The Lucky Farmgirl

Chapter 2392: Chapter 2367: A Favorable Gesture

When Gu Zhong saw that he had understood, he finally relaxed and smiled, lowering his voice. "Lord Luo, His Majesty is someone who cherishes old ties. You have followed him for several years; he is long used to employing you. As long as you clean up the matters under your hand and keep your people in check, His Majesty will naturally not pursue the blame further."

Lord Luo looked over at Gu Zhong, and after a long moment he gave a slight nod, which counted as accepting his suggestion.

Lord Luo was easy enough to deal with, but Eunuch Tong, who managed the Palace Eunuchs Department, and Eunuch Quan of the Department of Palace Affairs would not let him off so lightly.

Avoiding others, Eunuch Quan turned his head to glance at Gu Zhong standing to the side and let out a cold laugh. "Lord Gu’s methods are truly impressive. I wonder how my Department of Palace Affairs has offended my lord?"

Gu Zhong said evenly, "Eunuch Quan jests. Which of us here is not serving His Majesty with all our loyalty? What does it matter to me whether you have offended me or not?"

"Besides, we have both worked in the inner palace for so many years. When has there ever been a rift between you and me?"

Eunuch Quan gave a cold snort, glanced at Eunuch Tong, who was sitting on a chair to the side coughing softly, then flicked his sleeves and strode out into the courtyard to watch people going back and forth carrying ledgers. The abacus clacked away noisily, which grated on the nerves.

Once he left, only Gu Zhong and Eunuch Tong were left in the room.

Eunuch Tong’s health was poor. He covered his mouth with a handkerchief and gave a few light coughs, then drank a sip of tea to press down the itch in his throat before speaking softly. "Is Lord Gu doing all this to raise that disciple of yours into position?"

Gu Zhong smiled. "In this palace, aren’t posts all supposed to go to those who are capable?"

Eunuch Tong nodded slightly. "Indeed. Then let the Palace Eunuchs Department be handed to him in future. My godson is a bit of a fool; I fear he’d be eaten alive in the palace without even knowing it. I must ask Lord Gu to be magnanimous and let him go to an estate to serve me until my final days."

Looking at Eunuch Tong, whose hair at the temples had gone white, Gu Zhong’s smile faded somewhat, but his expression grew gentler. He nodded slightly. "When the time comes, I will personally see Lord Tong off."

Eunuch Tong nodded. "Agreed, agreed."

Eunuch Tong was only in his early forties, not yet fifty, and yet he already looked much aged. Gu Zhong calculated his own years and felt that he himself did not have many left either.

Things of a kind feel for their own; he had never been someone who cut the grass and pulled up the roots.

Imperial Doctor Liu stood with his hands tucked into his sleeves before the courtyard gate. When he saw Zhou Man handing a letter to Liu Sanniang, he knew that she had kept Sanniang back precisely to pass on the information she had pried out of him to her family.

Imperial Doctor Liu smiled and shook his head, leaning against the doorframe without speaking.

Sanniang, however, came forward to salute him. "Grandfather, I’m going back now."

Imperial Doctor Liu waved his hand. "Go on, go on. If you don’t leave now it’ll be dark soon. I don’t know if your husband’s family has sent someone to fetch you."

Sanniang laughed. "There are carriages waiting at the entrance of the imperial estate. Even if no one comes to pick me up, it’s easy enough to hire one back."

This was because, with more people coming and going to the imperial estate lately, the nearby villagers had driven ox-carts or mule-carts over to drum up business.

But when Liu Sanniang reached the gate of the imperial estate, she saw Zhou Lichong. Her eyes brightened, and lifting her medicine box, she trotted over. "Why are you here? When did you come back from the estate?"

Zhou Lichong reached out to take the medicine box from her and placed it on the carriage first before saying, "I came back this afternoon. Fifth Uncle sent me a message saying our estate is going to do a business deal with the imperial estate here. He’s afraid he can’t keep the accounts straight, so he asked me to come back and help."

He helped his wife up into the carriage and asked, "Exhausted today?"

Liu Sanniang smiled. "Not really. Master is inside, and Grandfather too. Everyone took very good care of me."

