The Apothecary Diaries season 2 episode 3: Maomao's key discovery solves another murder

Modified Jan 24, 2025 20:00 GMT

The Apothecary Diaries season 2 episode 3: Maomao's key discovery solves another murder (Image via TOHO Animation Studio and OLM)

The Apothecary Diaries season 2 episode 3 was released on January 24, 2025. In this episode, Jinshi assigned Maomao to investigate mushrooms, leading her to attend the funeral of the recently deceased consort, Lady Jin. During a tantrum at the funeral, the truth behind her death came to light.

Maomao began to deduce clues in her head and wanders into a nearby garden in search of answers. Eventually, she stumbled upon a poisonous mushroom and brings it to Jinshi. This discovery led her to uncover the real corpse of Lady Jin and expose the imposter behind all this, all connected to mushrooms that grow near human corpses.

Disclaimer: This article contains potential spoilers from The Apothecary Diaries season 2 episode 3.

The Apothecary Diaries season 2 episode 3: Maomao and the mushrooms that grow on corpses

Jinshi as seen in the anime (Image via Toho Animation Studio and OLM)

The Apothecary Diaries season 2 episode 3, titled Corpse Fungus, began with a focus on Maomao and the quack doctor discussing the recent death of Lady Jin. Lady Jin was supposed to marry in a few days, which intrigued the female protagonist's interest. Afterward, Maomao returned home to find Jinshi waiting for her.

Jinshi asked Maomao to accompany him to a nearby location, where he tasked Maomao to look into mushrooms. He also mentioned the upcoming commencement of classes for maids to help them learn how to read and write. Maomao was pleased with this initiative and offered her recommendations.

The Apothecary Diaries season 2 episode 3 then followed Maomao as she visited a nearby garden to gather mushrooms. However, she stumbled upon some interesting mushrooms, which she gathered and returned home with. Although these mushrooms could be used to prepare medicine, their origins made the female protagonist skeptical.

Lady Sou disrespecting Lady Jin's corpse (Image via Toho Animation Studio and OLM)

The next day, Maomao attended Lady Jin's funeral with the other maids. As she paid her respects and prepared to leave, a consort stood up and began disrespecting the late lady's corpse. When this consort removed Lady Jin's covering, strange marks were revealed on the body, possibly indicating an unknown illness.

The Apothecary Diaries season 2 episode 3 then saw Maomao gather information about the disrespectful consort, Lady Sou. The consort was visited by the Emperor in the past quite frequently. However, she developed an unknown illness that affected her name, and the Emperor stopped visiting her.

The consort speculated that Lady Jin was responsible for her mysterious illness, and as it turned out, this was the truth. So, Maomao started her private investigation of this case. While roaming the same garden (from where she gathered the medicinal mushrooms), the female protagonist discovered a strange mushroom and took it to Jinshi.

Maomao and Jinshi as seen in the anime (Image via Toho Animation Studio and OLM)

The Apothecary Diaries season 2 episode 3 then saw Maomao explain the lethal nature of this mushroom to Jinshi as she demanded some manpower for her next move. As Jinshi approved her request, Maomao (alongside some eunuchs) went back to the garden.

At a spot where mushrooms were in abundance, Maomao asked the eunuchs to dig. To everyone's surprise, a corpse was found buried beneath these mushrooms. After returning to Jinshi, Maomao broke down the entire situation before Jinshi:

The real Lady Jin as seen in the anime (Image via Toho Animation Studio and OLM)

"Lady Jin was a proud consort known for her beauty. However, she didn't like the maid named Tao because she resembled the consort's appearance. So, Lady Jin started physically assaulting her in public meetings. One day, tired of the injustice, Tao hit Lady Jin and might have killed her.

However, as Tao resembled Lady Jin, the consort's ladies-in-waiting demanded that the maid start impersonating the consort. On the other hand, the real Lady Jin's body was buried in a nearby garden (whose corpse Maomao and the eunuchs found).

Eventually, Tao encountered a strange disease that killed her (whose funeral Maomao and the maids attended) years after the death of Lady Jin. The medicinal mushrooms, which Maomao acquired at the start of The Apothecary Diaries season 2 episode 3, grew around animal carcasses, which was the major clue that led to Maomao solving this murder mystery."

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Edited by Shubham Soni