All language subtitles for Kusuriya no Hitorigoto_S2_04_1920_1080 eng

The Apothecary Diaries

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.

Take a look, Maomao!

Wow, this is impressive.

I know, right?

I see, this is why they bothered to summon me.

It's a great mirror, isn't it?

Episode 28: Mirrors

Can you tell what it's made of?

This reflection... Is it glass?

Correct.

Honestly, it's like there are
two Lady Gyokuyous.

Making mirrors out of glass is difficult.

The only way to get them
is through trade with the west.

Meaning this is extremely expensive.

If I broke this by accident, they'd have
every right to chop my head off.

We had a glass hand mirror before,
but Yinghua broke it.

Please don't remind me about that!

I'm glad Lady Gyokuyou is an even-tempered person...

Does this interest you, Maomao?

Yes. I wonder how it works?

If we could mass-produce this domestically,
we could make a lot of money...

Yes, right.

This mirror is a gift from
the foreign special envoy.

A special envoy?

The quack doctor mentioned something like that.

The large-scale caravan was an advance
party to the special envoy, or something.

I think they gave one to all of
the high-ranking concubines, though.

Don't phrase it like that.

There's four high-ranking concubines,
including Concubine Gyokuyou.

A special envoy would
have to treat them fairly.

Bringing four giant mirrors like this
must have been hard,

whether it was over the desert or by sea.

For them to go through
all of that for the concubines,

they might be trying to start
a big business deal with our nation.

Xiaomao, may I have a moment?

Master Gaoshun, what is it?

There's something I would
like your opinion on.

Lady Hongniang, may I borrow this room?

Yes, that's fine, but is it a difficult topic?

Lady Hongniang joined us,
saying I shouldn't be alone with him,

but she lost all interest once she
found out Gaoshun has a wife and child.

So, I don't know if I can be of any help,
but what did you have in mind?

Well, an acquaintance of mine
is very concerned.

It's a very strange situation, but...

A rich family has two daughters.

They're close in age and
have similar appearances.

The girls were loved deeply by their
parents, but when they came of age,

their parents became
overprotective of them.

They were never allowed to leave
the house, not even together.

A lady-in-waiting was assigned
to monitor them,

and they spent their days in their house.

The lady-in-waiting felt sorry for them
and took them out occasionally,

but the father found out.

He stationed male servants
outside the room to watch them,

and locked the doors at night
so that they couldn't get out.

The daughters were introverts, so they
spent all day on their embroidery,

but one day...

Father, my little sister...

She is pregnant, carrying the child of a wizard!

That's...

A strange story.

Didn't the lady-in-waiting
just sneak them out again?

No, the lady-in-waiting had already
been fired as a warning to the others.

The new lady-in-waiting didn't
interact much with the daughters.

Well... in that case, though it would be
improper, what about the servant men?

That would be difficult as well.

They weren't allowed to approach
the room, even while monitoring them.

That is quite a conundrum, but it seems
outside my realm of knowledge.

For example, if the ask was, "Is it possible
to become pregnant without seeing a man?"

I could explain it.

Does that ever happen?

The body can trick itself
into believing it's pregnant

without actually becoming so.

There was a case in the brothel
where a young courtesan

claimed that she was carrying
the child of the man she loves.

Without actually becoming pregnant?

Exactly. She began missing her periods,
and her breasts and stomach grew tender.

A strongly held belief can have
a powerful effect on the body.

Are you sure the younger
daughter was pregnant?

Well, yes...

Let's just say she was.

The problem is, how was she able
to sneak out past the surveillance?

Well, do you know how they were being watched?

Yes. Here is a diagram.

The sisters lived in a separate
building on the north side,

connected to the main house
by a corridor on the west.

Where is the washroom?

Inside the separate building.

If the younger daughter were to escape...

The only way in or out
is the corridor on the west side.

There are windows on the east and south sides,
but the servant men were watching those.

Where were the servants
watching the windows from?

The south window was watched from
the third floor of the main house,

while the east window was
being watched from the first floor.

Hmm. They seem to have
a very limited field of vision.

Could they see inside the room at all?

Not really, but the daughters were often
doing needlework by the window.

A strange hobby, embroidery.

They came from a pastoral culture.

Hmm... It sounds like
he's hiding something important.

The windows on the south and west
seem to be in the same room.

The daughters have separate
bedrooms for themselves.

Was this separate building
originally for guests?

I'm impressed that you noticed that.

How many men were watching?

Two. They were always
stationed in the same spot.

He knows the details quite well.

Yet, it feels like he's
not telling me everything...

Is he really talking about
an "acquaintance" of his?

