Dont feel too bad. I felt for Lakan but not off the hook. Maomao can get her licks in 100%. How narcissistic can a brilliant strategist be to spend all those times at a brothel , sleep w/ a courtesan who suddenly Noone wants to buy NOT put 2 and 2 together. Sad for him but he was a coward deciding "not to know nor realize"..also uncle couldn't write a letter? Hope Maomao learns to communicate from Jinshi b/c her genes are going to get her into trouble.
Lakan's mental condition is called: Prosopagnosia Its a real condition that causes one to visually unable to recognize faces of people and thus not able to tell if they are male or female and so on. Often, this leads them to see people faces and body as something else.... such as boardgame pieces or animals or fruit head... etc.
Nah this show is kinda goated for DISTINCTLY having storytelling that explicitly says to Maomao on multiple occasions "Don't guess the conclusion, get all the facts straight before making a judgement". While the viewers of the show get blindsided thinking the absolute worst about her father. Thought he was horrible but with all the facts he was just completely unlucky and tragic. Also, I think the major reason why Lakan kind of screwed up is that he didn't see the plan that Fengxian enacted on the night of their bang. He says "3 months till next visit" She thinks "OK here is how I get out of being sold" and sends Meimei away to get devalued by losing her virginity/purity so her deal will break, and her price will fall. Allowing her to be way cheaper so Lakan can buy her during the next visit in 3 months. Lakan gets sent to "Study" (actually War in the novel, guess they kinda wanted to lighten it up?) Lakan gets stuck for 3 years, and by that time it's already over. She had been basically treated like trash, became sick, and basically "died" while Lakan was away. Her plan was perfect, she was just unlucky that Lakan was circumstantially away for much longer. It's actually very similar to the story at the start of the season with the concubine who made herself look worse to the emperor so she would get sold to her childhood love, a war general. However, this is the opposite ending, how bad it can go when the plan doesn't go perfectly. The pieces of the Lakan's story are hinted at so many places it's kind of brilliant.
I don't want to sound like I am putting the blame in fengxian but I feel like she could've said her plan and also Lakan could've asked about how she is going to be bought. Like they bang that night, have 5 minutes to talk about it. She has a good plan but unlike the concubine, the backup plan for fengxian is literally the worst. With the concubine, she still gets salary and can live in the palace, she just doesn't become the king's woman but with fengxian, her gamble is too risky and she didn't even asked meimei to go find Lakan in case something wrong happen.
@@anastasyavie6236 i think there is a part that’s going to be animated next episode, mei mei saying something like “if only she (fx) could’ve been more honest” or something like that, I cant recall.. so yeah the issue is lack of communication among them two
@@carajasmand lakan explaining that she was purely made of pride. This could also explain some parts as to why she didn't ask assistance with her plan.
@@anastasyavie6236she's smart, that's when something unaccounted for happens that basically ruined her planning she lost her mind. She estimated the time when lakan would next return in time for her ovulation so she can get pregnant with his child, then when her price tanks, and lakan arrives again he can finally buy her she had 9 months time more than enough time for 3 months and even lakan's 6 months of being sent away, but What she didn't expect was lakan was gonna be gone for 3 whole years. Lakan being clueless that SHE wanted him AND to have his child!
For anyone that didn't notice, the small bit that fell out with Fengxian's severed finger is the tip of Maomao's baby finger. We've seen several scenes pointing out Maomao's pinky.
@@Zee6rider Can't really tell what you're talking about so I'm just going to guess lmao. The tip of your finger can actually grow back, and babies actually have a surprising amount of regenerative capabilities, Fengxian's finger was cut from the knuckle and up so she lost that finger considering this is fantasy ancient China and there probably isn't a procedure to reattach fingers yet.
The term is yubikiri, or apparently it can be translated as a curse, fengxian was cursing lakan thats why she sent her left pinky. In another meaning it could also be translated as she really loved him thats why being pushed into desparation thats why she did that.
