THE CONSPIRACIES UNRAVEL | The Apothecary Diaries - Ep 11
Added 2025-09-22 00:16:43 +0000 UTCConcubine Ah-Duo is being retired as Maomao is trying to put together the pieces of the puzzle about her past.
Comments
Maybe a slightly Spoiler alert as this is just my speculation: . . . . . . . . . . I think that Jinshi is only pretending to be a Eunuch to protect himself base on hint of his connection with the Concubine Ah-dou but I don't clearly know the reason for that. so it is highly possible that Jinshi still has his family jewel attached and not cut off. Hehe. And base on the episode plot, it's really likely that Jinshi and Ah-dou is mother and son cause it will be pointless for them to give such a hint of detailed explanation that will just be dismiss as not true. There may be something there that force Jinshi to pretend as a Eunuch. 😁
Jhosh Marian
2025-10-05 03:40:48 +0000 UTCgreat reaction
Cerulean Spectre
2025-09-24 00:40:23 +0000 UTCI really like that aspect of this anime! It makes it even more realistic like you said. It's fun to keep guessing and speculating on everything that is happening. It makes getting to the truth even better.
The Heck Podcast
2025-09-22 22:13:19 +0000 UTCYeah, that's what I was going to say but forgot to about doctors in the rear palace. That's true about botulism, babies, and honey, but I also think they were concerned about the flowers from which the honey is made being themselves poisonous.
myst0dreamer
2025-09-22 14:46:01 +0000 UTCThink about it guys, to be a doctor attending the rear palace if you're not a member of the Emperors family you have to be a eunuch, so spending years learning to be a doctor with a bright future ahead of you are you going to go get "chopped" to serve at the rear palace? 5:00 Even today they warn not to give honey to babies under a year old they can get infant botulism from honey if the honey isn't treated properly. Be careful asking for answers, they will only lead to more darker secrets that you'll want answers to also.
Hhound42
2025-09-22 14:14:30 +0000 UTCWondering whether the swap happened or not, is supposed to torment you for a long time, and is not confirmed either way by the end of Season 2. What I said last episode still stands, that what the characters know or speculate is not necessarily what is true. But it could be, even if they think it's not. There are other things going on as well in the background, as you noticed, which further information will make clearer. And related to this, some characters have opinions about other characters, that were formed from their own experiences, and don't necessarily represent the whole picture. No one character knows all. It's actually very realistic.
myst0dreamer
2025-09-22 06:36:15 +0000 UTCJinshi IS well aware. And I will say one word that when you watch Season 2 will make sense. Frog. I am trying to NOT get into spoiler territory despite there already having been lots of clues.
Edward Lott
2025-09-22 06:03:37 +0000 UTCYou do need to read faster, lol, or talk less. Lady Lishu (the young girl) always looked up to AhDuo as a mother figure. Now that AhDuo is leaving the Rear Palace, Lady Lishu won't have any chance to talk to her or be with her. And AhDuo clearly felt motherly toward Lishu, which is what Maomao saw in her expression at the end. Maomao's theory is that, because AhDuo and the Empress were giving birth at the exact same time, Luomen was forced to attend the Empress only, leaving AhDuo to suffer through a very difficult birth that left her unable to ever have another child. AhDuo, seeing that her son would never get as much attention as the other baby, might have switched her child with the other boy - the current Emperor's little brother. Which means that Fengming actually killed the Emperor's little brother, not his son. This theory makes Jinshi (if Jinshi is in fact the "little brother" masquerading as "Jinshi the Eunuch") the Emperor's first son and heir, even though Jinshi doesn't seem to know. No one ever sees the younger brother of the Emperor anyway, because he is supposedly "sickly" and kept in seclusion most of the time. We don't know who knows the truth, other than AhDuo and maybe the Empress Dowager (Emperor's mother/mother of the baby who died). It is possible that Luomen realized which baby was the one who died (and that the babies were switched), so to keep him from exposing all this, they kicked him out of the palace. This is super complicated but also important to be aware of and understand. If Jinshi is the Emperor's little brother or his son - either case - then there is no way Jinshi really is a eunuch. They would never do that to a potential Emperor. But he wouldn't need to be, technically, because any close male kin of the Emperor is allowed into the Rear Palace without needing to be a eunuch. He would be next in line for the throne if the Emperor dies before he manages to publically have a iiving son. If the Emperor dies while the child is still very young, there could be a major power struggle for the throne between the adult, capable Jinshi and the unknown factor of a little kid (easily manipulated).
Serralinda
2025-09-22 04:48:54 +0000 UTCThis episode took us both by surprise!! So many things are taking shape! It's pretty crazy!
The Heck Podcast
2025-09-22 02:59:28 +0000 UTCOh god. Soooooo many spoilers could I post! Alas, I will not! But here is what I can post. Lady Lishu was taken away from her parents at a very young age. She developed a mother daughter relationship with Lady Ah-Duo. Some of the things won't actually be revealed until the second season. There are so many interwoven story lines in this anime! And the child swap? It happened. So many spoilers there I shall not share. It is fun just rewatching these episodes knowing what happens in the second season and seeing their foreshadowing in the first!
Edward Lott
2025-09-22 01:56:22 +0000 UTC
