Gyokuyou
Gyokuyou is the emperor's favoured consort in The Apothecary Diaries and the mistress of the Jade Pavilion, where Maomao serves. Warm, clever and politically sharp, she is voiced by Atsumi Tanezaki in Japanese and Molly Zhang in English.
About Gyokuyou
Gyokuyou is the emperor's favoured consort and mistress of the Jade Pavilion, where Maomao serves as her lady-in-waiting and food taster. Warm, clever and politically astute, she rose from a merchant-family background to the top of the rear palace through intelligence as much as beauty. She trusts Maomao completely, and her pregnancies and children sit at the centre of the court's most dangerous intrigues.
Appearance
Gyokuyou is a graceful young woman with long, wavy reddish hair and a warm, open face that sets her apart from the rear palace's more aloof beauties. She dresses in the rich layered silks of a high consort, favouring the greens that suit the Jade Pavilion she rules. Even heavily pregnant or recovering, she carries herself with an empress's ease.
Personality
Gyokuyou is kind without being naive. She laughs easily, teases her attendants, and treats Maomao as a trusted friend rather than a servant, but she also reads the court's politics with a merchant family's shrewdness and never forgets a slight or a favour. As a mother, she is fiercely protective: her children's safety is the one subject on which her warmth turns to steel.
Background & Story
Gyokuyou comes from a wealthy merchant background in the west of the country and rose to become the emperor's most favoured consort, mistress of the Jade Pavilion. Early in the story her infant daughter falls mysteriously ill; it is Maomao's anonymous warning that identifies the cause and saves the child. In gratitude and good judgement, Gyokuyou takes Maomao into her household as lady-in-waiting and food taster. Her position at the top of the rear palace, and her pregnancies, make her household a centre of the court's most sensitive intrigues.
Key Relationships
- Maomao: Her lady-in-waiting and food taster, whom she trusts completely after Maomao saved her baby daughter's life.
- Jinshi: The official overseeing the rear palace, who keeps a protective eye on the Jade Pavilion and its mistress.
- Lihua: A fellow high consort and quiet rival, the two women measure each other constantly across the rear palace's hierarchy.
Quick Answers
Who is Gyokuyou in The Apothecary Diaries?
Gyokuyou is the emperor's favoured consort and mistress of the Jade Pavilion. Maomao serves in her household as lady-in-waiting and food taster.
Why does Gyokuyou trust Maomao?
Maomao identified what was making Gyokuyou's infant daughter ill and warned the pavilion anonymously, saving the baby's life. Gyokuyou recognised the talent behind it and took her in.
Who voices Gyokuyou?
Gyokuyou is voiced by Atsumi Tanezaki in Japanese and by Molly Zhang in the English dub.
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