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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.

Suirei.

Yes—

Keep your rats in line.

My apologies.

Oh,

I've seen this child before.

L-Lady Shenmei, I'm sorry...

He's the honorable Shirou's son.

Oh.

It's just children playing.

Let us be on our way, Mother.

Loulan.

So, it's as I thought.

You're right. Let's just give this girl a caning, then.

Should one hundred strikes be enough?

Find me a good pillar to tie her to.

Lady Shenmei, that's—

This is bad.

This woman is trouble.

I snuck in without permission and saw the feifas.

I'm likely going to get executed "by accident."

Hurry.

Mother.

You mentioned before that you wanted a new apothecary.

This is the girl.

She doesn't look like an apothecary.

No. But she's actually over thirty years old.

Apparently, after testing medicines on herself, she no longer ages.

Oh?

We haven't figured out which specific drug it is,

but she can certainly make something approaching an immortality potion.

If she fails, she'll just die, like the man before.

An immortality potion? Who's "the man before?"

I see. That's that, then.

Lady Ayla, let us continue our discussion later.

Yes.

I know.

It must be hard to get any real work done here.

Let's take the apothecary with us,

out to our stronghold.

Shisui's true identity was Concubine Loulan.

What an actress. Or maybe she's more like a tanuki.

When I gave that lecture to the four concubines,

she had that flashy outfit and listened expressionlessly.

She hid from the empress dowager and avoided Concubine Lishu at the baths

so that she wouldn't be recognized as Concubine Loulan.

She didn't hide from me,

since I didn't recognize her as Concubine Loulan when we caught Maomao the cat.

I was starting to get the hint, but...

An insect-loving, quirky, gossipy, but ordinary girl.

Shisui played us all.

Episode 44: The Stronghold

This is the room the previous apothecary used.

I didn't want to bring you all the way out here.

Is Shisui your half-sister?

She's the only one that treats me as a sister.

I knew it.

I heard Loulan was Shishou's only daughter,

but if he had another daughter with a different woman...

That would be totally unforgivable to his terrifying wife, Shenmei.

Lady Shenmei hates me more than anything.

My father, Shishou, is originally from one of the Shi clan's offshoot families.

However, the main family—Lady Shenmei's family—saw his talents and adopted him.

He was given the name "Shishou" and the two became engaged.

But during the late emperor's reign,

Lady Shenmei was taken to the rear palace.

When she was returned later as a gift,

my mother and I were already with my father.

Lady Shenmei threw my mother and I out of the mansion,

and used us as servants.

She even hated the fact

that my name contained the character signifying our clan name.

Wait, so "Shisui" is...

Yes. It was originally my name.

Loulan seems to like that name.

She could have chosen any other name as her servant pseudonym.

It's just how she is.

Even though they were born from the same father,

just because their mothers were different,

one gets treated as a treasured princess to be given to the emperor.

The other is sent in as a court lady to scheme in the shadows of the rear palace.

Suirei was part of the attempt to assassinate Master Jinshi at that ceremony.

She used the explosion at the warehouse as cover

to steal some ceremonial tools,

and when she was caught, she escaped, feigning death.

And Shishou must have been the mastermind behind the feifa attack the other day.

Master Jinshi, the manager of the rear palace, was trying to make changes.

It wasn't in line with what Shishou was doing.

Is that all, though?

Shisui... I mean, Loulan said this hair stick was valuable.

He isn't just some official.

Rather, he wasn't even a eunuch.

What's wrong?

When you returned to the rear palace pretending to be a eunuch,

how did they inspect you?

Where did this come from?

It was by touch.

Would an uncastrated man be able to enter?

The physical inspection is done by three officials.

It would be hard to trick them all.

Then how did Master Jinshi enter?

The only men who can enter and leave the rear palace freely

are the emperor himself and his closest relatives.

The only close male relative the emperor has is his younger brother.

I thought of that, but the age doesn't match.

But what if that youthful side that Master Jinshi sometimes shows is his true nature?

Come to think of it,

he was trying to tell me something important during that hunt...

Ox bezoars!

Ox bezoars can drive a person mad. How terrifying.

What is it?

Oh, nothing.

Hmm...

Right!

Let's set this aside for now.

Right now, I need to understand what's going on.

Snow...

Yes, it's going to start snowing hard soon.

Northern highlands...

Shenmei called this a "stronghold."

Surrounded by sturdy walls, backed by a cliff.

What is Shenmei doing out here?

Master Gaoshun suspected that the special envoy

snuck out at night to meet someone in secret.

That workshop was making a cutting-edge weapon from the west, the feifa...

Are you all trying to start a war?

That isn't for me to decide.

Because Lady Loulan said what she did, I need you to at least pretend to make medicine.

You don't even have to ask.

Food will be brought to you.

Just make sure you don't anger Lady Shenmei.

War, huh? They're going big.

So, what now?

This is the third floor.

With the snow outside, I probably won't make it back to the village.

Was this how the previous apothecary was imprisoned?

It sounded like he died testing medicines...

Oh?

Oh?!

A mountain of treasure left behind by the previous apothecary?!

Farming season is over soon.

I heard somewhere that wars happen when farmers aren't busy.

Assuming this is the Shihoku-shu, the northern region...

Ten days by boat from the rear palace,

then to the hot springs village by foot,

then horse carriage...

What mountain is in that range...

I should have studied harder.

Young sir, you can't play over there!

Come on! I haven't explored there yet!

There are other kids besides Kyou-u as well?

