CHAPTER 1280: CHAPTER 1258: OPEN AND ABOVEBOARD

Manbao stood at the door waiting for quite a while. She didn’t see Zhou SiLang, but instead, Eunuch Wu and the imperial guards behind him arrived.

Bai Shan, who was accompanying Manbao and zoning out at the door, raised his eyebrows at Eunuch Wu.

Eunuch Wu quickly explained that they were sent on the Crown Prince’s orders to escort Doctor Zhou Junior into the palace to examine the Crown Princess.

Manbao glanced at the guards behind him and asked, "Don’t I need to change into inner court attire?"

Eunuch Wu replied, "Doctor Zhou Junior, you must be joking. You’re not an inner court servant; why would you need to change clothes?"

Manbao understood immediately. She glanced sadly at the end of the alley before turning to Bai Shan and saying, "Oh well, when my fourth brother returns, let him know I’ve gone into the palace."

Bai Shan nodded, then turned to walk with Manbao back to the courtyard.

Eunuch Wu froze for a moment before hastily catching up, "Doctor Zhou Junior, you’re..."

"I need to go get my medical kit!"

Eunuch Wu wanted to follow, and throughout the walk, Bai Shan and Manbao didn’t exchange a single word. Once they reached the backyard, Eunuch Wu went to greet Mr. Zhuang in the study, while Bai Shan followed Manbao into the room.

Manbao packed her medical kit while Bai Shan pushed open the window. Watching Eunuch Wu being ushered into the study by Mr. Zhuang, Bai Shan turned back and said, "It seems the palace takes this matter very seriously."

Manbao looked up and smiled, "It’s not a bad thing, is it?"

Bai Shan smiled and nodded. Reaching out, he picked up a loose strand of her hair, tucking it into her bun. "Don’t you like money? If the palace brings it up, you should express your thoughts on the matter."

Manbao pursed her lips in a playful smile.

This time, Manbao entered the palace openly and directly, although not to Taiji Hall, but to the East Palace.

The Crown Princess had been informed in advance of Manbao’s arrival and had a servant waiting to escort her over upon entry.

The two were not meeting for the first time—previously, the Crown Princess had even given Manbao gifts—but chatting face-to-face like this was a first.

The Crown Princess coughed lightly to ease the awkwardness before asking, "Has Doctor Zhou Junior had breakfast yet?"

Manbao nodded, "I have."

She paused before asking, "And His Royal Highness?"

"His Highness is attending morning court," the Crown Princess replied. "He’ll be back in a while. In the meantime, Doctor Zhou Junior, why not have some tea and snacks while you wait?"

If His Highness was at court, why was she summoned so early?

But the thought only flashed momentarily, and Manbao obediently sat down. Having just eaten breakfast, she wasn’t very interested in snacks.

The atmosphere was slightly awkward for a moment. The Crown Princess, remembering the matter the Crown Prince had mentioned to her earlier, stood and smiled, "Why don’t we take a walk in the garden? I’ve heard Doctor Zhou Junior is fond of tending to flowers and plants."

Manbao’s eyes lit up and she quickly got up, "Yes, I’m very fond of flowers and plants!"

The Crown Princess was amused to see such candid enthusiasm and, unable to contain her smiling, grew even more cheerful. She decided to lead Manbao to the garden in the East Palace.

At this time of year, many trees in the garden had already shed their leaves, but quite a few flowering plants were still well looked after. Most notably, they had a special greenhouse for cultivating prized flowers.

The invaluable blooms all rested in pots and had been moved into the greenhouse. They wouldn’t be brought out until spring warmed the air. But surprisingly, Manbao wasn’t fascinated by those.

She seemed more intrigued by the seemingly dry or barren plants scattered throughout the garden.

Keke seemed to pick up on something too. From the moment they entered the garden, it began jingling energetically, guiding Manbao to the plants that hadn’t been logged yet in its database.

After walking some distance, Manbao squatted down and pointed to a small barren shrub without any leaves. "What’s this flower called?"

The Crown Princess thought for a moment before replying with a smile, "It seems to be called Huang Dumei. Does Doctor Zhou Junior like it?"

Though no flowers could be seen now, based on scanning the branches, Keke couldn’t yet determine its identity. However, it confirmed that the branch data didn’t match anything in the system, indicating that it wasn’t logged yet.

Receiving Keke’s confirmation, Manbao nodded enthusiastically, giving a rather comical excuse, "Its branches look like they could produce very beautiful flowers."

The Crown Princess laughed, "Then I’ll have someone dig up one of these shrubs to send to Doctor Zhou Junior later."

Manbao blushed shyly and replied, "That’s too kind! I think its branches are sturdy and abundant. Why not just clip one branch for me instead?"

The Crown Princess: ...She thought Manbao was going to refuse altogether.

She smiled and said, "No need for that. We have several of these plants in the garden."

Then, she instructed the attendants behind her to make a note and have a shrub delivered to Changqing Alley later.

Seeing the Crown Princess’s generosity, Manbao roamed around the garden more boldly, picking out various plants she hadn’t seen before—a total of nine in all.

This level of discovery hadn’t occurred for both Manbao and Keke in quite some time, leaving Manbao utterly gleeful and Keke equally delighted.

The Crown Princess, on the other hand, found the selection odd. The chosen plants weren’t particularly valuable, and some she didn’t even recognize. When she consulted the gardener, he mentioned they were rather ordinary blooms—not especially unique.

Still, Manbao seemed to love them. She showed no interest in the greenhouse’s prized peonies or chrysanthemums.

Feeling satisfied, Manbao walked back with the Crown Princess. After sipping a cup of tea, she felt increasingly at ease and said, "Your Highness, why don’t I take your pulse first? Since you’re preparing for pregnancy, you might need to take some medicine or supplements."

The Crown Princess paused with her teacup, "I’ll need to take medicine?"

Manbao nodded, "Generally, preparing beforehand not only benefits the mother but also helps the baby. It can improve the child’s health, intelligence, and increase the chances of conception."

The Crown Princess straightened slightly, nodding gracefully, "Then I’ll trouble Doctor Zhou Junior with this."

She glanced at the nearby maids, who immediately placed a small stool by her chair for Manbao to conduct the examination.

Manbao opened her medical kit and retrieved her pulse pillow.

The Crown Princess’s health wasn’t particularly good. She had fallen ill from anger some time ago. Though she appeared fine now, excessive worry had left her in poor condition.

It seemed her body would need thorough care before any pregnancy preparations could begin.

Manbao always liked to discuss the patient’s condition in detail before prescribing medicine, ensuring they understood how to nourish and heal themselves.

The Crown Princess was slightly surprised but quickly recalled that the court physicians had offered some advice before, encouraging her to relax and not dwell on her worries excessively.

The Crown Princess considered their words superficial nonsense. As Crown Princess, how could she not worry?

Her younger brother-in-law constantly plotted to dethrone her husband and take the title of Crown Prince for himself. Ministers frequently submitted petitions criticizing her husband and her natal family. The Crown Prince had no children, was prone to temper flare-ups every few days...

She wished she could relax, but that required better circumstances.

She hadn’t expected that her anxiety might have such a significant impact on conceiving.

The Crown Princess hesitated and asked, "If someone is always overly anxious, does that mean they won’t be able to conceive children?"