#Shishou

[julietcpulet]

What love can do: Shishou vs. Jinshi

There are comparisons to be made between Shisui and Jinshi for sure but one unexplored aspect I think this episode brings up is between Jinshi and Shishou in what love can do to a person. Does it make them become better or destroy them in pursuit of that person?

For Shishou, he wanted Shenmei so badly that he was willing to let his whole clan be destroyed to please her. Even after it was clear that her heart had turned bitter and she could no longer return his love due to her own spitefulness, he continued letting her hurt both his daughters in hopes that she might find some affection for him.

We see too when he dies, his flashback of her is a warm, soft version of her that almost never existed. She was cunning from the beginning and barely, if ever, returned his attention. His inability to let go of who he envisioned her to be in their youth became a problem for everyone after. Even if he still tried to protect the nation, his daughters suffered and his clan became a cautionary tale, all due to his inability to see Shenmei for who she really was. This is evidence of a love destroying someone, a fatal attraction really.

In contrast, for Jinshi, his love for Maomao only leads him to become better as a person in a desire to be someone who can protect her and give her an environment where she can succeed. He doesn’t harm others in pursuit of her, nor does he ask her to be anything different than who she is.

When he sees her in his mind, it’s not some idealized version but her apothecary self, in her green everyday outfit and lovely just as she is. He pursues her because she’s uniquely a person who pushes him to step outside his comfort zone and brings out the truer side of his personality others ignore. This love isn’t destructive but beneficial as for Jinshi he’s only learned to be a better man in pursuit of Maomao and this relationship has grown them both.

This is interesting to me because we can say the stories of these two make them excellent foils. Their contrasting stories show what love has the capability to do to a person, to either destroy them if it's distorted or to make them better if it's a true and honest kind of love.

Shishou considered what he was doing as loving but didn’t realize Shenmei felt he was the lesser option compared to the Emperor. She never knew she was a bargaining chip. Even though he was being kind in taking her, to her it was a cruelty and so his love was just something she didn’t want and ignored. His then turning a blind eye to her cruelty became a selfish desire that she would come around and return his love which was all in vain as she never changed. It was purely two kinds of selfishness that both led to much pain and heartache.

Jinshi’s love is selfless because he doesn’t let others or Maomao become trapped by his desire to love her. He learns to take into account any inconvenience he’s putting on people by wanting Maomao in his life and tries to lessen those burdens so there’s a good outcome for everyone. That’s what real love should look like, finding compromise and looking at things not only from a single minded perspective but also those of the ones around you. In the end he and Maomao have a chance because what they share doesn't remain unrequited or one-sided, it becomes a mutual love they work hard for.

[netmors]

Last year's art with Loulan for the "The Apothecary Diaries Zine"

+ laid out the zine itself and designed the cover for the first time, but I'll show them a little later ✨

This project literally went through "fire, water and copper pipes", and deserves a good render for the finale…

[acediathemelancholy]

There's just something so compelling about Shishou and Shenmei. Love is treated as inherent good in many stories; sometimes true love is even depicted as salvation. But Shisou's genuine love for Shenmei expressed itself as enabling and complicity.

Shisou's love led to his enabling of the abuse of both of his children by Shenmei. She was once a person who would never commit such deeds, so he couldn't face the reality of the cruelty that shaped Shenmei.

He allowed her to throw Suirei, his eldest child, out of the clan to appease her wounded ego. Until the end, he never expressed regrets over the fate of his eldest daughter. To keep the illusion of the pure Shenmei intact, he could never try to truly know Shisui. To understand Loulan's despair would mean condemning Shenmei, so until hours before his death, he believed Shenmei's doll Loulan was his daughter.

He could neither condemn Shenmei nor truly betray the empire, so he enabled her scheming in a way that would centralize most corruption around his clan so that it could be destroyed with one strike. But Shishou was the head of the Shi Clan. Shishou upheld his own version of reality where he is loyal to the Li Empire and loves Shenmei with everything he has by damning the lives of everyone else he had a duty to protect.

[elitemaomaosequanimity]

This is the root reason behind the Shi clan’s conflict and their desire to ki*ll Jinshi

(This is not a spoiler, everything has already been explained in the anime, and I will explain it sequentially for clarity.)

1. Shishou is the son of a branch family of the Shi clan. He has a connection with Queen Wang Mu (The first empress of the Li empire, they are both colorblind) because they come from the same region, although they are not blood-related.

