WEBVTT
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The Apothecary Diaries
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The Apothecary Diaries
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How dare you try to feed
Lady Lihua such lowly food!
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This story is a work of fiction. The names of all of the characters, organizations, and so on
are imaginary. It also bears no connection to any specific real-life events.
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Only the most luxurious foods
suit our Lady Lihua.
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I'd hesitate to even show this to her!
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Episode 4: The Threat
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Who would ever think Lady Lihua
would enjoy something like this?
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Yikes. What a pain.
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We know best what Lady Lihua likes to eat.
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I'd never have come to the Crystal
Pavilion if I'd had a choice, but...
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How dare you try to sneak this
past us, servant. Shame on you.
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The night the emperor
visited the Jade Pavilion...
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There is no poison.
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Excuse me.
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Wait.
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Uh-oh, the emperor directly addressed me
for the first time.
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I have a request for the famous apothecary.
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Famous? I have a bad feeling about this.
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Yes.
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Concubine Lihua is not well.
Could you look after her?
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By "look after her," he means "cure her."
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The word of the emperor
is the word of the heavens.
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If I declined, that would be
grounds for my beheading.
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Yes, Your Majesty.
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Why would he say that in
front of another concubine?
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His Majesty really is "an emperor" by nature.
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That said, it's pretty incredible that they
treat me like this. I'm here by imperial order.
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Since they serve Lady Lihua, I suppose
they hate me as a servant of Lady Gyokuyou.
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Hmm?
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Get out if you're done cleaning!
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Boing boing.
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Oh, well. Guess I have to cook it again.
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Maomao, are you at the Crystal Pavilion now?
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Yeah, I'm looking after Lady Lihua.
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I see. Lady Lihua hasn't recovered yet...
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The whitening powder's poison
must still be in her system.
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The poisonous powder, huh?
I heard it was banned.
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I heard the eunuchs took away all
the remaining powder in the rear palace.
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I see. Good.
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But a request from the emperor?
You're awesome, Maomao. I was surprised!
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He must really not trust the doctor
to rely on a girl like me.
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Maomao, you're going
to the kitchen later, right?
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Yeah.
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Good luck with the cooking!
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Thanks.
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Right!
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In looking after Lady Lihua, the first thing
I set out to do was to improve her diet.
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Um, excuse me.
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Yes?
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First I needed to expel
the poison still in her body.
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To do this, a porridge with lots of fiber,
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plus a diuretic tea sounds good.
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Not this. Not this either. This one...
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And this one, too. But not this one...
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Enough is enough!
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This is no place for lowly girls like you.
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Boing boing.
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This is going to take a while.
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In that case, let's try...
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This one, that one, the other one, and this.
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How many times do I have to tell you?!
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Well, first, she needs to eat
something easy to digest—
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No way! Sick people need nutritious food,
not cheap stuff like that. Obviously.
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So that's her usual meal.
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Sure, it's nutritious,
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but it's too heavy for a sick
person's weakened stomach.
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That's not hard to understand.
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Why won't anyone stop them?
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Lady Lihua, your meal is ready.
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We brought you all the things
you like. Please try to eat.
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Lady Lihua?!
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Oh no, what do we do?!
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Quick, bring water!
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Are you all right, Lady Lihua?!
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Lady Lihua, please have some water.
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This is your fault, lowly servant!
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Your presence ruins the atmosphere!
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Get out! Now!
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Boing boing.
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I won't even be able
to get near her at this rate.
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Now, what shall I do...
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If I could at least do an examination...
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No need. What if you make things worse?!
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At that rate, she's bound to wither and die.
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People die unless they eat.
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She probably lost the will to live
after losing her child.
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How many days do I have left,
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before my head bids farewell to my body
for defying the emperor's order?
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It seems like you're in a bit of a bind.
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Does it appear that way to you?
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It does appear that way to me.
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Master Jinshi?!
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What's with that girl?
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Why is she with Master Jinshi...?
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An annoying misunderstanding...
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Let's go inside, for now.
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Oh...
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M-Master Jinshi?!
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Eek!
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It's not befitting of beautiful
and talented ladies like you
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to ignore the emperor's arrangements.
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Oh! Oh no, we aren't ignoring...
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Whoa! Eek!
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Right. We were just, um...
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H-Hey!
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It's scary how women can change so quickly.
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There. Now go.
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She does have the will to eat.
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But she's weaker than I thought.
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Maybe she can handle rice water instead.
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Excuse me.
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The same shade as before...
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Are you the one in charge of
the concubine's makeup?
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Indeed I am.
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We want Lady Lihua to always be beautiful.
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That is our duty as ladies-in-waiting.
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It's all for Lady Lihua. Obviously.
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I see.
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What's wrong with you?!
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Huh? Just punishing an idiot, obviously.
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Ouch! You're hurting me! Stop! It hurts!
