The Apothecary Diaries

Episode 23

It was so easy to believe the worst of Lakan, wasn't it? Even when we learned that he had prosopagnosia last week, it was still a simple matter to assume that he did something very wrong based on the way Maomao and the ladies of Verdigris House treated him or even just the way anime tends to treat such conditions. And yes, he did unintentionally do Fengxian wrong, but we can't entirely blame him for that. She certainly never told him outright that she was pregnant or that her "taking what she wants" would mean "his sperm to fertilize her egg," and even if you aren't exceptionally dense, that could be a difficult leap to make based on a bet over a board game. The only hint he had was the lullaby she sang softly in her sleep, a barely audible clue offered unconsciously.

Had he known, would he have been able to talk his angry father out of sending him away? If he had known, would he have been able to come back in the planned several months rather than three years? If he had known, would he have been able to prevent Fengxian from contracting syphilis? We'll never have answers to those questions. Lakan's history is wholly tragic, from his father's rejection to the de facto loss of his would-be wife and daughter. He was awkward before; is it any wonder he'd get even more so in the wake of tragedy? Even his daughter has been poisoned against him, although almost certainly not by her adoptive father, who is also her biological great-uncle. Luomen seems to have been a hard-luck story, too, although it now doesn't seem like a coincidence that he set himself up as the doctor of Verdigris House. It was probably his way of helping his nephew after his own disgrace impacted Lakan's future. He couldn't know, or perhaps couldn't fathom, that Maomao would come to view Lakan with disgust.

Lakan's true history is a marker of how well-written this story is and a reminder that everyone has an angle. Did Fengxiang resent him after his apparent abandonment? Almost certainly, although I have doubts whether she sent him her finger and the tip of baby Maomao's as an actual curse. I think it's possible that she intended to remind him of her existence and to tell him of his daughter, but we can see that by that point, the syphilis was taking a real toll; she may have meningovascular syphilis, which can cause dementia and psychosis, among other neurocognitive symptoms, and it can develop as soon as one year after infection. Of course, it's possible that someone else at Verdigris House sent Lakan the fingers after Fengxian cut them off to curse him, but after all we have learned about Lakan and Fengxian's relationship, I don't feel comfortable saying outright that she intended him harm.

Is Fengxian the courtesan Maomao has brought Lakan to Verdigris House to buy out? It feels possible, and that she thought she'd have to trick him into doing so would serve as proof that she truly doesn't understand the relationship between her biological parents. Meimei, of all the people, seems like the only one who would, and she may be canny enough to realize that Maomao isn't ready to hear about that. True reconciliation between Maomao and Lakan doesn't seem all that likely, and honestly, I can't blame her for being creeped out by him – he's very aggressive in his pursuit of a relationship with her.

For Jinshi, the confirmation of their parental link takes on a different meaning, even as he completely panics at the thought of her going to live with her biological father: if Maomao is Lakan's daughter, that means that she's a noblewoman, and likely a high ranking one at that. Hopefully, we'll get word of a second season of this adaptation next week (or before) to see how that plays out because one episode isn't nearly enough to do their relationship justice.

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The Apothecary Diaries is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.