# E11 - Reducing Two to One
Source: [Crunchyroll](https://www.crunchyroll.com/watch/G7PU4MEJN/reducing-two-to-one)
Translator:
Editor:
Timer:
QC:
(Please feel free to edit the speaker names if incomplete or inaccurate. Names are handled on a best-effort basis depending on the info on the source file. Dialogue is left as is.)
***SIGN*** The Apothecary Diaries
***SIGN*** The Apothecary Diaries
***SIGN*** This story is a work of fiction. The names of all of the characters, organizations, and so on
are imaginary. It also bears no connection to any specific real-life events.
***SIGN*** Episode 11: Reducing Two to One
**[01:44] Fengming**
A letter from Concubine Gyokuyou?
**[01:46] Maomao**
Yes. I was ordered to deliver it directly.
**[01:49] Fengming**
Lady Ah-Duo is away on a tea party.
**[01:56] Maomao**
There's something I would like to
discuss with you, Lady Fengming.
**[02:00] Fengming**
I understand.
**[02:11] Maomao**
* The luggage is all packed up.*
* That must mean, as I thought...*
**[02:15] Fengming**
Please.
**[02:22] Fengming**
So, what did you need today?
**[02:25] Fengming**
We've finished cleaning this place.
**[02:28] Maomao**
When are you moving out?
**[02:32] Fengming**
You're a smart one.
**[02:35] Maomao**
The big clean-up was an excuse.
**[02:38] Maomao**
In order to welcome a new high-ranked
concubine during the new year's celebration,
**[02:42] Maomao**
Concubine Ah-Duo must leave this palace.
**[02:47] Maomao**
Concubine Ah-Duo can't have
children anymore, can she?
**[02:53] Maomao**
What happened when she gave birth?
**[02:55] Fengming**
I fail to see how that's any of your business.
**[02:59] Maomao**
It is my business.
**[03:04] Maomao**
The doctor who attended
that birth was my father.
**[03:10] Maomao**
My guess is the misfortune was
that Concubine Ah-Duo,
**[03:12] Maomao**
the prince's concubine at the time,
**[03:14] Maomao**
gave birth at the same time
as the empress dowager.
**[03:27] (Flashback) Fengming**
When is the doctor coming back?!
**[03:29] (Flashback) Lady-in-Waiting**
He's still at the empress dowager's.
**[03:31] (Flashback) Fengming**
Lady Ah-Duo!
**[03:31] (Flashback) Fengming**
Lady Ah-Duo, it's all right!
Fengming is by your side!
**[03:35] Maomao**
The empress dowager was given higher priority,
**[03:38] Maomao**
and Concubine Ah-Duo's childbirth had to wait.
**[03:47] (Flashback) Fengming**
Lady Ah-Duo.
**[03:49] Maomao**
That must have been when
Concubine Ah-Duo lost her uterus.
**[03:54] Maomao**
The child that was born to Concubine
Ah-Duo then passed away soon after.
**[04:01] Maomao**
Lady Fengming, are you
blaming yourself for that?
**[04:05] Maomao**
You must have been the one taking care of
the baby instead of Concubine Ah-Duo.
**[04:15] Fengming**
You've figured it all out,
**[04:17] Fengming**
despite being the daughter of the quack
who couldn't help Lady Ah-Duo.
**[04:23] Maomao**
You're right.
***SIGN*** ...Luomen, expelled...
**[04:28] Maomao**
It's thought that the cause
of the baby's death was
**[04:30] Maomao**
the same toxic make-up
from the other incidents,
**[04:34] Maomao**
but that's not the case, is it?
**[04:38] Maomao**
That doctor you call a quack
must have banned that powder.
**[04:43] Maomao**
You're a wise person. You wouldn't
have let the baby die from that.
**[04:47] Maomao**
The real cause of death was this.
**[04:52] Maomao**
Many flowers have poison in them,
**[04:56] Maomao**
like aconite or azalea.
**[04:58] Maomao**
Their nectar can be poisonous, too.
**[05:02] Fengming**
I am aware.
**[05:03] Maomao**
But back then...
**[05:06] Maomao**
you weren't.
