"I'm afraid it's not up to you to decide whether to stay or leave." Wen Jingyan sighed in his heart.
Even he, an old man who has worked in the Imperial Medical Service for decades, couldn't leave, let alone a rootless country kid.
Yingbao blinked: "I'm just a child. If anyone forces me to stay, I will beat the person she cares about most every day." For example, Chen Tiantian.
Wen Jingyan laughed: "Then you will be punished as well."
"Just punish me!" Yingbao is not afraid.
The three of them chatted for a while, and then someone from the palace came to bring Yingbao into the palace to meet the emperor.
This time, Doctor Li was not invited to go along, but Yingbao was summoned alone, which made her a little uneasy.
Wen Jingyan comforted him, "Don't be afraid, the emperor must want to reward you."
Upon hearing that there might be a reward, Yingbao instantly perked up and happily followed the eunuch who delivered the imperial eunuch's order into the carriage, and of course she did not forget to take her medicine box with her.
The carriage went straight into the imperial city and stopped at the gate of Yingxianyuan.
The young eunuch carried the medicine box for Yingbao, entered the gate of Yingxianyuan, and came to the steps of Changshengdian.
After a while, someone shouted loudly, asking Yingbao to enter the palace.
So Yingbao saw the graceful and elegant queen again.
This time the queen had a smile on her face and asked someone to bring a stool for her to sit down and answer.
"I heard that your family has a secret recipe passed down from generation to generation?" the queen asked with a smile.
Ying Bao nodded: "My Lady, it is true, but our family has an ancestral teaching that it cannot be passed on to others."
Queen: "Don't worry, I don't want to explore your family's secret recipe, but..."
She looked at the little baby below and said, "My son is weak. Your secret recipe may be able to cure his illness."
Ying Bao nodded: "Don't worry, Madam. As long as the prince takes good care of himself, he should be able to recover in less than two years."
By then, he would be able to hold on even without her medicine.
The Queen was pleased to hear this and said, "Yingbao, why don't you live in the Qing Palace from now on? This way, it will be more convenient for you to take care of the King of Dai."
Yingbao thought to herself, here it comes, Grandpa Wen was right as expected.
She immediately stood up and bowed to the queen: "Your Majesty, I can't. I have to go home. My mother has been waiting for me for a long time. I have fields to cultivate at home, and no one is taking care of my little brother. In addition, no one is taking care of the chickens and ducks at home. They will not lay eggs anymore."
Yingbao tried her best to make her family sound miserable and busy, and secretly explained that her family was a peasant family and good citizens, and would not sell herself to enter the palace to be a maid.
The queen was stunned for a moment, then laughed: "My child, since I asked you to stay and take care of the King of Dai, I will certainly arrange a good life for your family."
Yingbao blinked and said in a difficult tone: "How can I not trouble Her Majesty the Queen?"
Seeing that the queen was not angry, he immediately took advantage of the situation and said, "Your Majesty, why don't you let the King of Dai go to my house to recuperate? Our village is very beautiful, with mountains, water, and many delicious fruits. The King of Dai will definitely be happy to go there, and he will recover quickly."
The Queen's mouth twitched, and she said unhappily, "Is there no mountain fruit tree in the Qing Palace?"
In the eyes of this kid, the huge Qing Palace is not as good as a rural village? He is indeed a child who grew up in the countryside and has no sense of propriety in his words.
Yingbao's face fell, and she said unhappily, "Qing Palace does have mountains, water, and fruit trees, but they don't allow me to walk around, nor do they allow me to pick fruit to eat."
The Queen was in a good mood today and was very patient: "Don't worry about this. I will issue an oral order later. You can walk around the Green Palace freely and pick fruits to eat."
She picked up the tea bowl and took a sip, saying, "In this case, you should be relieved."
Yingbao nodded, knowing that she was no match for him, and suddenly said, "But, what if those palace servants bully me? I'm only six years old, I definitely can't beat them."