🙄 I ain't apologising for shit. That it wasn't his intention don't change the fact that he completely effed up her life 🤷🏾♀️😑 ~edit~ Still not apologising. 🤷🏾♀️ He knows sis is a top class courtesan and still pulled a hit and run. It reeks of carelessness and complacency. She was used goods from the second she gave up that v-card. This is a woman he supposedly cares about and he can't even be bothered to take two seconds to consider her situation. 🤦🏾♀️ ~edit #2~ Ahhh.....I get it. So if I don't state the obvious fact of Fengxian being complicit in her own demise (which I saw no need to do because, obvious) that means I am either in disagreement or too dense to see it? Well, okay I guess? 🤷🏾♀️
@@Jadianne Fengxian herself wanted it. "If I win, I get to take something that's yours." (Your seed/virginity). She and Mei Mei planned it so that she wouldn't be bought out. The big problem is the incident that happened at the Rear Palace which led to Lakan getting sent away for 3 years instead of just 6 months.
@Jadianne what wtf she was the first one to seduce him. She didn't tell him anything. I don't know why they changed but in the light novel he was sent to war. If only they were honest with each other, maomao would grow up in happy family.
@@JadianneTo be fair, Fengxian should have just TOLD him the plan rather than did things on her own assuming everything is gonna worked out. Lakan didn't do anything wrong, he just didn't know she planned to lower her own price so that he can afford to buy her out. if he knew, he would have bought her immediately. So overall, this is kinda Fengxian gambling with her life and it flopped. Basically, Fengxian knew lakan likes her and devised a plan to make herself lose all value ( aka getting pregnant) so that Lakan can afford her. IF she had told him that was the idea, he would have done it. But because she didn't know he was forced to leave the country for 3 years, so she tested his feelings by waiting for HIM to come and buy her from the brothel. This was a mix of stupidity and life plays game with people MOMENT.
In the manga and the light novel, he isn't even sent abroad to study, he is drafted to war as a strategist. The campaing was more difficult than predicted, and that is why it took 3 years. The guy REALLY couldn't come back from the front even if he knew about the pregnancy, it would be desertion, and that's probably why Fengxing never mentioned it directly in her letters, only left it implied.
@@1204khalil Oh, yeah, there is that too, as evidenced by the pile of letters when he finally returned. But even if they made their way to him, in the LN and manga versions, it wouldn't change much, except maybe for more angst. I think that makes the anime version more tragic, because it wasn't as inevitable, it could have a happier ending if not for miscommunication. Pretty sure Lakan would accept being disowned to take Fengxing and Maomao and live a commoner life with them, kinda like his uncle that lives happily as a disgraced apothecary.
Eh, I think if her letters had reached Lakan, he could’ve figured something out. Sent the right instructions back to buy her out with his money, even if he couldn’t be present to take her in person. The madam would’ve still been pissed at the two of them for pulling a fast one and cheating Verdigris out of the payday they would’ve gotten from that bidding war over Fengxian, but if everyone had been on the same page and Lakan’s silver was on the table, I don’t think she would’ve left Fengxian to sell her body to whoever walked in the door. She would’ve taken the money, figured out what buying out a consort long-distance looked like in practice, and gotten her out the door to Lakan or his clan as soon as she could, probably grumbling something about how “that child will be nothing but trouble, mark my words”.
Just a heads up for those that don't know, Lakan being unable to see other people's faces is not out of malice or a lack of empathy. This is a real medical condition people can have called face blindness or prosopagnosia. Per the Cleveland Clinic: "Prosopagnosia is a condition where you struggle to recognize faces or can't interpret facial expressions and cues. It usually happens because of brain damage, but some people have it at birth. Treatment focuses on underlying causes or helping you adapt so you can recognize people in other ways." The treatment directed towards him because of this (and being unable to interpret other peoples facial expressions) probably made him more distant and cold towards others over time.
It's funny because if you think about it, Maomao's life was completely turned because of Jinshi, whether either of them knew it. Her "dad" was kicked out because of the circumstances around his birth, whatever they end up being. And that's what caused her mother and Lakan to miss 3 whole years, which led to her mother being in the state that she's in now.
