Kusuriya no Hitorigoto

Description

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There is a certain large country in the central plains of the mainland. In the imperial court of its emperor, there is a girl. Her name is Maomao, a pharmacist from the pleasure district, who is currently working as a maidservant in the inner palace. The girl, who surely can not be considered a beauty, is keeping a low-profile waiting for her contract to end. She is confident that she will not be “visited” by the emperor. During that, she learns about the short lives of the children of the emperor. Maomao, hearing that the two surviving children are critically ill, begins her investigation for the cause—.

Set in the middle ages of the East, the “Food Taster” girl continues to solve difficult cases in the imperial court one after another.

Associated Names
One entry per line
The Apothecary Diaries
The Pharmacist's Monologue
药屋少女的呢喃
薬屋のひとりごと
藥師少女的獨語
약사의 혼잣말
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
The Tang Dynasty’s Female Forensic Doctor (6)
Hyouka (4)
Ascendance of a Bookworm (3)
Kenkyo, Kenjitsu o Motto ni Ikite Orimasu (3)
Common Sense of a Duke’s Daughter (2)
Bone Painting Coroner (2)
Recommendation Lists
  1. enjoyed my time
  2. want read
  3. My Library Of Treasures
  4. ALLJP+
  5. Novels with Clever Strong Female Protagonist

Latest Release

Date Group Release
02/25/24 FOSSDesk Translations v11c1
02/19/24 FOSSDesk Translations v10c35
12/26/23 FOSSDesk Translations v10c34
12/18/23 FOSSDesk Translations v10c33
12/14/23 FOSSDesk Translations v10c32
08/20/23 FOSSDesk Translations v10c31
08/17/23 FOSSDesk Translations v10c30
07/15/23 FOSSDesk Translations v10c29
06/05/23 The KNH Discord v10c27
05/17/23 FOSSDesk Translations v10c28
05/17/23 The KNH Discord v10c26
05/12/23 FOSSDesk Translations v10c27
05/12/23 FOSSDesk Translations v10c26
11/03/22 The KNH Discord v10c25
09/15/22 The KNH Discord v10c24
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35 Reviews sorted by


Kokinsurin
Kokinsurin rated it
May 9, 2019
Status: v7c20
I am absolutely at a loss for words. This was the best ever novel with mystery and romance set at a historical setting story I

have ever read.

    • The female lead is not weak. She is strong willed but not the kind that is a door mat and helps everyone. (not sure I got the expression right) but in other words she knows what's she's doing
    • The male lead is amazing as well
    • The development though slow is plenty steadier than any other story I've read.
The romance is of course slow (if it was fast it would not make sense anyway) but every one of those rare moments are nicely written making you want more.

But sometimes you might be lost a bit, it's just a bit complex;the mysteries but if it wasn't where s the fun in it. (

) / who knows that you might find some tidbits you've missed (I did find some and I'm happy that I re read it)

Overall this was an amazing experience my sincerest thank you

to the translator for translating this amazingly and thank you for taking your time to read my review.

So... Go on

go read it. Otherwise you're missing out!! (

>

<

)
3 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
RajaAntara
RajaAntara
June 26, 2022
Status: v10c9
I love MaoMao and her eccentricity! I mean, who wouldn't?

It doesn't have the best plot but I just fell in love with MaoMao that I could care less. She is apathetic most of the times, except maybe during her crazy experiments? Haha now, I can imagine her weird dance again.

Her apathy aside, I love her sensibility too. She was just a breath of fresh air, so different from the common female leads. She knows what she could do and rarely dips her toes in places she shouldn't. She understands her... more>> lower social position and rarely invites trouble, since especially the people around her are of higher status. She's also hard-working and it's not beneath her to do chores and accept task. She's passionate about medicine, even borderline mad about it. A mad pharmacist!

I love how she always try to keep a low profile but because she is capable and reliable, people around her enlists her help from time to time. She's the only girl from the red light district who unexpectedly have connections to a lot of powerful figures of the nation.

