The Apothecary Diaries - Volume 13 - Chapter Pr

Character Profiles

Maomao
A former pleasure-district apothecary. After a stint in the rear palace and then the royal court, she now finds herself an assistant to the medical office. With things finally calm again in the western capital, she’s come home for the first time in a year. She’s finally started to seriously entertain Jinshi’s feelings, but given his position, she knows there are going to be challenges. Twenty-one years old.

Jinshi
The Emperor’s younger brother. Inhumanly beautiful. In the end, he has to go back to the royal capital without ever having gotten his revenge on Rikuson. He’s on cloud nine now that his feelings finally seem to be getting through to Maomao, but because of his position, he has a lot still to think about. Real name: Ka Zuigetsu. Twenty-two years old.

Basen
Gaoshun’s son; Jinshi’s attendant. Brings his duck, Jofu, home with him from the western capital. He has feelings for His Majesty’s former consort Lishu. Twenty-two years old.

Chue
Wife of Gaoshun’s son Baryou. She acts silly, but she’s a member of the Mi clan and an expert at gathering intelligence. When rescuing Maomao, she sustained injuries so serious that she can no longer use her dominant hand.

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 come up with the short end of the stick. Perhaps because he shares his name (first and last!) with another young man in the western capital, he was left behind by mistake.

Lahan
Lakan’s nephew and adopted son. A small man with round glasses, he’s been looking after his father’s house in the royal capital during Lakan’s absence. A very capable and thorough bureaucrat. Loves numbers. Twenty-two years old.

Lakan
Maomao’s biological father and Luomen’s nephew. A freak with a monocle. He’s finally back in the capital after a year away, but he still marches to the beat of his own drum.

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.

Onsou
Lakan’s current aide. If he’d had his wish, it would be to drag Rikuson back from the western capital.

Suiren
Jinshi’s lady-in-waiting and former wetnurse. A real soft touch when it comes to Jinshi.

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. 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. An exotic beauty with red hair and green eyes. She’s the mother of the crown prince, but her appearance makes some feel she’s not fit for her office. Twenty-three years old.

Yao
Maomao’s colleague and Vice Minister Lu’s niece. She may not know much about the world, but she’s trying to make it on her own as best she can. Has recently taken an interest in Lahan. Seventeen years old.

En’en
Maomao’s colleague, she’s also Yao’s lady-in-waiting. En’en is a big part of the reason Yao isn’t off on her own yet. It bothers her no end to see Yao interested in Lahan. Twenty-one years old.

Tianyu
A young physician. A dangerous character who especially likes corpses and dissecting things.

Maamei
Basen’s older sister. Since Taomei and Gaoshun, her mother and father, were in the western capital, it fell to her to run Ma clan affairs. She has two children of her own, and also raises her younger brother Baryou’s son.

Dr. Liu
An upper physician at court. He and Luomen studied in the west together. He imparts stern instruction to Maomao and her friends.

Dr. Li
A middle physician. He went to the western capital with Maomao and the others, and the stuff he saw there has made him a tougher person.

Kan Junjie
A young boy who was brought along from the western capital for some reason. He has an extremely common name.

Ah-Duo
An old friend of the Emperor’s; one of his former consorts. They had a son together. Thirty-nine years old.

Pairin
One of the Three Princesses at the Verdigris House. An amply endowed woman with a gift for dancing.

Joka
One of the Three Princesses at the Verdigris House. She knows the Four Classics and Five Books by heart.