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Apothecary Diary 2x8 Reaction Extended (YT link below) (Patreon)

Published:
2025-11-14 02:00:08
Imported:
2026-06
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Comments

Serralinda

I think Maomao meant that a lot of courtesans/prostitutes are slaves in a bend-the-laws sense because the system is rigged to keep them in debt to the owner of the business forever, unless they can convince someone to buy them out. Many of them were sold off to the courtesan houses to begin with, as little girls who are expected to pay back the investment of time and training. They might end up being called "private mistress", but it's more like "personal sex slave" once they leave the place of business. And once they get too old, they can get tossed out, sold to someone nasty for cheap, or shifted into manual labor to serve the younger women. Most courtesans are nothing like Maomao's sisters/mother in their prime, and most customers are not like Lakan or Lihaku. We know Maomao's mother was forced to "walk the streets" once her reputation was ruined, even after she got syphilis. That other courtesan from way back literally poisoned a customer and was willing to die in the attempt to get rid of him. I think the key bit of inner musing we got from Maomao in this episode was - if the previous Emperor favored very young girls, then how did the Empress Dowager get pregnant again several years after maturing out of his preferred age range? Who is the baby daddy? And maybe - just maybe - the baby switched with Jinshi was not even legitimate? Would that make it easier for her to agree to the switch (and the baby dying)? And if it was the pedo Emperor's child...she might not have wanted that baby either, since she hated him. Is she even aware of a baby swap in the first place? This gives us all sorts of ideas to theorize about while confirming nothing. When everyone refers to the past "Empress", they should be shown as using quotation marks, sarcastically. She was a low-rank courtesan, while Granddaddy Emperor had several sons (with sister concubines, from the Shrine story) who made her son much lower down in the chain of possible heirs. But all those boys died in some plague, so an ignored little prince was suddenly elevated to Crown Prince/Emperor, and his mother rocketed up in rank. Then, if the stories are somewhat true, she controlled everything and turned the pedo Emperor into her puppet on the throne. She took on the position of Empress, though Empress Dowager was her real title once her son was on the throne. Empress Dowagers are meant to sit in the background being quietly dignified, overseeing the palace servants like a wife should keep the household running smoothly, not interfering in major politics. And once the Emperor has an established Empress Consort (whoever gives him a son first), the Dowager should retire from most court life and smile at her grandbabies or whatever.

Sage

The whole "I cursed him every day" thing so it must of been that is kinda funny. Really if you do something daily that will happen one day it just will happen one of those times. Maybe a little bit in the reverse but it reminds me of an experiment with Pigeons that get a treat randomly. If a few times a pigeon's turn coincides with the treat being dropped the bird assumes the turning does it and turns constantly until it happens again. Then when another treat falls it further reinforces it because the bird turned and the treat happened. But what they don't factor is also the turns that didn't cause a treat. Thus you get superstitious pigeons

agoodwintv
>>193609722

Thanks that explains the dynamics really clearly. This show has an amazing talent at filling in the details and then making more questions. There's so much to speculate about. Looking forward to more of the emperor's family's side of things

agoodwintv
>>193609766

We (and pigeons) are set up for traps by having pattern seeking built into our DNA. You get just the right amount of reward at just the right time and you're doomed. Or if there's just the right combination of elements that something seems plausible, it looks true. There is also a practical way in which her cursing him every day could have caused him harm... But it probably wouldn't grip her imagination in the same way 😂

Dutchy

I don't think the empress dowager specifically asked for there not to be a separate taster at the party; it's just something that's done as a formality, like removing your hat when you go inside. I think because we're getting introduced with Mao Mao who has to articulate all these little customs since she needs to actively be aware of them, we tend to forget that a lot of these are things that should "go without saying". Mao Mao has to understand the "real" reason, but to most court ladies that just comes naturally with the upbringing. Like if an alien came to Earth and was offered a handshake, he might think "This is the process where both parties show that they come unarmed! Does he assume I have weaponry?". Whereas to us, we'd think less about the reason handshakes became a practice and more of the meaning of it (handshake = respect + greeting)

ArmdVctr

Being suspicious of eye colors may lead you into rabbit holes

Bighead

So while we have the bird's eye view of everything Maomao is doing and everywhere she is going while solving problems for various people, Hongniang as Gyokuyou's lady in waiting doesn't , and hence she has to make sure that while out of sight, Maomao is not second crossing the Lady or revealing anything about the happenings in the Jade palace. So while her warning seems a bit much to us, it makes sense from her and maybe also shows us her devotion to Lady Gyokuyou amidst all the other Palaces' incompetent lady-in-waitings. It also shows how hyper aware, observant and cautionary Gyokuyou and Hongniang as a pair are.

BirthdayParty
>>193636766

It's also because Mao Mao has been compromised. Currently, Jinshi and Gyokuyo's interests are aligned, but Hongniang has no way of knowing that for certain or knowing when that could change. It's even worse when consider that Jinshi is really Mao Mao employer and she's only being "lent out" to Gyokuyo.

Mr. Fur

It just dawned on me that Twin Peaks is a show that would really resonate with you I am not sure if it fit the Channel but, but I recommend to watch it at least on your own. And of course Ping Pong The Animation but that is another story haha