Episode 8 of The Apothecary Diaries takes us away from the royal palace and to Maomao’s home village where she is visiting for three days. However, rest is not in the cards for Maomao as she gets dragged into a possible attempted murder/suicide case at the local brothel. In this episode, we get to see Maomao’s father’s teaching techniques, which is a fascinating look into how Maomao grew up to be so brilliant and analytical.
Wheat Stalks
As Maomao is checking up on the family fields, she notices a young girl banging on the front door of the apothecary. Maomao’s father is out, so she takes it upon herself to help the girl out. After being brought to a nearby brothel, the scene is grim as Maomao smells poison and looks upon two weak bodies in a bedroom. After making sure the couple is in stable condition, Maomao goes into detective mode.
When her father is notified about the situation, he asks her about her process of stabilizing the bodies and what she thinks happened. We learn that this is the method her father uses to teach Maomao, and we get a sense of the type of teaching environment Maomao was exposed to throughout her childhood. Her father already knows the answers but challenges Maomao as a teaching tool. Seeing this dynamic between Maomao and her father was eagerly awaited, and I love that we finally got a deeper look into their relationship.
In an unexpected turn, the young girl who came to take Maomao from the apothecary and to the brothel reveals that she, despite being a child, wishes to kill the man who was poisoned. We get more information about the man’s terrible behavior towards women at the establishment and understand why this child would want to kill him. While the young girl wasn’t involved in the poisoning situation, it becomes clear to Maomao that the man had a target on his back due to his deplorable actions. In typical Maomao fashion, she dwells on the situation, as much as she’d like to just relax and spend time with her father at this time. Dwelling serves Maomao well as she concludes that the woman of the couple actually poisoned the man through clever means.
It seems that Maomao can’t even escape mysteries in her own hometown, but it was refreshing to see an episode take place outside the palace. If there’s one thing I appreciated the most about this look into Maomao’s hometown in The Apothecary Diaries episode 8, it’s the scenery. The show continues to display dazzling backdrops of ancient China during the fall — a favorite aesthetic of mine.
After three days, Maomao returns to the palace where she must face Jinshi — to which a hilarious scene ensues. Jinshi nervously and aggressively asks Maomao about her trip outside the palace with another man. Maomao replies with sarcasm as she describes a magical night with the man where she “tried her hardest”. Jinshi, dropping the china he was sipping from, looks at Maomao in horror, rendering him unable to speak. Lady Gyokuyou and her servants wait outside the door holding in their laughter. The fact that the whole palace is seemingly aware of Jinshi’s blatant feelings for Maomao makes their tense and complicated relationship even funnier.
We’ll see if Jinshi can pick himself back up after that blow in the next episode. Until The Apothecary Diaries episode 9, you can check out the latest on 16Bit Sensation: Another Layer, which is also airing this fall.
Images via Crunchyroll
©Natsu Hyuga, Shufunutomo / “Kusuriya no Hitorigoto” Production Committee
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