Fengxian

Anime
Manga
Light Novel

Main
Notebook

Japanese

鳳 (フォン) 仙 (シェン)

Rōmaji

Fonshen

Pinyin

Fèng Xiān

Nickname

Big Sister (by Meimei)

Physical Characteristics

Gender

Female

Age

40s

Hair Color

Black (WN)
Dark green (LN and AN)

Eye Color

Black (WN)
Purple (LN) Pink (AN)

Personal Information

Status

Deceased
Alive (manga and anime)

Affiliation

Country of Li
- Verdigris House

Occupation

Courtesan (formerly)

Clan

La Clan (by marriage)

Relationships

Familial

Maomao (daughter)
Lakan (husband)

Friends

Meimei (former apprentice)

Debut

Web Novel

Chapter ??

Light Novel

Volume 2：Chapter 8

Manga

Main：Chapter 29
Maomao's Notebook：Chapter 21

Anime

Lakan (season 1, episode 18)

Voice Artists

Japanese

Hōko Kuwashima^[1]

English

Caitlin Glass

Fengxian (鳳仙 (フォンシェン) , Fonshen^?) is a minor character in The Apothecary Diaries. She was a high-ranking courtesan at the Verdigris House, a senior sister to the Three Princesses, and the biological mother of Maomao.

Appearance[]

Fengxian was astonishingly beautiful in her prime. As a high-ranking courtesan, she wore makeup, styled her hair, and adorned herself with fine robes and ornate jewelry.

Tragically, Fengxian's beauty would fade greatly. Following the unexpected departure of her beloved Lakan, she cut off her pinky and sent it to him as a testament of her love. However, this act was also perceived as an attempt to curse him. His initial failure to redeem her forced her into street prostitution, which eventually led to her contracting syphilis. Untreated, the ravages of syphilis caused her to lose her mind and appearance: she became much thinner, her hair became long and unkempt, she lost her nose, and her skin became covered with rashes and gummas. Far from the finery she wore as a prized courtesan, in the late stages of syphilis she wore only pale robes.

Personality[]

Fengxian was described as a stoic woman. Although her livelihood relied on the patrons she could attract, she acted much differently compared to other courtesans. Whereas her fellow courtesans would charm their patrons with smiles and sexual services, she carried herself with a cold, arrogant disposition and sold her art rather than her body; her behavior endeared her to fewer patrons than the other courtesans, but earned her the very fervent admiration of a few patrons who were willing to spend exorbitant amounts of money to spend time with her.

While generally cool, Fengxian was not devoid of warmth and love. She was well-regarded by her juniors, especially Meimei. The person who drew the most love out of Fengxian was her most fervent patron, Lakan. Over the course of many years, she came to genuinely fall in love with him. To this end, she was willing to cast aside her status and reputation in order to be with him: they had sex, and when she discovered that she was pregnant with his daughter, she willingly carried the child to term and gave birth.

Tragically, Fengxian changed for the worse following Lakan's sudden disappearance. Losing her status as a high-ranking courtesan due to her pregnancy, she was forced to become a streetwalker which, alongside the perceived sentiment of being abandoned by her beloved, drove her into mental instability. She physically and mentally abused the infant Maomao, whom she never acknowledged as her daughter. She even mutilated Maomao's finger along with her own in order to send a gruesome message to Lakan.^[2] Fengxian's lack of maternal love was such that Maomao later remarked that she had no memories of Fengxian ever being a mother to her.^[3]

The late stages of syphilis reduced Fengxian to a child-like state. She was unable to recognize the people around her and care for herself, relying solely on members of the Verdigris House to take care of even her most basic needs. However, she still remembered her beloved arts from her time as a courtesan.

Abilities[]

Strategy: Fengxian was exceptionally skilled at strategy-based board games; she was particularly good at Xiangqi (Shogi in the light novel), but the best at Go. She taught the games to Meimei and was able to beat Lakan, another very skilled player, frequently. Even after having her mind robbed by late-stage syphilis, she still remembers how to play Go.

Singing: Fengxian had a beautiful voice. Even after having her mind robbed by late-stage syphilis, she was capable of singing lullabies.

Background[]

The Madam gave birth to Fengxian while she worked as a courtesan. Fengxian would remark that although the Madam gave birth to her, the Madam was not her mother; in the red light district, courtesans were not allowed to become mothers. Nonetheless, Fengxian followed in the footsteps of the Madam by becoming a high-ranking courtesan. She attracted her patrons, not through sexual services but through her artistic merits, specifically her skill with strategic board games. She was attended by apprentice courtesans of the Verdigris House, such as Meimei, with whom she forged an affectionate relationship.

