The Apothecary Diaries (2023) s01e09 Episode Script

1
ORIGINAL STORY BY NATSU HYUUGA
THIS STORY IS A FICION, AND ALL NAMES OF
FIGURES ND ORGANIZATIONS ARE FICTITIOUS.
MOREOVER, THE STORY HAS NO RELATION
TO REAL-LIFE INCIDENTS AND EVENTS.
- Yeah.
- I think so.
He's very suspicious!
Then there's a new problem, right?
Alcohol Bring me more alcohol
He's changed so much.
Looking at his face makes
alcohol taste bad.
I agree completely.
Huh? Thanks
How long are you going to sulk like that?
I'm not sulking.
Please don't forget,
you're at work right now.
I get it.
He doesn't get it.
A man like Sir Jinshi does not
respond like a child like that.
A man like Sir Jinshi does not
get attached to his toys like that.
Here's more work for you.
That day, I struggled in getting details
of what happened from Concubine Gyokuyou.
- She couldn't stop laughing.
- A misunderstanding?
She explained the payment for the surety
was a meeting with a popular courtesan.
To think that
that girl had such connections
And what sorts of things
did my master imagine?
Youth is a scary thing.
But to think that he finished his work
so quickly so that
he could go meet the girl,
only to learn she had gone home
with another man
It must've been quite the shock.
Why can't they use their heads
a little more?
Many bureaucrats try to propose laws
that only benefit them.
I do feel pity that his workload is
increasing from such nonsense.
Sir Jinshi!
Work hours have ended. Can't this wait?
No, this isn't about work. The thing is
Sir Kounen is?
- Sir Jinshi.
- Let's go, quickly!
Oh, my. That's terrible news
Apparently, some high-up
bureaucrat has died.
This may be a bit harsh,
but I'm not so sentimental as to mourn
someone who's a complete stranger.
He was in his fifties,
and the cause of death
was over drinking.
He brought this onto himself.
But if this person
went out of his way to get
the head lady-in-waiting to leave, then
Apothecary. Do you really think
the cause of death was alcohol?
I knew he would ask that.
Anyone who enjoys alcohol
would know that drinking too much
is bad for your body.
Over-drinking for many years causes
your organs to deteriorate.
Drinking a large amount at once
could cause death in some cases.
I heard that he was at a banquet
and drank a large amount of alcohol.
In that case, he would die.
But Sir Kounen holds his liquor well.
I don't believe
he died from over drinking.
The dead man's name was Kounen.
He was a vivacious soldier who could
chug an entire bottle,
and he was well-liked.
- Gaoshun.
- Yes, sir.
This is the alcohol
he was drinking at the banquet.
Alright, alcohol!
The bottle containing Sir Kounen' drink.
It was knocked over
and all of it spilled out.
So we wouldn't know if that bottle
contained poison.
Exactly.
He's lacking energy today. He probably
knows he's asking for a lot again.
He should be his usual glittering self.
These days, I can't help but see
Sir Jinshi
as much more child-like
than he used to be.
There's a mix of sweet and salty flavors.
It tastes like someone added salt
to an originally sweet alcohol
- What's wrong?
- It has a unique taste.
Yes. It's sweet, right?
It's what Sir Kounen liked.
He loved sweets more than anything.
He wouldn't touch even the most expensive
smoked meats or rock salts.
I see.
He used to like spicy things, but he said
he suddenly developed an appetite
for sweet things.
Even his meals were mostly sweet.
That would cause diabetes.
Don't bring my memory back to reality.
- You're still drinking?
- Spice-lover turned sweet-lover, huh?
Was there salt at this banquet?
Yes. They served rock salt,
moon cakes, and dried meats.
Should I prepare the same things?
No.
I'll finish drinking before it's ready.
That's not what I was
Can we get our hands on the bottle
Sir Kounen was drinking from?
It's shattered into pieces.
It doesn't matter.
There's another thing
I want you to look into.
Excuse me.
- Here's the report.
- Thank you very much.
I knew it.
This is the bottle.
Is it okay to lick it?
There's no poison in here.
It's salt?
Precisely. You mentioned, Sir Jinshi,
that Sir Kounen suddenly developed
a liking for sweet things.
- And he only ate sweets after that.
- Yes.
But in this bottle has so much salt
that there are grains leftover
after it has dried.
Salt is a necessary ingredient
for the human body,
but too much, and it becomes poison.
So the cause of death was
Considering how much he drank,
and how much salt was dissolved
in the drink,
this could very much be
the cause of death.
But if he drank
something this salty,
wouldn't he notice the taste
He didn't notice.
Please take a look at this.
These are the records of
Sir Kounen's lifestyle habits.
Looking at this,
my guess is that Sir Kounen
lost the ability to taste salt.
There's no way
I learned that Kounen
was a diligent and talented bureaucrat,
who lived a monastic life.
And many years ago,
he lost his wife
and child to an epidemic disease.
After that, all he did was work.
His only place of joy was in
alcohol and sweets.
There is an illness where one loses
their sense of taste.
Causes include an imbalanced diet
or stress.
Diligent people often suppress
their emotions.
And that burden can lead to illness.
So who placed the salt
in the alcohol bottle?
It's not my job to investigate that.
However, there was salt added
to yesterday's alcohol as well.
It could be someone who didn't like
sweet drinks
added the salt from the banquet.
