The Apothecary Diaries (薬屋のひとりごと)

Maomao.

Hm?

Could you deliver some medicine

to the Verdigris House for me?

Sure, Dad. I'll get right on it.

Try to be careful out there.

They're saying abductions are on the rise.

I know, I know.

I'll stop by the herb plot, too.

Thank you. Don't be long.

I won't!

Huh? Is that all you've got?

Please! An evening's all I'm asking!

- -

I'm runnin' a business here, sir, not a charity.

Wasn't that Pairin,

one of the famous Three Princesses

of the Verdigris House?

No gawkin' before payin'!

Hm. It's taking too long to heal.

Recipe's not right.

Oh, Maomao!

Hm?

-Hey, Pairin. -What? Have you been

wounding yourself again?

Well, yeah.

I needed something to experiment on.

- -You're so thin.

Are you eating?

Feels to me like you're well-nourished

enough for the both of us.

Maomao!

- -If I find you

playing around with the combustibles

near the good mahogany again, I'll box your ears.

Or maybe we find another way to have you pay us back.

- -

Your medicine's there on the counter, Granny!

Say hello to your old man for me!

Or not.

Was that Maomao's voice I just heard?

So is she here, or...

-She just took off. -

Greedy old bag.

Always trying to turn me into a lousy courtesan.

- -

You have got to be kidding me.

Damn.

Dad is gonna be pretty worried when I don't come back.

It's a healthy baby boy!

This is a proud day indeed, Lady Lihua.

- -

Thankfully, the Prince was born

without issue.

I see. Wonderful.

- -

What I wouldn't give for some good meat-skewers right now.

Hopefully, dad's still eating properly without me around.

I'm not sure if I was sold off or ransomed,

but either way, the result was the same.

I've been stuck here three months now.

Turns out, palaces and brothels aren't that different.

Given the choice, I'd take Verdigris House

over the Rear Palace any day.

- -

Well, lingering on it isn't gonna do any good.

Life.

One minute you're an apothecary,

the next a servant.

The Rear Palace is a garden of women

cultivated to grow the emperor's seed.

Men are strictly forbidden from entering.

The only people permitted access

to this inner sanctum are the Emperor,

his kin, and, of course, eunuchs.

Males who've lost a pretty important part

of their anatomy, entrusted to keep the peace.

Overall, there are 2,000 concubines and servants,

and 1,000 eunuchs set to protect them.

Sadly, unlike the high, mid, or low-ranking concubines,

we serving girls are considered expendable,

and can lose our lives

for the most trivial of infractions.

We're valued less than even the low-ranking shut-ins.

But...at least they deign to pay us, I suppose.

Maomao, you've gotta help me!

Do you know what room this is supposed to be?

Oh.

That'd be the token for Wisteria-nine.

-Over there. -Right! Thank you!

Illiteracy's not all that uncommon

among the servants.

In order to work in the rear palace,

they're taught the bare essentials

of etiquette.

Reading and writing's a whole other story.

The raise I'd get for being literate

would just line the purses of my kidnappers.

So I'm happy to keep that skill in my own back pocket.

The job isn't without prospects.

You could well become a concubine, if you have...

...assets.

Freckles. Flat-chest.

Unfortunately, there's not a great demand

for the skin-and-bones look.

Standing out around here

can be its own brand of dangerous.

Better to keep my head down.

- -

If I work hard,

I'll be home-free in two years.

I really need a drink.

- Hey, did you hear? -Huh?

They say a beautiful new eunuch's been posted

to the central courtyard.

It's practically all anyone

in the Rear Palace has been talking about!

Oh?

I mean, nothing wrong with a little looky-look

to check the goods.

Am I right, Maomao?

- -A handsome eunuch, huh?

Unh.

Hm?

The stress is taking a toll on her health.

Yes.

Huh?

Poor Xiaoling.

My sincerest apologies.

It won't be long now.

The physician is just seeing to the young prince.

I see.

They're only three months

and six months old, right?

Yes. Princess Lingli and the prince

aren't even out of swaddling clothes yet.

You don't think this curse stuff

is real, do you?

What are you talking about?

Don't you hear anything, Maomao?

The entire palace is buzzing with rumors

of hexes and dark sorceries!

Because of all the heirs that have been dying

in the Rear Palace.

Each one of the Emperor's previous three children

grew frail and died not long after they were born.

Doesn't that seem a little weird?

All three?

Yeah, and it looks like it's happening again.

The newborns are unwell?

That's right!

With the Prince and Princess both ill,

the royal physician's been running back and forth

between Lady Gyokuyou and Lady Lihua!

Huh.

If I'm not mistaken,

since the Emperor didn't yet have one,

that makes Lady Lihua, mother of the heir,

Empress Consort!

Well, yeah. That's only logical.

Since there's no preestablished Empress Consort,

and Concubine Lihua gave birth to a Prince,

her position is assured.

Maybe so,

but rumor has it that the Emperor's favor

lies firmly with Lady Gyokuyou!

Which, allegedly, is somehow connected

to all of this curse business.

A hierarchical power struggle, huh?

Lady Lihua must be suffering the worst of the afflictions.

The court physician seems to be attending her the most.

Lady Lihua's sick, also?

Yeah, mother and child both have the same thing.

Stomach and headaches, apparently,

with pretty bad nausea in the mix as well.

Stomachache. Headache. And nausea.

I'm telling you, this curse is gonna doom us all!

The only thing that'll doom us is gullibility.

Huh?

So, headache, stomachache, and nausea.

Poison would fit with the whole power struggle thing.

Although, if it's political,