Kusuriya no Hitorigoto - Ch. 69 - Breech Birth

[2hu_ism]

Quite immature of the maid to think about the status of the doctor first, instead of her consort's health. If he is the most skilled man to do the job, that should be a good enough reason to bring him.

Quick edit since people seem to misunderstand what I'm saying: this isn't a babysitter job, they are looking for a doctor that would do an operation. If the only surgeon that could do a life-saving operation on me committed tax fraud, I'd 100% hire him. The maid doesn't even ask what kind of crime it is, which shows she puts her lady's health second to her reputation, which is wrong.

You get the "put her lady's health second" thing because we(reader) know mao mao's father. she doesn't. (I heard it called god eyes view thing)

Even mao mao got scolded for not explaining thing properly. she went straight to "We gotta hire this skilled but criminal docter, this is only our choice. trust me,ma'am"

She has bad habit about jumping the gun too fast which sometimes good at resolve emergency but most of the time, it make people misunderstood her.

If only she laid out info about him being her foster father who teached her all medical skill(which help them in inner palace many times) the reaction might be softer than this.

 

[SveNo]

"It's only about two months more left before until she gives birth. The fact the chilid is still upside down at this point is not a good sign"...
Err, no, Mao Mao. First of all, the baby being upside down is usually a good sign (or maybe a sign the baby will be prematured), but I guess either the original text or the translation is erroneous here. Secondly: the baby usually turns itself upside down between the 7th and the 8th month of pregnancy, usually by the end of the 7th. That means it's normal to have its head up and not down 2 months before birth, at the start of the 7th month.

Babies are born at the end of the 9th month. Two monts before due date is end of 7th month, not beginning. Ergo: the baby should be turning upside down about now, if everything is normal. Still too early to worry much, but late enough to keep an eye on developments.

 

[Samspot]

It took me all the way until now to remember where this moment is in the light novels 😅 but I’m so excited!

I can't wait for this to be illustrated, and I hope it get’s animated one day soon too!

 

[Kaarme]

Suggest it to Jinshi... What she means is, "Let's get another person to agree with Mao Mao." He trusts her even more. Mostly thanks to personal experience.

Jinshi is the manager. I doubt anyone else would have the authority to allow Maomao's dad in. Unless she asked the emperor himself.

 

[frenchiebreadie]

Not that I'm supporting Hongniang bc she also jumped the gun when she said "no way" without hearing Maomao first (and this is Maomao who wouldnt say anything unless she is sure that there is something to worry about), Hongniang also probably has to think of the Gyoukuyou's reputation in the inner court.

AFAIK, despite beingt the emperor's favorite, G still got some flak earlier in the series bc she only got 4 maids with her.
Hongniang is most likely thinking that bringing in a "criminal" doctor, one suggested by Maomao (who, let's be honest here, is weird and is often times not really the best with social stuff. Maomao also doesnt have the social status or backing to be the guarantor of this supposed "criminal" doctor) will only hurt G's reputation if people found out about it.

Hongniang is probably thinking that there will be other ways they can help G, without resorting to bringing in a criminal.
Maomao also probably didnt help her case bc she got a bit stubborn in this scene (she's a daddy's girl and she needs to defend her dad). I feel that G's suggestion in telling Jinshi about this proposal is for Jinshi to be the "guarantor" of Loumen. If "worse comes to worst", the decision to bring in Loumen was approved by the manager of the inner court (or so it will look like in the documents)

 

[AnotherDuck]

Unless she asked the emperor himself.

And she probably could. Although she wouldn't.

 

[xanon]

We still not over with the frog thing, aren't we?

Never.

 

[Lame_Security]

I wonder how he and the quack will get on, perhaps the quack might improve. I do hope we see more of Jinshi’s thoughts on this.

Less than a year is too short for that quack to graduate into proper doctor.

 

[CompachiK]

Spoiler

Ah, we're here at last. Luomen successfully delivers the

Spoiler

boy

and gets retained as Gyokuyou's personal physician. He deserved a break.

 

[TempestTempTemplar]

Might wanna change "regnant" to "regeant". It sounds funny reading "Great empress regnant" but it does take away from the weight of what's being said.

"Great empress regnant" is correct and "regeant" is not even a word, so dunno what is so funny about that.

 

[ahdefault]

"Great empress regnant" is correct and "regeant" is not even a word, so dunno what is so funny about that.

I'm assuming they meant "regent" as in queen regent, and just misspelled it. Honestly, I thought it was a typo this entire time, but regnant vs regent is an actual difference I wasn't aware of until now.

 

[Tamed]

"Great empress regnant" is correct and "regeant" is not even a word, so dunno what is so funny about that.

The emperor is still alive and is recognized as the ruler. Previous queen was not. She may have authority but it is in her son's behalf making her regent rather than regnant.

Yes, I have realized that "regeant" isn't a word but the title still induces a laugh from me as it's a tongue twister that if said too fast would sound like "get empress pregnant".

 

[Angoldd]

You know, it's wild we know so little of Gyokuyou. We just know she's quite sharp, bubbly, and the Emperor's favorite.