**[05:07] Maomao**
You didn't realize regular
honey with no poison,
**[05:10] Maomao**
the medicine you thought was good for health,
**[05:14] Maomao**
can be harmful to a newborn baby.
**[05:21] (Flashback) Ah-Duo**
Thank you for your help as always, Fengming.
**[05:23] (Flashback) Fengming**
It's no trouble at all, Lady Ah-Duo.
**[05:26] (Flashback) Fengming**
Please rest and recover soon.
**[05:33] Maomao**
And thus, Concubine Ah-Duo's child passed away.
**[05:38] Maomao**
The cause was treated as a mystery.
**[05:40] Maomao**
My father Luomen, the attending
doctor at the time,
**[05:43] Maomao**
was blamed for the repeated mistakes,
including the one at childbirth.
**[05:47] Maomao**
He was expelled from the rear palace.
**[05:50] Maomao**
But later on, you accidentally learned
the true cause of the baby's death.
**[05:57] Maomao**
Someone taught you that honey can be
poisonous to infants, didn't they?
**[06:04] Maomao**
You had to make sure
Concubine Ah-Duo didn't find out.
**[06:07] Maomao**
She couldn't know you were
the one who killed her only child.
**[06:11] Maomao**
So, you tried to eliminate them.
**[06:15] Maomao**
That person is...
**[06:18] Maomao**
Concubine Lishu.
**[06:22] Maomao**
During the previous emperor's reign,
**[06:23] Maomao**
Concubine Lishu was close to
Concubine Ah-Duo, who was her elder.
**[06:28] Maomao**
Concubine Ah-Duo was also
fond of Concubine Lishu.
**[06:31] Maomao**
A young girl, taken from her parents,
**[06:34] Maomao**
and a woman who could no longer give birth.
**[06:38] Maomao**
There may have been a type of
codependency developing.
**[06:42] Maomao**
During that time, you learned
from Concubine Lishu
**[06:44] Maomao**
that she almost died eating honey as a baby.
**[06:49] Maomao**
To make sure Concubine Ah-Duo
never heard that story,
**[06:52] Maomao**
you started to chase Concubine Lishu
away from the Garnet Pavilion.
**[06:56] Maomao**
Later, the previous emperor passed away,
**[06:59] Maomao**
and Concubine Lishu was forced to leave the
rear palace, unaware of why she was chased out.
**[07:06] Maomao**
You must have felt quite relieved.
**[07:09] Maomao**
But Concubine Lishu, who you
thought you'd never see again,
**[07:13] Maomao**
returned to the rear palace.
**[07:16] Maomao**
As another high-ranking concubine.
**[07:18] Maomao**
As a threat to Concubine Ah-Duo's status.
**[07:22] Maomao**
That insolent child tried to visit
Concubine Ah-Duo many times,
**[07:26] Maomao**
as if trying to be with her mother.
**[07:29] Maomao**
To protect Concubine Ah-Duo,
who is incapable of childbirth,
**[07:32] Maomao**
and to hide the issue with the honey...
**[07:36] Maomao**
You poisoned Concubine Lishu's soup.
**[07:43] Fengming**
What do you want?
**[07:46] Maomao**
There's nothing.
**[07:50] Fengming**
Anything. Just ask.
**[07:59] Maomao**
You must know that's meaningless.
**[08:21] Fengming**
Hey. Do you know what's most precious
to the person most precious to you?
**[08:31] Fengming**
The moment I met Lady Ah-Duo,
**[08:34] Fengming**
I knew I would never serve anyone else again.
**[08:38] Fengming**
Despite being a woman,
**[08:39] Fengming**
she had a strong will, and the ability
to speak on even grounds with the prince.
**[08:44] Fengming**
I had nothing but the deepest
respect for Lady Ah-Duo.
**[08:47] Fengming**
Compared to me, who just followed my
parents' orders to become a lady-in-waiting,
**[08:52] Fengming**
she was such an astonishing person.
**[08:56] Fengming**
Despite that, I...
**[08:58] Fengming**
I took what was most precious
to her with my own hands...
**[09:03] Fengming**
I took him away!
**[09:05] Fengming**
The baby that Lady Ah-Duo loved so dearly!
**[09:10] Fengming**
With these hands!
**[09:12] Fengming**
Back then...