2. Shenmei, the daughter of the head of the Shi clan, was arranged to marry Shishou.

3. Shenmei was taken by the former emperor to become one of his consorts. She entered the palace together with Taihou (a lady-in-waiting).

4. The former emperor preferred Taihou, and they had a daughter, but she was not acknowledged, so the child were expelled from the palace.

5. Several years later, the former emperor met with Shishou and ordered him to marry his daughter with Taihou (the one who had been expelled). In exchange, he would return Shenmei.

6. Shishou married the former emperor’s daughter (with Taihou), and from that, Suirei was born (real name: Shisui).

7. Shishou then married Shenmei, and they had a daughter named Loulan.

8. Shenmei abused Suirei's mother and used Loulan as a pawn for revenge against the empire, seeking to destroy the imperial family as payback for the humiliation she had suffered.

9. Loulan entered the palace, replacing Ah Duo.

10. The Shrine door selection was Shishou’s idea, the shrine door selection hadn’t been held for a long time, so it was Shishou who suggested it again to the emperor, as he knew that only those “connected” to Queen Wang Mu could choose the correct door (meaning colorblind individuals; in this case, Loulan, who is colorblind like Shishou and Queen Wang Mu).

11. They chose to eliminate Jinshi first because he was the biggest obstacle to Loulan’s son future. They didn’t eliminate the emperor first because doing so would only clear the path for Jinshi to ascend the throne.

[ivoryand-gold]

Spoilers for The Apothecary Diaries 2x23 “The Shi Clan”

I’ve seen a few people confused by or mad at Shisui’s motivations for scarring Jinshi. While I understand that protectiveness as someone who also loves Jinshi as a character, imho it is in alignment with who we know Shisui to be and makes perfect sense to me narratively.

The first reasoning, Shisui has been conspiring against her mother for a long time. From the abortifacients to all she confesses to Jinshi in this episode, she hasn’t merely been her mother’s doll for a long time. There’s still a guilt she likely feels for betraying her, even if she saw no other way. She sees the hatred and jealousy that founts from her mother like venom, and she refuses to become her, but also she never denounces her as her mother. Like when she talks about the ghost stories episode and how Suirei’s grandmother Taihou may have tried to kill her from the grave because she’s her mother’s daughter. Plus, despite her plotting, she has fawned for 17-18 years and that doesn’t all just go away in an instant because her mother is dead. Shisui still has love for Shenmei whether she deserves it or not, and can likely live with the rest of her choices by at least granting one of her mother’s wishes.

Secondly, Shisui always tried to take care of her family in her own way. She’s always been loving, and became “the doll Loulan” as her first attempt to fix things. If she was an obedient enough daughter, then maybe she’d be able to heal what had been so thoroughly broken within her mother. She sacrifices her sense of self both to survive—but we know that’s not her only/main priority given her repeated abuse when she disguised herself as a maid to see Suirei— and to protect and heal her family. It’s only when this doesn’t work that she moves on to plotting.

Shisui took care of her family, everyone got a version of what they wanted in the end. Obviously the main thing Shishou wanted was Shenmei’s forgiveness and love, but that was never going to happen. Both Jinshi and Shenmei had the chance to take the feifa from Shisui, and because of who they were, those cards fell where they did. Shenmei died as a consequence of her own actions, which Shisui didn’t want to happen but knew would. She always did what she could though, and gave her family what felt like very fitting parting gifts to me:

For Shishou, her final gift was seeing their plan through and making sure not only someone, but Jinshi knew her father served their country to the end. She also spoke up for her father to Shenmei in her dying moments, something Shishou had failed to do for himself the last 20 years.

For Shenmei, her final gift was violence, a final act of destruction towards something beautiful. Her wrath and pettiness given a small revenge. Immortality, even, to live on through Jinshi’s scar and become this “once in a generation evil” who wounded the once in a generation beauty her mother was so jealous of. Both continuing and ending the cycle of their families, with Jinshi’s consent.

For Suirei, her final gift was a smile— the promise that she was happy. A seed of contentment for Suirei to build the rest of her life on now that she’s lost her family. A second chance at life she was only given because of Shisui’s favor. That smile conveyed Shisui’s own freedom.

