Lishu is still a child, and it must be difficult for her to navigate the inner palace.
Fortunately, Lishu is not visited by the Emperor, but that means her position is even shakier.
Lishu’s taste-tester apparently bullied her along with the rest of the ladies-in-waiting.
The ladies-in-waiting seem to isolate Lishu.
Lishu, the youngest of the concubines the current Emperor has, used to be the concubine of the previous emperor. She is not visited by the current Emperor, and that is great, but that does make her position shakier. It is not surprising that a child, who is now 14, has trouble navigating the inner palace with all its intrigues. The ladies-in-waiting are the closest Lishu has to friends. But are they trustworthy?
Picky Eater
Lishu has numerous allergies, which is why the palace cooks give her food that will not cause her to get a rash or worse. However, Lishu’s ladies-in-waiting seem convinced that she is just a picky eater. As a result, they bully Lishu into eating foods she is allergic to whenever possible.
The Garden Party in Episode 6 was perfect for that. Lishu can and probably does send back food that is delivered to her in her own rooms if she doesn’t want it. But when in front of the Emperor, especially during a party, she didn’t feel comfortable enough to refuse the fish salad she was given.
As it soon turned out, the trays with food for Lishu and Gyokuyou were switched, and it was probably done by Lishu’s taste tester. In other words, Lishu’s ladies-in-waiting do not believe their mistress that she cannot eat certain foods, and they are happy to bully her into eating things that could harm her.
Pink Dress
In Episodes 5 and 6, ladies-in-waiting either encouraged Lishu to put on a pink dress or did not stop her from appearing in pink. Pink was a color too similar to Gyokuyou’s dress, and that was considered inappropriate. The ladies-in-waiting were all in white, but they did not convince Lishu to wear white as well. At the very least they were useless and at worst malicious when getting Lishu her dress.
Isolation
In Episode 10, the ladies-in-waiting are very pushy about removing Maomao from Lishu’s presence. Maomao believes that the ladies try to isolate Lishu and pretend that they are the girl’s only friends. Seeing how young Lishu is, she cannot see through their manipulation.
While it appears that concubines can and do choose ladies-in-waiting for themselves, loyalty is a rare trait. Lishu is very young and was probably even younger when ladies-in-waiting were assigned to her. It would be very surprising if she managed to find people who would be loyal to her.
The Garden Party proves that Lishu cannot trust her ladies-in-waiting, but Episode 10 also shows that Lishu has nobody else to rely on. Lishu’s ladies-in-waiting are not trustworthy, but that is all she has, and that is very sad.
The short answer is probably not, but we want to be fair and review the evidence first.
Lishu is still a child, and it must be difficult for her to navigate the inner palace.
Fortunately, Lishu is not visited by the Emperor, but that means her position is even shakier.
Lishu’s taste-tester apparently bullied her along with the rest of the ladies-in-waiting.
The ladies-in-waiting seem to isolate Lishu.
Lishu, the youngest of the concubines the current Emperor has, used to be the concubine of the previous emperor. She is not visited by the current Emperor, and that is great, but that does make her position shakier. It is not surprising that a child, who is now 14, has trouble navigating the inner palace with all its intrigues. The ladies-in-waiting are the closest Lishu has to friends. But are they trustworthy?
Picky Eater
Lishu has numerous allergies, which is why the palace cooks give her food that will not cause her to get a rash or worse. However, Lishu’s ladies-in-waiting seem convinced that she is just a picky eater. As a result, they bully Lishu into eating foods she is allergic to whenever possible.
The Garden Party in Episode 6 was perfect for that. Lishu can and probably does send back food that is delivered to her in her own rooms if she doesn’t want it. But when in front of the Emperor, especially during a party, she didn’t feel comfortable enough to refuse the fish salad she was given.
As it soon turned out, the trays with food for Lishu and Gyokuyou were switched, and it was probably done by Lishu’s taste tester. In other words, Lishu’s ladies-in-waiting do not believe their mistress that she cannot eat certain foods, and they are happy to bully her into eating things that could harm her.
Pink Dress
In Episodes 5 and 6, ladies-in-waiting either encouraged Lishu to put on a pink dress or did not stop her from appearing in pink. Pink was a color too similar to Gyokuyou’s dress, and that was considered inappropriate. The ladies-in-waiting were all in white, but they did not convince Lishu to wear white as well. At the very least they were useless and at worst malicious when getting Lishu her dress.
Isolation
In Episode 10, the ladies-in-waiting are very pushy about removing Maomao from Lishu’s presence. Maomao believes that the ladies try to isolate Lishu and pretend that they are the girl’s only friends. Seeing how young Lishu is, she cannot see through their manipulation.
While it appears that concubines can and do choose ladies-in-waiting for themselves, loyalty is a rare trait. Lishu is very young and was probably even younger when ladies-in-waiting were assigned to her. It would be very surprising if she managed to find people who would be loyal to her.
The Garden Party proves that Lishu cannot trust her ladies-in-waiting, but Episode 10 also shows that Lishu has nobody else to rely on. Lishu’s ladies-in-waiting are not trustworthy, but that is all she has, and that is very sad.
