Lihua

* Anime
* Manga
* Light Novel

* Main
* Notebook

## Relationships

* Emperor (Husband)
* Unnamed Infant (Son; Deceased)
* Unnamed Son
* Jinshi (Brother-in-Law / Step-Son)
* Shin (Cousin)

**Lihua** (梨花 (リファ) , *Rifa*) is a recurring character in the *The Apothecary Diaries* series.

As one of the Emperor's favored High Consorts in the Rear Palace of the Imperial Palace of Country of Li, she was bestowed the Title of "Wise Consort" ("Worthy Consort" in Square Enix translation) by the Emperor and was given the Crystal Pavilion to live in. She is the mother of the Second Prince.

## Appearance

Lihua has ruby red eyes and dark, flowing blue hair. With her voluptuous body, she is the Emperor's favorite consort when it comes to body type. As a high consort, she is often seen wearing very extravagant clothes with many decorations to bring out her mature beauty.

Lihua's elemental motif among the High Consorts is water, and thus is generally seen in blue and purple attire.

## Personality

On the outside, Lihua has a serious and overpowering personality. However, on the inside, she is very humble and cares deeply for those who serve under her. This duality is what drew the Emperor to her compared to the other consorts, and she in turn admires the Emperor deeply.

## Abilities

**Wealth**: As the Emperor's high consort, she holds a level of wealth which allows her to get what she wants.

**Influence**: As the mother of the second prince, she holds influence within the inner and outer court.

## Background

A distant relative of the Emperor, Lihua was sent by her family to become a consort, alongside her paternal cousin Shin. Thanks to her prominent family, Lady Lihua amassed one of the largest courts of ladies-in-waiting among the consorts. Her voluptuous figure earned her favor with the Emperor. However, despite bearing him a son (who would serve as first in line for the throne), she was not promoted to the rank of Empress.

Both Lihua and her son were among those poisoned by a variety of face powder laced with heavy metal. Lihua wrongly blamed her rival consort Gyokuyou for "cursing" her son and attacked her in a fit of hysteria (despite Gyokuyou's own daughter being another victim). While a palace servant, Maomao, recognized the cause and left an anonymous warning for Lihua, it was either ignored or missed by the consort, and her son perished at only three months old.

The powder responsible was banned from the Rear Palace soon after, but a member of Lihua's staff foolishly hid some and continued to use it for Lihua. As such, Lihua's condition worsened, eventually leaving her bedridden and on the brink of death. However, she was saved by the intervention of Maomao, who had been enlisted by the Emperor to treat her and caught the lady-in-waiting responsible for keeping the makeup. Over the next two months, Lihua was nursed back-to-health by Maomao, for which the girl earned the consort's deep gratitude and respect.

Sometime later, Lihua bore the Emperor his second living son.

## Trivia

* Her name, 梨花 (*lí* *huā*), is Chinese for "pear flower". Of the four consorts, she is the only one with a truly traditionally Chinese female name. Her traditional view on family, her devotion to the Emperor, and her overprotective tendency towards her children seems to reflect she being in a position of a traditional Chinese female.

## References

1. ↑ The Apothecary Diaries Light Novel：Volume 1

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**Characters**