And as a side note, the romance is really subtle but you'll end up rooting for them. I pity Jinshi hahaha. Would this celestial catch this ever slippery MaoMao? <<less
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vi_o
vi_o rated it
May 2, 2021
Status: v10c3
this story is amazing-- the characters and world are three-dimensional and believable, with everyone having more going on than meets the eye at first. Mao mao, our MC, is sharp and skilled, but good survival instincts and a keen awareness of her disposability next to the aristocrats she serves means she downplays her own abilities to avoid drawing attention to herself. (Thanks to jinshi, our ml, these attempts at downplaying her abilities fall apart very quickly to the core cast.) as the title suggests, she's an apothecary/herbalist, with a fondness... more>> for poisons that makes her seem like a mad scientist at times. She's very driven to learning more about everything that interests her, and has a gift for unraveling mysteries. She's also struggling to walk a line between wanting to help people when she can and not getting involved in dangerous business.

jinshi, the ml, is a ridiculously beautiful eunuch managing the harem mao mao has been sold into by kidnappers as a maid.
Spoiler

unsurprisingly, he's not actually a eunuch. That would have been a f*cking ballsy (heh) move by the author tho.

[collapse]
mao mao is one of very few people who seem immune to his charms (she reads ace, imo, and I am here for it) and his original amus**ent with that and her abilities fairly quickly leads to respect. And then a huge, adorable, crush. It's amazing.

fair warning: the romance aspects are excruciatingly slow
Spoiler

(ten volumes in and we've gotten one kiss and the, uh, ~frog encounter~ lmao)

[collapse]
but in a very believable way, no contrived misunderstandings or anything along those lines. It also takes place over around 3 years in-universe, which. Rip to gao shun and family for having to bear witness.

the rest of the cast is similarly well-written, and the author does an excellent job of balancing a large cast of characters and making them all feel real. The mystery aspects and larger plot arcs are always interesting, and I love watching mao mao figure things out and react to even some of the culprits with empathy.

the first volume was taken down due to the webnovel being licensed, but the manga is available on a number of sites and the first arc of the story is fully covered in it, so it's an option if you can't afford the official translation at the moment. The translation is good (both the licensed one and the unofficial one) although the sentence structure is a bit unclear at times. If you're having trouble keeping track of the characters at first, I recommend reading the manga. (Specifically the older version, named simply 'kusuriya no hitorigoto'; the other version is good as well but 'kusuriya no hitorigoto: maomao no koukyuu nazotoki techou' uses the chinese versions of the names, so it won't be particularly helpful for assigning names to faces as the novel translation uses the japanese names.)

in conclusion, give this series a try, you won't regret it :) <<less
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Pyoo
Pyoo rated it
December 8, 2019
Status: v8c25
Superb slice of life with aspects of detective mystery, politics, and romance blended in a historical chinese setting

A thoroughly enjoyable read with unique and interesting casts, and especially so for the protagonist
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Lily emely
Lily emely rated it
November 4, 2019
Status: v8c25
I won't write too much, it's just I LOVE THIS STORY! For the mystery, the conflict, the comedy and especially the romance between our beloved mao mao and our angelic beauty man jinshi >///<

I have followed this story for some years, and still can't hold my enthusiastic in every jinmao scene, trully sometime I will cry happily cause their forward in relation XD ???? (Cause the romance is too slow)
2 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
ReadR
ReadR rated it
August 8, 2019
Status: v8c12
It is actually a mystery novel, and a pretty good one at that. There is minor romance in the sidelines, which happened once in awhile but when they do, it's really a gem. It's also probably the longest slowburn I've ever read.

The MC is a bit eccentric (described as a mad scientist) and a very logical woman. The second main character/possible love interest is an equally smart man who can be manipulative.

Actually, one thing that makes me really like this series is an abundant amount of smart, memorable characters. Nearly... more>> everyone, at least at one point, had a secret and executed a plan involving said secret (Not necessarily evil, though). Bonus point for some of those characters being women, which is quite rare in most fictions. <<less
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runes
runes rated it
April 17, 2018
Status: --
Honestly, it's a very interesting plot. However, the way that it's written is very hard to understand, I have to reread each chapter a couple of times before understanding what's going on (like another reviewer stated, it's probably not the translator's fault). TBH, I'd suggest you read a Chinese ln instead of this, because the Chinese lns with similar plot lines are much easier to understand, while still being mysterious.
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srrrahim
srrrahim rated it
September 21, 2022
Status: ln v5, wn saito edition 2
I always love this novel

MC is unique and the ML is not the usual cold or black bellied male lead. Male lead is actually really cute and adorable

I loveee all the characters in this novel

The plot is really well developed and interesting. The WN and LN has generally the almost same story line, but the LN has more romance and well developed plot. WN is free to read, and you can just look for the raw, but if you want romance, you need to read the LN
1 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Tama7315666
Tama7315666 rated it
October 9, 2021
Status: v10c9
Found this novel after reading the manga adaptation and immediately falling in love with it. Spend a few days binge read all the current translated web novel chapters, and seriously, it's a blessed, can be thankful enough of the two translators who picked this up.

