In the first season of The Apothecary Diaries, episode 10, Maomao says that Lady Gyokuyou is very good at gathering information and sending it to her family. In that scene, they show us a dove in her room while she's writing.
I always wondered if she used pigeons for communication, and now, after books 7 and 11, I finally had confirmation that she actually uses them. Now, I wonder if that means that she can communicate without pass through the palace inspections.
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I wanted to talk more about why I don’t like Rikuson’s role in the main conflict of volume 11.
First of all, this is a coming-of-age story. It’s about teenagers becoming adults, so the focus should be on characters like Maomao, Jinshi, Lishu, Basen, Yao, etc.
That’s why Lishu and Basen getting the spotlight in volume 6 makes sense. It was also clear as early as volume 5 that the White Lady was targeting Lishu, and she was the reason Lishu was even placed in that tower. Because of that, it makes sense for the two of them to interact at the climax. While Basen was the one who saved Lishu, Maomao and Jinshi were still very much involved and present during that climax.
In volume 11, however, Maomao and Jinshi not only aren’t present for the climax, but to this day they don’t even know who killed Gyoku-ou. I wasn’t expecting Jinshi to kill him, but I think it would have made more sense for Maomao and Jinshi to at least learn who Rikuson is, with the audience getting hints that they know something about him. Ideally, the climax would happen first, and only afterward would we learn that Jinshi and his group planned it all, and that Jinshi had to make the hard decision to order Rikuson to kill Gyoku-ou.
Just because the story focuses on the “kids” doesn’t mean the adult characters can’t be interesting and complex. Lakan, the Emperor, and Ah-duo are good examples of that.
By comparison, Rikuson feels bland. His family was killed, and his sister made him promise to protect the Western Capital. This parallels Gyoku-ou’s mother telling him to do the same, as an ancestral duty , the former as a Yi, the latter as a Windreader. I can see that Natsu’s intention was to highlight how Gyoku-ou isn’t actually going to war for the well-being of his region, but for selfish reasons: becoming a hero and taking revenge on the country his biological father came from. Meanwhile, by killing him, Rikuson is the one truly protecting the region, and he does so from the shadows rather than from the stage, unlike Gyoku-ou.
All of that works thematically. What I don’t like is how easy everything is for Rikuson. As I said, one of his desires is to honor his sister’s wish, but he also genuinely wants revenge. And isn’t it convenient that both of those desires align perfectly? He’s even self-aware of it. He has Gyokuen’s support to kill Gyoku-ou, Chue is there to make sure no one interferes, and Lakan lies for him. He doesn’t struggle at all, neither internally nor externally.
“If he could have been only Gyoku-ou’s watchman.
Why did that bastard have to be so warped?
Why had no one tried to repair him?
Why had they made Rikuson do it?
No… That’s not true at all.
Rikuson had wished for this, longed for it.
To take revenge at last for his mother and sister.
And his wish had been granted.”
To give an example of what I think would have made him more interesting, with the disclaimer that this would drastically change the story, this is only meant to illustrate the kind of struggles I’m referring to: imagine a scenario where Gyoku-ou kills the Yi, but is otherwise a good ruler. The Western Capital is prosperous, and he has no desire to go to war.
In that scenario, Rikuson would have to choose between his desires: taking revenge by killing Gyoku-ou, which would weaken the Western Capital, or honoring his sister’s final wish and becoming better than Gyoku-ou by refusing to kill him. Choosing the latter would mean sacrificing his personal revenge for the greater good of the Western Capital, the exact opposite of Gyoku-ou, who killed the Yi clan for selfish reasons.
What we got instead is a jarring contrast. The first half of the book shows Jinshi struggling against Gyoku-ou, dealing with the consequences of his past decisions as Gyoku-ou uses him to push his war agenda, Maomao and the others criticize how Jinshi handles the situation. Then, in contrast, Rikuson casually kills Gyoku-ou and gets his revenge with little resistance or meaningful conflict.
Hamefura first Bonus Short Story LN11 ( with Ronnie's POV )
Unfortunately, it was only in the chinese version so I had a hard time, because I'm just a beginner in chinese. So please tell me if you find any mistakes. Please enjoy it ! ^^
Side Story I
The endless violence from my father stopped suddenly. I, Ronnie Percy, looked up with a puzzled expression, and found a very beautiful woman looking at me with a worried expression.
My father was lying on the side of the house for some reason.