Or There are many people
that dislike diligent and honest people.
Perhaps they played a prank on someone
they didn't like
by messing with their alcohol
at the party.
And if that person continues drinking
without noticing,
they might keep adding more salt
until they do notice.
- Gaoshun.
- Yes.
Yes, sir.
I'm such a coward.
At this point, I'm basically telling them
who the culprit is.
I don't want to be the direct cause
of anyone's punishment.
Sorry about that.
- You helped a lot.
- Thank you.
An obsidian tassel
Is he in mourning?
He must've been a great man.
Yes. He took care of me when I was young.
He looks like a regular young man.
I guess he's human after all.
Oh, I almost forgot.
- This is a gift of thanks.
- A gourd?
Yes, although it's different
from what you had yesterday.
It's alcohol?
- Yeah. Don't get caught, all right?
- Yes, sir.
Thank you!
You don't look that grateful to me.
You think so?
I think you should be
getting back to work.
I knew it, he's slacking off from work.
You should finish
before it starts piling up.
I have been working
- What kind of work?
- For example, I'm working on a bill.
They say they should
prevent the youth from over-drinking,
and they should set an age limit.
Huh?
The law states that drinking is prohibited
until you're 20.
Sir Jinshi
Make sure that never passes, all right?
That's out of my hands.
Sir Jinshi!
Doctor!
It's this way!
A ghost!
You're lucky it was winter.
The body is in a good state
considering that she drowned.
How can you stare?
- Where was the body found?
- She was floating in an outside moat.
From her clothes,
she must be a servant in the rear palace.
I see.
That's why they called for the old man.
And the quack doctor.
The one doing the autopsy is like this
- Miss, can you look for me?
- No.
I've been told not to touch the body.
That's surprising.
- Sir Jinshi!
- How do you do, Sir Jinshi.
Looks like you're used to dead bodies.
I've seen them many times.
The back alleys of the pleasure district
are a lawless area.
Why can't you touch the body?
I've been instructed
by my apothecary master.
- Because it's bad luck?
- No
Because humans can also become
"ingredients for medicine."
I'm sure with your curious nature,
you will start robbing graves
if you try it even once.
Never cross that line, okay?
Yes, sir.
I see. That makes sense.
That's rude of them.
Doctor, could you please take a look?
Yes, sir
Geez
She's tall, wearing hard, wooden shoes.
Bandaged on one foot with red fingertips
It must've been cold inside the water.
The girl was a Food Service maid,
and had been working as usual yesterday.
The guard speculates she climbed
the fence last night
and jumped into the moat.
In other words, it was suicide by jumping.
Suicide by jumping
- What do you think?
- I don't know if it's suicide or not.
But I think it was impossible
to accomplish on her own.
What do you mean?
There were no ladders along the wall,
and there were no climbing tools either.
The castle walls of the rear palace
are four times my height.
So you need a tool to climb.
Usually, yes.
Strictly speaking,
it's possible to climb the walls
without tools.
Do you remember the ghost incident
from before?
- The one with Concubine Fuyou?
- Yes.
I wondered how Concubine Fuyou
climbed the outer walls,
so I performed a close investigation
of the castle walls.
There, I found a protrusion that
must've been used
by the carpenters.
But it would be difficult for
most women to climb,
let alone a woman with bound feet
like that maid
Foot binding is based on the belief that
the smaller your feet, the more beautiful.
It's not performed on all women,
but I often see women
with a distinctive walking style
in the rear palace.
So if it's not suicide,
you're saying it's murder?
I don't know about that.
But I am sure that she was alive
when she fell into the moat.
She must've kept scratching the fence
to climb up.
The fingertips on the body were red
from bleeding.
So, was it suicide or murder?
I would never consider taking my own life.
I'd never want to get murdered either.
Once you die, you can't test
for any medicine or poison.
But if I were to die
What are you thinking?
About what poison I'd use
if I were to die.
- What? You mean to die?
- Not at all.
But you never know when
you could die, right?
Even if you don't wish it,
someone's ill wishes could
lead to an unwanted death.
Like Sir Kounen.
You never know when death will visit you.
You cannot defeat fate, no matter what
- Sir Jinshi.
- What is it?
If you are ever going to execute me,
can you kill me with poison?
Why would that happen?
If I ever make a mistake
and offend anyone,
I'm sure you will be the one to punish me.
Have I already offended him?
I'm sorry. I got carried away.
I won't complain even if it's death
by hanging or beheading.
I'm saying, why would that happen?
Because I'm a peasant.
My life could be taken away
by any small mistake.
I'd never do that.
No matter what you will or won't do.
It could happen.
Looks like I shouldn't have said that.
If we're finished here, I'll be off.
Later, I heard rumors that the dead maid
was present
at the poisoning incident
at the garden party.
They even found a suicide note,
and thus, the case was ruled a suicide
and closed.
The reports from the other day
are finally here.
Two months since I ordered a search
for a person with a burn on their arm.
You took too much time.
I'm sorry, sir.
So, who was it?
It was someone higher-ranked
than we expected.
Fengming, from The Garnet Pavilion.
She's the head lady-in-waiting
for the Pure Concubine, Lady Ah-Duo.
I see.
You may leave.
Concubine Ah-Duo
PREVIEW OF NEXT EPISODE
Next Episode, "Honey."
Subtitle translation by: Yukimi Ohashi