The Lucky Farmgirl

Chapter 2393: Chapter 2368: Replacement (April Monthly Ticket Bonus 21)

The person caught by Manbao trembled violently. Sensing his fear, Manbao looked up and smiled at him. Unfortunately, she was wearing a mask, so the other person couldn’t see her smile but noticed her eyes curling slightly. He thought it was a sinister smile, causing him to tremble even more, his body weakening until he slid to the ground, trembling as he begged, "Spare me, please spare me, Your Excellency spare me..."

Manbao: ... Am I really that scary?

Manbao turned to look at Director Xiao.

Director Xiao frowned slightly, a bit annoyed, and questioned the steward beside him, "How did you select these people?"

It’s one thing to have problems with food and drink, but now even people are problematic?

The steward broke out in a cold sweat and waved his hand to have the person dragged away, but Zhou Man raised her hand to stop him. She placed one hand on his shoulder and stared at the trembling young man, asking, "Have you followed instructions these days to go out and sunbathe, take some walks?"

The young man gulped nervously and nodded repeatedly.

Manbao cheerfully asked, "Then have you met the old and disabled soldiers living in the house over there?"

The young man nodded. Manbao felt his body relax a little and continued to ask, "Have you talked to them?"

The young man whispered, "Yes."

Manbao: "Then you should know that they have all been inoculated. Have you seen the pox scars on them?"

The young man hesitated for a moment but nodded nonetheless.

"Since you’ve seen them, you should know that cowpox doesn’t result in many pox marks. Look at them; some are old with gray hair, some are disabled with missing arms or legs, and even the healthiest ones bear one or two scars. Though they are soldiers who have fought in battles, their bodies are truly not as healthy as yours. So if they can withstand the smallpox inoculation, you should find it even easier."

Manbao said, "Our Imperial Hospital’s inoculation is not to give people smallpox for nothing, but to ensure that more people won’t get infected by smallpox in the future. So our goal is a cure for smallpox, and you can rest assured."

Feeling the young man relax significantly, although he was still trembling, at least he wasn’t about to faint.

Manbao swiftly pricked his inner arm. He felt a slight pain, and then watched as Zhou Man clamped something onto his wound, while the waiting Assistant Doctor Liu immediately stepped forward to bind it with a cloth strip.

Manbao withdrew her hand and smiled at him, saying, "It’s okay, the bleeding will stop soon, and the strip can be removed after a while."

Indeed, it was quite fast. After all six people in the room had been inoculated, they waited a bit before removing the cloth strips, disposing of the vaccine material inside into a fine hemp sack.

This was the process of inoculating people continuously, which couldn’t be completed in a single day. Director Xiao decided to take two days to finish.

The used vaccine materials were taken to a room for destruction. Inside, there was a stove where a fire had been kindled earlier. The temperature was highest here, and under the supervision of the physicians, the removed vaccine materials were all thrown in for destruction.

Before leaving, Director Xiao reminded the staying Zhou Man and Imperial Doctor Lu, "This stuff is a deadly weapon, you must keep a close watch on it. The materials can only stay within these three checkpoints, let alone beyond the imperial manor, they cannot leave even beyond the checkpoints."

Manbao and Imperial Doctor Lu seriously agreed.

Manbao suddenly thought of Director Xiao’s actions and the various schemes she’d read about in books before. She lowered her voice and asked, "Do you suspect someone wants to steal the smallpox vaccine to frame our Imperial Hospital?"

Director Xiao: "...Imperial Doctor Zhou is indeed clever. I wouldn’t have thought of that if you hadn’t mentioned it."

He was only worried that someone would steal it to harm others. As for framing the Imperial Hospital, there’s no need for such a method.

He just submitted a request for funding; there’s no deep hatred.

However, after Manbao mentioned it, he felt uneasy, so he said, "I have already instructed the guards, including us, to search anything on our person when entering or exiting the checkpoints. Any suspected smallpox vaccine materials are not allowed to be taken out, and as for our clothes, shoes, and socks, they can only be brought in, not taken out."

Manbao shivered and asked, "So, in the end, what about our clothes..."

"Burn them all," Director Xiao said. "You think that room was only set up to burn vaccines? There’s plenty of stuff to burn."

Manbao felt heartache and later complained to Xi Bing and Jiu Lan, "I wish I had brought fewer outfits. Two of them were really nice, and I originally planned to wear them for a spring outing."

Jiu Lan: "Mistress, judging by this progress, I’m afraid it’s difficult to make it to the spring outing."

Manbao immediately retorted, "Nonsense, knock on wood."

Manbao sat on the couch, looking outside and sighed, "I wonder how Fifth Brother and the steward are negotiating. I’ll ask Director Xiao tomorrow, but will the steward report to Director Xiao?"

Zhou Wulang and his party had already reached an agreement, having arrived in the morning, just a step behind Director Xiao and the others.

Because Director Xiao had informed them, as soon as they arrived, they met the steward from before. This time, the conversation went much smoother than last time, without the buyer constantly raising the price while the seller kept lowering it.

However, this wasn’t a normal negotiation either because as soon as Zhou Wulang made an offer, the other party accepted without any struggle, didn’t raise prices, didn’t lower them, didn’t even dispute the quantity Zhou Wulang and his team could supply. They agreed as soon as it was mentioned.

Then within less than half an hour, they had established a contract, signed and stamped, and the steward even paid them a deposit.

He personally escorted them to the imperial manor’s entrance, looking at Zhou Wulang with a half-smile and said, "I really didn’t expect Master Zhou to have such powerful backing. It’s my fault for not recognizing gold inlaid with jade before, apologies if I offended you earlier."

Zhou Wulang was puzzled but still promptly replied, "Sir, you’re joking. We are just a small household; how could we have any backing?"

Zhou Lichong, standing beside, smiled and said, "No matter how strong our backing is, it’s not as useful as you, sir. As the saying goes, ’It’s better to have the present official than the county magistrate.’ In the future, we hope you can take care of us uncles and nephews."

The steward paused and after a moment said wistfully, "Young Master Zhou, you’re too kind. I’d love to take care of you two, but I’m afraid I won’t have the opportunity."

Zhou Wulang and Zhou Lichong were puzzled, and only when they delivered the first batch of eggs, meat chickens, and vegetables on the third day as agreed did they discover that the steward had been replaced.

And it wasn’t just a change of one steward; more than half of the stewards in the imperial manor liaising with the Imperial Hospital had been replaced. The two exchanged glances, both somewhat bewildered.

When Liu Sanniang returned, she told them, "That’s a minor issue. The real issue is that the chief officer of the Palace Eunuchs Department has been replaced. It’s said that the eunuchs and stewards responsible for procurement, from outside to inside, have all been replaced. Those lucky were just transferred elsewhere, while the unlucky ones were sent to various imperial manors to do hard labor."

Zhou Wulang’s mouth dropped open, asking, "For what reason?"

Liu Sanniang didn’t speak. Why?

Naturally, because those responsible for procurement were too greedy, making Director Xiao unhappy.

But she had heard from her grandfather that this whole matter started with her master’s boast—a boast about how well she managed the manor in the village. And then...

Liu Sanniang shook her head, clearing her mind of distracting thoughts, and told the two, "In any case, this matter doesn’t really concern us. We just need to deliver the goods honestly. But I heard the imperial manor plans to find new suppliers. The previous suppliers had inflated prices, and Director Xiao wasn’t very satisfied."

Zhou Lichong’s eyes sparkled, his expression thoughtful.