History Characters / TheApothecaryDiaries

* GreenEyedMonster: One of her reasons for her dislike of Lakan is because she's envious of his intellect and deductive skills; mysteries that take her a good deal of investigation and detective work are absurdly easy to him.

** In regards to her mother, [[spoiler:Maomao knows that Fengxian cut off the tip of her pinky when she was an infant. She still experiences nightmares of this and will always carry the reminder of it in the form of her pinky which grew back mishapen, but she doesn't really remember it and isn't particularly ''resentful'' of the incident. However, Maomao regards Fengxian as foolish and selfish for deciding to birth her, as that decision ruined Fengxian's life and nearly destroyed Verdigris House's reputation and business. While Maomao is ultimately glad to be alive, the circumstances around her birth made her the subject of gossip around the brothel, and made her harbor a sense of guilt while growing up.]]

* HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood: Several of Maomao's flashbacks involve Grams hitting or threatening her for eating poison and running weird experiments. [[spoiler: The abuse she suffered from her mother Fengxian though, was far from comedic.]]
* IgnoredExpert: Partially. At the start of the story, Consort Lihua ignores Maomao's advice, but Consort Gyokuyou doesn't. Thus, Lihua's son succumbs to the poison inside the face powder, but Gyokuyou's daughter survives. [[spoiler:The anime changes this so that Lihua never actually received Maomao's warning and so didn't know about the poison until it was too late.]]

** Maomao regards her biological parents, [[spoiler: Fengxian and Lakan]], with emotional indifference at best and disgust at worst. [[spoiler: In particular she rejects Lakan's attempts to form a relationship with her and would prefer he not approach her at all.]] However, despite her not viewing them to be her parents in any meaningful way, she still helped [[spoiler: take care of the extremely ill and bedbound Fengxian, and eventually orchestrates a situation to allow Lakan to see Fengxian again for the first time in nearly two decades. When Lakan buys Fengxian out so they can spend the rest of her remaining life together, Maomao chooses to privately dance in their honor]].

** She's a sharp-witted pharmacist like her father Luomen. [[spoiler:And despite the fact she disregards her biological father Lakan, personality-wise, they're more alike than she would ever admit. Many of their mannerisms and personality traits are similar, especially in having very focused interests, keen intuition, and NoSocialSkills when in specific circumstances. She also has his eye color.]]

* StrongFamilyResemblance: Maomao comes more after [[spoiler:her father's family. Her looks are rather plain and people don't doubt Lahan is her brother since they resemble each other so much. She also inherited Lakan's blue eyes]]. However, her icy cold glare and pretty face without the freckles are something she got from her mother.

* YoureNotMyFather: [[spoiler:She refuses to acknowledge Lakan as her father, as it was Luomen who raised her.]]
* YouthfulFreckles: Subverted on account of them actually being fake. She applies them to herself to [[TarnishingTheirOwnBeauty make herself seem less attractive]].

* LawOfInverseFertility: Being an Imperial Consort, MandatoryMotherhood is kinda expected. Unfortunately for Ah-Duo, giving birth to her only son was so fraught with complications (in part because her labor coincided with the Emperor's brother) that her womb had to be removed, and she wound up OutlivingOnesOffspring ([[spoiler:or so the public is led to believe]]). The Emperor nonetheless kept her beside him for almost two decades out of fondness for their childhood friendship, but she ultimately departs as she cannot produce another heir to the throne.

** [[spoiler: After her son's traumatic birth, fearing for his life and her capacity to care for her son properly while knowing he would not get as much attention as the Crown Prince's brother, who was born at nearly the same time, she swapped the two children. She knew that being raised as the second prince would give her child better odds for survival. Despite her desire to be freed from being a Consort, it's implied at least part of the reason Ah-Duo allowed being retained in the position for as long as she had because it gave her the opportunity to have a relationship with Jinshi, her son, even if he isn't aware of the truth]].
** [[spoiler: Ah-Duo was able to love the Emperess Dowager Anshi's second son, when his real mother could not given the dark circumstances around his conception. This was in part what helped fuel the decision to swap the children, since her own child would get better care while Anshi's child would at least be loved. When the child died in infancy, Ah-Duo genuinely mourned his death]].

* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Ah-Duo is the strikingly handsome woman to Jinshi's ethereally beautiful man. [[spoiler: Which is fitting given that Ah-Duo is [[StrongFamilyResemblance Jinshi's real biological mother]]]].

