The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 1114 - 193: Disagreement

Chapter 1114: Chapter 193: Disagreement

The Emperor and the Crown Prince wish to decree a general amnesty throughout the realm, but matters are not as simple as that. Someone has to draft the imperial edict, right?

Unfortunately, the one on duty today in the Taiji Palace is Wei Zhi, and as soon as he received this imperial command, he put down his pen and said first, "The matter of amnesty has wide-ranging implications. Let us confirm with His Majesty again before proceeding."

The eunuch who came to deliver the edict said, "His Majesty’s intent is to issue the edict immediately, taking advantage of the slightly improved condition of the Empress to exert one more effort and pray for a blessing. Perhaps she will get better."

Of course, Wei Zhi did not believe in the talk of amnesty and prayer for blessings. He thought that the Crown Prince and the Emperor were simply desperate for a cure. Hearing that all the royal sons and daughters agreed, especially the Third Prince who was eager to help the Ministry of Justice, he stood up and asked, "Where is His Majesty right now?"

The inner official was taken aback, sensing something ominous, and quickly said, "His Majesty is in the Lizheng Dian accompanying the Empress."

He added, "Her Majesty is ill."

Implying, do you have the heart to bother the Empress at this time?

Wei Zhi indeed felt embarrassed, so instead of going directly to the Lizheng Dian to find the Emperor, he turned to look for State Duke Zhao.

State Duke Zhao, the Empress’s brother, was leisurely sipping tea in the Ministry of War. He glanced outside by chance and saw Wei Zhi striding toward him with vigor.

State Duke Zhao was taken aback, immediately set down his teacup, and turned to slip away.

Minister Liu, sitting opposite him, caught his sleeve and said with annoyance, "Why are you hiding from him?"

"Ah, he usually brings nothing but trouble when he looks for someone. If I don’t hide, why should I stay here?"

"You should at least ask what it’s about," Minister Liu chided him, "You run off without a word, do you still care about the face of State Duke Zhao?"

As the two were entangled in their argument, Wei Zhi pushed open the door and entered, and Minister Liu instantly let go of his sleeve.

State Duke Zhao now understood, "Well done, Minister Liu, you did it on purpose!"

Wei Zhi: "Did what on purpose?"

State Duke Zhao gave him a sidelong glance, then turned and plopped down on his chair, and asked, "Lord Wei, what brings you to me?"

Since it was nothing particularly secretive, there was no need to beat around the bush. Wei Zhi directly informed the two men of the Emperor’s will.

Seeing State Duke Zhao and Minister Liu both frown slightly, he knew they also didn’t quite agree, so he suggested, "Shall we go together to see His Majesty and perhaps offer some advice?"

Minister Liu, though not quite in agreement, was also not willing to get involved and said, "We at the Ministry of Revenue are quite busy, State Duke Zhao is the imperial uncle, let him accompany you."

Wei Zhi was mainly looking for State Duke Zhao, so he turned to look at him.

State Duke Zhao cursed Minister Liu inwardly and defended the Emperor and Crown Prince, "His Majesty is also worried about the Empress. If prayer can truly help, in fact, it’s not a bad thing to pray."

"When has amnesty ever been useful for curing illnesses?"

"How can you know it’s useless without trying?" State Duke Zhao said, "The Empress has the grace of Heaven; if many people sincerely pray for the Empress together, and the Empress gains the merit of rebirth, who knows if Heaven will not have mercy on her?"

"But those are all evil-doers and criminals!"

"That’s why we should guide them back to humanity. If we really dragged them to the execution ground and beheaded them, they would be entering the path of beasts."

Wei Zhi felt that this was completely fallacious and, unable to contain his anger, started arguing with State Duke Zhao on the spot.

While the argument grew heated on their side, the Emperor in the Lizheng Dian waited long but did not see the imperial edict come, and he couldn’t help frowning, "Why does it take so long to draft a single edict?"

He looked towards Gu Zhong; Gu Zhong then bowed and exited, only to return after a short while, whispering, "Your Majesty, today Lord Wei is on duty in the Taiji Hall."

Emperor: ...

He regretted it, but in fact, issuing the decree tomorrow would have been just the same.

Manbao was exchanging medical expertise with the Imperial Physicians, of course, the conversation still revolved around the Empress’s illness, and expanded from there to the treatment of various respiratory diseases.

Director Xiao wanted to witness Manbao’s acupuncture skills, mainly because he wanted to know how good her technique was, so as to adjust the upcoming treatment methods for the Empress.

In fact, besides them, the Imperial Physicians, there were also medical maids in the palace, not many, but there were five of them.

However, their medical skills were far inferior to Manbao’s, not to mention those of the Imperial Physicians.

What they learned was about the same as the medicine boys beside the Imperial Physicians; they were not even able to prescribe independently.

It wasn’t because they weren’t intelligent, or weren’t willing to learn, but for various reasons, their medical skills would not be very profound.

The medical maids in the palace were also recruits from respectable families, mostly the concubine-born daughters of the Imperial Physicians.

Most of them learned about common diseases and nursing methods that women might require from their fathers and brothers, and then were sent to compete for a position as a medical maid in the palace.

If chosen, they would receive the title of Ninth-Rank Medical Maid.

However, they wouldn’t spend their whole lives as medical maids in the palace; most entered at the age of twelve or thirteen, and by eighteen or nineteen, at the latest twenty, if they hadn’t married into a noble family, they would leave the palace to be married off by their families.

But because they had served as medical maids in the palace, they would have more and sometimes better marriage options than before.

Yet precisely because they would marry out, their families were often unwilling to teach them the core medical skills.

Similarly, very few women set their hearts on delving deeply into medical practice, because in a few years, they would get married and start having children, reducing the occasions when they might make use of their medical skills.

In the end, they underestimated the medical maids, and at the same time, underestimated medical science.

The heads of all departments are second-ranked, except for the Director of the Imperial Hospital, who holds merely a fourth rank.

Although Manbao’s name had long been famous throughout the capital and they recognized her medical expertise during their recent conversation with her, Director Xiao still wished to be more certain.

Manbao then arranged with Director Xiao to go to his house in the evening to perform acupuncture, to let him witness her capability.

The Crown Prince was standing not far from them, overhearing that Wei Zhi was reluctant to write the imperial decree and spoke discontentedly, "If my mother’s illness is delayed because of Wei Zhi, can he bear the responsibility?"

Wei Zhi was one of their own; Manbao couldn’t help but glance at the Crown Prince, noticing his agitated manner, then looked at the Emperor, seeing that he was silent but with an approving expression on his face, she couldn’t help herself, "Would Your Majesty and the Crown Prince not enquire about the Empress?"

The Crown Prince was in a temper, turned his head upon hearing her, "What’s it to you?"

Manbao frowned, "Your Majesty, Crown Prince, you wish to grant amnesty to all under heaven as a blessing for the Empress, clearly believing in cause and effect, but you should know, among those imprisoned are mostly wicked people, especially those sentenced to death. They might feel grateful to the Empress, earning her some karmic reward, but what about the resentment from those innocent victims and their families which they have harmed? Who will bear that grudge? Would not that karma ultimately fall upon the Empress?"

The Crown Prince angrily said, "How dare they!"

Manbao just silently gave the Crown Prince a look, thinking to herself: You can control heaven and earth, but can you control what’s in people’s hearts?

The Crown Prince obviously realized this too, especially after meeting Manbao’s gaze, it would be difficult not to understand.

He was silent for a moment, then turned his head to look at his father.