When I was brought here from the village,

Kyou-u insisted he'd come too, but Suirei seemed reluctant.

Perhaps she wanted to keep him at the village.

If the Shi clan rebels, the punishment will extend to the entire clan.

No one will be spared. Not even women, children, or babies.

Do the children know?

Did the adults tell them?

I should just write this off as someone else's problem...

Mother is laughing.

This is where I laugh.

Mother is angry at father.

This is where I get angry with her.

Mother is giving punishment.

This is where I just watch.

That is how I understood it.

When Mother laughs, I laugh.

When she is sad, I am sad.

As long as I remain her puppet, she will not get angry at me.

The ugliness wouldn't get worse.

It was so tight and uncomfortable, but I was going to accept it.

But...

Filth! You, and that woman too!

You should never have been born!

I was wrong.

Mother will continue to become uglier.

Acting as Mother's puppet will not stop her.

Oh, it's all useless.

I noticed that far too late.

Hey.

Lady Shenmei wants to speak to you.

I brought the apothecary.

Excuse me.

The scent of musk...

She mixed something in.

So?

Where is my potion of immortality?

It may take a while longer.

Oh, I see.

Here, they're like master and servant.

Outside, they're like close sisters.

I expect some kind of result by tomorrow.

Yes.

We're going back.

I only get to leave the room once a day, to make my report.

This situation I'm in is rather annoying,

but I don't dislike the actual work.

A lot of the medicines here are old,

but the inventory is just as good as the doctor's office.

Tons of reading material, too.

This previous apothecary must have been really good.

Hey, apothecary!

Yes, Master Kyou-u?

Ew, that's so creepy!

Ow ow ow! That hurts, apothecary!

Yeah, I want to hit him.

Who's that?

The new apothecary.

Hey, did you see any other women in Lady Shenmei's room?

I did.

Really?! My mother's supposed to be there. How was she?

Kyou-u's mother was among them?

I don't know what she looks like, so I can't say.

I see.

That's too bad!

They say my mother's really busy with work.

Maybe I should have waited at the village.

They must have kept him at the hot springs village to keep him away from his mother.

Or perhaps his mother is...

With that, I'll take my leave.

Oh, hey!

Nothing!

So that's what this is, Lahan.

Yes. Well, it's just a conjecture, based on the numbers. But...

The stronghold to the north, governed by Shishou, is expanding.

Yes. It was originally abandoned.

There was no mention of an expansion to us.

In other words...

Rebellion.

Even if the Shi clan has sworn fealty since the era of the Mother Royal,

and Shishou himself is the closest advisor to the empress dowager,

this is unforgivable.

How far along are they?

Given the timing of the rising iron price,

they must be quite far along with their preparations.

I'd recommend quick action—

What exactly are you doing,

Lahan?

F-Father...

Master Strategist.

You must not be visiting this precious noble so often.

You're bound to make people suspicious.

Especially since it's hard to tell if this noble is a man or a woman.

What?!

Basen!

But Father!

Master Gaoshun.

Master Strategist, I know what you're trying to say.

You're dissatisfied with my shiftless cowardice.

Exactly.

Given how much he dotes on his daughter,

it's actually surprising he took so long to show up.

The secret escape route,

the missing eunuch,

the non-existent servant girl named Shisui...

We were one step behind in every instance, resulting the kidnapping of Maomao.

I'm responsible for this.

Despite the presence of a certain someone

who can waltz in and out of the rear palace at will,

my daughter was kidnapped!

And that someone is leisurely taking his time with his paperwork.

Can I assume you don't care about the life of a single woman?

I'll allow you to vent your frustration.

But our enemy is Shishou, not me.

What I'm saying is, now that you've figured this all out,

why are you still sitting here?

He knows everything.

He knows I lack the confidence to assume my rightful position.

He knows how I ran away from it to spend my time here instead.

Your appearance, your work... all half-measures.

And you think everything will just all work out somehow?

What can you ever hope to achieve acting as a sorry eunuch?!

I...

My apologies.

U-Uncle?!

I had no idea you saw me that way.

It's not as though I wanted to become a eunuch, you know.

N-No! I wasn't referring to you—

I'm quite the "sorry eunuch," indeed. I can't even walk right.

I was carried here by a carriage. How extravagant of me.

I am also responsible for not keeping an eye on Maomao.

N-No, I don't blame you at all, Uncle...

He made it.

You're always so quick to become aggressive when you're irritated.

You should think about the situation other people are in, too.

I know, Uncle.

That was just, you know, an exchange that took an unexpected turn.

I didn't mean to say those things, not one bit!

An "exchange"? I didn't say anything...

Perhaps there's something you should be saying politely

before starting a fight, is there not?

I come to you with a plea.

I humbly request that you rally the army to defeat Shishou, the traitor!

The Shi clan seems to have been manufacturing

a cutting-edge model of feifa for several years now.

There's also the assassination attempt using said feifa,

as well as the case of Loulan's escape.

We have all of the evidence to prove that this is a rebellion.

This problem needs to be addressed immediately.

This politeness isn't extended to Jinshi the eunuch.

If Shishou is to be taken down as punishment for a rebellion,

the Forbidden Army, directly under the emperor, would need to be mobilized.

They would not be under the direction of Grand Commandant Lakan, but...

How long do you intend to fool everyone with your false role, Master Jinshi?

Or rather...

Moon Prince?

I knew this day was inevitable. It just happens to be today.

It seems like it's time for me to take charge.

Next Time

Next time: "Taibon."

Episode 45: Taibon