History Characters / TheApothecaryDiaries

* BabiesMakeEverythingBetter: A staunch inversion -- falling pregnant with Maomao utterly destroyed her worth as a courtesan since nobody wanted her anymore, and she was reduced to sell herself in the streets to keep eating. Unsurprisingly, it caused her to loath her daughter and despise her as the root of her unhappiness.

* LikeFatherLikeSon: It's apparently a hereditary trait to fall madly in love with an unconventional person who, despite a genuine close relationship forming, does not return the feelings romantically. Jinshi falls ''hard'' for Maomao, the sharp-witted servant girl who only has eyes for medicine, and who at first vehemently dislikes him. But even after she begins to respect him and they grow to develop a good bond, she continues to have no interest in romance with him. Or anyone else, for that matter. [[spoiler:Meanwhile, though Jinshi's real father the Emperor has favourites among his consorts and makes Gyokuyou his Empress when she gives birth to their son, it's heavily implied that the woman he ''truly'' loves above all others is the androgynous, OneOfTheBoys Ah-Duo; she was for many years the Emperor's only consort, and he retained her as a high-ranking consort for over a decade even after she was rendered incapable of having children. Even when she ceases to be his consort altogether, he tries to keep her by his side in some form by giving her a villa to live in. But for all of the Emperor's devotion, it emerges that while Ah-Duo genuinely loves him as her childhood friend, she never saw him as a romantic partner ''or'' really wanted to be his consort, and she longed to travel the world rather than being confined to the rear palace]].

** Another example is when she first created aphrodisiacs. She left them unattended, and Gyokuyou's ladies in waiting all took a bite off screen. When we see them again, they're all on the floor, blushing widely, a mix of stoned and horny due to how potent the aphrodisiacs turned out. Maomao casually decides to ''life their robe specifically to see if they had sex or not'' (she determined they did not), which earned her a slap. When asked why she made aphrodisiacs in the first place, she said "They were meant for me," much to everybody's chagrin.

* TheDreaded: Played for laughs. After [[BreakTheHaughty she puts them in their place]], most of Lihua's haidmaidens will run for the hills if they recognize Maomao nearby. Kanan is briefly intimidated by her for awhile, although it's less exaggerated.

* FamilyMan: Gaoshun is noted to be a good and devoted father, feeling sad for [[spoiler:Lakan]] as Maomao said she didn't like him. 'No father wants to be hated by their own child', as he said.

* ObfuscatingDisability: [[spoiler:Like Jinshi, he is not a eunuch. He takes a medicine that temporarily makes him one functionally and there are rumors about the Empress Regnant castrating him as punishment, but they are not true.]]

* CelibateHeroine: Maomao tries her best to avoid romance or marriage while at the rear palace. [[HopelessSuitor Sorry, Jinshi.]] This later becomes a JustifiedTrope ''and'' a DeconstructedTrope, especially once we learn more about her past. She is fully aware that her life is dictated by the whims of the powerful men and women around her. At any point, any one of them could order her death for any reason, and it will be carried out without question, such is life under a feudal system. This is one of many reasons she prefers to avoid attracting much attention to herself in general. When she talks to Jinshi about how she would like to die if given a choice, she spells it out to him as bluntly as possible that, as much as he cares about her, she doesn't actually have a choice in any matter involving him because she's an indentured servant by default. This goes a long way towards convincing Jinshi to back off his earlier antics; the power imbalance is one of the primary reasons why Maomao simply refuses to believe Jinshi has a crush on her. The "Deconstruction" part comes after we learn about her terrible relationship with her mother. Due to the childhood trauma that came from [[spoiler: losing her finger and having it regrown]], Maomao admits she's genuinely unsure if she has the same capacity to love, even platonically, the way everybody else does.

* CelibateHeroine: Maomao tries her best to avoid romance or marriage while at the rear palace. [[HopelessSuitor Sorry, Jinshi.]] This later becomes a JustfiedTrope ''and'' a DeconstructedTrope, especially once we learn more about her past. She is fully aware that her life is dictated by the whims of the powerful men and women around her. At any point, any one of them could order her death for any reason, and it will be carried out without question, such is life under a feudal system. This is one of many reasons she prefers to avoid attracting much attention to herself in general. When she talks to Jinshi about how she would like to die if given a choice, she spells it out to him as bluntly as possible that, as much as he cares about her, she doesn't actually have a choice in any matter involving him because she's an indentured servant by default. This goes a long way towards convincing Jinshi to back off his earlier antics; the power imbalance is one of the primary reasons why Maomao simply refuses to believe Jinshi has a crush on her. The "Deconstruction" part comes after we learn about her terrible relationship with her mother. Due to the childhood trauma that came from [[spoiler: losing her finger and having it regrown]], Maomao admits she's genuinely unsure if she has the same capacity to love, even platonically, the way everybody else does.