I want to know more about her. Her past, her POV of being a consort, etc.
Same with Rifa, or even Ahduo, though I know Gyokuyou has more chances of getting a flashback.

 

[xenocross]

I was really confused for a few seconds because I read it as "froglicking"

Thanks for the chapter!

There are two Maomao in this picture.

 

[AceTheBase]

hehe, shes a stray cat!

 

[sssr]

The emperor is still alive and is recognized as the ruler. Previous queen was not. She may have authority but it is in her son's behalf making her regent rather than regnant.

Yes, I have realized that "regeant" isn't a word but the title still induces a laugh from me as it's a tongue twister that if said too fast would sound like "get empress pregnant".

Empress regnant is a real title and is very different from empress regent, which is also a real title.

An empress regnant is a female ruler of an empire who rules on her own authority like her male counterpart would. Think Catherine the Great and Victoria. In Chinese history, there was only one such person, and that's Wu Zetian.

An empress regent is the wife of an emperor ruling on behalf of either her incapacitated husband or underage son. She doesn't have her own imperial authority, although in practice she may rule like an empress regnant anyway. In Chinese history, there were many such women, the most infamous of whom was Empress Dowager Cixi of the Qing Dynasty who ruled like an empress regnant despite officially being a regent for her son and nephew. Most other Chinese empress regents were as much a puppet of imperial power blocks as their sons, though.

The empress regnant in this story was actually an empress regent, but she is remembered as the empress regnant because she never allowed her son (the pedo emperor) to rule even into his old age. Even Cixi allowed her son and nephew to rule as her puppets (and technically had to share power with the other dowager Ci'an). Pedo emps didn't even get that dignity - which, to be fair, he didn't deserve anyway.

 

[sssr]

I mean, in this story chocolate can be used as Viagra and Pairin was capable of lactating on command. A lot of the science is "fun fact on a candy wrapper" tier, without much in-depth research.

(To be clear, that doesn't mean the story isn't really good, it's just based on rather shaky facts at times.)

Not viagra. Aphrodisiac. Chocolate CAN be used as aphrodisiac. The "chocolate" we eat today is milk chocolate, which is actually just a milk emulsion mixed with chocolate liquor. While it isn't clear which century this story is set in, milk chocolate was only invented in 1875. Anyone consuming solid chocolate before this would have been eating the actual chocolate liquor, which contains up to 20 times the concentration of phenylethylamine found in milk chocolate. Maomao also seems to mix her chocolate with stuff that look like dried fungi, wort, and maca root, which are also considered aphrodisiacs.

Pairin isn't able to "lactate on command". Not sure where this translation came from. She "can be made to lactate without having given birth" is the original meaning. This describes induced lactation. It's a real medical condition resulting from either hyper-elevated estrogen levels during puberty or (and this is the dark part) unrecognized pregnancy and miscarriage. Since Pairin is a sexually-active courtesan, it is possible that the latter had been the case. In the modern era, induced lactation is usually achieved through estrogen and progesterone therapy.

 

[sssr]

except loumen got kicked out because of his botched medical procedure and a heir dying well not his fault really but he was blamed for it.

basically letting a doctor who lost his license operate again.

Luomen wasn't kicked out for any botched medical procedures. He wasn't assigned to Aaduo or her "son" at all, being held exclusively in the empress' service at the time. He was kicked out for failing to recognize the baby switch. In this case, he basically got screwed by his own honesty, as he was also the person who figured out the switch after autopsying the dead baby.

 

[greatninja3]

Luomen wasn't kicked out for any botched medical procedures. He wasn't assigned to Aaduo or her "son" at all, being held exclusively in the empress' service at the time. He was kicked out for failing to recognize the baby switch. In this case, he basically got screwed by his own honesty, as he was also the person who figured out the switch after autopsying the dead baby.

that's speculation.

official record states otherwise.

separate what characters know and what we know.

 

[sssr]

that's speculation.

official record states otherwise.

separate what characters know and what we know.

There are three layers to what the characters know. In none of the layers except the last is it ever implied that he did any wrong.

1. The official records state only that he was sentenced as a criminal and evicted from the palace. Basically, he did nothing wrong but got kicked out. There is no mention of any transgression, including any botched medical procedure. He also wasn't blamed for the death of Aaduo's son because obviously he wasn't in charge of the baby. In essence, the records just say, "This man is a criminal and got punished for his crimes. NO QUESTIONS!"

2. Rear palace people knew that he was banished for some reason but never inquired about what it was. This was accepted at face value because this all happened under the reign of the Empress Regnant. Most people just thought he incurred her displeasure like literally THOUSANDS of others. This is reflected in Gyokuyou's attitude and what she said in this chapter. This is currently what most characters (including Jinshi) seem to think.

3. The emperor, Aaduo, and some of their closest confidants know the full truth. In the LN so does the dowager, but in this manga it doesn't seem she knows (yet). These are the people who knew the truth and understand that he DID make a mistake and know why the Empress Regnant went apeshit on him. On the other hand, they also understand that, given her temperament, she was being as merciful as an angel that one time.