The Apothecary Diaries - Volume 12 - Chapter Pr

Character Profiles

Maomao

Formerly an apothecary in the pleasure district. After a stint in the rear palace and then the imperial court, she now finds herself as an assistant to the physicians in the western capital. She’s downright obsessed with medicines and poisons, but she can’t get her hands on too many of them in her current location. She tries to mind her own position even as events carry her along. Twenty years old.

Jinshi

The Emperor’s younger brother. He’s a young man as beautiful as a celestial nymph. With Gyoku-ou dead, danger has gathered around him. Rikuson in particular foists a lot of work on him, and Jinshi is eager to get back at him someday. He doesn’t have a very high opinion of himself, but he has everything he would need to be an excellent politician in a peaceful world. Real name: Ka Zuigetsu. Twenty-one years old.

Basen

Gaoshun’s son and Jinshi’s attendant. He doesn’t feel pain as acutely as most people, which gives him far greater physical limits than most. Since coming to the western capital, he often works with his father, but because he so rarely sees his parents together, the experience can make him a little nervous. Guardian of the duck Jofu. Twenty-one years old.

Chue

Wife of Gaoshun’s son Baryou. An enigma wrapped in a riddle wrapped in a clown, she mostly walks to the beat of her own drum. She’s Jinshi’s lady-in-waiting, but it seems she might serve another master.

Lihaku

A soldier. He accompanies Maomao to the western capital as her bodyguard. He’s a friendly guy, like a big mutt, but he spares no cruelty when something has to be done.

Lahan’s Brother

Older brother of Lakan’s adopted son, Lahan. He’s actually a very capable person, but because he doesn’t realize that, he always seems to get the short end of the stick. One gets the feeling that we’re on the cusp of learning his real name.

The Quack Doctor

A eunuch. He used to serve in the rear palace, but he’s not particularly skilled and has mostly gotten by on his luck. One thing he is good at is mellowing people around him. He’s the ultimate anti-La-clan weapon.

Gaoshun

Basen’s father, a well-built soldier, and Jinshi’s former minder. He accompanies Jinshi to the western capital as his guard, along with his wife Taomei, so they’re frequently together—something that seems to discomfit their two sons.

Lakan

Maomao’s biological father and Luomen’s nephew. This freak with a monocle adores Maomao, but everything seems to backfire on him. He’s either a zero or a hero at any given moment, but if you try to use him and blow it, there’s no telling what he might do.

Rikuson

Once Lakan’s aide, he now serves in the western capital. He has a photographic memory for people’s faces. In truth, he’s a survivor of the otherwise exterminated Yi clan and has secretly exacted revenge for his family. Completing his life’s work seems to have helped him relax, and he now spends his time tormenting the Emperor’s younger brother.

Gyokuen

Empress Gyokuyou’s father. Officially the leader of the western capital, but when his daughter ascended to the throne he moved to the royal capital. He left Gyoku-ou as acting governor of the western capital but sent Rikuson to act as his aide.

Gyoku-ou

Gyokuen’s eldest son and Empress Gyokuyou’s half-brother. With his father away, he led the western capital. He enjoyed tremendous support there, but all but ignored Jinshi. His tendency to let his xenophobia get mixed up in his politics led to his assassination.

Suiren

Jinshi’s lady-in-waiting and former wet nurse. For Jinshi’s sake, she goes to the western capital despite her age.

Baryou

Gaoshun’s son and Basen’s older brother. He’s quick to develop a stomach ailment when confronted with another human being. Gets along well with the duck.

Vice Minister Lu

Second-in-command at the Board of Rites. He accompanies Jinshi to the western capital. Uncle of Maomao’s colleague Yao.

Jofu

A common white duck with a dark spot on her beak. She began life as an egg hatched by Lishu, but from the moment she saw Basen, they’ve been inseparable—so inseparable that she even came with him to the western capital. Jofu knows how to get along in the world and can find food anywhere she happens to be.

Empress Gyokuyou

The Emperor’s legal wife and an exotic beauty with red hair and green eyes. She’s from the western capital herself, but she has complicated feelings about her half-brother. Twenty-two years old.

Dahai

Gyokuen’s third son. He’s in charge of maritime transport in the western capital.

Shikyou

Gyoku-ou’s eldest son. Twenty-five years old.

Yinxing

Gyoku-ou’s eldest daughter. Twenty-four years old.

Feilong

Gyoku-ou’s second son. Something of a congenital bureaucrat. Twenty-three years old.

Hulan

Gyoku-ou’s third son. Very humble. Eighteen years old.

Xiaohong

Yinxing’s daughter; Gyoku-ou’s granddaughter. Her habit of eating her own hair led to an intestinal blockage, which Maomao and Tianyu resolved by performing surgery.

Gyokujun

Shikyou’s son and Gyoku-ou’s grandson. A real brat.