Fengxian met Lakan for the very first time after he and his colleagues visited Verdigris House for Lakan to play a game of Go with her. Having gone undefeated in both strategy-based board games and his military career up until his game with her, he suffered a resounding loss at her hands. This meeting would be the beginning of a long-lived relationship between the two: over the years after this meeting, he would continue to visit her and play strategy-based board games with her. They eventually developed a romantic love between each other. However, their circumstances drove them apart. Overtime, her value as a courtesan had risen significantly; her suitors increased her value greatly by competing with one another for her affections. Her value was too too high for him to redeem her because, although he came from a noble clan, he had been stripped of his position as the successor of his family's fortune and lacked enough funds of his own at the moment.^[4]

In an attempt to be with the man she loved, Fengxian made a risky gamble: she had sex with Lakan, and became pregnant by him. This was done in order to lower her value so that he could redeem her: in the world of courtesans, being pregnant and having a child was reputation-ruining and would make her worthless financially so he could redeem her. Unbeknownst to her, however, Lakan was sent away by his father because he was close to his uncle Luomen, a brilliant physician who was branded a criminal by the Empress Regnant. Although Lakan intended to return in half a year's time to see Fengxian, he returned after three years.^[4]

During Lakan's absence, Fengxian willingly carried the pregnancy to term and gave birth to her and Lakan's daughter, Maomao. Fengxian did so under the belief that he loved her, and would return to claim her. Reduced to financial worthlessness by pregnancy and without a patron's support, she had to engage in streetwalking to survive and feed her baby. Unable to choose her customers, she eventually contracted syphilis. Although Luomen may have been able to treat her for the condition, when he initially showed up at Verdigris House, he was not trusted enough to be made privy to her illness.^[3] The perceived betrayal, loss of her reputation and her sickness bled into the way that Fengxian treated her daughter. She treated Maomao cruelly, mentally abusing her own child without showing her a single shred of love. Fengxian's mental instability leaded her to mutilate Maomao's pinky in an act of 'yubikiri' (pinky promise), an attempt to remind Lakan of the promise he had made to her by falling in love.

Some time after contracting syphilis, Fengxian entered the late stages of the disease: rashes and gummas began appearing all over her body. Her mental faculties began declining, as did her energy. Owing to her declining health and her decline in beauty because of the visible aspects of the disease, she was unable to sell her body. Mercifully, instead of being thrown to the streets as others in her position would typically have been, she was sheltered in the Verdigris House's annex and treated for her syphilis. However, her syphilis had passed the point where Luomen could treat it, and whatever treatments he could provide would only delay or provide some relief from its symptoms. The progression of the disease would eventually leave her in a child-like state: unable to take care of herself, and only barely cognizant of her surroundings. Members of the Verdigris House, such as the Madam, Meimei and Maomao, took it upon themselves to take care of her.

While the members of the Verdigris House were aware that Fengxian was still alive, her existence was concealed to outsiders. Upon his return from being sent away and his discovery of her gruesome message, Lakan immediately visited Verdigris House, but was lied to and told that she was gone. In a twist of fate, Fengxian would have her wish fulfilled when Maomao, at the age of 18, won a bet against Lakan, now a high-ranking military official. As part of their bet, Maomao forced her biological father to redeem a courtesan from Verdigris House.^[5] The Madam, recognizing Lakan's significant wealth, allowed him to select any courtesan - provided that he paid her whatever price she asked for. Although Maomao actually wanted for Lakan to redeem Meimei, who helped raise her, she and Meimei made a plan to ensure that he would redeem Fengxian. To this end, Meimei revealed to Lakan that Fengxian was alive by opening a window in Verdigris House. Doing so, she allowed Lakan to hear Fengxian's lullaby. Recognizing Fengxian's lullaby from the night he spent with her, he immediately rushed to the source of the lullaby, and discovered the woman he had loved for decades. Refusing to take no for an answer, he begged the Madam to allow him to redeem Fengxian, offering an exorbitant fee to do so. The Madam granted his request, allowing him to take Fengxian as his wife.^[4]

Trivia[]

Fengxian is named after the rose balsam.^[4]
Fengxian's fate differs slightly in the various iterations of the story:
- In the web novel, Fengxian died during Lakan's three-year absence.
- In the light novel, Fengxian contracted syphilis during her career as a streetwalker before she was eventually redeemed by Lakan and married him, but passed away from the disease soon after.^[6]
- In the manga and anime, Fengxian contracted syphilis during her career as a streetwalker. She eventually became bedridden because of the illness, and was confined to the annex of the Verdigris House to receive treatment for it, although the treatment was largely ineffective. Following Lakan's loss against Maomao, he followed through with his side of their bet and offered to redeem a courtesan from the Verdigris House. Through Meimei's actions, he would discover that Fengxian was still alive, and redeemed her. After redeeming Fengxian, he married her.