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Such a small detail that didn't even need to be included if this were a lesser anime. A quiet scene, a moment of gratitude without words from a woman who didn't think she still wanted to live and the woman who saved her.

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Maomao going meow meow

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One thing I appreciate about The apothecary diaries is that. You hsve this bunch of girls that would've, sort of realistically be against one another. Because it's quite literally the only way they could survive (the concubines, the courtesans, the servants) and yet they're all sort of in a way still supporting one another

The only time there's been a killing is when 1) its out of loyalty for their masters 2) because theres this huge jerk thats been abusing his wealth

Another thing that i truly appreciate is the fact that they didn't make the courtesans to be gold digging bitch ass ditzy women. Argue me on this, but that is the streotype that most movies and books have been putting onto women working in the brothel.

Instead they went the other way, showed a bunch of girls supporting and sympathizing and caring for another in the brothel. I can't. I literally cant. This anime had me in a chokehold

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this is so relatable. so many girls these days get the "something's wrong with you, so avoid touching a dead body ever because you may end up wanting to nibble on it" talk.

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maomao

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screencap redraw

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say the line, hua cheng!

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tgcf s2e6 spoilers‼️

general xuan zhen & general nan yang of the south, everybody

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When you are gleefully trying to find out if your ex-bestie actually slaughtered a bunch of people only to get rudely interrupted

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He’s covered in cranberry juice

Inspired by this post

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mustelids are the best animal because they are fucking brutally efficient predators but they're also just absurdly cute

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EVERYBODY PLEASE WATCH THIS TGCF ANIMATION, IT IS FUCKING BEAUTIFUL!!!!!

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And then Xie Lian just shakes his head at Hua Cheng’s antics lovingly

I freaking can’t

This is so them

It wasn’t in the novel, they added it, and it’s a single detail, but it’s PERFECT

It’s so them

The whole heaven is horrified, the worst Demon King of all just broke in and stole one of the officials

And Xie Lian is like

“Ah, San Lang is just messing around”

he trusts him so much already

and it’s killing me

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Literally all of Heaven: Let me see what you have.

Xie Lian: San Lang!!!

Heaven: NO!

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my comfort

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今日でサクナヒメ発売3周年だそうです！おめでとう~

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Xie Lian and Hua Cheng’s Luck

I’ve been asked about the topic of Xie Lian and Hua Cheng’s luck on some servers and by friends a lot–so I thought I’d make a whole post on it for good measure, haha! This is as accurate to canon as possible, but there is also some theorycrafting involved since there are some missing gaps we have to fill in for ourselves.

So first off, we know that Hua Cheng was born under the Star of Solitude, a star sign that ensured that he would either be extremely unfortunate, or extremely fortunate:

Upon his birth, as a result of being under such a star sign, Hua Cheng absorbed all the misfortune released by Tonglu (and thus was also born with his unusual red eye). I.e., he ended up being born cursed. He was doomed to misfortune and hardship–but there was something that stopped it.

The Star of Solitude can be nullified if the person meets a savior figure. As we see in book 2, this is precisely what happens to Hua Cheng. When he falls from atop the stands during the ShangYuan parade in XianLe, he is caught and saved by Xie Lian. And interestingly, Xie Lian actually saves Hua Cheng multiple times in book 2 alone (in every sense of the word–physically, spiritually, etc).

While the first instance of being saved is certainly due to chance, one can actually even argue that the other instances where Xie Lian saved young Hua Cheng to be… rather lucky events. This is where some theorycrafting is involved, so it needn’t been taken wholeheartedly. But basically, it seems awfully lucky that Xie Lian was there to help young Hua Cheng all those times. From saving him from Qi Rong, to freeing him from the ghost lanterns. It could be chance, but it could also be chance that’s attributed with a little luck in Hua Cheng’s favor. We can conclude that after being saved during the ShangYuan parade, that’s when Hua Cheng’s luck started to turn around.

But even without that notion, we can continue onwards to a slightly different theory. That after Hua Cheng’s star sign and misfortune were nullified, his luck was as normal, maybe a little better. Certainly not at the level it is presently, but alright. However, after death, his luck could have reversed from that of his birth. Born unlucky, died and “reborn” lucky–if you want to get poetic or symbolic. (Xie Lian being at the right place at the right time to free Hua Cheng from the ghost lantern is actually shockingly lucky, all things considered.) But regardless, if we go off what Guoshi said: if Hua Cheng is not tragically misfortunate, then he will have the best of fortunes. And regardless of anything, his misfortune did not follow him after death–and certainly did not follow him after he became a Supreme. Thus, we can interpret this literally as an if;then statement, and conclude that now he must be 100% lucky because that’s the only option left.

The main point I want to make here though is that there’s a misconception that Xie Lian’s luck went to Hua Cheng, as his last believer–i.e., when Xie Lian got his 2nd cursed shackle. But this is not what happened, and is not what Xie Lian asked for!!! Xie Lian asks very simply for his luck to be dispersed in general to flow to the less fortunate. Xie Lian at that point in time thought that he had literally no believers left. He just watched as his last believer was destroyed in front of his own eyes. Who would he think would be left to absorb that luck? Thus, he asked for it to be dispersed in general:

Additionally, Xie Lian’s luck was never anywhere near the level that Hua Cheng’s presently is. Hua Cheng isn’t just relatively lucky–he has perfect luck to the point where he will always get the outcome he desires. Even if 100% of Xie Lian’s luck flowed to Hua Cheng, it would not get the latter to the heights of fortune he’s famous for anyway. Xie Lian was simply never lucky enough for that.

To move on though, it’s unclear the status of Xie Lian’s luck post-canon. Free from his cursed shackles, some of his original luck may have returned to him (or started to), or the dispersion could have been a permanent thing in the first place–it’s hard to say. There is not much evidence about it. At least he has a perfectly lucky husband by his side to make up for it, in any case!

TLDR; Hua Cheng is lucky not because Xie Lian’s luck went to him, but more likely because his star sign was nullified/reversed when Xie Lian saved him as a child during the ShangYuan parade. That, and/or it (further) polarized after his death and becoming a Supreme Ghost King into the Perfect Luck he has presently.