The Apothecary Diaries (Light Novel): Volume 2

The second volume of The Apothecary Diaries sees Maomao's return to the palace, but not to the rear palace. Not right away, at least. She spends the first half of the book in the outer court, working directly for Jinshi. Just like in the previous book, there's a series of cases that may seem unrelated, but eventually leads to a much bigger issue. Maomao actually does get in danger this time around, and from there she is sent back to Gyokuyou's residence in the rear palace. The main issue itself, however, remains unsolved for now.

One of the new characters introduced in this book is Lakan, a military tactician who comes to bug Jinshi with strange requests every now and then. Due to the nature of his relationship with Maomao, the second half of the book digs deeper into Maomao's origins before nicely tying up a loose end involving her biological parents. I stopped reading the manga just before Maomao returns to the rear palace, so the way Lakan is written came off as a really nice surprise for me. He's not quite what he may seem to be. In a good way.

A new consort has also arrived to replace Ah-Duo. So far she stays in the background since the story for this volume doesn't focus on her, but each scene involving her carries a rather ominous tone. It feels like she might be related to some kind of conspiracy, and I can't wait to see how the story will play out in the next volume.