The Apothecary Diaries (Light Novel): Volume 7

薬屋のひとりごと [Kusuriya no Hitorigoto] (Light Novel) #7

by Natsu Hyuuga, Touco Shino (Illustrator)

Maomao attempts the court service exam once more, winning herself a position as an assistant in one of the medical offices. That’s only the beginning of her troubles, though, as a new consort enters the rear palace and brings new riddles with her. What does a former emissary to the court want with three young medical assistants? How is that connected to a mysterious shrine maiden from Shaoh? And will one particular monocled freak ever just mind his own business?

Genres: Light Novel, Mystery, Romance, Historical Fiction, Manga, Historical, Fiction

226 pages, ebook

First published February 28, 2018

About the author

See: 日向夏

Reviews

[James 🦤 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I fear the main reason this volume is so hated is because this is where people are realizing this series is in fact decently focused on politics and not a cozy mystery or a JinMaocentric romance novel. I also fear this should’ve been apparent to them much, much sooner.

[Gina K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not Jinshi meeting a lesbian and hiring her on the spot (she did not apply) 😂

[aleksandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5

So far, my least favorite book. I was honestly bored for most of the time. This quote made it worth reading though.

"Now listen to me, y—I mean, Maomao! Listen close! I am going to make you my wife!”
[…]
"For you, I will remove every obstacle that keeps us apart. One day. Just know that.” With that, Jinshi buried himself under the covers. “I won’t let what you fear come to pass. I swear it.”

[Mitch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Need more Jinshi content and less White Lady

[Vivian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ohhhh Jinshi SAID IT!

I'm also happy that this isn't a straightforward romance. I particularly appreciate how Maomao recognizes the problems in such a relationship. She's very conscious of her station in society compared to Jinshi and the power imbalance that comes with it. I'm curious what will happen in the future.

Asides from that, we get to see more of the medical offices at the palace! As interesting as the rear court is, I like seeing different areas of the palace, especially one where Maomao can make use of her apothecary skills. The new characters have their own quirky behaviour. They fit pretty well with Maomao.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lakan - stalks his own daughter every chance
Maomao - call his own guards on him😂

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

on one hand I really enjoy the political intrigue and mysteries that are unraveling… on the other hand I was very bored for the majority of this one and the lack of Jinshi (except for a few appearances) was sad

[CatSidhe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume felt like some kind of reset of the series : Maomao was forced to repass the exam to become a court lady, which allowed her to start working in the medical office of the Imperial Court with her adoptive father Luomen, and Jinshi was almost completely absent of that volume.

There was also some kind of confusing plot involving the visiting Shrine Maiden from the neighboring land of Shaoh, which took a lot of that volume, but I must say that I did not like that part very much. I was more interested in the parts where Maomao interacted with her family and befriended the odd lesbian couple she worked with in the medical office.

But that is my problem with that series : I really like Maomao and the Chinese setting and the small mysteries she keeps solving, but the overall plot is by contrast quite boring and confusing. Hopefully it will get better in the next volumes.

[Brooke (~!Books are my Favorite!!~) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Palace Procedural set in Tang Dynasty Imperial China.

The emperor is marrying. Maomao gets promoted. There are more poisonous mushrooms and sleuthing for the shrine maiden.

I'm a really big fan of Maomao's neurodivergence as a character. I think she's great representation. She would rather taste test poisons than palace gossip.
Maomao wasn’t specifically a smarter person or better student than anyone else. She simply cared less about some things most people cared about, and instead shunted that extra attention into fields in which she was interested.

His gaze was growing dangerously perverted, so Maomao gave him a sound smack on the head.

I will continue reading this series as my comfort food. There are some issues with pacing and translation but many of those get sorted out as the novels progress in the series. It's so worth all the cute moments between Jinshi and Maomao.

[airany · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Now listen to me, y—I mean, Maomao! Listen close! I am going to make you my wife…For you, I will remove every obstacle that keeps us apart.”

JINSHI, YOU, MY SILLY LORD OF ROMANCE 😭🤏🏽

CAN'T BELIEVE THAT AFTER SEVEN VOLUMES HE FINALLY CONFESSED WITH PROPER WORDS!

[Momo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am loving these new characters but I did find myself missing some of the old ones.

[aurei · Rating 5 out of 5]

#love women

[Mia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not nearly enough Jinshi x Maomao moments but that ending??! Jinshiiiii 😩🥺😩

“Listen close! I am going to make you my wife! (…) Be that as it may, you’re right that with things as they stand, making you my wife could only harm you. Neither of us wants that. For you, I will remove every obstacle that keeps us apart. One day. Just know that. (…) I won’t let what you fear come to pass. I swear it.”

