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The Apothecary Diaries

This story is a work of fiction. The names of all of the characters, organizations, and so on
are imaginary. It also bears no connection to any specific real-life events.

Mother?

Why did my mother have that look on her face?

Now, return to your room.

Y-Yes.

That old man... That old woman...
Who were they?

It's hard to recall...

What an awful dream.

Back then, I had no way of knowing
who the old man and old woman were.

They taught me later.

The old man was my father
and the old woman was my grandmother.

Also...

They told me that the man I always thought
was my father was actually my brother.

That girl can be very dull
in strangely specific instances,

but she's bound to figure this out soon.

Or, perhaps she already has...

That would put me at ease.

I can't stay quiet about this forever.

A long time ago, this land was inhabited
by a different group of people.

Episode 31: The Shrine of Choosing

These people had no leader, but a noble
woman arrived from a distant land.

The woman became pregnant
with the child from the heavens.

That child became the first emperor of Li.

The woman, whose eyes could see
even in the darkest of nights,

later became known as the Mother Royal.

Some say she was a sorceress who
descended from the land of sorcerers.

The fable of this nation's founding, huh?

How is it, apothecary?

Careful, Master Jinshi,
or they'll see your face.

Oops.

They're so nicely focused
on their studies right now.

The appearance of this creature
would steal their attention.

So, there are around twenty students?

I was hoping we would get more.

We started with about ten, so it is increasing.

Well, it sounds about right,
I think. That said...

If Master Jinshi's plan works out and
more servant girls become literate,

the nature of the rear palace
should begin to change.

In fact, Xiaolan is already beginning
to read simple stories by herself.

Master Jinshi, we must move on.

Yeah. What about you?

I will stay and observe a bit more.

I see. If you notice anything, report to me.

Understood.

Xiaolan.

Hey! I didn't notice you, Maomao!

How is it? Have you learned a few characters?

Oh, only a few! I still have
to ask the teacher about some.

Come with me, Maomao!

Oh, sure.

The teacher is in the building next door.
I visit him sometimes to ask questions.

Hmm? Is that an old shrine?

Excuse me! Coming in!

Yes, yes. You there,
young lady, you're a new face.

It's strangely thin and long,
and goes quite deep, it seems.

The distance between the pillars is short.
It must be divided up into quite a few rooms.

Does that shrine interest you?

Yes, it seems like a strangely-shaped building.

That's a shrine built by the people
who originally lived here.

When the Mother Royal ruled over this place,
she didn't denounce the old religion.

Is the Mother Royal
the first emperor's mother

that was in that story from earlier?

Yes. The Mother Royal told her son this:

"The one who rules this land
must pass through that shrine.

Only those who choose the right path
can be the ruler of this land."

The son successfully passed through
that shrine to become the emperor.

The capital city was moved to
this region because of that shrine, too.

Wow!

But the shrine hasn't been
used in many decades.

I wonder if it will ever be used again.

What do you mean?

The previous emperor's elder brothers
all passed away from an epidemic.

Only the previous emperor survived.

In other words, there was no need to do
the rite of passage to determine the heir.

I'm glad someone is showing interest
in that shrine. It's truly been a while.

Did it attract more attention in the past?

Yes. There was a quirky doctor
who used to work here.

He would wander around the rear
palace whenever he had the time.

He asked about the shrine,
like you did just now—

Is that Luomen...?

Do you know him?

Oops. I didn't mean to...

He's my adopted father.

After he left the rear palace,

he began working as an apothecary
in the pleasure district.

I see. You're Luomen's...

I wonder if he got along with my dad?

Maomao!

Look! I wrote something!

Wow.

There is no poison.

I will take my leave now.

Wait, apothecary.

I'm going somewhere after this,
and I want you to accompany me.

Where to?

To the Shrine of Choosing.

Why are you doing this all of a sudden?

What is he planning to do?

It's the old shrine that I saw today.

And...

Is that the teacher from the school?

I have eagerly awaited your arrival.

May I attempt this again?

You might get the same result,
but if that's acceptable, it's fine.

What a way to speak to the emperor.

Who will be accompanying you?

Hmm. I will take these two.

Huh?

Um, isn't this place off-limits to women?

The Mother Royal and
Empress Dowager were women, too.

Please.

Well, let's go.

Three doors...?

Do not pass through the red door

Do not pass through the red door?

The colors of the doors
are blue, red, and green.

So, we should choose blue or green?

