Suiren

Suiren (水蓮 (スイレン) , Suiren^?) is Jinshi's head lady-in-waiting, and previously Empress Anshi's most trusted lady-in-waiting. She is a secondary character in The Apothecary Diaries.

Appearance

Suiren is a middle-aged woman with graying hair. She wears the typical clothes of an attendant, and a ties back her hair with a hair stick and hair tie.

Personality

Due to the fact that younger women harass Jinshi incessantly, Suiren is one of his few personal attendants and, prior to Maomao's temporal stay as his lady-in-waiting, did all of the serving in his quarters. She is a very cheerful and capable woman who does most of her work alone; she scarcely takes breaks and has gained a fearsome reputation among those who have worked under her, including Maomao, En'en,^[3] Taomei, and Chue, though she can be very caring and usually gives good advice to younger women. She is extremely loyal to her charges, having protected Anshi from numerous threats and personally prepared Jinshi's brand.^[4]

Abilities

Inteligence: Suiren's talent for navigating court intrigues was so well known that even the imperial physicians were aware of her reputation.^[5]

Diligence: Suiren handles all the duties in Jinshi's residence, including cooking, cleaning, chopping firewood, handling personal finances, giving basic medical aid, and sometimes serving as a bodyguard.

Cooking: Suiren is able bake all sorts of delicious treats, to everyone's enjoyment.

Background

Suiren befriended and protected a young Anshi^[6] in the Inner Court from food poisoning and assassins when she was still pregnant with the current Emperor.^[5] After the Emperor's birth, she became his nursemaid and helped him raise alongside her own beloved daughter, Ah-Duo.

Suiren has been Jinshi's nursemaid and later lady-in-waiting since he was born.

Trivia

• Her name 水蓮 (shuǐ lián) translates to "lotus".

References