The Lucky Farmgirl

Chapter 2399: Chapter 2373: Enter

Eunuch Tong truly has a way of getting in, and it’s not difficult.

In the morning, Imperial Doctor Liu had just pocketed two letters and left, and by afternoon, Eunuch Tong and Junior Neishi were carrying two bundles inside.

The steward who led them here introduced them to Imperial Doctor Lu and Manbao, "These two are here to help in the kitchen."

Imperial Doctor Lu: ... Everyone works in the palace, the Imperial Hospital often deals with the Palace Eunuchs Department, who doesn’t know whom?

Imperial Doctor Lu turned to look at Manbao.

Manbao, however, had never met Eunuch Tong, because tasks like procurement at the Imperial Hospital didn’t involve her, and Eunuch Tong rarely went to the Imperial Hospital, so naturally, they did not know each other.

But as for Junior Neishi, Manbao found his face familiar.

Eunuch Tong and Junior Neishi respectfully bowed to the two, and after brief exchanges, they carried their bundles inside to settle in.

Even if Eunuch Tong was relegated to the estate and entered the epidemic area, he still lived better than the average person.

Junior Neishi finished unpacking and immediately turned around to make the bed for Eunuch Tong.

Eunuch Tong waved his hand, saying, "No rush, let’s go see Imperial Doctor Zhou first."

At this moment, Manbao was standing in the courtyard, while Imperial Doctor Lu was sitting in a chair, sipping tea and watching her.

Eunuch Tong and Junior Neishi came out and saluted her, smiling, "Imperial Doctor Zhou."

Manbao nodded, scrutinizing Eunuch Tong’s expression, and asked, "Did you send me the handkerchief to seek medical treatment?"

Her question was direct, and Eunuch Tong answered just as directly, with a smile, "Yes."

Manbao pointed toward the living room, saying, "Eunuch Tong, please have a seat, and I’ll take a look at you."

Eunuch Tong didn’t expect Gu Zhong’s influence to be so significant; it was just a handkerchief, yet she specially asked Imperial Doctor Liu to relay a message.

Eunuch Tong exhaled a breath and thought that he owed this favor; let bygones be bygones between them, regardless of whether Zhou Man could cure him.

Manbao reached out to feel his pulse and checked the temperature of his hands and feet, finding no trace of heat, only an icy coldness, like holding a piece of ice.

Manbao frowned slightly, contemplating for a moment before saying, "With this illness, too much medication can accumulate toxins, which might lead to other problems later."

Junior Neishi eagerly nodded, "Imperial Doctor Liu said the same; my godfather felt his chest burning fiercely after taking medication, and the coughing worsened."

So Eunuch Tong didn’t dare take much medicine. He currently only had a cold, cough was brief and intermittent, not overly serious.

If heat toxins accumulated internally and the cough became severe, making it seem like he had tuberculosis, not to mention the palace, he couldn’t even come to the royal estate; he’d likely be directly sent to the quarantine center.

Once palace eunuchs or maids enter the quarantine center, it’s almost as if they’re as good as dead.

Manbao nodded slightly, "Reducing the dosage is correct. Let me think about it carefully. How about this, I’ll write a prescription for a medicinal bath, and with acupuncture, it might relieve you somewhat."

Manbao asked Jiu Lan to fetch paper and pen to write the prescription.

Imperial Doctor Lu sauntered over and asked, "Imperial Doctor Zhou, do you have the medicine?"

Manbao paused with the pen in her hand; she indeed didn’t have the medicine she needed here. She looked at Eunuch Tong.

Eunuch Tong frowned as well; now that he was inside, he clearly couldn’t leave, the problem being that Junior Neishi couldn’t either...

After pondering for a moment, Eunuch Tong laughed, "Imperial Doctor Zhou, just write the prescription, I’ll find a way to get the medicine."

Imperial Doctor Lu snorted coldly, "Just throwing money at it won’t work; there are three checkpoints before and after, even if Eunuch Tong brought enough wealth from the palace, it won’t last long."

Manbao finished writing the prescription, looked up, and said, "Don’t worry, you give me the money, I’ll have my Fifth Brother send it out for you. Then you can buy some rice, flour, sugar, and meat, and have the kitchen make them into snacks and give them to the guards at the checkpoints to eat."

Manbao said, "They’re quite nice, as long as you’re not sending things out, they’re quite relaxed about letting things in."

Their purpose is to prevent the spread of smallpox from the royal estate, not to isolate the estate completely.

Eunuch Tong immediately thanked Zhou Man upon hearing this.

Imperial Doctor Lu: ...

He gave Zhou Man an indifferent glance, snorted coldly, and turned away, truly stumped and unable to discern good intentions.

Manbao was utterly bewildered but soon smiled at Eunuch Tong to reassure him, "Don’t worry, Imperial Doctor Lu isn’t targeting you; he’s just reached the age, it will get better in a few years."

Eunuch Tong, adept at reading faces, scrutinized Manbao for a long time before smiling and asking, "Imperial Doctor Zhou, do you mean Imperial Doctor Lu is ill?"

Manbao nodded, "This kind of illness isn’t easy to treat; you have to coax and appease him when things aren’t going smoothly at work or home; otherwise, he gets easily irritable. Director Xiao had it too, but he recovered quickly, it’s just that Imperial Doctor Lu’s condition lasts a bit longer."

Ever since she met Imperial Doctor Lu, his temper had never been good.

Initially, she thought he disliked her and chose to avoid interacting with him, but later, when she had to engage with him, she discovered that his temper was just bad. Manbao researched numerous texts and concluded that it was simply due to age, and it would improve after this phase.

Manbao copied the prescription again, one copy for Eunuch Tong to keep, and another folded into a sachet for Jiu Lan, "Give it to Xi Bing, have her deliver it tomorrow morning with fried rice cakes."

Jiu Lan responded with a smile, "Mistress, tomorrow we eat fried rice cakes, and what do we eat the day after?"

Manbao sighed, "It looks like it’s time for osmanthus cake. I’m not very fond of osmanthus cake, but there’s no other choice now, so we’ll have osmanthus cake."

Imperial Doctor Lu brought over the medicine chest and called her, "Stop thinking about food, someone just came to report that someone inside is delirious from fever."

Upon hearing this, Manbao immediately put down the pen, rose, and rushed out, shouting towards the neighboring courtyard, "Xi Bing, quickly bring my medicine chest."

Xi Bing hurriedly ran over with the medicine chest.

Manbao took it, put on her mask, and hurried with Imperial Doctor Lu into the patient ward area, where Xi Bing and Jiu Lan could not enter.

The high fever belongs to a patient marked number one hundred twenty-one; he had five pox, but when Imperial Doctor Lu pulled down his collar, he found pox on his chest too.

Manbao pulled up his sleeve to find there were over ten red spots on his arm.

The two exchanged glances, somewhat alarmed; they were all too familiar with this situation; it was the malignant form of smallpox.

Seeing him convulse, Manbao immediately opened the medicine chest, took out the needle bag, and administered acupuncture, while Imperial Doctor Lu quickly instructed the attendant, "Immediately fetch the medicinal package from the leftmost shelf in the pharmacy, brew a dose, and bring it."

Then he took out a pill, glanced at his complexion, and dissolved the pill directly for him to swallow.

Imperial Doctor Lu looked at Zhou Man and still instructed the attendant, "Bring cold water."

They could only use cold water to slightly lower the temperature; the person was now feverish and convulsing.