I always dislike mid-season hiatuses like we got with The Apothecary Diaries last week. But fortunately it doesn’t take long to get back into the swing of things, as the current plotline is pretty robust. As I noted earlier, there’s a sense here of a transition point. The story has been ever-expanding, asking questions it doesn’t answer and unspooling threads with loose ends. I expect it to be a very slow process, but one does at least get the idea that we’re finally in explanation mode. Not neatly of course, but some tying together of those threads.

There can be little doubt this is about the throne, that’s clear. I don’t know how much Shisui knows but she’s at the heart of it, and by fleeing the palace she’s subjected her entire clan to an execution order. Whether that includes the servants left behind is an interesting question – “just following orders” likely wouldn’t carry much weight in this setting. In any event there’s no going back – they’re enemies of the emperor now, and by advancing to this stage the mastermind(s) of the plan surely know that. Acting now by extracting Suirei indicates that they feel ready for that next step.

Color is a recurring theme here. The green on the fox masks for the festival, a nod to the color blindness subplot. The worship of the white fox, indicative of the tribe from the West. Thee presence of the envoy (Ayla by name, as it turns out) in the village indicates that ancestral ties have not been forgotten. There seems to be a belief by this group that they’re the rightful heirs to the throne, and the current Imperial line usurpers. Which said line would obviously disagree with, in most violent terms.

I don’t know whether Shisui is in fact Shishou’s daughter, or that was merely a role she was playing. And as such it’s not clear she would be this line’s candidate for ascendancy, though she certainly isn’t being treated like she is. I don’t know if she and Suirei are actually sisters, or if Kyou-u is actually their brother (I don’t think so). The village is certainly an interesting place, and the festival is depicted in quite atmospheric fashion. Maomao more or less plays along, low-key playing detective and trying to figure out what game is actually being played here. And waiting on her promised resurrection potion, of course.

Maomao refuses Shisui’s inquiry about giving her Jinshi’s hair stick. And she declines the offer of a frog-kebab at the festival for obvious reasons (she also demurs on locust, settling for chicken). It’s quite haunting on the whole, with the previous year’s masks being burned. Supposedly the wishes written on the masks are granted if they send their smoke up to Heaven, not so if they fall in the water. Shisui’s words and Kyou-u’s face suggest there’s something more at play here, possibly quite dark. Eventually Suirei gives up the recipe for the potion, then says she’s going away for a while. Shisui follows suit, leaving Maomao to read Suirei’s herb texts and ponder what she’s been seeing.

Unable to resist playing detective, Maomao decides to check out the old rice storehouse that’s no longer in use. She drafts Kyou-u to help, as he has a secret exit he uses to get out of studying. He’s also surprisingly adept at picking locks, and soon the unlikely pair are inside. There they find rats in cages (Suirei’s test subjects), and the making of a firearms production facility. But soon trouble arrives in the form of Ayla and Shenmei (Fukami Rica), whose mere mention seemed to terrify Kyou-u. And judging by the way Shisui talked about her mother, I’m guessing she and Shenmei are the same person.

Xiaomao’s hostage existence has been pretty chill to this point, but that seems likely to change now. Having been caught inside the storehouse and having seen what she’s seen, she’s a profound danger to her captors and Shenmei seems like a very hard woman. Maomao ought to cover for Kyou-u as best she can, at least – she did rather drag him into this – but the both of them would seem to be in serious trouble here. And that’s especially true with neither Suirei or Shisui around to try and smooth things over.