The WORST episodes of The Apothecary Diaries

#1 - The Shrine of Choosing

Season 2 - Episode 7 - Aired 2/21/2025

Maomao directs her curiosity towards an old, oddly-shaped building.

#2 - Blue Roses

Season 1 - Episode 22 - Aired 3/10/2024

Lakan challenges Jinshi to produce blue roses to present at the upcoming garden party, forcing Jinshi to turn once again to Maomao for her help.

#3 - Balsam and Woodsorrel

Season 1 - Episode 23 - Aired 3/17/2024

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.

#4 - Jinshi and Maomao

Season 1 - Episode 24 - Aired 3/24/2024

Lakan must now choose a courtesan to buy out. As a high-ranking military official, he can afford to freely choose, even from one of the Three Princesses. Who will he choose? Who does Maomao really want him to choose?

#5 - Maomao and Maomao

Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/10/2025

The spring garden party concludes without incident. Maomao returns to her regular life as Concubine Gyokuyou’s taster. Meanwhile, novels become popular in the rear palace. Maomao wonders how this came to be, as novels were typically considered low-class. But behind the scenes lies Jinshi and his goals as manager of the rear palace.

#6 - Caravan

Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/17/2025

The caravan stirs up excitement in the inner palace. The merchants bring all kinds of goods. However, something gives Maomao a bad feeling.

#7 - Corpse Fungus

Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired 1/24/2025

A concubine passes away, and a woman goes missing. Jinshi sends Maomao to investigate - not these incidents, but mushrooms growing in the rear palace.

#8 - Mirror

Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired 1/31/2025

The special envoy from a foreign land gifts mirrors - a rarity in this country - to the high concubines. However, they bring mysteries as well.

#9 - The Moon Fairy

Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired 2/7/2025

In order to realize the seemingly impossible request from the foreign envoy, Maomao speaks to the “Moon Fairy” herself.

#10 - The Crystal Pavilion, for the Third Time

Season 2 - Episode 6 - Aired 2/14/2025

The woman from the clinic finds out that Maomao knows a thing or two about medicine, and asks for her help.

#11 - How to Buy Out a Contract

Season 1 - Episode 21 - Aired 3/3/2024

Back to work at the rear palace, Maomao listens to Guen talk about his family's business. Meanwhile, Lihaku hears a rumor that whips him into action.

#12 - The Empress Dowager

Season 2 - Episode 8 - Aired 2/28/2025

Maomao's reputation for resolving conflicts reaches the empress dowager, who will ask for her help to unravel a mystery that won't leave her mind.

#13 - The Late Emperor

Season 2 - Episode 9 - Aired 3/7/2025

Maomao's investigation of the "curse" reveals more about the late emperor than anticipated.

#14 - A Ghost Story

Season 2 - Episode 10 - Aired 3/14/2025

Maomao joins some women exchanging scary stories on a hot summer night to provide chills.

#15 - The Hunt

Season 2 - Episode 11 - Aired 3/21/2025

Jinshi goes on a hunting trip, and brings Maomao along. He seems ready to share his secret with her.

#16 - Ka Zuigetsu

Season 2 - Episode 12 - Aired 3/28/2025

Maomao discovers Jinshi's secret. She wants nothing to do with whatever the politics behind it is.

#17 - The Baths

Season 2 - Episode 13 - Aired 4/4/2025

Xiaolan's term of service is almost up, so she must find a new job. Maomao and Shisui decide to help.

#18 - The Dancing Ghost

Season 2 - Episode 14 - Aired 4/11/2025

Concubine Lishu reports sightings of a ghost in the baths in her pavilion. Maomao goes to investigate.

#19 - Ice

Season 2 - Episode 15 - Aired 4/18/2025

Xiaolan accidentally ruins an expensive block of ice. Maomao comes up with a delicious backup plan.

#20 - Festering Resentment

Season 2 - Episode 16 - Aired 4/25/2025

#21 - Reducing Two to One

Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/17/2023

Maomao confronts Fengming about the dark secret she's been hiding from her noble Lady Ah-Duo.

#22 - Chilly Apothecary

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/22/2023

Maomao tries to settle into her promotion to lady-in-waiting and food taster, but struggles to fend off both boredom and the overly-familiar Jinshi. That is, until she gets an assignment of her dreams: to concoct an aphrodisiac.

#23 - The Unsettling Matter of the Spirit

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/22/2023

Tasked with investigating a ghostly woman dancing nightly on the palace walls, Maomao finds a sleepwalking Concubine Fuyou. But with no medicinal cure for sleepwalking, she's forced to dig deeper to find the real reason behind Fuyou's affliction.

#24 - The Threat

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/29/2023

Under direct orders from the emperor himself, Maomao tries to care for an ailing Concubine Lihua, but finds her work impeded by Lihua's own ladies-in-waiting.

#25 - Covert Operations

Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 11/4/2023

A eunuch stricken by a curse comes begging for aid. Meanwhile, the rear palace buzzes with excitement as everyone prepares for the upcoming garden party, and Gyokuyou's ladies-in-waiting aren't about to let Maomao get away without dressing her up.