Abandoned Woman Busy Farming

Chapter 1461: Chapter 1562 Let Go and Do It_1

Bai Ruozhu had not expected the status of female physicians in the palace to be so low, nor had she expected the mere five existing female physicians to not truly qualify as doctors. No wonder Mao Youcai and his cohorts looked down on her through their nostrils.

This made her feel both regretful and indignant. She knew that in her previous modern life, there were many excellent female doctors. Could she change this situation now?

She dared not make grandiose claims, but now that she had been put in charge of the Female Physicians Institution, she was determined to make it a true institution for female physicians, and not just a place hanging the name of a few female doctors while only serving to assist the Imperial Medical Hospital with menial tasks.

”You no longer need to do the chores you did before. From now on, I will train you for half the day and assign you tasks for the remaining half,” Bai Ruozhu decided and then told the five of them.

Wei Tianzhen asked somewhat worriedly, ”Master Bai, might this not offend Mao Yanshi?”

Bai Ruozhu couldn’t help but laugh, ”You probably didn’t notice just now at the Imperial Medical Hospital, but I’ve already offended him. Why fear this little bit more? Since His Majesty has commanded me to establish the Female Physicians Institution, I hope it can be successfully formed, not just to have you follow me in performing menial tasks for others.”

”Then...” Wei Tianzhen was still worried, and the other women also had faces full of concern. If they offended Mao Xingcai and were expelled from the Imperial Medical Hospital, and if they were expelled from the palace, what would become of them?

Bai Ruozhu knew well that in this era, the status of female doctors was low. Most women who became female physicians did so because their families were in poor condition, and naturally, those who entered the palace as female physicians were the same. Thus, they feared offending Mao Xingcai and being expelled from the palace.

Bai Ruozhu knew that just talking wouldn’t be convincing enough, so she planned to lead them by action, to change their minds.

On the other hand, the Female Physicians Institution was short of hands, and they needed to recruit more female physicians.

”Let’s start with the simplest learning,” Bai Ruozhu said. After having the five of them sit down, she began her lecture.

Even Jiu Sheng attended the lecture as an observer, which made Wei Tianzhen and the others feel somewhat uneasy. Jiu Sheng intentionally smiled at them, saying, ”You should feel fortunate that my master is willing to teach you. Aren’t you going to pay close attention? If you don’t learn anything in the end, you’ll regret it.”

For Bai Ruozhu, Jiu Sheng’s words actually held more sway over these female physicians, and afterwards, they listened even more attentively and eagerly.

Bai Ruozhu knew that learning medicine wasn’t something that could happen overnight, so she could only think of a clever shortcut: starting by teaching the five of them massage techniques.

Of course, this wasn’t just ordinary massage techniques. She required the five to master the human body’s acupuncture points and then taught them a series of massage techniques, which she collectively named the Bai Family Massage Method.

So, that morning was spent with the five of them learning about acupuncture points. To facilitate their learning, Bai Ruozhu had also drawn a detailed Acupoint Map, which earned Jiu Sheng’s utmost admiration.

At this time, many doctors had mastered a great number of the body’s acupuncture points, but not everyone knew them as completely as this. And since medical knowledge was passed down orally at the time, no one had specifically drawn such acupoint maps, making the map drawn by Bai Ruozhu very significant.

”Master, may I copy a version of this acupoint map?” Jiu Sheng asked, looking at it longingly.

”Sure, even if you hang it up in the Imperial Medical Hospital, it’s fine,” Bai Ruozhu said magnanimously. This was not her personal research achievement, and she had no intention of hoarding it selfishly.

Jiu Sheng was visibly excited, but soon he touched his chin’s beard, saying, ”Let’s wait until Mao Yanshi and his subordinates lose to you and apologize to you. Otherwise, it would be too cheap for them.”

Bai Ruozhu laughed, ”You, you still can’t get rid of the idea of hoarding your medical skills.”

”As an ordinary man, I am trying to adapt as soon as possible,” Jiu Sheng said with a giggle.

The five female physicians now looked at Bai Ruozhu with added admiration in their eyes.

At lunchtime, Bai Ruozhu told everyone to go for their meal and rest, while she herself was summoned to Cining Palace by the Empress Dowager.

”Ruozhu, how are you? Tired?” asked the Empress Dowager with concern.

”Not tired, if anyone should be tired, it’s the others,” Bai Ruozhu smiled. On her way to Cining Palace, she had seen Mao Xingcai and his group hurrying toward another palace, presumably to check on each poisoned lady to see which one might be cured more easily.

The palace was enormous, and their continual hustling from one palace to another was indeed hard work.

At the side, Hao Mu struggled to hold back laughter. The Empress Dowager, curious, asked Hao Mu to tell the story. Hao Mu immediately started recounting the morning’s events at the Imperial Medical Hospital. She described the events so vividly that the Empress Dowager became engrossed and could not stop praising Bai Ruozhu’s prowess.

During the lunchtime, Concubine Le was also called over. Bai Ruozhu checked her pulse to ensure peace and safety for her and the child, then instructed, ”Concubine Le, you are now in the late stages of pregnancy; you must stay active. Walk around the palace when you can, but be careful not to do so under the hot sun during the heat of the day—beware of heatstroke. It’s best to take walks in the early morning and evening. This will improve your health and make the birth much easier.”

Concubine Le took the advice seriously and with slight embarrassment said, ”Lately, I’ve been so hungry all the time, I just can’t control my appetite; what should I do?”

”A good appetite is a positive sign, but you should still try to control it somewhat. Avoid eating foods that are too greasy or salty to prevent swelling in your hands and feet, and don’t eat too many sweets. If you really feel hungry, eat more chicken and fish and less pork; mix some oats with your rice; and eat plenty of vegetables. In this weather, you could have some tender raw cucumbers.” Bai Ruozhu smiled, mentioning her family’s manor had some, and volunteered, ”In a few days I’ll ask my family to send some tender cucumbers to the palace. They might not be as sweet as fruit, but they are the best for your health.”

Concubine Le nodded gratefully, ”Then I’ll thank you in advance.”

After the meal, Bai Ruozhu went to check on Fen Wan and told Hao Feng that she would use the ancient steaming method to detoxify in three days. Hao Feng agreed to everything and suddenly said, ”If you need any help, just tell me.”

Bai Ruozhu realized Hao Feng was referring to the business of the Female Physicians Institution and immediately nodded with a smile, ”Sure, I’ll have to invite you to teach my subordinates soon; they still have much to learn.”

Hao Feng nodded, ”Alright, just let me know when.”

In the afternoon, Bai Ruozhu instructed the five female physicians to visit various concubines in the palaces to ask about their recent health and any issues.

Someone might suffer frequent headaches, someone else might have poor sleep, digestive problems, or menstrual irregularities, and so on. Bai Ruozhu divided the areas among the five and had them record the condition of the concubines they inquired about.

That afternoon, when Mao Xingcai and his group returned, they discovered that the female physicians were no longer running their errands. Mao Xingcai ranted for a while, but remembering that he would soon defeat Bai Ruozhu and send her packing, he decided not to dwell on these trivial matters for the time being.

Bai Ruozhu wasn’t at the Female Physicians Institution; instead, she had gone to the Imperial Study Room to see the Emperor and spoke of her plans to recruit for the Female Physicians Institution. The Emperor responded, ”For such a minor matter, you can make the decision on your own. Since I have issued the decree, it means I want you to go ahead with it.”