Lishu (里樹, Riishu?) is the former Virtuous Consort of the Diamond Pavilion and a secondary character in The Apothecary Diaries. As the Emperor's youngest and least-visited high consort, she holds very little influence over the Inner Court.
Appearance[]
Lishu's Anime Design
Lishu has dark purple eyes and long brown hair (black in the light novel)[2] worn half-up. Although she was predicted by many to become beautiful, she remained pre-adolescent throughout her time in the Inner Court and was almost never visited by the Emperor. As the Virtuous Consort, Lishu is typically seen wearing white clothing, which is often accented with cute, frilly designs befitting her young age.
Personality[]
Lishu has a very honest and straight forward personality. Similar to a spoiled princess, she often acts without prudence at times, but deep down she is a very pure maiden that lacks sense from experiencing more of the world. Because of this, she is often a target of bullying by the ladies-in-waiting that serve her. And since she is so innocently naive, she isn't fully aware of it. She admires Jinshi for his looks and is in love with Basen.
Her ladies-in-waiting are shown to boss her around under the guise of helping her. Maomao notes that they manipulate her by claiming everyone else is the enemy and Lishu can only trust them, influencing the naive young girl to do what they say.
She was essentially alone in the inner court with no allies except for Ah-Duo, who took on a motherly role to the young girl after losing her own child. She became incredibly attached to Ah-Duo and was devastated when she had to leave.
Because Lishu was sent away at such a young age, she is incredibly unsure of herself and often blindly follows her ladies-in-waiting' advice which is often done to manipulate her. She is shown to be very childish such as becoming scared of ghosts and becoming overwhelmed with embarrassment when Maomao held a sex education class using her knowledge from the Red Light District to help the consorts "perform" their role.
Abilities[]
Wealth: As the Emperor's consort, she holds a level of wealth which allows her to get what she wants.
Background[]
As a nine-year-old, Lishu was sent by her father to become a consort of the Former Emperor, who was known to favor young girls. Thankfully, Ah-Duo and the crown prince protected her from him. After the Former Emperor passed away, Lishu was sent back home to join a nunnery as per tradition. However, Ah-Duo and the Emperor arranged to send her back to the inner court to be a high consort to avoid her becoming another political pawn of her father and give her a chance to be happy.[3]
When Fengming, Ah-Duo's head lady-in-waiting, realized that she had unintentionally killed her mistress's son by feeding him honey, she became desperate to prevent Ah-Duo from ever learning the truth, as Lishu had nearly lost her life due to eating honey as an infant. This resulted in her attempting to poison Lishu during a garden party.[4] Ironically, Lishu survived due to her food taster's bullying when she switched the poisoned dish with one that Lishu was allergic to, causing her poisoned dish to end up in front Maomao.[5]
Sometime after the garden party, Lishu promoted her food taster, Kanan, to head lady-in-waiting, who accompanied her when she rushed to see off Ah-Duo when she left the inner court.
Due to sightings of a ghost in the Diamond Pavilion, Lishu began visiting the bathhouse instead of her private bath. When Jinshi sent Maomao to investigate, she discovered that the "ghost" was in fact the reflection of a magic mirror, containing an image of Lishu's deceased mother[6]
Trivia[]
- Her name is the Chinese pronunciation of the Japanese name Juri (
里樹 ?). - Her name, Lishu (literally the tree of "Li"), isn't a widely accepted way to name girls in Chinese, as trees (branches) are reserved for male and flowers/leaves are reserved for female.
- The Emperor has no immediate interest in Lishu, while Ah-Duo treated her as a surrogate daughter. Her status as a consort is essentially in name only.
- She has a severe allergy to fish.
References[]
- ↑ ANIME FREAKS (Abema TV) - アニメ「薬屋のひとりごと」声優・キャラクター一覧｜全キャスト96人を網羅 (in Japanese; in English: List of voice actors and characters for the anime "The Apothecary Diaries" | All 96 cast members
- ↑ The Apothecary Diaries light novel: Volume 6, Chapter 15
- ↑ The Apothecary Diaries light novel: Volume 5, Chapter 12
- ↑ The Apothecary Diaries light novel: Volume 1, Chapter 29
- ↑ The Apothecary Diaries light novel: Volume 1, Chapter 20
- ↑ The Apothecary Diaries light novel: Volume 4, Chapter 3
External links[]
- Official anime S1 character webpage (in Japanese)
- Official anime S2 webpage (in Japanese)
Fengming • Fengxian • Fuyou ☆ Gaoshun • Guen/Quack Doctor • Guiyuan • Gyokuen • Gyoku-ou • Gyokuyou
Haku-u • Hongniang ☆ Jazgul • Jin • Jinshi • Joka • Junjie ☆ Kanan • King of Shaoh • Koku-u • Kokuyou • Kounen
Lahan • Lahan's Older Brother • Lakan • Lakou • Dr. Li • Lihaku • Lihua • Lingli • Lishu • Dr. Liu • Lo-en • Loulan • Luomen
Maamei • Madam • Maomao • Maomao, the Cat • Meimei ☆ Onsou • Oracle ☆ Pairin ☆ Rikuson
Sanfan • Sazen • Seki-u • Shenlü • Shenmei • Shin • Shishou • Shisui • Shrine Maiden of Shaoh • Suirei • Suirei's Mother • Suiren • Sotei
Taihou • Taomei • Tianyu ☆ Ujun • Ukyou • Uryuu ☆ Xiaolan ☆ Yakou • Yao • Yinghua • Yo • Dr. You ☆ Zulin
Crown Prince • Emperor • Empress Regnant • Former Emperor • Imperial Brother