Chapter 1429: Chapter 1407: Discovery (December Monthly Ticket Bonus 5)
Manbao poked her head out to take a look; it was a jade hairpin, smooth and lustrous, with one noticeably thicker, clearly designed for a man.
She was slightly taken aback and quickly thanked him.
The Crown Princess then closed the box and set it aside, intending to give it to Manbao when she left.
The Crown Princess had just learned about the engagement of Zhou Man and Bai Shan, but the Crown Prince had known for some time and only pretended otherwise.
He intentionally distanced his connections with Zhou Man; at the beginning of the year, he was eager to announce to the world that Zhou Man belonged to the East Palace.
When she came and went, people from the East Palace escorted her. Every visit to the palace brought rewards, and occasionally, when she didn’t visit, if the Crown Princess saw some beautiful flowers, she would have some sent to her.
Her favor was quite apparent.
However, this time, even these jade hairpins were given privately, and if not for the Crown Princess mentioning it, the Crown Prince was reluctant to send them.
Observers outside guessed subtly in their hearts, thinking the Crown Prince bore a grudge against Zhou Man due to his impaired health from excessive drinking, affecting his offspring.
Especially now, as Zhou Man entered the palace once every two days, whereas before, she visits for a treatment session only every half month.
It was evident that the Crown Prince’s condition was indeed not very good.
Thus, those nobles who originally intended to invite Zhou Man for a consultation once she returned to the capital stopped their actions and instead consulted other doctors.
After all, it wasn’t a life-threatening illness. They thought it was just as fine to consult other doctors and avoided entangling too deeply with Zhou Man.
Thus, with fewer clinical sessions, Manbao’s consultations abruptly became none.
Oh, but there were still two regular patients, Xiang Mingxue and Yin Huo.
Unfortunately, neither offered her consultation fees.
After Zhou Lixue and Zhou Ligu passed their exams and officially entered Class D of the Songhe Academy, Manbao had more leisure to focus solely on treating the Crown Prince and teaching a few students.
In the last ten days, Mr. Zhuang systematically reviewed with them, while Bai Shan found previous exam papers from Songhe Academy to study and even predicted some questions, but even then, they barely made it into Class D.
Zhou Lixue and Zhou Ligu were dumbfounded, with disbelief on their faces, thinking that as smart and skilled as they are, how could they only get into Class D?
Bai Shan breathed a big sigh of relief and privately said to Manbao, "They finally made it. Now they understand there is always someone better out there, don’t they?"
Manbao, at that time, was bent over the table, not lifting her head, and said, "They definitely know now."
Seeing this, Bai Shan leaned in to look and noticed she had written down many names, so he asked: "These names... why are you writing them down?"
Manbao looked around, saw that the teachers were outside in the courtyard, and whispered, "These are all the people the Crown Prince has seen in the past few days."
Manbao had been using points to keep Keke watching the Crown Prince. During this time, the Crown Prince had seen quite a few people.
Even though nothing confidential was discussed, Manbao somehow felt uneasy, so she wrote down these names for Bai Shan to see.
Bai Shan looked over them; some names were familiar, having been mentioned in the academy, while others were unfamiliar.
He couldn’t be sure if these people were just loyally serving the Crown Prince or if there was something more sinister.
He whispered, "Did Uncle Zhou say if the Crown Prince has made any unusual moves recently?"
Manbao shook her head, explaining that she no longer attended the lectures before bed but instead watched surveillance videos of the Crown Prince, fast-forwarding, but ensuring there were truly no unusual moves from him.
Bai Shan said, "That’s good. Even if there is any plotting, it can’t be accomplished in one day. Meanwhile, you treat his illness, and as long as he has an heir, it’s fine."
By that time, irrespective of any ulterior motives he might have, they could find an excuse to leave the palace, or even leave the capital.
Manbao nodded.
Everything continued as usual; every morning, Manbao would go to the Jishi Hall. Though the time for consultations was reduced, more time was spent teaching her four apprentices.
Especially with Zheng Gu, she finally figured out where Zheng Gu’s problem was.
Zheng Gu’s problem was that he remembered the medical texts too well.
Of course, Shopkeeper Zheng and the others didn’t see it that way; they thought Zheng Gu was too pedantic from his studies, lacking a bit of intuition when prescribing.
Back then, Manbao, when observing him in the clinic, watched as he took pulses and prescribed.
There was nothing wrong with the diagnoses, most of the symptoms were correctly identified, and even if there were any misses, they were just minor details; overall, the direction was always correct.
There were no issues with the prescriptions either, as they were basically suitable for the symptoms, but Manbao didn’t use his prescriptions and instead prescribed anew for the patients. At this point, she hadn’t discovered his problem, so she generously praised him.
Because his foundation was truly good, far better than Ms. Doctor Liu; she considered him fully capable of consulting and prescribing.
When she complimented him, the curtain of their consulting room was hanging up. Doctor Gu stood at the door with a cup of tea, smiling. Not only Doctor Gu, but Doctor Ding and Doctor Tao also came to watch the fun, collectively watching and enjoying the scene with smiles.
Even the person involved, Zheng Gu, let alone Manbao, was apprehensive, fearing she might have done something wrong, bringing the patient back again for a re-examination, finally releasing them after confirming no mistakes.
Zheng Gu was quite nervous, in the cold weather, he even had sweat on his forehead, but after seeing three patients, each time being told by Manbao he did well, he gradually regained his confidence.
Manbao also slowly forgot Doctor Ding and the others’ words.
She realized something was wrong during lunch. That day Manbao wasn’t going to the palace, so she casually reviewed the morning’s cases, while also taking the opportunity to teach Ms. Doctor Liu, who had started learning pulse taking.
While reviewing, she noticed something amiss.
Although Zheng Gu didn’t diagnose wrongly and prescribed correctly, while sorting the prescriptions, she noticed that none matched the ones given to patients, all of which were written by her.
Zheng Gu’s prescriptions were correct but always lacked a little something, which is why she wrote new prescriptions for the patients.
Manbao lined all the prescriptions in pairs, comparing them, and was dumbfounded.
Beside her, Doctor Ding, who was resting with a cup of tea, couldn’t help but burst into tears laughing, asking her, "Have you found the issue?"
Manbao was quite annoyed, gathered up the prescriptions, unwilling to let them see her instruct disciples, and took Zheng Gu into the front hall consulting room for lessons.
Spreading the prescriptions on the table, looking at Zheng Gu, she asked, "Do you see the problem?"
Zheng Gu looked them over and shook his head, "Master, didn’t you say my prescriptions were correct?"
"They are correct; where did this prescription come from?" Manbao pointed at one and asked.
"Ancestral prescriptions,"
Manbao pointed at another, and he said, "From a derivative of Shang Han Lun, which you also know?"
Manbao sighed and asked, "Do you remember the two patients for these prescriptions?"
"Of course I remember; how could I forget them in such a short time?"
Manbao sighed, "Your prescriptions weren’t wrong but weren’t perfect either. This one, the patient was poor, ginseng was precious, it’s all Qi deficiency, but you could use yam instead, yet you still chose ginseng."