Manbao’s heart stirred and she asked, "About the Empress Dowager..."
"The Emperor and the Empress are very filial."
With just one sentence, Manbao understood.
That is to say, in the palace, you could offend anyone, even the Emperor, but never the Empress Dowager.
Yet...
Manbao swallowed and asked, "I heard that the Empress Dowager is very fond of the Prince of Yizhou?"
"The Prince of Yizhou is the Empress Dowager’s youngest son, she naturally dotes on him a bit more."
That’s the end of it, she was inherently offending the Empress Dowager, things beyond her will to change.
Manbao sighed, her face full of worry.
Imperial Doctor Zheng looked puzzled, not understanding her concerns, but seeing her youth, he softened his heart a bit, thinking she might be scared.
So he comforted her, "Don’t be afraid, Her Majesty the Empress is a benevolent person. As long as you don’t cause big trouble, even speaking rudely to the Emperor and the Crown Prince is not a problem."
Manbao was not worried about this at all.
The Crown Prince, though quick-tempered and always ready to chop people, never seed to Manbao like he would chop her.
The Emperor, well, he had been pushing them since they entered the capital, and now Manbao suspected that even entering the palace might have been orchestrated by him.
Until they made their accusations known, he probably wouldn’t do anything to her. Besides, she wasn’t foolish — why would she offend these people?
Manbao thought she wouldn’t offend these people, but so people just liked to provoke her.
The next day when Manbao entered the palace again to treat the Empress, the Crown Prince was also there, standing outside waiting.
Seeing the eunuch leading Manbao, he waved, and the eunuch gleefully led Manbao over.
Manbao walked over and paid her respects to the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince glanced at Young Manager Zheng, who was carrying the dicine box behind her. Young Manager Zheng glanced at Manbao, then silently stepped aside with the eunuch.
The Crown Prince then said to Manbao, "I know you are not fond of lying, so let’s be straightforward. Can you treat my mother’s illness?"
Manbao replied, "Didn’t I say yesterday? I can’t cure it right now."
The Crown Prince stared at her and asked, "Then to what extent can you treat it?"
Manbao fell silent, her heart in turmoil; just last night she had resolved to be cautious and not offend anyone.
The Crown Prince expressionlessly said, "Go ahead, I won’t hold you accountable, nor will I tell anyone."
Manbao coughed lightly and said, "The Empress is overthinking things."
Seeing her not continue, the Crown Prince frowned and said, "I know that."
Manbao then said, "The Empress also suffers from suppressed liver qi."
"I know that too," the Crown Prince asked. "What else?"
"If the Empress cannot lighten her heart and continues to overthink, despite how good the dicine we prescribe, it can only ensure a year or two at most."
The face of the Crown Prince instantly turned gloomily terrifying, Manbao jumped back and pointed at him, "You said it yourself, I told the truth and you can’t co after for trouble."
The Crown Prince glared at her, turned around, and walked away.
Manbao breathed a sigh of relief, quickly turned around, and waved towards Young Manager Zheng.
Young Manager Zheng imdiately ca running with the dicine box. Manbao said, "Quick, quick, let’s go in and find the Empress."
The Empress also knew about the Crown Prince summoning Manbao and asked with a smile, "What did the Crown Prince say to you? Did he give you any trouble?"
Manbao shook her head with a smile, "No, he just inquired about Your Majesty’s illness and asked to take good care of Your Majesty."
The Empress didn’t know whether to believe it or not, but she smiled happily anyway.
This ti, Manbao changed a few steps of the acupuncture technique, and it was napti. The Empress fell asleep before half of the needles were in.
Nurse Shang watched by the side and couldn’t help but smirk, ntioning to Manbao, "Last night, Her Majesty’s coughing wasn’t as severe as before, and she managed to sleep a bit longer."
Manbao noted down, "That ans both the acupuncture and the dicines were correctly chosen."
The acupuncture session this ti was still divided into two parts. Manbao was particularly mindful of the ti. Unlike others who had to rely on hourglasses or water clocks to tell ti, Manbao simply looked at the system clock internally, giving her a better grip on tikeeping.
She removed all the needles, but the Empress only stirred slightly, not waking up.
As usual, Manbao pressed so acupoints, causing the Empress to feel a slight soreness before turning over to lie more comfortably.
Manbao exited the tent, packed her things, and was about to leave when Nurse Shang quickly stopped her, saying, "Dr. Zhou Junior, please stay awhile, the Empress will have words for you when she awakes."
Manbao checked the ti; in half an hour, the Imperial Academy would be dismissing, and she needed to go to administer acupuncture to Yin Huo.
However, considering the rare opportunity at hand, Manbao hesitated for a mont and then sat down to wait.
Seeing Manbao seemingly restless, Nurse Shang poured her a cup of tea and smiled, "Dr. Zhou Junior, relax, our Empress only wishes to have so casual conversation with you, no need to worry."
Manbao nodded, drank a cup of tea, and pointed to a chair nearby, "Sister, please have a seat as well."
Nurse Shang laughed, "You’re calling sister? You should be calling Auntie or Nurse."
Manbao scratched her head awkwardly, "But you look about the sa age as my sisters-in-law, I didn’t want to make you sound old."
Nurse Shang didn’t sit down; in this room, she didn’t have the rank to sit. Instead, she stood and talked softly with Manbao, "Are you the youngest in your family?"
Manbao affird.
"What’s your position among siblings?"
"The eighth."
Nurse Shang then laughed, "No wonder. With a few long intervals between siblings, indeed your mother is quite old. Your family is truly blessed, having so many children."
Manbao wholeheartedly nodded and inquired, "Sister, where are you from? Do you have many siblings?"
Nurse Shang paused before laughing, "I’m from Taiyuan. I only have one brother, but five sisters."
"There are quite a few people in Sister’s family as well."
Nurse Shang smiled softly, it’s just that she wasn’t as fortunate.
Nurse Shang curiously asked Manbao, "Dr. Zhou Junior, who did you learn your dical skills from? It’s quite impressive."
Manbao replied modestly, "Actually, it’s not as extraordinary as the rumors suggest. I’ve studied dicine from many people, and among the imperial physicians, only Imperial Doctor Fan is left now. Do you know Imperial Doctor Fan?"
Nurse Shang nodded with a smile, "I know, Imperial Doctor Fan had left the palace when I had already been here for several years. I didn’t realize you were his student."
No wonder she dared to operate on Su Jian’s stomach. For treating external injuries, Imperial Doctor Fan was the best proficient.
The two chattered softly, and as Nurse Shang went to check on the Empress, seeing that Manbao was indeed bored, she casually picked up a book that the Empress had left on her couch and handed it to her, smiling, "You read this book to pass the ti for now, I’ll go attend to Her Majesty."
Manbao nodded, lowered her head, and saw that it was a copy of the Clan Chronicles. She opened it curiously to read.
She had heard about the Clan Record from different people. The teacher had ntioned it, and both County Magistrate Tang and County Magistrate Yang seed to have ntioned it too, but this was the first ti Manbao had actually seen it.
Curious, she flipped through its pages.
User Comments
0 comments from readers