Which door will you choose?

Let's go with the blue this time,
since I chose green the last time.

That's true. This way, please.

I hope you'd pay more heed to
the ones tasked to maintain this place.

It goes unused for so long,
then suddenly someone wants to use it.

Haha, apologies for the trouble.

Three doors again... Green, brown, light blue.

The next one says,
"Do not enter the brown door."

Do not enter the brown door

I'll go with green.

So...

Is this going to go on and on like this?

Up and down, going back and turning,

I've lost my sense of direction.

Feels like we're walking around
the same place in circles.

Why did the emperor bring me along?

I hope this is over soon...

This is the final door.

The doors are blue, purple, and yellow.

Do not enter the blue door

"Do not enter the blue door."

Also, there's another door
that leads into this place.

I guess a separate path converges here.

I've decided.

I choose the yellow.

Are you certain?

Please.

A dead end.

Child of royalty, yet not
child of the Mother Royal

"Child of royalty,
yet not child of the Mother Royal?"

I have no idea what that means,
but it's definitely a rejection of some sort.

Same result as before.

Why is he so serious?

I guess I am incapable of
deciphering the will of the heavens.

I must disagree.

When you included this shrine
into the rear palace,

I became the only person to manage this place.

What value could there be
in the will of the heavens?

This old eunuch must have been
managing this old shrine

from way before the rear palace was built.

He even accepted castration to become
a eunuch so he could remain here...

The exit is this way.

The emperor followed every direction.
He didn't seem to make any mistakes.

Yet he wasn't able to reach the correct answer.

Was there some other intent behind this?

The number of rooms?
The color of the doors chosen?

Luomen probably would have figured it out.

Dad would have...?

Are you saying my adopted
father would understand?

Well, I can't say for certain.

It's true that Dad has
an astonishing amount of knowledge.

That said, being told that
I can't do it is a bit annoying.

Dad's knowledge is exceptionally
advanced in the field of medicine.

Is that somehow related to this?

Three doors, three colors.

Child of royalty, yet not
child of the Mother Royal

"Child of royalty,
yet not child of the Mother Royal."

What does that phrase mean?

Do you have any idea what
"not child of the Mother Royal" could mean?

Now that I think about it,

in the foundation story, only the Mother
Royal appears, not the father.

One might think, then, that we would

adopt a system that values
the maternal bloodline,

yet our nation is based on a paternal
hereditary succession system.

Given that, if one were to devise a way
to carry on the Mother Royal's bloodline...

The previous emperor's elder brothers
all passed away from an epidemic.

Master Jinshi.

Did you notice something?

Were all the previous emperor's
siblings born to the same mother?

Not everyone, but I heard the mothers
who gave birth to the princes were sisters.

In other words,
they were of close bloodlines.

This may sound rude, but might I speak freely?

I will allow it. Go on.

Did several of the previous
emperors have poor eyesight?

I have heard once that many
did not possess the best eyesight.

The previous emperor could
see perfectly well, though.

I knew it.

Could we go through the shrine again?

Do you think you're worthy, young lady?

I allowed you to enter this last time, but it
wouldn't do to permit too many attempts.

That's especially true if you're going to
opine on the doors to choose.

You are neither a concubine
nor a princess, are you?

Nope, just a servant girl.

Hmm. Well, I could accept her as a concubine.

I'd have trouble convincing Lakan, though.

Surely you jest...

Surely you jest! There's no telling
what the other concubines would think!

That's a good point, as well.

Then maybe you should take her.

Would that be acceptable?

If that is your wish.

Well, let's go.

He's more playful than usual.

First, the blue, red, and green doors.

Do not pass through the red door

"Do not pass through the red door."

Which would you choose?

The blue one.

The same one as the emperor, at least for now.

Next is the green, brown, and light blue.

Do not pass through the brown door

"Do not pass through the brown door."

The light blue door.

Hmm. That's not the one I chose.

I couldn't tell the last time I went through.

If there is a door that only
the Mother Royal's children can choose...

The key would be the colors of the doors.

That's the tenth one.
White, purple, and green doors...

Choose the red door

"Choose the red door."

Hmm.

There's no red door. What is this?

The green door.

Green?

You'll see when we get through.

This is...

Congratulations.
You have chosen the correct path.

In the past, the one chosen by
the Mother Royal became the next king.

He would stand in this spot and
make a proclamation to the people.

If nobody could choose the right path,

they would revisit this shrine with
a concubine who could choose the right path.

