E3 - The Unsettling Matter of the Spirit

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(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.
[01:33] Lady-in-Waiting A
    That can't be!
SIGN    Episode 3: The Unsettling Matter of the Spirit
[01:35] Lady-in-Waiting A
    A reward?!
[01:41] Fuyou
    I understand.
[01:45] Lady-in-Waiting B
    Lady Fuyou!
[01:46] Lady-in-Waiting A
    Please, wait!
[02:24] Yinghua
    Wow, that's cold!
[02:25] Guiyuan
    We've been at the capital for a while now,
[02:27] Guiyuan
    but the morning cold
    is still hard to get used to.
[02:30] Yinghua
    I miss the sand and sunlight back home.
[02:33] Ailan
    The mornings and nights
    were cold back west as well, though.
[02:36] Guiyuan
    Ah, the Western Capital...
[02:38] Guiyuan
    It feels like a long time ago.
[02:40] Guiyuan
    And yet, Lady Gyokuyou's
    palace entry feels like yesterday.
[02:44] Ailan
    By the way, my father gave me some good news.
[02:48] Ailan
    Apparently, trade between the western
     and central capitals is on the rise.
[02:52] Guiyuan
    The emperor really does love Lady Gyokuyou.
[02:55] Yinghua
    It's the family home of
    the emperor's favorite concubine.
[02:58] Yinghua
    Surely the central officers
     can't ignore that.
[03:01] Ailan
    Cleaning the kitchen? We'll help.
[03:05] Yinghua
    No, we have to split up or
    we'll never finish the work.
[03:08] Yinghua
    It's not like we can rely
    on other servants.
[03:10] Ailan
    Yes, I remember how bad it was
    back when she was pregnant,
[03:13] Ailan
    like that time there was
    a poison needle in her dress.
[03:16] Yinghua
    Part of it is likely because she's
    the princess of a foreign land.
[03:20] Guiyuan
    It's fine. We have one extra
     lady-in-waiting now, right?
[03:26] Yinghua
    Maomao, what are you making?
[03:29] Maomao
    It's a cold remedy.
[03:30] Yinghua
    Wow, you can make those too?
[03:33] Yinghua
    The new lady-in-waiting is so talented.
[03:40] Yinghua
    Hey, are you sure you don't need anything?
[03:43] Yinghua
    Are you eating well?
[03:44] Maomao
    Thanks to you, yes...
[03:46] Yinghua
    Please don't keep your troubles to yourself!
[03:48] Maomao
    Sure...
[03:51] Yinghua
    By the way, did you hear the new
    rumor everyone's talking about?
[03:56] Maomao
    No.
[03:58] Yinghua
    They say there's a spirit
    haunting the rear palace.
[04:01] Maomao
    A spirit?
[04:02] Xialoan
    I heard that one! The ghostly lady
    in white, right?
[04:06] Maomao
    So, it's famous?
[04:07] Xialoan
    All of the servants, eunuchs,
    and concubines are talking about it!
[04:12] Xiaolan
    I think it started a few weeks ago.
[04:14] Xiaolan
    They say a ghostly lady in white
    dances in the air under the moonlight!
[04:20] Xiaolan
    And she appears every night
    at the eastern castle walls!
[04:26] Maomao
    Huh...
[04:28] Maomao
    The castle walls completely
    surround the rear palace.
[04:32] Maomao
    The only way to enter is through the four
    gates on the north, south, east and west.
[04:39] Maomao
    The gates are always guarded,
    and the walls are surrounded by a moat.
[04:44] Maomao
    Sneaking in or out would be impossible.
[04:47] Maomao
    They say that sunken in the moats are...
[04:55] Maomao
    The corpses of concubines
    who tried to escape.
[04:59] Maomao
    In other words, just your typical ghost story.
[05:03] Xiaolan
    What should I do if I see the spirit for real?
[05:05] Maomao
    It's just a rumor.
[05:11] Maomao
    Excuse me. Could you
    take a look at this medicine?
[05:14] Guen
    Hey, little lady. One moment.
[05:18] Maomao
    To think that he was so wary
    of me just a short while ago.