And in that is also Shisui’s gift to herself. She couldn’t help the circumstances she was born into, nor could she change the tides of fate to keep her family from being embroiled in scandal. But at least she could rewrite the ending. After so long hiding behind her makeup and mother and the role of Loulan, Shisui could finally have a voice. She could take up space. She could be a savior.

She could be the villain of a generation.

She could dance.

[kasuna-kotonoha]

One thing I find facinating about Lakan in this latest episode is just how cunning you can see he is. (and just how much he and Maomao are alike. This latest episode really showed how much she is her parents child)

First, and probably most apparent, he doesn't directly accuse Shishou of having anything to do with the guns involved in the assassination attempt on Jinshi, but we as an audience know exactly what he's getting at. (and Shishou does too, probably)

But then what does he do? He calls the next thing he talks about the "main topic" and what is said topic?

The game he played with his wife.

And he's so ridiculously and genuienly enthused about that you can't help but be taken in. But you know what else it was, besides a chance to talk about his wife?

A diversion.

Add in the green grape juice that Shishou doesn't comment on, but is obvious to everyone, and you have a situation in which Lakan, by sheer eccentricity, can distract from letting on just how sharp he really is and what he's figured out. It trivializes what he was asking before that.

It's hard to say how smart Shishou is (though he's obviously not stupid) but either way, if he took Lakan at face value (like Lakan wanted him too) its doubtful he'd give Lakans inquiry about the guns anymore though than he already has. Makes it seem (to Shishou) much more like something Lakans inquiring about because he has too, not because he's actually on to something.

Edit: and another thing is, by the end of their meeting, you kinda get the sense Shishou isn't taking Lakan that seriously, which is exactly what Lakan wants

[fleurbleedingheartss2]

Suirei's mother must've been a goddess

Poor girl's deadbeat dad made her marry a man who looked like that at 18 and he didn't even try to be a good husband...

[shsl-hubris-guy]

Child Abuse in the Shi Clan & Why "Shisui" Matters

As someone who's both relatively new to the KnH scene and a survivor of a narcissistic parent, I found myself very quickly captured by the latter half of season 2. This will be far from my best analytical work, and certainly not my usual subject (this is a Danganronpa blog lol), but I found it too well-done and personally touching to me not to talk about it at least once. So here we are! Today I'm gonna talk about Shisui's character writing, the depictions of several unique results of abuse, how children suffer differently from the same abuser, and why and how the way survivors respond to it is so well-written in KnH season 2. Spoilers for KnH/The Apothecary Diaries seasons 1 and 2 below the cut.

*Edit turns out I was wrong about how the name Shisui is written in source! Please check the replies for further context 🙏 Turns out the Japanese characters I found are just a happy accident that translates well to their dynamic lol.

The Victims

There are three abused characters in the Shi Clan we as an audience become familiar with- Suirei, Loulan, and Kyou-u. Despite not being considered siblings by those around them, these three all have wildly different personalities and upbringings, and have developed a very strong siblinglike bond that feels organic regardless. When the three of them are together and/or removed from the people who've mistreated them, you could wholly believe they've had a relatively normal life and act like a family in their own right. In fact, we as an audience aren't aware that they were ever victims of abuse to begin with upon each character's introduction, and it's only when their abuser is introduced do we begin to learn of their abuse in the first place. Even when early signs of their abuse are present in their behavior and can retroactively be pointed out as learned behaviors from survival, they're all believable and realistic with what we already know of them as characters.

1. Suirei

Suirei is the oldest of the three, and was Shishou's firstborn before being cast out of the family alongside her mother. She was ostracized from her family name from birth, both symbolically and literally, and was denied her lineage from both sides of her family, as not only is she unrecognized by her father, but her mother was unrecognized by the royal family.

In the former emperor's attempt to remove his daughter safely and know where she was, he subjected her to a lifetime of ostracization, and doomed his granddaughter to that fate as well. Due solely to her perceived legitimacy, Suirei was subjected to isolation from an extremely young age, and we can see how, as a result, she's a very stoic and quiet person. We also see multiple times how she's punished for the crime of existence more than once, being nothing more than an occasionally useful punching bag for her abusers. She's meant to be alone, guilty of her existence and devoid of desire for more. She follows the orders she's given without question, and doesn't fight back or beg, because such acts of desperation would only serve as proof that she isn't broken yet.

