WRITTEN BY HYUGA NATSU
THIS STORY IS A FICTION AND ALL NAMES OF FIGURES AND ORGANIZATIONS ARE FICTITIOUS.
MOREOVER, THE STORY HAS NO RELATION TO REAL-LIFE INCIDENTS AND EVENTS.
Lady Loulan.
It seems the resurrection medicine
was actually an experiment during the development of an immortality elixir.
In fact, Suirei was brought back to life with that medicine.
The previous apothecary really was skilled.
But what Shenmei wants is an immortality drug
that makes you look ten years younger
with just one dose.
You've got it rough too.
No such medicine exists.
I know that...
But even I have my pride as an apothecary!
The days just keep slipping by.
Wait for me!
Young master!
How many times have I told you not to go that way?
It's fine, who cares!
Getting scolded again, huh?
He gets dragged back every time, but he never gets tired of it.
And this smell...
Is there a workshop down below?
Like in that hidden village.
I hope nothing explodes.
Hmm?
Wire?
"Run. The guard will be lured away."
Run? But where to?
- Let me go! - Hey! Young master!
Was this your doing?
"Lured away"?
Hey.
What are you up to?
What do you mean?
Did you put them up to this?
No idea what you mean.
He was trying to help me in his own childish way.
It might've been naive,
but if we got caught, it'd be serious.
I was just playing.
And while I was at it, I checked if the guards were slacking off.
- Is that true? - Yes.
Do not do anything suspicious again.
- Got it! - Wait, but I'm sure.
Do not cause any more fuss.
You understand?
Fine.
I'm glad Suirei was there.
- All's well that ends well. - Oh my?
What is all this commotion?
Mother.
It is nothing serious.
Really?
Then why is the apothecary outside?
I wonder.
Kyou-u was playing
in front of the apothecary's room and interfering with the guard.
Just in case, I was asking about that.
Oh dear,
did you do something bad?
That's not good.
If you do not behave,
I might have to
spank you a little, hmm?
Lady Shenmei, that is...
What?
Kyou-u is still a child.
And it really was not
anything serious.
So someone made a big fuss
over something trivial, is that what you're saying?
No way! That's not true!
But doesn't it seem that way?
The water prison should give him time to think.
- No! - This is absurd.
The reason doesn't matter.
She just enjoys
making others suffer.
It has nothing to do with me.
I should leave the guard and Kyou-u alone.
But,
it pisses me off.
It cannot be helped.
Then let us punish both of them.
You damn hag.
What?
You little brat!
That was dumb.
I asked him to.
I asked that child to help me escape.
It was my request.
You!
This apothecary is no good.
Let us teach her a lesson.
Throw her in the water prison!
In this cold? Water?
I really should've kept quiet.
Then we'll lose another apothecary.
Oh my, Suirei.
Did I hear something?
Must be my imagination.
Lady Shenmei!
You must not act on your own.
I apologize.
But--
Even noble blood is worthless
once it's tainted.
Maybe
Suirei feels responsible in her own way.
I never intended to bring you this far.
Another fool, huh?
Mother.
- I want to use that. - That?
You mean Taibon.
Taibon?
I've heard of that before.
Brilliant idea. Why not try it?
It worked perfectly last time.
What now?
Take the apothecary with you.
This way.
What is this room?
No hard feelings.
You helped me,
but this is Lady Shenmei's order.
Taibon.
That's right. I remember.
A cruel execution method
used by a mad king in ancient times.
A hole would be dug, and the criminal confined within.
And inside it were...
No wonder. Suirei's afraid of snakes.
Just kidding.
How adorable.
What the hell?
What is that?
Smells kinda... toasty?
Smells good.
What are you doing?
Do you have any salt?
Of course I don't! And hey, is that?
Snake.
Let's pretend it's fish.
But seriously, how did you even?
I butchered it with a hairpin and roasted it over a torch.
You're seriously okay with that?
Snakes and bugs move slowly before hibernation.
Just in case, I killed any venomous ones first
and turned my herbs into ash
- for insect repellent. - Was there even
a point in me coming here?
So, what do you need from me?
Suirei and the kid asked me to help you out.
Said to give you a hand.
That kid
even gave me a jade hair ornament.
Thanks to you,
we didn't get punished.
They did that?
Man, I'm done with this place.
I saw a smoke signal outside.
It means a punitive force is coming from the capital.
The whole fortress is in chaos.
