Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am eager to return to the imperial palace, and check back in on the continuing adventures of our dear drug-dealing Maomao. Having ingratiated herself into the rear palace’s upper echelon through her apothecarial know-how and generally keen intellect, she now finds herself in the unfortunate position of being Jinshi’s top field operative, an agent he can employ in situations too delicate for his own imposing presence.
Of course, Maomao being Maomao (gosh her name is fun to say), she’s still going to bring her own rebellious spirit and sense of moral responsibility to her assignments. Thus she ended up holding her tongue through the conclusion of last episode’s drama, as Concubine Fuyou demonstrated the unique peculiarities of back palace politics. By suffering the “disgrace” of being offered to a soldier as a gift, Fuyou was actually able to find freedom with the man she loved, while avoiding the greater sin of directly refusing the emperor’s company. Power works in interesting ways here; like Maomao herself, the concubines are both elevated and imprisoned, fearful of drawing either too much or too little attention. It’s a delicate balance of social performance and backstage plotting, and really the perfect venue for Maomao to strut her stuff. Let’s see what she gets up to next!