Hmm... I don't know
if I want to bring this up...

By the way, Xiaomao.

Master Jinshi sent a message.

He wanted to apologize for the delay
in delivering the ox bezoar.

Hmm?

The bezoar!

That's true, he hasn't handed it over yet.

I didn't want another headbutt, so I kept
my mouth shut, but he is indeed late.

I'm sorry. It seems like demand
for it suddenly went up.

Why so suddenly?

I've heard recently that Master Jinshi

has been gifted many rare
medicines from all sorts of people.

Rumor has it that he's quite
passionately searching for them.

W-Well, anyway, please take this.

What is this?

It is a bear gall.

It's a bear's gallbladder, dried.

It's bitter, but it's valued for its use

in medicines for the digestive system!

I'm glad you like it.

I think Master Jinshi wanted to
deliver it to you personally.

So, did you notice anything?

Yes. Can you wait for a moment?

Let's say that these nuts
are the two daughters.

Are these the spots that they always sit in?

Yes.

Two people watching them,
always from the same spot every day.

What if...

I put a mirror here, like this.

It does look like another nut is there.

What if there was a large mirror here,
near the east window?

It would be a good distance away
from the watcher,

so it would be hard to tell,
even if it looked a bit unnatural.

So, you're saying there was
only one daughter in the room,

and the other was an image in the mirror?

If the daughters looked similar,

it may have been difficult
for the watchers to tell them apart.

But Maomao, what about the needlework?

They were working on
different things, were they not?

Yes, I heard they were stitching
animals, such as birds or rabbits.

Well, as an example...

Take an image like this.

When I flip this picture upside down,
doesn't the smile now look like a frown?

So you're saying the embroidery
was part of the trick, too?

Maybe they were working on embroidery

that looked like a different image
when seen through a mirror.

If so, one could be actually doing
needlework by the southern window,

while the other escapes
out of the exit on the west.

I see.

I guess using that method, it would be
possible to sneak out and meet someone.

The large mirror that the foreign
envoys brought was so beautiful.

From a distance, it would be hard
to tell a reflection from reality.

A long time ago, when my dad
went to study abroad in the west,

he told me that needlework was common
among high-class daughters.

Master Gaoshun said a girl from a rich family
snuck out of the house to get pregnant,

but I don't know how accurate that story is.

Maybe she was carrying
a bigger secret instead of a child.

I suppose sometimes, one would need to

accept someone who is
suspected of being a spy as a guest.

But I'm not going to question that
and get myself too involved.

More importantly...

What should I make with this bear gall?!

An otherworldly beauty
that sheds pearls as tears?

Yeah, the high-ranking official in charge of
the welcoming party came begging for help.

Master Jinshi, you don't have
to accept any more work...

I know.

It's not just the mirrors.
What are the envoys thinking?

Apothecary, have you ever heard a story

of an otherworldly beauty
who sheds pearls as tears?

Huh? What is it?

I'd love to say,

"There's an otherworldly beauty
in front of me right here..."

What do you mean by "pearls as tears"?

I don't know the details, but...

She was a beautiful woman, like a moon fairy.

When she danced, lights danced
with her as if blessing her.

When she cried, the tears turned
into pearls as they fell down.

I think she was a courtesan
from the pleasure district, but...

A moon fairy? Where did this come from?

It's a serious request from
the special envoy with us now.

The special envoy? From the west?

Yes. When they were young,
the envoy's grandfather told

the story of the moon fairy,
over and over again.

So, now they're asking me to find her,
so that they can meet her.

Their grandfather? That must mean
this is a pretty old story.

Yes. It's difficult, but they're
important diplomatic partners.

I'd like to respond to the best of my ability.

Does this remind you of anything, even a rumor?

Fifty years ago...

A dancer from the pleasure
district... Moon fairy...

Oh!

This is obviously decades ago,
so who knows if she's still alive...

She's very much alive.

Really?!

Really, and in fact, you've met her
before in the pleasure district.

I have?

Yes.

I don't remember meeting anyone
matching the description...

It's no surprise that you
can't think of her immediately.

Could it be?

Indeed, it's the old lady
of the Verdigris House.

Oh, what is she like?

She'll come any time, as long as
you can pay. What do you think?

W-Well, that's...

The envoy knows the person is
from fifty years ago.

Couldn't you just find
a different beautiful woman?

Well, we already hosted a welcoming
party with beautiful women.

They might not have been moon fairies,

but I still think we brought in
some top-level beauties.

They didn't seem to be satisfied.
In fact, they seemed to laugh it off.

Who is this guy?