* CelibateHeroine: Maomao really has no interest in romance or marriage. [[HopelessSuitor Sorry, Jinshi.]]
* TheChessmaster: The board game match between Maomao and [[spoiler: Lakan]] is a perfect example of how good she is at manipulation. To get him to accept a match, she declared that the loser of each round would drink from a cup that could be poisoned. Most of the cups were laced with small doses. She lost two matches and drank two cups that were surely poisoned. One more and she would die. [[spoiler:Lakan]] knew that, but he wasn't willing to let that happen, so he threw the match and drank from a cup, and he almost immediately passes out. Turns out, there was no poison, only alcohol, and she knew he was a lightweight so it worked completely in her favor.

%%* TheChessmaster: Maomao is good at manipulation, as seen when she beats Lakan in a match by intoxicating him. [[spoiler:LikeFatherLikeDaughter, eh? Although Jinshi later surmises that Lakan must have known what Maomao was planning and simply played along.]]

** The most dire example is when [[spoiler: Maomao is taken hostage (along with an entire village) by bandits.]]

* InferiorSuccessor: Has all of his father's drive and ambition, but little of Gyokuen's political savvy or foresight.

* KarmicJackpot: [[spoiler:Unlike the other so-called maids in waiting, Lishu made sure Kanan was rewarded for her services. After releasing Kanan from her service, she had the Emperor find a good match for Kanan, so Kanan could have a good future.]]

* PutOnABus: After Volume 6, she disappears from the plot. [[spoiler:In Volume 10, it is revealed that Lishu put Kanan on the bus personally as seen in KarmicJackpot.]]

* LikeFatherLikeSon: It's apparently a hereditary trait to fall madly in love with an unconventional person who, despite a genuine close relationship forming, does not return the feelings romantically. Jinshi falls ''hard'' for Maomao, the sharp-witted servant girl who only has eyes for medicine, and who at first vehemently dislikes him. But even after she begins to respect him and they grow to develop a good bond, she continues to have no interest in romance with him. Or anyone else, for that matter. [[spoiler:Meanwhile, though Jinshi's real father the Emperor has favourites among his consorts and makes Gyokuyou his Empress when she gives birth to their son, it's heavily implied that the woman he ''truly'' loves above all others is the androgynous, OneOfTheBoys Ah-Duo; she was for many years the Emperor's only consort, and he retained her as a high-ranking consort for over a decade even after she was rendered incapable of having children. Even when she ceases to be his consort altogether, he tries to keep her by his side in some form by giving her a villa to live in. But for all of the Emperor's devotion, it emerges that while Ah-Duo genuinely loves him as her childhood friend, she never saw him as a romantic partner ''or'' really wanted to be his consort, and she longed to explore the world rather than staying put in the rear palace]].

** In variation, Maomao has extensive knowledge of sexual acts due to her partial upbringing in a brothel and even teaches them to the concubines, but has no personal interest in romance herself. [[spoiler: When Jinshi impulsively forces himself onto her in a misguided act of jealousy, Maomao reflexively kisses him, and turns out to be so good at it that her technique in combination with her lack of reaction ends up giving Jinshi an insecurity crisis]].

* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: Due to her upbringing in the red-light district, Maomao is well-informed on the cruelties of the world, whether it be rape or murder. ** When [[spoiler: Jinshi]] comes on to her, she surmises that she'll be raped and decides to submit rather than fight back. He doesn't follow through, but her reaction is still rife with unfortunate implications.

* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: "Jinshi" is not his real name. [[spoiler: His true identity is Ka Zuigetsu, the Imperial Brother. Even after he drops pretending to be a eunuch though]], most people, even those who have known him since he was a child, continue to call him "Jinshi", as they find [[IKnowYourTrueName calling him by his real name to be either too formal or too intimate]].

* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Jinshi" is not his real name. [[spoiler: His true identity is Ka Zuigetsu, the Imperial Brother. Even after he drops pretending to be a eunuch though]], most people, even those who have known him since he was a child, continue to call him "Jinshi", as they find [[IKnowYourTrueName calling him by his real name to be either too formal or too intimate]].

* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: Due to her upbringing in the red-light district, Maomao is well-informed on the cruelties of the world, whether it be rape or murder. That's why when [[spoiler:Jinshi comes on to her, she surmises that she'll be raped and decides to submit rather than fight back.]] He, of course, does not. Her upbringing is perhaps also a reason why she isn't too much affected by [[spoiler:dissections, when starting in Volume 9 she starts to train to become a surgeon.]]

* EveryoneHasStandards: For all of Maomao's extreme enthusiasm around toxic substances and her abnormal desire to consume them, she is wary about consuming substances she knows to have addictive properties like opium knowing that dependancy and withdrawal symptoms can be life ruining.