The Apothecary Diaries: Season 1

Maomao, the daughter of an apothecary on the outskirts of the city, is kidnapped by bandits and sold to the Imperial Palace as a laundry woman, serving the Emperor's concubines, eunuchs, and respective staff in the Rear Palace. Three months later, Maomao notices a fight between two of the Emperor's concubines, Lihua and Gyokuyou, as rumors swirl around that both of their children are getting sick and dying from a curse. Maomao deduces the cause from the alleged symptoms, and leaves an anonymous

While soldiers attempt to pacify an outside village, they are mysteriously poisoned during a meal, prompting Jinshi to judge the village leader accused of the act. Meanwhile, Maomao begins her new role as a lady-in-waiting under Gyokuyou. The other attendants pity her for her bandaged arm and the dangerous position of Poison Food Tester, often completing her chores for her. Growing restless, Maomao quickly masters her duties. When Jinshi later requests her insight into the soldiers' poisoning, s

Rumors spread through the palace of a ghostly woman dancing along the Eastern wall in the moonlight. When Jinshi's attendant, Gaoshun, investigates with Maomao, they discover the dancer is Fuyou, a mid-level concubine who once sought the Emperor's favor but failed to captivate him. After losing his attention, she was promised to a General in the imperial army. Soon after, she appeared to go mad, spending her nights dancing under the moon. The next day, Maomao tells Gyokuyou and Jinshi a similar

The Emperor personally requests that Maomao care for Lady Lihua, whose mysterious illness has persisted despite treatment. However, Lihua's overprotective attendants repeatedly expel Maomao from her chambers, preventing her from helping. Observing the situation, Jinshi steps in and uses his charm to persuade the attendants to allow Maomao to work uninterrupted. Maomao begins by prescribing a cleansing diet to purge Lihua's body of toxins caused by a banned beauty powder secretly used by her lady

As Maomao and the court doctor enjoy some grilled matsutake mushrooms, someone comes into the clinic asking for a cure to a "curse". Maomao gives the patient some ointment to heal the rashes on the patient's arms. Jinshi calls her to ask her opinion on a few substances, as he is also on the hunt for what caused the "curse". The day of the garden party is fast approaching, and, this time, all of the Emperor's top-tier consorts will be attending, including Concubines Lihua and Gyokuyou. That also

Amidst the hubbub of the garden party, Maomao is caught in the proxy wars between the concubines' ladies-in-waiting, with one of Lihua's ladies talking smack about her, not knowing she is just in front of her. She also experiences getting two more hairpins, one of them from Lady Lihua herself. She also learns of the supposed rift between Consorts Ah-Duo and Lishu, where, due to politics, the very young Virtuous Consort becomes mother-in-law to the much-older Pure Consort. Things rear its ugly he

Recovering from the poison she ingested during the garden party, Maomao grows restless and asks Lady Gyokuyou for permission to use the parlor. At Jinshi's request, Gaoshun delivers the silver bowl that once held the poisoned soup, carefully wrapped to avoid contact. Employing a forensic method from her brothel days, Maomao dusts the bowl with powder, cotton, and a brush to reveal four distinct fingerprints, with one belonging to an outsider. This clue, combined with her observation that Lishu's

Returning from a walk through the medicinal herb fields, Maomao encounters a frantic servant girl pounding on her door, who immediately begs for her help. The girl brings her to a brothel where a courtesan and a well-dressed customer lie poisoned. Acting swiftly, Maomao purges the toxins from both victims, identifying the cause as tobacco poisoning, likely from a double suicide attempt. When the brothel's madam recognizes Maomao and her father, Maomao notices the servant girl preparing to stab t

Still shaken by Maomao's homecoming, Jinshi struggles to recover until Gyokuyou explains the misunderstanding. His respite is brief when a eunuch rushes in to report the death of Kounen, a high-ranking official who collapsed after a night of heavy drinking. Reviewing Kounen's habits, Maomao deduces that he was poisoned by excessive salt, which was likely slipped into his drink by someone at the party, either as a prank or out of spite. Though she hints at the culprit's identity, Maomao refuses t

Rumors spread throughout the rear palace about the drowned servant from the Garnet Pavilion, accused of poisoning Concubine Lishu's food. Gossip also hints that Concubine Ah-Duo may lose her position to a younger rival. Ah-Duo's history emerges about her connection to the former emperor and her late son. During a tea gathering between Gyokuyou and Lishu, Maomao notices subtle bullying from Lishu's attendants, especially when Lishu hesitates to drink the honeyed tea. Later, Maomao learns Jinshi o

Maomao confronts Fengming about the tragedies surrounding Ah-Duo's child and the empress dowager's baby. She learns Ah-Duo became infertile after her first birth because the doctor, Maomao's father, was pulled away to assist another royal delivery. Later, Fengming unintentionally caused Ah-Duo's son's death by feeding him honey, unaware it was lethal to the child. Though ruled a mystery, both incidents led to the doctor's expulsion. Fengming later learned the truth when Lishu, who had nearly die

Following Fengming's execution, her assets are seized, and her relatives and associates face varying degrees of corporal punishment. In the ensuing purge, Maomao is dismissed as well, implicated through Fengming's family's hidden human trafficking ring. Jinshi wrestles with whether to keep her employed, fearing that forcing her to stay in the palace which he believes she dislikes would only drive her away. Maomao pleads to remain, explaining that she still owes the Verdigris madam a large debt a

Maomao returns to the palace, but this time to work in the outer palace, because, as Gaoshun explains to her, they cannot just restore her former position after being laid off. Jinshi asks her to keep using her freckle make-up. Gaoshun introduces her to Suiren, one of Jinshi's personal assistants. Suiren later shows her around Jinshi's residence, while Gaoshun later shows her the rest of the outer palace and the public and government offices. Jinshi intends to have her become a court lady, but s