I'm sorry, but did any of these top-level
beauties provide any overnight services—

Maomao!

No, we couldn't do that.

The envoy is female.

Ah, so that's why they came
to Master Jinshi for help.

He has beauty that would impress
anyone, and is technically male.

He does have what it takes
to make a woman go head over heels.

But he could cause trouble, too.

What if she took his seduction seriously
and demanded he stay overnight?

He can't deliver.

Of course, being a special envoy
as a woman must have taught her

to refrain from such careless acts,

but it's a risk worth avoiding.

How important is this envoy?

Let's just say they completely control
the western and northern trade points.

The latest caravan was so large

because both nations want to
advance talks of new trades.

I see.

I hear in distant lands, marriages
take place across international lines,

causing beautiful men and women
to become quite commonplace.

For someone from such a nation
to call someone a moon fairy...

Did she put hallucinogens
in the incense or something?

Do people do that?

Not usually, but it would be the quickest way.

That would cause a diplomatic disaster.

I'm grasping at straws here.
Is there any information from back then?

He really is distraught.

Well, let's bring in the straw to grasp.

Thanks for coming all the way out here.

This is a strange ask.

What a boring place. Not even a cup of tea?

This is just a visitation room, of sorts.

Old lady, did you welcome
a foreign envoy in the past?

Yes, I did. It must have been
over 50 years ago.

This was back in the age of the emperor
before the previous one.

The city was originally a town
built on an ancient ruin,

and we had a bunch of tourists visiting.

When they suddenly decided to make
this popular spot the capital,

there was a bit of turmoil.

Anyway, the capital was still new,
so we didn't have a great castle

and nowhere to welcome guests.

The higher-ups couldn't think of anything,
so they used a remaining ruin.

It used to be some kind of ceremonial site.

It had a pretty pond and
buildings next to an orchard.

Is that...

There was a ruined orchard
on the north side of the rear palace

that I visited the other day.

It's not out of the question that the party
venue might now be part of the rear palace.

I was selected as the main dancer in
the performance using that ruin as a stage.

Why you?

Well, I was the highest-class courtesan

in the whole pleasure district back then.

I was the main dancer, and about
a dozen others danced with me.

She looks like a dead twig now, but...

That said, I think the biggest
reason was my build.

I was very tall, and had a very curvy body.

It does make sense to assign someone
with a bigger body as the main dancer.

That said...

A lot of the event was improvised,
so we had difficulty preparing.

We had to plan everything,
like the phases of the moon,

and removed obstacles
to give the guests a better view.

The nearby orchard meant lots of insects,

so we went in and picked out
every single larva from the leaves.

We did end up getting insects
around the torches, though.

Even after all that work, there were idiots
who tampered with my costume that night.

They rubbed insect carcasses on it.

But I was too tough for them.

I used my outfit skillfully to hide it.

The audience ate it up,
and the idiots seemed so angry.

I've heard that story so many times.
Got anything else?

Have some respect!

What a beautiful picture.
I haven't seen this before.

It must be precious to the old granny as well.

Who would've known this mesmerizing
beauty would become a penny-pincher...

This painting was commissioned by
the envoy after he returned home.

Saying he saw a "moon goddess" or something.

Ah, I see. This picture is beautified as well.

What did you say?

Nothing.

So, the envoy never set foot in our land again,

but he sent this to me through the caravan.

But granny, you were just
doing your job as usual, right?

Why did he like you so much?

How should I know?

The old lady can see things objectively.

She probably isn't exaggerating.

But...

Even if the old lady was beautiful back then,

what caused them to call her a goddess?

Hmm, I don't know.

Should we find someone who
looks like the person in the picture?

That's all I can think of.

Honestly, finding a tall woman
who looks like this would be difficult.

Why don't we just look for a tall woman,
not necessarily one that looks like this?

She's shrunk quite a bit now, but she said
she was 175 centimeters tall back then.

That is quite tall.

Yes. She was a skilled dancer, and her long
limbs helped make her dances look even better.

But finding a tall woman on par
with her beauty would be difficult.

The envoys are about that tall.

If we find someone too small,
they might appear like children.

The "envoys"? There are more than one?

Yes. They are cousins
with the same grandfather.

From the way they described it,
the envoys must be quite pretty as well.

So we have to find someone
who's more than 175 centimeters tall,

whose beauty would impress another beauty...

Oh.

I found someone. A very suitable candidate.

A beautiful person taller
than 175 centimeters, right?

Oh!

Huh?

What are you trying to say?

Wow!

Next Time

Episode 29: Moon Fairy

Next time: "Moon Fairy."