In advance of the foreign envoys banquet, comes the annual caravans that enter the inner courts to sell foreign goods. It’s the most exciting event of the season across the board, but comes with unsuspecting dangers being distributed among the merchandise. And it certainly doesn’t help that the problematic goods such as herbs, teas and scented oils such as rose, benzoin, parasol tree, frankincense, cinnamon. All of which, happens to be the hottest commodities. (Also worth pointing out, Maomao was concerned about the fact the “trendy” outfits being sold were specifically designed to easily expose those with a growing stomach.)
As mentioned in last week’s episode, there are types of scented oils that are dangerous to those who are pregnant. And with just about every lady-in-waiting adorning themselves in these things, the unsuspecting exposure significantly increases the risk of causing complications that could lead to miscarriages. Unfortunately the one who finds themselves back under the spotlight of such danger is none other than Lady Lihua, who had no only lost her first baby due to led poisoning, but also almost succumbed to the same fate. First time we were under the impression it was driven by ignorance and stupidity, but now that similar circumstances are happening for the second time– there’s definitely some shady shit going on in the Crystal Pavilion.
Maomao’s certainly an eccentric, but her trained nose prompted her to go charging straight into the Crystal Pavilion when she realized a concerning pattern of scents while she and the other servants were doing the laundry. It was hilarious to see her just go straight into sniffer-dog mode when it came to investigating her greatest concerns. I think the funniest part is the fact somehow, this is always happens in the Crystal Pavilion– it’s no wonder they are all so freaked out to be around Maomao and she has a earned a notorious reputation among them. But Maomao is unfazed by the fact she’s being scolded by it, after-all, she had a very good reason for her particular ways of following her instincts.
But we saw how both Maomao and Jinshi felt responsible for not catching onto the threat sooner. For Maomao, she feels like she should’ve noticed it right off the bat, whereas Jinshi feels guilty for having overlooked these things despite having inspected and permitted the goods to be distributed in the inner palace. Of course as Maomao said, it was something that is easy to overlook, since the goods aren’t typically perceived as poison so to speak unless heavily used within the circumstances (being around someone who’s pregnant) that it could be identified as cause for problems.
On that note, there were also a number of concerns piling up in this episode. We saw someone coughing, which circled back to Maomao talking about the sanitation quality of the Inner palace in the beginning of the episode. Followed Maomao getting tipped off by by Shisui about a concern about a bizarre smell coming from the north side of the Inner Palace. And then by the end of the episode, Jinshi receives news that middle-ranked courtesan named Jin had died, and supposedly had been poisoned. Maomao’s about to find out there’s even more things to worry about, or all of these things aren’t merely coincidences as she’d prefer them to be. So with the eerily similar situation with the lead makeup and the scented oils looming bout, Maomao’s concerned these things may all be somehow connected to the disappearance of Suirei and the attempted assassination on Jinshi. It’s an understatement to say there’s a certainly a worrying amount of coincidences plaguing the inner palace. Maomao has a justified reason to be uneasy about how these things are seemingly evolving.
And finally, we were properly introduced to Shisui, the servant girl who caught the kitten. She and Maomao are very much kindred spirits when it comes down to their interests. Shisui loves insects so much, that she draws them. And Maomao who loves them for their unique properties in medicine is equally as interested in her knowledge. The two are basically made to be besties! It’ll be fun to see these two geek out together!
