He\u2019s just glad to see you.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>The infamous frog scene has finally played itself out in its entirety now. And it\u2019s easy to see why Apothecary Diaries<\/em> fans were so looking forward to it. I would call it a fanservice moment to be honest, but it was executed with a good deal of wit so I\u2019m certainly not complaining. This ep was a veritable Noah\u2019s Ark in fact, with dogs and frogs and oxen (part of them anyway) playing important roles. But it would be also fair to say that it left more questions unanswered than otherwise, much in the normal fashion for Kusuriya no Hitorigoto<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/a>There are two main tracks playing out here involving Jinshi\u2019s deception. There\u2019s the personal side, with Maomao. This is much the easier to understand, and his reasons for being so consumed with it no less so. The political side, and the larger questions of Jinshi\u2019s identity, are more convoluted. In practical terms there\u2019s the matter of saving Xiaomao and Jinshi from their hole. This played out more or less in the manner I expected, i.e. dog whistle<\/a> faction (though said dog wouldn\u2019t be finished there).<\/p>\n<\/a>Indeed, biology<\/a> relieved Jinshi of the need to spill the beans verbally. His \u201cfrog\u201d did the talking \u2013 and in the moment, Maomao got rather snippy about it. This exchange was highly amusing in a Grant and Hepburn sort of way, but the main significance of it is that Maomao can no longer deny reality. She can stop Jinshi from saying it out loud, but she\u2019s humoring herself. She knows, she knows how dangerous it is to know, and she can\u2019t un-know. In the end the fact that she didn\u2019t know already is attributed to her subconscious trying to protect her, which I suppose is about the only explanation there was.<\/p>\n<\/a>The other thing Maomao probably knows and is still pretending not to is that Jinshi wants her. This too is dangerous, but not only that \u2013 Maomao may not be capable of feeling romantic love for anyone. She muses on her emotional illiteracy in general terms, but not in that specific context. After being rescued by Pochi\u2019s new pal Lihaku, she turns her focus to luring out the ones behind the assassination. Which she does a little too easily, using a hapless noble named Lo-en<\/a> as bait and the dog\u2019s infallible nose as her weapons of choice.<\/p>\n<\/a>The larger intrigue, however, more stubbornly resists clarification. We learn some things, like Gaoshun being a member of the Ma Clan who was punished for angering the Empress. Quite crucially we learn Jinshi\u2019s true name \u2013 Ka Zuigetsu. Gaoshun at least believes him to be the Emperor\u2019s younger brother, and refers to him as the \u201cMoon Prince\u201d. But what was the game afoot with this whole hunting party? One assumes the masked noble\u2019s identity as the Emperor\u2019s brother is no secret, and in fact the ruse here is in place to protect the belief that he and Jinshi are different people. The notion that he has a scar he\u2019s hiding probably serves a purpose too, to make Kousen seem like less of a threat.<\/p>\n<\/a>What\u2019s not clear to me at all is what Shishou\u2019s game is here (well, he is supposed to be an enigma). Outing Jinshi as having his balls would theoretically serve a purpose, but this isn\u2019t \u201cJinshi\u201d, it\u2019s Kousen. And presumably no one thinks Kousen<\/em> is a eunuch \u2013 so why all the aphrodisiacs? Then there\u2019s real force behind the assassination attempt, which surely isn\u2019t the plebs the Scooby Gang took down<\/a>. Discussion for this series is rife with novel\/manga spoilers \u2013 unfortunately here too, and rest assured I\u2019m going to be cracking down hard on it from now on.<\/p>\n<\/a>One thing that is<\/em> clear is that things have fundamentally changed between Jinshi and Maomao. She knows he\u2019s fully a man, and to the extent she can understand it, that he likes her. She knows he\u2019s a man of tremendous importance. As Gaushun muses, Xiaomao has great use as a pawn thanks to her intelligence \u2013 and Jinshi\u2019s feelings for her make her that much more indispensable to the team. But she can never love a man like she loves an ox bezoar<\/a> \u2013 even the man who gives her some. And that will always be a source of tension between them.<\/p>\n