Chapter 1547: Chapter 1522: Good Complexion

Minister Liu walked with his hands behind his back, and the clerks began to search out Zhou Man’s archives, placing them specially at hand. This way, once she delivered the invitation, it could be archived immediately, ensuring speed and efficiency that would surely win her favor.

He began to look forward to the arrival of this favored imperial physician.

However, Minister Liu and the clerks were unaware that Manbao was currently held up in the Daming Palace.

Concerned with entering the archives to claim her salary, Manbao declined an invitation to play with Princess Mingda and Princess Changyu. Instead, after giving the Crown Princess a pulse check, she intended to return to the Eastern Palace. But just as she was about to leave, the Empress’s attendant, Governess Shang, personally came to invite her.

The initially regretful Mingda and Changyu, who could not join, were immediately delighted and went with Manbao to the main palace hall to see the Empress.

Since Mingda and her companions had breakfast with the Empress that morning, and knew her to be in good spirits, they were sure that Governess Shang’s invitation to Manbao was not about an illness.

On the way, Mingda directly asked Governess Shang, “What does the Empress want Manbao to do?”

Governess Shang smiled and replied, “The princesses will know once they arrive.”

Seeing her expression, everyone could tell it wasn’t something unpleasant, so even Manbao relaxed a bit.

Upon entering the main hall, they saw the Empress reviewing documents, naturally related to the harem. Even residing in the Daming Palace, she still had palace affairs to handle.

Besides the matters of the royal palace, she also had to manage some affairs of the nobles.

While an ordinary matron maintains the stability of the household, a matron of the clan ensures the clan’s inner courtyard stability. The Empress, however, must maintain the entire royal clan as well as the households of all court officials, thereby assisting the Emperor in smoothly managing the entire court and empire.

Therefore, she had quite a lot to manage.

Upon seeing Manbao and her two daughters arrive together, she finished the document in her hand and put it aside. After gesturing them to come closer, she asked Manbao, “Do you see anything different about me today?”

Manbao earnestly examined the Empress and, after a moment, said uncertainly, “Your Majesty appears not much different than usual, but your complexion seems much better today, not like someone unwell.”

The Empress laughed to Governess Shang, “Indeed, she is truly a doctor, always thinking of illnesses.”

She touched her cheek and laughed, “My complexion is indeed rosier, but not because of medicine. Look at my hand?”

Manbao focused on her hand, staring for a while but couldn’t see any difference.

Seeing Manbao’s puzzled expression, the Empress burst into laughter.

Governess Shang had already poured tea for the three young girls. She smiled and said, “Lord Zhou Junior, have you forgotten the ointment you made two days ago? Oh, right, you call it Nourishing Rouge.”

Manbao’s eyes widened slightly, and she couldn’t help but touch the Empress’s hand. Feeling its smoothness, she instinctively reached for her pulse, lightly touching where she usually checked pulses. She noticed that not only was the skin more supple than before, but it seemed even more elastic.

Seeing her expression, the Empress realized she understood, withdrew her hand, and invited her and Mingda and Changyu to sit beside her. She smiled and asked, “That ointment, well, Nourishing Rouge, where did you find the recipe?”

Manbao replied a bit sheepishly, “I found it in the library.”

The Empress, not quite versed in these things, curiously asked, “Is the recipe just called Nourishing Rouge?”

Manbao looked a bit odd, hesitated for a moment before saying, “Yes and no.”

Changyu curiously asked, “Yes is yes, no is no; how can it be both?”

Manbao had a complex expression. Oh dear, how should she explain this?

Should she tell them that the doctor who wrote this recipe had some research into skin diseases but was somewhat disdainfully regarded by other doctors? Yet, he truly believed skin diseases were important, thus feeling disheartened.

Later, he went on to research other ailments, eventually gaining some fame. While writing his medical book, he couldn’t resist adding an appendix, which was printed together with the main text.

In the appendix, he sarcastically criticized those who once looked down on him and his recipes. He jests that they scorned him only because his and his wife’s complexions were better than theirs and theirs.

Though they were of the same age, he could make himself and his wife look ten years younger than them. They scoffed at his various ointments, unaware that they offered more color than market rouges.

And in life, one lives first for life, and second for appearance, no?

He and his wife could live beautifully, which made his medical skills superior to all of theirs. Thus, he jokingly named his recipe Nourishing Rouge, meaning it was more nourishing and provided better color than ordinary rouge.

Of course, in reality, it’s called Bai Ji Paste, and Nourishing Rouge was merely his playful moniker. Manbao found the appendix delightfully amusing, especially in its scathing critique of other doctors, so she made a special note of the recipe to experiment with Mingda and Changyu, just to see if this Nourishing Rouge could truly heal cracks and make skin supple and colorful.

Thus, when Manbao said the name is and isn’t, if it were just her two companions, she could boast as she liked, and everyone would laugh it off afterward.

But with the Empress asking, she had to answer truthfully.

So Manbao hesitantly recounted the gist of the thin medical book.

Changyu couldn’t help but ask, “So he and his wife could appear ten years younger than others just because of this ointment?”

Manbao said, “Of course not. I’ve read another of his medical classics. He’s very good at conditioning practices, which include both external and internal regulation. There’s a wealth of knowledge in that.”

Changyu’s eyes gleamed, and even the Empress couldn’t help but ask, “Have you learned them?”

Manbao shook her head, “I only read through the medical classic once, without delving deep into that area.”

Changyu asked, “Then why did you read that medical classic?”

“I was looking for ways to condition the liver, and found it by chance,” Manbao said. “I’ve only temporarily studied the liver conditioning methods recorded in his book, not the others.”

She hadn’t had the time to study the others.

But Mingda’s focus was different from most. She curiously asked, “Judging by his tone, that doctor was a remarkable person. So how did his medical books end up in the library?”

Generally, such medical books should be passed down within a family and seldom found outside, shouldn’t they?

Manbao said, “I only know he was a man from Liang; I don’t know anything else.”

Researching someone’s life is the job of historians. However, given he was just a doctor, not famed enough to warrant historical study, unless future generations of his pass down his name, nobody would know his biography.