Hello and thank you for visiting Anime Rants today. The second season of The Apothecary Diaries is now well underway and it’s nearly as good as the first season already. It might be leading up to something even better than the first season. I’m willing to bet on the proficient story-writing of the manga author, Natsu Hyuuga. (Maybe she committed tax fraud, but she sure knows how to write engaging stories.) Anyway, let’s talk about The Apothecary Diaries episode 30 (AKA Season 2 episode 6).
Episode 30: The Crystal Pavilion, For The Third Time
Episode Rating: 8/10
A mistake on the part of Ailan resulted in potential trouble for Maomao. The older woman who ran the clinic saw Ailan taking medicine and questioned her about it. Since only doctors were allowed to make medicine in the palace, Maomao could be in serious danger. Luckily, the older woman at the clinic had no intention of reporting Maomao. Her name was Shenlu and she asked for Maomao’s help with a certain sick servant girl.
According to Shenlu, the servant girl had a terrible cough but wasn’t being allowed to go home. She then suddenly disappeared. That was two weeks ago. Sensing the urgency, Maomao went with Guen to visit the Crystal Pavilion, where the servant girl worked under the Head Lady-in-waiting, Shin. As you may recall, Maomao had already made a bad impression with Lady Shin before. So, she disguised herself as a court lady and made Guen do the talking.
Soon, Maomao and Guen found the servant girl. She was starving, feverish and coughing blood inside a dark storage shed. Maomao immediately started helping the sick girl. She also spoke quite boldly to Lady Shin, outraged at the level of abuse and neglect. Note that Maomao definitely got bolder since the first season. That’s mostly a good thing, but I do worry that she’ll get in trouble one day. The wrong words could still get her beheaded if she wasn’t careful.
While in the shed, Maomao discovered a box of herbal essences that Jinshi banned due to their negative effects on pregnant women. (None of these herbs are strong enough alone to have a toxic effect. However, by combining and concentrating them, one could make a poison.) It wasn’t hard to guess that Shin was trying to make an abortion drug. I would applaud that if it was for herself, but Shin was trying to use it on a concubine without her consent.
Jinshi and Lihua were called to question Shin. She eventually admitted that she was trying to kill Lihua’s fetus. It was an act driven by jealousy. Lihua and Shin were cousins who grew up together and were raised for the purpose of “loving the emperor.” Even though Shin was smarter, more skilled, and more accomplished, she was not chosen by the emperor. Shin resented Lihua for being chosen. The choice was undoubtedly related to the fact that Lihua was more conventionally attractive.
Shin’s feelings were partly valid. She was justified in feeling cheated, bitter, and hopeless due to the unfair patriarchal systems at play. The commentary on the dark life of a servant is part of why The Apothecary Diaries is so interesting – though it’s also depressing. Regardless, Shin never had the right to harm Lihua. Her desperation made her choose the wrong path and attack the wrong person. Also, before you go feeling too sorry for Shin, remember that she nearly killed an innocent girl in her care.
As if to make things even worse for herself, Shin lost her temper. After scratching Maomao’s cheek open with her nails, she also tried to throw the whole box of poison herbs at Lihua. Luckily, Gaoshun stopped and restrained her. Then we come to the highlight of the episode. Lihua fired Shin and gave her an epic bitch slap in the face. She was so serious that she almost hit Shin with her fist, too.
It was weirdly cute to see Lihua being aggressive and in-charge. She started off as a sickly and severely depressed character. Look how far she’s come. Also, importantly, Lihua’s actions here were merciful. If Shin was investigated further, she would probably be executed for attempting to “murder the emperor’s child.” Instead, Lihua made a show of firing Shin in anger so she had an excuse to leave the palace immediately. Lihua is such a sweet person.
There are many unanswered questions at this point. Someone taught Shin about herbs that can induce a miscarriage. Was it Suirei who taught her? If so, where was she hiding? Also, in this season, I’ve noticed that the emperor has a bit more screen-time. I wonder what was going on with him in the final scene. Something was troubling him while he was visiting Lihua. In addition, we still don’t know jack about Lady Loulan. Hopefully, we’ll learn more next week.
~Thanks for reading~
Written by 7Mononoke
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