Despite this, Suirei is not broken. She has family that loves her, and when she's not on duty, she's more comfortable, having a more relaxed posture when in the village and quickly becoming comfortable with Maomao. Most notably, despite her own suffering, she seems to be much more concerned with the position those she cares about fall into and protecting them from it. So long as she remains a perfect scapegoat of existence, she can shield the people she cares about from the torture she receives, and her failure in doing so at any given time comes from other people interfering in her abusers' affairs even when she tells them not to.

She ultimately fails to protect the others, as so many do. Yet despite that, her efforts weren't in vain, because it made way for the chance for her sister to be more empathetic then Lady Shenmei wanted, to break free of the doll. Her suffering was a gateway for so many others to escape before the invasion while Lady Shenmei was distracted by her own vanity and hatred. And her kindness towards the children of the clan and connection with her sister was what saved her life, because it convinced Jinshi to give her what she'd been denied almost her whole life- a safe home.

2. Loulan

Loulan is the chosen princess of the Shi Clan, and is treated as most valuable within the family. She's the only one biologically connected to Lady Shenmei, and is treated as an extension of her as a result.

If Suirei is the scapegoat, then Loulan certainly falls into the role of golden child, being viewed as a perfect doll who can do no wrong, ever. She's not a person to her greatest abuser, but rather as a toy, a tool with which to retain a legacy. When with their abuser, Suirei is beaten and Loulan is expected to watch. When bringing harm upon others, Loulan quietly suggests which method we should use today. When brought to her mother's chambers, Suirei is assigned to serve Loulan, and Loulan doesn't argue. Princess Loulan never argues.

Loulan doesn't like her situation. Similarly to her sister, she never argues or protests out of fear of making things worse. And, again, like her sister, her concern isn't for herself. Rather, her main priority is Suirei, as she fears throughout her childhood that doing anything to antagonize her mother will only being more consequences down upon Suirei. Because Loulan is their heir and is treated so well, she can only fathom the pain and torture she and the staff receive as being increased, and isn't too concerned with her own safety, particularly because she has felt her mother's cruelty- but only when in disguise. It makes her more empathetic towards the people her family is hurting, and leads her to break a cycle of the traumatized lashing out and becoming the monster they were once a victim of. That's exactly why her relationship with Lady Shenmei and its conclusion holds so much weight, letting Shenmei destroy herself instead of being the one to kill her directly. And when she escapes, she doesn't run and let princess Loulan escape. For all intents and purposes, she was ready to die, but was saved because humanity was seen in her by Maomao. The hairpin given to Shisui- not Loulan, Shisui- let Loulan die and Tamamo be born instead.

3. Kyou-u

Kyou-u isn't a member of the royal family, but he is incredibly intertwined with them, both narratively and literally speaking. He's a very excitable son of a courtesan that has a genuine bond with Loulan and Suirei, cheering when they return to the village and bringing a spark of joy and normalcy into the series' brief time in the village. While not once by blood, he acts as a bratty younger brother, and is initially shielded from the goings on at the compound. Although he knows Lady Shenmei is dangerous, he doesn't much care until consequences are right in front of him, having snuck out often enough to have a secret route and being very trusting of Maomao almost immediately. Once he has faced Lady Shenmei, however, and seen his mother, he sobers up. We watch the death of his innocence as an audience in real time as he comes to terms with the severity of the situation not only he, but Loulan, Suirei, and his mother are all in.

Whereas Suirei and Loulan are literal sisters and each embody a role that an abused child takes on within a dysfunctional family structure, Kyou-u embodies the death of innocence that abused children are inevitably hit with. As soon as they're able to comprehend the situation they're in, they're forever changed, because abuse does radical things to a child's development. And in symbolizing this, Kyou-u is the one child of the courtesans to knowingly take the resurrection medicine, doing so with a smile. The innocent, shielded Kyou-u has died, but with the help of an outside support system (Maomao), he can be reborn and survive- different, forever changed, now Chou-u, but still alive and still himself. Despite his memories being gone, as many young survivors will block out their memories of trauma, he still carries the physical scars of his escape with his partial paralysis. But he's alive and safe.

