On the topic of episode 1, Shin had shown up when she noticed Maomao’s message but discarded it, which then resulted in the death of Lihua’s newborn son, but it did eventually led to the banning of the white face powder that caused the late infant prince’s death. It makes me wonder: since Shin is revealed to keep banned items, was she the reason why that one servant girl kept the face powder back in episode 4? It would make sense if that were the case since Lihua was weary and wanted to die at the time; Shin would’ve found it a good opportunity to get rid of her if that was the case; since she’s also a high position of power in the Crystal Pavilion, her words are definitely of power to the servant girls.

Shin’s motive in all of this is basically driven by envy. She prepared herself all her life to become a consort and believed she was the best candidate, but her cousin Lihua was chosen over her. She believed that if she gets rid of Lihua, then she could have a chance, but that’s not really the case. I think it’s obvious why she wasn’t chosen other than the lack of…vavoom; Shin is too focused on status and power while Lihua isn’t. A noticeable trait that the consorts have is that they all aren’t too power hungry and that’s possibly the reason why the current Emperor took them in as concubines.

Lihua certainly went through a lot of character development. When she was first seen, she had slapped Gyokuyou and seemed mean and arrogant. Episode 4 had her be very weary due to the loss of her son, but Maomao was able to get her spirits up. Now, in this episode, she’s going all out with firing her own cousin by slapping her and almost punching her. She certainly took a page out of Maomao’s book with the b*tchslap. In fact, it’s crazy to see her go from weary to be the concubine ready to throw hands. She’s gotten so strong! Maybe it’s because Maomao helped her reevaluate the importance of her own life and now that she’s pregnant again, she doesn’t want to repeat the same tragedy—she’s fighting for her unborn child even harder.

This episode shows that even if the concubine is the nicest person around, the corruption is mainly due to the people around them. No one has to worry about the Jade Pavilion’s ladies as she only has a few and they’re all trustworthy people. Shin is probably the main reason for the corruption in the Crystal Pavilion as she’s the one who quarantined the sick servant girl instead of getting her help for her cough to the point that Shenlu, the clinic lady, had to request Maomao to give her medicine. It makes you wonder what the system in the Diamond and Garnet pavilion are like…

Shin is voiced by Sayaka Kinoshita, who you might have heard in Delicious Party Precure as Secretoru and also in Pokemon Sun and Moon as Lusamine. Her voice acting was actually really good towards the end where she started screaming and tried to throw the basket of fragrance at Lihua. It’s a really good voice, so it feels unfortunate that this is probably the last time Shin will be seen. Shenlu is voiced by Masako Katsuki, who is known for voicing Tsunade from Naruto. It’s crazy how stacked the voice cast is for this anime.

I wonder what’s up with the Emperor towards the end. Is he reminiscing the past or something? Maybe there was another similar incident in the past and that’s why the episode ends with him looking back? I honestly can’t wait to see what next week has in store. What are your thoughts on this episode?

One thing I like about The Apothecary Diaries as a whole is that whenever a mystery is solved, there are still more to figure out, so it’s like they solve part of it but later solve the rest. It’s like having the objectives box at your disposal for you to take out when needed in a game. Here, Jinshi is able to figure out that Loulan has escaped the palace, but he’s still figuring out what could be the overarching reason behind her actions to the point that Shenlu is involved. More mysteries build up when they learn of the existence of a woman named Taihou who had a daughter. Let me guess, the daughter is Suirei? Oh, so the ghost story about the abandoned girl was Taihou! Crazy how seemingly obscure details presented in the story play a bigger part later on. I like that sort of story telling!

I do feel bad for Shenlu. She was taken advantage of as a girl by the late Emperor and wasn’t allowed to leave the palace as she got older. It would be really scary if you saw someone who had the exact same face as your assaulter and was also related to him. Jinshi didn’t ask to be born with his face…

I can see why Takeo Otsuka is a big rising star in the voice acting industry recently. I honestly enjoyed listening to how angry he got with Renpu when asking where Loulan was. In addition to Jinshi, I also really like his role as Aqua from Oshi no Ko and Season 2 had a lot of good voice acting from him, so if you want to hear more of Otsuka, I do recommend Oshi no Ko if you want the emotional voice!

