TIME TO VISIT HOME! | The Apothecary Diaries - Ep 7
Added 2025-07-27 23:41:56 +0000 UTCMaomao figures out a way to go home for a few days to visit her dad
Comments
In regard to your last question, (trying not to give any spoilers) I don't think Jinshi is actually 'fawning' over the ladies in the rear palace, it's more that he manipulates with his looks. He's not trying to get anywhere with them, except to get them to do what he wants. Although, I think he also just enjoys the attention. Part of this is how he reacts to Maomao-she's the only one who doesn't fall for his manipulation, and actually doesn't care for him, so he's endlessly interested in her. One other note-no man who hasn't been castrated (lots his giblets, lol) is allowed in the rear palace, to keep the purity of the concubines. This way, they know for sure any babies coming out of there are only the Emperor's. So all the women who aren't concubines (ladies in waiting and servants) but who live there, don't have any way to make contact with men except in social situations like the garden parties. The hairpins are a token that allows a man to tell a woman in that situation he's interested in her, and if she reciprocates, they can have some time outside of the rear palace together to court.
SurrealSidhe
2025-07-31 21:00:30 +0000 UTCgreat reaction
Cerulean Spectre
2025-07-31 00:48:51 +0000 UTCDang it! Train of thought derailed. I forgot to mention that sometimes they deliberately volunteered to become eunuchs.
Edward Lott
2025-07-30 02:31:22 +0000 UTCI feel that, about her dad. I was sort of thinking that at the end their when they were talking, Maomao has that same calm going on. Haha just considering all the possibilities! Also very interesting about Jinshi
The Heck Podcast
2025-07-29 05:44:13 +0000 UTCIn the context of the Apothecary Diaries and ancient China until the 1940s, they cut everything. Eunuchs were cut either voluntarily to get a job in the palace or involuntarily as punishment. There is a good book about that: The Last Eunuch of China.
Greybeard
2025-07-28 11:47:27 +0000 UTCThe Hairpin from a man to a woman is a romantic overture. The military men aren't allowed in the rear palace so for them to do anything romantic with a lady in waiting they need to leave the palace. That's where the hairpins come in. The woman brings it back to the man and they plan an assignation outside the palace. Maomao uses it as kind of a loophole to get a trip back home and Lihaku goes along with it because Maomao trades her a meeting with Pairin. Everyone else is aware of the romantic nature of the hairpin giving. Maomao, is a bit harder to read. She may or may not be aware or is aware but just doesn't care much about romance. You may have noticed her attitude towards romance is much different than most of the other women in the rear palace, likely due to her being raised partly in the brothel by courtesans and the madam. As a result she is a lot more circumspect about love and romantic attachments, while most of the ladies in waiting have much more traditionally romantic, and probably a bit naive, views about love and relationships
Cronshaw
2025-07-28 04:30:26 +0000 UTC9:30 Jinshi's "natural self" showing interesting choice of words from Gaoshun considering Jinshi just complimented him on his careful choice of words explaining the poisoning. Lihaku is a military man, in battle he could beat Maomao with tactics but Maomao was raised in the brothel by 3 "big sisters" and Granny so in that social maneuvering Lihaku was done as soon as Maomao got to talking. Maomao did write Granny a letter knowing she would tell her dad, so he had time to calm down before Maomao opened the door. HE DID NOT SELL HIS DAUGHTER! LOL. Also doctors deal in crisis situations so they learn that calm exterior to settle panicking patients.
Hhound42
2025-07-28 02:40:38 +0000 UTCOk, to start with, I am not talking about Jinshi in particular. Leave him out of this for now. So in this show, it is like in China, historically. Both were cut off. You can theoretically still have relations with a woman, or try to, if you still have your penis. In my researches, I did not follow the paths about eunuchs' "activities", so I don't know the answer of what they could do, or had the desire to do. But in the rear palace, where the concubines were, the only men allowed were the Emperor and his family. They must have made an exception for the garden party. The men lined up on either side of the Emperor were the bureaucrats on one side, and the military on the other (where Lihaku is). In other parts of the palace, in this show and in some periods of Chinese history, the men were not eunuchs. (In some periods, bureaucrats could be, indeed, I think sometimes, had to be, eunuchs, though.) Lihaku is a military officer, and not a eunuch. To see Lihaku, Maomao met him in the gate house between the rear court and the rest of palace (the latter is the outer court and the Emperor's residence, which I think is called the inner court). I think there are eunuch guards there. In various periods of Chinese history, making eunuchs could be a punishment, they could be foreign prisoners or slaves, but it could also be voluntary. Some poor men helped their family by volunteering to work there. In the periods where bureaucrats were eunuchs, there was the desire for power as a motivation. There are different circumstances for various characters, but they will reveal those later, so I won't spoil. In this story, the practice of making eunuchs has ended, but some remain.
myst0dreamer
2025-07-28 02:01:43 +0000 UTCSooooooo many spoilers I could post! I have posted this before but hairpins equals favors. Use your imagination. Eunuchs in imperial China were often slaves that were either sold into slavery. However it was quite possible for them to gain positions of power and even wealth.
Edward Lott
2025-07-28 01:46:20 +0000 UTC