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The poison will infect your
whole body after a while.
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You should be glad. You'll be pretty too,
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just like your beloved Lady Lihua.
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Pale, bloodless skin, sunken eye sockets,
a body unable to even eat...
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Don't you understand why this stuff was banned?!
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I j-just thought it would
make Lady Lihua happy—
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I told you, it's poison.
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There are no thoughts in your head.
You just think you know everything.
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Who would be happy poisoned with
the same thing that killed their son?!
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Go rinse your mouth and wash your face.
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Hey! This is bad for the patient.
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Clean this floor up immediately!
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Y-Yes!
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It truly is scary, how women
can change so quickly.
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Oh...
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I've really done it now...
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Let's go.
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Lady Lihua's health was worse than I thought.
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I started by changing from
porridge to rice water.
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I forced the food into her mouth and
had her swallow slowly, repeatedly.
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No sense in worrying about
manners at a time like this.
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I did some ventilation, which thinned out
the incense, revealing the smell of the sick.
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Those incompetent fools can't even
wipe down their mistress properly?
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How do they even call
themselves ladies-in-waiting?
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There's so much they could have been
doing before worrying about incense.
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Hey. Hot water and cloth, now.
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Y-Yes.
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You all, get to work.
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Y-Yes!
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I had her drink tea every chance I could find.
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Frequent urination helps flush
the poison out of her body.
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Um, are you sure Lady Lihua isn't in pain...?
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It doesn't matter, she must drink.
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She began to eat more, so I increased
the amount of rice grains in the water.
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When she began to be able to swallow
them, I added soup and ground fruit.
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I heard the lady-in-waiting
was put in confinement.
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Apparently, she'd hid
the powder for Lady Lihua.
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The eunuch who was supposed to recover
the powder was punished by flagellation.
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You seem tired.
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Yes. Unlike a certain someone, I'm quite busy.
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We brought gifts.
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Thank you!
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Wow!
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He really knows what I want!
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It's considerate people like him
who become good husbands.
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He is a eunuch, though.
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Compared to him...
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Do you need help with anything?
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Well...
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What is it? Tell me anything.
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Over there, they need help. Someone please.
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Everyone, please hurry.
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Yes!
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A steam bath?
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Apparently, sweating is good for her.
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Is it useful?
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I suppose it is.
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We have to use whatever we have.
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You... Why...
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Yes, what is it?
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Why wouldn't you...
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let me just die?
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You could stop eating, then.
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But you eat the porridge
because you want to live.
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I see.
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You're right.
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You.
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I was released from confinement and am
permitted to serve Lady Lihua once again.
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I will never make that mistake again. Ever.
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I will take your place now. Please rest.
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All right.
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Lady Lihua.
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Lady Lihua.
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Ah...
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Can you get me some water, if you could?
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Yes.
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Yes!
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After about two months, Lady Lihua
recovered enough to be able to walk by herself.
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She has self-respect, but isn't arrogant.
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After that matter with the prince,
I imagined her as a selfish princess,
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but as it turns out, she has
a personality befitting a concubine.
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I will take my leave tomorrow morning.
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I see.
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I've already spoken to your
ladies-in-waiting about your food
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and other things to be careful of.
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Hey. Am I incapable of birthing another child?
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I don't know. Perhaps you should try.
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But His Majesty's love for me is gone.
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I was sent here by a direct
order from the emperor.
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Once I return to the Jade Pavilion,
perhaps the emperor will visit you.
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I ignored those words of
advice and let my child die.
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Will I be able to win
against Concubine Gyokuyou?
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It's not a matter of winning and losing.
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There are hundreds,
thousands of flowers in the world,
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but who can decide whether a peony
or a bellflower is more beautiful?
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I have neither her jade eyes
nor her bright hair.
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You have other... assets.
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Not just the sheer size, but the shape
and tension are truly magnificent.
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Huh?
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Could you lend me your ear?
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Y-Yes.
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Excuse me.
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The knowledge I left with Lady Lihua
was a secret technique taught to me
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Lady Lihua, what's wrong?
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Lady Lihua?!
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by my big sisters at the brothel.
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You should learn this, just in case!
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Huh?
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Unfortunately, I don't have the sizable
fruits to employ the technique.
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It's perfect for Lady Lihua, though.
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I hope it turns out to be useful.
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I'm back.
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Welcome back.
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Maomao, are you all right?!
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You've gotten so thin.
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It must have been very hard.
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She completed the emperor's
mission all by herself. Impressive.
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There was a period after that where
the emperor's visits to the Jade Pavilion
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decreased in frequency quite significantly.
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Finally, released from sleep deprivation.
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Maomao couldn't keep a straight face,
but that's another story.
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It's a curse...
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Next Time
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Next time: "Covert Operations."
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Episode 5: Covert Operations