Apothecary Diaries 2x24 | Full Length Reaction

Tamamo, the name shisui gave the merchant, is a figure in Japanese mythology, a fox spirit in the form of a women who travels from china to japan. So I think that is the show saying her part in this story is over. At least that is my take

Yeay! I hope that this recommendation that I've been pushing to watch for years held up to expectations! Xiaolan learned how to read and write after being illeterate and it paid off by her being able to send MaoMao those letters! And Ah-Duo was robbed of being a mother, and she instead adopted all those children and Suirei because she wasn't meant to be a concubine, she was always meant to be a mother figure to Lishu and all the "lost children". Loulan/Shisui was best girl and easily one of my top 5 female characters ever. Even knowing she survived, my 36-year-old ass still cries at her "exit." Shisui fully expected to die there. Maomao's hairpin literally saved her life, and the bullet dent is visible when she trades it away. She trusted Maomao to eventually get it back, notice the dent, and realize she survived without revealing where she went. Another great detail: Shisui is color-blind, so she didn't even know the cicada was jade. She probably just liked it because it was a bug. Only when the trader tells her it's jade does she trade away the insanely expensive hairpin. Her new name is part of the message too: the chinese characters for "gyoku" for jade, like the Jade Pavilion, and seaweed for Maomao's hair color. Loulan originally chose "Shisui" from the sister she loved, and now starts another life with a name tied to Maomao. To me, that's her answer to Maomao's lingering question about what Loulan thought of her: she loved her and saw her as a sister. There's another layer too in OUR real world. Her new identity references Tamamo-no-Mae, the brilliant fox woman of Japanese legend whose story crosses China, India, and Japan through different identities: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamamo-no-Mae It's a perfect parallel. Loulan is another brilliant "fox" woman from an imperial court, believed dead, who abandons her identity, crosses the sea, and starts over elsewhere. Her mother always told her she could become the next Mother Royal, and in a weird way she does, just not how her mother intended, and not for this palace. She ends up combining both stories: the Mother Royal who crossed nations, and Tamamo, the fox who left one identity for another. Which makes Jinshi's line even better: "She was a fox till the end. ;)"

Ah-Duo not being able to have children of her own, but getting to adopt a bunch of them must be so nice 😭💖 Also, Shisui survived the bullet because it hit the metal hairpin Maomao gave her. 😅 You can see the bullet hole in it at the end when she sells it. Can't wait for season 3 let's go!!!!