The protagonist of The Apothecary Diaries, Maomao, has a unique personality, which is one of my favorite things about the series. Her goofy yet sensible nature outshines her within the story and also reflects her intelligence, which is quite underrated. However, the most interesting part about her personality is that it has the power to charm almost anyone.
The biggest example of this is the current Emperor of Li, whose stature makes him look more serious and authoritative within the story. He is respected by everyone and thus has to maintain a rigid persona throughout. But the only time I have seen him being a little bit comfortable and joking is when Maomao is in his presence and the two are having a conversation.
Although I have always thought that Maomao’s nature might be the cause of the Emperor’s leniency towards her, there might be more to the story than I and many other The Apothecary Diaries fans assume. It looks like her assistance for the Emperor is not just limited to providing medical advice. She might also help by supplying him with smut materials.
Emperor’s relationship with Maomao in The Apothecary Diaries
Since their first interaction, the Emperor had been quite comfortable around Maomao. In fact, according to me, she might be one of the only few characters who can bring out the lenient side of the Emperor in The Apothecary Diaries. He is aware of her investigative skills and medical knowledge, but that is certainly not the reason why he is laid back towards her.
Although their interactions are rare within the series, they still feel amusing as it brings out a side of the Emperor that he cannot knowingly portray in front of others. Not only that, he is not even affected by Maomao’s blunt responses and nature. Instead, he sometimes finds it humorous and doesn’t let it affect their relationship at all.
Their relationship is certainly not the main highlight of the series, but I find it quite intriguing, considering the role both of them have in The Apothecary Diaries. They are not deeply connected but still share an informal relationship, which is quite rare considering the story explores the themes of Imperial China during the Tang dynasty.
Maomao might be the Emperor’s personal smut writer
While there are a lot of aspects that can explain the laid-back relationship between the Emperor and Maomao, the one that I find the most comical is her helping the Emperor develop an intimate relationship with his concubines. As Maomao grew up in a brothel, she knew a lot about all this and thus provided help to the Emperor by giving him books and scriptures that are smut in nature.
Not only that, she personally writes some of those books herself. This has also become an ongoing joke within The Apothecary Diaries fanbase and also adds an element of humor to the story.
Reminder: Maomao is indeed the Emperor’s personal smut dealer
byu/Invidat inKusuriyaNoHitorigoto
The fact that Maomao is “dealing” smut in the Imperial Palace makes her character development more entertaining in The Apothecary Diaries storyline.
Although this might feel offensive to some fans, the sole purpose of including this plot point is to make it lighthearted and develop a new sense of understanding of the Emperor and Maomao’s relationship in The Apothecary Diaries. I hope the story will have more such humorous elements in the future.
The Apothecary Diaries is available on Crunchyroll.
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