This is why MaoMao, when she contemplates love, looks at her pinky. I don’t know if she’s said it in the anime, but according to her, fingers can recover if injured at a young age.
she did it for a reason. I don't know how many actually know this besides Maomao and the hag, but Fonshen was the one did Rakan dirty. She did love Rakan, but she also tricked him into buying her by forcing to keep the baby (while the brothel has access to every kind of contraceptions there is). But she made a terrible miscalculation: she forgot that Rakan was in military, probably because the love blinded her, she never accounted he could get sent for years long expedition. Fonshen couldn't handle the same, with ego that high, she started to lost her mind, due to the shame for both admitting her mistakes and ruining her brothel. The hag (who's actually her mother) protected her daughter from the shame thus hiding her from the world, including hiding Fonshen's identity to Maomao. But Maomao, being born with her mother's intelligence and her father's instinct, managed to find out about everything already even since she was small. So yeah, the hag didn't hid her out of malice.
Lakan feels guilty because he was involuntarily deployed and indefinitely extended for three years rather than the three months he expected. The palace snafu got him yoked up along with Dr. Daddy. His father never forwarded any of Feng's mail to the war front. He was not able to write home from the war front. Granny in her anger continues to conceal what happened to Feng. Lakan is 1000% out of the loop that Feng is still alive.
Lakan seeing everybody as board pieces might be from a disorder called Prosopagnosia in which those afflicted with the condition have difficulty recognizing the faces of others and must come up with ways or other means to recognize others. The way Lakan was able to cope with it is by seeing others as Shogi pieces. Everybody deals with the condition differently and Maomao and her mother might be exceptions to Lakan.
I think Lakan kept saying that getting a courtesan pregnant is the easiest way to lower her price is because he is blaming himself for what happened to Fengxian
I feel like this was why Maomao called her mom "Baka" idiot* in the earlier episodes, because Fengxian risked everything in the hopes of Lakan buying her out but such misfortune occured. :(
Lakan does have a tragic backstory. That, in and of itself, doesn’t mean he’s infallible. We’ve heard the story from his perspective, at least in the anime. How reliable of a narrator is he? What about Fengxian’s point of view? Plus, Lakan experienced what it’s like to have tragedy strike, when there’s lack of information. Even knowing that, he wasn’t straightforward with Jinshi and Maomao about the danger to Jinshi’s life. What if Maomao hadn’t made it to the temple in time? What if the guard had completely knocked out Maomao? As a strategist, Lakan should be better at assessing risks. Sometimes, he’s too interested in playing games. He’s a great character, but some people are too eager to let his actions slide because he has deep sadness in his past. Anyway, I’m looking forward to more from him, Jinshi, Maomao, and the others because they’re so fascinating. LOL!
Lakan feels guilty, that's why he portrays himself like he's the villain. Pretty sure it's survivor's guilt. If he hadn't slept with Fengxian that day, if he'd noticed what had happened, or if he'd been there when it got out that she was pregnant and her price dropped to the point that he could afford to buy her out, she wouldn't have suffered through all that and "died" (if you note everyone's words, you'll know he thinks she's dead). --Still recommending you watch Mo Dao Zu Shi--
not so fun fact: the 2 withered fingers Fengxian sent Lakan had two sorces, they focus on showing Fengxian's bandaged hands every time she shows up in the present and some episodes past Maomao had a dream that showed her mother holding a knife over her as a baby and whenever Maomao reflects about love she looks over her pinky finger
It seems clear from this episode that the "old lady" told Lakan that Fengxian was "gone", so it feels like he never knew. And the only way he started to think Maomao might have been his daughter with the similar intellect that they shared. And learning through the episode that he was just so giddy to see the daughter that he thought he lost thriving so happily was so wholesome.
I think it is also interesting that Lakan's intellect in shogi , go could not translate to him better understanding the situation which is another reason why yes there is the part where due to his condition and other things he is able to play shogi in real like in wars as he sees them only as chess / shogi pieces this is way although he is weak on his own can control his men bring home victory but it just didn't happen in this case he couldn't gauge out Fengxian's intentions and neither did her lack of communication help with her situation as will be mentioned in future episode i believe i don't who said but the line if only Fengxian was honest and clearly expressed her feelings.
Maomao intended for Lakan to buy out Mei Mei because of their previous conversation together and Lakan would fit the "happy ending" for her end as a courtesan career she wanted. Also courtesans are pro and they know preventive measures to not get pregnant, she did not do them on purpose for reasons that are obvious.
