No longer willing to keep running away from Lakan, Maomao decides to face off against him. She challenges him on his own turf, in a chess match.
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1. The Apothecary Diaries
2. The Apothecary Diaries
3. 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.
4. Sleep, my baby, sleep.
5. Where is she? She cries.
6. Episode 23: Balsam and Woodsorrel
7. Would you join me for a few games?
8. How could I possibly decline
a request from my lovely daughter?
9. A best-of-five match, no special rules.
10. In other words, the first to win
three rounds is the victor.
11. How about handicaps?
Which pieces should I drop?
12. There's no need for that.
13. She could've just accepted.
14. More importantly, let's place a bet. A reward.
15. Great, right down to business!
16. If I win, will you come live with me?
17. You promised not to interfere.
18. But—
19. I don't mind.
20. However, I'm under hire right now.
21. You'll have to wait until my contract expires.
22. Hired? You're actually employed right now?
23. Yes.
24. Huh...
25. In exchange, if I win,
26. could you buy out a courtesan
at the Verdigris House?
27. Of all the things you could ask...
28. I won't say who, but the old lady
wants to get rid of an aging courtesan.
29. So that's your first move.
30. If that's what it takes, I suppose I must accept.
31. Is that all, then?
32. I'd like to add two more rules.
33. From the smell of it,
that's a distilled hard liquor?
34. I have such a bad feeling about this.
35. What is that?
36. A medicine, in small amounts.
37. Three sips turn it into
a deadly poison, though.
38. I'll pour it into three of these cups,
39. then make it so that
we can't tell which is which.
40. After every match, the winner picks one cup,
and the loser drinks from it in one breath.
41. That's the first rule.
42. What a brutal rule...
43. The second rule is that no matter the reason,
44. if a player abandons a match, they lose.
45. Do you accept?
46. That's fine.
47. Is she trying to shake him?
48. I guess a regular person
would be scared by that.
49. But...
50. This is the famous weirdo strategist
we're talking about.
51. I doubt he'd lose his composure
from being pressured this way.
52. What is she thinking?
53. She lost again!
54. That's two games in a row.
55. Since she chose to challenge
the invincible chess master in chess,
56. I thought she had some skill in the game.
57. It seems like she just knows the rules
and has never played a real game before.
58. Two cups...
59. She drinks it so eagerly,
I can't tell if it's poisoned or not.
60. May I play first in the third game as well?
61. Sure, fine by me.
62. What in the world is she thinking?
63. She's not going to win the
third match, either.
64. If the two cups she already had were poisoned,
65. drinking a third would be too risky.
66. Did Lakan predict this situation already?
67. That's checkmate.
68. I yield.
69. A win is a win, even if
you let me win, correct?
70. Yes. I can't risk feeding my daughter poison.
71. Can you choose a cup?
72. Please take whichever one you like.
73. Does this medicine have a special taste?
74. One sip and you'd notice that it tastes bad.
75. Lakan can lose up to twice.
76. If even one of those cups
has a different taste,
77. he'd know that his daughter
can avoid the poison.
78. He really does know what he's doing,
losing on purpose to do that.
79. This one, then.
80. What an awful taste.
81. It's poisoned! Now there's no risk of
the apothecary drinking the third poison.
82. That means Lakan no longer
needs to lose on purpose.
83. The apothecary has no chance of winning now.
84. If I win, will you come live with me?
85. Also, it's quite warm out.
86. What's going on?
87. I thought one cup of it was safe!
88. Did you actually poison him?
Do you really hate him that much—
89. It is medicine. Alcohol is the king
of all medicines, isn't it?
90. Alcohol? What do you mean?
91. Master Jinshi, it seems like he's just drunk.
92. Huh?
93. He completely abstains from alcohol.
94. Come to think of it...
95. He always just drinks fruit juice,
I've never seen him drink alcohol.
96. So, what was that liquid earlier?
97. Spirits.
98. Anyway...
99. Let's drag this guy out of here and
have him pick a flower from the brothel.
100. From the day I was born, I couldn't
differentiate between humans.
101. Not only did I mistake
my nanny for my mother,
102. I couldn't even tell men and women apart.
103. My father believed me to be useless,
and ran off to his mistress in disgust.
104. My mother was desperate to get him back.
105. Because of that, despite being
the eldest son of an important family,
106. I was able to live freely,
devoting myself to go and chess,
107. which I learned in my spare time.
108. Differentiate people based on their voices,
behavior, and build, instead of their faces.
109. In your case, you can use chess pieces.
110. My uncle was the only one who understood me.
111. Thanks to my uncle, who
is clumsy but very intelligent,
112. I gradually learned to see
people's faces as chess pieces.
