The Apothecary Diaries (Light Novel): Volume 2

 Once again this was a DELIGHT! The world expands a bit here, in the sense that the reader begins to see more of it beyond just the rear palace and the tiny bit of the pleasure quarter that the first volume showed. This expansion also means that there are more mysteries for Maomao to solve, and while they aren???t always necessarily complex, they DO begin to take on a bit more significance, because now those mysteries involve more than just the consorts and their ladies-in-waiting. (Which isn???t to say the consorts and the other residents of the rear palace aren???t important in the grander scheme of things, but it???s rather limited in what sorts of things can happen in there.)
Speaking of expanding, not only do the mysteries expand, but the backstories expand as well! This time the reader learns more about Maomao???s origins, which are DEEPLY fascinating and also tragic. The mystery of Jinshi???s identity is also touched upon in this volume, but in such a way as to actually produce more questions than answers. There were hints of something towards the end of the first volume, and that little hint is expanded upon somewhat in this one, both in Maomao???s own speculations about Jinshi and in the scenes where Jinshi appears without Maomao present. Speaking of Jinshi and Maomao, their connection progresses in this novel - to a certain extent. It becomes VERY obvious that Jinshi is rather possessive of Maomao, and acts quite jealous whenever Maomao chooses to pay attention to someone else - or a LOT jealous, as one particular scene in this volume shows. He also isn???t above bribing anyone, including Maomao herself, to get what he wants. As for Maomao, her view of Jinshi changes a little too in this volume, though she still finds him troublesome and a bother for the most part.
As in the previous volume, much of the fun in reading this series comes from how Maomao interacts with the characters around her, and this volume is no different. While the consorts and ladies-in-waiting of the rear palace do make an appearance (with a new consort included to make things more exciting), much of Maomao???s work in this volume involves characters from the outer palace. Aside from Jinshi, Gaoshun, and Lihaku, the story introduces other characters like Suiren, Jinshi???s housekeeper, and (the rather confusingly-named) Suirei. This volume also prominently features the Verdigris House (a high-end brothel also featured in the first volume), including more of its residents, like Meimei. As mentioned earlier this opening up of the world in which the story is set is great because it gives more opportunities for mysteries, but it also begins laying down the groundwork for the overall arc of the series itself.
Speaking of which, that arc is rather hard to tell so early in this series, but it certainly seems like it has to do with succession and the Emperor. Of course this was a clear concern laid down in the previous novel, given that Maomao???s first case was to solve the mystery behind the death of a child in the rear palace, but this volume shows that something is afoot that neither Maomao nor Jinshi can quite grasp at the moment. The reader gets a fairly good sense of who the key players might be, but there???s nothing confirmed as of this volume - and even then, there might be some plot twist further into the series that will render any speculation moot.
Overall, this volume was an excellent continuation of the first one. The shift in milieu from the rear palace to the outer palace not only opens up the setting, but opens up the plot: both in terms of the kinds of mysteries that Maomao gets to solve, but also in terms of the overall plot of the series itself. The reader then gets to know Maomao and Jinshi better, though there are still plenty of questions about the latter that are still left unanswered. As always, though, the beating heart of this series is Maomao???s interactions with the world and people around her, and that remains a consistently delightful aspect in this volume as much as it did in the previous one.