And speaking of which, I can’t wait to see more of Lahan! It’s like love at first sight! He’s the exact type of man I would be attracted to—intelligent, composed and a bit sneaky! Seriously, the moment he popped up in the screen, I was mesmerized! Which is funny because I never really felt any attraction to the resident hottie Jinshi—maybe I’m just getting older or maybe I developed a type over the years? Since he’s Lakan’s adopted son, this means that he’s Maomao’s brother? Are they the same age or is he older? I honestly can’t wait to see these two siblings interact later on! He’s voiced by Toshiyuki Toyonaga who always amazes me with how he always sounds different in every anime he’s in. If you’re not familiar with Toyonaga, he voiced Kiryu in Wind Breaker and Kazuki in Buddy Daddies.

Now that Lakan knows about Maomao’s disappearance, I wonder if he’ll play a part in deducing the conspiracy and what sort of role he’ll play in the future… I also wonder if Gyokuyou will have a safe delivery because she seems to be in labor for a while. Will she be okay? Let me know your thoughts on this episode!

It seems that the root of all the conspiracies that transpired in the palace was caused by Shenlu from the white facial powder to the happenings at the Crystal Pavilion. Since it’s revealed that the clinic staff were girls that the former Emperor deflowered during his reign, it makes me wonder why the current Emperor or even Anshi didn’t let them go since slavery was abolished. Did they stay out of their own choice to get back at the royal family?

I knew that hot eunuch the servant girls were fawning over was Suirei! She has androgynous features that does help her pass as a man when necessary. She’s seriously so good at being a master of disguise as she has been sneaking around the palace back in Season 1 when she killed two court officials as the guy with the eerie stare. But, why is she back? Is she in cahoots with Shenlu?

Ha, I knew Shisui is no ordinary servant girl. She’s way too intelligent. I feel as if being Suirei’s hostage was also planned out. My theory of her being Loulan could actually be true! But like…why are they targeting Maomao? Was she there by accident and needed to abduct her so she’d keep her mouth shut?

Not just Shenlu and the clinic, but there’s also another conspiracy brewing. Lakan decides to have a meeting with Shishou and Jinshi who’s actually Ah Duo in disguise. It seems that Shishou has a deeper connection with the feifas than he lets on… on top of that, he also seems to have colorblindness which is interesting if you remember the plot of Episode 31 where Maomao helps the Emperor and Jinshi figure out the color changing doors’ puzzle and that those connected to the royal family have color blindness. Does this mean Shishou has some royal blood in him? Interesting… Also, I do wonder if Lakan knows if Maomao is missing because he seems a bit too calm for someone whose daughter went missing… Still, it was cute seeing him being a huge wife guy for Fengxian. I guess their marriage life is a blissful one despite how late it started.

Having Ah Duo be Jinshi’s substitute is an interesting choice, but it makes sense given their resemblance. I’ve been told that Jinshi does NOT know Ah Duo is his biological mother. Still, people do say that the Emperor’s genes did nothing when it came to Jinshi, but they’re wrong. The only contribution the Emperor had was that he made Jinshi’s hair darker than Ah Duo’s. It also makes you realize Lingli also has a darker shade of pink compared to Gyokuyou…and that Lingli is actually Jinshi’s half-sister biologically…

I think this is the first episode where Shishou actually talks? He is voiced by Cho, who is known for voicing Brook from One Piece. Because his voice actor is prolific, this means that he definitely has a bigger role later on. Let’s see what that is…

I do worry about Maomao. Will she be punished for leaving the palace? I also wonder about how Luomen will react to this news as the man has finally been reunited with his daughter after a while but now Maomao is gone. I heard that this arc is going to be an emotional one, so I’m ready to dive in. Let me know your thoughts on this episode.