Light Novel Volume 02

Volume 2

Japanese
English

Japanese

薬屋のひとりごと２

Romaji

Kusuriya no Hitorigoto 2

Trans. Title

Apothecary's Monologue 2

English

The Apothecary Diaries: Volume 2

Cover Character(s)
Maomao

Release Info

Format

Light Novel

Release (JP)

January 31, 2015 (Hero Bunko)

ISBN (JP)

ISBN-13：ISBN 978-4-07-410821-3
ISBN-10：ISBN 4-074-10821-6

Pages (JP)

360

Release (EN)

Digital：June 3, 2021 (J-Novel Club)
Print：August 6, 2024 (Square Enix Manga & Books)

ISBN (EN)

ISBN-13：ISBN 978-1-71-836120-1
ISBN-10：ISBN 1-7183-6120-3

Pages (EN)

214

Adapted

From
To

Web Novel

Chapter 36-55

Manga

Main：Ch.21-Ch.40
Notebook：Ch.14-Ch.30

Anime

Episode 13-Episode 24

Volumes
◄ Previous	Next ►
Volume 1	Volume 3

"The Apothecary Diaries: Volume 2" ( 薬屋のひとりごと２, Kusuriya no Hitorigoto 2 ) is the 2nd volume of the The Apothecary Diaries light novel series written by Natsu Hyūga and illustrated by Touko Shino. It was first published in Japan on January 31, 2015. The translated digital English version was published via J-Novel Club on June 3, 2021. The translated print English version was published on August 6, 2024.

Blurb[]

Dismissed from the rear palace, Maomao returns to service in the outer court—as the personal serving woman to none other than Jinshi! That doesn't necessarily make her popular with the other ladies, but a bit of jealousy might be the least of her problems. A mysterious warehouse fire, an official with a very bad case of food poisoning, and the mysterious last will and testament of a deceased craftsman all demand her attention—but are these cases really separate, or do they share a troubling connection? Then there's the mysterious military man who continually visits Jinshi. He's strange, maybe even a little twisted... and he seems very interested in Maomao.

Chapters[]

Prologue
1. Serving in the Outer Court (外廷勤務, Gaitei Kinmu^?)
2. The Pipe (煙管, Kiseru^?)
3. Teaching at the Rear Palace (後宮教室, Kōkyū Kyōshitsu^?)
4. Raw Fish (膾, Namasu^?)
5. Lead (鉛, Namari^?)
6. Makeup (化粧, Keshō^?)
7. A Jaunt Around Town (街歩き, Machiaruki^?)
8. The Plum Poison (梅毒, Baidoku^?)
9. Lakan (羅漢, Rakan^?)
10. Suirei (翠苓, Suirei^?)
11. Chance or Something (偶然か必然か, Gūzen ka Hitsuzen ka^?)
12. The Ritual (中祀, Chūshi^?)
13. Thornapple (曼荼羅華, Mandarake^?)
14. Gaoshun (高順, Gaoshun^?)
15. Rear Palace Redux (後宮ふたたび, Kōkyū Futatabi^?)
16. Paper (紙, Kami^?)
17. How to Buy Out a Contract (身請け作戦, Miuke Sakusen^?)
18. Blue Roses (青薔薇, Ao Sōbi^?)
19. Red Nails (爪紅, Tsumakurenai^?)
20. Balsam and Woodsorrel (鳳仙花と片喰, Hōsenka to Katabami^?)
Epilogue

Synopsis[]

Maomao packs her bags with help from Meimei and her father in preparation for going back to the rear palace. Believing Maomao has the skills necessary to become a court lady, Jinshi and Gaoshun have Maomao take the court lady exam, but she fails it due to a lack of interest for the content, to their surprise. Instead, Maomao begins working directly for Jinshi as a live-in maid in the Outer Court, along with Suiren, Jinshi's lady-in-waiting. This incites the envy of court ladies in the outer court, leading to a confrontation.