* GoodParents: Given his position, at least. He has many partners and there are plenty staff on hand to take care of his children and potential children, but the Emperor tries to spend quality time with his kids over being a completely absentee parent. [[spoiler: Including his firstborn son Jinshi, who was raised as his brother. Despite complications in their relationship, the Emperor has genuine affection for Jinshi]].

* OneTrueLove: While Lady Gyokuyou is his favorite concubine [[spoiler: and eventually becomes his empress once she births him a son,]] [[spoiler: There's a heavy implication that his truest love is Lady Ah-Duo. Ah-Duo was the Emperor's milk sibling (they were nursed by the same woman) and oldest friend, and in adulthood, Ah-Duo became a close confidant and advisor to the Emperor. While on Ah-Duo's part, she admits she saw him primarily as a friend and never wanted to become a concubine, and so being released from the position was something of a relief to her, the Emperor is heavily implied to love her romantically, or at the very least bears a very strong attachment to her. In line with this, it is noted that for a long time, Ah-Duo was the Emperor's only concubine. Even when Ah-Duo leaves the rear palace, he makes arrangements to ensure she has a place to live, and it is later shown that the Emperor is still inclined to go to her for advice when possible. It seems that the only reason why Ah-Duo did not become the Emperor's Empress is because she became infertile due to losing her womb in the process of giving birth to her only child, who shortly after was officially recorded as deceased. As a result, the Emperor was forced to seek out other concubines to birth more heirs. In spite of this, the Emperor seems absolutely determined to do what he can to ensure that it is his and Ah-Duo's secretly still surviving son, Jinshi, who succeeds him - although [[RejectingTheInheritence Jinshi himself wants nothing to do with this plot]]]].
* OnTheRebound: [[spoiler:This trope comes in as the Emperor wanted Ah-Duo to be his only wife because she was the woman he loved above all. He only took more concubines because Ah-Duo lost her womb. While it seems like Gyokuyou is his favorite because she is his type of woman and he is lustful with his women, he's only fulfilling his duties as the Emperor and still loves Ah-Duo.]]

* ChangelingTale: Anshi comments that after he was born, many people accused her second son of being an illegitimate or a changeling child due to how the former Emperor would normally reject her as being too old for his tastes. [[spoiler: That notion is correct, although not for the reason most people assume. Her "son" Jinshi is actually her grandson who was swapped with her actual child during infancy; Anshi's actual younger son, a product of her forcing herself on the former emperor, passed away when he was still an infant. The light novel reveals that she was aware of (and agreed to) the swap personally, as she eventually found out that she couldn't love the boy. That said, she and her "official" son Jinshi seem to have a good relationship, despite everything]].

* BenevolentBoss: ZigZagged. She treats you well if you work hard and are useful. She also kicks you out very quickly if you are not [[spoiler:like with Fengxian but only because she got pregnant with Maomao]]. That said, she has a soft spot for Maomao and Fengxian. Despite her threats to Maomao on selling her body and constantly demanding her to bring back cutstomers, she never forces Maomao to sell her body for sex and Volume 2 reveals that she keeps Fengxian in the back of the Verdigris House, despite Fengxian being terminally sick with syphilis and having lost her mind already (thus being unable to earn money). Although this may have more to do with the heavy implication from WordOfGod that [[spoiler:Fengxian is her daughter therefore making Maomao her granddaughter. Grams treating them family better makes sense]].

* LikeFatherLikeSon:

** Like her mother, Maomao is cold and hard to approach. [[spoiler:She is never honest about her feelings, though she eventually comes to admit that she does like Jinshi.]]

* StrongFamilyResemblance: Maomao comes more after [[spoiler:her father's family. Her looks are rather plain and people don't doubt Lahan is her brother since they resemble each other so much]]. However, her icy cold glare is something she probably got from her mother.

* CoolUncle: He is [[spoiler:Lakan's uncle. While Lakan can't see his face, Lakan himself is genuinely fond of Luomen because he was one of the only people to understand him]].

* NiceGuy: One of the nicest people in the story. He took pity on Lakan and taught him ways to deal with his disability. He is also one of the few people who bothers to remember Guen's (the quack) name and genuinely treats him nicely without disdain.

Maomao's ailing mother. She was once the top earning courtesan in the Verdigris House but her pregnancy with Maomao led her to be seen not valuable and was thrown into the streets to fend for herself and her daughter.

* FatalFlaw: '''Pride'''. Fengxian was determined to stand alone and be self-sufficient to survive in her cutthroat environment. Unfortunately, this attitude kept her from [[spoiler:admitting how much her plan to be with Lakan relied on him, resulting in him not knowing about Maomao's conception until years too late.]]

