From what you said at the start about Lihua, some of the effects from the face whitening powder include, acute abdominal pain, muscle paralysis, mental confusion and uncontrollable convulsions - the big one obviously being the mental confusion, that combined with her being worried sick about her son put her in a very bad way and seen in a bad light, so to speak.
What I'm going to say are not spoilers, it's purely my reading of the situation. The emperor made the request to MaoMao in front of Lady Gyokuyou as a way to balance the power between the concubines. All concubines are part of families that in turn have their own interests and due to recent events, Lady Gyokuyou has been seen as a "favorite", which would give her and her family greater prestige. The emperor is basically making a political move to avoid a huge imbalance, which would greatly displease other families in the court. It's something deplorable but considering the historical period it's not strange to think that they would do this kind of thing.
I love how MaoMao looks like this innocent, if intelligent young woman and all of a sudden we're reminded that she was raised in a Brothel by three of the top courtesans in the country who all dote on her and love her like she's their daughter/little sister. And yet at the same time, teach her things you'd expect a young woman *to* learn in a Brothel. So many layers to our favorite Cat.
The word you're looking for is "suffocating". The emperor also can't blatantly show his favoritism towards any of the high consort due to political reasons. Sure he likes Gyokuyou the most but that doesn't mean he can ignore the others.
Maomao when getting kicked out 😑 Maomao knowing that her head is about to roll 😑 Maomao seeing the heavy meal for Lady Lihua 😑 Maomao seeing the poison : SLAP! "It Should Have Been Me! Not Her!"
19:24 From what I see online, Apothecary Diaries takes place around 15th Century China, so that falls in the Ming Dynasty. The average life expectancy of emperors tended to be 38-44 years old (and that’s the person ho would likely get the BEST healthcare) whereas regular people likely had life expectancies of 31 years or less (the chart I saw only went to 1850s). So if we’re being historically accurate, they’re likely over halfway through their life!
Great reaction as always! I love Maomao taking the ladies-in-waiting down a peg 🥰 In regards to the ladies-in-waiting basically making Lady Lihua sicker, it's just like Lady Gyokuyou said in the first episode "It truly is a sin to be ignorant". In their eyes feeding someone with such social standing as Lady Lihua what basically amounts to "peasant food" and not keeping her beautiful/covering up the smell of sickness is disrespectful towards her social status.
I dont think Lihua knew about the rose with maomao's warning on it. I think it was one of her ladies in waiting that found it on the window sill and threw it out
It doesn't excuse hitting Lady Gyokyou, but I understand her rage at that time. Her baby was sick, and nobody knew why and she needed something to blame. I think she thought the flower was from an admirer so she ignored it not knowing it's significance.
13:30 What reason does she had to die, when her son should have lived? Carry on for him and herself. Maybe another child, while having much better general health. Maybe finding something to make her happy. Maybe see something amazing. No chance if that, when you die. For her to give up and lose her life would be making her baby's death even worse, wasting what she has and he didn't. Her child would never be okay with her dying because of him, if he were cognizant and aware.
I Get what you're saying all these women kept there against their will all be it nice surroundings it is still imprisonment But i have a good feeling that in future season that Maomao with her brilliant intellect will go up the ranks and be able to grant a lot of these women there freedom if they still desire it Unfortunately some of these women may not even have experienced the outside world and chose to stay But i agree with you it's a very sad situation Fingers crossed Maomao will fix it
Anime recommendations ( you can ignore this if you want) - call of the night ( reminds me of the dangers in my heart. Like the main characters are quite similar ) - made in abyss ( just a cute show that I think you’d enjoy) - classroom of the elite ( a pretty fun and interesting show to watch and since you like to analyze its right up your alley plus it already has 3 seasons)
i think my other reply got hidden (unsurprisingly), so let me word it another way: the secret trick is putting the emperor's rod between her sizeable fruits.
