From the moment Jinshi was introduced in The Apothecary Diaries in season one, everyone understood how important his character was going to be. At first, we thought that he was just an enigmatic eunuch, but only later realized how wrong we were.
Not only is he linked to the royal family, but he has a legitimate right to the throne. This completely changes the entire scenario and sheds light on the very complex and complicated family tree of the royal family in The Apothecary Diaries.
However, Jinshi’s case is the least intricate one, as there are way more hidden facts that are still not disclosed in the anime.
Jinshi’s immediate family in The Apothecary Diaries
Let us trace the royal family from the time of the Empress Regnant, whose actions essentially kickstarted the events of The Apothecary Diaries. The Empress Regnant gave birth to the former Emperor, who became the king after all the other heirs to the throne died because of a plague.
As the previous Emperor was afraid of mature women, he sought physical relationships with much younger girls. He had many victims, but he impregnated two girls, Lady Anshi and Taihou, from whom the royal family tree branches out into two different directions.
If we consider his official lineage, then we have the current Emperor, who is the older son of Lady Anshi and the previous Emperor. They had another son, who we thought was Jinshi, but we were wrong, and the real Imperial Brother actually died at birth.
The current Emperor first had four main consorts, Gyokuyou, Ah-Duo, Lihua, and Lishu. From Gyokuyou, he has a daughter, Lingli, and later a son who becomes the Crown Prince. From Lihua, he had one son who died and later had another son.
From Ah-Duo, who was the current Emperor’s only consort at one time, he had his first son. This son is said to have died, but later, it is revealed that Jinshi is that son. Jinshi and the Imperial Brother got swapped at birth, and now, Jinshi is treated as the Imperial Brother.
As Ah-Duo’s son, Jinshi is also related to Suiren, his head lady-in-waiting and Ah-Duo’s mother.
Jinshi’s extended family from the previous Emperor’s illegitimate daughter
Now, if we consider the other girl, Taihou, we also get one illegitimate daughter of the previous Emperor. However, her birth was pinned on the court physician, and both the child and the court physician were banished afterward.
That daughter later became the first wife of Shishou, the Prime Minister of Li, and they had a daughter, Suirei. After that, Shishou married Shenmei, who then gave birth to Luolan.
Now, Luolan has entered the Imperial Harem as a replacement for Ah-Duo and has become a chief consort of the current Emperor. This family tree is definitely complex, but thankfully, one Redditor skillfully maps it out for fans to understand.
I made a family tree of Jinshi for the people that are confused
byu/Purple-Gain-1599 inKusuriyaNoHitorigoto
Here, the confusing yet intriguing interconnections between the characters of The Apothecary Diaries are addressed. We can see that everything started with the previous Emperor, whose corrupt interests adversely influenced many people’s lives.
Even though many of the mysteries are yet to be mentioned in the anime, these will soon come to light. Hopefully, these secrets will not have much effect on the relationship between Maomao and Jinshi, as they are the most important pair in the series.
Watch The Apothecary Diaries on Crunchyroll.
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