Who is Suirei in The Apothecary Diaries? 4 intriguing facts reveal her true role

The Apothecary Diaries is one of the best anime that you can watch on Netflix, and one of its characters, Suirei, is quite mysterious.

The second season of The Apothecary Diaries is full of new reveals as we move away from the Emperor's Rear Palace and focus more on the political tension in the entire region. A lot is going on here, and Suirei and Maomao are apparently at the center of it, alongside the Consort Loulan.

Suirei has made multiple appearances in the anime, sometimes even appearing as an eunuch, but in the end, it has been made clear several times that she is indeed a female.

Who is Suirei in The Apothecary Diaries?

Suirei, as an attendant of the Rear Palace

Initially, Suirei can be seen serving as an attendant of the Rear Palace. She doesn't get much screen time, but her few interactions with Maomao show that she has significant herbal knowledge.

Suirei planned to take out the Emperor's younger brother, Jinshi, but she failed and, to escape the consequences of her actions, took a drug that made her appear dead.

Escaping from the Rear Palace

After she took the resurrection drug, Suirei was pronounced dead, and thus was disposed of from the Rear Palace. However, the drug only made her appear dead for a few days, and later, she came back to life.

After some time, Suirei returns to the Rear Palace, this time disguised as an eunuch. After returning to the Rear Palace, Suirei and Shisui force Maomao to come with them to their village.

Suirei's real identity

Suirei appears as a fairly mysterious character, and in season 3, we're shown that she had a particularly harsh upbringing where her stepmother, Shenmei, would often torture her.

Suirei is Shishou's daughter, who is a prime minister and holds a position of authority even against the emperor. While Shishou's first wife, Shenmei, was sent to the Rear Palace, Shishou married Suirei's mother and had a daughter with her.

After Shenmei returned to Shishou, she was furious that Shishou had married someone else in her absence and even had a daughter. Shenmei likely got rid of Suirei's mother and had her live as a servant. Meanwhile, Shenmei's daughter with Shishou, Shisui, had a soft spot for her stepsister, and they both got along well.

Suirei is actually a nobility

It was revealed that Suirei's grandmother, Taihou, was actually a victim of the former emperor, who had raped her and forced her to live in the Rear Palace. Taihou's child was then escorted out of the Rear Palace, and after a few years, that child became the mother of Suirei.

Suirei can often be seen paying respects to Taihou's grave in the rear palace, and it turns out that Suirei has royal blood in her veins from the former emperor. Her noble blood is part of the reason why she's mistreated so harshly by Shinmei.

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