This article contains spoilers forThe Apothecary Diaries– mostly events from Season 1, but some content already aired in Season 2 is also mentioned.
Summary
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The Apothecary Diaries, one of the successful anime of Winter 2025 Season onCrunchyroll, is set in a fictitious China, loosely based on both the Tang (618-907) and Ming (1368-1644) dynasties, with no intention of being 100% historically accurate – there’s an episode in which Maomao makes chocolate, but cacao wasn’t introduced to China until centuries after these dynasties.
A key element featured inThe Apothecary Diariesis the inner palace, where most of the story takes place. Author Natsu Hyuga created her own version of the Imperial Chinese harem system. Each Chinese dynasty had its own rules about the composition of the harem – the function of the harem is mostly the same: to provide the Emperor with a large number of women (consorts or concubines) to produce heirs.
The inner palace (or inner court) is where those consorts live. They must also be loyal to the emperor, and most of them are daughters of influential people in the court – well,that’s how politics works. Consorts are also expected to know how to write and read, which further reduces the number of potential consorts to a small group of elite women, as illiteracy is the norm for commoners.
In the series, they are divided by their rank – there are high, middle and low-ranking consorts.
The Four High-Ranking Consorts
High-ranking consorts haveunique titles and colors identifying their status, as follows:
They also have more ladies-in-waiting compared to the other consorts, including a poison food tester. The Emperor can choose only four consorts as high-ranking ones. Each of these consorts will have a different title and live in one of the four large pavilions built in the inner palace.
There is no pre-established hierarchy between them. The perceived hierarchy varies according to how often the Emperor “visits” each of them at night, and also according to the gender of their children (male children are generally preferred).
As the story unfolds, there will be changes in the inner palace, so we will be listing the current high-ranking consorts duringThe Apothecary Diaries Season 2.
The Precious Consort
The Precious Consort (Honored Consort in Square Enix’s translation) lives in theJade Pavilion– the current consort isGyokuyou. She is the most familiar consort to the public, asMaomao spends a lot of time working for heras a food tester.
She is presented as gentle and cautious. At the beginning of the story, she is perceived as the Emperor’s favorite consort, and has given birth to Princess Lingli. The Precious Consort’s color is red.
The Wise Consort
The Wise Consort (Worthy Consort in Square Enix’s translation) lives in theCrystal Pavilion– LadyLihuacurrently holds this position. While she may look stern from the outside, she actually cares a lot for those around her.
At first, she seems to have a grudge with Gyokuyou – and this conflict is extended to Maomao. But later, especially after Maomao helps her in Season 1, she shows affection for the main character. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about her maids, who often get accidentally terrified by Maomao.
The Pure Consort
Loulanis the current Pure Consort, who lives in theGarnet Pavilion. Formerly, Ah-Duo held this position – Prime Minister Shishou forced her out of it in favor of his own daughter.
Loulan is introduced as someone distant from those around her,but she has a secret. Due to her father, she has an influential position in the inner court, but seems not to care about politics at all.
The Virtuous Consort
Lishuis currently the Virtuous Consort, and lives in theDiamond Pavilion. She is the youngest consort, aged only 14 when she debuts in Season 1 (but she married the Emperor when she was 9). As she is still a child, her ladies-in-waiting are able to easily manipulate her.
She is considered the least favorite of the high consorts, as the Emperor hardly visits her, compared to the others (he only chats with her) – and she also generally lacks power and influence.
Lishu is also very fond of Jinshi, and she was also attached to Ah-Duo, who has protected her (along with the current Emperor) from the former Emperor and from her own father, who only sees her as a puppet to play politics with.
Middle And Low-Ranking Consorts
The middle-ranking consorts don’t live in a pavilion, but they get an entire building for themselves, while the low-ranking ones are given only personal rooms. Low-ranking consorts might be dismissed, depending on their family status, when they are not able to attract the Emperor’s interest.
Thelower a consort ranks, the fewer maids they are bestowed, with low-ranking ones having only two ladies-in-waiting at their service.
As the story focuses on the politics mostly regarding high-ranking consorts, these consorts are not frequently mentioned. So far, the anime has introduced only two middle-ranking consorts:Fuyou(Season 1 Episode 3), who is now a former consort, and the already deceasedJin(Season 2 Episode 3). Another character that is yet to be properly introduced in Season 2 will become a middle-ranking consort later on.
