The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 1058 - 137: Making a Name for Oneself Again

Chapter 1058: Chapter 137: Making a Name for Oneself Again

Bai Erlang followed Bai Shan home in a fog, asking in the carriage, "Make a name for Manbao? She isn’t taking the imperial examinations, so why does she need fame?"

Bai Dalang said, "To make money."

"How many patients would she need to see to earn back the twenty taels of silver?" Bai Erlang vaguely felt something was off and said, "That’s not right, how come I heard her mention this morning that you took ten taels of silver from her?"

Bai Shan glanced at him but didn’t speak.

Bai Erlang immediately checked his pockets and found that he didn’t carry so much silver, managing to produce only a five-tael silver ingot. He handed it to Bai Shan, saying, "Could you also contribute a share for me?"

Bai Shan threw the money back at him, saying, "Are you dreaming? With your talent, if it were you trying to make a name, I’d be kind not to charge you double the price."

Bai Erlang retorted furiously, "Excuse! You’re clearly favoring beauty over friendship."

"Nonsense, she’s a friend too!"

Bai Erlang thought about it and it was true, but still felt something was amiss.

Bai Shan changed the subject, "You’ll be going back to school tomorrow. Have you finished your homework? Don’t spend all day thinking about this and that."

"I’ve finished it long ago," Bai Erlang boasted with satisfaction, "Two essays, all from my own thoughts and written by myself."

Bai Shan gave him a half-hearted thumbs-up.

Today, Bai Shan had only gone out for this one thing, then he went to the study room to grab a book and sat under a tree in the courtyard to read. In truth, he hadn’t turned a single page in half a day.

He was thinking about these past few days, and then went over every single thing that had happened since they arrived in the capital.

After confirming he hadn’t omitted anything, he started to think about what steps to take next.

The books say that smart people think ten steps ahead, and his teacher also said that one should think thrice before acting. He wasn’t as clever as the geniuses in the books, but he could follow his teacher’s advice and think carefully before acting.

At the very least, he should plan three steps ahead with every move he made.

Mr. Zhuang stood in front of the study watching him for a while, nodded slightly, then turned back into the study.

While Bai Shan was contemplating at home, Manbao was in State Duke Pi’s residence discussing medical skills with Imperial Doctor Zheng and others.

Although Su Jian had woken up, he still spent more time in a stupor, with his fever sometimes retreating, but occasionally becoming a low-grade fever, and sometimes escalating into a high fever.

Therefore, none of the three imperial doctors dared to leave.

The palace had also sent a decree, with the Emperor instructing them to stay at the State Duke’s residence and ensure the young lord’s recovery.

The three imperial doctors were quite experienced in this regard, so apart from the times of high fever, they mostly took turns on watch.

So, once it was their turn, they became energized.

Thus, that morning, Manbao went to State Duke Pi’s residence, checked on Su Jian’s condition, and looked over the prescription. After that, the two imperial doctors, apart from the one on duty, came out of their respective rooms. They let the servants watch over Su Jian and then gathered around a table in the courtyard, where the four of them began an intense exchange of medical knowledge.

The kind of surgery that involved opening up stomachs and chests wasn’t something just anyone dared to perform, at least Imperial Doctor Zheng and the others had only seen Imperial Doctor Fan do so, and the patients were mostly martial types.

The rest were just rumors.

For example, it was said that State Duke Qi’s thigh was stitched up by Imperial Doctor Fan; supposedly, he was struck by an enemy general’s blade on the battlefield, losing a great amount of blood. It was Imperial Doctor Fan who stitched up the leg to stop the bleeding;

For example, Marquis Ye once had Imperial Doctor Fan stitch his belly too, which was injured on the battlefield. It was said his intestines were spilling out, and even a section of those intestines was cut off by Imperial Doctor Fan...

The next stories involve the late Emperor and the current one.

Both of them had been on the battlefield, and since Imperial Doctor Fan started as a military medic, his becoming an Imperial Doctor was due to the late Emperor’s patronage. It was said that many of the late Emperor’s injuries were treated by Imperial Doctor Fan.

As for the current Emperor, including some princes earlier on, they had all been treated by Imperial Doctor Fan, although it was usually only for external injuries that everyone would seek out Imperial Doctor Fan.

For most diseases, including post-injury treatments, everyone still turned to orthodox Imperial Doctors from the Imperial Hospital.

However, Manbao was somewhat different from them in that she did reflect Imperial Doctor Fan’s influence, but she wasn’t limited to just being like Imperial Doctor Fan.

Not only was she adept at performing abdominal surgeries, but most importantly, she wasn’t lacking in treating internal ailments either.

Especially since she also served in Jishi Hall, Imperial Doctor Zheng knew well that she often treated women’s diseases at the pharmacy.

Ahem, so, none of the three Imperial Doctors seated dared to underestimate Manbao.

Although it was already their third day working together, and they weren’t strangers to each other, it wasn’t until this moment that they finally exchanged names.

Only then did Manbao learn the names of the other two doctors, with one surnamed Miao and the other surnamed Guo. They had joined the Imperial Hospital around the same time as Imperial Doctor Zheng. However, Imperial Doctor Zheng’s medical skills were slightly superior, so after Imperial Doctor Ji was cut down, he took over as the head immediately.

Heaven knows he didn’t want to take charge at this time, but after Imperial Doctor Ji, he indeed had the highest official rank and seniority, which was an unspoken rule within the Imperial Hospital.

The one with the highest official rank and seniority took charge, and naturally, they also bore the main responsibility.

Starting with this matter, they sighed together, and then they began to exchange medical experiences, mainly because they were very interested in Manbao’s recent abdominal surgery and blood transfusion.

Manbao was also very interested in their capabilities.

Having extensive experience in medical exchange, she answered their questions while also asking a few of her own.

Seeing Manbao speak so detailedly, even explaining how to make serum in detail, they also generously offered advice, answering any questions Manbao had. Sometimes they would even exchange favors, providing detailed responses to her various inquiries.

Thus, when Old Madam Su, aided by her daughter-in-law, entered the courtyard, she saw four doctors gathered around a stone table, with one furiously writing something down.

Her first instinct was that something had happened to her son again...

Just as she was about to approach and ask, she heard Manbao raise her head and query, "So, doesn’t the Imperial Hospital have any effective remedies for treating epidemics?"

With his head still down, Imperial Doctor Zheng replied, "It’s tough. The epidemics in different regions vary with the seasons, and everyone’s physical condition differs too. Thus, treating epidemics on a large scale is challenging. If you can work out a cure-all recipe, that would be worth its weight in gold."

On the other side, Imperial Doctor Miao said, "That would make you famous throughout history."

Imperial Doctor Guo nodded, "Indeed."

Old Madam Su stumbled a bit, then hurriedly stepped forward to ask, "Does someone in my family have the epidemic?"

All four, who had been immersed in their writing, lifted their heads to look at Old Madam Su, and for a moment, caught by surprise, they all lit up with excitement and asked, "Old Madam, does someone in your family have the epidemic?"

Imperial Doctors Zheng, Miao, and Guo all remembered to stand up and salute, while Manbao remained seated without moving.

But after their eager questioning, they realized the implication and Imperial Doctor Zheng quickly explained, "Old Madam, you misunderstand. There is no epidemic. We four were just discussing some medical knowledge and happened to touch upon the topic of epidemics."

Old Madam Su then patted her chest and said, "You gave me quite the scare. I thought an epidemic had broken out in our residence."