Chapter 1303: Chapter 1281: Rumors
Mr. Zhuang never thought the court would agree. The reason for letting them investigate the documents themselves and learn how to write memorials was simply to keep them occupied, while also taking the opportunity to teach them more things.
Just like when they were younger and wrote essays after participating in labor duties—those essays took two years of revisions before they were finally shown to County Magistrate Fu, but they still amounted to nothing in the end.
Matters concerning the court are never so simple. Once they’ve experienced enough, they will naturally understand without needing him to explain.
Mr. Zhuang felt that after tackling this issue, the three of them would no longer ask questions like this in the future. They’d be able to figure things out for themselves.
Thus, he casually suppressed the question and smiled faintly, saying, “You’ll understand once you’ve gone and done it.”
Bai Shan and Manbao thought this made sense, so they turned back to continue organizing the materials.
Mr. Zhuang stood up and walked behind Bai Erlang, glancing at the draft he was writing. He shook his head, gently patted him on the shoulder, and said, “Have you read the material for tomorrow’s lesson? Biographies are interesting, but you cannot neglect your studies. Otherwise, watch out—I as your teacher might confiscate all these things.”
Bai Erlang silently finished his draft and then pulled out a book to read.
Bai Shan and Manbao saw this and couldn’t help but lower their heads to stifle their laughter, feeling secretly delighted.
Bai Erlang initially struggled to keep up with his studies at the Highest Institute. Fortunately, the entire class had entered through patronage rather than the rigorous entrance exams, so they weren’t as outstanding as the students in other classes.
The instructors lowered the difficulty of their lessons, and Bai Erlang’s performance within the class was actually not bad. Moreover, he was improving steadily.
Though he still couldn’t compare to those who had passed the entrance exams, he was doing much better than when he first started.
Especially since Bai Erlang, despite being a bit loud and boisterous, counted among the more studious students within the class. As such, the instructors quite favored him.
This was most evident in how, almost every time during class, the teachers liked to call on him to answer questions.
Bai Shan, meanwhile, had already become one of the most renowned figures in the National Academy. This was not only due to his exploits—petitioning the emperor, spending time in prison after legal battles, defeating a prince—but also because of his academic achievements.
Eighty percent of the students at the National Academy had gained entrance through patronage, while only twenty percent succeeded via examination.
Although there were many excellent students among the patronage group, the quality was mixed. Bai Shan, however, surpassed his peers at a visible pace, becoming recognized as one of the top-performing students.
With such exceptional results, it naturally made him quite conspicuous. The students at the National Academy were known for spreading gossip, so when he and a few others went to the Book Collection Tower the day before to search for records about the Imperial Hospital, it didn’t take long for several ministers to hear about it.
However, they didn’t take it too seriously. People knew Bai Shan and Zhou Man were close associates.
Zhou Man, at present, was not only famous throughout the capital as the “little divine physician” but also treating the Empress and Crown Prince in the palace. The ministers thought Zhou Man might be vying to enter the Imperial Hospital.
If she wanted to join, so be it. After all, she was just a young woman—giving her a rank of seventh or eighth grade was hardly a big deal. More importantly, her medical skills were impressive. It was said that Minister Han’s daughter had experienced such a dire childbirth that Zhou Man performed an abdominal delivery, saving both mother and child, who were now doing perfectly fine.
This event had already spread across upper-class households in the past two days. When returning home, the ministers often heard their wives chatting about this remarkable incident.
Of course, although they were curious, they would never bring it up directly with Minister Han.
But discussing these things among themselves was fair game. Just like today, after the morning court session, those heading out to their offices left for their respective ministries;
those staying behind to work in their duty rooms or who had appointments with the Emperor sat leisurely in their chambers, reviewing documents and sipping tea.
Minister Han finished his report and left, so the remaining elder statesmen in the duty room began drinking tea leisurely. One of them asked Minister Li, “Maoyue, is the Imperial Hospital really planning to admit female physicians?”
Li Maoyue, as Minister of Personnel, was likely the most informed about this matter apart from the Imperial Hospital itself.
Li Maoyue sipped his tea calmly and said, “No report has been submitted by the Imperial Hospital. I am unaware.”
“If Her Majesty seeks to recruit talent, Minister Han probably wouldn’t oppose it. What does State Duke Zhao think?”
State Duke Zhao was leisurely holding a teacup and enjoying the drama unfolding. When the question was suddenly directed at him, he frowned and said, “Matters of the Imperial Hospital should naturally be handled by the Imperial Hospital. Why involve me in such trivialities?”
The group of elder statesmen: … State Duke Zhao, snap out of it! The Empress is your biological sister, and the Crown Prince is your nephew. Don’t tell us their affairs have nothing to do with you!
State Duke Zhao was well aware of this connection, but in his view, this wasn’t some grand concern. Wasn’t it just a young woman joining the Imperial Hospital?
If she got in, so be it. She had the skills, and it was merely a position within the Imperial Hospital—giving her the rank was simple enough.
The elder statesmen weren’t particularly invested in the matter either. They just brought it up because they had nothing else to talk about.
Thus, by lunchtime, even the Emperor had heard about it.
You couldn’t avoid it—the duty rooms were staffed by eunuchs, and nearly half of the amusing tidbits the Emperor heard daily originated from those rooms.
So when the Emperor returned to Taiji Hall for his midday meal, he asked the Empress, “Didn’t Zhou Man say she wasn’t interested? Why is Bai Shan still researching matters related to the Imperial Hospital?”
The Empress picked up a piece of stir-fried cabbage with chopsticks, waited for the Emperor to eat it, and then replied, “It wasn’t outright rejection. Let her take her time to consider it.”
The Emperor shook his head with a laugh, saying, “You take things too slowly. If you truly wish to establish a female physician section in the Imperial Hospital, you should issue a command and have the Ministry of Personnel draft a plan. Whatever personnel is lacking, we can transfer people from other regions. Then, give Zhou Man an official seal. If she still declines, offer her additional silver and land—a first invite, a second request. She’ll surely accept eventually.”
The Empress shook her head with a smile, saying, “She is fond of wealth, but I think she prefers staying outside the palace. She seems reluctant. She’s raised some valid points, and I also wish to carefully plan how the female physician initiative should be structured.”
The Emperor nodded and chose to drop the topic, turning his attention to another matter. “Yesterday, I visited Mother. She talked to me about Yunfeng’s marriage, which reminded me that our Changyu is already at an age where she should be betrothed. Shouldn’t we start discussing that?”
The Empress nodded slightly. “The plan was to begin considering this year, but we’ve been busy with many things, and it was delayed. Now that the New Year is approaching, many young masters from prominent families will return to the capital. I’ll observe them then.”
The Emperor nodded, saying, “She’ll come of age after the New Year. I don’t think there’s a need to be overly restrictive. Let her socialize and travel a bit—she might meet someone she likes. Oh, and have her interact more with the sons from Minister Han’s and Wei Zhi’s families.”
The Empress immediately understood that he favored the Han and Wei families.
Thinking of her daughter, who had been raised under her care but was now about to be married off, the Empress sighed wistfully.
The Emperor didn’t dwell on such thoughts. Even if his daughter were married, she’d still be his child. If he missed her, he could always summon her back to the palace for a stay.