Original subtitles

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.

Excuse me.

Master Jinshi.

I heard Concubine Gyokuyou has gone into labor.

Episode 42: Lantern Plant

Yes, as of this morning.

We expect the actual birth to be a little later, but we're getting ready anyway.

This way.

How is she?

She's stable.

Her contractions have subsided, and she doesn't seem to be fatigued.

I see.

It's still unclear when the actual birth will take place.

How is the baby doing?

If you're talking about the breech birth, that is no longer a concern.

It seems like Maomao's treatments worked.

Maomao...

It's already been ten days since she went missing.

Is she alright?

L-Luomen, what can I do to help?

Doctor, out of the way!

Don't stand in the doorway, please!

Just look after the cat.

Yes!

It's a bit reassuring to have someone else more panicked than me around.

I'll depart for now. Please let me know if something happens.

Master Jinshi!

What is it?

It's about the missing eunuch.

So, what did you find?

The eunuch is named Tian.

He was supposed to be a slave from a foreign nation,

but none of the others who arrived with him were acquainted with him.

He must have snuck in somewhere.

In order to infiltrate the rear palace.

He probably kept his distance from the others to maintain that secret.

Because of that, we barely have any information on him.

Anything else?

He was seen praying at a shrine.

That's not strange. Maybe he was just religious.

Well...

The graveyard on the north side?

Yes.

The graves of those who were deflowered by the late emperor, who died in the rear palace.

Tian was seen paying his respects to one of the graves there.

Those who were deflowered by the late emperor at a young age

were never allowed to leave the rear palace, even after death.

They vanished in this garden, without even a record of their names kept.

Is that a worker from the clinic?

E-Excuse me.

This smell...

Where did Maomao go?!

Calm down! I'm "Jinshi the Eunuch" right now.

I have to be my usual self...

I'm looking for the freckled lady-in-waiting,

the one working for the Jade Pavilion.

Do you know who I'm talking about?

You know something.

I have recalled... an old memory.

He called my name with such a gentle voice.

He gave me sweets from a foreign land.

What are you talking about?

I guess nobody knows what he looked like when he was young.

I did hear he was completely different during his final years.

He never came to see me after I grew up,

so all I know about him is through rumors.

Who do you mean?

You look just like him.

What are you talking about?!

He too had a voice as sweet as honey,

and a face like a beautiful goddess.

Why is someone of your status pretending to be a eunuch?

Arrest her!

Let me go!

Stop resisting!

Master Jinshi, what should we do?

Master Jinshi?!

What was that?! Poison?!

Bring water!

Yes!

Master Jinshi, your instructions!

Master Jinshi!

Take this woman to the doctor's office. Make sure she doesn't do that again!

Yes, sir!

Please snap out of it!

Don't let some servant's casual insult shake you!

Casual?

She drank poison. It seems more serious than that.

She went pale when she saw me smile at her.

He too...

Gaoshun, do I look like him?

Enough to make someone drink poison out of fear?

In my memory, he was already a withered old man.

I didn't look like my mother or my brother.

So...

So, I believed.

I wonder where he got his looks from?

Given the emperor's tastes, it couldn't be the empress, not at her age.

That's why everyone's saying he's an illegitimate child.

I believed the rumors that said I had no connection to him.

I tried to escape the position of crown prince.

I begged my brother, the emperor, to let me take on a eunuch's identity,

and plant myself in the garden of women. All for what?

How ridiculous.

But I can only do...

...what I can do.

Right.

I can laugh at myself later.

For now, I have things to do.

That woman was paying her respects to this grave, correct?

Yes.

Lantern plant? This isn't in season.

Taihou...

The name of a court lady who passed away last year.

Yes. She used to gather women around to tell ghost stories.

She was the lady-in-waiting to one of the concubines.

Her relatives were...

Only one person is related to Taihou by blood.

During the late emperor's reign,

she gave birth to a daughter after an affair with a doctor.

If that daughter is still alive...

Where are you going?

The Garnet Pavilion.

The concubine that Taihou served was later given to Shishou.

She gave birth to a daughter.

That daughter is Concubine Loulan.

As for the daughter of Taihou and the doctor,

there's no record of what happened to either her or the doctor,

who was ousted from the rear palace.

Perhaps Concubine Loulan knows where the doctor and the daughter went.

It's just a hunch. There's no way to know if there's even a connection.

But, still...

Please.

I will do everything I can.

My apologies for the sudden visit.

She says she doesn't mind.

Thank you.

How strange, as always.

Flashy outfits and matching makeup with sharp points at the corners of their eyes...

