Kusuriya no Hitorigoto Episode 11 Discussion

Very good episode, but to tell the truth I started loosing the thread. All along I thought that Jinshi was the emperor's brother and the story about him being ill was just a facade. I had to rack my brain really hard to realise that if Jinshi is Ah-Duo's son then he is the son of the current emperor too, but in that case he can't be an eunuch. If that is the case and Maomao has realized that then why does she still think of or refer to him as an eunuch (see the title of the next episode)?? If he was really a swapped child, who was reared as the empress-dowager's son, then as far as the world concerned he is the younger brother of the current emperor, but then why would they treat him as a high-ranking eunuch and hide his "true" identity? What is going on here?

@Ishitateso I'm also pretty confused, but I think the mystery of who Jinshi really is and why he is hiding his identity will be a long-term plot point, so we'll have to wait and see. I'm guessing it'll have something to do with how important it is for a woman to have a male child and how brutal palace politics can get, when everyone is being watched and no one can be trusted.

As for Maomao, she has only just begun to suspect Jinshi to be Ah-Duo's son, so I don't think she figured out the details either. She even dismisses her own theory as "delusional", so Jinshi will continue to be a eunuch for now, as far as she's concerned. She does seem to think that Ah-Duo could have given up her baby willingly, which is understandable after seeing so many women make huge sacrifices and do horrible things to protect the people they love.

As for the title of the next episode, "The Eunuch and the Courtesan", it may simply be referring to Jinshi's public identity, not his real one. It's also possible that it's referring to someone else entirely; Maomao is not a courtesan either after all.

I knew right away that A Duo and Jinshi were related, but I thought as distant siblings or cousins or something. What's up with everyone giving birth as teenagers? Also, Jinshi is only 16?? For some reason I thought he was, like, 18-20. :P

Also, Maomao's winter outfit is very cute ^^

Ah-duo deserves more than an emperor who sees you as a baby machine.. I hope we can still see her, or atleast Lishu can still see her.. Lishu saying goodbye to her makes me emotional.

@perseii At this stage of the story it is still possible to think up pretty wild theories about who is who in this tale. After this episode my current pet theory is that the empress-dowager gave birth to a girl, but if that had been announced officially that would have greatly weakened her position in the court. After she got wind of that the other concubine Ah-Duo had given birth to a healthy boy she offered a noname boy to her in exchange for her child while the girl was given to the court-doctor to get rid of her. It is even possible that Ah-Duo gave birth to twins and only one of them were taken from her and the other boy who died was her child as well (that would explain why she was so out of her mind with grief after the boy's death). Whatever is the truth we can be pretty sure that Maomao is not the noname commoner as this story has been trying to sell her until now.

Maomao onto the Garnet Pavilion to talk with Lady Fengming, clearly the movement of Concubine Ah-Duo is seen as a lucrative measure since the birth from the Empress Dowager happened at the same time, which was given much priority, that the procedure ended up in Maomao's father's hands. The culprit being of flowers being fed to a newborn that Fengming knew had poison from the nectar, this was all constructed through Lishu telling her the truth about Ah-Duo's baby's death since she had honey before. It was an intricate plot to remove all of the detractors, that even to Maomao, would not reinstate her father. To this that Ah-Duo faced reality about her one and only newborn, Fengming felt that she had bore a burden all this time, and Maomao had a suggestion to converge her motives together that while the results will not change, it at least spared her the dignity of Ah-Duo staying as one of the 4 concubines in the rear palace.

Alas, Ah-Duo has already been set to leave the rear palace on the emperor's orders with Fengming turning herself in to be executed. The last night of a drink together with said concubine, she may already have her fate written on the wall as Fengming shows that she's one to sacrifice for the servant she worked so hard for. Aside from Jinshi's drunken hug to Maomao after a drink with Ah-Duo, they look so similar that Maomao speculated that Ah-Duo had this planned out for so long, that it even does not matter if they were swapped at birth.

It's sad to see Ah-Duo leave the rear palace being a dignified mother. But aside from that intricate link between Ah-Duo and Jinshi, who really knows? The truth shall come to light in the future.

It was a good episode, as usual, Jinshi being Ah Duo's son is unexpected. I wonder when the mystery around Maomao's birth will be solved.

I knew right away that A Duo and Jinshi were related, but I thought as distant siblings or cousins or something. What's up with everyone giving birth as teenagers? Also, Jinshi is only 16?? For some reason I thought he was, like, 18-20. :P

Also, Maomao's winter outfit is very cute ^^

lmao someone is writing very huge spoiler from manga

oh well at least some people can guess it too after this episode, or maybe since episode 1

episode 12 beyond will be interesting, wonder how well they will animate the story


Anyway if youre curious and want to read the manga, this episode 11 is chapter 18
Episode 12 is chapter 19 onwards

that's not a spoiler
The only thing it says is that her theory is contradictory
Maomao said noth of the things in ep 11
baby was poisoned and died
and again emperor's younger brother is weak

these 2 r contradictory lines, which are told already in ep 11 and the same thing is written in About character in internet

so ah duo is jinshi's mother???