Ah-Duo

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* Manga
* Light Novel

* Main
* Notebook

## Relationships

* Emperor (Husband) *(Former)*
* Jinshi (Biological Son)

Lady **Ah Duo** (阿多, *Aduo*) is the former Pure Consort of the Garnet Pavilion. As the childhood friend and consort of the Emperor, she held great influence over the court, but was ultimately forced out of her position due to her inability to produce an heir. She now resides in the Southern Imperial Villa, where she protects four of the Shi Clan children. She is a secondary character in *The Apothecary Diaries*.

## Appearance

Ah Duo has black clear eyes and long black hair that she ties back. Though a woman, and the former Pure Consort at that--her appearance is akin to that of a handsome young man. She is often seen wearing simple clothes without any decoration.

## Personality

Ah Duo has a very tomboyish personality, to the point where she sees the Emperor as a friend and not a lover. She is confident and caring at the same time, and speaks with assurance and affection.

## Abilities

**Influence**: As the Emperor's childhood friend, consort, and close advisor, she holds some power within the inner and outer court; however, this was not enough to prevent her from being taken out of power by Shishou.

**Charisma**: With her beauty and noble personality, she has a similar charm to Jinshi and is able to captivate the hearts of many--particularly young women. Her maids were extremely loyal to her--particularly Fonmin, her head maid--and were willing to die for her, a testament to her character.

**Intelligence**: She is noted to be an intelligent person, but in contrast, her emotional intelligence is somewhat lacking.

## Background

As milk siblings, Ah Duo and the Emperor were very close growing up. The Emperor fell in love with Ah Duo and promised that she would be his only wife, and she responded half-jokingly that he should make her the Empress Dowager while he was at it.

She is by far the oldest among the consorts of the Emperor and was said to have given birth to a son who died during infancy back when the Emperor was still a crown prince. During childbirth, both her and the baby should have died, but her womb was removed for both individuals' survival. As a result, she lost her fertility and therefore her influence. This paved the way for her to be forced out of her Pure Consort position by Prime Minister Shishou, who replaced her with his daughter Loulan.

She is Jinshi's mother, but because she knew that the Previous Emperor's child, who was born at the same time, would be prioritized first in terms of safety, she decided to switch her child with the Previous Emperor's child. Her actions later proved to save Jinshi's life, as Fengming, Ah Duo's head maid, accidentally killed the switched Imperial Brother by feeding him honey, which was poisonous to infants.

## Trivia

Her name, Ah duo, literally means "the fertile". It might have been exactly such case, if not for the case that made her no longer able to give birth.

Like Lishu, her name is not a traditional Chinese way to name a female either, reflecting on her "not-so-female-like" character. In Chinese, a name that start with "A" (Ah) usually are names called in their childhood, likely refering her long relation with the Emperor.