In the East is a land ruled by an emperor, whose consorts and serving women live in a sprawling complex known as the hougong, the rear palace. Maomao, an unassuming girl raised in an unassuming town by her apothecary father, never imagined the rear palace would have anything to do with her—until she was kidnapped and sold into service there.
Though she looks ordinary, Maomao has a quick wit, a sharp mind, and an extensive knowledge of medicine. That’s her secret, until she encounters a resident of the palace at least as perceptive as she is: the head eunuch, Jinshi. He sees through Maomao’s façade and makes her a lady-in-waiting to none other than the Emperor’s favorite consort… so she can taste the lady’s food for poison!
At her lady’s side, Maomao starts to learn about everything that goes on in the rear palace—not all of it seemly. Can she ever lead a quiet life, or will her powers of deduction and insatiable curiosity bring her ever more adventures, and ever more dangers?
I did not realize just how closely the anime followed the original source, respecting even the most minor details even if it does not detail them. It’s insane.
I had a bit of trouble reading it because it was more like I’ve already seen it (twice, if you count the manga as well) and I knew what was coming. I ended up slamming back the last 50 pages just to get through it so I can move on to my physical book goal and put Apothecary Diaries on the backburner for the time being.
The one advantage is that is does explicitly tell you details that you may have missed watching the anime or reading the manga, but the anime is such a good adaptation that you don’t necessarily need to read the LN to understand what’s going on. I did notice the anime added a bit (girl bath time) but not really a whole lot.
As before, I do adore Maomao. She’s as put upon as ever.
