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Random thoughts after rewatching The Apothecary Diaries Season 1 Episode 6

This note includes a spoiler.

I rewatched Apothecary Diaries season 1 episode 6 twice. From this episode, things got complicated and interesting.

I wondered in the previous episode why Lady Lishu wore a different color from her ladies-in-waiting — dark pink, while they wore white. But Maomao mentioned it, though there was no answer for that, so we may be able to figure it out later.

I wonder how many hairpins each person has. Lihaku had many of them, so there was no limit, but I don't think someone like Lihua gave them to many random people. And also, why did Lihaku want to give them to that many people? I forgot.

It was odd that Consort Lishu had been a consort of the previous Emperor — the current Emperor's stepmother, in effect — when she was younger. I mean, why did the previous Emperor marry a nine-year-old girl? It sounded like there was a war between Lishu's original country and that country, and she was married to the previous Emperor to make peace between those countries. Will we know the details later?

In terms of food tasting, this episode really showed how Maomao was off her rocker when it came to poisons. She knew she needed to lie down and felt like a dog after taking poison, but she still loved it and wanted to swallow it. I guess it was like alcohol for her. The other food taster was really scared of eating the food, and it made sense as it's hard to tell whether a dish contains poison. And if they eat a lot, they may kick the bucket. Maomao also thought a food taster was expendable. This scene was great as many series do not care how these high-ranking people avoided poisons, and in this series, we can feel it.

Well, in terms of Lady Lishu and her ladies-in-waiting, was it intentional, and did Lady Lishu have to eat the mackerel? The lady-in-waiting's face obviously showed she knew it, so she was scared when Maomao intimidated her. If your food taster doesn't stop you from eating the poison, and you're in a situation where you're forced to eat, that's a terrible situation. Why didn't people stop this custom, honestly? I guess a few of them died at these garden parties in the past.

There was no brother of the Emperor at the party, but considering Gaoshun was high-ranking and he followed Jinshi, it was obvious that Jinshi was the Emperor's brother. I didn't remember exactly, but I thought he was the son of the Emperor, the next Emperor. Maomao somehow didn't think deeply when it came to him. Maybe she didn't care about him at all.

Scores

  • Score: 8/10
  • Maomao: 9/10
    • Aoi Yuki's voice acting was so good in the details. I was able to feel different small emotions from different behaviors.
    • This was mainly an episode about her as a food taster, and it showed how talented and crazy she was
    • Also she helped Lady Lishu, and she was nice to the ladies-in-waiting from the Crystal Pavilion by giving them warm stones so they didn't get cold
  • Jinshi: 8/10
    • He showed his anxiety about Maomao and took the lead not to let her take any dangerous action
  • Lady Lishu: N/A
    • She had an allergy to mackerel
    • She was in a very tough position with the Emperor
  • Lihaku: N/A
  • Ladies-in-waiting of Gyokuyou:
    • Yinghua: 6/10
      • She was passionate and loved her fellow ladies-in-waiting, like Maomao