Chapter 1525 Play
The emperor knew nothing about this. He took the queen aside and talked to her for a while. He thought that since Zhou Man was here, he might as well let the queen see him too.
"The Queen has had a poor appetite lately."
Man Bao felt his pulse and said, "It's a bitter summer. There's no good way to treat it, but you're weak. Don't use too many ice basins in the room. Use a fan, or sit in a ventilated place. Be careful not to catch a cold at night..."
Manbao rambled on and on with many instructions, and even the emperor who was listening beside her felt that she was too long-winded. However, the queen herself was listening with great interest.
When he finally sent her away, the emperor heaved a sigh of relief and said, "You look young, but why are you so nagging?"
The Queen asked with a smile, "Your Majesty, is your stomach still hurting now?"
The emperor felt it for a moment and shook his head, saying, "Don't mention it, her acupuncture is quite useful. I heard from the Crown Prince that their Imperial Medical Bureau is going to teach different subjects, and one of them is acupuncture."
The Queen also felt good. Although this summer was still bitter, it was actually better than in previous years. She felt very uncomfortable at this time last year, especially when the willow catkins were flying. She once thought she would not survive that summer.
This was the first time the emperor had received acupuncture, and he thought it was good, let alone the queen who was often treated with acupuncture.
It was for this reason that the empress tried so hard to persuade the emperor to reorganize the Imperial Medical Bureau.
If Zhou Man's skills could be taught to his disciples as written in their memorial, and then spread to medical offices in various places, and then he could treat illnesses for people all over the world, who knows how many people would benefit from it.
The emperor also began to think seriously about this matter, and his thoughts were deeper than the empress's. "Acupuncture uses less medicine, so the cost should be lower. Some poor people can also use it."
The emperor couldn't help but tap his thigh with his fingers. He pondered, "When the time comes, we'll allocate a sum of money from the national treasury every year. Medical offices across the country will purchase some commonly used medicinal herbs, which can also provide relief to patients who can't afford medicine."
The Queen nodded repeatedly, "That's exactly what I mean."
"However, this regulation must be established, lest we fail to help the people who really need it and instead feed some rats." The emperor thought for a moment, then turned to Gu Zhong and said, "The Crown Prince is in charge of this matter. Call him over and I'll ask him if he has any regulations in place."
Gu Zhong quickly agreed, bowed and left, asking someone to summon the prince.
Just as he was about to turn back after giving the order, he saw Zhou Man, who had just left the side hall, sitting happily with the two princesses. He didn't know what they were talking about, but Zhou Man and Princess Changyu were laughing with their heads tilted back, and even Princess Mingda was laughing so hard that her eyes were curved.
Gu Zhong shook his head slightly and turned back.
The emperor and empress in the palace also vaguely heard the laughter and asked, "What are they laughing at?"
Immediately, a palace servant went out to ask, and soon came back with the news, "Little Lady Zhou is telling the princesses about the fun she had playing by the river in the village when she was a child. The two princesses really enjoyed it."
It's more than just love. If Manbao hadn't said that the sun was too strong and she didn't want to bask in the sun, the two of them almost dragged her to the river to dig mud and play.
As for the river, there is also the Daming Palace.
Because the Daming Palace was never completed and covers such a vast area, it has a rather wild charm. The riverside has never been managed, with grass growing where it should, and mud where it should, and even wild ducks roaming in some of the lush mudflats.
It doesn't look like a palace at all.
Finally, the sun went down and became less scorching. Changyu, who was pulling Manbao and Mingda to the river, saw the wild ducks that were frightened and flew away, and couldn't help but scream with joy.
Manbao was not surprised, but she really wanted to know if there were any wild duck eggs in the water plants, so she lifted her skirt, tied it, rolled up her sleeves and walked deep into the grass.
Changyu immediately followed. Mingda wanted to go too, but was quickly stopped by a palace attendant. "Princess, you can't catch a cold."
Mingda felt a little regretful, so he stood on the shore waiting for them and pointed them in the direction, "Come up a little further, the wild duck just flew away from above..."
Manbao dug through the lush aquatic plants on the mudflats, and finally he and Princess Changyu found a hay nest. When they dug it open, they saw five bluish-white duck eggs.
Both of them couldn't help but exclaimed and reached out to take it.
Manbao even shook his head and said happily, "The days are not long, you can eat it all."
Changyu took three and Manbao took two. They happily squeezed out from the water plants and showed the duck eggs to Mingda.
Mingda was also very curious, "How do you eat this?"
"You can stir-fry it with leeks," Manbao said, "Leeks are delicious when fried with eggs, so fried duck eggs should be delicious too."
It's all eggs anyway.
Chang Yu was reluctant to eat them all, so he took one and said, "I'm going to wash this one and put it on the table. No one else is allowed to eat it."
Mingda also wanted one, so he held one in his hand. Manbao didn't care and handed both eggs to the palace servant. "This egg can only be kept for about twenty days. It's hot, and it will go bad if you don't eat it."
Mingda lamented, "Is there no way to prevent it from breaking?"
"Yes, let's see if it's a breeding egg. If it is, find a hen to incubate it. Then the egg will turn into a duckling. The duckling will grow up and lay eggs again. Then it won't go bad, right? Hahaha..."
Manbao was just joking, but Mingda and Changyu actually took it seriously. After thinking about it, they thought this was a good idea, so they decided to take it back and ask someone to find a hen to hatch the eggs.
"How can I tell if this is a breeding egg?"
Manbao was stunned for a moment, then carefully recalled her mother's steps in selecting eggs. She scratched her head and said, "You have to light an oil lamp, then hold the egg up to the lamp. By shining it, you can tell whether it's a breeding egg or not."
The palace maids and eunuchs beside: ...
There was a maid who was quite old before she entered the palace and knew how to tell the difference. So she stepped forward and said, "Princess, I know how to tell the difference."
So the group ran back to the palace, drew the curtains, lit the oil lamp, and selected the eggs.
Luckily, three of the five eggs were breeding eggs. Mingda and Changyu chose one they liked, then looked at Manbao and asked, "Are you really not going to pick one?"
Manbao was not very interested in raising ducks. She had plenty of ducks in her small farm, so there was no need to raise them all the way to the palace.
But it was rare for her to have something to do together with her friends, so after thinking it over, she picked up the remaining egg and nodded, "Okay, but it's not convenient for me to carry it with me. Can you help me carry it? I'll put it together with the hen that's brooding."
Mingda nodded immediately, took the duck egg from her hand and said with a smile: "I'll help you keep it."
Seeing that they had finally come to an agreement, the palace attendant beside them gently reminded them, "Master Zhou, it's getting late."
Manbao looked outside and was shocked to realize how time flew by. It was almost time for dinner.
She immediately stood up and said, "I have to go back, otherwise the ship will stop operating soon."
The most important thing is that she still has to submit the medical records to the Imperial Hospital, and she doesn't know who is on duty at the Imperial Hospital tonight.
See you at 8pm
(End of this chapter)
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