The Apothecary Diaries realistically shows conflict within an empire as well as within the royal bloodline. The show makes it a point to clarify the complexities in the Imperial Family or the Ka Clan, that Jinshi and the current Emperor are a part of. But with the latest revelation of the royal blood running in Suirei’s veins, her connection to the Ka Clan is revealed.
No one saw it coming, but Suirei is indeed a member of royalty, though she has been treated like a disgusting servant all her life by Shenmei. In fact, because of the fact-drop, it is suddenly clear that Suirei is also related to Jinshi.
Jinshi’s actual placement in the Ka Clan
The Apothecary Diaries anime has already unveiled that Jinshi is the Moon Princess or Ka Zuigetsu. He is the brother of the current emperor, but he has been galavanting around as an eunuch. But this is just another lie fed to Jinshi as well as the audience.
Jinshi is actually the eldest child of the current Emperor and not his brother. Jinshi’s mother is Lady Ah-Duo. The birth of Jinshi coincided with that of the Emperor’s actual brother. Thus, Jinshi was deemed a low priority in front of the Imperial Brother. However, Jinshi had a difficult delivery and would not have survived without proper care.
Thus. Ah-Duo switched him with the Imperial Brother to give him the best shot at survival. (The actual brother died in infancy) Thus, Jinshi grew up as the current Emperor’s brother instead of as his child and successor. At this point, it is hard to tell if Jinshi himself knew about the switch because Ah-Duo tried her best to keep things a secret.
How Suirei is related to Jinshi in The Apothecary Diaries
Now that Jinshi’s actual place in the Ka Clan has been cleared up, let’s get to how Suirei is actually related to him. The Former Emperor, the infamous loli-maniac, is the most wretched character in the entire show. He was known for sexually assaulting palace girls and spent his whole life tormenting one woman after another. Suirei’s grandmother, Taihou, was one of his victims.
Taihou was a lady-in-waiting for Shenmei and was a victim of the Former Emperor. She became the mother of Taihou’s eldest illegitimate child, who is also the mother of Suirei. Taihou was shunned. Suirei’s mother was raised as a simple town girl but was taken as Shishou’s first wife. However, she was later killed by Shenmei, following which Suirei was raised by her abusive and murderer grandmother, Shenmei.
Thus, Suirei has the blood of the former emperor in her, the same as Jinshi. The current emperor and Suirei’s mother were half-siblings since they had the same father but different mothers. In the same vein, Jinshi and Suirei are also distantly related cousins, but all of them belong to the Ka Clan, whose family tree is also available.
The Apothecary Diaries anime is currently available to stream on Crunchyroll.
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