The Apothecary Diaries Season 3 ‒ Episode 53
If there's one person you don't want at your magic show, it's Maomao. Not only is she a skeptic, she's also got the medical and chemical knowledge to explain away all of the tricks and, in the case of the White Lady, a vested interest in doing so. That's not just because her brother Lahan and Lakan's aide Rikuson have come to fetch her to do it; in fact, she's much more likely not to want to comply with them. But the White Lady is the one who distributed the ergot-laced food to people in the slums. She almost killed Zulin, one of the sisters Maomao helped get to Verdigris House. She might not paint this as a personal matter, but it very much feels like it is…especially since the White Lady's departure marks an uptick in mercury poisoning among wealthy merchants.
So yes, if you've been wondering, that is mercury that the White Lady drinks at the end of her show. While we know it strictly as a poison today, it had medicinal applications in traditional Chinese medicine, making it, in Maomao's day, one of those substances that could be both medication and poison depending on its use. (Most western viewers will be more familiar with mercury as a treatment for syphilis and other STIs in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was, to my understanding, largely ineffective.) As Maomao notes, the White Lady has poor eyesight and excellent hearing, but those don't necessarily hint at why she might be taking mercury medicinally. It seems more likely, based on what we know of her charlatanry, that she's taking a small amount to fool others into thinking it's safe or that it grants “magic” powers. She may be, in other words, attempting to get wealthy people to poison themselves by demonstrating mercury's supposed safety.
The bigger question is why. Why is she so invested in poisoning people? The imagery seems intent on painting her as a villain, with its emphasis on her unsettling smile, and the tricks she employs at her show certainly do seem to risk altering the audience's perceptions. The wine, Maomao notes, is adulterated with something salty, and although she never tastes the snacks on the table, the fact that she notes how odd it is to serve sweets with wine has to be significant. (Is there ergot in them?) The vapor itself may not contain anything harmful – Maomao doesn't mention anything apart from the heat – but the high-pitched noise could be an issue, although, as she demonstrates, the older you are, the harder it is to hear noises at that register. At worst it could trigger a migraine. So much of the show seems harmless that it makes me really wonder about the whole – tricking people with self-burning paper or other chemistry ploys isn't necessarily a big deal, but it really feels like there's something more behind it. Mere trickery doesn't seem like a good enough reason for the White Lady to have taken off the moment she realized someone had figured out at least one of her tricks.
Maomao likens her to a white snake, which is also significant. The Legend of the White Snake is one of China's four great folktales, and in its earliest recorded variants, it's a story about a white snake demon who transforms into a beautiful woman to prey on men. Later retellings change the plot to be more romance-centric (and, unlike The Butterfly Lovers, another of the four great tales, to give it a Disney ending). Maomao seems to be thinking of these earliest versions, where the snake is evil, even as she remembers her father telling her that white snakes are messengers of the gods. It will be interesting to see if the White Lady's story follows the trajectory of The White Snake's evolution as a story, something I would not put past this show…although I don't know if killing people can really be moved past.
Jinshi's presence at the White Lady's show sets the stage for he and Maomao to figure out together what's really going on – and if it's at all related to the locusts. One thing's for sure: there's a lot bubbling just beneath the placid surface of everyday life, and even if the White Lady has left town, it's getting ready to boil over.
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The Apothecary Diaries Season 3 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
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