Chapter 1435: Chapter 1413 Stewed
Just as the fear was mounting, the soldiers of the capital prefecture finally arrived. They weren’t late, as only about a quarter of an hour had passed from the moment the wheel broke until now.
They rushed over and surrounded the scene. Seeing Zhou Man standing on the carriage shaft, their hearts sank, and upon seeing the carriage she was sitting on, they felt a shiver.
Zhou Man was somewhat of a celebrity in the capital, so naturally, the officers and soldiers of the capital prefecture recognized her. Moreover, she had a good relationship with the young master and had experienced an assassination attempt before. Everyone knew her, from the prefect down to the yamen workers.
The centurion who ran over saw what she was holding and couldn’t help but shudder, despite his battlefield experience. He asked in a deep voice, "Doctor Zhou Junior, what are you holding in your hand?"
"Somebody threw something into my carriage," Manbao gritted her teeth. "What, trying to scare me? Dream on. I’ll tell you, if no one claims it, I’ll take it back and eat it!"
Everyone: ...
Doctor Ding was the first to recover, patting his chest as he asked Manbao, "What kind of animal’s heart, liver, and kidneys are these?"
"A pig’s." Manbao was somewhat frustrated, thinking that if they wanted to intimidate her, they should have used something more expensive. Even if not the heart, liver, and kidneys of a cow, at least they should have been from a sheep.
She jumped down from the carriage shaft, lifted the medical box, and said, "Let’s go back and treat him first."
The centurion of the capital prefecture hurriedly stopped Manbao to inquire further, but Doctor Ding said, "Leave him to us. You should handle matters here first."
He then called for the injured man on the door plank to be carried away, leaving Zheng Gu and Ms. Doctor Liu to accompany Manbao.
The doctors from Jishi Hall left, and the doctors from other medical establishments thought for a moment, had a discussion, and the losers went back to the hall while the remaining ones stayed to watch the excitement.
The centurion sighed in relief when he heard it was a pig’s heart, liver, and kidneys and then led people to clean up the accident scene.
Questions needed to be asked, investigations needed to be done, and of course, the parties involved in the accident needed to be mediated.
Not only him, even Manbao knew she had been set up, but the perpetrator was still unknown.
But in the eyes of the public, it was her carriage that crashed into the shop, so what could be done? Naturally, she could only compensate.
Manbao apologized to the shop owner, and after assessing the damage, they agreed on the compensation amount. Manbao wrote down her address for him to come and collect it tomorrow from home.
With the presence of the officers from the capital prefecture, the shop owner wasn’t afraid of her reneging on the payment, besides, Jishi Hall wasn’t far from here, and he knew Manbao.
Manbao signed a settlement agreement with the affected party and then focused her attention on the centurion, urging him, "You must find out who did this."
In this short time, she lost forty-eight taels, nearly ten months’ salary.
Thinking about the coachman still lying injured, the extent of his injuries unknown, made Manbao even angrier. She said furiously, "Catch the culprit and let them taste what it’s like to be dragged by a horse."
The centurion smiled, agreeing for now regardless of what might happen later.
Zheng Gu thought she was speaking naively, so he stepped forward to negotiate with the officers on her behalf.
Ms. Doctor Liu helped Manbao to sit down, asking, "Master, are you injured?"
Manbao had already self-examined herself; although she collided painfully, there were really no injuries, perhaps just a few bruises, mostly contusions.
After dealing with the situation, Manbao returned to Jishi Hall with Zheng Gu and the others. Doctor Ding was still tending to the coachman’s injuries, so Doctor Tao examined Manbao, nodded, and said, "No problem, use our shop’s ointment, and it’ll be fine in two or three days."
Sanya sighed in relief. Earlier, she was identifying herbs in the backyard, and though curious about the commotion outside, she didn’t take it to heart, as the pharmacy bustled from time to time. Occasionally, patients or their families would cause a scene, something she had grown used to.
Then, Third Senior Brother suddenly rushed in, panic-stricken, saying that their aunt’s carriage had an accident. As she ran out, she saw Second Senior Sister supporting their aunt inside, clothes stained with quite a bit of blood, startling her.
Manbao reassured, "It’s pig’s blood!"
Only then did Sanya breathe a sigh of relief.
Manbao took the ointment and, after washing her hands, went into the treatment room to see the coachman.
Doctor Ding worked quickly; not only had he applied medicine, but he had also set the man’s legs.
Seeing Manbao enter, he smiled and said, "It’s not serious, not too bad. I felt the leg, and it’s just one fracture. Although it seems the ribs might be cracked or just fractured, fortunately, there’s no depression, and the internal organs are fine."
Manbao remained silent, with a steady face, while the coachman lying on the bed let out a sigh of relief. Though his face was pale, he amazingly no longer felt stomach pain.
He had been worried sick since leaving the palace, fearing he might soil himself.
Manbao checked his complexion, felt his pulse, and nodded to Doctor Ding, "Thank you, Doctor Ding."
Doctor Ding replied, "No need to thank me."
After washing his hands, he spoke with Manbao, "Doctor Zhou Junior, let him rest for a while. Shall we sit outside?"
Manbao nodded and went outside with Doctor Ding. She asked, "Did he hit his head?"
Doctor Ding shook his head, "He said no. I checked; there’s a bump on the forehead, but he doesn’t have dizziness, so it shouldn’t be a big issue."
As doctors, impact injuries are most feared when it comes to head trauma and internal bleeding.
As long as those two weren’t problems, the others were considered minor issues; limping legs or broken arms were not overly concerning to doctors.
Shopkeeper Zheng had already ordered a bowl of calming soup for her. Although Manbao felt she didn’t need it, she drank it anyway.
The doctors then sat together, sighing. Doctor Ding and the others dared not ask the reasons, as, during their examination of the coachman, they discovered he was an eunuch, realizing he came from the palace.
Evidently, Manbao had just come from the palace as well.
Why she was in danger was a question that couldn’t be asked.
Others could refrain from asking, but Shopkeeper Zheng couldn’t help it, mainly because their household had deep connections with the palace, as did Manbao’s ties with Jishi Hall.
He lowered his voice to ask, once everyone else had left, "The Crown Prince’s illness..."
Manbao glanced at him and replied, "It’s improving."
The same statement as before, but combined with today’s events, Shopkeeper Zheng sighed, "They’re unable to hold back any longer."
Manbao rubbed her arm, sore from the collision, without speaking. After a moment, she got up, went out, found the package that had been thrown into her lap, opened it, and extracted the pig kidneys and liver, handing them over to Zhou Liru, "Go stew these for the coachman."
Zhou Liru took them and confirmed, "...Aunt, you want me to stew them?"
It wasn’t fear; after all, they had eaten pig kidneys and liver at home. What’s there to be afraid of?
Mainly, she was worried that if she made it and they couldn’t eat it, wouldn’t that be wasteful?
Manbao doubted her culinary skills for a moment, then decided to take it back and do it herself.
Shopkeeper Zheng and Doctor Ding, among others, watched as she crouched in the backyard to wash the pig kidneys and liver, chopped them up carelessly, tossed them into a pot, added a couple of herbs, and set it to stew over the fire.
Everyone: ...