The Apothecary Diaries - Vol. 8 Ch. 40 - Sending Off

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@Otaku713 She had late stage syphilis. It completely ruins your mind by the end of it. I'm not sure what stage she was in when she cut off MaoMao's finger, but it was likely the middle to late stage, since I think her flesh was also starting to rot.
 
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@Otaku713 Ye it was fucked for everyone, even the dad. It's not like he wanted to leave, he was forced to. He should have at least purchased her before he left, no matter what punishment he would get in return. He fucked up, but they both consented to the plan. No one could have predicted it going south like that. Not saying that he should be forgiven, but I am sympathetic towards him. The entire situation is just fucking rough.
 
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@Podi125 to add, and correct a bit of what you said:
Rakan never knew she was pregnant. He didn't even suspect it in the slightest., nor did he ever think of the possibility of her becoming pregnant. The reason for this is stated a few chapters back. Courtesans frequently take contraceptives, and in the unlikely event that they do get pregnant, they abort the child. The only possibility for a child to be born is if the mother wanted it to be born. The problem that occurred here was the lack of communication and the unfortunate timing. Fon Shen wanted to be bought by Rakan, but she knew Rakan didn't have the money, so she thought of lowering her price by becoming pregnant. Keep in mind she never told this to Rakan. Rakan was already trying to buy her before this by begging his family to buy her, but they refused since they didn't want a courtesan to be the main wife of someone in the family. Then came the part where Rakan is sent off, and the only method of communication between the brothel and Rakan is through letters. The problem here is that the brothel did not know where Rakan went (they knew he was sent off to somewhere since he sent them a letter, but they did not know where he was). So, the only way of contacting him was through the family, which was opposed to Fon Shen becoming Rakan's wife. Once Fon Shen was known to be pregnant, the brothel urged Rakan to come redeem her, or at least have someone redeem her in his stead, but once again, the family. They did not forward the letters to Rakan, so he never knew she was pregnant until he came back and saw those letters. During the entire time he was gone, everyone at the brothel eventually begun to suspect he turned tail, so once he came back after all those years, they naturally did not trust him and lied about Fon Shen and the child.
Christ was is this entire situation fucked, like, if just one thing went differently, the entire tragedy could have been avoided, yet... ugh.

This is what I can remember from the web novel, the setting should be roughly the same here, but this manga avoids explicitly telling the reader everything. The web novel is much more direct when it comes to telling its readers what's going on. I'm not too sure, but I think the alternative setting manga is also more direct with its story telling, so when it reaches this point, it might explain it more than this manga did. But we'll have to see.

Also tagging you @Otaku713 if you're interested.
 
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@Official229 Oh I thought Rakan was in on the pregnancy plan, as in they both knew she wasn't using contraceptives. Since they both were planning on having sex that day and Rakan mentioned his plan to lower a courtesan's value. Then again it does make more sense though, since she was so upset that her plan went awry that she cut off her finger.
 
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@Otaku713 In addition to Official229 This even is pretty much the sole motive for Rakan to takeover his house. Although we have been shown that bad parenting (along with poor social skills in general) is pretty much hereditary in Ra family from the chapter with Rakan childhood, he doesn't care. But after he found how everything happens, it probably the first time he ever use his talent by his own will.

@Podi125
I'm not sure what stage she was in when she cut off MaoMao's finger, but it was likely the middle to late stage

It was sent to Rakan before he came back 3 years after the night. While I don't know how fast the disease develops, taking that no one in their right mind would force pregnant woman to take a guest, she probably has two and half years maximum to contact and develop the disease before cutting her finger. I think it's more of heartbroken than the disease.
 
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page 27 :

- mao mao : ... i need to say this to you no matter what ...

- jin shi : you want to confess your love to me , and ask me to marry you ?

- mao mao : i want some balls ...

- jin shi : you want my "balls" ?

- mao mao : no , i want some balls of some oxen .
 
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this chapter is a good stopping point for the upcoming anime adaptation
 
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Uh now rereading I have noticed that MeiMei fell in love with Rakan.
 
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I’m really pissed and might drop this. Why didn’t the old woman let that man know sooner, then maomao‘s herself, and her mother wouldn’t have to suffer that much, and the brothel wouldn’t have to take care of the patient.

Or if her father push through and convince the uncle (maomao’s foster father) and maomao to both return to his house for better life and safety, I’m sure the uncle would’ve agreed.

and he had 15 years to do that assuming maomao is now 17. There is no way in hell he wouldn’t try it.

It’s really an eyesore of a hole in the plot.
 
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I thought there's something missing with this chapter and I was right. There's no mention of the letter Meimei sent being "streaked with droplets". Maybe not that significant for the manga cause ch 38 we've seen her crying but in the LN it's quite a memorable line for me it just further proves Meimei's tragic love.
 

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