#ln5

[xvxblahhhxvx]

They make me ill. What do you mean she just...stroked his hair?? As if it was the most natural thing in the world. She's in love, your honor.

And everything about this scene....the way she can just be silly with him. The way she wanted to try and make him laugh for no reason at all. The way they're both veritable freaks. I love them so much.

[meowmeowsabortionclinic]

THE WILL OF HEAVEN

Maomao sees herself as SO submissive and beheadable she literally needs to invoke contract law when she kisses Jinshi back. The English audience was ROBBED.

It happens when she's JUST about to activate her Art of Whore Sleeper Skills to flip his ass on that bench;

Official English;

To say again: none of this was Maomao’s fault. This was beyond her control.

Original Japanese;

　もう一度言う、猫猫に罪はない、不可抗力だ。

Direct Retranslation;

"Let it be said one more time; Maomao is innocent of crime, it was (The Will of Heaven)."

不可抗力だ, bù kě kàng lì, is a Chinese legal term, directly equivalent to "an act of God/Damnum Fatale/Vis Major" in English contracts. She practically looks at the camera to speak DIRECTLY to you, the reader, to deliver the legal defense she's gonna use in her court case.

This epilogue is hilarious, actually, I retract any criticism I ever had of it ever. No other protagonist does it like Maomao Apothecarydiaries.

[augustinamiaumiau]

LN5 SPOILERS-The second hairpin

After Maomao agrees to participate at the banquet as Lahan’s relative she returns to her room where she finds a tailor. She assumes it’s Lahan’s doing.

When the tailor leaves she sits on the bed where she obverves a box.

When she opens it she discovers a hair stick.

“For just a moment, she thought that somehow the silver hair stick she had never expected to see again had managed to return to her”

Maomao knows it’s from Jinshi because it looks very similar to the one he gifted her.

Maomao describes it as a “lovely piece, carved with the image of the moon and flowers-and poppies. Lovely, yes, but Maomao grinned as she realized what the poppies meant.”

Poppy seeds is Chinese Culture represent passion and deep love and Maomao knows it.

“She went ahead and put the stick in her hair, just because. Strangely, it felt rather fitting, and the way she continued to wear the accessory thereafter was perhaps rather unlike her.”

With the knowledge of who gave it to her and what it means she decides to wear it. She feels like it fits her and keeps wearing it which is “unlike her”-highlighting what a big deal this is.

At the banquet Rikuson remarks the hair stick and how beautiful it is.

Maomao is not ready or emotionally equipped to acknowledge its significance or talk about it so she makes up a reason why Rikuson might seem intersted in it which also solves the “mystery” of why some noble women were glancing at her hair.

“Maomao remembered she was still wearing the hair stick from the paulownia-wood box. It wasn’t flamboyant, but even the untutored eye could tell it was of fine make. Maomao had thought she’d detected the more well-bred young ladies in the room occasionally glancing, and now she understood why.”

The next night Lahan takes a dig at Maomao

“Well,” Lahan said, eyeing her. “They say clothes make the man, but apparently the same doesn’t go for women. At least some of them.”

“Shut up.”

Which trigger an unusual moment of insecurity in her.

“Maomao was dragging a heavy skirt behind her. The outfit, like the meal, was western-style, more or less. Not exactly the same-it hadn’t been possible to get something like that ready-but the silhouette, the overall look, was similar, including the bone hoop that went around her waist to puff out the skirt. It was also the style with western dresses to squeeze the waist and shop the top half of the cleavage for emphasis-but sadly, Maomao didn’t have much to show off, and lest she embarrass herself, she instead wore a long-sleeved top, submitting only to having her waist cinched about with a belt.

They did her hair too, somewhat; it was put up in a rather showy manner, but ultimately the stylists were limited by the material. It was better than it had been, perhaps, but it suffered by the truly resplendent comparisons present at the banquet. She looked like a stalk of shepherd’s purse among a field of roses and peonies.”

Maomao sees herself as inferior to these noble women appearence wise. She sees herself as an ugly plant while she compers them to beautiful flowers. She doesn’t want to show her cleavage to not emberass herself because she doesn’t have a big chest, it doesn’t matter what she’s wearing because in her head she’ll forever be lacking compared to them.

But.

There’s one thing that makes her feel better.

“Just one thing helped calm her in this otherwise unfamiliar and unsuitable ensemble: a fine silver hair stick.”

The hairpin calms her down because it’s proof that she has something these women don’t, but wish to have: a hairstick from the Moon Prince. She is the chosen one, they aren’t.

Later when Rikuson invites her to dance he tries to remind her that she’s not a “desinterest third party. Never forget the import of what you wear on your head.”

It wasn’t her choice to go to the Western Capital and she only reculantly agreed to participate at the banquet as a lady of the La clan because Lahan convinced her to, but to wear that hairpin was her decision, nobody else’s.

[burnt-venus]

THE APOTHECARY DIARIES LIGHT NOVEL 5

PAPER VILLAGE JINMAO PAPER VILLAGE JINMAO PAPER VILLAGE JINMAO PA- 💥💥

There was ZERO, NO REASON for Maomao to do that to Jinshi, and yet she doesn't think too much before acting. "Thinking what a lot of trouble he could be" whatever you say, Maomao, are you trying to pass that off as an excuse, or is it resignation? Let's gently stroke this man's hair just because he's annoying, maybe he'd leave right away. Oh, and let's not miss the opportunity to think and describe every little detail of him that makes his gorgeousness out of this realm. She's not normal about him, and I'm screaming into my pillow.

[yellowed-out]

The LN5 epilogue really does need a comprehensive passage sheet.

a) what prompted Jinshi to act in this way?

b) what does Maomao’s reaction tell us?

c) how does this scene interact with the themes of the text?

[all3nz]

"Basen had failed Yue on their last expedition, but they did have the young apothecary with them; that was reassuring. She was nothing if not bold"

Yeah no shit, she found out he was faking being a eunuch by grabbing his supposive "frog".

[mehrfh]

You are telling me that people came across LN volume 5 Jinshi and still think he is going to let anyone — man or woman— take what is his?

I mean THAT Jinshi???

Excuse me?? He will let anyone have her??? Please...

Out of all analysis that came out regarding that epilogue, no one actually discussed the severity of Jinshi's intent?

He will destroy fortunes before letting anyone have what he claims to be his...

He is still idiot in a boyish way but “even beautiful things can be terrible...”

[s-infernum]

i havent read the original text of LN5 so idk about all the mistranslation talk, but my personal opinion from just reading the english translation is that I dont really agree with jinshi choking maomao out. but i see what hes trying to convey. maomao was pulling some crazy shit at that party and jinshi was obviously feeling some type of negative way abt it. did he have to choke her out? not really, no. that was a bit much actually.

but let's not forget that jinshi doesn't like when his favorite toys get taken away, and in this instance the love of his life was wearing his hairpin, dancing with another man, and then suggested he get married to another girl. NOT SAYING MAOMAO IS THE VILLAIN HERE OKAY. this is why TAD is an amazing series because it forces you to understand and look at these things in a deeper way which results in understanding both sides. I summarized my feelings on the ending a bit cus I could go on but that's basically what I'm feelin.

conclusion? jinshi shouldn't have laid his hands like that on maomao to get his point across of what he was feeling. maomao shouldn't have been acting like a fool and playing with his heart and lowkey making jinshi look like an idiot.

however I am glad they kissed.