In the past, this would be done
by those with the right blood.

However, this time, it seems like
someone else got the right answer.

Hey, you provoked me.
What's up with this old man?

More importantly, could you
explain to me so that I can understand?

Perhaps you should ask this girl here.

And now this old guy's
making me do the hard part?!

You heard him.

In the foundation tale,

the Mother Royal is said to have eyes
that can see in the darkest of nights.

This means that those who
are chosen by this shrine,

who carry the Mother Royal's bloodline,

have eyes that cannot tell colors apart.

Tell colors apart?

What do you mean?

Let me explain how I chose the doors earlier.

First, there were three doors:
blue, red, and green,

Do not pass through the red door

with the message, "Don't pick the red door."

Blue and green should both be correct,

but a child of the Mother Royal
would choose the blue one.

This is because they would not be able
to differentiate between red and green.

So, they would choose the door
that they know for sure is not red.

Cannot differentiate between red and green...

It's rare in our nation,
but in the western region,

they say one in ten males are unable to
differentiate between red and green.

Luomen probably would have figured it out.

Since my dad studied abroad in the west,
he would have known about this trait.

So, that's what he meant.

The same is true for the next door.

Do not pass through the brown door

The instruction was to avoid the brown.

If brown and green looked the same to a person,

they'd choose light blue
through process of elimination.

For the last door, it said "choose red,"
yet there was no red door.

Choose the red door

However, if they could see
the white and purple doors,

the person would assume the final door
would have to be the red one.

In other words, even though there
seemed to be two correct choices,

there was only one truly correct answer.

But if every emperor had such a trait,
we would have noticed, wouldn't we?

I heard from my adopted father that
even if they can't tell the colors apart,

once they got used to it,
they could live mostly normally.

So, it's actually quite hard
for others to notice.

Also, they say in exchange for
color identification,

these people could see well in the dark.

That could be what later became the legend
of the Mother Royal's eyesight.

So only those who had the same traits
as the Mother Royal could pass through here.

I'm sure some have made it
through by coincidence.

But the probability of making it through
to the last room is very low.

In the story, they say the Mother Royal
came from a distant land.

She had a trait where she
couldn't differentiate certain colors.

She arrived here from the west
with many servants.

Settling into a new land is never easy.

Therefore, she married
into the leadership of this land.

Wait, apothecary. The legend says
the Mother Royal never had a husband.

That was the clever decision
by the Mother Royal and her family.

It's not rare to accept
a wife from a distant land,

to prevent the bloodline
from getting too thick.

Even if the Mother Royal is the origin,

the imperial throne
is held by paternal succession.

That was probably decided to honor
the original leader of this land.

However, the Mother Royal's family didn't
want their bloodline to thin out and vanish.

How can one make sure that
the Mother Royal's bloodline is maintained?

That's where this Shrine of Choosing comes in.

If no potential heir carries the trait,

a concubine from a related lineage is
brought in to accompany them into the shrine.

That's why they added the rule about
allowing concubines to enter with the emperor.

That's how they gradually infiltrated
the center of the nation.

Deep enough to chase
the original leader out of the story

and make the Mother Royal the origin.

When nobody with first-hand knowledge
remains, the story becomes the truth.

It was a very peaceful,
very deliberate takeover.

Of course, I can't say that out loud.

So, are you saying that I don't carry
the blood of the Mother Royal in me?

This shrine is just the most
accurate method to find out.

Sometimes, the trait is not
passed on from parent to child.

Also, bloodlines that become
too thick can cause problems, too.

That could be why the previous emperor's
siblings all fell ill in the epidemic.

I wouldn't have thought this
little girl would figure it all out.

Little girl?

It is said that the Mother Royal

ruled over this land because
she possessed a rare intellect.

If you're going to thin the bloodline,
why don't you add this one to it?

Huh?

What is this bag of bones talking about?

That would be interesting,
but I don't want to anger Lakan.

More importantly, she needs at least
15 centimeters more in the chest.

Whatever.

However, please be careful.

There are many who do not favorably view
the introduction of new blood.

Yes, I'm aware.

Yes, I'm sure you are, Your Majesty.

Please be careful.

I know.

Who really is he?

Just "the emperor's favorite eunuch?"
That doesn't seem to add up...

Well, who cares?

Some things are best left unknown.
That's how things go.

Next Time

Next time:
"The Empress Dowager."

Episode 32: The Empress Dowager