Chapter 2368 Weighing
The Crown Prince thought for a moment and shook his head. "Bai Shan has the talent to govern a country. It wouldn't be much good for him to stay in the Chongwenguan right after he starts his official career. Such a talented person should be sent out to gain experience and then transferred back to the capital after a few years. By then, whether he joins the Six Ministries, the Ministry of Personnel, the Secretariat, or my Eastern Palace, he will have a chance to make a difference."
The Crown Princess: ...So you yourself think that her brother is not capable of governing a country. Why are you still angry now?
"Then who do you think is suitable?"
The prince thought for a moment and said, "There's no rush for this. Even if my third brother is sent out, he'll have to wait until he recovers from his illness. Besides, he'll have to take the Mingjing exam. After the exam, the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel will need examiners. I'll then select the candidates."
The Crown Princess was still quite regretful. "If Bai Shan could stay in the Eastern Palace, then she and Zhou Man would be husband and wife. I heard from Mingda and Changyu that the two families are going to set a date for the wedding."
The prince is not very interested in the marriage of his subordinates, especially since Zhou Man’s marriage has already been decided. What else is there to talk about?
So he said, "They are both not young anymore, it is indeed time for them to get married. If Changyu and Mingda had not been in mourning, they would have been married last year."
The Crown Princess: "...Your Highness, what I mean is that Zhou Man will definitely be exiled with Bai Shan after he gets married. We can't possibly separate a couple, right?"
The prince was puzzled. "What's wrong with being separated? Aren't there many officials and their spouses separated from each other in the court?"
The Crown Princess widened her eyes in shock and looked at the Crown Prince in disbelief.
The prince looked at her in confusion, not quite understanding her thoughts, "What's wrong?"
The Crown Princess spoke softly after a long pause, "Your Highness, how could they be the same as everyone else?"
Prince: "What makes them different from others?"
The Crown Princess opened her mouth, looking as if she wanted to say something but hesitated. After a long while, she finally found the words, "Officials in the court are separated from their wives and children. Firstly, the wives have to support their parents at home; secondly, they have to educate the children at home. As long as a legitimate son is born, the concubine can be sent to follow the husband to the outside world, but..."
The Crown Princess looked at the Crown Prince dimly and said, "Bai Shan and Zhou Man are separating just before their wedding, so it's obvious they can't have children right away. Furthermore, does Your Highness think Bai Shan is someone who would take a concubine?"
The prince said, "What does that have to do with me? Whether they take concubines or not is a matter between husband and wife. Only when Zhou Man is no longer an official can he freely choose whether to follow Bai Shan to be exiled, stay in the capital, or go somewhere else."
The Crown Princess: "Your Highness is too unkind. What if Zhou Man also wants to be exiled with Bai Shan?"
It's not just a matter of chance. From what she heard from Mingda and Changyu, she knew that Zhou Man had this plan.
The Crown Prince waved his hand nonchalantly and said, "That depends on whether she can convince the Imperial Hospital and His Majesty. She is, after all, a fifth-rank Imperial Physician, and it's not easy for an Imperial Physician of this rank to be transferred out."
The Crown Princess looked at him in surprise, "Your Highness, are you willing to send Zhou Man away?"
The Crown Prince glanced at her and said, "Haven't I and the Eastern Palace been doing well during the year she left the capital? It's certainly good for her to be here, but if she has something more important to do, I won't force her to leave. She's a court official, not my retainer."
Speaking of this, the prince still felt quite regretful. If Zhou Man was willing to enter the Eastern Palace, there wouldn't be so many regrets. But he also knew that if Zhou Man didn't have this ambition, he wouldn't have his current medical skills.
Bai Shan was young, and both he and his father could see the talent in him. They knew that if he grew up, he would become a pillar of society in the future.
The same goes for Zhou Man. Although she is a woman, her intelligence and ability are no less than Bai Shan, and her future achievements will not be inferior to his.
Without mentioning the distant past, let’s just talk about the cowpox treatment method we are currently working on. If it succeeds, it will be a great achievement for generations to come.
Of course, it is not just Zhou Man who will make great contributions to future generations. There will also be her superiors, the chief officers who may become the main force in promoting the cowpox law in the future, as well as the current emperor and the prince who manages the Imperial Medical Bureau.
In the future, it will be recorded in history as their achievement, if all goes well.
Obviously, there are many people who share the same idea as the prince. Therefore, regardless of the effectiveness of the experiments Zhou Man and others conducted in the imperial farm, they have everything they want outside.
Of course, they don't want much either, except cows, medicine and people.
Except for the higher cost of medicine, the other expenses are not that much.
It’s just that an area has been cordoned off in the imperial farm, and now a house is being built, and the construction did not stop even on the Lantern Festival.
For the Imperial Medical Bureau, nothing is more important than this matter now. Even though Su Jian received a series of gifts of condolences from the palace, the Imperial Medical Bureau did not let Zhou Man skip work to treat Su Jian.
Manbao could only go to the Su family to see Su Jian after returning home from the yamen.
Su Jian's stomachache got better after two days, but Manbao felt that the abscess had not completely disappeared, so he still gave him an acupuncture every other day and took two doses of medicine every day.
After ten days, Manbao finally said, "It's okay now. Just pay attention to your diet from now on."
Su Jian breathed a sigh of relief. He had been eating a light diet and taking medicine these days. His mouth felt so bitter as if a layer of coptis root was applied on his tongue. It was extremely uncomfortable.
Now that he had to understand the ban, his whole face lit up.
Manbao couldn't help but remind him, "Drink less alcohol and pay more attention to your diet in the future."
Su Jian waved his hand and said, "I know, I know. Come, send Mr. Zhou out."
After thinking about it, he simply stood up and said, "I'll take Master Zhou out."
Manbao put away the medicine box and shook his head to refuse, "No need, I know the way well and can get out by myself, young master, you should have more rest."
Su Jian always felt that Zhou Man's words implied something.
Zhou Man is indeed very familiar with the Su family. After all, three years ago, Su Jian was seriously injured and Manbao has been living in their house. He has been here for six days this time. Isn't he familiar with the Su family?
After Manbao came out, he did not go home immediately, but took the medicine box to see the wife of Duke Pi. She had recently developed a new patient, and every time she came to give Su Jian acupuncture, she would also give the wife of Duke Pi acupuncture.
The wife of Duke Pi is old and has been very angry recently, so her health is not good.
Seeing Zhou Man, Lady Piguogong smiled and beckoned her to her side, saying, "Doctor Zhou, you've arrived just in time. The palace just received some gifts, and I think the color of this satin would suit Doctor Zhou. I'll have someone deliver it to Doctor Zhou later."
Manbao immediately declined and said with a smile: "This is given to the old lady by the palace. How can I take away someone's love?"
"How can an old lady like me wear such fresh and delicate clothes? Doctor Zhou is the most suitable."
Manbao said, "Aren't there three more wives? And the young ladies in the mansion, I think this color will suit them too."
Lady Pi just smiled and insisted on giving it to Manbao.
Manbao was not good at refusing, so after trying three times and still failing, he gave up.
The wife of Duke Pi smiled with satisfaction. She liked this point of Zhou Man: he would accept gifts when it was due, without being polite, and the person giving the gift would also be happy.
See you at 9pm
(End of this chapter)
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