Maomao is a weird girl who’s obsessed with medicine in The Apothecary Diaries Episode 1. She knows it’s a poison. But she puts the poison into her mouth. She grows up from the Verdigris House and she goes to the forest for picking the herb.
Maomao is kidnapped by the kidnappers to the palace being maid. The girl is bad lucky. But some maids can be lowly concubine. Maomao has a freckled face and her shape isn’t fullness. She knows the case isn’t related to her. But she can leave after two years if she works hard.
So she decides to act well. But her situation is broken one day. The maid Xiaolan tells Maomao that there’s a curse. The princes and the princess passed away one by one after they were born. There’re only one prince who was just born three months ago and a princess who was just born six months ago.
Their mothers are the most powerful Consort Lihua in the palace and Consort Gyokuyou who Emperor loves most. Maomao thinks it’s just a rumor until she hears the mother and the son felt sick. She decides to go to check as an apothecary.
She witnesses Consort Lihua slapping Consort Gyokuyou. Consort Lihua thinks Consort Gyokuyou cursed her son because Consort Gyokuyou gave a birth to a daughter. Consort Gyokuyou talks back that Consort Lihua knows her daughter suffered the same. So she thinks she didn’t do that.
Maomao sees that the doctor is the problem. But she doesn’t know how to tell it to the two consorts. She leaves the scene when she thinks about her plan. But Jinshi watches what she did.
One month later after the argument, Consort Lihua’s son passes away. Maomao actually tied the letters on the azalea that day. She put it into the rooms of the two consorts. But she failed to save Consort Lihua. Because nobody cares for a maid.
Consort Lihua isn’t a big rose anymore after she lost her son. She’s haggard. I think Consort Gyokuyou’s daughter will pass away soon. But she isn’t. Because Consort Gyokuyou believed the etiology Maomao wrote in her letter. So the princess is alive. Consort Gyokuyou wishes to know who wrote it. Jinshi claims that he has a way to find the person.
The next day, most of the maids are called to the matron’s room. The maids walk into the room and they’re obsessed with Jinshi. But Maomao is calm and she thinks Jinshi is a girl. She feels regret after he introduced himself as a man.
He takes out the paper he just wrote. He asks Maomao to stay. She realizes that it’s a trap. She’s flustered and she wonders if she made a mistake so that someone paid attention to her. She realizes that it’s the letter she wrote.
Maomao is the only maid who can read. Jinshi wrote the words for finding the truth. She tries to flee. But it’s too late. He asks her to leave with him.
Maomao isn’t happy after she was tricked. Jinshi begins to set up a trap. He mentions she shouldn’t read. She agrees to what he said. She thinks there was a misunderstanding. She still refuses to confess. Because pretending to be innocent is a good plan.
She wonders how did the man know the letter. She thinks she was very cautious. She doesn’t know what kind of punishment she’s going to get. Her worry is gone after she saw Consort Gyokuyou.
Consort Gyokuyou thanks Maomao. Maomao refuses to accept the greeting because she’s lowly. But Consort Gyokuyou thinks it’s not enough to express her thanks. Because Maomao saved her daughter. But Maomao thinks Consort Gyokuyou mistook her for someone else. She thinks there’s a misunderstanding.
Jinshi learns that Maomao still doesn’t admit. So he takes out the evidence. The cloth is used by maids to make work clothes. Her skirt was torn. Maomao has to admit that he sent letter to the two consorts after she knew the truth.
The words in the letter are very simple. She asked the consorts not to use the high level face powder which contains poison. Mao Mao was born from brothel. There’re a lot of prostitutes using high level face powder. Most of them were corroded by the poison. They passes away because of it. They used their lives to exchange with the beautiful looks. They got nothing in the end.
SEE ALSO: The Apothecary Diaries Episode 2 Recap: Chilly Apothecary
Consort Gyokuyou actually told the case about the face powder to Consort Lihua after she knew the truth. But Consort Lihua didn’t listen to Consort Gyokuyou. Mao Mao wishes to know what kind of punishment she’s going to get. She’s surprised that Consort Gyokuyou wishes her to be her personal maid.