The woman told me that it was my father who staggered and bumped into it. It seemed that my father was as drunk as usual. I thought I was saved and breathed a sigh of relief
Blood dripped from the corner of my mouth. It should be that when I was beaten by my father just now, the skin in my mouth was broken. The woman who saw this scene said :
"Are you okay ? Wipe this off."
She handed me a beautiful handkerchief. Maybe it was out of kindness, but how dare a person like me use such a beautiful thing, so I refused. Then I wiped the blood with the sleeve of my shirt. Before I know it, it was time to go to work.
"For a decent person like you, don't come to this kind of place again. Also, please tell to Dewey for me, and tell him by the way, to don't use money to subsidize the family in the future."
I told the woman, who might have known Dewey, warn my siblings to be careful about my father and then headed out to work. Even if I worry in my heart that my body has been be covered in bruises after being beaten and kicked, I don't know if I can still work today. My feet were so painful that I could only move forward slowly, after walking for a while.
"Mr. Ronnie."
Someone called me from behind. It's from the woman just now.
"You, how could you…"
"Because I want to talk to you again." She told me, I was so surprised.
"Hey, why did you come here ? It should be said that I have to go to work now, so I don't have time to chat with you." I clearly rejected her.
"However, I have asked your sister that your work is quite heavy physical work. I think your body may not be able to bear it. "
But the woman answered me like this.
"Tsk, she is so talkative… You are right, but I still have to go and ask if there is any work that can be done. Our family is very short of money. If I don't make money, even my younger siblings We can’t even afford food.”
"It means that you are just trying your luck. Then don't force yourself and rest well. Otherwise, the injury will not heal. If
If you have to ask your boss to leave, let me go instead of you ?"
The woman who said so would not give in at all.
And she also asked about Dewey, so I finally couldn't help but say "I hope Dewey doesn't mess with our family and live freely." Such sincere words.
This woman is really strange. I have never met such an inexplicable woman before. I thought to myself that the women in the Ministry of Magic are very strange.
Then the strange woman went further :
"Leaving aside Mr. Ronnie's father, but you are definitely not useless. Literacy and good at arithmetic are indeed advantages. This will make it easier for you to survive in society. But this alone is not the value of a person. I think it is for the sake of younger brothers and sisters. Mr. Ronnie, who worked hard, is a very good person.”
First time someone said that to me. Because my father kept scolding me: "You are completely useless ." When I was confused and didn't know how to answer, a suspicious figure in black robe suddenly appeared and attacked the woman. In order to protect the woman, I ran around desperately for help… But I didn't catch up, and she came back directly after solving the problem on her own.
I obviously did nothing, but she thanked me very much. She complimented me again on how great I was, which made me feel good.
Later, thanks to her, I learned that Dewey respected me very much. And intends to "join hands with brothers to get rid of the current life of poverty". So I decided to go with him. I was trying to deal with my parents' problems, but when I got home, I found that everything had already been resolved, which made me feel discouraged.
Just today, my life has completely changed, and improved dramatically. I still can't accept the reality. When I was about to move, It seemed that my sister likes that strange woman very much. She said "I hope she can marry into our family." I heard my heart beat faster, but Dewey strongly denied it.
"Is that woman so powerful ?"
So I asked in private.
"She is the princess of the duke's family, the prince's fiancée."
Dewey then told me the astonishing fact. The eldest daughter of the duke's family, the prince's fiancée, is an unattainable object.
"How could such a noble person be here ?!"
I yelled in surprise.
"How should I put it, she is like this. And she is a very nice person."
Dewey told me with a wry smile. An indescribable sense of trust can be seen from his expression.
For her, who is out of reach, the vaguely sprouting emotion in my heart gradually fades. If only I had found out sooner.
But if we moved near to the residence of the Ministry of Magic, I might have a chance to see her again from afar. Thinking so, I feel a little happy.
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I loved the way Jinshi made the freak strategist completely lose interest in helping Gyoku-ou's war plans, just by saying "we're gonna have a shortage of medicine" 💀
And then the old-adorable-fart immediately acts like this shogi game with people is not interesting anymore.
Not Jinshi having a second wave of jealousy because of Rikuson 😂😂😂😂 Miss Chue, I love you for feeding us a little drama. THIS SCENE IS SO FREAKING GOOD!!! And the freaking strategist sniffing around WAS THE CHERRY ON TOP OF THE DRAMA.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa why the anime is gonna take so long???