MIDNIGHT SNACK! | Apothecary Diaries - Ep 2
Added 2025-06-16 23:06:08 +0000 UTCMaomao starts her first day as a new lady in waiting for concubine Gyokuyou.
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In Imperial China, ladies-in-waiting to a royal concubine were part of the complex harem system. These women, often selected for their skills and social standing, served as attendants to the concubines, providing various forms of support and companionship. Some ladies-in-waiting could be promoted to concubine status if they caught the emperor's eye. Ladies-in-waiting were typically young women from reputable families, often chosen for their skills in areas like etiquette, music, or calligraphy, and their ability to serve with discretion. Their duties included attending to the concubine's daily needs, managing household affairs, and even acting as confidantes and companions. While their primary role was to serve the concubine, some ladies-in-waiting could be promoted to concubine status if the emperor took a liking to them. This promotion could elevate them to a higher rank and even lead to greater influence within the palace. The imperial harem was a structured environment with various ranks, from the Empress at the top to the lowest-ranking concubines and their attendants. Ladies-in-waiting were part of this hierarchy, often holding a lower position than the concubines they served.
Lyndai
2025-06-21 04:26:43 +0000 UTCThe castration procedure was often conducted by specialists in dedicated clinics within the Imperial City, especially during the Ming Dynasty. Candidates would sit on a special chair with a hole, and their genitals (penis and testicles) would be removed with a knife. Hot chili sauce was reportedly used as a form of local anesthetic. After the procedure, a plug was placed in the wound and urethra for three days. The operation was considered successful if urine flowed out after the plug was removed, otherwise, it often resulted in a painful death. Those who didn't survive were sometimes buried with their removed genitals for "reunification in the afterlife".
Lyndai
2025-06-21 04:25:06 +0000 UTCI love all 5 you are watching! The ladies-in-waiting are all nobles, except maomao. Most of the servants are "lower" class.
Hitomi Ochiai
2025-06-17 17:30:18 +0000 UTCOleander bushes gets lots of campers who try and use the straight branches as skewers for hot dogs and marshmallows, the sap is toxic and the smoke is also dangerous. Think of ladies-in-waiting being like maid servants but from high ranking families and head lady-in-waiting would be the boss lady of the staff. 12:08 Lady Gyokuyou has a new soap opera to watch now, the Maomao and Jinshi show and their interactions. 20:57 Jinshi vamped Maomao so she wouldn't catch him stealing a brownie.
Hhound42
2025-06-17 06:57:19 +0000 UTCI'm sure someone already said that Maomao means cat. I love the little chibi animations and her little cat ears and tail when she gets excited! Just a cute detail.
Angela
2025-06-17 03:20:31 +0000 UTCSame here! Frieren is a masterpiece! Even the dub is fantastic!
Angela
2025-06-17 03:17:37 +0000 UTCA little known fact that most people would find hard to believe today, is that for someone who had not been exposed to raw or refined sugar and highly sweetened foods are seriously mentally addicting. The foods that would normally be considered 'sweet' would be starchy foods slow cooked for lengthy periods until the starch starts to break down into simple sugars, but this will only produce something slightly sweet and doesn't compare to something made with concentrated sugar.. And all of the natural concentrated sugars available for this period. Cane sugar and molasses, (beet sugar did not exist), Maple sugar, Date sugar, Honey, are all high labor and not easy or obvious to harvest.
Grumpy Otaku
2025-06-17 02:34:35 +0000 UTCIn 2024, the only anime that I considered better than Apothecary Diaries was another one you are watching, Frieren. Both anime have such attention to detail and story building, as well as great character development (and good soundtracks too).
C. D.
2025-06-17 02:07:40 +0000 UTCThe first aphrodisiac was chocolate covered fruit, and the leftover chocolate was just on bread cubes. Makes you wonder, would chocolate have that effect on us if we hadn't ever had any? There's caffeine in tea, so you would think there'd be some resistance to that, although I don't know how much compared to chocolate. But maybe it's not the caffeine. ....... Ladies-in-waiting were of a higher social background, and were educated, compared to serving girls.
myst0dreamer
2025-06-17 01:19:15 +0000 UTCEunuchs in this era of China (Imperial China, which lasted up to 1912), had everything taken. Rod and balls
Kelven
2025-06-16 23:52:52 +0000 UTCYou guys picked up on the whole kidnappers getting paid off of Maomao's work, nice. Most people are very confused at that scene since the anime doesn't really do a good job at explaining it well, and think the head lady-in-waiting was bullying Maomao. Essentially, kidnapping may be illegal, but indentured servitude isn't. Poor families with a lot of children to feed can essentially "sell" their kids off on contracts to work for X number of years. The families have one less mouth to feed, and get an extra income as well. The kidnappers make a living by kidnapping poor girls, then selling them off pretending to be their family. So ya, when the head lady-in-waiting dropped the vase, the money to replace it will be charged to whoever is listed as her "family", aka the kidnappers.
Kelven
2025-06-16 23:50:31 +0000 UTC"ACCURATE STATEMENTS IN THE COMMENTS" alrighty, IIRC yes, the eunuchs at least here are only castrated, not the rod aswell
Lysandia
2025-06-16 23:43:20 +0000 UTC
