CHAPTER 1537: CHAPTER 1513: RULES

Unfortunately, today is Director Xiao’s duty day.

So, when Manbao stepped into the Imperial Hospital under the glow of the setting sun and submitted her medical case, Director Xiao stood up nervously, "The Emperor has an upset stomach?"

Manbao nodded, "The stomach and intestines are chilled and overstuffed, likely leading to inflammation."

Director Xiao looked at the pulse case written by Manbao, noticing she was the only one who conducted the diagnosis, and couldn’t help but feel anxious, "Why were only you called over?"

Manbao said, "I happened to be at the Daming Palace at the time."

"The Imperial Hospital has stationed doctors over there."

After all, most of the royal family is now at the Daming Palace, so naturally, the Imperial Hospital has dispatched doctors there. Since the two palaces are not far apart, a doctor is also stationed at the court here.

Except for Zhou Man, the doctors at the Imperial Hospital are scheduled on duty at both places.

When treating the Emperor, there must be more than two doctors present; even if one only records, it is a form of witnessing, which is the protocol.

Director Xiao assumed Manbao might not understand this protocol, since it was her first time treating the Emperor. Just as he was about to remind her, Manbao said, "Lord Gu initially hinted not to enter the medical case."

Since she also serves as a doctor at the Imperial Hospital, Manbao would naturally have understood the protocols, and she indeed knew them.

For this, Bai Shan even studied them with her. After reviewing many cases from the Imperial Hospital, the two arrived at a conclusion: the protocol is to heed the Emperor’s decisions in all matters—minor issues follow the Emperor-set protocols, while major ones rely on the Emperor’s personal decisions.

Adapting swiftly based on this foundation.

So Manbao just understood the Emperor-set rules, and that was it.

When they finished studying the hospital protocols, the two thought the Imperial Hospital somewhat lacked the pride of court officials. How could they heed the Emperor in everything?

Here the advantage appeared. Upon hearing Lord Gu’s intent not to enter the case, Director Xiao immediately said nothing more.

Lord Gu is trusted by the Emperor. This suggestion was likely from the Emperor, not Lord Gu.

Director Xiao turned to the side, allowing Manbao to enter the case.

Who knew after Manbao filled out the paperwork, attached the pulse case and prescription, and handed them over, she would ask him, "Director Xiao, this is my first case entry, could you check if there’s any problem?"

Director Xiao: "..."

"Lord Zhou Junior, you actually don’t need to show me deliberately."

Manbao said, "But, isn’t it required to have two people’s seals when treating the Emperor? There was no one then, but now you’re here, could you help me by signing off?"

In the future, when checking the records, if there are any issues, someone can testify for her.

Director Xiao: "Lord Zhou Junior shouldn’t say this out loud."

Finding himself unable to escape, Director Xiao straightforwardly picked up the case paperwork, seriously reviewed it, nodded, and said, "It’s written up to standard; there’s no issue. However, I haven’t personally checked the Emperor’s pulse, so I can’t sign off."

Manbao didn’t insist, nodded, and said, "Alright, then let it be entered as it is."

Anyway, the protocol of the Imperial Hospital is to listen to the Emperor in everything. As long as there’s no issue, the records won’t be audited.

Director Xiao guided Manbao in archiving the records. Seeing that there were only the two of them around, he just sat down on a chair and sighed, "The Emperor indulges too much, how can he eat so many melons?"

Manbao also wanted to eat melons, so she mimicked with her fingers and said, "He ate six."

Director Xiao: "... This is too careless. How could the attendants not remind him? Such indulgence isn’t proper!"

Manbao was indifferent. On holidays, when her sister-in-law made many delicious things, she couldn’t help but eat more, often needing to prescribe herself some digestion tablets, but...

"The Emperor really shouldn’t eat so many melons at once; he could spread them out. Eat two in the morning, two at noon, two more before and after the afternoon meal."

Director Xiao couldn’t help but scold, "Stop talking nonsense. That’s still overeating! Melons are cold, how could you eat so many in one day?"

"But the stomach and intestines can mostly endure it and won’t show illness right away. After a few days, they’ll adjust themselves."

Director Xiao was shocked. It was his first time encountering a doctor who arranges their body this way. Ordinary people might do this out of gluttony, but you’re a doctor, you’re a Taiyi!

After a long pause, Director Xiao finally swallowed and asked, "You wouldn’t say this to the Emperor, would you?"

"Of course not, I’m not that foolish. There were many attendants in the hall then. The secretary was hiding somewhere, and I definitely didn’t want to leave a name as a crafty advisor in the history books."

Director Xiao exhaled a sigh of relief. Otherwise, even if she is a fifth-rank official, even if she’s young, he would have to penalize her for the hospital.

"This shouldn’t be mentioned again, especially in front of the Emperor or the royal family. Otherwise, if they truly indulge and something happens, neither of us could bear the responsibility. Alas, Lord Wei will be advising again in a few days."

"He only ate a few more melons. Is it that serious?"

"How come it’s not? A stomach and intestinal inflammation could be fatal." Seeing Manbao’s astonished look, Director Xiao stroked his beard and said, "Even drinking water could be fatal, let alone eating melons. Is it very surprising?"

"But aren’t these accidents?" Manbao said, "Death from drinking water is extremely rare after all. How can it be included in cases with traceable causes?"

Director Xiao: ... I’m talking about accidents; you’re discussing medical principles?

Director Xiao suddenly didn’t want to talk to Manbao anymore.

Seeing her tendency to continue rambling, Director Xiao immediately spoke up before her, "Lord Zhou Junior, aren’t you returning to Chongwen Pavilion? I see the sky is getting dark, and the palaces will soon lock up."

Manbao was surprised at how time flew—it’s about to get dark.

She promptly got up, bade farewell, and quickly left.

After all, she is young. Once out of the Imperial Hospital, she sprinted towards the Eastern Palace, paying no heed to image.

Running in the palace is taboo, but seeing Manbao, the palace attendants along the way looked at the darkening sky and silently pretended not to see.

Manbao dashed into the Eastern Palace, stopped, and caught her breath.

Bai Shanzheng was not far off reading a book, waiting for her.

Seeing her rush in, he exclaimed and asked, "What were you doing to come back so late?"

He said, "Today, your student Ms. Doctor Liu even specially went to Chongwen Pavilion to find you, saying she was unsure about two medical conditions and wanted your guidance, but you weren’t there. Imperial Doctor Zheng had to go with her."

After catching her breath, Manbao said, "I went to Daming Palace today, took a boat there, and even went with Mingda and Changyu to find wild duck eggs. You wouldn’t know, the Daming Palace is so fun—it’s not sectioned into specific paths like here, and people can only walk on the paths. Many places there are still wild, but to make it less unsightly, grass seeds were spread, and some roses there are particularly beautiful, it’s full of greenery..."

In the past two days, she even dug up three plants not found in this palace, and Keke scanned them, revealing that there are still many plants not recorded near the mountainside, but unfortunately she couldn’t reach there at the moment.