The Apothecary Diaries: Volume 3

Unlike the previous two volumes, the third book of The Apothecary Diaries is mainly building up tension for political movements. There are envoys from foreign lands who seem to have their eyes on the emperor, and the objective of Consort Loulan's father remains a mystery. Maomao is still working for Gyokuyou, who is currently pregnant... but she's not the only one, and it opens up the way for all sorts of trouble in the rear palace. There's a lot of small incidents and peculiar things happening, including a school built inside the rear palace and also the introduction of Shisui, a serving woman who seems to spend her days chasing bugs.

Where these seemingly small things lead, however, does not lie in this volume. Instead, the highlight of the book is given to Maomao and Jinshi's relationship. It's clear enough that he's interested in her, but she finally gives him a reaction that isn't disgust or indifference. Maomao spends a good portion of the book away from Jinshi as she deals with various issues in the real palace, so it's nice to see them having some development despite not getting too many scenes together. Jinshi's real identity is also revealed, answering some of the questions from the previous books.

Oh, and Maomao touched the frog.

Jinshi's frog.

While I really enjoy Maomao's detective work and medicine analysis, I'm also looking forward to see how the main plot is going to unfold from here on out.