Chapter 1306: Chapter 1284: Humble Position
The next day, Yin Huo went to school with them. Now that his health had improved significantly, although he was still on medication and needed acupuncture from time to time, he no longer collapsed frequently, too weak to get out of bed.
Today, Manbao was also very busy. She first had to visit the Li Residence to see Fifth Lady Han. After checking her wound, she formally said, "It’s healed. You can relax a bit, but you still need to be careful for a while. Try not to let it get wet, and once you’ve finished your confinement period, the wound will be fully healed."
Fifth Lady Han breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Can I see people now?"
During this period, she hadn’t seen anyone except Nanny Li, who could hold the child and come in to see her, and a maid and her eldest sister who were allowed in the room.
Because Manbao had spoken terrifying words, neither the Han nor Li families dared to visit Fifth Lady Han.
Manbao, with a serious little face, said, "Rest is still the priority."
However, she didn’t say not to meet anyone because the mood of the postpartum woman was also very important.
She said, "Make sure it’s clean, so don’t gather too many people."
Fifth Lady Han had also obviously heard about Manbao’s "external evil theory" and shuddered slightly before nodding repeatedly.
But with the restriction lifted, Fifth Lady Han relaxed significantly. Although she didn’t allow a crowd of relatives and friends inside, she was able to meet a few more people each day.
When too many people wanted to see her, she would have a huge screen brought over to be placed between them, thinking it would block the external evil.
It seems to have been somewhat effective, as when Manbao visited her again two days later, she did not find the wound worsened.
After seeing Fifth Lady Han, Manbao went to the palace to see the Crown Prince.
As usual, it was Eunuch Wu who escorted Manbao out of the palace. Manbao took the opportunity to mention finding people to practice acupuncture. To reassure Eunuch Wu, Manbao promised, "I will supervise them when they practice acupuncture to ensure they don’t injure anyone."
The Crown Prince had entrusted Eunuch Wu with finding practice subjects for Ms. Doctor Liu and Doctor Xiao. His smile froze momentarily before he asked, "Regarding the palace people I found previously for Ms. Doctor Liu...?"
"I asked Ms. Doctor Liu; they are all new to the palace and don’t have any major ailments. Some acupuncture points might not be suitable for practice."
Eunuch Wu was slightly moved and quietly asked, "From what Divine Doctor Zhou Junior says, are you planning to perform acupuncture according to the symptoms?"
Manbao replied speechlessly, "Of course, acupuncture should be performed according to symptoms. How else would we do it, randomly? What if someone gets hurt?"
Eunuch Wu’s eyes twinkled, and he smiled, "Yes, yes, Divine Doctor Zhou Junior is right. So, are you looking only for palace maids or...?"
"Everyone."
Eunuch Wu tentatively suggested, "But Ms. Doctor Liu and Doctor Xiao are treating the Empress, so..."
The Empress was a woman, so Eunuch Wu initially found only palace maids for Ms. Doctor Liu and Doctor Xiao.
But Manbao said, "But Ms. Doctor Liu is assigned to learn medicine under me, so naturally she needs to study acupuncture points on men as well."
Eunuch Wu expressed his understanding with a smile, saying, "Rest assured, Divine Doctor Zhou Junior, I understand. I’ll find the right people for you. What time would suit the acupuncture sessions?"
Manbao thought for a moment and said, "I need some time to prepare. Let’s start the day after tomorrow, during Shen to You hours. Would you prefer us to enter the palace, or would you send them out?"
Eunuch Wu quickly replied, "Bringing so many people out of the palace would be troublesome. It would be more convenient for the divine doctor to come in."
Manbao agreed but added, "Ms. Doctor Liu and Doctor Xiao have no issue entering and leaving the palace, but I have a medicine boy named Shao..."
Eunuch Wu immediately smiled, "It’s common for the divine doctor to bring a medicine boy when visiting the palace; I’ll inform the palace gates accordingly."
Manbao nodded.
Eunuch Wu continued to ask, "What about the place for the consultations?"
"Just find two connected rooms or one room and divide it into several small areas with screens and curtains, then place some wooden couches inside."
Eunuch Wu noted down the details in his mind.
"Do you need any specific medicinal materials?"
"I haven’t seen the patients yet, so it’s uncertain what medicinal materials are needed." However, Manbao was a bit puzzled and asked, "If I prescribe medicine, can you retrieve it from the Imperial Hospital?"
Eunuch Wu laughed, "You’re joking, Divine Doctor. We servants wouldn’t dare take prescriptions to the Imperial Hospital ourselves."
If they did, someone in his position would likely face a period of suspension, not to mention those powerless eunuchs and palace maids. The scent of medicine would get them reassigned to worse positions at best, or sent to royal estates or quarantine offices, which could be life-threatening.
But with acupuncture, there were no such worries. The needles left no scent, and for someone like him, if a problem were discovered, some money could secretly procure medicine from the Imperial Hospital to be taken during off-duty hours, which could be somewhat effective.
Eunuch Wu was pondering and decided to arrange for himself to be the first consultation.
Eunuch Wu warmly escorted Manbao to the palace gates and watched her leave in a carriage before turning back with a junior eunuch towards the Eastern Palace.
The junior eunuch hurriedly caught up, "Master, will Divine Doctor Zhou Junior only perform acupuncture for people within the Eastern Palace, or the entire palace?"
Eunuch Wu glanced at him, "You little rascal, what are you planning?"
The junior eunuch sheepishly smiled, "Master knows that I have a fellow townsman who came in the same year as me, now working at Zhuming Gate. He took a fall while sweeping the garden..."
Eunuch Wu paused and said, "We don’t know how fast Divine Doctor Zhou Junior’s consultations will be. Let’s list him as the second batch; whether he gets treated will depend on his luck."
The junior eunuch understood and dared not push further; he was already very grateful for being listed.
After leaving the palace, Manbao went straight home. As soon as the carriage entered the alley, she heard the lively commotion at her house.
She jumped off the carriage, seeing the wide-open door of her house, and curiously walked in, only to see Zhou SiLang and Sanzi helping carry things in and out.
Curious, Manbao leaned over to look and asked, "Fourth Brother, what’s in these boxes?"
Zhou SiLang, who was busy directing the moving, was startled and lightly hit her on the head with annoyance, "You scared me to death! Can’t you walk quietly? These are furs I bought with others, planning to ship back to Yizhou City to make money."
Zhou SiLang was quite proud, then pulled out a package to give to her, "Oh, right, there are a few fox furs in here for you to make a fur coat. I see the wealthy young ladies in the capital all wear such things, so you should make one too."
Manbao said, "I already have one, a white one that the Empress gave me."
She opened it and found the fox furs Zhou SiLang gave were of varied colors, mostly gray, which she thought also nice, as they were at least stain-resistant.
Upon hearing she already had a rare white fox fur, Zhou SiLang took back the package enthusiastically, "That’s great! Since you already have it, then I’ll sell these. Let me tell you, Yizhou is also very cold, these will definitely sell well."
He was initially a bit regretful about giving them.