The Princess and Her Rough-Rider Khan
Chapter 387 - 386 As the Princess Consort predicted (second update)

Chapter 387: 386 As the Princess Consort predicted (second update)

Bater made his way to the rear of the carriage after it had come to a halt, fetched the footstool, and placed it at the step-off point.

He and a palace servant dressed in plain clothing drew open the carriage curtain.

Youlan stepped out first. As Li Xianyun emerged, someone from the crowd uttered, "Greetings to the princess," and everyone knelt down and bowed in salute.

Yelu Yan had never hidden his favoritism towards Li Xianyun. With his backing, the Khitan populace naturally dared not make any public mischief.

Those with ulterior motives, seeing everyone kneeling, also reluctantly knelt to pay their respects.

Li Xianyun allowed the crowd to rise to their feet.

Ge Lei approached Li Xianyun and respectfully whispered, "My lady, there are many here to witness the spectacle; I cannot drive them away no matter how I try."

"It doesn’t matter," Li Xianyun said.

Indeed, she wished for many to come and observe. In this way, news would spread faster and further, increasing the number of people aware of the Xuanyi Pavilion.

However, this posed a significant risk.

As the saying goes, good news rarely leaves the house, while bad news travels a thousand miles.

If anything went wrong today, it would surely be grossly exaggerated, and the Xuanyi Pavilion would inevitably struggle to continue. Following this, the prospect of establishing a school to teach medicine would become even less likely.

As the saying goes, the beginning is always the hardest. Today, many a vile character would likely come to cause trouble—one must be cautious, able to adapt, and committed to duty without taking anything lightly.

Li Xianyun had advised all of this the day before.

Li Xianyun entered the Xuanyi Pavilion and had those in line for medical treatment enter the courtyard to form a queue.

Ge Lei and another palace servant were in charge of maintaining order, not allowing anyone other than patients to enter.

The Imperial Physician and the medical officers, following instructions provided by Li Xianyun in advance, proceeded to their respective consultation rooms, while Wu Mu supervised the pharmacy with the help of three palace servants.

Li Xianyun had also specially brought two palace servants from the Khan Palace who were proficient in accounting, assigning them to manage the accounting office.

On either side of the main room were the Erfang rooms; one was modified into an accounting office, while the other was designated for Li Xianyun to administer acupuncture to women.

Ge Lei organized the women to form a line in front of the room where Li Xianyun was providing treatment, while the men went to the other nine rooms for their medical appointments.

Thanks to thorough preparation over the previous three days, from queuing up to consultation, from receiving the prescription to paying the fees, collecting the medicine, and finally leaving the Xuanyi Pavilion, everything proceeded smoothly and systematically with staff to guide each step.

Li Xianyun employed people from within the palace.

As Xuanyi Pavilion was just getting started, there were bound to be those with malicious intent looking to cause disruption. She did not trust outsiders for this task.

Li Xianyun thought about recruiting staff from outside only after the Xuanyi Pavilion was well-established and running smoothly.

Those who came to the Xuanyi Pavilion did so with reservations.

They primarily came with faith in the medical skill of the Imperial Medical Bureau’s Imperial Physicians and medical officers, fearing mainly that the consultation fees would be too expensive for them to afford.

After a patient was treated and went to the accounting office to pay, they discovered the charges were not high, in fact, cheaper than treatment elsewhere.

He collected his medicine and left cheerfully.

Upon exiting, he was surrounded by several Khitan locals, bombarding him with questions.

"How do you feel?"

"The Imperial Physicians from the palace are truly different, their medical skills are superb."

"Was it expensive?"

"Not at all, much cheaper than the clinics on the street corners. Although the Imperial Physicians come from the palace, they do not put on airs at all, quite amiable indeed."

"Is the princess kind?"

"The princess consort primarily treats women, and by the looks of joy on those who have been seen to, she must be very kind,"

"Given that, I should also go and have a look at my illness."

Most of the onlookers set aside their concerns and joined the queue, while a small number decided to wait and see a bit longer.

As more patients began to arrive, Ge Lei directed them to form an orderly line, but soon, the courtyard could no longer accommodate everyone.

Ge Lei let the queue extend outside the courtyard.

Ge Lei couldn’t help but admire his princess consort more and more, as it seemed she had foreseen every step.

He still remembered her saying that after the patients were seen, many others would come to queue up, and if the courtyard couldn’t fit everyone, they would line up outside.

The princess consort had also mentioned that when the crowd grew large, some people might cause trouble. In such cases, she advised not to panic, simply carry out one’s duties, and not to leave one’s post at will.

Ge Lei carefully observed the surroundings; the patients were orderly and well-behaved, showing no signs of causing a disturbance.

After a long time, as the number of visiting patients steadily increased, still no troublemakers appeared.

Ge Lei thought to himself that although the princess consort usually predicted things like a prophet, she could also be wrong at times.

Just then, hysterical crying and wailing came from one of the consultation rooms.

Ge Lei and the others had been instructed beforehand and so did not abandon their posts.

Seeing some patients in line showing interest in the commotion, he walked over and said, "Everyone, please stay calm and keep your place in the queue, and do not leave it."

Some people, taking advantage of the chaos, tried to push their way towards the source of the crying, only to unexpectedly bump their heads against a solid chest.

Clutching his forehead, the person looked up at the one blocking the path and snapped, "Don’t you have eyes!"

He was about to add another insult but fell silent when he saw the other person was considerably sturdy and a full head taller than him.

The brawny man said to him, "Please go back and queue up."

Seizing the opportunity, Ge Lei said loudly, "Earlier, when arranging the queue, I already informed everyone that those who cannot queue properly will lose their right to be seen by a physician. Please kindly leave Xuanyi Pavilion."

These were the rules Li Xianyun had instructed him to relay to the patients beforehand.

His voice was formal and polite, but the few burly men blocking the way were evidently not to be trifled with.

Consequently, the queue gradually quieted down.

The operations of Xuanyi Pavilion went undisturbed by the sudden noise, and the restless hearts of the patients slowly settled.

Li Xianyun asked the woman she was seeing to wait for a moment and went out into the courtyard.

There, a raggedly dressed woman was holding a child, sitting on the ground and wailing loudly.

"Please, have a heart, do a good deed and save my son. I will repay your great kindness and mercy in my next life, even if it means toiling like an ox or horse," she cried.

The Imperial Physician, his face turning red with urgency, said, "I didn’t say I wouldn’t save your child, it’s just that the poison in him is too deep, and I fear he may be beyond help."

"How is that possible? We’ve just come from another clinic, and they said it was only a stomach upset that would get better with some medicine. How could it be beyond help? I don’t have money, and that clinic wouldn’t give us medicine, so I carried my child here, thinking the princess consort was as beautiful as she was kind-hearted, and surely wouldn’t stand by and watch a death occur. But I didn’t expect that life would be held so cheaply here either."

Li Xianyun watched the scene coolly, admiring the woman’s sharp wit and eloquent speech.

In just a few sentences, she conveyed two messages: one implying that the medical skills at Xuanyi Pavilion were no better than those at an ordinary clinic on the street, and the other casting the princess consort, a mother of the nation, as lacking a compassionate heart to love and protect her people.

The woman’s eyes darted around, and seeing Li Xianyun standing to one side, she moved towards her with her child, only to be stopped by Bater.

She knelt on the ground and kowtowed so forcefully it echoed, an image of a touching, devoted mother.

"Princess consort, I beg you, save my child. We are all your subjects, you can’t just stand by and let him die."