Chapter 2016 Priceless Treasure
The Queen Mother called out calmly, "Zhou Man."
Manbao was stunned for a moment and then stepped forward.
The head maid had already opened the box. The Queen Mother said, "You are a good child. Originally, this thing should have been given to you as a reward later, but since you are here today, you can take it all."
Manbao saw at a glance that there seemed to be several books under the box and two large boxes on top. He didn't know what was inside.
The emperor took a look, but couldn't tell what was in the box. He couldn't help asking, "What did the queen mother give her as a reward?"
The Queen Mother smiled faintly and said, "There are several books on medical classics in the storeroom. I have no use for them, and it would be a waste to give them to you. She is devoted to learning, and learning medical skills well will benefit the country and the people, so I had them found and given to her."
Manbao's eyes lit up, and he knelt down sincerely, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for the reward."
The Queen Mother looked at the other two large boxes.
The senior palace maid carefully took them out and opened one of them.
The Queen Mother looked reluctant to part with the statue. "This is the statue of Laozi that I had made. I wanted to worship it myself, but it's too late. Since you also worship Laozi, I'll give it to you."
Everyone: ...
Manbao looked up and saw the senior palace maid carefully taking out a statue of Laozi that was mainly white with some yellow dots.
Perhaps in order to seek health, Laozi held a yellow medicine gourd in addition to the whisk in his hand.
Apart from that, only the lips and cheeks were dotted with some red. It was not known whether it was caused by firing or added later, but it looked very beautiful, even more beautiful than the Laozi statues they usually saw made of black jade, white jade and green jade.
Manbao was stunned and asked, "Is this porcelain?"
The Queen Mother reached out and gently stroked the statue of Laozi. "Yes, it was fired in the torture kiln. Of the three statues of Laozi sent to me, this one is the best. I had the others torn to pieces, and only this one is left."
The emperor just felt that his mother was wasting resources. He remembered that some time ago he heard that the empress dowager had asked people to go to Xingzhou to burn a statue of Laozi.
I heard that the torture kiln was working day and night and broke a lot of things. So they were firing this thing?
By the way, to whom did the Queen Mother give the kiln in Xingzhou?
His eyes slid across the booklets in the hands of several children.
The Queen Mother just took a look, signaled the head maid to close the box, and opened another one.
The other was a Buddha statue carved from jade. It was not only lustrous, but Manbao could even smell the faint scent of sandalwood. The Queen Mother said, "I understand what Master Zhishen has said. You also have a connection with Buddhism. I have worshipped this Buddha statue for over thirty years, burning incense daily and polishing it every ten days, never neglecting it."
Her gaze fell on Zhou Man, her eyes a little blurry. "I think you are a very spiritual person, so I give you this statue of Laozi and a statue of Buddha. I hope you can pray for peace in the world."
If the world is at peace, then her descendants will surely be safe and healthy.
Manbao was relieved to hear that. It was good that she was not asked to become a nun.
Manbao nodded repeatedly and knelt down to thank the Queen Mother for her reward.
The emperor didn't know what to say, and his expression was indescribable. How could a statue of Laozi and a statue of Buddha be given together?
The Queen Mother didn't think there was anything wrong, or maybe she couldn't think about it at that moment.
She felt her strength draining away, and she wasn't as energetic anymore. She looked at the emperor and said, "You guys go out. I need to change my clothes."
When the emperor heard this, his lips trembled and he paused for a long time before taking his children and grandchildren out. The queen stayed behind and helped the queen mother change her clothes with the palace maids.
Manbao hesitated for a moment and looked at Doctor Xiao. Doctor Xiao nodded to her and left with Doctor Liu.
Manbao stayed and watched.
The Queen Mother put on her clothes layer by layer, but did not put on her makeup. She sat on the bed, leaning slightly against the soft pillow, and smiled at the sad queen, "It's good that I can leave in a decent way."
"Mother..." The Queen forced a smile and said, "My daughter-in-law, please call His Majesty and the others in."
The empress dowager nodded slightly, and when she looked at the emperor and others who came in hurriedly, her vision was a little blurred. She could clearly feel that her heart seemed to slow down suddenly, and then slowly, slowly beat a few times, no longer as strong as before.
The body feels very sleepy, as if all the organs in the body have fallen asleep.
The Queen Mother felt her hand being held. Her eyes slowly fell on her hand, and she heard the Emperor call out "Mother!"
The Queen Mother twitched the corners of her mouth, raised her eyes, and slid them over the Crown Prince, Prince Gong, Mingda, and Yunfeng, before finally settling slowly on Yunfeng. She said softly, "You have to be good..."
Be good and obedient, and observe the full mourning period for her...
Unfortunately, the words were so low that even the emperor who was holding her hand could not hear them clearly. The empress dowager slowly closed her eyes and the strength in her hands disappeared.
The emperor couldn't help but cry out anxiously. Man Bao, the imperial physician, could only step forward to check, then kneel down and announce, "Your Majesty, the Queen Mother has passed away..."
The hall was suddenly filled with crying. The queen led everyone to kneel down and cry. When the royal family members and grandchildren who were kneeling in the outer rooms heard the crying, they immediately joined in howling. Suddenly, everyone inside and outside the hall knew that the queen mother was gone.
After crying for a while, everyone started to work in an orderly manner.
The Queen Mother had to dress up and prepare her appearance, the palace had to be hung with white linen, and preparations for the funeral had to be made.
All these were done by the Crown Prince and the Ministry of Rites. The Emperor held the head of the bed with one hand and cried with his head down, while the Empress stayed by his side to prevent him from being too sad.
Manbao suddenly had nothing to do, so she retreated to the side hall with Doctor Liu and others. The box given to her by the Queen Mother was also moved to the side hall.
Imperial Physician Xiao and Imperial Physician Liu looked at her with some envy. They both thought that the Empress Dowager would not like her, but they did not expect that the Empress Dowager would leave her a relic.
Manbao himself didn't expect that when he took out the two boxes, he saw several books at the bottom of the boxes.
She carefully took them out and looked at them. Doctor Xiao and Doctor Liu also came forward and found that there were six books in total. One of them was almost broken when she picked it up because the paper was very worn. Manbao opened this one first.
Doctor Xiao glanced over and froze for a moment, his heart pounding. "This... this is a handwritten copy of the Qing Nang Jing."
Manbao was also startled, and then she carefully distinguished the words on it. They were very sloppy and a little damaged due to poor preservation. She stared at it for a while and said, "It doesn't seem to be the original. If it was copied by someone else, there may be errors and omissions." It may also be fake.
Doctor Xiao also suspected it was a fake. Hua Tuo's "Qing Nang Jing" was lost during the Wei Dynasty. He had only heard of it but had never seen the manuscript. However, some people said they had seen it.
But most of them are no longer reliable, and some have been proven to be false.
But this one...
Doctor Xiao said, "The one in the Queen Mother's hand might not be fake?"
All of a sudden, all the doctors in the room stared at the tattered book in Zhou Man's hand with their eyes wide open, so scorching that they seemed to want to burn her hand.
See you at 9pm
(End of this chapter)
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