- That's how I was able to sneak in. - Huh? This smell.
I'm leaving now.
If you're planning on running, don't take the stairs on the other side.
They're making gunpowder in the basement.
Gunpowder.
There are a lot of people down there.
- If it explodes, you'll get caught in it-- - Thank you!
Got it. The opposite stairs!
I warned you, okay!
So that smell was from there.
It really is gunpowder.
But this smoke,
they'll get poisoned like this.
Using fire near gunpowder?
That's insane.
Oh no.
That is...
Leave this place immediately!
What's wrong, Milady?
The punitive force will be here any moment.
This fortress will become a battlefield and fall.
You must escape before that!
Silver!
Waah!
Yes!
Yeah!
M... Milady?
You too, hurry!
Do your best to get out!
Get out of here!
Are you serious?
This is bad!
Loulan.
Loulan!
Huh! Maomao, what are you doing here?
I should be asking you that.
Are you hurt?
I figured you'd be fine with the Taibon.
I knew it.
It was delicious.
That makes no sense.
Not coming from someone who eats bugs on purpose.
Hey!
Let's get out of the fortress. The punitive force is coming.
We have to go now.
I am not going.
I still have things to do.
You're coming with me?
You could still escape.
I know I'm being foolish.
If my mother finds out, it will be terrifying.
If I get away with just a whipping, I'll be lucky.
I thought you were being treated with care.
Mother barely even
remembers what I look like.
Ever since I can remember,
I was made up with rouge and powder.
To Mother, I'm just a doll.
A cute doll
who always obeys.
So...
Oh, sister!
- You again? - I want to help too!
I want to be with you, sister!
What are you slacking off for?
M... Mother?
Bring the tea at once!
She did not even
recognize me in maid clothes.
She hit me with a fan across the cheek.
When I dressed as a maid,
I was just another servant to her.
And yet, you still went to see Suirei.
Because I wanted to be close to her.
She was always being tormented by Mother.
I think her mother died
from being tormented by mine.
When Father took Suirei in,
Mother flew into a rage,
hair disheveled,
screaming, "Will you mock me across two generations?"
"That daughter's nothing but a shameless whore."
It was like hell.
Two generations.
By the time
I was sent back as a gift,
my mother and I were already by Father's side.
Even noble blood is worthless
once it's tainted.
Suirei. Could she be?
Have you never heard the rumors?
About the woman
who bore the previous emperor's
first child and was then separated from her?
I think she died last year, right?
Yes. That woman was Sister's grandmother.
Her name was Taihou.
She used to be an attendant when my mother was in the inner palace.
I knew it.
And
Sister's mother was the daughter of Taihou and the physician
who was exiled from the palace.
So Suirei has
royal blood running through her veins.
I heard she liked ghost stories.
One of them nearly choked me to death once.
Maybe that was her grandmother's doing.
After all, I'm my mother's daughter.
She must have hated me.
Hated me enough to want to kill me, even as a ghost.
Who knows if ghosts even exist?
That sounds like you.
Mother married Father just to
give birth to me, Loulan.
It was only for revenge.
Father has Western blood,
same as the Queen Mother.
So,
Loulan's eyes...
"You will be the new Queen Mother,"
she always told me.
Hey.
Loulan or Shisui.
I do not even know what to call you anymore,
But...
Shisui.
What is it?
The abortifacient ingredients that were circulating in the rear palace.
Did you have some?
To use on yourself?
That ghost story you told me before,
the one where the bell cricket's wife eats her husband.
Were you talking about yourself?
Comparing yourself to an insect trapped in a cage called "nobility,"
doomed to bear a child and devour the emperor,
but you were afraid of that fate.
The lantern plant.
I know.
Maomao, you are so sharp.
I am glad I brought you here.
Seriously, you toss and turn too much.
They are not breathing.
What?
You gave them
poison?
Medicine.
What I did was already extreme enough.
The whole family will be slaughtered.
You can see it coming.
I mixed it in sweet juice and gave it to them
after we looked at picture scrolls.
One of the girls cried, saying she wanted to sleep with her mom.
But she could not.
Their mothers were
The reason Kyou-u came late
was because he was trying to rescue you, Maomao.
That boy, maybe he knew.
He bit his lip,
and drank it all in one go.
Why did you bring me here?
PREVIEW OF THE NEXT EPISODE
The next episode is "The Forbidden Army."
Subtitle translation by: Abhishek Chand Ramola