The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 reveals shocking truth behind Lady Jin’s ‘murder’

The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 Episode 3 focuses on Lady Jin’s mysterious death, seemingly related to poisoning – but she was actually involved in a more complex case.

The challenges of being a woman in a male-dominated world, and illiteracy are major themes in The Apothecary Diaries Season 2. But let’s not forget how politics affects everyone in the inner palace.

While previous episodes had a lighter tone, this week returns to ploys in the inner court.

However, “detective” Maomao once again saves the day, using her knowledge as an apothecary and her sharp mind – and mushrooms are the key.

Who is Lady Jin?

Lady Jin was a middle-ranking consort and the daughter of a high official in the court. However, she had fallen ill with a mysterious disease a year prior.

After that, she became withdrawn. Jinshi would visit her once a month to check her health, but her face was always partially bandaged, and she would barely speak.

At her funeral, another lower-ranking consort, causes a scene, making it look like she was the one responsible for the murder, as Jin is believed to have died from poisoning – but there was no evidence to back any of these claims. This consort was also bandaged, and it was believed that Jin schemed to poison her two years earlier

Jinshi asks Maomao to search for poisonous mushrooms near the palace. When learning the story about Jin and the possible revenge-seeking consort, Maomao finds a specific mushroom that seems to be related to Jin’s death.

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However, there is something odd about this claim: Jin’s marks seemed too recent to be related to a disease from a year ago. She requests a team of eunuchs to investigate further, and they find a corpse in the wood near the palace, right where some edible mushrooms are growing.

Maomao explains that these mushrooms usually grow near carcasses, and the area has a putrid smell. She believes that’s where the body was buried a year prior. 

While she doesn’t present her theory to Jinshi, she tells it to the audience: there is a missing lady-in-waiting at the palace – one who actually serves Jin – and they look very similar to each other.

This maid is called Tao, and she would soon leave the inner palace to marry. As Jin had a difficult personality and had been treating Tao badly, Maomao believed they eventually had an argument that resulted in the consort’s death, perhaps even accidentally.

To cover up for Tao, the other’s lady-in-waiting forced her to pretend to be Jin, and this is when she “fell ill”. The disease would justify the consort’s withdrawal, and it would be easy to fake it once a month when Jinshi came to visit, especially if Tao was covered in bandages and kept her mouth shut.

However, as Tao’s wedding was approaching, it would be impossible to keep up the ruse. So, she was likely poisoned by the other maids to hide the truth.

Jinshi is trying to open a school for servants at the palace, so they can properly learn to read. The next episodes are likely to develop this as a side part of the story.

We could also briefly see a frog during this episode, teasing the long-awaited frog scene, which should happen by the end of Part 1.

In the next episode, we should see the moon spirit dance performance, and more on Shisui!

You can check everything the opening sequence spoils about Season 2. You can also learn about this original anime by Jujutsu Kaisen studio.