The way he has every power to make Maomao his wife at the very moment, but he won’t because he wants to make sure it’s as perfect as possible. He wants to make sure she’s safe and comfortable and ready to say yes 🥺😭 Live laugh love Jinshi fr 💜

[Jasmine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I should’ve picked up on this sooner - because that’s the way this series has been looking for the last couple of books - but the politics of Li and the surrounding nations has become increasingly important. And I’m not really all that interested. I do love Maomao and her relationship with Jinshi, so I think I’ll continue reading. Maybe.

I will say I liked Yao and En’en a lot. They’re fun characters!

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's starting to be hints that there's a point to the White Lady plotline, but I wish there had been more of the "Maomao solves medical mysteries" type stuff.

[ollie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume was SO good. By far my favourite so far. I love to see Maomao working as a medical official and making friends with other women who are also well practiced in medicine, like Yao and En’en.

Jinshi’s reaction to En’en being a lesbian nearly killed me by laughter. He found out she’s a lesbian and immediately went “she stays!” I wonder if he ever wanted to get any advice about women (with Maomao in mind) from En’en.

“For you, I will remove every obstacle that keeps us apart. One day. Just know that… I won’t let what you fear come to pass. I swear it.”

Jinshi is so down bad for Maomao. He really has his heart set on marrying her.

[toointofiction · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Maomao and Jinshi so much!!!

[❀ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25
let me share my new favourite quotes:
1)
"𝑵𝒐𝒘 𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆, 𝒚-𝑰 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏, 𝑴𝒂𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒐! 𝑳𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆! 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒇𝒆!"
2)
"𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒃𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒔 𝒖𝒔 𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕. 𝑶𝒏𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚. 𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕."

thank youu

[Hotmess Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

"But she thought, This brings back memories. She was in a workplace full of women again, and the inevitable consequences of that nearly brought a warm glow to her heart."

This light novel got us back to business as usual!! Maomao being dragged back to the palace under duress with a great mystery to solve! I loved the new characters! Maomao really is out here being the icon that we know and love while still exhibiting so much growth.

I loved seeing her truly become her own in her medical practice and work with Loumen. Seeing her absolutely put him on a pedestal, while also taking risks he disuages her from taking (rightfully so given that he experienced those terrible palace consequences) and becoming her own person! As a Maomao stan this volume delivered so much!

My Jinmao fans got fed as well. Jinshi really is growing up too and it was nice that he (even if begrudgingly) backed up. HOWEVER that declaration? Maomao and I were SHOOK! A true yearner. Y'all are absolutely not getting them together for years I fear hahaha But we love that he is crystal about the endgame though.

I love this series so much! The empire is a hot mess and I'm convinced we have yet to really purge the palace of the sources!

"There must be more to this, Maomao thought. There were too many questions, too many things that didn’t fit. She didn’t like it at all."

[Velta Gūtmane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maomao kļūst par ārsta palīgu pilī, sadraudzējas ar lesbiešu darba kolēģēm un iesaistās notikuma risināšanā ar savām detektīva dotībām.

Jinshi klātesamība gandrīz nebija šajā grāmatā.

[kkomorebi౨ৎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

⋆.˚✮ 5/5 ✮˚.⋆

⋆˚࿔ 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘 ࿔˚⋆

I N C R E D I B L E. The best one I've read so far. It kept me so hooked from beginning to end. The characters, the plot, and of course, wanting to know what happens between Jinshi and Maomao, made me read it in a flash.
The truth is that this book made me want to continue reading this story. The previous one left me feeling kind of bored because it was so boring, but this one definitely exceeded my expectations.


ᵎᵎ ˚. ୭ 𝑺𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒔 ୭ ˚. ᵎᵎ

The entire plot of the shrine maiden, the White Lady again, and Shaoh was 10/10. It kept me entertained and even made me want to be there to find out what happened.

I really miss the old trio, but Maomao being able to create a new group of friends makes me happy.

And last but not least, Maomao and Jinshi... WHAT HAPPENED? Finally, there was communicatioooooon, which is what's missing from these people. As always, there were few moments of them together, buuuut I'm happy; they give me life. But with what happened... I don't know why I should hold back from what's coming next; I'm too excited. I'm so glad to know that Jinshi cares about Maomao and doesn't love her just to have a "consort." He doesn't want to condemn her to a life where she won't be able to do anything. I'm going to leave my favorite line from the book:

"𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒃𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒖𝒔. 𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒂𝒚. 𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘. 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏. 𝑰 𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓."

────────── ·𖥸· ──────────

⋆.˚✮ 5/5 ✮˚.⋆

⋆˚࿔ 𝑹𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏̃𝒂 ࿔˚⋆

I N C R E I B L E. Por lejos el mejor que leí hasta ahora. Me mantuvo tan enganchada todo, de principio a fin. Los personajes, la trama y por supuesto, querer saber que pasa con Jinshi y Maomao, me hizo leérmelo en una patada.
La verdad que este libro devolvió mis ganas de seguir leyendo esta historia, el anterior me dejó medio mal por lo aburrido que fue, pero este, sin dudas, supero mis expectativas.


