The Apothecary Diaries Episode 5

You have to pay attention! I must say watching the adaptation does have the added bonus that I’m picking up on little details that I might not have in a cold viewing. That’s what I’m choosing to call watching an anime without any knowledge of the source material. Essentially what I do 90% of the time. And I think just picked up on something. Something that hasn’t paid off in the manga yet but I can’t shake the feeling that it’s going to be important.

I have the sneaky feeling that it actually was paid off in the manga and I’ve just forgotten it. If that’s the case then don’t mind me. For those of you who have not read the manga (or light novels I suppose), this will make no difference.

The first half of the episode starts off with a young man thinking he was cursed. Now that’s a big deal. I do believe back in the day, curses were serious business and even just having the rumor of a curse spread could do some damage. But it turns out it was just a rash due to an allergic reaction. Or so we think at this point. It would be a great twist if 10 episodes down the line we learn the castle is full of evil spirits… Anyways for now it’s a mundane event. The man had been handling these sticks that he threw in the firs to make it change color. Tons of elements can make flames burn a specific color and a lot of them are abrasive. The allergic reaction explanation seems very likely.

And normally I would have left it at that. A tiny little medical mystery that really just served to once again establish Maomao’s command of science and deductive skills. But there was one thing she said. One thing I did not remember. That those coloured flames would be a great way to send a message. A signal or code of some sort. And heck yeah they would! This has got to come back at some point. For sure! It wasn’t just a little character moment, this is definitely establishing some larger plot point. Political thriller is afoot is you ask me!

But there’s no time to dwell on such things, we have a party to attend. They mention that Lihua and Gyokuyou couldn’t attend last time because they had just given birth and if you remember, that’s when Maomao became a lady in waiting. Meaning that she has now been at the jade palace for about a year. Time sure flies!

And it seems that this party is some type of elegant outdoor banquet given in winter. As someone who lives in a country where we are expected to spend time outside in rather cold temperatures and occasionally want to look cute for it, I really appreciated Maomao’s immediate plans to make the event more comfortable for herself. For years now I have worn two or three pairs of stalkings one over the other. The layering makes them way warmer than just a thicker pair of tights and you can wear them under jeans as improvised long johns. Sadly I don’t like oranges or ginger so the candy is a no go for me. But I have recently discovered vanilla Halls cough drops and I have been going through bags of them. They are so good.

I got a bit off track there. Look we cold-weather folks get really excited when someone can sympathize with us.

So there’s going to be a party and this could be eventful. Also, Maomao doesn’t have freckles. Nowadays there are cosmetics specifically made so you can draw on fake freckles. I wish I had them. Freckles are adorable. But it seems they weren’t part of the ancient Chinese beauty standard. So Maomao faked hers to be left alone. Smart girl. And that might have worked if not for a very eager and clingy inner palace overseer. A rare moment of sincerity from Jinshi. I won’t lie, I didn’t hate it but I do prefer the man when he’s being a troll.

It’s looking like things are happening!