The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 finale is on the horizon, but we already have all the answers about the Shi Clan we needed. Almost all the mysteries in the first season were connected to Suirei’s plan to assassinate the Imperial brother, who happened to be Jinshi. However, the second season unveiled that she was acting on behalf of the Shi Clan to help Shenmei’s revenge against the Imperial family. Season 2 primarily focused on the Shi Clan and their devious ploys to plunge the empire into chaos, and the root of all this was Shenmei, the wife of the Clan Head and Loulan’s mother. Shenmei was the Clan Head’s daughter, while Shishou was from the branch family and was later adopted into the main family.
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The story only revealed that despite being engaged to Shishou, she had to enter the previous Emperor’s harem. During that time, the previous emperor requested Shishou to marry his discarded daughter, and the latter couldn’t refuse. He asked to have Shenmei return to the Shi Clan as a form of compensation, and the previous Emperor had no reason to refuse. Shenmei spent over two decades planning for this futile rebellion, which would’ve failed too easily even if Loulan didn’t interfere. However, her daughter was way smarter than her since she looked at the bigger picture and achieved her goals even though she was in a disadvantaged position.
The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 Reveals Shenmei’s Petty Motives Behind the Rebellion
Shenmei is a typical example of a privileged and arrogant yet ignorant woman. She didn’t know that the previous Emperor’s mother wanted her as a hostage. Instead, she believed that the Imperial family begged her to be a high concubine. Shishou was already engaged to her at the time, but Shenmei couldn’t be happier to be away from him, and didn’t care about the countless times he tried to save her. Because of his mother, the previous Emperor was traumatized and afraid to be around women.
It didn’t take long for him to reveal his pedophilic tendencies, and he only found comfort while being with little girls. When Shenmei entered the Rear Palace, she was already a grown woman, so the previous Emperor never once looked at her. Unaware of what was happening around her, Shenmei was over the moon to become a high concubine and believed she could climb up the ranks to become an Empress Dowager.
She felt humiliated when the other women mocked her for not impressing the previous Emperor. After failing to stand at the top of the empire, she had no choice but to return to the Shi Clan and marry Shishou as her father originally intended. However, Shenmei wasn’t content with that, and she craved destruction. She didn’t spend over two decades planning for a rebellion to take over the Empire. Instead, she wanted to destroy the empire as a final act of her petty revenge.
Shenmei’s End Was Brutally Satisfying, But Loulan Still Paid the Price
Shenmei never understood Shishou’s love for her, even when he tried multiple times to escape with her. When she was in the Rear Palace, he was ready to abandon everything and live an ordinary life with her. On the other hand, Shenmei only thought he was interested in her because she was the Clan Head’s daughter. After returning from the Rear Palace, she seized all power from him, and Shishou remained a Clan Head only in name. Of course, she never would’ve managed this if Shishou hadn’t remained passive and let her do anything she wanted.
Bit by bit, she led her clan to destruction, ruling over everyone like a tyrant. In the end, it was her own daughter, whom she thought of as a puppet, who told her the truth. Loulan knew the Shi Clan’s rebellion would fail miserably, so she planned to save Suirei and the children from the beginning, even if it meant she would die. Angered by her daughter’s betrayal and mockery, Shenmei snatched her gun and tried to shoot her. She didn’t that it was tampered with, and it backfired on her.
That’s how she met her miserable end, not once regretting the things she did or the lives she destroyed. Even the news about Shishou’s death didn’t bother her in the slightest. Unfortunately, despite Loulan’s actions against the Shi Clan, she knew she couldn’t escape execution and fell from the rooftop after being shot in the middle of her dance.
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Image courtesy of Netflix
