The Apothecary Diaries (2025)

After breaking a “curse” on the imperial heirs, a palace servant with training in herbal medicine is promoted up the ranks to food taster...and right into the thick of palace intrigue in this lushly illustrated historical mystery series!Maomao is missing! But she’s not the only one, as it turns out. While her fate plays upon his mind, Jinshi searches for the handsome new eunuch, who is also nowhere to be found. When a lead about the vanished man unearths a connection with someone at the Inner Court, Jinshi stumbles upon yet another disappearance—this time, that of a principal consort! As the threads begin to intertwine, Jinshi may at last be on Maomao’s trail... Meanwhile, as an unwilling guest at the hidden village Shisui calls home, Maomao herself indulges her insatiable curiosity, only for her zeal to lead her into trouble again! Entangled in treacherous schemes, the quirky apothecary starts to grasp that the events transpiring at the hidden village are tied to the recent happenings at the Inner Court. To get to the bottom of the conspiracy, Maomao must keep her wits about her if she wants to return to the Inner Court to tell the tale!

After breaking a “curse” on the imperial heirs, a palace servant with training in herbal medicine is promoted up the ranks to food taster...and right into the thick of palace intrigue in this lushly illustrated historical mystery series!After tangling with a ghost at the Diamond Palace and temporarily trading in her poisons for sweet treats, Maomao returns to the Jade Palace only to find a grave problem staring her in the face! Mere weeks before the heavily pregnant Consort Gyokuyo is due to bear her child, Maomao deduces that all is not well with the coming birth of the new Imperial addition. But even with her skills, Maomao knows she isn’t up to the momentous task of seeing her lady through this trial. Who to turn to, then? The quack, sweet though he may be, is out of the question. That only leaves…Maomao’s Pa! But while his plucky daughter would gladly vouch for Luomen, will the Inner Court really be willing to put the future of the empire into the hands of a criminal once more?