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!
