Loulan

Lady Loulan (楼蘭, Rouran) is a secondary character in The Apothecary Diaries. She is the second former Pure Consort of the Garnet Pavilion, succeeding Ah-Duo after she was forced into the position by her father Prime Minister Shishou in order to gain influence over the Inner Court. Lady Loulan has long black hair and bright yellow eyes. Her hair is portrayed as dark plum in the anime.[2] As a consort, she often wore extravagant and exotic clothing and jewelry, sourcing from a variety of different locations and styles. She also colored her face with dark cosmetics, making it difficult for people to determine the details of her face. Her outfits were seen as excessive even for a high-ranking consort. In her disguise as a palace maid, she wore the typical clothes of a maid. Her hair is portrayed as dark purple in the manga.[1] As a consort, Lady Loulan appears to be aloof and uncaring. Due to her overbearing mother, she seemed to have no personality, only following whatever orders her mother gave her. However, this puppet-like personality concealed her true nature; in reality, she is a free-willed person who strongly cares for her father, sister, and the Shi clan children. She also has a cunning side to her and is described as a vixen; she schemed for her sister and the Shi clan children to survive when she knew that the Shi clan would be eradicated, and succeeded. In her disguise as a palace maid, she was described as innocent and shrill-voiced. She had a love for insects, which she would often capture and play with, and could talk for hours about them. Loulan was born to Prime Minister Shishou and his main wife Shenmei. Loulan's half-sister Suirei was abused by Shenmei, but Loulan was close to her sister, who would teach her about basic medicines; however, because of her mother's tyrannic hold over the family, she was forced to feign ignorance to the injustice in her sister and father's lives. Eventually, she was sent to replace Ah-Duo as the next Pure Consort. Despite her position, she often kept to herself, not caring about the politics and power struggles of the Inner Palace. Instead, she would disguise herself as the palace maid Shisui in order to play around with insects and chat with Maomao and Xiaolan. She left her own attendants to dress up as her alter egos — a feat made possible by her heavy, constantly-changing makeup, which rendered others unable to see her true face.