[05:22] Maomao
    When he found out I can make medicine,
    he started allowing me to do it here.
[05:28] Maomao
    He also gives me the ingredients I need.
[05:31] Maomao
    He even makes me tea.
[05:33] Maomao
    Should he really be so laid back?
[05:37] Guen
    Sorry to make you wait.
[05:41] Maomao
    Wow...
[05:42] Guen
    You like salty better than sweet, right?
[05:45] Jinshi
    May I have some as well?
[05:48] Guen
    Right away!
[05:53] Jinshi
    Good work.
[05:55] Maomao
    It's the least I could do.
[05:58] Maomao
    Does this guy have nothing better to do?
[06:01] Maomao
    Shouldn't he be at the Domestic
    Service Department as a eunuch?
[06:03] Maomao
    Instead, he wanders around the entire
    rear palace like he's on surveillance duty...
[06:09] Maomao
    In that case, he must outrank
    the Matron of the Serving Women.
[06:14] Maomao
    He could be the emperor's guardian,
    but he's too young for that.
[06:20] Maomao
    Ah. He must be the emperor's
    "personal favorite."
[06:26] Jinshi
    Are you thinking something
     inappropriate right now?
[06:29] Maomao
    Huh? You're imagining things.
[06:32] Jinshi
    Doctor, could you fetch me this?
[06:41] Maomao
    So, what do you really want?
[06:45] Jinshi
    Have you heard about the spirit haunting?
[06:48] Maomao
    A few rumors, yes.
[06:49] Jinshi
    How about sleepwalking?
[06:54] Maomao
    Sleepwalking...
[06:56] Jinshi
    Seems like I got your attention.
[07:02] Jinshi
    How can it be cured?
[07:04] Maomao
    I don't know. There's no medicine
    that cures somnambulism.
[07:08] Jinshi
    Is there a cure other than medicine?
[07:11] Maomao
    My specialty is medicine.
[07:15] Jinshi
    That's too bad.
[07:20] Jinshi
    That's truly, truly too bad.
[07:23] Maomao
    Yuck! He's so persistent!
[07:30] Maomao
    I'll do my best.
[07:44] Maomao
    This guy doesn't come off like a eunuch.
[07:49] Gaoshun
    Lady Maomao.
[07:51] Maomao
    Please don't call me "Lady."
    You outrank me by quite a bit.
[07:56] Gaoshun
    In that case, how's Xiaomao?
[07:59] Maomao
    A "Xiao" nickname? That was a sharp turn.
[08:02] Gaoshun
    Could you stop glaring down at
    Master Jinshi like he's an insect?
[08:08] Maomao
    Yikes, he knows.
[08:10] Gaoshun
    When he returned earlier,
[08:12] Gaoshun
    he told me, ecstatically, how you stared
    at him like he was a venomous caterpillar.
[08:19] Maomao
    I'll be more careful.
[08:24] Gaoshun
    If someone unprepared saw him
    like that, they might pass out.
[08:30] Maomao
    To each their own, I guess...
[08:40] Gaoshun
    Over there.
[08:51] Maomao
    A moonlit cotton rose...
[08:53] Gaoshun
    That's a good guess.
[08:57] Gaoshun
    That is Concubine Fuyou.
[09:00] Gaoshun
    She's a mid-ranking concubine,
[09:02] Gaoshun
    scheduled to be bestowed
    to a military officer as a reward.
[09:14] Guen
    It's been two years, I think.
[09:16] Guen
    She's a timid princess.
[09:19] Guen
    She's supposed to be a skilled dancer,
    but stumbled at her first showing.
[09:23] Guen
    The emperor hasn't laid a finger on her,
    and she shut herself in ever since.
[09:30] Guen
    I guess some things can't be avoided, but...
[09:34] Ladies-in-Waiting
    Lady Fuyou!
[09:34] Guen
    A bestowal? I feel sorry for her.
[09:38] Maomao
    She started sleepwalking over the shock
    of being treated as a reward?
[09:41] Maomao
    They do say illness is a result
    of an unbalanced mind...
[09:46] Maomao
    No, I need more information.
[09:49] Maomao
    Maybe I'll take another look at her.
