The Lucky Farmgirl

Chapter 2390: Chapter 2365: Inquiring

Liu Huan said, "Hasn’t the imperial estate always been under the control of the Palace Eunuchs Department? If Brother Zhou Wu is doing business with them at this time, won’t that be a problem?"

Liu Huan didn’t know the prior cause, but Bai Erlang did. He lifted his chin and nodded in Bai Shan’s direction. "It’s been a problem for a long time. What’s happening to Minister Liu now is exactly the trouble stirred up by them trying to ’solve’ the problem."

Liu Huan turned his head to look at Bai Shan.

Bai Shan folded the letter. "This has nothing to do with us, you know that. I’ve been outside the palace these two days, and the only people I’ve met are you. As for Manbao, that goes without saying—she’s shut up in the imperial estate, and even news from outside has to be sent in by us."

"Then this is..."

Bai Shan put the letter away and smiled. "Brother Zhou Wu’s deal hasn’t even started yet; he doesn’t even count as an interested party. As for who did it, you just have to think about whose interests this affair offended."

Liu Huan thought for a moment, then hesitated. "The Imperial Hospital?"

Bai Shan only smiled. He glanced outside, saw it was getting late, and stood up. "We should be heading back. You focus on your books."

Liu Huan was reluctant. "Stay for dinner. When my grandfather comes back, maybe we can pry a bit of information out of him?"

Bai Shan said, "From what you’re saying, His Majesty is truly furious. If he’s that angry, Lord Liu may not come back to eat supper today."

So he might as well go home for dinner; besides, Manbao had quite a lot of books and manuscript paper, and packing them would take time.

Bai Shan insisted on taking his leave.

Back home, he first went to report their safety to Old Zhou and Ms.Qian.

When Old Zhou heard that Manbao had only written back asking for books and paper, he relaxed and sat down in his chair, muttering, "Scared people half to death. Why didn’t they mention it when we sent things over this morning..."

Old Madam Liu was reassured on her side as well.

Bai Shan went to Manbao’s study to pack things up. He filled over half a small chest with books and manuscripts. After thinking a bit, he simply went to the main study and took a stack of blank paper to stuff the chest full, then closed it and placed it by the bed, planning to bring it to Manbao first thing in the morning.

He didn’t know whether she could get anything out of Director Xiao about what had happened.

Director Xiao certainly wouldn’t tell her much, but Imperial Doctor Liu would.

After noon the next day, Director Xiao brought over a large group of imperial physicians and assistants to help and to learn.

Manbao and Imperial Doctor Lu had already extracted all the cowpox pustules, which were now separately sealed in five jars.

The smallpox inoculation trial was a major affair. Director Xiao hadn’t planned to let every physician of the Imperial Hospital participate in the entire process, but they did need to learn.

So for each key step he brought along all the imperial physicians and assistants, except those on duty at the Imperial Hospital.

The first key step was preparing the vaccine.

Everyone changed clothes and put on masks before entering the dispensary. Imperial Doctor Lu and Manbao took out the five jars and lined them up, each labeled with a slip of paper indicating which cow the scabs had come from.

Director Xiao pointed at Zhou Man. "When it comes to inoculation, there’s no one in the whole hospital more familiar with it than Imperial Doctor Zhou. So she’ll explain it to everyone."

Manbao stepped forward and pointed at the five jars. "The scabs used to make the vaccine must be fully mature. Only mature scabs have a weaker toxicity."

Manbao opened one jar and took out a spoonful of scabs. "All these scabs are left after the cows recovered. As I understand it, because the cows have already defeated smallpox, there are traces of an antidote within the scabs. So the toxicity of mature scabs isn’t very strong."

"Now we’ll begin preparing the vaccine."

Because everyone wore masks, Zhou Man’s mask left only her eyes visible; they couldn’t see her expression. A few less experienced assistants shifted uneasily, not wanting to look at the somewhat disgusting scabs.

Assistant Doctor Liu was among them. Of Zhou Man’s four disciples, aside from her, the others had either gone out to the local medical offices or were studying at the Imperial Medical Academy. Only she could currently follow and learn in the Imperial Hospital.

With prior experience, Manbao’s movements were deft as she prepared the vaccine, rolling it into a small pellet. "But this time we’re not planting the vaccine in the nasal cavity. This one is milder, so we’ll just make a small cut on the inside of the forearm to let it contact flesh and blood. Of course, some people are very robust; this alone might not be enough for the inoculation to take. In that case, we’ll also place it in the nasal cavity for a second contamination, strengthening the smallpox’s assault so that pustules are more likely to appear."

Director Xiao asked, "You’ve encountered that?"

"Not yet," Manbao said. "All my previous subjects have been veterans and maimed soldiers. Do they look like people in very robust health to you?"

So those in excellent health were actually harder to inoculate.

Today’s step was just to prepare the vaccine. Once prepared, each pellet was carefully picked up with tongs and placed on a tray. Director Xiao only chose a few people to help; the rest stood at a distance, watching their movements and recording them.

They worked until dusk and only finished two-thirds; one-third was still not done. Since they would begin inoculations early tomorrow, Imperial Doctor Liu stayed behind to work overtime together with Manbao.

The others changed clothes and prepared to leave.

Manbao called out to Ms.Doctor Liu. "Go wait in my courtyard. I’ll have some things for you to take home in a while."

Ms.Doctor Liu answered, bowed, and withdrew.

Once she was gone, Manbao immediately pulled Imperial Doctor Liu aside to whisper, "Imperial Doctor Liu, I heard His Majesty is going to audit the accounts of the Palace Eunuchs Department and the Department of Palace Affairs?"

Imperial Doctor Liu watched his granddaughter walk off and only then turned back to look at Zhou Man. "Even holed up in the imperial estate, Imperial Doctor Zhou is well informed."

Manbao waited for him to go on, but Imperial Doctor Liu said instead, "Why ask me and not Director Xiao?"

Manbao spoke frankly. "I don’t dare."

Imperial Doctor Liu: "...But you dare with me?"

Manbao said, "This was arranged by Director Xiao, wasn’t it? Who would tell others about the bad things they’ve done?"

Imperial Doctor Liu said, "Sweeping out those eating pay without working—how is that a bad thing?"

Manbao thought it over. "I’m guessing. Director Xiao has come over all smiles these past two days, never late. Clearly it wasn’t a normal memorial through proper channels, and it wasn’t reported to the Censorate or the Ministry of Justice and Punishments either. His Majesty burst out so suddenly; I feel he surely didn’t follow the usual procedure. But in extraordinary times, one does extraordinary things. Imperial Doctor Liu, did Director Xiao secretly lodge a complaint with His Majesty?"

The moment the topic came up, Manbao became very excited, though beneath the excitement was a trace of caution. "My Fifth Brother won’t be blamed by association, will he?"

Imperial Doctor Liu smiled with narrowed eyes. "Don’t worry. This matter isn’t connected to Director Xiao."

Manbao stared wide-eyed. "It’s not related to Director Xiao?"

"At least on the surface it isn’t," Imperial Doctor Liu said. "Director Xiao went to find Eunuch Gu. Eunuch Gu happens to have a disciple in the Palace Eunuchs Department, but unfortunately that disciple was being suppressed by Eunuch Tong’s godson. Now that trouble has broken out in the Palace Eunuchs Department, who’ll be in charge there in the future is no longer certain. This is a power struggle among the palace eunuchs themselves and has nothing to do with our Imperial Hospital."

He added, "Even Lord Luo was dragged in only because of Xin Chun. If not for him, an external official, meddling in the Palace Eunuchs Department, Lord Luo wouldn’t have been caught up in this."