Maomao, on Gyokuyou's and Lihua's recommendation, is formally tasked by Jinshi with educating the new Pure Consort Loulan on "serving" the Emperor. The teaching sessions, also attended by all the high-ranking concubines, focus on subject matter featuring materials from the Old Lady at the Verdigris. While Gyokuyou and Lihua handle the content well, Lishu (and Hongniang) are overwhelmed, and Loulan remains nonchalant and snobbish. That night, an explosion happens in a palace building, which Lakan

Gaoshun enlists Maomao's help in investigating a case involving a bureaucrat who falls into a coma after consuming raw fugu seasoned with vinegar, similar to an incident ten years ago. Every detail checks out, save for one, leading her to Gaoshun referring him to a man named Basen, who shows her the kitchen where the food was prepared. Despite interference from the bureaucrat's younger brother, Maomao finds the detail that interested her: the seaweed used in the dish, which was imported from the

Jinshi assigns Maomao to investigate the will of a metalworker known to Lakan, who died under mysterious circumstances. The will divides his belongings among his three sons: the eldest inherits the workshop, the second a locked chest with an inaccessible central drawer, and the youngest a glass fishbowl, along with a note urging them to "continue their tea parties as usual". Joined by Basen, Maomao examines the shack and chest, discovering solder blocking the keyhole of the middle drawer. Using

Jinshi requests Maomao's help in disguising him to appear less attractive for an incognito stroll through town. Maomao employs various methods, including altering his appearance, scent, and voice, even dulling his hair and clothing to mask his muscular physique and overall identity, because he is too beautiful to hide his identity in a simple disguise. During their walk, with Basen acting as security from a distance, Jinshi, going by "Jinka", observes Maomao's silence, leading to a conversation

Maomao refuses to fully accompany Jinshi to his destination because she, as she is dressed fancily, refuses to blow his cover; and heads home instead for a few days off. Back home, she later awakens from a nightmare, which is actually a memory from her infancy. Her adoptive father, Luomen, sends her on an errand to the Verdigris, actually to tend to a woman at its annex. The woman is revealed to be Maomao's mother suffering from syphilis, and Luomen's medicines are their only treatment. It is re

Gaoshun informs Jinshi of this afternoon's activities, as he reflects on his recent interaction with Maomao. Meanwhile, Lihaku informs Maomao about a theft of ceremonial tools around the time of the explosion at the warehouse. She finds out that the warehouse manager, the official fond of rare food, is ill from poisoning; and Master Kounen, who died from excessive salt intake, was the former warehouse manager. Maomao senses a connection along with the ivory pipe she found at the burned warehouse

Maomao wakes in Jinshi's room, being tended to by Suiren. She later asks her to go explain to Basen, Jinshi, and Gaoshun the events linked to the recent assassination attempt on Jinshi. The plot involved a rigged ceremonial tool made with a low-melting lead alloy on someone's orders, tied to the warehouse fire, Kounen's death, the warehouse manager's food poisoning, and the theft of the original ceremonial tools. Meanwhile, Maomao learns from Lihaku of Suirei's supposed death by poison, but susp

Maomao personally takes charge of cleaning up the rear palace pharmacy to make sure it will not be sabotaged, after the doctor in charge of the inner court pharmacy was punished with a pay cut for mismanaging it. The rear palace doctor reveals that his family is the official purveyor of paper to the palace, but ever since the empress dowager banned the cutting of trees, their business went downward as their new formulation resulted in a poor quality paper. The doctor became a eunuch to avoid a s

As Maomao continues to work for the pregnant Gyokuyou, and tending to her daughter, Princess Lingli, Lakan egged on Jinshi again, this time wanting to see blue roses by the time of the next spring party. Jinshi gives in for the sake of not crossing him, so he asks, of all people, Maomao. She accepts the task at hand, because she wanted to rub it in Lakan's face. Using Lady Lihua's sauna as a greenhouse, she attempts to accelerate the flowering of a hundred rose bushes procured and put into place

Lakan is challenged by Maomao to a game of Chinese chess, with her living with him should he win, much to Jinshi's shock; but him buying out an aging courtesan from the Verdigris should he lose. A stipulation that the winner takes one of the cups of hard liquor spiked with a drug that turns into poison after three sips and lets the loser drink its contents is added, with abandonment being considered as a defeat. Maomao lost twice in a row, meaning she could have drunk two of the three poisoned c

Lakan, bitter over Jinshi's closeness to Maomao and longing for her affection, is summoned by the Old Lady of the Verdigris to choose a courtesan. Though he initially considers Meimei, he hears a lullaby and recalls the withered blue rose from Maomao's message. Interpreting it, he rushes to where Fengxian is, and chooses her despite the cost. Meanwhile, Maomao returns from dropping off a drunken Lakan with Basen's help, encountering Loulan and her father on the way. She explains that she helped

The spring garden party concludes without incident. Maomao returns to her regular life as Concubine Gyokuyou’s taster. Meanwhile, novels become popular in the rear palace. Maomao wonders how this came to be, as novels were typically considered low-class. But behind the scenes lies Jinshi and his goals as manager of the rear palace.

The caravan stirs up excitement in the inner palace. The merchants bring all kinds of goods. However, something gives Maomao a bad feeling.

A concubine passes away, and a woman goes missing. Jinshi sends Maomao to investigate - not these incidents, but mushrooms growing in the rear palace.

The special envoy from a foreign land gifts mirrors - a rarity in this country - to the high concubines. However, they bring mysteries as well.

In order to realize the seemingly impossible request from the foreign envoy, Maomao speaks to the “Moon Fairy” herself.

The woman from the clinic finds out that Maomao knows a thing or two about medicine, and asks for her help.