The queen pinched her forehead, already a little impatient, but still maintained a gentle smile and said, "How about this, I will give you a ruler, and if anyone dares to bully you, you can use the ruler to hit back."
Is this okay? Oh, it's been a while since I last took care of my child. It's really troublesome.
The maid next to her was very clever. She immediately found a ruler and handed it to Ying Bao: "Why don't you thank the queen for her grace?"
Yingbao took the ruler and put it on her waist, then she clasped her hands together and bowed deeply to the queen, "Thank you for your grace, Queen."
Humph! With the ruler in hand, bad guys bow down. I will stay in the Qing Palace for the time being. After I cure the skinny monkey Dai Wang, I will ask him for permission to go home.
As the only son today, he should have this authority.
Coming out of Yingxian Courtyard, Yingbao held two strings of silver coins, five hundred coins in one string, and two strings equaled one thousand coins, which was the reward from the Queen.
This silver coin is the same as a copper coin, except that it is made of silver. It is probably used by the palace to reward people.
There were also two rolls of silk and two rolls of summer cloth, which were carried by a young eunuch and sent to the Qing Palace.
Yingbao was still arranged to live in the same compartment as before.
The young eunuch placed four pieces of cloth and a medicine box on the table, wiped the sweat from his forehead, then stood at the door for a long time, glancing at Yingbao from time to time.
Yingbao knew what he meant. After thinking about it, she reluctantly took out a five-liang silver ingot from her small bag.
This is already the smallest silver ingot in the cave. Alas, if I had known earlier, I would have saved some of it.
"Thank you for your hard work, little brother. I'll give this to you to buy some tea." Yingbao stuffed the silver into the young eunuch's hand.
The young eunuch, who looked about thirteen or fourteen years old, took the silver and said with a smile, "It's not hard work, it's not suffering. If you have any business or want to buy something in the future, just send someone to call me. My name is Guiping, I work in the outer courtyard of Yingxianyuan. I run errands for the sisters every day and buy some small things."
It turned out to be a eunuch in charge of foreign affairs.
Yingbao immediately smiled and nodded: "Of course, of course. If I buy something in the future, I will ask Brother Guiping to help me."
Guiping smiled and put the silver in his arms, then said goodbye and left.
Although Yingbao felt sad about giving away the five taels of silver, she felt it was worth it.
I am completely in the dark in the palace, so it is crucial to establish good relationships with the eunuchs and palace maids.
Therefore, you must act when the time is right. At worst, you can find a way to earn back the money you spent.
At this moment, she suddenly heard someone calling her outside, so she went out.
It turned out that as soon as Yingbao entered the Qing Palace, the Chief Secretary of the Qing Palace received an imperial edict, knowing that this young doctor would be stationed here permanently, so he assigned a palace maid to take care of her daily life.
After all, she was the doctor who treated King Dai. Even though she was younger, she was different from ordinary palace maids.
The maid was called Chang Xiu, about fifteen or sixteen years old, and looked simple and honest. She was originally a garden sweeper, and was a little flattered to be assigned to take care of Yingbao.
There wasn't much for Yingbao to ask her to take care of, just fetch water, deliver meals, or wash clothes.
Also, she could let Chang Xiu accompany her at night, otherwise she would be scared.
Chen Tiantian looked unhappy when she saw Yingbao coming back.
But she still came over to say hello: "Yingbao, you are here. The King of Dai just woke up. I will help you report it."
From yesterday to today, Chen Tiantian and several palace maids were not allowed to enter the inner hall, and she was a little anxious.
Because there was a voice in her head that kept urging her to take this opportunity to show her face in front of King Dai more often to increase his favorability.
But the Chief Secretary and several officials of the Qing Palace did not allow the palace maids to enter, which made her very embarrassed.
Now the inside and outside of the Dai King's bedroom are guarded by eunuchs, and only a wet nurse can enter and exit freely.