(01-30-2021, 02:16 PM)ECSNorway Wrote: In other circles, J-Novel Club released the first manga volume of “The Apothecary Diaries” a few weeks ago, and has the preview of the first light novel up on their site for subscribers. Fun stuff. Our Heroine, Maomao, is an apothecary in ancient China, formerly working as a medic for a brothel before she was unceremoniously bundled up and sold off as a menial servant in the Imperial Harem. She spends some time bored stiff doing laundry for the wives and servants, and then her talents come in handy when she recognizes the source of the “curse” threatening two of the consorts who have actually managed to have children. And with that, things take off...
There’s a certain element of “ancient Chinese ‘House, MD’” to it, which I find deeply amusing.
Seconding this. I've been reading it on Mangadex, and it's surprisingly fun.
She's kinda crazy in that she's experimented on herself with all kinds of poisons and venoms, and as such has developed an immunity to all kinds of nasty things. (Not the silly "Tank it like its nothing" immunity - she'll still have the usual reactions. It's just not immediately lethal to her.) To the point, in fact, that she considers some poisons to be delicacies for the tongue.
Added fun: Those of you who are reading "Beware of Chicken"? Maomao in "The Apothecary Diaries" is the basis for Meiling in "Beware of Chicken".