ᵎᵎ ˚. ୭ 𝑺𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒔 ୭ ˚. ᵎᵎ

Toda la trama de la doncella del santuario, de nuevo la Dama Blanca y Shaoh estuvo 10/10, me entretuvo demasiado y hasta me daban ganas de estar ahí para saber que pasaba.

Extraño mucho al trío anterior pero que Maomao pueda crear un nuevo grupo de amigas, me hace feliz.

Y por último, pero no menos importante, Maomao y Jinshi... QUE PASÓ? Por fin hubo comunicacióoooooon que es lo que falta en esta gente. Como siempre hubo pocos momentos de ellos juntos peeeeeero soy feliz, me dan vida. Pero con lo que pasó...no se a que abstenerme de lo que se viene, estoy demasiado emocionada. Me alegra mucho saber que Jinshi se preocupa por Maomao y no la quiere solo por tener una "consorte"; no la quiere condenar a esa vida en la que no va a poder hacer nada. Voy a dejar mi frase favorita del libro...Jinshi el menos enamorado:

"𝑷𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒊, 𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒆́ 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒐𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒔 𝒐𝒃𝒔𝒕𝒂́𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒐𝒔 𝒒𝒖𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒏. 𝑨𝒍𝒈𝒖́𝒏 𝒅𝒊́𝒂. 𝑸𝒖𝒆 𝒍𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒔. 𝑵𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒋𝒂𝒓𝒆́ 𝒒𝒖𝒆 𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒂 𝒍𝒐 𝒒𝒖𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒔. 𝑻𝒆 𝒍𝒐 𝒋𝒖𝒓𝒐."

[nobody · Rating 4 out of 5]

۴.۵
تا اینجا این جلد مورد علاقه‌مه‌. همه‌چیزش رو دوست داشتم‌. از دوباره برگشتن به قصر گرفته تا داستان shrine maiden و پلات توییست آخر کتاب. یکم شخصیت‌های جدید اول اذیتم می‌کردن. ولی بعد همون‌طور که مائومائو آروم آروم بهشون علاقه پیدا کرد، منم نظرم نسبت بهشون عوض شد.
می‌فهمم که چرا این جلد، این همه ریویوی بد داشت، (چون اصلا جینشی و مائومائو نداشتیم) ولی خب رومنس تو این کتاب فقط یه ژانر فرعیه. درسته که اوایل منم فقط بخاطر رومنسش می‌خوندم و بنظرم معماهاش ساده و معمولی بودن، ولی الان دیگه اینطوری نیست. از معماهاش هم لذت می‌برم.
خلاصه که واقعا خوب بود و نمی‌تونم صبر کنم تا بعدی رو شروع کنم.

[zak · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ✦

“sometimes people continue to do things simply because they worked in the past. take a place that promotes good harvests with human sacrifices—the harvest happens to improve because the sacrifices were buried in bare earth. over time, however, the gods or immortals come into it and it becomes a ritual. the divine is a powerful and convenient excuse.”

every volume of this series is episodic in nature but the central themes are always so subtly consistent, yet explored without reserve: misogyny, classism, elitism— and add sectarianism to the equation, with this long-overdue conclusion to the shrine maiden enigma. “the apothecary diaries” is certainly not for the faint-hearted.

➝ misogyny

we’ve recoiled back to volume two, where jinshi urges maomao to take a higher position than that of a mere servant. however her situation takes a turn, one might argue, for the worst, as she integrates the court’s medical office. thrust into a world of self-important men, she is constantly discredited, accused of nepotism and barred from tasks which put the extent of her knowledge and expertise at use. there is no room for new experiments, no feeling of impending doom as she hasn’t even been assigned to solve the mystery at hand— she is a convenient tool, that’s all. (little wonder she snapped at jinshi at one point, i would have done worse.)

there is a certain gloom and tedium lurking in this volume, so uncharacteristic of “the apothecary diaries.” it’s frustrating to watch maomao, usually so on top of her game amidst the adversity, constantly being shot down. i do, however, understand why it’s necessary for us to see through her own eyes how deep the systemic oppression of women runs in the linese society.

“maomao couldn’t help being amused by the thought that they’d tested and trained to become medical assistants, yet all three of them were standing here as food tasters, a station normally occupied by the lowborn and the expendable.”

parenthesis for this line since it made me terribly sad.