[09:52] Maomao
    Where is Concubine Fuyou's room?
[09:55] Guen
    Her building is on the north side.
[09:57] Maomao
    Thank you. And thank you for the snacks.
[10:01] Guen
    Leaving already?
[10:05] Guen
    I hope she feels better.
[10:08] Guen
    I heard she's a princess
    from a small vassal state.
[10:10] Guen
    I'm sure she doesn't want to go back.
[10:14] Maomao
    Go back?
[10:15] Guen
    Oh, yes. She's...
[10:18] Lady-in-Waiting
    I feel sorry for Concubine Fuyou.
[10:21] Low-rank Concubine
    Yes, being given away to a military officer?
[10:24] Low-rank Concubine
    I shudder at the mere thought.
[10:36] Maomao
    She seems very different from how
    she looked dancing on that wall.
[10:41] Gaoshun
    Yes. I was surprised too,
    the first time I saw her.
[10:45] Gaoshun
    She's very unassuming most of the time.
[10:49] Maomao
    She really is like a cotton rose.
[10:52] Gaoshun
    A cotton rose?
[10:54] Maomao
    Yes.
[10:55] Maomao
    The fuyou flower,
    also known as the cotton rose,
[10:58] Maomao
    blooms as a large white flower in the morning.
[11:00] Maomao
    However, by evening, it turns a deep pink.
[11:06] Gaoshun
    So, the flower changes its appearance
    over the course of a single day?
[11:11] Maomao
    Yes.
[11:18] Xiaolan
    The spirit story?
[11:20] Maomao
    Yeah, I wanted to hear more about it.
    Do you know anything else?
[11:26] Xiaolan
    Well, I heard she first
    appeared on the north side.
[11:31] Maomao
    Huh? The north side?
[11:33] Serving girl
    Xiaolan! Laundry!
[11:35] Maomao
    She moved from the north to the east?
[11:36] Xiaolan
    Coming!
[11:37] Xiaolan
    Gotta go.
[11:37] Maomao
    Also...
[11:39] (Flashback) Guen
    Oh, yes. She's...
[11:42] Maomao
    I knew it. Concubine Fuyou is...
[11:50] Maomao
    My dad would tell me not to speak up
    based on just speculation, but...
[11:57] Maomao
    Not much is known about
    somnambulance, or sleepwalking.
[12:01] Maomao
    It is said that it's caused by stress.
[12:03] Maomao
    The patient moves about
    in their sleep, as if they're awake.
[12:08] Maomao
    A while ago, at the brothels,
    I saw a courtesan with the same illness.
[12:15] Maomao
    She was a cheerful person,
    skilled at poetry.
[12:18] Maomao
    She even received a purchase offer.
[12:22] Maomao
    However, that offer fell through.
[12:25] Maomao
    She started roaming the brothel at night,
    as if possessed by a demonic spirit.
[12:39] (Flashback) Courtesan A
    Why hello. What's wrong, everyone?
[12:43] Maomao
    She had no recollection of the night before.
[12:47] Jinshi
    And then what happened?
[12:49] Maomao
    Nothing. When the purchase offer was
     rescinded, the sleepwalking stopped.
[12:55] Gyokuyou
    So... That courtesan
    didn't want to get sold off?
[13:01] Maomao
    It's possible.
[13:03] Maomao
    The offer was made by a wealthy merchant,
[13:06] Maomao
    but not only did he have a wife and
    children, he had grandchildren as well.
[13:10] Maomao
    Also, she only had one year left on her term.
[13:18] Gyokuyou
    Perhaps Concubine Fuyou was the same.
[13:21] Jinshi
    Hmm. Is that really it?
[13:29] Maomao
    That's it.
[13:31] Jinshi
    Really?
[13:35] Gaoshun
    Please, stay calm.
[13:37] Maomao
    I'll get back to work.
[13:47] Maomao
    From that day on, Concubine Fuyou
    was forbidden from leaving her room.
[13:52] Maomao
    Until the day of her bestowal,
    eunuchs were placed to watch her.
[14:00] Maomao
    I hope it works out.
[14:07] Gyokuyou
    Isn't Maomao behaving strangely lately?
