The Apothecary Diaries – Season 1 Episode 10 Recap & Review

Honey

Episode 10 of The Apothecary Diaries begins with Maomao and Xiaolan discussing Lady Ah-Duo’s servant’s suicide case. Xiaolan says she heard that Lady Ah-Duo might get replaced by a younger concubine soon. Maomao believes Ah-Duo might lose her title because she might be incapable of producing children which is a must for the rear palace’s system. She wonders if Lady Lihua will meet a similar fate if she can’t produce a baby. Maomao gives Xiaolan leftovers from a previous tea party event and departs. 

She returns to the Jade Pavilion, discovering they’re holding a second tea party. She learns Lady Lishu’s attending this one and examines everyone’s behavior at this party. While everyone’s seated, Maomao studies Lishu’s servants and ponders if they’re still actively harassing her like before. After Lady Gyokuyou serves Lishu some honey-flavored tea, Lishu refuses to drink it. Maomao notices Lishu’s servants gossiping about Lishu’s behavior toward the beverage. 

Therefore, Maomao secretly assists Lishu by signaling to Gyokuyou that the drink is no good. Gyokuyou asks her Ailan to provide them with hot ginger tea. Gyokuyou ladies-in-waiting kick Maomao out of the area so she can get rest. Maomao encounters Jinshi, who brings up Lady Ah-Duo’s servant who allegedly committed suicide. After sharing her opinion, Jinshi tells Maomao to help the Garnet Pavilion with a few tasks. Maomao visits Ah-Duo’s pavilion and examines everyone. 

After greeting Ah-Duo, Ah-Duo’s head lady-in-waiting Fengming leads Maomao and others to a book room and asks them to air the books out and other tasks. While tackling these duties, Maomao examines her surroundings and wonders if the mastermind behind the Lishu poison incident came from here. She breaks down the possibilities of Fengming being the culprit, highlighting what she’d gain from committing such an act. After learning about Fengming’s history with honey, Maomao spots Lishu at the Garnet Pavilion. 

Then, she reports her findings to Jinshi. Although she doesn’t have much to report, she tells Jinshi it’s possible Fengming could be the culprit. Jinshi presents Maomao with a honey reward, but Maomao refuses to eat the honey from his fingers. While uncomfortable, Maomao conjures up a theory about the current predicament. Suddenly, Gyokuyou arrives and scolds Jinshi for his strange actions. Maomao departs and meets with Lishu. 

She asks her questions about her concerns about honey. Lishu says she avoids honey because many nurses told her it’s a life-threatening dish. Lishu’s ladies-in-waiting scold Maomao for probing Lishu. Maomao knows Lishu’s ladies-in-waiting couldn’t care less about Lishu. However, she tells them if they have issues with her asking Lishu questions of this nature, they can report their issues with Maomao to Jinshi. After asking Lishu about her relationship with Fengming, Maomao takes a stroll around the palace with Gaoshun. She asks Gaoshun if he knows a place where she can obtain data about past events that occurred in the rear palace. 

Gaoshun takes Maomao to the court library. Maomao learns about the current emperor and Ah-Duo’s foster sibling relationship. Moreover, she learns Doctor Luomen, her adoptive father, helped Ah-Duo give birth to her son. The episode closes with Maomao questioning her father’s actions. 

The Episode Review

It appears working for the rear palace runs in the family after the revelation we received in this chapter’s finale. It’ll make viewers question if Maomao has deeper ties to the rear palace than even she realizes. Hopefully, future chapters will shed more light on this situation as it’s an interesting topic to ponder over as we progress through this mysterious series. 

Additionally, this chapter gives fans more intel about Lishu and Ah-Duo’s characters. Not only does Lishu have an intolerance for fish but it appears honey is another meal she’s not fond of. Coupled with the ongoing harassment she’s receiving from her servants, viewers have many reasons to foster sympathy for her character. Hopefully, Maomao can resolve her issue soon. 

On top of learning more about Ah-Duo’s connection to the emperor and Luomen’s connection to her child, this episode contained enough intrigue to keep viewers speculating until episode eleven was released. Overall, this is a wonderful episode of The Apothecary Diaries. It has a nice mix of comedy and depth. I’m excited to see how matters unfold next week.