While The Emperor’s Caretaker is a shojo manga, it often acts as an examination of court life as well, and with the fifth and sixth volumes that means seeing the heroine Liu Linhua put in direct danger. The interesting part is that this isn’t played only for the sake of depicting some sort of great drama, but instead feels more historical and nuanced since we see all the circumstances and effects. It lets us understand what she’s going through, but also why certain other people around her at court are behaving that way.
Editor’s Note: There will be some spoilers for volume 5 and part of volume 6 of The Emperor’s Caretaker manga below.
Quite a bit happened in the first five volumes of The Emperor’s Caretaker manga, from Linhua becoming young Emperor Zhiyou’s caretaker to the fiance of his older brother and regent Souren. While some of these past situations involved seeing guards around for the young royal and him being fed small bits of poison to impart immunity and resistance, volume five led to Linhua herself being targeted. Her carriage was attacked, and someone else suffered as a result. Now that it’s over and she’s safely back in the inner palace attending to Zhiyou, the sixth volume is more thoughtful and looks at the “whys” of it all.
It’s an interesting situation since, prior to this point, we’ve really only seen the “good” sides of the Liu family. We saw Linhua’s older and younger brother, who are both very much loved. Her proper mother attended her and Souren when meeting with the two. There was even a point when her Zailan, her uncle and father’s younger brother, showed up. When he did, he seemed quite affectionate toward her, and Linhua clearly loved him. But because of the nature of power, this sixth volume shows how that was a facade and the dangers that come from being a part of a powerful family.
However, shortly after volume 6 of The Emperor’s Caretaker manga begins, both Linhua and the reader are forced to accept and come to terms with an uncomfortable truth. Zailan was the force behind the attempted homicide in the fifth volume. He purposely sent agents after his niece, who’d we’d previously only seen him show affection to. While there were some moments that, upon a second reading after the events, would show some indication of false positivity or perhaps suspiciously affectionate behavior, now we’re forced to deal with the knowledge that he was not only behind the attack, but felt comfortable putting Linhua on edge and confronting her at the palace itself.
This is when volume 6 of The Emperor’s Caretaker gets interesting. Souren can’t immediately step in, even though he’s acting ruler, due to how it would reflect on the Liu family as a whole. Linhua can’t react, as she’s supposed to still be “in the dark” about the situation. If left to his own devices, Zailan could engage in even worse affairs. It can’t be brought to any authorities, since it could be set to look as an attack on Emperor Zhiyou or Souren’s fiance. We need to trust her older brother Xiuying and father to act and then come to her to figure out how to handle it.
It ends up being really fascinating to see how things play out. Especially since, as the volume goes on, we see even more sides. What led Zailan to act? How did he get certain information? It shows how word can travel among nobility and how different people will react to further their own agendas.
Which means that The Emperor’s Caretaker manga continues its trend of blending its romantic, more shojo style moments with the more serious, diplomatic, and dramatic elements. It isn’t just about love. We aren’t only witnessing Linhua’s life. It almost feels like we’re watching history.
Volumes 6 of The Emperor’s Caretaker is available now, and Square Enix didn’t share a release date for volume 7 of the manga yet.