Chapter 2478 - 2452: Moving into the Imperial Villa

As soon as the bill from the Imperial Hospital was released, the court officials had opinions. Why was it that there was no charge for smallpox vaccinations by the Imperial Hospital, but when it came to them, there was a fee?

But when the bill was sent to each household, the Old Madam and ladies of the households, upon hearing that it was related to the treatment of the young masters and misses after entering the royal estate, immediately overruled their husbands, saying, "Isn’t it just one or two taels of silver? What’s that for, for half a month? We’re certainly not going to let the children suffer hardships inside the royal estate, are we?"

Seeing their enthusiasm, the elder gentlemen were startled and couldn’t help but say, "The families of the Imperial Hospital officials didn’t pay when they were vaccinated..."

"But the people at the Imperial Hospital stayed in rooms previously occupied by servants. Will our children also live in such rooms? Aren’t the beds supposed to be replaced, and shouldn’t the rooms be redecorated?"

Indeed, just changing the bedding wouldn’t be enough, would it?

Of course, the beds should be replaced as well! Actually, they wanted the Imperial Hospital to build some new courtyards for their exclusive use, or have the vaccination done at their homes.

However, they knew that wasn’t possible, so they suppressed the thought.

But replacing the beds was a must, so they pressured the elder gentlemen to approach the Imperial Hospital.

Officials of rank three and above, except for Wei Zhi, were all pressured to make a trip to the Imperial Hospital.

Director Xiao didn’t expect so many issues, and his head was about to burst. After handling a group of them, he couldn’t take it anymore and simply pushed Zhou Man out to handle it, as she was eloquent and talkative.

Manbao clasped her hands and listened for a while before saying, "The young misses’ beds can be replaced, but the young masters’ cannot."

State Duke Zhao, representing them, was taken aback and asked, "Why?"

Because there were more young masters than young misses. To replace the young misses’ beds, only four rooms with six beds each needed to be changed, but adding the young masters would mean a lot more—she wouldn’t be able to find that many new beds in a short time, even if they were willing to pay extra.

However, Manbao said seriously, "Because as a proud man of Great Jin, how can you not endure a little hardship?"

She continued, "It’s just a bed, not to mention it’s a common hospital bed. The officials of our Imperial Hospital have all slept on them. Even if they hadn’t, it’s not as if the young masters can’t sleep on them. When His Majesty and you were fighting for the country, didn’t you sleep on grass, on ground full of horse dung? How can these young masters be so pampered?"

State Duke Zhao wanted to retort that they never slept on grounds full of horse dung.

But before he could speak, State Duke Su, standing behind him, applauded loudly and said, "That’s right, why can’t you sleep on it? These children at home are just too pampered. But my daughter has to sleep in a new bed, Lord Zhou, later you can help my daughter replace her bed."

Manbao nodded seriously with a solemn expression, "Don’t worry, State Duke Su. I will have all the young misses’ beds replaced later. Oh, by the way, the fee per head for the young misses needs to be increased by five hundred coins."

Before State Duke Zhao and the others could agree, Manbao had already negotiated with State Duke Su. He felt a bit aggrieved, but since State Duke Su’s voice was loud and speaking behind him felt like thunder in his ears, causing his head to hurt, he had no choice but to agree.

Forget it, his grandsons at home were mischievous anyway, letting them endure some hardship wasn’t such a big deal.

Lord Tang was curious about the money and asked, "A new bed costs more than five hundred coins, right? Who will cover the difference?"

Manbao replied, "The beds replaced for the young misses will be exclusively for their use and won’t be replaced with new ones anymore. After that, there will always be someone staying, and they’ll decrease in use successively."

The high-ranking officials present had no objections, but would the family members of officials ranked five and above have no objections next time?

Manbao said straightforwardly, "What objections could they have? All the sweet and soft young misses, with servants to take care and tidy up, they won’t get dirty in the royal estate."

With Manbao’s decision, the matter was settled. She directly had someone copy the bill to send to each household.

She instructed the clerks delivering the bills, "If the Old Madams inquire, just say the young masters need to recall the hardships His Majesty and the elder gentlemen went through in building the nation, enjoy the bitterness to appreciate the sweetness."

When the emperor learned of this "enjoying the bitterness to appreciate the sweetness" affair, he couldn’t help but burst out laughing, and gleefully said to Bai Shan, "Zhou Man is indeed clever. I think they’re just being lazy. Since the madams are willing to pay, why not change the beds for all of them, and keep the extras? In the future, more and more people will go to the royal estate for vaccinations, and they all can use them."

They, including Director Xiao, weren’t going to bother with that, too free. Now the cowpox needed to be further cultivated, and with it being summer, there were many things to do at the Imperial Physician Office, especially auditing and purchasing the lists of medicinal supplies the local medical offices needed to prepare for summer, they were very busy.

The Imperial Physician Office prepared and, after changing the beds for the four rooms, notified these officials’ families to enter.

Lord Tang’s eldest son was among them, and Madam Tang personally led him by the hand and delivered him to the royal estate. Looking around, she saw Zhou Man standing idly behind Director Xiao, so she led her son forward, patted his small head, and said, "Go greet your aunt Manbao."

The child ran over, raised his little head, and shouted loudly, "Aunt Manbao!"

"Oh, isn’t this our Dalang?" Manbao was also delighted to see him, reached out to ruffle his hair, but he turned his head to avoid it, saying, "Father said boys’ heads shouldn’t be touched."

Such propriety.

Manbao chuckled and asked, "Are you afraid of the vaccination?"

He was still young and didn’t quite understand the dangers of smallpox, so he shook his head joyfully, genuinely happy.

Looking at the arrivals, half were his acquaintances. He had heard that for the next half month, they wouldn’t have to do anything but play in the royal estate. Aside from not being able to leave and not being able to tease the girls, they could do whatever they wanted.

Of course, this wasn’t told by his parents, but was exchanged privately among his friends. Knowing his relationship with Zhou Man, he eagerly asked, "Aunt Manbao, can we really do anything we want in the royal estate?"

"No," Manbao smiled and said, "In the royal estate, whatever you want or don’t want to do, you must follow our instructions."

His face fell a little, but he maintained his politeness and asked, "What if I don’t behave?"

Manbao then took out a needle pouch from her sleeve and pulled out five or six long needles, letting them glint silver in the sunlight. She narrowed her eyes with a smile and said, "Then I’ll prick you!"

The child’s eyes reddened, and he turned, running to his mother, wanting to dive into her arms. But feeling grown up now, he refused to be so impolite, so he looked at his mother with teary eyes, saying, "Mother, Aunt Manbao wants to prick me."

Madam Tang took his hand with a smile and said, "That’s why you have to behave and listen to Aunt Manbao, then she won’t prick you."

Many familiar faces were present, especially Imperial Doctor Liu, who often treated children’s ailments. These young masters and misses from noble families had all been seen by him before. Seeing him reminded everyone of the bitter medicine, adding a touch of melancholy amidst the lively atmosphere.

Apparently, living away from home in the royal estate wasn’t quite so carefree after all.