* MadwomanInTheAttic: A truly horrific example of what happens to someone with untreated syphilis -- her beauty has rotted away (she lost her nose and is covered in rashes), she's unable to leave her bed, and her mind has deteriorated to the point that she cannot care for herself. Grams hides her far away from any customers, especially Lakan. Even with Loumen's medicine [[spoiler:Maomao states all they could do is stop the disease from further ravaging her body but states in her current stage there is nothing to save her.]]
* PoorCommunicationKills: If she just told Lakan [[spoiler:he was the one she wanted to be redeemed by instead of playing around with words then the tragedy surrounding her probably would have been averted.]] Even Meimei sadly says this.

* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: If Maomao is to be compared to Sherlock Holmes as a protagonist detective, Lakan is, in many ways, her Mycroft. He's a blood relative of hers in a position of invaluable influence among the country's governing bodies and is, to her reluctant admission, more skilled than her at figuring out the particulars in a situation. One of the main reasons she dislikes him is that not only does he realize when things are amiss quicker than her, he will also do so virtually effortlessly, while Maomao has to work hard to gather and put together evidence. And on top of that, he often [[BrilliantButLazy can't be bothered to do anything about his suspicions]] and has on multiple occassions not-so-subtly pawned the work off to Jinshi (and by proxy, Maomao herself). To further twist the knife, [[spoiler: his uncle and]] Maomao's adoptive father Luomen praises his intellect, which makes Maomao very envious, as she's always looking for approval from Luomen herself.

* DetrimentalDetermination: Lakan is aware that his biological daughter [[spoiler: Maomao]] dislikes him, and even finds it understandable. But despite this, he doesn't stop trying to approach her or get her to acknowledge him as her father. For all his intelligence, it doesn't seem to cross his mind that the way he goes about his attempts only serve to drive her further away from him, especially since she feels it's like he's trying to replace [[spoiler: Luomen]] as her father figure, which to her is unacceptable.

* OneTrueLove: Lakan loved [[spoiler: Fengxian, and Fengxian only]]. She was one of the only people he viewed as an intellectual equal to him due to never being able to defeat her in a game of Go, and she is the only person [[spoiler: except for their daughter Maomao]] whose face is easily distinguishable to him. One of his noted 'eccentricities' upon his introduction was being in his forties but lacking a wife or other lovers, and opting instead to adopt his heirs, because of what was an assumed complete lack of interest in romance. The truth was really because [[SingleTargetSexuality he had no interest in any other women]]. When Lakan realizes that [[spoiler: Fengxian, although terminally ill, is still alive, he immediately takes her in to marry her so they can live out the rest of her life together. Even with her body ravaged with disease, she's still as beautiful to him as ever]].

* GoodParents: Despite not being her biological father, Luomen raised Maomao with genuine love and care and taught her everything she knows.

* BenevolentBoss: ZigZagged. She treats you well if you work hard and are useful. She also kicks you out very quickly if you are not. That said, she has a soft spot for Maomao and Fengxian. She never forces Maomao to sell her body for sex and Volume 2 reveals that she keeps Fengxian in the back of the Verdigris House, despite Fengxian being terminally sick with syphilis and having lost her mind already (thus being unable to earn money). Although this may have more to do with the heavy implication from WordOfGod that [[spoiler:Fengxian is her daughter therefore making Maomao her granddaughter. Grams treating them family better makes sense]].

Maomao's ailing mother.

* 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 loathe her daughter and despise her as the root of her unhappiness.
* {{Fingore}}: Out of grief and anger for Lakan not returning to her on time, she cut off one of her fingers as well as her daughter's pinky and sent them to him.

* MadwomanInTheAttic: A truly horrific example of what happens to someone with untreated syphilis -- her beauty has rotted away (she lost her nose and is covered in rashes), she's unable to leave her bed, and her mind has deteriorated to the point that she cannot care for herself. Grams hides her far away from any customers, especially Lakan.
* SmartPeoplePlayChess: She was Lakan's equal as a shogi player, and the only member of the cast to regularly beat him at go.
* SonOfAWhore: Not much is known about her parents, but Fengxian told Lakan that her mother was also likely a courtesan. [[spoiler:Said mother possibly being Grams.]]

* SonOfAWhore: Volume 2 reveals that Maomao's mother was once a famous and prized HighClassCallGirl of the Verdigris House. Her days of glory ended when she lost her virginity and became pregnant with Maomao. Having grown up in the red-light district, Maomao fears that she also would have to [[FollowInMyFootsteps do the same job eventually]].

* 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.