While exploring the outer court, Maomao encounters a woman coming from the military side, who she recognizes as part of court ladies that confronted her. On the way to burn scrap paper, Maomao spots Lihaku investigating a fire that occurred at a nearby storehouse, where she finds an ivory smoking pipe on the ground. Maomao then deduces that an explosion happened when the watchman smoked inside the storehouse, causing flour to ignite, with a demonstration.

Jinshi requests Maomao to teach the four high consorts, including the new Pure Consort, Loulan. With instruction books ordered from the Verdigris House, Maomao's lesson induces varied reactions from each of the consorts. Jinshi tries to listen in but is prevented from doing so.

Gaoshun brings Maomao a recent case of food poisoning of an official, presumably from blowfish, that was like another case that occurred a decade ago. However, the chefs in both cases insisted they did not use blowfish in the dish. While exploring the kitchen, Maomao finds some salted seaweed stored on a shelf, but her investigation is cut short by the younger brother of the poisoned official. Back at the outer court, Maomao shows how seaweed needs to be cured with quicklime before consumption, but as it was out of season and thus imported, was not cured when the dish was made. The food poisoning culprit turns out to be the younger brother, who was informed of this method by another person.

A military commander by the name of Lakan begins inviting himself to Jinshi's office. In one conversation, Lakan explains that he strove to lower the price of a courtesan from the Verdigris House that he was interested in buying and asks Jinshi to include his maid in unraveling a deceased metalworker’s will. Jinshi sends Maomao and Basen, a young military official, to the metalworker's house to help solve the will. Each of the metalworker's three sons received something from the will: the eldest received the workshop, the middle received a piece of furniture, and the youngest a goldfish bowl. The will also informed the sons to 'sit down and share tea as they used to'. Observing the placement of the window and furniture within the workshop while sharing tea with the metalworker's sons, Maomao melts the lock on the middle son's furniture using sunlight reflected from youngest son's goldfish bowl. Opening the drawers with a key formed from the melted metal reveals three types of metal, the meaning of which the youngest son seems to understand.

Jinshi asks Maomao if she can disguise his face with makeup for a trip outside the palace. The next day, Maomao gives him a makeover, while informing him on the outward differences between nobles and commoners. Gaoshun and Suiren also decide to give Maomao a makeover, so she can accompany Jinshi, now dressed as a commoner, and visit home on the same day. Maomao, dressed as a young noblewoman, and Jinshi, dubbed "Jinka", head toward the pleasure district. Maomao speaks about her father, an exemplary man who was skilled in both eastern and western medical techniques but was unlucky enough to have been made a eunuch by the former empress dowager.

Maomao goes to the Verdigris House to help treat a patient at her father's request. The patient was formerly a high-class courtesan, but had fallen ill to late-stage syphilis by the time of her treatments, and thus confined. An apprentice then arrives to tell Maomao that a weird man with a monocle is at the Verdigris House, so she stays in the room until Meimei, who was entertaining him, comes by after he leaves.

Lakan then comes in to discuss the aftermath of the metalworker's will: the three brothers reconciled, and the youngest son was revealed to be the most talented of the three. He also suggests that Jinshi ask Maomao how to lower the price of a courtesan.

Maomao dreams of being held down by an unsightly woman, who grasps her hand while bringing down a knife. In response to Jinshi's question, Maomao reveals that a courtesan's price would drop to zero if she became pregnant. The next day, Lakan indirectly confirms his actions at the Verdigris House to Jinshi, and that Maomao is the result of it. Jinshi asks Maomao if she wants to meet Lakan, to whom she displays her extreme displeasure.

Suiren sends Maomao to pick up some medicine at the medical office. There, she bumps into Suirei, the same court lady she met earlier, who is familiar with the physician present. En route to throw out trash, Maomao finds a field of medicinal herbs, where she again encounters Suirei. Seeing Maomao's interest in medicines, Suirei jokingly tells Maomao that she is growing an herb to revive the dead, the possibility of which Maomao finds intriguing.