Zhou Lichong led the horse around and sat up on the driver’s bench. "How is Little Aunt?"

Liu Sanniang did not sit inside the carriage either but sat with him on the driver’s bench. She nodded. "She’s doing very well. Oh, and Master asked me to bring a letter back for Young Master Bai."

Talking as husband and wife headed home, Manbao and Imperial Doctor Liu leaned together against the doorframe, tilting their heads up to watch the sunset. Manbao sighed. "It’s so beautiful."

Imperial Doctor Liu smiled faintly. "It is merely near dusk; it will soon be gone."

Imperial Doctor Lu came out and saw the two of them standing there with their heads raised, looking at the sky, and couldn’t help rolling his eyes. If Imperial Doctor Liu weren’t truly so old, he would have thought the two of them were flirting.

But Imperial Doctor Lu wasn’t polite either; he called out loudly to them, "The evening meal is ready. Imperial Doctor Liu, Imperial Doctor Zhou, hurry up and eat your fill so you can get back to work."

Imperial Doctor Liu said unhurriedly, "No rush, no rush. We’ll be working overtime tonight anyway; while the sun is still with us, we might as well enjoy it a bit longer."

"Exactly," Manbao agreed heartily. "We’ll be burning lamps and staying up late anyway. While the sunset is beautiful, isn’t it better to enjoy the scenery than to quibble over a moment or two?"

Imperial Doctor Lu turned on his heel and left.

Manbao and Imperial Doctor Liu continued leaning against the door, watching the sunset at the horizon. Only when the last trace of afterglow vanished did the two of them withdraw their gaze, roll their necks, and turn back together to go eat.

Imperial Doctor Lu sat alone at the table, fuming. When he saw them come in, he picked up his bowl and chopsticks and gave them a sidelong look.

Imperial Doctor Liu went over smiling and sat down, picked up a bowl and chopsticks and said with a laugh, "I didn’t expect Imperial Doctor Lu would especially wait for us. How discourteous of us, how discourteous."

Manbao also grinned and echoed, "Discourteous, discourteous," and only after they were both seated did they start eating.

They truly were very busy. After eating and sitting to rest for a short while, they lit the lamps and went to the pharmacy to continue preparing the smallpox inoculum, working until deep into the night before they finished.

Imperial Doctor Liu was old; after sitting for too long, he could hardly move. In the end, Imperial Doctor Lu and Zhou Man each supported one of his arms and helped him out.

Hot water had been kept ready in the kitchen all along. As soon as they came out, the servants immediately carried the water to the bathhouse.

The three of them waited until the servants had gone far away before entering; during this period they avoided contact with people as much as possible.

After Manbao finished washing her hair and body, she yawned her way back to her room.

Xi Bing and Jiu Lan immediately went to towel her hair dry. "My lady shouldn’t be washing her hair at this hour."

"I can’t help it. Every time I come out of the pharmacy I feel grimy all over." Manbao yawned, sitting cross-legged on the couch and letting them dry her hair. She reminded them, "Many imperial doctors will be coming tomorrow; we’re going to start inoculations. From now on, if you’ve nothing urgent, don’t go far. If you encounter people outside, keep your distance when you speak, and remember to wear your masks."

Xi Bing and Jiu Lan both answered. Jiu Lan said, "My lady, we’ve sewn some more masks these last two days."

Manbao nodded through a yawn, her voice growing softer. Lowering her eyes, she said, "Keep them. We’ll certainly need them."

Early the next morning, Director Xiao came with several imperial doctors and medical assistants. He selected a few people to work under his own hand and had the rest observe.

Everyone took the prepared smallpox inoculum to perform inoculations.

The patients in the wards, seeing so many important officials coming in, each holding something in their hands, all grew nervous. Some were trembling so hard their legs nearly gave out and they almost knelt on the floor.

Manbao knew they were afraid, but apart from telling them it was nothing serious and offering a few words of comfort, there was little else she could do.

Director Xiao took up a rather thick needle and looked toward Zhou Man, and Manbao went forward first to demonstrate to everyone how to perform the inoculation.