Random thoughts after rewatching The Apothecary Diaries Season 1 Episode 5

This note includes a spoiler.

I rewatched Apothecary Diaries season 1 episode 5 twice. When I first watched it, I didn't fully understand what was happening.

I don't understand but somehow matsutake mushrooms were rare and hard to eat. And they ate them just grilled with some salt, and they were so satisfied with them. Are they really that tasty?

Also, for people who lacked knowledge of chemistry or any education, it might've been natural that a fire changing color was a scary thing. That said, I didn't get how they sent secret messages with them. Anyhow, that will be figured out somehow in a future episode, and I don't remember this wooden tablet stuff.

The quack doctor seemed to help Jinshi happily, but he couldn't. This already indicated how high his rank was, and people wanted to get brownie points from him.

The second half was about preparing for a garden party held before the Emperor and getting everyone made up. When Jinshi heard from Maomao that she had been putting on makeup to add freckles because she wanted to avoid danger, he was shocked. He hadn't imagined how poor or ordinary people lived. That meant he had been entirely protected by others, living in a cage of his own — just like the rear palace. He clearly showed his frustration. And I forgot what the hairpin from him meant at the garden party.

When I first watched it, I didn't notice that Maomao mentioned it was going to be a windy day, and she prepared for the cold. So, even though it looked beautiful, I'd wondered why there were so many leaves blowing through the air during the garden party and nobody cared. I was glad the story had already explained it.

Scores

• Score: 5/10
• Maomao: 7/10
  • Many people tried to make her eat a lot to get fat healthy
  • As usual. Everyone asked her for a lot of things, and she worked hard.
  • Smart. Figuring out some weird thing from a couple of pieces of information. Doing her usual Maomao thing
• Jinshi: 7/10
  • Training with a man who was powerful, and showing off his own skill
  • Frustrated by the fact that Maomao had been kidnapped
• Gyokuyou: 8/10
  • Gorgeous, mysterious robes.
  • She also cared about her ladies-in-waiting and didn't want others to take them away
• Gaoshun: N/A
• Quack doctor: 5/10
  • Wanted to get brownie points from Jinshi. Grilled matsutake mushrooms with Maomao, without knowing they hadn't been obtained properly
• Ladies-in-waiting of Gyokuyou:
  • The passionate lady-in-waiting was good. She had real passion