Chapter 1304: Chapter 1282 Stabbing Oneself
The matter of establishing a won’s Imperial Hospital suddenly cooled down. The Empress stopped bringing it up, and Manbao no longer worried about whether she should take the position. Both parties seed to have tacitly returned to a calm, unspoken agreent about it.
However, Ms. Doctor Liu ca to stay by Manbao’s side. Manbao took her to et Shopkeeper Zheng and formally arranged for her to study and consult at Jishi Hall.
Imperial Doctor Liu did not oppose this arrangent, though he didn’t particularly support it either.
Ms. Doctor Liu, however, was already quite satisfied with this outco.
Manbao continued her routine: visiting the Li Residence daily to check on Fifth Lady Han, going into the palace every other day to see the Crown Prince, and occasionally visiting Taiji Hall on days when the Empress required a consultation to give her acupuncture.
No matter where she went for consultations, Manbao always took Ms. Doctor Liu with her. She knew that Ms. Doctor Liu had already morized all the ridian points on the human body and understood the various requirents for inserting needles, but she had never formally practiced acupuncture.
There was no way around this. The Empress wasn’t an ordinary person, so it was impossible for her to let Ms. Doctor Liu practice acupuncture on her.
And honestly, even an average person wouldn’t agree. After all, needles aren’t sothing that can be haphazardly used.
This was when the usefulness of the human-like model ca into play. When Manbao first practiced acupuncture, she didn’t have to worry about such things—she directly practiced on the model.
The models were not only similar to real people but also capable of reporting data. When the needle was inserted, it could automatically indicate its depth and position, sparing her the guesswork.
This was why Manbao’s acupuncture skills improved so rapidly and why she learned so quickly. The mont the needle was inserted, she would imdiately know whether she was correct or mistaken—and if mistaken, she’d know exactly where she went wrong.
But Ms. Doctor Liu…
Manbao finally mustered up the courage on a cold yet sunny afternoon. Rolling up her sleeves, she let Ms. Doctor Liu try to locate a few ridian points on her arm and insert needles. On her very first attempt, Ms. Doctor Liu got the point wrong, and the insertion caused bleeding…
Although it didn’t hurt much—just a brief sting—Manbao still felt quite distressed. As she asked Ms. Doctor Liu to remove the needle, she demanded, “How could you get it wrong?”
Ms. Doctor Liu herself didn’t understand how she got it wrong. After removing the needle, she stood awkwardly by the side and said quietly, “Three inches below the elbow. I carefully felt for it, and I was sure it was the correct spot. I don’t know how I managed to miss.”
Manbao pressed the area herself and soon felt a sharp pain at the small red dot. Without hesitation, she pointed a bit beside the red dot and said, “Here, try this spot.”
Ms. Doctor Liu hesitated.
Manbao was afraid as well. She was quite bold when needling others, but when it ca to being needled herself, she couldn’t help but avert her gaze—and that was why Ms. Doctor Liu had missed the first ti.
This ti, having found the correct location herself, though still uneasy, Manbao stared intently without turning away. “I’m not afraid; what are you afraid of? Do you see where I’m pointing? Press lightly and insert the needle. Don’t hesitate! If you hesitate, it’ll hurt more…”
Ms. Doctor Liu stepped forward, pressed gently on the spot, and inserted the needle. Manbao closed her eyes slightly but, feeling no pain, opened them again to see the needle properly inserted. She nodded with satisfaction, “That’s right. You got it. Now, turn the needle just as I taught you…”
Ms. Doctor Liu managed to locate several points on Manbao’s arm. Despite the cold weather, she broke into a sweat. She had practiced acupuncture with Doctor Xiao before, but had never felt this nervous.
When she and Doctor Xiao practiced on each other, they made far fewer mistakes, but under Manbao’s intense gaze—and knowing she was inserting needles into Manbao herself—every point seed to go awry.
Manbao didn’t voice her feelings, but internally, she was even more anxious than Ms. Doctor Liu. After sending her off, she spoke to Bai Shan when he returned later. “It’s so difficult. I only dare let her needle a few non-critical points on . As for the major ridian points, especially those I can’t see, I don’t dare let her try. What should I do? At this rate, teaching her just the needle techniques for the Empress alone might take several months.”
Bai Shan was curious, “But didn’t you previously say that you just needed two more months to teach them enough to take over needling the Empress?”
“Do you know how they were learning before?”
Bai Shan shook his head.
Manbao explained, “They first morized the ridian points and needle techniques. Then they located the points on each other, always reciting the techniques aloud for confirmation before proceeding. Even when practicing on each other, they only used less critical points. The Crown Prince also found a group of palace servants for them to practice on, but Ms. Doctor Liu and Doctor Xiao never felt confident enough, so they kept delaying.”
Manbao sighed, “Good thing they didn’t try needling anyone earlier. With their current skill in locating points, one mistake could paralyze soone.”
Bai Erlang, startled, began randomly rubbing his body and nervously turned to Bai Shan, asking, “When we were little, she only needled our fingers, right? Not our bodies?”
Manbao scoffed, “The first person I ever needled was Sister-in-law Hu, not you.”
Bai Shan glanced at her knowingly, “I rember when Bai Er and I got sick as kids, you needled us—and so of your needling even caused bleeding.”
Manbao’s gaze wavered slightly. “That was because you were too small. The ridian points weren’t exactly where the book said they’d be. But you see, I haven’t caused bleeding on you since, right?”
“Besides, I didn’t charge either of you a single coin. It was free care,” Manbao added with righteous confidence. “That was all courtesy of .”
Yin Huo, who had been silently reflecting on all the tis he’d received treatnt, finally confird that he had never been needled to the point of bleeding and that all points were correctly identified. He let out a sigh of relief and turned to Manbao, “Are you going to needle now?”
Manbao replied, “Let’s go. Daji has already prepared the brazier, and we can head to Bai Shan’s room.”
Bai Shan followed them inside, watching her needle Yin Huo. He asked, “So what’s the plan? How are you going to teach them?”
Manbao said, “I plan to discuss with Shopkeeper Zheng about hanging a sign outside the pharmacy offering free acupuncture to the public. Priority will be given to those with illnesses. Ms. Doctor Liu can handle the needling—and maybe Shao too.”
Recently, Shao had been feeling very anxious due to Ms. Doctor Liu’s arrival. He worried that Ms. Doctor Liu would surpass him and that Manbao would abandon teaching him. As a result, he had beco extrely attentive to Manbao, practically laying out carpets for her and serving her at every turn.
Manbao felt helpless about this. To ease his worries, she decided to let him also begin learning acupuncture.
Fortunately, he had already morized the ridian charts, so his progress matched Ms. Doctor Liu’s.
Truth be told, if Manbao were honest, Ms. Doctor Liu’s understanding of dical principles surpassed that of Shao, despite her having had less ti to learn.
Her intelligence certainly rivalled his.
After finishing Yin Huo’s needle treatnt, Manbao occasionally moved his limbs and remarked to Bai Shan, “As for the palace servants who are healthy, let’s not ss with them. We shouldn’t trouble them unnecessarily.”
Bai Shan chuckled, “How do you know they’re healthy if you haven’t examined them?”
“Huh?”
User Comments
0 comments from readers