The Apothecary Diaries (Light Novel): Volume 2
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Average rating4.1
15
Ratings4
Average rating4.1
Dismissed from the rear palace, Maomao returns to service in the outer court—as the personal serving woman to none other than Jinshi! That doesn’t necessarily make her popular with the other ladies, but a bit of jealousy might be the least of her problems. A mysterious warehouse fire, an official with a very bad case of food poisoning, and the mysterious last will and testament of a deceased craftsman all demand her attention—but are these cases really separate, or do they share a troubling connection? Then there’s the mysterious military man who continually visits Jinshi. He’s strange, maybe even a little twisted... and he seems very interested in Maomao.
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7 primary booksThe Apothecary Diaries Light Novel is a 7-book series with 7 primary works first released in 2015 with contributions by Natsu Hyuuga, Kevin Steinbach, and 日向夏.
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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.