**[09:14] Fengming**
Lady Ah-Duo told us this.
**[09:17] (Flashback) Ah-Duo**
Do not blame yourselves for this.
**[09:19] (Flashback) Ah-Duo**
Babies can die for any
reason until they're seven.
**[09:23] (Flashback) Ah-Duo**
Even the slightest illness
can easily kill them.
**[09:26] (Flashback) Ah-Duo**
My baby simply followed
the will of the heavens.
**[09:36] Fengming**
And yet, I knew she cried
herself to sleep every night!
**[09:50] Maomao**
* What was her mental state like, as she served*
* Lady Ah-Duo for the past sixteen years?*
**[09:55] Maomao**
* Without having her own partner,*
* sacrificing everything for Concubine Ah-Duo...*
**[10:01] Maomao**
*I can't relate.*
**[10:03] Maomao**
* I don't have it in my heart*
* to keep someone so close.*
**[10:09] Maomao**
* If he hears my story, Master Jinshi*
* will surely apprehend Fengming.*
**[10:14] Maomao**
* There's no way she'd*
* escape capital punishment.*
**[10:18] Maomao**
*She's a smart woman. She knows all of that.*
**[10:24] Maomao**
I have a suggestion.
**[10:30] Maomao**
The only thing I can do is to take
your two motives and make it one.
**[10:35] Maomao**
It won't change the results.
**[10:37] Maomao**
But if that's still preferable
to you, please hear me out.
**[10:53] Maomao**
So tired...
**[10:55] Maomao**
A bath... No, it's too late for that.
**[10:58] Maomao**
Guess I can at least get changed.
**[11:02] Maomao**
I wore layers of stiffened
oil paper, just in case.
**[11:06] Maomao**
Glad I didn't need it.
**[11:08] Maomao**
Getting slashed would hurt.
**[11:13] Jinshi**
And so, Fengming turned herself in.
**[11:17] Jinshi**
Do you know anything about it?
**[11:19] Maomao**
What do you mean?
**[11:20] Jinshi**
I heard you had Gaoshun
collect some information.
**[11:24] Maomao**
Yes. I'd hoped to figure something
out, but it was all for naught.
**[11:30] Jinshi**
Fengming's motive, as you said,
was to try to make sure
**[11:34] Jinshi**
Concubine Ah-Duo could stay in the
position of one of the four concubines.
**[11:38] Maomao**
I see.
**[11:39] Jinshi**
But Concubine Ah-Duo has already been
determined to leave the rear palace.
**[11:44] Jinshi**
She'll live in the detached
palace to the south.
**[11:48] Maomao**
Does this incident have
anything to do with that?
**[11:51] Jinshi**
No, the decision was made a while ago.
**[11:54] Jinshi**
It was the emperor's call.
**[11:56] Maomao**
I see.
**[11:59] Maomao**
This flower.
**[12:01] Jinshi**
Hongniang came by earlier to put it on display.
**[12:05] Maomao**
Yes, it's out of season.
**[12:17] Jinshi**
It's sweet.
**[12:18] Maomao**
Poisonous, though.
**[12:21] Maomao**
It's not lethal. Don't worry.
**[12:26] Maomao**
*My suggestion to Fengming, back then...*
**[12:31] Maomao**
* The poisoning of Concubine Lishu.*
* The cause of death for the baby.*
**[12:34] Maomao**
*If these two motives become one,*
**[12:37] Maomao**
* she could hide the cause of the baby's*
* death from Concubine Ah-Duo.*
**[12:42] Maomao**
*Even if her own death is inevitable...*
**[12:45] Maomao**
* That was the best I could do,*
* as a girl with no power.*
**[13:04] Maomao**
I can't sleep.
**[13:07] Maomao**
Maybe I'll take a walk.
**[13:30] Maomao**
*Fengming was executed.*
**[13:33] Maomao**
* Concubine Ah-Duo is set to leave*
* the rear palace tomorrow.*
**[13:37] Ah-Duo**
Oh, someone beat me here?
**[13:42] Ah-Duo**
You're that girl who came
to help clean the other day.
**[13:46] Maomao**
I'll leave right away.
**[13:48] Ah-Duo**
No.
