Review – A ruined dessert sparks invention, while a dangerous diagnosis threatens to upend the delicate balance of the rear palace.
There’s a lot to unpack in The Apothecary Diaries Season 2, Episode 39, titled “Ice.” From the sweet surprise of an early ice cream innovation to the serious complications of a breech pregnancy, the episode balances light-hearted ingenuity with life-threatening tension. As Jinshi and Maomao navigate both personal and palace matters, the consequences reach deep into the rear palace, especially for Gyokuyou, whose pregnancy takes a worrying turn that could endanger both her and her baby. Let’s take a look at the details of this episode and talk about both the good and bad things in this review.
Warning: Spoilers ahead!
Episode 39 opens with Xiaolan accidentally bumping into a eunuch carrying ice meant for Consort Loulan’s evening dessert. The mishap causes the ice to spill onto the ground, making it unfit to serve. To resolve the issue, Maomao steps in with a clever idea: using the remaining ice to create a frozen dessert for the high consort. Naturally, she has Jinshi’s support, though not without a few conditions of his own in return, including help with the kitchen and ingredients.
Once the dessert dilemma is settled, the tone shifts. Maomao comes to a worrying realisation: Consort Gyokuyou’s baby may be in the breech position, posing serious risks to both mother and child. She recommends her adoptive father, Luomen, previously branded a criminal, as the best person to oversee the delivery. With Gyokuyou’s approval, Luomen is brought in as a temporary doctor.
Making ice cream
Xiaolan trembled after the accident, a reaction rooted in the harsh reality of palace life, where even something like ice could be valued more than a servant’s life. At the time, a mishap involving such a rare and costly item could easily have led to punishment or even death. Onlookers pitied the eunuch too, who might have been beaten or lost his life over something as small as a ruined dish.
It was a pitiful scene. After finally earning the favour of a low-ranking consort, Xiaolan ended up caught in an accident involving a delicacy meant for someone of much higher status. As Maomao noted, no one could predict how Consort Loulan might react. Known for her love of extravagance, she wasn’t someone anyone wanted to upset.
What began as a terrifying moment for a servant and a eunuch in the rear palace unexpectedly turned into something light-hearted, thanks to Maomao’s quick thinking. She managed to recreate an early form of ice cream using the remaining ingredients.
The series took heavy inspiration from the Tang Dynasty, with some Ming influences, and back then, ice was incredibly valuable. It had to be harvested during the winter from rivers and stored in underground cellars using sophisticated techniques.
Interestingly, some of the earliest ice cream recipes also dated back to the Tang Dynasty. They were quite similar to Maomao’s method: buffalo milk whisked in a bowl surrounded by a mix of ice and salt to lower the temperature to freezing point. Once the milk solidifies a little, the mixture is then topped with fresh fruit for added flavour.
Jinshi takes advantage of the situation
It certainly felt like Jinshi was taking the situation lightly, and at some point, it became mildly frustrating on Maomao’s behalf. This impression likely stemmed from the way the animators chose to portray the scene.
Maomao’s reactions were limited to her usual frown and a few sweatdrops. While it was nice to see the return of the chibi-style Jinshi and Maomao, the absence of more exaggerated expressions that would have suited the moment slightly dulled the impact of this part of the episode.
As for Jinshi’s smile, it was clear that he had the power and resources to step in and resolve the situation. Despite Maomao’s position, he probably viewed her as someone who rarely needed help because of how capable and intelligent she generally was. So being able to step in and help her in this rare instance may have felt gratifying for him.
Though adding conditions might seem manipulative by modern standards, it is worth remembering that the story is set in a fictional ancient period inspired by the Tang Dynasty. In that context, it was only through Jinshi’s mercy that Maomao could have access to such precious ingredients, let alone use the kitchen.
Maomao was still a servant girl, and Jinshi could have asked for far more than what he did. Asking her to hear him out until the end was a respectful gesture in itself, even by today’s standards, and the only other request he made was for her to wear the hairpin he had given her.
There was nothing inherently wrong with either condition. With how stubborn Maomao was and how often she dismissed what Jinshi tried to say, this was probably the only chance he had to open a path to explain the truth and what lay ahead.
Breech baby: Gyokuyou’s shrewdness and wisdom
Then another crisis sent ripples through the rear palace: Lady Gyokuyou’s pregnancy had been diagnosed as breech, with the baby’s feet pointing toward the birth canal instead of its head. In any era, a breech birth carried grave risks for mother and child, but in ancient times, when surgical knowledge was limited and instruments were few, it was especially perilous.
Recognising those stakes, Gyokuyou insisted on recalling Luomen despite his disgrace. In Season 1 Episode 11, Maomao remembered how Luomen had been branded a criminal after accepting responsibility for “repeated mistakes.” He had remained with Empress Anshi during her delivery, leaving Ah Duo to give birth without his expertise. Although Ah Duo produced a healthy son, she lost her uterus in the process. When that baby later died, Luomen once again took the blame and was banished from the rear palace.
Rather than accept the official record of his failure, Gyokuyou looked deeper into the circumstances. She understood that if anyone could manage a dangerous breech delivery, it was Luomen. By demanding his return under special arrangements, she secured the most capable doctor available, maximising the chance of a safe outcome for herself and her child.
Her decision allowed Luomen to re‑enter the rear palace, which will give him a chance to redeem himself. At the same time, Lady Lihua’s pregnancy continued, which made the palace atmosphere even more tense. The birth of a son by either consort would instantly shift the balance of power, so rival families and ambitious courtiers were undoubtedly already plotting to sway, or even sabotage, the outcome.
It therefore seemed only natural that the next episode, “Festering Malice,” would turn its focus to those hidden schemes. The preview showed Maomao, Luomen, Lakan (Maomao’s real father), Shishou (Consort Loulan’s father), Shenlu (one of the senior clinic attendants) and other shadowy figures wearing malicious expressions. What do these characters have to do with the malice that's festering within the rear palace? And what threats are present against the pregnancies of the emperor’s consorts?
If you want to revisit insights and theories from previous episodes, here's a compilation of every review so far for The Apothecary Diaries Season 2.