Lihaku reveals that the storehouse fire may have been a diversion to steal ritual implements, from another storehouse whose previous overseers were poisoned and died from overdose respectively. Additionally, the watchman's smoking pipe was given to him by a tall woman who smelled of medicine. Maomao deduces that these incidents are probably all related, before getting interrupted by Jinshi. At his office, Jinshi discusses the possibility of another incident occurring, before assigning Maomao to investigate further. The next day, Maomao searches for clues pertaining to the recent incidents and to ritual implements. Upon realizing the danger of the implement falling from the ceiling, and that one such ritual is being observed the same day, Maomao rushes to stop it. However, she is prevented from entering the building by the guards. Lakan arrives to take responsibility for her actions, to allow her to enter. Just before the implement falls and crushes the ritual officiant, Maomao pushes him away, who is revealed to be Jinshi.

Maomao awakens in Jinshi's bedroom after injuring her leg and fainting at the ritual building. Reporting to Jinshi, Gaoshun, and Basen, Maomao lays out how the connections between the recent incidents, the ritual implements, and the deceased metalworker’s use of alloys led to the implement falling. Lihaku's investigation quickly finds the conspirator, Suirei, but she is found to have died by poisoning. Due to her concerns on Suirei's intentions, Maomao asks to see Suirei's corpse. Joined by Jinshi, Gaoshun, and the physician familiar with Suirei, Maomao questions the physician on the use of thornapple among the poison Suirei ingested, a medicine that can mimic death. The body in Suirei's coffin is revealed to be another corpse, to which Maomao deduces was switched when Suirei 'resurrected' from death.

Gaoshun brings some eunuch-mimicking medicine to share with Jinshi, who has been using 'Jinshi' as a cover for another identity for five years, for preparation of their routine visit to the rear palace. While noting that Loulan has constantly been changing her appearance, Hongniang alerts them to Gyokuyou's possible pregnancy. In response, Jinshi sends Maomao back to the rear palace to serve as her food taster.

Lihaku meets with Maomao to discuss how he could redeem a courtesan, specifically Pairin, when he hears that one of the Three Princesses might be bought out. After talking prices, Maomao examines his entire body, before being interrupted by an angered Jinshi. On the same topic, Jinshi asks if Maomao could do the same for him, but she declines due to him being a eunuch. Jinshi then arranges a meeting with Lihaku, offering to help redeem Pairin, though Lihaku refuses out of pride.

Maomao accepts a request from Jinshi, who in turn received the request from Lakan, to grow blue roses in one month for the spring garden party. Exhausted by the effort, she manages to do so with the help of Xiaolan by cultivating them next to the sauna to force the roses to bloom faster and infusing them with blue-colored water. At the garden party, Jinshi presents the roses to the gathered officials, including Lakan and Shishou, the father of Loulan.

After the party, Maomao challenges Lakan to a game of Shogi with the following conditions: a best of three games out of five, with the loser of each round drinking a possibly drugged cup of wine. Abandoning the game would also cause someone to lose a round. Lakan wins the first two rounds, but lets Maomao win the third, leading to him drinking a cup. He immediately gets drunk and passes out, with Maomao winning by default. She takes him to the Verdigris House to fulfill her wager of redeeming one of the courtesans.

Lakan awakens at the Verdigris House, while reminiscing about his difficulties recognizing faces and his time with Fengxian, a courtesan with whom he played Go and Shogi, and could see the face of. Fengxian covertly arranged to get pregnant in time to be bought out (at a lower price) by Lakan, but did not predict that he would end up spending three years away. This resulted in Fengxian ruining the Verdigris House's reputation, getting infected with syphilis, and sending both her and Maomao's pinkies to him in madness. When Lakan came back to the Verdigris House, he found Maomao in the care of his uncle, Luomen. The old madam directs Lakan to buy out one of her courtesans, but none of them appeal to him. Meimei leads him to the sick courtesan, who is revealed to be Fengxian, whom he decides to buy out.

On the way back, Maomao and Basen come across Loulan and Shishou, to Basen's distaste. Maomao tells Jinshi that while she is thankful for being born, due to Lakan scaring her and trying to displace Luomen as her father since childhood, she doesn’t have a good impression of him.

The pleasure district holds a celebration for Fengxian's buyout. Meimei sends Maomao a celebratory outfit, which she wears to dance on top of the guard wall. Meeting Jinshi there, she tears open her leg wound, to his exasperation.