The Apothecary Dairies is back and man, they were flying through this episode! But I get it, it makes sense to get the shorter introductory stuff of the way as quickly as possible so that there’s ample time to focus of the main events yet to transpire. But for that reason, because it was just barely scratching the surface, so there’s not really enough substance to really break down and dissect just yet (or rather, it’s even harder for me to be vague about things as I’ve already read the novels). More than anything, it would really be best described as a fairly relaxing and wholesome episode. Truly the case of calm before the storm, because buckle up, we’re in for heck of a ride this season! So without and further delay, let’s dive into it!
Since Lady Gyokuyou is pregnant again, Maomao is once again working under her wing. She’s been doing her due diligence of taking every precautionary measure to reduce the risks of miscarriages (such as making sanitary resources to disinfect all the surfaces, and doing her side projects of scented oils far away) but also to avoid drawing unwanted attention to Lady Gyokuyou’s pregnancy. The longer they keep it under wraps, the better. She’s also been attending the young Princess Lingli, who has reached the energetic and curious age. Gyokuyou has actually encouraged Maomao to educate her daughter on plants, because she knows such wisdom will surely be indispensable when she’s older.
Speaking of Princess Lingli, thanks to her we got a new little helper in the clinic: Maomao. Yes, a second Maomao has joined the party, and it’s none other than a cute little kitten they’ve found roaming about. The Emperor is a dotting father so he permitted keeping the kitten, and even granted it the title of Admonisher of Thieves, as she has been doing a great job of keeping rats and mice at by in the clinic.
It was actually quite funny how both Jinshi and Maomao were on the same page of, not really getting the appeal of cats like Gaoshun and the Quack Doctor do (they were smitten with the thing). But as soon as Maomao started running through the list of reasons, Jinshi was enlighten to the fact he’s actually a cat person HAHAHAHAHA. GO FIGURE. Maomao shares the same energy as a cat– did you not hear her freaking hissing when she was trying to cover-up her merchandise? Either way, the way he was pressing the kitten to his face was hilarious!
In the mean time, Jinshi has been putting into action his plan of planting the seeds to encouraging the court ladies to learn how to read and write. Previously, Jinshi had asked Maomao for her advice on what they could do to improve the literacy rate among the court ladies. He seems to have gotten inspiration of the ever-so-popular sex education picture-books that Maomao has ordered in bulks to sell for profits. Jinshi’s clever idea was to have a popular novel (gifted by the Emperor) to go around the Inner Palace. With not enough to go around and reluctant to share their own hard-copies, some like Lady Ailan has taken up writing copies as an alternative means to share with others, while others who can read share through reading aloud. Xiaolan was among one the many servant girls who became hooked to it, and immediately asked Maomao if she could teach her how to read and write so she could read the book herself. Talk about a smashing success of a plan.
And finally, the episode wraps up with news of the caravan coming to visit the palace. Along with it as two very important guests from abroad and boy– the way they colored that scene with the two ladies sure looked ominous as hell, hahaha! Anyways that’s all I got for this week! I’m really excited for this season, there’s a lot of stuff cooking in the shadows, (such as Master Shishou requesting for even more ladies-in-waiting for Consort Louran, which is becoming a concern of throwing off the balance within the Inner Palace because yeah, she already has A LOT to begin with!!!) so it’s going to be a lot of fun!
Possibility of Blogging: Guaranteed
PS: Did anyone find this episode’s audio balance to be a little off? I felt the background music was really overpowering the voices, making it very difficult to hear. But then again, it might just be me.
