#belladonnas-notes

Chapter 2: The Two Consorts

Length 

6 Pages 10-16

Characters

Appearance

MaoMao counties from previous scene

Randon laundry maid(Page 14)

Quack doctor(Page 15)

Jinchi not by name(Page 15)

Lihua (Page 15)

Gyokuyou(Page 15)

2 Random servant girls (Page 10)

Lingli (Page 13)

Mentioned 

Prince(Page 12)

Gyokuyou(Page 10)

Lihua (Page 10)

Lingli (Page 12)

Luomen mentioned not by name(Page 13)

Jinchi mentioned not by name(Page 14)

The Emperor(Page 12)

Character Interactions (include potential shipping,and quotes)

2 random servant girls are gossiping and MaoMao is ease dropping (Page 10-12)

MaoMao then asks Xiaolan for more information about the children dying from the 2 random maids conversations. And she gave her the metaphorical tea about the case (Page 13)

MaoMao had apparent give Xiaolan tea flavored with licorice earlier (Page 13)

MaoMao tricks a maid to give her the laundry so she can get a better look at the case.(page 14)

The quack doctor is trying to make peace between Gyokuyo and lisha(Page 15)

Lisha accused Gyokuyou of cursing her son to death and slapped her

The doctor defended Gyokuyou, and Gyokuyou requests him see her daughter as well(Page 15)

MaoMao passes by Jinchi

Character Facts

The Emperor 

lived in the Eastern Palace when he was prince (page 12)

Had 3 infant deaths 2 girls and 1 boy(Page 12)

Gyokuyou

Has a Daughter(Page 13)

The Imperial affection fell more upon Gyokuyou”(Page 13)-Than Lady Lishua

Red hair, green eyes, and western blood(Page 13)

Lishua

Has a son(Page 13)

Both she and her son is sick (Page 13)

She lives in the largest quarters in the rear palace(Page 14)

Prince

Is gravely ill(Page 12)

Lishua is his mom(Page 15)

Lingli

Is gravely ill(page 12)

Gyokouyou is her mom(Page 15)

Xiaoling is a nick name (Page 15)

MaoMao

MaoMao denies magic and finds is stupid (Page 12)

MaoMao gave Xiaolan something sweet , a rare treat(Page 13)

MaoMao rarely left the eastern quarter where she lived (Page 13)

MaoMao keeps remarks that could be useful to herself to keep her head down(Page 14)

Xiaolan

Image (Page 11)

Xiaola is a talkative gossip (Page 13)

Luomen

“her father had never tired of admonishing her not to do her thinking based on assumptions.” (Page 13)

Quack Doctor

He is the only practitioner of medicine in the rear palace(Page 15)

Jinshie

Lives in the central courtyard.(Page 14)

Plot Points

New

Imperial babies keep dying(Page 10)

“The doctor’s been to see Lady Lihua more often than Lady Gyokuyou” (Page 13)

Lishua is sick(Page 15)

The prince is sick(Page 10)

The princess is sick(Page 10)

Doctor seems to be incompetent, and the only one in rear Palice(Page 15)

MaoMao seems to know what is wrong, and needs to stop it(Page 15)

Gyokuyou has western blood(Page 13)

Lore

The Emperor lived in the Eastern Palace when he was prince (Page 12)

Women cant inherit the thrown so Princes are more valuable (Pages 13,12)

serving girls had all too few opportunities to enjoy sweet things.(Page 13)

Herbs grow in a corner of the central garden. (Page 13)

Laundry is done in the western quarter. Because if done in the eastern quarter the silks would be ruined due to sun exposure(Page 14)

It is common for residents in the rear palace to swoon even over eunuchs(Page 14)

Eunuchs are looked down on(Page 14)

Eunuchs are meant to be piece makers among the women of the rear palace(Page 14)

“Hundreds of serving girls were having their breakfast in the vast dining room. The meal consisted of soup and a porridge of mixed grains”(Page 10)-context is this is in the replica The rear palace was in fact a vast place, housing more than two thousand women and five hundred eunuchs on the premises. Lowly workers like Maomao slept ten to a room, but the lower-ranked consorts had their own chambers, mid-ranking ones had whole buildings to themselves, and the highest-ranking consorts virtually had their own palaces, sprawling complexes including dining halls and gardens, large enough to dwarf a small town.(Page 13) “Then a red-lacquered building of the central area came into view. Carvings were everywhere, every pillar like a work of art unto itself. Each detail had been attended to, so that the whole was far more refined than anything on the fringes of the eastern quarter.”(page 14) description of buildings in central quarter

Interesting Quotes/ Moments

“Rumors were rife in the palace. Some of them sprang from contempt for His Majesty’s companions and the heirs they bore him, but others had more the savor of simple ghost stories, the sorts of tales told during the summer doldrums to beat the heat by chilling the blood.” Page 12 -context is the rumors of the sick prince and princess

“Maomao understood that silk degraded more or less depending on whether it was dried out in the sun or kept in the shade, but she felt no particular need to tell anybody that.”(page 14)

“I’m just dying to get a look at that gorgeous eunuch they say lives in the central area,” Maomao said, invoking one of the other rumors Xiaolan had mentioned in passing, and the woman gladly gave her the basket.”(Page 15)

“Stories were even told, from time to time, of women who became the wives of eunuchs after they left palace service. Presumably this was all healthier than the women lusting after each other instead, but still it puzzled Maomao.”(page 14) this is the first mention of women on women romances

New information

The prince and princess at the start of the book are 3 and 6 months (Page 12)

 3 of the Emperors previous children have already died

“The Imperial affection fell more upon Gyokuyou”(Page 13)

Minor notes

“All of the offspring in question had been born to consorts; that is to say, they could in principle have been heirs to the throne.” (Page 12) All of the children were legitime.

