Volumes 9 and 10 kick off “Western Capital, part 2”. There is a lot going on here politically since it is the region that Gyokuyou is from, and there are plenty of enemies with unknown motivations.
In Volume 9, Maomao has basically become Jinshi’s personal doctor for [spoiler] reasons, so she must go though as much training as possible before they set off for I-sei province.
For those in the know, it’s an open secret, but it puts Maomao in an even more precarious position, as there are no female doctors at all, due to the cultural stigma. This brings her into conflict with her peers, but she does her best to navigate it. Also, since this is at Jinshi’s behest, and she is the daughter of Lakan and adopted daughter of Luomen, there’s little that anyone can do to stop her. She has already proven that she has the skills, and now she has the motivation to study as hard as possible.
I liked learning about how even though doctors are revered, the training they have to go through is considered blasphemy, since they have to study corpses of animals and people through dissection. I really enjoy anything to do with medicine and biology, so it was super interesting to find out that the method of teaching is the same. Anatomy dissections are incredibly difficult since the structures are hard to identify (personal experience OTL), so the narrative introduces a proper foil to Maomao who has the same level of skills, but in surgery. Tianyu may be annoying, but he’s the first peer of hers to be on the same level of knowledge in a related field, so Maomao’s begrudging respect makes for an interesting dynamic between the two.
Volume 9 also contains their journey to I-sei, which includes some funny mysteries and side quests that I won’t spoil here.
Volume 10 is basically all about farming and further political maneuvering. The narrative has been building towards an insect plague that they have to prepare for, and this book is all about their massive effort to save the province from famine.
They introduced a new character, “Lahan’s Brother” who is a dispassionate but highly serious farmer. He’s forced by Lahan to further the La clan’s potato agenda, and unfortunately Maomao prevents anyone from ever knowing his name lmao. Poor Lahan’s Brother, I hope we find out your name one day!
There’s not a whole lot I can write about Volume 10 that wouldn’t spoil the outcome of the plague plotline, but I CAN say that I liked the expansion and exploration of the side characters, including the Ma family. I’ve always been curious about Gaoshun’s family, and this arc gives us plenty of screentime for Chue (wife of Gaoshun’s 1st son, Baryou), Basen (Gaoshun’s 2nd son), and even Taomei (Gaoshun’s wife).
As always, it’s a fun read, and I’ll be sad when I catch up the most recent volume.