The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 919 - 897 - Awakening

Chapter 919: 897 Chapter Awakening

Old Master Guan’s death did not come as too much of a surprise; he had been ill for many years, and everyone had known for the past six months that his days were numbered. Even the Prince of Yizhou was not particularly shocked, he simply sighed and accepted the fact.

Guan Dalang followed Old Master Guan’s instructions and, as soon as the funeral was over, asked the Prince of Yizhou to release him from his duties. The Prince did not agree, saying, "Your father was born in Yizhou, grew up in Yizhou, and only followed his ancestors back to his ancestral home a few times when he was young. Now the ties between your family and that place are thin—what purpose would there be in returning?"

The Prince of Yizhou added, "Why not stay here? Your father served me all his life. It is only right that I should look after you and your brother. You should observe the mourning period first; afterwards, I have a position for you here."

He then inquired, "What about Erlang? Your father has passed away; why has he not returned to pay his respects?"

Guan Dalang lowered his eyes and replied, "He missed the envoy sent by our family and has now gone to Tongzhou. Since Tongzhou is closer to our hometown Liangzhou, and Father wished to be buried back in the countryside, I sent him a message in advance to go and wait in our ancestral home."

The Prince of Yizhou did not expect Guan Dalang’s actions to be so swift. At this point, if he still obstructed the Guan family’s return home, it would not be seen as valuing talent but as being heartless.

He pondered for a moment, his heart filled with doubts, and then said, "There is no need to wait until the mourning period is over before escorting the remains back home. Once the initial intense mourning period is completed, return to Yizhou City. Your father was with me for twenty years, and I have grown accustomed to having him by my side. There are many matters of his that I would like you to take over."

Guan Dalang indeed felt tempted, and so after hesitating briefly, he bowed his head and agreed.

Seeing his satisfaction, the Prince of Yizhou then let Guan Dalang leave.

As Guan Dalang stepped outside, a carriage entered the courtyard; considering his low status, he stepped aside to wait.

County Magistrate Tang lifted the carriage curtain, saw him, and jumped down to pat his shoulder while inquiring, "How have you been, has your father’s body been laid to rest properly?"

Guan Dalang responded to each question.

County Magistrate Tang then turned his head toward Mingli, who pulled out a letter from his sleeve.

County Magistrate Tang handed the letter to Guan Dalang, saying, "I promised your father that he hoped you and your brothers could study more, advance academically, and earn official recognition. Take this letter of recommendation, and once your mourning period is over, you could perhaps visit the capital."

A gentle breeze passed by, and Guan Dalang instantly became alert. He remembered his father’s words.

He looked at the letter handed to him, bowed deeply to receive it, and quickly expressed his thanks.

County Magistrate Tang smiled, nodded slightly, and proceeded with the servants who had come to greet him to go see the Prince.

Guan Dalang, keeping the letter, watched County Magistrate Tang walk away. He felt uneasy inside, recalling his father’s unusual final behaviors and County Magistrate Tang’s unexpectedly diligent visit surfacing in his mind.

He tightened his grip on the letter, boarded his own carriage, and told the coachman, "Let’s go home."

Sitting in the carriage, Guan Dalang looked at the letter in his hand, recalling his father’s refusal to call back Second Brother and his insistence on sending away his eldest son as well...

Guan Dalang swallowed, carefully stored the letter, and decided to pack his belongings tomorrow to prepare for escorting the body back to his hometown.

As May advanced and the weather grew hotter, the wheat bowed its head and began to turn yellow, Manbao and the two finally had a day off and spent it frolicking in their Little Manor, watching the wheat stalks that were both long and plump. The three of them laughed with satisfaction.

Bai Shan looked back at their orchard and with an outstretched finger declared, "Let’s go, let’s pick some fruit."

The only fruit they could pick at that time were peaches, so the three of them rushed up the mountain, beginning to pick the ripe peaches.

They picked a large bundle and decided to carry them back home in their clothes. Recently, they had all been studying and feeling quite restless. It was a rare chance for them to come out, and they didn’t leave until the sunset, reluctantly climbing onto Daji’s horse-drawn carriage.

Ms. Qian looked at the dirty Manbao as she returned and couldn’t help but feel both angry and amused. "I think Mr. Zhuang is too lenient with you, he really shouldn’t give you any days off."

Manbao chuckled and approached her mother, presenting the peaches, "Mother, look, I picked these especially for you."

Ms. Qian glanced at the peaches in her bundle and asked, "Aren’t we supposed to save these to sell?"

"There are still plenty on the mountain, and we are not short of money," Manbao replied, setting aside two particularly red peaches. "Mother, these two are for you and my sister-in-law. Shall I divide the rest among them?"

"Save a few more, and tomorrow when your Second Brother goes to the county town, have him take two to your elder sister," she said. "Your elder sister is about to give birth, she’s been craving a lot, but since she’s older and it’s her first child, Elderly Doctor Lu said she shouldn’t eat too much. I thought fruit wouldn’t be a problem, so I wanted to take some to her to satisfy her cravings."

After thinking it over, Manbao replied, "Then I will talk to Bai Shan and Bai Er tonight, and have Second Brother go pick some more from the orchard early tomorrow morning. There are plenty that can be picked, but we couldn’t carry too many today, so we didn’t pick them."

"Would that be all right?"

"Sure," Manbao generously replied: "Let’s pick them, and tell your sister that when she is about to give birth, I will come to deliver her baby."

Ms. Qian: "...You know how to deliver a baby?"

"Not really, so I want to see how it’s done." Manbao replied: "Recently, I have been looking at medical books about childbirth, but I can’t quite understand them."

Ms. Qian pushed her exasperating daughter aside, saying, "Using your sister as practice, aren’t you afraid I might beat you to death? Go away."

Manbao left two peaches behind and ran off, distributing the peaches in her bundle to her nieces and nephews. Then, clapping her hands, she returned to her room to read books through the system.

Manbao calculated Zhou Xi’s due date; she should be giving birth next month, so recently she had been discussing childbirth with Teacher Mo.

Teacher Mo was also quite interested, primarily because in their breed, gestation isn’t necessarily required by the mother. One could apply at a hospital, and as long as the exams and inspections are passed, one could obtain a gestation sac, or even buy one at a high price.

Therefore, the knowledge about childbirth that Teacher Mo had was only from historical medicine, and in terms of experience, he probably had even less than Manbao.

After all, Manbao had once waited outside while her sisters-in-law were giving birth, which gave her more experience than the experience-less Teacher Mo.

The teacher-student pair, a man and a young girl, delved deeper into the topic of childbirth and were becoming more confused. Eventually, they had no choice but to consult Elderly Doctor Lu and Doctor Ji.

Elderly Doctor Lu and Doctor Ji could provide several case studies, but there wasn’t much they could actually do during childbirth.

The issue with Elderly Doctor Lu was that during childbirth, his medicinal herbs were always incomplete. Rural families couldn’t always have costly herbs on hand, often resulting in having medicine without drugs; they could only do acupuncture or shift the fetus’ position to aid childbirth.

Doctor Ji, on the other hand, faced the complete opposite scenario. People in the city were more particular, and most of the time, he couldn’t even see his patients’ faces, having to prescribe based only on the pulse felt through a curtain. He wished to do acupuncture or adjust the fetus’ position but it was impossible...

Combining the case studies from both doctors, Manbao found that their methods used in the delivery room were completely different, lamenting the fact that medicine or acupuncture couldn’t be used. Yet, she amalgamated methodologies from both.

Although still somewhat confused, she was beginning to grasp some aspects of it.

Regrettably, she had never seen a childbirth herself; being able to be in the room to watch would have been ideal.