The Lucky Farmgirl-Chapter 2040 - 2015: Assistance

Manbao stopped short, turned around, and said, "Since you’ve decided, follow me to get the prescription."

Manbao wrote him a prescription, saying, "She needs acupuncture, five consecutive days of it. These four days, every afternoon, when the sun is at its peak, you will carry her over. You don’t need to queue, just go straight to the tent. I will make time to do the acupuncture."

"But you need to find a place to stay; it must be warm. She can’t be exposed to the wind, nor can she catch a cold. Like you thought before, staying in the City God Temple or directly in the woodshed of an inn certainly won’t work," Manbao said, "Find a place to stay."

The man looked troubled, but after hesitating, he gritted his teeth and nodded.

Manbao smiled, pulled out another piece of paper, and said, "This prescription was diagnosed by the doctors at the Imperial Hospital together; it’s even better than the one I wrote before. If you follow the doctor’s advice and take good care, it might not take three months to heal."

She handed him the freshly written paper and said, "This is my family’s restaurant address. I know you’re new to the capital and unfamiliar; you can go to the restaurant and find my Fifth Brother, let him help you find a place to stay. For three months, it’d be best to rent a room. I know eating medicine and food costs money; I’ll ask my Fifth Brother to help find you some work. It’s not guaranteed, so don’t get your hopes too high."

The few people who hadn’t considered finding work in the capital instantly had a door opened to a new world, stunned and said, "We, we can find work in the capital?"

Manbao said, "Why not?"

Carrying bags and the like, when they first arrived in the capital, her Fourth Brother and Fifth Brother all did this kind of work. With Zhou SiLang doing business now and often interacting with outside city’s firms and caravans, finding this kind of bag-carrying work is not difficult.

"By the way, what’s your name?"

The man immediately grinned, "Replying to you, my lord, my surname is Luo; I’m the eldest in the family, my name isn’t pleasant, just call me Luo Dalong."

Manbao nodded and waved, "You may go."

Luo Dalong just held the paper but didn’t move, he blushed and said, "My lord, I, I am illiterate, this address..."

Manbao laughed, "My family’s restaurant is on Ronghe Street in the outer city, called Zhou’s Restaurant. If you can’t remember, you can ask the shopkeepers in the neighboring shops holding the paper; they’ll direct you."

Not all passersby can read, but shopkeepers can always read; asking them won’t be wrong.

Upon hearing this, Luo Dalong nodded promptly, carefully folded the paper and tucked it into his shirt before going to fetch the medicine.

Manbao prepared three doses of medicine for them. After he paid and took the medicine, he carried his wife back onto the wooden board, then he and his brothers lifted the board and headed to the outer city.

Manbao was busy all day; it wasn’t until sunset that they could hang up the sign and close for the day. Students and clerks moved tables and benches into the Imperial Medical Office, Imperial Doctor Liu stretched, rubbed a bit, sighed, "Getting old, getting old, can’t keep up with you all."

Everyone laughed a bit, joining the "getting old, getting old" ranks. Manbao didn’t speak silently.

Imperial Doctor Fang suggested, "Since it’s mealtime now, why don’t we go to Chen’s for some lamb soup?"

"That’s a good idea; after blowing cold wind all day, it’s important to eat something warm."

Manbao was even quieter. She packed up her medicine chest, sighed once, and bid farewell to everyone, "Imperial Doctor Liu, Doctor Xiao, I’ll head back to the palace first."

The doctors bid farewell with a smile, "Go on, go on, the palace gates will close soon after dark."

Imperial Doctor Liu also called after her, "Tonight Imperial Doctor Zheng is on duty. Stay alert; he might come to fetch you if anything arises."

Due to the free clinic, Imperial Doctor Zheng had to take night duty solo. He started after going home for a nap in the afternoon.

Tomorrow, Doctor Xiao would be on duty during the day shift, and Imperial Doctor Fang would take the night shift.

Manbao’s turn for the night shift was the last day, she only had to come for half a day then.

Manbao sighed as she got in the carriage to return to the palace.

When she got back to Chongwen Pavilion from the palace gate, it was getting dark. Bai Shan was still reading, the book building was lit, and as soon as Manbao returned, an attendant came to report, "Master Bai, Lord Zhou Junior has returned."

Bai Shan lifted his head from the book, took a moment before getting up to put the book away, then snuffed out the light and went out with the attendant.

Manbao swayed slightly with the medicine chest as she approached, Bai Shan held a book waiting there, seeing her, he couldn’t help but laugh, "Not hungry?"

Manbao swayed slightly as she walked over, "Too hungry, now feeling nothing. It feels rather nice, the palace being quiet this time of day." 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Bai Shan held her hand, squeezed it, "Frozen like this, yet still in the mood to enjoy the scenery?"

Bai Shan took her medicine chest and led her away, "Let’s go, I’ve had something cooked for you in the kitchen, your meal is still warming on the stove, eat first then return to your room."

Manbao followed him to their courtyard.

Unlike the quiet courtyard she lived in, this place was lively before locking up.

Lights were bright, most room doors were open, everyone was gathered in threes and twos, when Manbao and Bai Shan entered, laughter burst from the central room, someone was slapping the bed in exuberance.

Zhao Liulang laughed with abandon, glancing over as Zhou Man entered, he let out a sudden "yo" and boldly whistled.

Hearing this, Manbao sighed, turned her head to ask Bai Shan, "Did you manage to whistle?"

Bai Shan’s face darkened slightly, "No."

Manbao looked at Zhao Liulang in the room, "I don’t know if his whistling skill matches the Sixth Brother’s," wondering if they could master it.

Everyone was waiting for Zhou Man to be embarrassed and angry, but she only glanced inside the room once then left. Zhao Liulang raised his brows, turned to ask his companions, "She actually didn’t rush in to beat me up?"

"Aren’t you provoking disgrace, knowing she shouldn’t be provoked yet you provoke her?"

Manbao followed Bai Shan into the house, as soon as she entered, a fragrant aroma wafted over, and only then did she see Bai Erlang and Yin Huo in front of the table.

As soon as they saw the two come in, Bai Erlang immediately put down the book in his hand, "You’re finally back, you have no idea how much we’ve been suffering."

"What suffering?"

Bai Erlang said, "Smell it."

Manbao already smelled it; there were three stoves set in the corner. Each stove had a crock pot on it, one was gently bubbling, aroma wafting continuously from it.

Manbao crouched down, opened the lid with a cloth wrap, and said with unbidden delight, "Where did the pork ribs and lotus root come from?"

Bai Shan laughed, "Bought them from the kitchen with money."

In the palace, as long as you have money, most things can be bought.

Feng Zongping and the others also put down their books and said to her, "After dinner, Bai Shan saw you hadn’t returned yet, so he went and bought a crock pot from the kitchen, not only were the ingredients prepped by the kitchen, but they even put the condiments in. All that’s left is to stew it with added water. Since we didn’t know when you’d be back and wanted you to have something warm to eat, they borrowed our stove. Your meal was kept warm all along, but this stove kept simmering. The aroma is quite torturous for us here."