Lakan most likely blames himself for everything that happened... because he's a control freak, he should have known. But he really is not to blame. Also... he probably doesn't even know about the mother.
The adoptive father of MaoMao is not the uncle of Lakan, he mention that his uncle was in the military strategist, and he teach Lakan, meanwhile the adoptive father of MaoMao was the Head Doctor at the palace. Different people. Besides by the time MaoMao was born, Lakan uncle should be dead of old age. And most important part, is that Lakan uncle has a very long beard, he cant see his face, but the beard is shown. And i had hope that Lakan wasnt a bad guy, just a weird one, but they showed us that he has tried to ammend in his creepy way. An important part that i noticed...it seems its the Old Lady of the Burdel that keeps him separated from MaoMao and MaoMao's mom, a little understandable since she thinks he did it on purpose. It was sadly a series of very unfortunate events and not anyone specific fault. MaoMao grow up with the hate towards him, but she seems to discover the actual truth, thats why she give him the chance to attone (buy her mama), notice how MinMin does not hate him, and she is hinting that the withered rose is her lover and still has value to him and a fun fact, the little girl that was MaoMao's mom assistant is now one the princess of the Burdel.
The show humanized Lakan in one ep, so sorry I'm not familiar with the game. Maomao probably already thought out hence the step forward she took. Such a tragic love cause by simple mistake. That guy only went abroad to go study, just being dally and obey unwillingly only to realise he messed up so badly years later, cause the woman he love to grieve, curse by fatal sickness, and having mental broke down, cause his daughter to lost the love and build a riff between them. I bet he currently dont know that the mom still there for he seem to me that he interpretated the message she is dead.
NOTE: he was sent to the OTHER SIDE OF THE COUNTRY and was fighting as a strategist for the military for the entire time he was gone except for maybe a month or two where he took over his family. It was not that he forgot he literally from what I have heard could not come back and had no time to visit
It's hilarious that the take away from this was, if you are not a bad person 🤣 why you be moving so weird?! Stop being creepy dog, you are making people uncomfortable 😂
Fengxian and Lakan has such a tragic love story they could’ve had everything together but unfortunately fate wasn’t on their side. All the letters she sent him with no reply back, poor woman probably thought she got abandoned whilst being pregnant not knowing that he was forcefully sent away 😔
A detail I liked was that Lakan’s game is Chess and maomao’s mom’s game is Go. When she makes the bet with him he chooses Go knowing that she can beat him at it, thus the win would go to her, making whatever happened next her choice. So like, the thought to get her pregnant crossed his mind but the one who actually made the move was maomao’s mom. That’s so strategist-romantic.
Unfortunately, Lakan's condition, Prosopagnosia is a real disease and Brad Pitt has it too. Also, he does not know that Fengxian is alive, the madam of the brothel told him she is gone
I have it. It's miserable to deal with. You either don't tell people and they see you as creepy and rude or you do and they see you as creepy, rude and broken.
6:30 There's an important detail here if you know Chinese The balsam's Chinese is 鳳仙, and its pronunciation is fengxian. (You can listen carefully.) The woodsorrel's nickname is cat's foot. Cat's Chinese is 貓, its pronunciation is mao. This is how FengXian name her daughter, and it is also the same reason they draw cat ear on MaoMao's head.
Just a note on Lakan not helping out Fengxian. When he got there the old lady was keeping him out. in the view of everyone there he just ruined one of the courtesan’s reputation and left without a trace. So I’m assuming that he just couldn’t.
@ultimatevtgb7551 However he would keep returning as he does see Maomao as a child, and she wasn't a Go or Chess piece which is how he immediately knew. The old lady continued to prevent him from seeing his daughter.
Damn, I owe my guy an apology, he was just a victim of very unfortunate circumstances. That really sucked seeing that all go down like that. Crazy tho that Maomao's "father" is really her biological father's uncle, that came outta nowhere.
I knew it he wasn't evil, now i understand him why he was head over heels, her mom is fine she's so freaking beautiful my god , even a blind man can tell she's a beauty goddess
Yeah, I knew it from his first introduction. People almost only ever portray their own actions in such a bad light, if they feel they deserve to be hated by everyone else as much as they hate themselves, if they're dealing with some form of traumatic guilt. Survivor's guilt is probably the most well-known example of what I'm talking about, and while I suspect there might be a different name for the specific type of guilt Lakan has, you could probably interpret it as a form of such. After all, he's physically fine, while she's dead as far as he knows.