It makes them look like foxes.

I had a question for you—

Master Jinshi?

What are you doing?!

You used to have seven ladies-in-waiting.

Where did the last one go?

I keep track of the faces and names of all of the ladies-in-waiting working here.

Your group changes outfits and makeup almost every day,

so I made note of features that were easy to track.

For example, the shapes of your lips or eyes,

and also...

The positions of your moles.

Sourin... no, Renpu, was it?

That's your name.

This was planned all along, wasn't it?

Bringing in a huge number of servants,

selecting similar-looking women to serve her...

The strange outfits and makeup.

All for this.

M-Master Jinshi—

Speak!

Where is she?

Where did she go?

Where did Concubine Loulan go?!

Please forgive her!

Renpu really doesn't know anything.

Please, forgive her...

Damn it. Calm down.

So, she didn't tell you where she was going?

No. Only that she wouldn't be returning.

A high-ranking concubine left the rear palace of her own free will.

There's no value in continuing to question them.

We have every available person on the search,

but are unable to locate Concubine Loulan.

There's no need to call her "Concubine" anymore.

Leaving the rear palace is a serious crime.

Especially for a high-ranking concubine.

She must have planned this knowing that.

Yes...

Bringing the daughter of a high-ranking official into the rear palace

is a deal that benefits the emperor, as well.

He can trap them in the birdcage that is the rear palace as a hostage.

Shishou seemed to care for his daughter a lot.

But who knows how he really felt?

I wonder how it was for Maomao.

She said one time that it's like a courtesan trying to quit.

Did she go with them willingly?

No, if she had, she wouldn't have left a note like that.

Where did she go, and why?

What?

Maomao is...

missing...?

Wait for me, Maomao!

Papa's coming to rescue you!

Master Lakan!

How did he find out?

It seems to have leaked out somehow.

Also, Shishou is currently missing.

Was he colluding with Loulan?

I don't know. But he is the father of an escaped concubine.

He will be charged with crimes against the emperor.

I understand.

Oh, and, regarding the court lady from yesterday... Shenlü.

She's no longer in mortal danger.

Is she awake?

No, not yet.

However, we've confirmed that she had connections to Taihou.

That's probably why she participated in this rebellion.

Is everyone in the clinic part of this?

No,

none of the others knew about it.

Yet they helped her, probably because they all shared the resentment Shenlü held.

With the late emperor gone,

their anger is directed toward the rear palace itself.

I must find Loulan immediately, but there's just not enough information.

Should I go after Shishou first?

No, someone else is doing that already.

Who could that be?

Enter.

Excuse me.

An abacus?

What do you want?

It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance.

My name is Kan Lahan.

There are only two people with the "La" name in the outer court: Lakan and Lahan.

It's a courtesy name, historically given by the imperial family.

A member of the La family. You must be the strategist's adopted son.

What do you want?

I wanted to show you this.

This is...

What do you think?

A receipt journal for the national treasury.

Yes. My father told me to look into it.

It didn't sit well with him that we can't find where the feifa came from.

How did that lead to the national treasury?

It was natural, after investigating the situations of recently punished officials.

I wanted you to see the original documents, but they got a bit lengthy.

So I made an excerpt based on the most obvious ones.

The price of grain has gone up visibly over the past few years.

Interesting, isn't it?

We've had no droughts nor insect plagues, nothing like that.

And one more thing: for some reason, the price of iron has increased, as well.

As have the prices of all metals nationwide.

Is our government building some huge structure somewhere?

I couldn't find any plans for such a project anywhere that I looked.

He's just like his adopted father in that cunning, shrewd way.

I understand what you're trying to say.

The price of grain isn't extraordinary by itself,

but given the volume of trade, that small price hike results in a huge difference.

Someone is pocketing that difference.

Also, the price of metals means someone is buying a lot of them.

That's what you're implying, right?

Yes. From what I'm thinking, these both lead to the same thing.

And there aren't very many people who can pull off something like this.

I could look into it in more detail.

Wouldn't it interest you to know where all this is flowing?

And what do you want in return?

You couldn't have brought this to me without asking for something in return.

Master Jinshi!

Could you give us just a small discount on this bill?

What's that for?

It's the cost of repairs for the gate into the rear palace that my father destroyed.

He should reap what he sows...

Fine.

Are you sure?!

In exchange, I expect you to be thorough.

Find out what's going on at the destination of this trail of money and metal.

As you wish.

I'll use whatever I can.

Next Time

Next time: "Festival."

Episode 43: Festival