**[13:49] Ah-Duo**
Care to join me for a drink?
**[13:52] Maomao**
Whoa! Booze!
**[13:55] Maomao**
Thank you very much.
**[14:06] Ah-Duo**
Pretty masculine, aren't I?
**[14:08] Maomao**
I feel like you're giving
that impression on purpose.
**[14:13] Ah-Duo**
You're an honest one.
**[14:16] Ah-Duo**
After my son left me, I became
the emperor's friend, not his concubine.
**[14:24] Ah-Duo**
Or rather, I *returned* to being his friend.
**[14:29] Ah-Duo**
I never thought I'd become a concubine.
**[14:34] Ah-Duo**
I was a concubine in name only,
given the role out of pity.
**[14:38] Ah-Duo**
I wanted to hand it off to someone
else as soon as possible.
**[14:42] Ah-Duo**
Why cling to it for so long...?
**[14:45] Maomao**
* She probably would have said the same*
* things to whoever she'd met up here.*
**[14:56] Ah-Duo**
It must have been cold in that water.
**[15:00] Ah-Duo**
It must have been painful.
**[15:07] Maomao**
You're probably right.
**[15:09] Ah-Duo**
Stupid, don't you think?
**[15:13] Maomao**
Perhaps she was.
**[15:16] Ah-Duo**
We're all stupid.
**[15:25] Maomao**
Perhaps we are.
**[15:36] Maomao**
*I think I get it now.*
**[15:40] Maomao**
*That servant was indeed a suicide.*
**[15:44] Maomao**
*Concubine Ah-Duo noticed that.*
**[15:47] Maomao**
*Maybe Fengming helped set it up.*
**[15:51] Maomao**
*To take suspicion away from Concubine Ah-Duo,*
**[15:54] Maomao**
* the servant chose to sink down*
* into the cold water.*
**[15:57] Maomao**
*To keep her secret hidden,*
**[15:59] Maomao**
*Fengming chose to step up to the gallows.*
**[16:04] Maomao**
* Regardless of Concubine*
* Ah-Duo's own wishes,*
**[16:06] Maomao**
* there are those who*
* sacrifice their lives for her.*
**[16:11] Maomao**
I should go now, too.
**[16:17] Jinshi**
What are you doing?
**[16:23] Maomao**
Ow... Who's that? You startled me.
**[16:25] Jinshi**
My bad.
**[16:28] Maomao**
Master Jinshi? Why are you here?
**[16:31] Jinshi**
I should ask the same of you.
**[16:33] Maomao**
I'm sorry. I'll get up now—
**[16:37] Maomao**
Could you let go?
**[16:40] Maomao**
Let go, please.
**[16:43] Jinshi**
Don't wanna. It's too cold.
**[16:45] Maomao**
You'll catch a cold without a coat.
Please go back to your room.
**[16:50] Maomao**
Are you drunk?
**[16:52] Jinshi**
I had to. I was sharing a drink with someone.
**[16:54] Maomao**
*Sharing, huh?*
**[16:57] Jinshi**
The host invited me to drink,
**[16:59] Jinshi**
loaded me up full of booze,
**[17:01] Jinshi**
then just took off.
**[17:04] Jinshi**
When she finally came back,
**[17:06] Jinshi**
she told me she was satisfied
now, and threw me out.
**[17:10] Maomao**
* I didn't know anyone in this rear*
* palace could treat this guy like that.*
**[17:15] Maomao**
*But that's not related to this right now.*
**[17:19] Maomao**
*I don't want to put up with a clingy drunk.*
**[17:22] Maomao**
* Wait... Come to think of it,*
* he did catch me as I fell.*
**[17:28] Maomao**
* Maybe it's rude to just make him let go*
* of me without even thanking him.*
**[17:33] Maomao**
Master Jinshi—
**[17:45] Jinshi**
Just a little longer.
**[17:47] Jinshi**
Keep me warm, just a little longer.