The Abusers

1. The Shi Family

Lady Shenmei is the most obvious abuser, with her being made into the very blatant and cruel torturer of the compound that rules with an iron fist and mistreats everyone that surrounds her. She's also the direct cause of both Suirei's and Loulan's worst traumas, and the indirect cause of Kyou-u's. She's introduced and parades herself onscreen in a way that is, on a surface level, indicative of a one-dimensional abuser, and immediately establishes herself as an enemy to take down without guilt or nuance in doing so.

Shishou is the much quieter but still effective abuser. Being the head of the Shi Clan and a silent enabler of Lady Shenmei's behavior, he's every bit as responsible for the abuse as she is, because he has the power to put a stop to it at a snap of his fingers and doesn't. We don't see very much of him with his family, and when we do, he does appear to care for Shenmei, but was willing to cast out Suirei without argument and all financial and political effort he exerts for Loulan is for the sake of successful infiltration. We never see any genuine effort from him for his kids, and his detachment from the abuse taking place in his own home is what characterizes him as a neglectful enabler.

What makes the two of them unique is that through the explanation of the Shi Clan's current family structure and how it came to be, it humanizes their position and their disdain for the former emperor, making them more than the one-dimensional villains built upon cruelty. KnH as a period anime is acutely aware of the way women were viewed as property in the time period, and consistently demonstrates female characters that found power within the circumstances they were forced into and controlled what they could to make things better for themselves. This is seen with characters like Meimei, Lady Gyoukuyou, and the Empress Dowager Anshi, to name a few. Despite being a villain, Lady Shenmei is no different.

While being Shishou's original fiancée, Shenmei was unceremoniously taken to the rear palace, and was gifted back years later to find out that she was replaced without another thought, and her husband now had a daughter with a different woman. Despite having been given the opportunity before then, she'd been shielded from her true reason for being in the palace, and refused to commit treason and put herself at risk. Despite this, she was eventually returned like a prize and found the home she was offered now taken by someone else, all without having received the emperor's attention once. It made Shenmei feel powerless. And so when she returned, it was easier to cave and let her do whatever she wanted with their home. And with every ounce of power she's allowed to retain, she exerts control through fear and abuse of everyone else in and surrounding their home in an attempt to make herself indisputably untouchable. She treats the people in her court without respect and makes them into toys for her pleasure, punishes guards and children alike with torture and execution to make them afraid to rebel, and disregards the personhood of even her own daughter, instead treating her like her own dress-up doll to retain a legacy that will not, cannot die.

While being in a position of power, Shishou is still bound to the emperor's whims, and lost his wife to the rear palace through no fault of his own. And while making a deal with the now dead emperor to get her back, he does so without regard for the woman and later child he becomes responsible for, and appears to hold no real love for either of them, merely being obligations to get his real love back. Then, when she comes back changed and bitter, he rolls over and allows her to get worse at the expense of his daughters.

There's one more noteworthy abuser here, though she falls to a much lesser degree due to both her political position- or rather, her lack thereof.

2. Kyou-u's Mother

Kyou-u's mother is critical to understanding the Shi Clan as a whole in that, while she's certainly neglecting her son, it's because she herself is undeniably a victim of sexual abuse, as she's yet another victim of Lady Shenmei. More specifically, she's regularly drugged up and made to participate in orgies for the sake of Lady Shenmei's entertainment, and has been separated from her family entirely as a result. Even when faced with her son, she's silent and unresponsive, either from guilt or a lack of recognition entirely. She's shown to us as an example of the control Lady Shenmei's exerted not just over her own family, but the Clan as a whole, and how that's negatively effecting the Clan itself by neglecting its future generation and demanding obedience from its people through degradation and the denial of their community when not on their superior's terms, and she's degraded to an object of pleasure for someone else. Despite that, part of that degradation comes from the acknowledgement that she's failing those which she's responsible for, namely Kyou-u. It shows both sides of her situation as both victim of her circumstances and the negative consequences of her inability to act.

"Shisui"

Up until now, despite preferring the name Shisui, I've referred to our golden child of the Shi family with her birth name, Loulan. That's primarily because she isn't the only person who can be referred to as Shisui, as Shisui was in fact Suirei's birth name before Lady Shenmei had it forcibly changed in an effort to remove her from the family. As such, "Shisui" is less of an individual and more a title symbolic of the bond that they have and what they go through.

Regardless of everything they've gone through, regardless of how dehumanized they were by their family, being viewed as an unwanted tool and a doll, they were human to each other, and that allowed them to survive. The name Shisui has a part of each of them within it- Shi, Loulan, and Sui, Suirei.