Fengxian is good at Go (black and white stones) board game and Chess (Shogi) but Go is her best. Iirc before in Jinshi's office, Lakan said he could win in chess but not Go, she won in Go. When Fengxian talked about the bet, he chose Go, as if to let her win...
Lakan's character got misjudged so bad even tho he hasn't actually done anything bad, just cuz he looks shady. just like Zanac and Raeven from Overlord 😔
after watching this episode one cant help but to feel sorry for him too. Yes he could have had defied his dad , and that way avoided what happened to maomao and her mother but this society isnt as accepting as that. Hopefully this family still can be somehow saved
"Could have defied his dad", lol it isn't that simple, there's this concept called "finial piety", meaning unconditional respect to your superiors, if he had defied against his father he would have gotten disowned. Even modern China still remains conservative about this, let alone back then.
lol, he couldn't. During that time in China his head could go rolling from saying no to your father, and he was BOTH his father and superior. Also he was just innocent autistic young man.
Correction. The one reason Fengxian became that was because she was pregnant, and if you recall, the best way to reduce a courtesan’s worth to zero is to get her pregnant. Fengxian had feelings with Lakan, and her being pregnant was what she wanted, to “force” Lakan into buying her out before someone else does. Ofc, Lakan had no idea she was pregnant, especially since he was sent out forcefully. He never received a single letter from her during those three years. Their relationship caused her worth, and the worth of the brothel to crumble rapidly, and while it was never Lakan’s intention to cause all that, it still falls on him.
Lakan just wants to reconnect with his daughter As what I mentioned a couple of episodes ago, their story is somewhat similar to that of the concubine who deliberately made herself unworthy for the emperor so that she can be with her true love. In Maomao's parents case, it didn't end up well tho...
the pregnant thingy was not by accident, fengxian want lakan baby that's why she choose Go on the second game, lakan choose Go on the first game because he know he will lose but lakan didn't realize what fengxian actually really want from him. and lakan didn't know fengxian still alive, the granny said fengxian is gone so lakan assume she's dead.
For people that didnt understand very well. Fengxian, Maomao's mother, was going to be sold but she wanted to be with Lakan. She was too expensive for him to buy so she purposeful lowered her value by getting pregnant. Maomao explains this to Jinshi when he asks, prostitutes actually are very carefull with their cycle because getting pregnant is a death sentence to them. Fengxian got pregnant and that put her value to the floor, making her have to take any client, sick or not, because she was worthless in the eyes of their culture. The pinky finger, i believe there is a song on japanese that says who lies has to eat needles or have their pinky cut, I'm not sure. But sending a pinky is also a confession of love for a cortesan, as well as she did as a nab for " Remember that promise you made me ? I loved you and you broke it"
Oh but he did return. He returned multiple times. Each time the ladies hid Mao Mao. And shuffled him to Mei Mei who entertained him. With this episode we learn that he was told Fengxian was "Gone" so my guess is he kept coming back in hopes to find the baby, ie Mao Mao. If a girl the likelihood of staying within the house or district was high, if boy he would have possibly been adopted out.
So the old Lady is the villainess of the story, I guess. She let the mom take on sick clients and chased the dad away when he got back. He could have bought out his lover and raised MaoMao as a noble lady, but he got beaten every time he approached the girl and felt too guilty to impose himself.
yeah, I know brothel is hard but the granny imo also bad like she could've told her that he is back when the girl is 3 years old, at least fengxian still can get angry, fight and punch lakan to relive her anger
To be clear Fengxiang did not curse Lagan, it's call Yubikiri the Japanese hardcore way to portray the love/promise to the other depend on which finger they send, in this case she sent ring finger meaning marriage and little finger from moa moa show that they also have a kid. They sure have Japanese influence a lot, despite Chinese setting. If someone know this tradition feel free to correct it if I am wrong.
