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| The Apothecary Diaries Season 3 Episode 2 Recap & Review. |
The Apothecary Diaries Season 3 Episode 2 turns a palace ceremony into something far more worrying, as Maomao and Jinshi separately realise that a coming locust plague could become a political disaster. While Gyokuyou officially rises to empress consort, clues surrounding the Shi clan, the immortality drug and two very different kinds of locust begin connecting in ways Maomao cannot simply ignore.
The episode opens far from the palace, where the dry landscape is filled with distressed people. A man barely able to stand is approached by a mysterious hooded figure, who gives him a medicine supposedly capable of curing anything. It is an unsettling introduction, particularly because the story quickly shifts from mysterious medicine to a problem that could affect an entire kingdom.
Back in the rear palace, Jinshi receives a warning about a possible locust plague. The timing could hardly be worse. With the country already dealing with the aftermath of the Shi clan's execution, an outbreak would give people another reason to question the emperor's rule. If crops fail at the same time, rumours of divine punishment would probably travel faster than any official explanation.
Jinshi also has another concern: the emperor's decision to make Gyokuyou empress consort. At first, the move appears politically risky, but the emperor explains that it is actually part of a broader strategy. Gyokuyou's position could help secure support from the West, making that region particularly important if a war eventually breaks out. In other words, even a grand royal marriage comes with a rather practical spreadsheet hiding underneath it.
The palace then stages the ceremony for Gyokuyou's promotion. Everyone who matters is expected to be there, yet one conspicuous seat is empty: Lakan's. A guard is sent to locate him, only to discover that Lakan is busy playing Go with Fengxian. She has finally been feeling better after a difficult period, and Lakan clearly has no intention of leaving her side. For once, palace protocol loses to something considerably more personal.
Maomao, meanwhile, wakes up and heads to the Verdigris House, where she immediately gets into an argument with the owner. Her reward for surviving that encounter is an unexpected free bath and breakfast, courtesy of the Madam.
Maomao then invites Chou-u to eat with her, only for them to discover that the breakfast consists of locusts. Chou-u bravely samples them first, although his verdict is hardly a glowing restaurant review: there is simply not much to them.
Later, Maomao and Chou-u head out to buy supplies, and the boy mentions that a poor harvest may be coming. His memories remain unreliable, making it difficult for him to explain exactly why he knows this. Still, he remembers that the problem is connected to locusts. It is another small clue, but Maomao is not the sort of person who lets a suspicious detail wander off without following it.
Chou-u suggests that receiving a gift might help him recover more of his memories. Maomao reluctantly spends money on paper and ink, which turns out to be a surprisingly sensible investment. Chou-u begins drawing people around the Verdigris House and even makes some money from his sketches. The boy may have a memory problem, but apparently his artistic career is doing considerably better.
That night, his drawings finally help unlock something important. Chou-u sketches two different kinds of locusts and remembers that they are not equally troublesome. One is considered beneficial, while the other is associated with crop damage and poor harvests. Suddenly, the scattered pieces begin to fit together.
Maomao reaches essentially the same conclusion Jinshi has already considered. If a locust plague arrives soon after the emperor ordered the Shi clan's execution, plenty of people will interpret the disaster as divine retribution. It would not matter whether the insects had anything to do with the political events. In a frightened population, timing can be more persuasive than evidence.
The investigation takes another turn when Maomao visits a bookshop. She spots a book she recognises and asks the owner about it. He tells her that he has only one copy, but Maomao immediately remembers seeing the same material before. The book was connected to her time with the Shi clan, when she was forced to work on the immortality drug.
That raises a much bigger question: how are books associated with the Shi clan now circulating around the city? Maomao asks Lihaku to track down the bookseller, and he soon returns with the man. The identity of the seller makes the situation considerably more interesting because he turns out to be one of the guards who once held Maomao captive.
Ukyou, who works alongside the Madam, offers the former guard food, and the meal quickly turns into an informal interrogation. He reveals that there are more books and explains how he ended up with them. Then the conversation returns to the locusts. After eating one, he spits it out and identifies it as a greenhopper, explaining that there are important differences between the insects and that some are associated with damaged crops.
The biggest revelation comes when the former guard explains that the man who researched the immortality drug before Maomao had another project as well. He was also attempting to develop something that could prevent locust plagues. That detail links two mysteries that initially appeared unrelated: the strange research surrounding immortality and the looming agricultural crisis.
The episode closes back in the rear palace, where the emperor tells Yue that it is time for her to choose a flower. After an episode packed with political calculations, old secrets, insects and suspicious books, the quiet remark feels anything but simple. The Apothecary Diaries has a habit of making seemingly harmless details matter later, and this one is unlikely to be an exception.
What makes The Apothecary Diaries Season 3 Episode 2 work so well is how casually it builds a much bigger problem. There is no need for a huge confrontation because Maomao is already doing what she does best: noticing things everyone else overlooks. The locust mystery is particularly effective because it mixes science with politics.
A crop disaster is bad enough, but attach it to a recently executed clan and suddenly everyone has a convenient supernatural explanation. Chou-u also adds some welcome humour without turning the story into a comedy, especially when his sudden artistic ambitions somehow become useful.
The bookshop discovery is arguably the most intriguing part, though, because it drags Maomao's past directly back into the present. By the end, the episode has quietly connected the Shi clan, the immortality research and the locust problem, while Yue's flower choice hints that another storyline is about to move. Which clue do you think matters most: the locusts, the mysterious books, or Yue's flower choice?