KnH is the first web novel I've ever read and it couldn't be any more worthy. The plot is so good, all the mysteries got you hooked, excited to wait for everything to unfold. The characters are all loveable, every characters played a part in this... more>> story, even minor ones.

Can't say enough of how much I love Maomao and Jinshi and their compatibility. Their interactions are to yearned for but worth it.

Definitely a good, if not, best read. My best regards to the translators, thank you for translating KnH. <<less
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nefe
nefe rated it
July 6, 2021
Status: v10c7
So literal I have spend the last week reading all the novel from volume 1 to 10... I haven't sleep much bit is worth it. The romance is way too slow for my taste but you understand that the MC has suffer so is difficult to trust someone. But is a mix of politics, a novel of detectives and craziness.
I swear everyone should read it, is well written, well translated and fun to read.

I dont give the 5 star because is not finished but until now is awesome.

My only... more>> problem with this novel is that I read it and I don't know what to do with my life now <<less
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AlvoisSam
AlvoisSam rated it
October 12, 2020
Status: v3
As always, please forgive me for any grammar mistake that you might find.

This novel is amazing. I am in love with the main character, she is a smart, logical but also quite an eccentric person. She is one of the novel selling point and without her, I wouldn't be as interested in this as I am. Her love for poison is something that I would love to continue to read about. However, Mao Mao isn't the only character that I like from this novel. You need to look at the... more>> main male lead here, who unlike those forceful and dangerous male leads of other novel, doesn't force or actually try to kill the main protagonist in any way, and is actually protective of her. I hate those CEO leads who basically force the female lead to love them and ruthlessly treat them like tr*sh. 5/5 for characters.

I have already read the manga and came here to find more. I had expected my interest to wane since novels are pretty different than mangas and I though I would feel bored because words dump or exposition. However, that wasn't the case and it enraptured me even further. The harem and court politics as well as Mao Mao's detective skills all made me stay a loyal fan of both the manga and novel.

If you like a badass female lead, an actually nice and gentle male lead, an interesting plot using the harem and emperor's court, but actually having nice concubine and people, then this is a definite recommend. Only took one star off because I don't like some of the explanation sometime, not because it's wrong, but because it's hard to imagine you know. The manga doesn't have this problem and I rate it a 5/5. <<less
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Ughzug
Ughzug rated it
March 3, 2019
Status: v3
This is fairly decent story with well developed characters. Although the poison experiment aspect is really forced plot. That being said I'm wondering why it has a Seinen tag here on NU. This seems like something Josei and it feels very misleading to tag it otherwise.
1 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Edgewise
Edgewise rated it
February 11, 2019
Status: --
Very good. I think the female lead is a bit too clairvoyant in some cases, but overall the story is fun, engaging, and has a great mix of detective/romance/intrigue/humor going on.
1 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
elliepot
elliepot rated it
July 26, 2022
Status: v10c2
I enjoyed this novel a lot since I enjoy political intrigue and mystery, especially in a historical setting. This novel is very unique and is truly not your typical one, the MC is not described as drop-dead gorgeous or has OP skills, she's very much human but smarter than an average person. You usually don't see a realistically smart MC in novels, by that I mean her reasoning and plans are plausible and logical instead of simple plot armor that's like "She's the MC so she's extraordinarily smart, no need... more>> to further think about whether the plan is actually good or not." Yeah. No more of that, please.

She's also not the type that's like "I can't stand injustice, so I will help everyone while disregarding my own safety and those around me." Yeah, No she's more of a realist than a pacifist, she does get herself in danger but it's either for her own interests or she was forced into the situation. She tries to escape using methods that befit her character, she really uses her brain and analyzes the best method to save herself that is within her capabilities. <<less
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