Apothecary Diaries 1x6 The Garden Party - GROUP REACTION!!!

[@sirena49]

Lishu, the virtuos concubine, was 9 when she was the older emperor's (father of the current emperor) concubine. After he died, she went back to her family, but due to political power issues, she was chosen again by the current emperor.

[@lunarAureola]

Maomao is such a little freak when it comes to poison xd

[@R0ary]

18:17 If you'll remember, when she was eating the poison and the show tried to make it sultry, Lihaku's thoughts didn't go to "Wow, she's hot!" His thoughts said, "How delicious must that food be?" Even then, his fascination there was focused on how her reaction must mean the food was just that good. And y'all discussed it earlier, but later in the show, it will specify exactly how old Jinshi is, so you'll learn the actual age gap. I don't remember if it has already mentioned Maomao's age, or if that's specified later also, so I won't comment on your thoughts on her age, either. One thing not enough people think about is the fact that Maomao casually threatened to SA one of Lihua's ladies-in-waiting as a joke. I know, everyone knows she's a little twisted with her fascination with poison, but not enough people really think about how screwed up growing up with courtesans as her primary female role-models influenced her. She's such an interesting character with depths and layers that the show slowly delves into. I'm excited to watch y'all see more of who she is, both the light and dark parts of her. Honestly, I think the depth of various characters is one of the things Apothecary Diaries does so well. Just think back to Episode 3, with Fuyou. She was a character who seems to have been just there as a one-off, and yet she had so much depth developed in just that one episode. Imagine what might be done with more important characters! EDIT: 24:30 Also, they didn't state that Ah Duo, the Pure Consort, was made a concubine 5 years ago. That's just when Lishu became one. Ah Duo may have been the then-prince's concubine for years at that point. It's just the point at which Lishu would be counted as kind-of-sort-of her mother-in-law.

[@nathanieljohnson5430]

Something to keep in mind is being in the rear palace is a big thing for a lot of the women here, a lot don't actually try to get with the emperor but instead use their position to make connections for their families, so for example the daughter of a wealthy merchant would get a lot done here. So it's common for politicians for example to send their daughters here on purpose to either get experience with certain jobs and stuff. Likewise, for example the eunuch getting lashed, but the lady in waiting only getting confinement was a result of her being from a rich family and thus harder to punish despite her having more fault in the situation. An example with the characters we know, Gyokuyou actively sends information about how trades are going back home and uses her position as the emperors concubine to help her home out by suggesting the emperor develops that area, and he does to keep her happy.

[@ogami7661]

Maomao is 17 and Jinshin is 19 but pretends to be 23. No spoiler in the story btw, the light novel and manga state that right away. I mean, Maomao literally gives Lishua sexual position tips in episode 4, she really does not appear like 12. 😆