“Anyway? The dead infants, the headaches, the stomach pains, the nausea. To say nothing of Consort Lihua’s ghostly pallor and frail appearance..”(Page 15)-case notes

“they all wasted away!”(Page 12)

MaoMao didn't notice Jinchi(Page 16)

Summary

MaoMao hears the rumors about the infant deaths, and decides to find out the problem herself.

Thoughts and Opinion

This chapter's moment with MaoMao and her friend is adorable. She doesn't realize how much Xiaola means to her.

These are my chapter notes for Light novel 1 chapter 1 . This is a grate option if you did not want to read it yourself, find a reference to something, or would like some notes to accompany the reading. Let me know if I missed anything, or you would like me to add something to the format.

Chapter 1: Maomao

Length 

4 Pages 6-9

Characters

Mawmaw Introduced(Page 6)

Luomen mentioned not by name(Page 6)

Low consort and her lady in waiting not named (Page 8)

Former emperor mention (Page 7)

Character Interactions (include potential shipping ,and quotes)

The lady in waiting of the unnamed consort was rude to MaoMao(Page 8)

Character Facts

MaoMao

Maomao loves street skewers(Page 6)

MaoMao worries for her dads ability to take care of himself(Page 6)

MaoMao was picking herbs when she was kidnaped (Page 6)

The room she seemed to have been assigned was ither number 17 or they were just assigned number 17 for laundry the day the storey opens(Page 8)

The Low consort most likely is from a nice family because of how nice her room is.(Page 8)

The Low consort seems to have given up trying to rise in the ranks due to competition.(Page 8)

The lady in waiting was rude to MaoMao(Page 8)

MaoMao is a diligent worker who wants to keep her head down with a hunger for knowledge and a deep set curiosity and sense of justice(Page 9) “Maomao possessed only ruddy, freckled skin and limbs with all the elegance of withered branches”(Page 7)

Low consort and her lady in waiting not named

The low consorts room was (Page 8)

She shut herself into her room(Page 8)

She is from an affluent family(Page 8)

The lady in waiting was rude(Page 8)

Plot Points

Many women in the rear palace are not literate (Page 7)

She is about to solve a mystery around the deaths of babies in the rere palace (Page 9) 

The rere palace shrinking(Page 7)

MaoMao wants to work hard to go home(Page 9)

Lore

When you work in the rere palace you are paid, and allowed to leave in a few years-(Page 6)

Hougong is another word for rere palice (Page 6)

Only blood relations of the emperor, women, and eunuchs can ender the rere palace (Page 7)

Many women in the rear palace are not literate (Page 7)

People of lower birth if they are beautiful enough can be promoted to lower concubine (Page 7)

People of lower birth if they are beautiful enough can be promoted to lower concubine (Page 7)

“What did the kidnappers do with the nubile young women they captured? Sometimes they sold the girls to the eunuchs, putting the proceeds toward a night of drinking for themselves. Sometimes the young ladies were offered in lieu of someone’s own daughter:” (Page 6)

“Quality was being sacrificed for quantity. Although it in no way equaled the “flower garden” of the former emperor, the consorts and ladies-in-waiting together numbered two thousand people, while with the eunuchs that number came to three thousand” (Page 7)

“The owner of the laundry in the basket was one of the low-ranked consorts. Her room was rather more lavish than those accorded to the other low consorts —in fact, it was downright ostentatious. The occupant, Maomao surmised, must be the daughter of some affluent noble family. When a woman was assigned a palace rank, she was also permitted her own ladies-in-waiting. A minor consort, however, could have two ladies at most, which was why Maomao, a serving girl with no mistress of her own on which to attend, was carting around the woman’s laundry like this.A low consort was permitted personal rooms in the rear palace precincts, but they were inevitably on the fringes of the grounds, where the Imperial eye was unlikely ever to fall upon her. If she should, nonetheless, be graced with a night with His Majesty, she would be granted new rooms, while a second such night meant she had truly found a place in the world. As for those who ultimately never excited the Emperor’s interest, after a certain age a consort (assuming her family didn’t wield particular influence) could expect to see herself demoted, or even granted as a wife to some member of the bureaucracy. Whether that was a blessing or a curse depended on whom she was granted to, but the fate the women feared most was being bestowed upon one of the eunuchs. ”(Page 8-9)

Interesting Quotes/ Moments

“The place was so thick with the odors of makeup and perfume as to turn the stomach, and even more full of the thin, forced smiles of the court ladies in their beautiful dresses. In her time as an apothecary, Maomao had come to believe there was no toxin so terrifying as a woman’s smile.” (Page 6)

New information

The story starts 3 months after MaoMaws kidnapping

How the rear palace is set up

We get a description both physically, mentally, and role of MaoMao

Minor notes

There were 3 kidnapers(Page 6)

MaoMao doesn't seem to like the fact eunuchs are a thing, but does see how logically it makes since to have them in the rere palace (Page 7)

Surviving girls don't have a rank (Page 7)

This is the first time MaoMao rejects the supernatural(Page 9)

Summary

This is just basically an introduction to MaoMao and her current situation of life she finds herself in. She is thinking about home as she is doing laundry, and delivers a basket load. The end of this chapter is the setup for the next. It sets up that this is just the beginning for the main character MaoMao and she is about to get to the bottom of the deaths of royal babies.

Possible Theories 

I think the Eunuchs will be a plot point down the road.

Thoughts and Opinion

This setup was kinda mid, but that's ok.

I am so glad we get to see a low ranking concubine, and the life into one a bit.