113. When I started to see
my uncle as a Chariot piece,
114. I reaffirmed that he is indeed a great man.
115. After I grew up, thanks to my family name,
116. I was suddenly assigned to lead a squadron,
despite having no talent in combat.
117. Even if I was weak,
118. I could more than make up for it
by using the men under me effectively.
119. Most of all, playing chess with human pieces
was the most fun game I had ever played.
120. As I continued my lossless
streak in both work and games,
121. I followed my colleagues to a brothel
to take on a famous courtesan.
122. In a world full of black and white,
that was the only bright color I saw.
123. Her name was Fengxian.
124. The undefeated courtesan of the brothel,
125. versus me, undefeated in the military.
126. The audience would have had
a good time no matter who lost.
127. She's strong, but she only fights
in her own small world...
128. I lost.
129. I was absolutely thrashed.
130. When was the last time I lost so badly?
131. Ah, so that's what a human face looks like.
132. Her defiant eyes, like a balsam flower
that would burst if touched...
133. Next time, I won't lose.
134. For several years after that,
we continued to meet to play go and chess.
135. Fengxian, who was born at the brothel,
136. had a personality that was
almost purely made of pride.
137. I have no mother. A woman did give birth to me,
138. but in the pleasure district,
a courtesan can never become a mother.
139. Once a talented courtesan gains popularity,
the brothel becomes reluctant to sell them.
140. Fengxian fit that profile exactly.
141. Her harsh attitude wasn't for everyone,
142. but she became the favorite
of several dilettantes.
143. Her prices gradually rose,
144. and I could only afford to see her
once every three months.
145. Balsam flower, and... What's that?
146. Woodsorrel, also known as cat's foot.
147. I hear it's a medicine that helps
treat poisons and insect bites.
148. Like the balsam, touching a ripe fruit
causes the seeds to burst.
149. Interesting.
150. When can you come next?
151. Three months from now, as always.
152. Understood.
153. That was when I heard about
Fengxian being bought out.
154. Fengxian's price was being hiked up by
the dilettantes competing against each other.
155. I was on a good career
path as a military officer,
156. but since I'd lost the title
of heir to my half-brothers,
157. her price was well outside my reach.
158. Would you like to place a bet, for a change?
159. If you win, I will give you anything you want.
160. If I win, I will take anything that I want.
161. Please choose a board.
162. A terrible thought crossed my mind.
163. Go, is it?
164. Yes.
165. Meimei, I want to concentrate on this game.
166. Yes.
167. Before I knew it, our hands touched.
168. There were no sweet words from Fengxian.
169. I wasn't the type to offer any, either.
170. In that way, we were quite similar.
171. I want to play go.
172. I'd been thinking about how
I wanted to play chess, myself.
173. Sleep, my baby, sleep.
174. Where is she? She cries.
175. Little birds are so innocent.
176. Off they fly to somewhere far.
177. Three months later, my supposedly intelligent
uncle was ousted from his position.
178. First you became a doctor in the
rear palace, and now you're exiled?
179. You bring shame to our family!
180. For all his intelligence, he really is clumsy.
181. You used to be close to him.
182. Leave the house for a while, go study abroad!
183. Study abroad...?
184. Just in case.
185. But...
186. What?
187. No, it's nothing.
188. There was no way I could speak up
against my father, who was also my boss.
189. Around the same time,
190. Fengxian wrote to me that
her buyout agreement fell through.
191. I assumed I would be back
in six months or so.
192. But, back then...
193. I had no idea it would take
three whole years for me to return.
194. So many letters from Fengxian...
195. Mud? No, a branch?
196. And there's two of them?
197. No, this is...
198. Finger severing...
199. I knew that was a popular
way to curse someone.
200. The reason why her deal fell through...
201. The other small finger in the bag...
202. Why didn't I notice?
203. All I had in my head was go and chess.
204. I couldn't even reach that simple conclusion!
205. Where's Fengxian?
206. You!
207. Fengxian is gone now!
208. Where have you been all this time?
209. You left her for three whole years!
210. You don't care one bit what happens
to a worthless courtesan, do you?
211. If only I'd put even a little thought into it!
212. The reason why she wouldn't get bought out...
213. The reason was in her belly...
214. By soiling the name of her brothel,
her trust and reputation fell to nothing!
215. All she could do was to take
customers like a streetwalker,
216. and...
217. No matter how much I lamented,
there was no way to turn back time.
218. It was all my fault,
for being so short-sighted.
219. This is... The Verdigris House?
220. Are you awake?
221. Meimei.
222. Some noble's servant brought you here.
223. Your face looks terrible. I don't
know if it's more red or blue.
224. I didn't think I'd end up like this, either.
225. I wasn't expecting it to
be such a strong liquor.
226. Meimei used to be Fengxian's servant girl.
227. I used to play with her a lot.
228. When I complemented her talents,
she seemed abashed.