Fengxian The people who Maomao cherishes, Loumen, old lady, Meimei, Juka, Pairin, perhaps her mother, Fengxian, need closure and this her way of perhaps not healing but closure so all of them can move forward. Lakan was self aware of his issues that his Uncle Loumen tried to help him. But in his arrogance he did not try to really understand those around him. His failure to connect either Fengxian or understand her communications with him. After THREE years he finally understood. He was not malicious just lazy and neglectful - abandoning Fengxian dooming her to her shameful state and disease. Maomao understands it was not all his fault so she does not hate him but also has no affection for him. His stupidity does not excuse him nor does she forgive him, but does not see him as malicious. He may even a grown more self aware ergo his clumsy attempts to connect with his daughter whose mother he abandoned for 3 critical years. Recall her comment she lost ability for love in Fengxian womb. Lakan’s obsession and joy in games he ignored and forgot about Fengxian even though she wrote so many letters. He was not evil but he has so much to atone for. 3 years 3 years 3 years 3 years and did nothing to maintain connection. Again in 1000 days he did not contact Fengxian.
Lakan being shady is normal for a war strategist from the palace. Also, him being nonchalant about the "do u know how to bring down the price of a courtesan" thing... He's a minister for the king. He can't have much weaknesses. The fact he dotes on maomao, albeit quite lowkey, is alredy big. He can't let people think he was that heartbroken over Fengxian's death (her supposed death, he doesn't know she's alive). It's also a way to protect MaoMao. Of his enemies know she's a way to hurt him, they will use her to do just that. Shady for shady, there isn't a single clean person in the palac. A minister, a war strategist at that, it's a very desired position. People would kll for that
lakan tried to enter the brothel several times even after this incident but got beaten n shooed away by the granny , hence y memory of him by mao mao was a traumatic one cos he was covered in blood smiling trying to grab her. The granny is pissed at him because he brought the price of the brothel down n business was probably bad because of him, so they had to start from scratch again . Fengxian contracted syphilis so shes basically the same as dead, plus with the grannies resentment i think thats why she told lakan that fengxian was dead n never allowed him to see mao mao. Cant wait for the next episode tho ❤
It is said that in ancient Japan, there was a custom for prostitutes to give a finger to their beloved as a token of love. (There was no actual finger cut, and it seems that imitation finger-shaped products were on the market.) In Japan, when making an appointment, people still intertwine their pinky fingers and say "Yubikiri genman." Yubi means finger in Japanese and Kiri means amputation.
lakan most probably thinks the mom is dead as the old lady said "shes gone now" instead of saying shes sick. he wouldnt abandon her even after the disease. i sure hope they let us see his reaction to the mom being alive cause by the looks of it the next episode will be based on maomao and jinshi mostly
Its not like he ambonded her after the incident. He is a regular customer a the brothel, remember the scene where Maumau hiding in her mothers room, when he was there.
he only went there to play go with Pairin, who was Fonshen's student, so he could remember his 'late' lover. That's all, no other shit included. The prove is he still can't see Pairin's face.
I always knew there was more to Lakan than just him being a douchebag, cmon people this is Apothecary Diaries, we should've known better that they were cooking here! Really sad though how things ended up with Fengxian and Lakan..
"Her defiant eyes, like a balsam flower that would burst if touched" FengXian = Balsam. "Woodsorrel, also know as Cat's foot[...]like balsam, touching a ripe fruit causes the seeds to burst." Woodsorrel = Cat foot; Cat foot = Maomao. Episode title: "Balsam and Woodsorrel" a.k.a. "FengXian and Maomao" Playing to be the bad guy to Jinshi/us/the World as form of self-punishment?
i don't get why no one is angry with the madam of the brothel, she is way more at fault as for what happened than Lakan and she additionally wanted to do the same thing to Maomao as well...
So, Lao ISN'T such a P.o.S. after all. They made a bet. He won. His father sent him away. He THOU G T, and he did tell her it would be awhile. HE DID NOT KNOW SHE WAS PREGNANT! By the time he got back, she was already broken and in pieces and thought, might still believe she is dead.
there is a neurodiveregent condition that makes it so you can't see faces. I forget whats its called but good on the writers for doing their research. I cannot wait for the next episode of CSI: Ming Dynasty.
