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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