**[18:07] Maomao**
*Neither of them seem hungover.*
**[18:11] Maomao**
* Concubine Ah-Duo, in order*
* to leave the rear palace,*
**[18:13] Maomao**
* returns the crown signifying*
* her as Pure Concubine.*
**[18:16] Maomao**
* That crown will be bestowed on another girl*
* who will join the rear palace later.*
**[18:28] Maomao**
*Ah, I see.*
**[18:30] Maomao**
*I knew she resembled someone.*
**[18:33] Maomao**
*It's Master Jinshi.*
**[18:36] Maomao**
*Those two might as well swap outfits...*
**[18:41] Maomao**
Swap...
**[18:43] (Flashback) Ah-Duo**
After my son left me...
**[18:46] Maomao**
*"Left me," she said. Not "died"?*
**[18:51] Maomao**
* I can almost interpret that*
* to mean he's still alive.*
**[18:54] Maomao**
* Concubine Ah-Duo's child and*
* the then-empress dowager's child...*
**[18:59] Maomao**
*What if the two babies were swapped?*
**[19:03] Maomao**
* It must have been clear to Concubine Ah-Duo,*
* through her experience in childbirth.*
**[19:07] (Flashback) Luomen**
What are you doing?! I must
tend to Concubine Ah-Duo...
**[19:10] (Flashback) Eunuch**
The empress dowager takes priority!
**[19:11] (Flashback) Fengming**
N-No!
**[19:13] Maomao**
* After all, she was just a nurse's daughter,*
* a childhood friend of the prince.*
**[19:18] Maomao**
* Her son would live a better life*
* as the empress dowager's son.*
**[19:24] Maomao**
* Maybe she wasn't in a state*
* to decide what was right or wrong.*
**[19:29] Maomao**
* But if the decision resulted*
* in her son surviving...*
**[19:33] Maomao**
* That would have been all that*
* Concubine Ah-Duo could have wished for.*
**[19:37] Maomao**
* What if people found out*
* the babies were swapped later?*
**[19:41] Maomao**
*If that was after the one baby had died,*
**[19:44] Maomao**
* that would explain why my dad would be*
* physically punished for not noticing.*
**[19:51] Maomao**
*And if that were the case,*
**[19:53] Maomao**
* it would explain why the emperor's younger*
* brother is in a delicate position,*
**[19:57] Maomao**
* and why Concubine Ah-Duo,*
* who's supposed to be a realist,*
**[20:00] Maomao**
*stayed in the rear palace for so long...*
**[20:06] Maomao**
* Complete nonsense.*
* An idiotic delusion of a story.*
**[20:09] Lishu**
Please, wait!
**[20:10] Kanan**
Lady Lishu!
**[20:15] Maomao**
*As always.*
**[20:18] Maomao**
* As a lonely concubine, to have*
* a lady-in-waiting she can trust...*
**[20:24] Maomao**
*How reassuring that must be.*
**[20:29] Kanan**
Lady Lishu!
**[20:38] Maomao**
* At that moment, her masculine, noble face*
* suddenly took on the expression of a mother.*
**[20:52] Gaoshun**
Here is the list of Fengming's family
and those connected to them.
**[20:57] Jinshi**
I heard she was kidnapped and sold off, but...
***SIGN*** Jade Pavilion
Maomao
**[21:06] ED Lyrics**
*Not just some superficial sweetness*
**[21:12] ED Lyrics**
*I want more warmth than I can even use, oh*
**[21:18] ED Lyrics**
*Having these selfish idealistic thoughts*
**[21:23] ED Lyrics**
* I swallowed them again today*
* before putting them into words*
**[21:28] ED Lyrics**
* Still in my memories,*
* the scent of fragrant olive*
**[21:33] ED Lyrics**
*The color of twilight in the city*
**[21:36] ED Lyrics**
*We were laughing...*
**[21:41] ED Lyrics**
* Filled with sadness,*
* the tears welled up in my eyes*
**[21:53] ED Lyrics**
*I found a glow during those days*
**[22:01] ED Lyrics**
*I guess I took everything for granted*
**[22:06] ED Lyrics**
*The wind was so loud I covered my ears*
**[22:18] ED Lyrics**
*I gotta stop being like that*
**[22:26] ED Lyrics**
*Even if I stumble over the words of love*
***SIGN*** Next Time
**[22:46] Narrator**
* Next time: "The Eunuch*
* and the Courtesan."*
***SIGN*** Episode 12: The Eunuch and the Courtesan