I don’t know if you guys remember, but I had a few little reservations about the Apothecary Diaries animation when the season started. I didn’t dislike it at all, but I had been such a big fan of the manga that I couldn’t help but compare the two and in some ways preferred the latter. I have to say, I still have some issues with the art of the anime but otherwise, I am fully onboard. And the animated reactions of Maomao and Jinshi together are so much fun that I think it’s a fair tradeoff. I wouldn’t recommend one medium over the other. And that’s a credit to the anime!
If, like me, you were hoping to get to know Ah-Duo this week, you may have been a little disappointed. We didn’t get to find out much. Although we knew absolutely nothing to begin with so when you think of it that way, much progress was made. What we do know is that Ah-Duo is the oldest consort but she still looks amazing. She is the androgynous archetype and very popular with the ladies in waiting (the Prince type). She had a child when she was I think about Maomao’s age if my math is correct but sadly lost him and hasn’t been able to conceive since. And she and the emperor grew up together so they are actually pretty good friends which is a bit unusual. Oh and her family owns an apiary so there’s a lot of honey in her palace.
Remember the honey bit, it’s going to be important. It comes up in the episode a lot. As in there are a lot of scenes with characters handling honey and the camera makes sure we see it. We also find out that consort Lishu doesn’t eat it and was told by her nurse to never touch it. Probably because of the potential for botulism. There are a few issues with this honey, not the least of which is the fact that it’s expensive and therefore a bargaining chip for Ah-Duo. I suspect it will come back at some point.
As for Ah-Duo herself. Well at 35 she is probably considered way way WAY too old to remain a consort and we know that historically, this wasn’t good news for the consort in question. The episodes kept talking about spots opening up in the inner palace and I was a bit confused. I understand that on the one hand, there is probably a limited amount of room in the forbidden city and a limited amount of palaces available for the consorts, just because that’s how physical space works but on the other hand, couldn’t Emperors keep hundreds if not thousands of consorts. What’s one more or one less. Maybe she gets a smaller palace but if she’s the Emperor’s friend then why is everyone so worried? Enough to potentially poison another consort. I dunno, seems like a reach!
Oh yeah, Ah-Duo does remind me of somebody…
We also got a bit of character background for Maomao herself which is always nice. Well for her dad but that counts! Maomao often refers to Jinshi’s condition as an eunuch. She can be a little sarcastic about it. I remember that early on I thought it was a bit of an odd trait. Maybe since she had been raised in a pleasure house, eunuchs not being the target audience, she might have gotten some negative impression there. Or maybe it was just because eunuchs in the inner palace are essentially a form of prison guards for the women there so some bitterness is justified. But her father is also an eunuch and she never mentions it. We didn’t know at all until this episode. She obviously respects him greatly and has never questioned his manliness. So really her issue is personally with Jinshi which makes it so much better! Still, her dad was the royal physician for the consorts and never told Maomao. That seems like a very big deal. I suspect he was expelled because the baby died.
So what now though? Did one of Ah-Duo’s ladies-in-waiting really try to poison Lishu and then took her own life out of guilt? Way too easy, that’s not it. Did Fengming have something to do with the attempted poisoning and the other lady found out and was killed because of it? Harsh? Is the potential of Fengming sending out messages with coloured fires unrelated to the attempted poisoning and the murder and just a completely different intrigue? Questions are starting to pile up and answers are precious few. It does seem like Maomao figured something out but we’re going to have to wait to get the details!
Also, angry Gyokuyou rocks! There’s nothing not to love about the Noble Consort!
As far as the whole thing with a possible newcomer threatening Ah-Duo’s position, I believe the position at stake is within the four topmost consorts. The entirety of the rear palace is basically the emperor’s harem to do with as he pleases, but to be his most favored is a position of prestige. This is a system that’s clearly been in place for a good long while, with a good deal of honor given to those who attain the highest ranks. To be dismissed from such a rank is a hefty blow to one’s social status, which is everything in this society. So, theoretically, it would make some sense for a loyal servant to try and poison another consort, specifically one who is 1) traditionally the most at odds with her mistress and 2) has not actually received the current emperor’s favor at night, we shall say.
Which is part of something which makes me wonder a bit about the emperor. It is revealed here that his oldest consort is also his friend and his first lover, the only woman he was with before his ascension to the throne. It’s curious to me that they didn’t marry, or otherwise elevate her officially to the level of empress consort, but that could be a matter of politics and… well, some unexpected difficulties in having children. The first episode told us that the emperor has had a total of five children so far, four of which have now died. Had the emperor really been making free use of all the women available to him, he’d have had far, far more than that by now. We know he refrained from touching that one consort who danced so beautifully after she tripped in front of him, but I wonder now how necessary that was, and also if he might have seen this and realized she did not truly want to be with him like that, and just quietly left her be in peace. Indeed, the only women we know have had his children – and therefore the only ones we know he spent nights with – are Ah-Duo, Lihua, and Gyokuyou. We already know that he hasn’t touched the youngest one of the four either.
Speaking of, side-note: I really like how they depicted the maids so realistically. The tactic of isolating one’s target of abuse is absolutely real, and sadly works frighteningly well. I really hope Maomao and the others can break through that and befriend the girl. She’s so alone, she needs help. Which, also, makes me wonder why she and her food-taster were seen in Ah-Duo’s palace. Something there is not how it has been presented to us, I think.
But back to the main subject: I think the emperor may actually be a much better and more devoted man than most people have realized. He has limited the number of women he has been with so much that I suspect he would have refrained from having anyone other than Ah-Duo, his first, if he did not need to produce heirs for the sake of keeping his nation and his regime stable. Which makes me wonder very much if something happened to Ah-Duo to render her barren in some way. If she *can’t* bear children again, for whatever reason, then of course he would have to start using his other consorts, and it would explain why there’s such a gap between their first child and the latest two he had by Gyokuyou and Lihua.
All of this beginning seventeen years ago, at the time Maomao’s father was a physician in the rear palace, and was cast out just after the first child died, cannot be coincidence, especially with the timing of her own birth and his adoption of her.
*Most* of the pieces line up and point to Maomao actually being the emperor’s daughter by Ah-Duo. Perhaps she had a twin brother, or perhaps they lied about that and it was a girl instead of a boy. The *only* question which hasn’t been answered is why. Why would they secretly send their daughter out of the palace to be raised in poverty by the physician? I can only envision them doing so if there were some threat to her life if she remained, but what on Earth could be quite that dire?
Of course, if this little theory is true, and if my parallel theory that Jinshi is actually the second son of the previous emperor, and therefore the current emperor’s aloof little brother, that would make him Maomao’s uncle, which could be… very cringe-worthy, all things considered.
Oh, and I’m dying to know: just WHAT did Maomao suddenly realize from all those separate pieces of information in her head?
Yes, all sorts of intrigue popped up this episode! I particularly noticed that Jinshi’s aid mentioned that Maomao was 17 years old, Ah-Dou’s baby supposedly died 17 years ago, and the royal doctor (Maomao’s father) was banished 17 years ago. These hints were dropped so close together in the episode, I can’t help but feel like they were connected.
Ditto that!