Kusuriya no Hitorigoto / The Apothecary Diaries / Maomao's Murmurs

[Ryllharu]

It's pure contrivance. She draws conclusions all the time, but any time it's metaplot related, she always has that "Don't voice assumptions" line from her dad. It's as if the writer is literally reaching down and going "Stop trying to solve the series."

Her turning to Gaoshun and being like "So what is Jinshi's actual job?" is hardly snooping.

She's already put all the pieces together. She's willfully denying what she's already learned. Maomao doesn't know if Jinshi knows or not. She doesn't know who knows at all. But she knows if she provides any hints that she knows the truth, there's a high likelihood it is being kept secret on purpose, and she will be killed to keep it that way.

Only we the audience know that Jinshi has no solid proof or any firm intention of pursuing them either. Only suspicions he lacks the proof of, and he's certainly not going to ask Ah Duo outright about it. We don't really know if he has any intention of acting on it either. We know that Ah Duo knows, Maomao's adoptive father possibly knows, that Maomao figured it out, and that's the extent. Everyone else we know of who knew is dead. We don't know if the Emperor knows, if the Empress Dowager knows, or anyone else is holding it as a secret.

That's worse than position Maomao is in. She has no idea who is would be than happy to kill her to ensure that knowledge doesn't spread. She's exactly the type to push it down and pretend she never learned it, because that's the society she lives in.

Of course this is all intentional by the author. It creates tension. There is a looming threat now that someone is going to find out Maomao knows a very grave secret. Or that Maomao slips up. Or that someone asks her and she fails to hide it in her expression (just like Jinshi figured out she can read with a trap set just for her).

[DarthEnderX]

She's already put all the pieces together. She's willfully denying what she's already learned. Maomao doesn't know if Jinshi knows or not. She doesn't know who knows at all. But she knows if she provides any hints that she knows the truth, there's a high likelihood it is being kept secret on purpose, and she will be killed to keep it that way.

I'm not talking about the secret of his parentage. I'm literally talking about what his actual job is.

At first, she thought he was just the manager of the Rear Palace. But it's obvious at this point his job is WAY more important than that.

And considering she's constantly being asked to help him with his work, you would think it'd be in her best interest to know what his job actually IS. Because that relates directly to HER work.

[Ryllharu]

I'm not talking about the secret of his parentage. I'm literally talking about what his actual job is.

At first, she thought he was just the manager of the Rear Palace. But it's obvious at this point his job is WAY more important than that.

And considering she's constantly being asked to help him with his work, you would think it'd be in her best interest to know what his job actually IS. Because that relates directly to HER work.

Except it doesn't relate to her work, she failed the Court Lady exam. She's a general laborer. Jinshi and Lakan and most of the four head concubines just happen to know she's very capable as a generalist and knowledgeable about medicines, poisons, biology, and botany. She's officially cleaning staff or poison taster, neither of which are particularly involved in the actual daily productivity of the court or its occupants.

She knows his true position. 100% without question. It went unsaid because it was linked to finding out he was presiding over the ceremony that nearly got him killed. It also immediately relates to the secret she's not supposed to know.

He was watching over a Medium Ceremony. If you know enough Imperial Court lingo, it's a huge reveal for her. Medium ceremonies don't require the Emperor (those are the High ceremonies). It was always going to be a family member further down the succession or even an extremely high ranking official (Jinshi could count as either role). Pair this with the Spring Party and the empty seat for the Emperor's brother by the time she entered the tents, and Maomao knows exactly who he is supposed to be (if Jinshi was anyone else as highly ranked and therefore qualified to run a Medium ceremony, he would have been seated in the two rows at the center suffering in the cold instead).

[DarthEnderX]

and Maomao knows exactly who he is supposed to be

That does not at all line up with her internal dialog. If she does know, she's refusing to admit it even to herself.

[Kraco]

That does not at all line up with her internal dialog. If she does know, she's refusing to admit it even to herself.

I'm not as certain she knows exactly as much as Ryll suggests, but I'm of the opinion she knows far too much. She's trying with her full willpower to pretend not to know. It's far easier to keep pretending if you convince yourself you don't know. It ought to be a way of life for her already. Kind of like the regular people in organised crime neighbourhoods never see anything when asked by the police. They may not be afraid of the police, but they are afraid of the mob even suspecting they said a single word too much to the police or behaved strangely in the presence of the coppers.