Kusuriya no Hitorigoto – Episode 40 Review
2025-04-26T07:49:02Z
「巣食う悪意」 (Suku’u Akui)
“Festering Resentment”
Well, that was the equivalent of a large order of double whoppers
The post Kusuriya no Hitorigoto – Episode 40 Revi…
「巣食う悪意」 (Suku’u Akui)
“Festering Resentment”
Well, that was the equivalent of a large order of double whoppers. There were so many big moments, you could take your pick of them. The episode starts off gentle enough with Luomen making himself at home back in his old stomping ground. We hear Mao Mao’s high praise of him often enough, and see his talent reflected in her own professional skills. But seeing him first hand and hearing other eunuchs’ favorable reports on him as a kindhearted, intelligent man who forsook a high profile career to care for the vulnerable speaks volumes of his character.
In addition to Luomen, we also get a tease on the mystery behind Shisui. When visiting the clinic, Mao Mao discovers an entomology book in the lending library that can only have been donated by Shisui. This prompts her to muse on inconsistencies in Shisui’s character and supposed backstory. She claims to be a maid, but her education is way too high for a girl of that class- more like the education of a noblewoman, it seems. Furthermore, she has a ready supply of note paper for her bug notes, not something in the reach of a maid’s salary. Then, you have her generous book donation, again not something a maid could afford, much less read. So, do we have a Chinese equivalent of Marie Antoinette here, a princess cosplaying as a maid? It sure seems like it. And I think we can all easily guess who that princess would be. I find it curious that Mao Mao doesn’t appear to have the same willful blindness towards Shisui that she nurses against Jinshi. If a court lady is pretending to be a maid, that could spell some trouble there too.
I think the one shortcoming of Mao Mao’s saint-like father is that he’s so tender hearted and tries to do the right thing, that it doesn’t occur to him others will not do the same. Reading her adoptive father’s well meant public warnings, Mao Mao realizes that such information could aid and abet the wrong sorts of people. People like Shenlu who have motive enough for crime when they’ve been held prisoner in the rear palace after being visited by the previous emperor years ago as a child, and now the “dummy’s guide to assassination” has just landed in laps of her pawns.
Naturally, Mao Mao has to go scope things out, making a beeline for the clinic. It struck me that her internal dialogue this whole time sounded like out of a visual novel. “Do you call the boss lady out- yes or no? Do you make a run for it or stand your ground?”. While Mao Mao opts to turn a blind eye in the interests of keeping the clinic open, such is the dire straits of medicine in the rear palace, the plot has other plans for her when Suirei makes her re-entry into the story.
We knew she was operating things from behind the scenes, it was just a matter of when she’d show her face again. I did not expect her to reappear disguised as a eunuch. Given that eunuchs have to have certification or an exam based on the Quack’s intel, there has to be other people working from the inside to pass Suirei through. I don’t think Shenlu is in charge of that.
It’s ironic that for all of Mao Mao’s fears about getting herself into trouble with knowing too much about Jinshi, she still gets herself into trouble for knowing too much- but with the court poisonings instead (though that probably still has a tie in somewhere to Jinshi).
Then we have Shisui being in the wrong place at the wrong time (or is she…) and gets pulled into this mess as the carrot on the stick to force Mao Mao out of the palace. The looming question is- why does Suirei need to lure Mao Mao out of the palace? Is it to remove her from the scene, stop her from nosing around? Kill her and dump the body once out of the palace grounds. Suirei’s too smart to kill Mao Mao on site. Or is there something else? Some nasty task that Suirei wants help with?
I was half expecting the episode to end on a cliffhanger as far as Mao Mao is concerned, as is the wont of this series to do at times (looking at you, Jinshi/imperial brother plot). But no, at the very end, we get the news that Mao Mao is missing, and is what appears to be, being transported outside of the palace. interestingly- as stand offish about palace socialization as she seems, Mao Mao doesn’t seem too thrilled to be leaving the palace behind.
I mean, it was clear that was probably what was going to happen anyway. For all of Mao Mao’s coldness, she’s not one to just leave someone to die, particularly someone she sees as a friend (even if that’s not the word she’d use for her). Is it merely coincidence that Shisui shows up just then, or is she an accomplice too? I was kind of wondering/hoping that Jinshi might show up in the nick of time, given how he always seems to be one step ahead of Mao Mao. This time, he is just one step behind her for a change- frantically searching for her.
Which, is a problem, because you can’t have the emperor’s brother MIA for an extended period, especially after the recent assassination attempt. Good thing that he has Ah Duo to cover for him. I was fooled at first- I assumed it was Jinshi, though I thought it odd that his face suddenly got slimmer when he took the mask off. I also find it interesting that in this episode, we have two women pulling off male disguises, both equally successfully. Perhaps? I can’t help but wonder if Lakan sensed something was different about this “brother”, such is his mental acuity.
Indeed, it appears Lakan’s mental acuity has picked up on some juicy intel in regards to Shishou and Jinshi’s near assassination. Lakan offers an invitation for a private garden party with the imperial “brother” and Shishou, but you know that teatime is only the pretense- he has something else up that long sleeve of his. Lakan wastes no time in getting to that point, probing Shishou on the feifas he’s been investigating- which he concludes must have come from Shishou’s trade deals with the West. Of course, Shishou doesn’t fess up, and neither will the hitman, because the investigators fucked up in getting too heavy handed with the interrogation.
I love how Lakan abruptly segways into bragging about his wife’s intelligence in giving him a run for his money in go. There’s just something adorable about an unfathomable, shrewd man such as he getting all lovey dovey over his wife. It would be a huge mistake to take him lightly even for a second, as he subtly drops another information bomb at the very end when he pours his guests grape juice. The juice is obviously green grape juice, but Lakan calls it “red” in front of Shishou- who doesn’t bat an eyelash and which doesn’t escape Lakan’s hawklike gaze. This was no slip up on Lakan’s part- he knows it’s green, calling it “green” after Shishou leaves. This can only mean one thing- Shishou can’t tell the difference between green and red, which as we know from earlier is a distinguishing trait of the true royal line.
That’s some big news indeed. It would further incriminate Shishou in his involvement with the assassination plot. Having royal blood, he could make a legitimate claim to the throne. To set the stage for that, he would need to eliminate any roadblock such as a successor. And, we see where this is going, tying us full circle to the poisonings in the palace and Suirei. How much does Loulan know about this and how much is she complicit (if at all)?
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