The name 'Shisui' has a rough translation to 'purple water' when translated to Japanese* (紫 水). Shi is also the name of the clan they come from, the Shi clan, and is their family name. This makes sense for a couple of reasons- purple is a recognized color for nobility, as it was once an extremely expensive color to dye fabric and was reserved for nobility as a result. In addition, purple is used to denote 'real' nobility hiding within KnH more than once, with both Jinshi secretly being the son of the emperor and "Shisui" being Loulan. This is also further expanding on the symbolism of 'Shi' being cut out of Suirei's name, as despite having blood of both the royal family and the Shi Clan, she's been rejected by both. Sui meaning water speaks to their connection with each other- 'sui' remains a part of Suirei's name, while Loulan's final chosen name, Tamamo, is a name of the sea.

-

So, yeah, that about sums up my yapfest. I feel like not all of it makes perfect sense, but I really wanted to get these out of my head and onto 'paper' if you would lol.

[sodiepoppa]

Spoilers

I've seen a lot of people saying that the Shisui ending in the recent episode felt satisfying because it felt like she won, and I would like to preface this with saying there is absolutely nothing wrong with that take. Art is subjective.

However I can't help but feel like it was a victory for literally everyone except Shisui herself. Her father finally went against his cowardly ways (thanks to her encouragement) and did one good thing in life, which was to die with the honor he lacked in life. Her mother was finally told the truth and died knowing she squandered all her chances at actually having a happy life because she chose spite instead (maybe not so much a victory, but she died knowing the truth. Shisui scarring Jinshi's face would more count as the victory). Suirei's future is secure thanks to Shisui revealing her heritage to Jinshi via the hairpin. The Shi Clan's children will live thanks to the resurrection drug and Maomao's efforts. Even the workers that were being mistreated by Shenmei whilst making gunpowder and guns for their rebellion got to leave free thanks yet again to Shisui's efforts. What did Shisui get? Several bullet wounds and a fall from the top of a fortress wall. She lives, yes, thanks to Maomao giving her the hairpin. She gets to go and live freely somewhere else. But Shisui loves her family. She adores them. She worked hard to make them happy. And now she can never see them or any of her friends ever again. She has to start her whole life from scratch far away from them, with the knowledge that she can never, ever go back.

[the--starless-saint]

I haven't gotten to the LN/manga and only watching the anime so here are some ridiculous thoughts:

I think right now it's quite obvious that Shisui and Loulan are the same person

Shishou, Loulan's father, is looking very quickly to becoming a big antagonist:

can't be found after his daughter body swapped,

his province was mentioned to be the main supplier of grain and such (during the hunting episode) and the price of grain and staple foods increasing despite good harvests,

that Maomao was taken North, which is the same direction as his province,

that the gun was from the West which Loulan was noted to have fashion tastes from when she was first introduced as concubines,

Speaking of the gun, the perpetrators of the assassination attempt was conveniently mishandled until they can't speak. Since the hunt was in the Northern province, it's likely Shishou's security who wld be in charge of imprisoning the criminals and such

That someone has been mass buying metal (presumbly to make new guns and military stuff?)

The fishy foreign envoys were at his province village where his daughters kidnapped maomao to

But i can't get the out of my head the fact that he (or lakan) is red-green colour blind. It's not likely that Lakan is the colourblind one because Fengxian's eyes are red and hair is green. He's also not likely to be fully colourblind if he can play chess. Also his comment at the end of the scene about some grapes being green

Red/green and colourblindness in general was shown to be associated with WangMu, the ancestral mother of the nation. Conincidentally, she is also from the West

Btw - idk about the LN and Manga, but the way the anime described her story gives lowkey coloniser vibes lol. Ik in the legends she's anything but.

The emperor doesn't have this trait. So what if Shishou is a descendant of WangMu and wants the throne because he feels it's rightfully his?

So far in the episodes, there's a recurring theme of resentment from pedophilia connecting likely Shisui and Suirei, and Shenlu (and Shishou, since he's their daddy). In the previous episode, there was someone else that bore resentment towards the pedophile late emperor - the current empress dowager

The entire reason why loulan became concubine was because the empress dowager was close to shishou

Does the empress dowager have a part of play in this scheme???

Does the shrine keeper have anything to do with this???

