It’s a minor detail in the grand scope of things, but I was amused to discover that The Apothecary Diaries isn’t set in the far-off, distant past like I had assumed but much closer to modern times (or at least when compared to our own history, since this is clearly not our world). From deciphering some of the last actions of the previous emperor, to finally unraveling what happened with a missing corpse a few volumes back, at this point Maomao will never truly be able to leave the rear palace behind because the two are far too entangled, and in some ways were before she was ever born. As she returns to help consort Gyokuyou with her latest pregnancy (and trying to ward off anything that might hurt mother and child, or even reveal the situation) Maomao accidentally ends up being pulled deeper into the recent past of the rear palace as well. The past is never truly past, something Maomao is aware of having grown up in a brothel where courtesans spend years to pay off debts, but the future is a fluid thing regardless.
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