Chapter 2794 Surge
The Queen was concerned about Prince Gong's leg disease, so she ordered the Imperial Medical Bureau to send a doctor to Luozhou to visit Prince Gong.
The empress prepared a lot of medicinal herbs for Prince Gong, and the emperor also opened the inner treasury and moved out a lot of things, all of which were gold, silver, silk, books and other things that Prince Gong liked.
The Crown Prince learned about this when he returned to the East Palace for dinner in the evening. The Crown Princess served him a bowl of soup with a strange look on her face. "Your Highness, do you know who your mother sent to Luozhou?"
The prince didn't care much. The third brother's leg was lame, so he had no chance to compete with him. However, it was rest time now, and the prince didn't mind watching the third brother make fun of him, so he asked, "Who did you send?"
"Zhou Man."
The prince almost spit out the soup he had just drunk, but he couldn't help coughing. He covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief, and only raised his eyes to look at the Crown Princess when it would not be rude.
The Crown Princess was also amused and surprised. "Your Highness is surprised too, right? I was also surprised when I first heard it, so I sent someone to inquire about it, and only then did I find out that it was Zhou Man who requested this errand himself."
The prince frowned. "Although Zhou Man and Prince Gong are not on good terms, she is not the kind of person who would waste time on such grudges. Why would she go to Luozhou to see Prince Gong?"
Zhou Man always had insufficient time. Every time he met her ten times, she said nine times that she was very busy and didn't have enough time. Prince Gong was not worth her wasting time on.
The Crown Princess lowered her voice slightly and said, "It is said that her disciple at the Luozhou Medical Bureau got into trouble and was arrested by the local county government. Now his whole family is in prison."
She paused and said, "Your Highness, if something happens to Zhou Man's disciple, won't she, the teacher, be implicated?"
The prince said nothing.
The Crown Princess poured him another half bowl of soup and said, "But that's in Luozhou, Prince Gong's fiefdom. It's not for us to interfere."
The prince lowered his eyes and said nothing. After dinner, he went to the study and asked a few officials from the East Palace to come and talk to him.
Lord Guo of the Zhanshi Mansion knew about this matter. The Crown Prince was still in charge of the Imperial Medical Bureau. This matter was neither big nor small, so Zhanshi Guo still knew about it.
He said, "It is not appropriate for us to interfere in this matter. We can only let the Imperial Medical Bureau handle it themselves."
The prince asked, "What's wrong with Zheng Gu? He's so incompetent, yet he allowed someone to cheat with fake medicinal materials?"
"It's not necessarily a scam," said Guo Zhanshi. "I've learned that Zheng Gu is Master Zhou's eldest disciple. Before becoming his disciple, he was the young master and shopkeeper of Jishiditang. His medical skills were quite good. Although he never wrote prescriptions in the clinic, he had been preparing medicine at the counter for two or three years, managing Jishiditang's accounts and drug supply. Master Zhou once said that when it comes to understanding medicine, she's not as good as him."
"Was he framed?" The Crown Prince first thought of Prince Gong, then shook his head, "It's not the Third Prince. There's no need for him to do such a thankless task at a time like this."
"It's certainly not Your Highness Prince Gong," Lord Guo said calmly. "If the Imperial Medical Bureau wants to take root in the local area, this is the only way. Your Highness, it's not the time for us to intervene yet."
When the prince intervenes, blood will be shed.
The current system of the Imperial Medical Bureau is still imperfect, so there are some overlaps in functions and powers with local authorities. They are bound to compete with each other, and there are even more conflicts of interest with local pharmacies, and these struggles have just begun.
The prince understood the situation and said, "Zhou Man is an exceptional doctor. The others are fine, but she must be saved."
Guo Zhanshi agreed, "I will do my best."
He also wants to keep it full next week.
Zhou Man has always been very close to the Eastern Palace. Regardless of whether she admits it or not, she is recognized as the prince's person.
And she herself is more inclined towards the East Palace.
To have such a skilled imperial physician on his side, Guo Zhanshi would have to be a fool to let him go.
Whether it is the Crown Prince, the Crown Princess, or the little imperial grandchildren, they all need such a close imperial physician.
Even on the emperor's side, a royal physician with good medical skills and close ties to the Eastern Palace is particularly important.
Therefore, the Zhanshi Mansion was also quietly paying attention to this matter.
Manbao was completely unaware of this. After receiving the order, she went home and packed her things.
Old Zhou didn't know she was about to be demoted or even dismissed from office. He stared at her with a worried look on his face and said, "It's cold, why are you going on a business trip at this time?"
After saying this, he felt that this was disrespectful to the emperor, so he changed his words and said, "But you are an official. Although it is cold now, we have received so many benefits from the emperor. We still have to work when the emperor needs us to work."
Manbao said to Old Zhoutou, "Dad, the emperor should hear this. He will definitely be happy to hear it."
Bai Shan prepared some money for her. When she took it, she saw Old Zhou and rolled up the cloth bag into a ball. She put it on her back and walked forward with a smile, "Father-in-law, mother-in-law, let's have dinner here tonight. This is also a farewell for Manbao."
Qian glanced at his hands behind his back, smiled and responded, then stood up and pulled Old Zhou away, "Let the two children pack their things, and we'll go talk to our in-laws."
Old Zhou muttered, "I haven't finished what I was saying yet. They just came back and are about to leave..."
Bai Shan bowed and saw his father-in-law and mother-in-law off, closed the door, walked to Manbao, and opened the cloth bag to show her.
Manbao couldn't help but exclaim, "Is this gold foil?"
Inside the cloth bag were palm-sized gold flakes, very thin, but there was a stack of them, as thick as a thumb.
"This is what I got from my grandmother. I asked Xibing to sew it into your clothes and shoes. This is for emergency use. As for actual use, we have money and gold and silver."
Just as Bai Shan was about to take out his private belongings, Man Bao nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, yes, I have several boxes too."
Bai Shan narrowed his eyes slightly and stopped talking about his private property. "You have so much?"
Manbao came back to his senses and coughed lightly. "It's not much. It's mainly copper coins, so it seems a lot. Oh, and you must have saved some money too. How much have you saved?"
Bai Shan changed the subject, "Manager Zheng knows you're going to Luozhou in person, and he's already packed up to go with you. He sent a servant to tell you to wait for him when you leave the city tomorrow."
Manbao's attention was indeed diverted, "Okay."
Manager Zheng had already sent a group of people to Luozhou, but there was no news (it had only been three days, and even pigeons couldn't move that fast), so Manager Zheng handed over Jishiditang to his clan members, packed up his bags, and followed Zhou Man to Luozhou.
Manbao and the others prepared horses but not a carriage. She took Daji and Xibing with her, but did not take anyone else. Together with the eunuchs and imperial guards who were ordered to deliver things to Prince Gong, everyone rode out of the city gate at full speed.
Although the eunuchs were not as tall as the imperial guards, they were still strong and sturdy. They looked at Zhou Man with a smile, and their voices were not at all shrill. "Master Zhou, please don't look down on us for being rough. We are all doing rough work and cannot compare to the careful and thoughtful brothers in the palace."
Among the eunuchs who came to see her off and announce the imperial decree, there was one who was familiar with Zhou Man. He lowered his voice and said to her, "These were all selected by Lord Gu himself."
Manbao whispered, "Thank Master Gu for me."
See you at 10pm
(End of this chapter)
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