➝ sectarianism, or, religion as a tool of oppression

“you don’t like fortune-telling?” yao broke in.
“doesn’t it make you feel funny?” maomao asked. (…) “i mean, scorching tortoise shells and letting that tell you where to locate your capital city? pretty dubious method.”
“i daresay it’s surprisingly rational, in fact,” her father countered. (…) “call it fortune-telling, attribute it to the gods or an immortal—if that’s what it takes to get people to believe it. perhaps that’s where what we call politics began.”

i don’t see many pointing it out, but the fact that the shrine maiden turned out to be a man is such a great plot twist— and not only because it serves shock value. the country of li, being patriarchal, sees little worth in its women while the shrine maiden, epitome of feminity (at least, according to the male gaze), is one of the two most sacred pillars of the country of shaoh. they fled their country to dⳇe because they knew so vehemently it would mean social unrest, or worse, war, if that pillar were to crumble. it’s so ironic. either way, we see who keeps receiving the short end of the stick.

otherwise, tidbits i should also comment on:

➝ pairin is revealed to have dysgraphia. natsu hyuga won’t leave a single person on this planet unrepresented.
➝ en’en being a lesbian is wonderful and all, but i wish they’d made her less of a creep.
➝ speaking of creep (mildly affectionate), lahan never fails to crack me up. he and maomao are high up on my list of favourite fictitious siblings.
➝ speaking of creep (derogatory), we learn that jinshi was almost sa’d on his first day as a eunuch…? this man actually needs therapy; it’s horrifying how many seek him as if he were an object. it also entirely makes sense as to why he doesn’t know how to properly get his feelings across to maomao when everything he knows of “romance” came from those twisted experiences. let’s hope he’ll eventually learn how to break the cycle of violence.
➝ the bond maomao shares with shisui…

“even if i die?” the shrine maiden asked at length.
“i hate when people think everything’s over just because they’re dead!” it was as good as refusing to face the consequences of whatever you had done. (…) abruptly, she found herself thinking about a cheerful young woman who had loved insects. a young woman who had vanished into the snow and never been found. maomao occasionally peeked into the shops, wondering if one day she might stumble upon the hair stick she’d given that girl.

remember how in “princess mononoke” kaya gives ashitaka a crystal dagger necklace for safe-keeping purposes and when he gives it to san later on, it translates a similar kind of affection? this is how i picture the relationship between maomao and shisui. if anything, i believe it didn’t last because it was too trivial, too pure, for the harsh and suffocating linese society. maomao truly cares for yao and en’en, but their friendship will never be rid of competition and envy. it’s lovely to see shisui haunting the narrative as she is proof that maomao isn’t above love, or grief.

[roibean · Rating 5 out of 5]

this volume banged sm that i read it in less than a day. we’ve got high stakes politics, good old food tasting, yao and en’en, jinshi and maomao, BASEN RECOVERY WOOO, palace antics, lakan and lahan and loumen… such a good story omg thank yewwwww for letting me be fed

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Don't judge me, I have little time to read lately.

[Melisande · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://accrocdeslivres.blogspot.com/...

[Mg_ore_ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Décidément, cette série possède mon cœur !

Encore un tome que j'ai adoré, on est déjà au sixième roman et je ne m'en lasse pas !Un tome excellent, avec une mise en place assez lente mais qui permet de présenter tous les éléments pour résoudre, en parallèle de Mao Mao, cette nouvelle enigme autour de la grande prêtresse de Shaou .. En effet des secrets entourent cette femme et les raisons de sa venue au palais pour se faire soigner...

De plus, deux nouvelles jeunes filles sont introduites, Yao et En En qui accompagneront Mao Mao et son père dans ce nouveau volume qui est plus concentré sur un aspect "médical" au vu de leurs nouveaux rôles au sein de la cour impériale !

On a également eu l'occasion de revoir Gyokuyo le temps d'un chapitre et quel bonheur !

Je ne peux pas parler de ce tome sans parler du chapitre 18... ENFIN on entend les mots que l'on attend depuis le tome 1 !!!

Une conclusion parfaite, mais pas sans peine pour certains personnages, bref comme d'habitude je suis impatiente de la suite !!!!

[Christina Blank · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series so much!

This series is so original, and the story and the people just get richer with every chapter. I’m glad that they’re coming out so fast, but on the other hand, I want to read them right now, so I’m greedy and I want her to finish faster. Such an amazing story!

[Amalea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Happy with the new characters who seem like they’ll stick around for more than one book, but I did have a bit of trouble following at some parts…. Maybe I’m reading too quickly and not paying enough attention to certain things. Regardless, I’m having a fun time and really curious as to what will happen next

[4f1fa0 · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Listen here y-I mean, Maomao! Listen close! I'm going to make you my wife!"

"Be that as it may, as things stand, making you my wife could only harm you. Neither of us want that."

"For you, I will remove every obstacle that keeps us apart. One day. Just know that."

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE
I totally didn't reread this just for this interaction