[14:12] Hongniang
    Is she?
[14:21] Gyokuyou
    I can tell.
[14:23] Gyokuyou
    There must be something.
[14:32] Gyokuyou
    Concubine Fuyou is leaving today, right?
[14:37] Maomao
    That is what I've heard.
[14:56] Gyokuyou
    Hey.
[14:57] Gyokuyou
    You can tell me the truth, you know.
[15:04] Gyokuyou
    I won't get upset, since I'm the one who asked.
[15:11] Maomao
    This is all just speculation,
    so could you keep this between us?
[15:16] Gyokuyou
    My lips are sealed.
[15:21] Maomao
    Do you remember the story of
    the courtesan I told you before?
[15:25] Gyokuyou
    The sleepwalker?
[15:27] Maomao
    Yes.
[15:28] Maomao
    There was actually another courtesan
[15:31] Maomao
    whose purchase offer was
    called off for the same reason.
[15:34] Maomao
    She later received another purchase offer,
[15:39] Maomao
    but since she was ill,
    the price was cut in half.
[15:46] Maomao
    However, it was all fraud.
[15:49] Gyokuyou
    Fraud?
[15:51] Maomao
    The two men who made
    the purchase offers knew each other.
[15:56] Maomao
    The woman pretended to be sick
     to call off the first offer.
[16:01] Maomao
    Then, the real purchaser
    made a bid at half the first price.
[16:07] Maomao
    If they wanted to be together,
     the man lacked the silver,
[16:11] Maomao
    and the woman still had time left on her term.
[16:15] Gyokuyou
    So, you're saying Concubine Fuyou
    is the same as that courtesan?
[16:19] Maomao
    Concubine Fuyou and the military officer
[16:22] Maomao
    are childhood friends
    who grew up in the same homeland.
[16:25] Gyokuyou
    Huh?
[16:26] Maomao
    I heard the man showed his valor in
    a battle against barbarians the other day.
[17:03] Maomao
    When asked what he wished as a reward,
[17:05] Maomao
    he strongly insisted on
     receiving Concubine Fuyou.
[17:12] Maomao
    He must have fantasized about it
    even before he left home.
[17:17] Maomao
    As a military officer, he could never
    propose marriage to a princess.
[17:22] Gyokuyou
    But then, she was pulled
     into the rear palace...
[17:27] Maomao
    And the princess also had feelings
    for her childhood friend.
[17:31] Maomao
    So, that could be why she failed at her dance,
[17:34] Maomao
    to avoid attracting
    the attention of the emperor.
[17:38] Maomao
    And as intended, the emperor never
    touched her. Her body is still pure.
[17:46] Maomao
    That said, it's entirely possible
[17:48] Maomao
    that the emperor would show
    interest in Concubine Fuyou,
[17:50] Maomao
    now that she's scheduled to be given away.
[17:53] Gyokuyou
    And so, she feigned somnambulism...
[17:57] Gyokuyou
    I can't say anything about
    the emperor. It's entirely possible.
[18:02] Maomao
    The barbarian battle took
     place in the eastern region.
[18:05] Maomao
    And Concubine Fuyou's
    nightly dance took place on...
[18:09] Gyokuyou
    The eastern gate?
[18:12] Maomao
    She was probably wishing for his safe return.
[18:15] Maomao
    Again, all speculation.
[18:50] Gyokuyou
    Hey, Maomao.
[18:52] Maomao
    Yes?
[18:54] Gyokuyou
    Would it make me a terrible woman
    if I said I envy Concubine Fuyou?
[19:08] Maomao
    That night, Concubine Fuyou was beautiful.
[19:16] Maomao
    She didn't seem at all like the nondescript
    princess I saw during the day.
[19:26] Maomao
    No, I wouldn't say that.
[19:55] Gyokuyou
    Let's go.
[19:57] Maomao
    Yes.
[20:19] Maomao
    If love makes a woman beautiful,
[20:25] Maomao
    what kind of medicine would it make?
[20:55] Emperor
    I have a request for the rumored apothecary.
SIGN    Next Time
[22:46] Narrator
    Next time: "The Threat."
SIGN    Episode 4: The Threat