The Lucky Farmgirl-Chapter 2066 - 2041: Beating Around the Bush

The Princess Consort wiped the drool from his mouth and couldn’t help laughing when she saw him watching Manbao while eating with gusto, "This child, I don’t know what’s wrong with him. When feeding him egg custard or meat broth by himself, he’s always unhappy. But when he watches other people eat, he also eats with great appetite."

Manbao said, "Eating too much makes it taste not as good."

She said, "Children are all like this, always thinking that other people’s food tastes better. Madame, the taro at your house is really delicious. Where is it grown?"

"It’s grown in the West Mountain. The soil there isn’t good, but it’s particularly good for growing taro. His Highness also likes eating it, so the estate sent many over. It’s not only delicious when roasted; it’s also good when boiled. If you like, I’ll have someone pack a bag for you to take when you leave the palace. You can also roast it by the fire even in the palace."

Manbao said, "The weather isn’t cold to that extent yet. The palace hasn’t distributed any charcoal; I’ll take it home to eat instead."

Seeing the atmosphere was right, Manbao then cautiously asked the Princess Consort, "Madame, do you think if I resign my official position to the Crown Prince, he would agree?"

The Princess Consort was surprised, "Why would you think of resigning?"

She sat up straight and frowned, asking, "Is someone in the palace bullying you?"

"No, no," Manbao quickly explained, "I want to go out to study and travel."

The Princess Consort said, "...Do you even need to study and travel?"

She couldn’t be blamed for being surprised. In her view, Zhou Man’s medical skills were already quite good. Now she’s compiling medical books in Chongwen Pavilion, and she’s already at the level of a "master." Why does she still need to study and travel?

Manbao said, "There are still too few patients in the palace, and even in the capital, the patients I can reach are few. I want to go far away to see."

Manbao did not hide her thoughts, saying, "I know most of the doctors in the capital, and I’ve learned all the medical skills I can. Those I can’t learn, I probably won’t be able to learn in recent years, so I want to go outside to see more patients and doctors, and see outside plants I’ve never seen before. Among them, there might be suitable medicinal herbs."

The Princess Consort said, "...Aren’t there the most people in the capital? Aren’t the patients here enough for you?"

Manbao said, "I’m talking about illnesses. There are localized diseases in the world. Just a place might have some unique symptoms, and the same disease could be different in one place compared to another, and the medication used might differ."

"For example, for a cold, the medicine used to treat it in the capital and in our Luojiang County is different. The medicine used in spring and summer is also different from that used in autumn and winter..."

The Princess Consort listened to her ramble on, summarizing it all into one sentence: There are so many diseases in the world, she wants to go see them.

Privately, the Princess Consort naturally didn’t want her to leave, but she felt she couldn’t refuse. After all, having known each other for three or four years, the Princess Consort felt that she understood her.

This young girl yields to persuasion but not to pressure. If pressured, she might be even more determined to leave.

So she put on a sorrowful expression, "But once you leave, what will happen to His Highness?"

Manbao said, "There are still Doctor Xiao and the others in the palace. Their medical skills are better than mine, and in the next one or two years His Highness won’t be able to have children, right?"

He’s still in mourning; even if there were a reason, he wouldn’t dare let the concubines have children. Taking a step back, even if he wanted children, his health has improved now. It wouldn’t make much difference whether Manbao is here or not; his health mainly relies on upkeep. As long as he doesn’t indulge in alcohol or stay up late, depleting his energy, there shouldn’t be any major issues.

The Princess Consort said, "...But I and the child have gotten used to you; we’re not accustomed to using other doctors."

Manbao took the opportunity to recommend her student, Liu Sanniang, "She’s now an assistant doctor. Her acupuncture skills have improved, and her ability to diagnose and prescribe isn’t weak. I estimate in three or five years she will rise to an official doctor. If you’re feeling unwell, you can call her. For serious illnesses, you can call Doctor Xiao and Imperial Doctor Liu."

She said, "Even I, for severe cases and emergencies in the palace, would also have to consult Doctor Xiao and Imperial Doctor Liu."

In the end, the Princess Consort couldn’t persuade Manbao; instead, she was almost convinced by Manbao.

Because Manbao said, "I go out to see more patients, learn more medical skills, and after returning to the capital, I also treat people and benefit those inside and outside the palace."

Life is long, especially her son, who is only over a year old now. Who knows what ailments they might encounter in the future?

We can’t wait until encountering it before letting a doctor research and learn, right?

Therefore, having a greatly skilled doctor first go and learn many skills and then return would be the biggest guarantee for life.

So, the Princess Consort was actually a bit convinced by her.

Thus, in the evening, when the Crown Prince arrived to play with his son in her room, she casually mentioned the matter. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

The Crown Prince asked, "Where does she want to travel and study?"

The Princess Consort was momentarily stunned and said, "I forgot to ask."

The Crown Prince decided not to ask further and planned to summon someone to question her the next day, but the next day was a holiday, and Zhou Man left the palace early in the morning.

The little servant sent by Eunuch Wu found that she had already left the palace when he arrived at Chongwen Pavilion.

The Crown Prince: ...

He pondered silently for a moment and then waved his hand, "Ask her when she returns."

It’s not an urgent matter anyway.

Eunuch Wu complied.

Manbao returned home, happily reunited with Bai Shan and Bai Erlang. The first thing she asked was, "Is the family hosting a banquet?"

Bai Shan said, "Grandmother wanted to host one, but when she heard we were going to study and travel, she decided not to. Instead, she plans to invite a few tables at the restaurant and let us invite some classmates and friends. The family will invite some relatives for a meal as well."

Manbao said, "Then I’ll also invite those students from the Western Regions at the Imperial Medical Office, and we can all meet up."

"Sounds good."

Thus, the three went back to draft a guest list.

The Imperial Medical Office had taken in three students from the Western Regions. Over the past two years, Manbao learned some simple Western Region dialects from them and also gained some understanding of the situation in the Western Regions, so this time she planned to invite them.

Since she was inviting three students she wasn’t particularly close to, naturally she also had to invite Zheng Gu and Zheng Shao, who are her direct disciples, right?

Yin Huo and Liu Huan definitely had to be invited, as they had a good relationship. And over at Chongwen Pavilion, Feng Zongping and Yi Ziyang needed to be invited too. Yi Ziyang also passed the exam this time, ranking twenty-ninth. In Chongwen Pavilion, only he and Bai Shan passed.

Zhao Liulang not only played well with them but also had become somewhat of a relative with them, so he needed to be invited too.

Bai Shan frowned as he wrote the list, saying, "With this, it would be awkward not to invite others."

After all, since they played well with Zhao Liulang, it wouldn’t make sense to invite only Zhao Liulang.

Bai Erlang said, "Over at the Imperial Academy, Wei Chen definitely needs to be invited. I’m thinking of inviting classmates from the Prefectural School, so should Ji Hao be included?"

If Ji Hao needed to be invited, then Peng Zhiru and Lu Xiaofu also needed to be invited.

Because when they were studying at the Imperial Academy, they got along better with those few. And like Bai Shan and Bai Erlang, they were part of the same batch using privileges to enter the Imperial Academy.

These are true classmates, and they will be considered relational in future careers.