

EDIT:

LOL

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[shinta|hikari]

I actually merged and cleaned up that image myself. Tried to look online to no avail. Be the change you want to see in the world.