Also why tf is Maomao so comfy being kidnapped

Also it was rly funny how the moment Maomao realised they were sisters, they just gave up on tying her hands entirely. But before when they were already in the forest they still tied up Shisui's hands - why the extended show lol?

Then if Shishou was going to launch a military assault on the emperor, it makes sense for him to get his daughter out. But why kidnap maomao? To get to jinshi? But if he's going to full scale battle, its easier to fight the emperor and jinshi at once, rather than arouse suspicions by luring jinshi using maomao. Besides, jinshi may be the emperor's brother but maomao is going to be a useless hostage when it comes to a full scale political revolution war. He's be better off getting Lingli

The only thing that confuses me is that Shishou is called the racoon-dog, which is overall quite a positive symbol

Anyway I am very excited and invested.

[sakasagami]

叔母サハ

[ale-chii]

Kusuriya no Hitorigoto op. 4

[tangentiallly]

LN4 spoilers // the fox and tanuki scene, lakan vs shishou - while at this point in the plot it's not revealed about shishou yet, but in retrospect, after knowing what comes later, something that's struck me about this scene is that how much both of these men love their wives. despite their dangerous reputation, despite being feared as powerful players at the court. that is something they both shared.

[keyserelric]

The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 - Episode 23 “The Shi Clan”

[elitemaomaosequanimity]

Talkative men have real beauties

[ecargmura]

The Apothecary Diaries Episode 35 Review - Summer Retreat

I can’t believe it took 35 episodes for the story to finally drop the name of this fictional world—it’s called Li. Maybe it’s because I’m an anime-only, but what was the purpose of Jinshi going to Loulan’s father’s estate but he had to be disguised? Can anyone explain it to me? Was he there as some sort of ambassador? Representative? I get why he’d bring Maomao because of poison tasting and possible drugging, but other than that, I’m a little confused.

Still, I get that it must be important if Gaoshun and Basen have to tag alongside Maomao; heck, Lihaku is there too! There’s also the dilemma that Jinshi has to tell Maomao about his real identity sooner or later. So, what I’ve been seeing is that Jinshi isn’t aware that he is the Emperor’s son, but he’s still considered his younger brother due to the baby swap. So, like does Shishou know that Jinshi is the second Prince and is that why he was invited to his place? The fact that he was given a soft-shelled turtle, a dish that’s known for increasing stamina indicates that there has to be some sort of scheme alongside the attempted assassination.

Still, it’s pretty crazy that Jinshi is able to jump down a 50 ft waterfall with Maomao in tow and still survive. Still, it’s interesting to note that Maomao can’t swim, which feels like a logical trait because she hasn’t lived outside of her hometown where there isn’t much water for her to swim in. I don’t know if CPR counts as a kiss, but…uh…congrats to Jinmao’s first kiss? Also, I feel like Jinshi looks a lot hotter with some of his bangs on his face and not be in his signature middle part.

I can tell that this episode is going to be a turning point for Maomao and Jinshi’s relationship with how social media likes to mention the frog constantly. Seriously, every time I dive into TAD discussion, someone always mentions a frog. Yes, I know what it symbolizes and it’s deeper meaning, and I’ve been told about it early on when I was reviewing the first season. Still, I won’t deny that it’s basically the story’s worst-kept secret in the fanbase.

Also, I’ve seen people on social media hating Gyokuyou and it baffles me because how can you hate her? She’s really sweet and smart. The fact that she’s the biggest JinMao shipper should be the golden ticket for her to not get hate, yet they hate her. She was super cute in the beginning of this episode where she was trying to nudge Jinshi to calling Maomao by her name, which he never did. I can see why this would be a turning point in their relationship if Jinshi decides to call her by her name. It’s basically a sign of intimacy. Let’s hope that Jinshi will call her by her name soon!

With the fact that the group is meeting with Loulan’s father does fuel a future story arc about her as she’s the most mysterious. Yes, she has a father, but who is Loulan? Why does she disguise herself and become Shisui…if she is her? Given that she was taken in as a concubine means that either her father only sees her as a tool for political power or there is a deeper, nefarious reason behind it… I feel like I’m way more invested in Loulan’s background than I am with the imperial family…

Anyways, if anyone is well-versed in this story, please help a person out with their questions. I don’t mind spoilers at all. Let me know your thoughts about this episode as well!