The Lucky Farmgirl

Didn’t we just wash before coming out?

But when Manbao glanced at her, she immediately reacted, answered after giving a salute, went into the washroom to check things over, and simply started asking for what she wanted without any politeness.

"Our lady doesn’t like this kind of soap, it has to be the osmanthus-scented one."

Then she started picking out the large bath towels inside, using two extra new ones, and pointed at the quite spacious washroom, saying, "Where’s the wooden bench for washing hair? You can’t expect our lady to bend over and lower her head to wash, right? Don’t tell me your noble residence makes its masters suffer like that?"

So a maidservant brought in a wooden bench.

Jiu Lan picked out quite a lot of things, and only after they had everything ready did Manbao lie down on the bench and let Jiu Lan wash her hair.

She reminded her, "Wash it thoroughly, we have several hundred smallpox patients at the imperial estate."

The maidservants and women standing by to wait on them all turned pale and quietly edged a bit farther away from her.

Jiu Lan answered loudly and really did wash very carefully.

But they had already washed once before coming out, so this time Jiu Lan mainly massaged Manbao’s head.

Their household had an Imperial Doctor, an Assistant Doctor, and a student from the Imperial Medical Office; naturally the maids had learned a few tricks as well.

Mainly, after Zhou Man taught them, they went to massage Old Madam Liu, Ms.Zheng, Ms.Qian and the others. They couldn’t have them going out all day treating people and waiting on them, only to come home and still be tormented by sore backs and aching waists and dizzy heads, right?

So in the Zhou Residence, aside from Xi Bing and the few other newcomers, more or less everyone knew a bit.

Because the young girls not only learned so they could massage their masters, they also traded massages among themselves in private.

And Jiu Lan and May were the ones serving closest to Zhou Man; to be prepared for when their master needed them in the future, the two of them had been studying very hard, and their skills counted as quite good among the group.

So Manbao, enjoying a head massage for the first time, gradually relaxed and then, shamefully, fell asleep.

Seeing her master asleep, Jiu Lan’s movements, which had been gentle and slow, became even more so; when she occasionally increased the pressure, it only made Zhou Man relax further.

She rinsed the hair with hot water and only finished washing it after a full three quarters of an hour. The stewardess who had received them earlier had already come in and out several times by then.

Seeing Jiu Lan finally twisting Manbao’s hair to squeeze the water out, she let out a long breath of relief and stepped forward with a smile to speak, only to see Jiu Lan shush her and whisper, "Auntie, let me wring our lady’s hair dry first. It’s not a good time to wake her. Our lady has been exhausted these past days. Since it makes no difference to her being asleep or awake while I’m wringing her hair, we might as well let her rest a bit more."

So Jiu Lan sat and dried their little lady’s hair, first rubbing it gently all over once, then dividing it into strands and slowly drying it, one lock after another...

Not to mention the stewardess, even the maids standing to the side felt their legs going numb. No one knew how long had passed before the hair was finally more or less dry. Only then did Jiu Lan wrap it up in a towel and coil it up, then shoo everyone out, and only after that did she change the hot water again to bathe Zhou Man.

Manbao sat in the so-called State Duke Residence’s "ancient-recipe fragrant bath," reached out to lift some petals floating on the surface, and laughed. "I know this old formula too. I even know formulas for essential oils. I’ve never made them, but I should be able to. If nothing else, I know several methods for scenting fresh flowers; the result shouldn’t be any worse than this. Do you like bathing in scented water? I’ll make a couple of formulas for you next time?"

Jiu Lan had rolled up her sleeves and was sitting by the big wooden tub scooping water over Zhou Man. Hearing this, she shook her head. "How many fresh flowers would that take? If my lady wants to use it herself, that’s one thing, but if it’s for us, there’s no need."

Manbao grabbed a handful of petals, brought them to her nose and sniffed. They were indeed quite fragrant. "When I have time I’ll make a huge batch and send a little to this person and a little to that person."

Manbao soaked comfortably for two quarters of an hour, and only when her fingertips were almost wrinkled did she get up, then dressed and had her hair done...

By the time all this was finished, another two or three quarters of an hour had passed. There was only anxiety left on the stewardess’s face. She kept going in and out, in and out, unable to help urging them twice.

Manbao only smiled. "I’m here to see the State Duke’s wife; I can’t possibly be discourteous. Naturally I must wash up and dress properly."

So she even put the pearl hair ornaments she had been wearing before into hot water to soak for a bit as well, calling it "disinfection."

By the time she fished the pearl flowers out, wiped them clean, and put them on her head, another two quarters of an hour had gone by. The stewardess was already deathly pale, as if she wished she could kneel to Zhou Man on the spot.

Once Manbao had put on the pearl flowers, she finally took Jiu Lan’s hand and stood up. She nodded to the roomful of pale-faced maidservants and servants and said, "Let’s go, we mustn’t keep the State Duke’s wife waiting too long."

From the time Zhou Man entered the residence, an hour and a half had already passed. She had clearly arrived at 9 a.m.–11 a.m., yet now it was already lunchtime, the time to eat the midday meal.

The State Duke’s wife in the back courtyard had been waiting since she heard that Zhou Man had arrived. The whole Zhao Family, aside from those away on official duties at the yamen, were all waiting as well. They waited and waited for two to three quarters of an hour with no sign of her. The first wave of people sent to hurry them came back, and after that, every half quarter of an hour someone was sent to urge them again, but still no sign of anyone.

After an hour, the State Duke’s wife was almost dozing off in her seat, yet there was still no sign of her.

Everyone’s expressions began to look rather ugly.

Liu Sanniang, waiting in a side room, felt a bit puzzled when she hadn’t seen her master after two quarters of an hour. Later she was downright astonished. Then, slowly, she calmed her heart, sat in the side room sipping tea and nibbling pastries in a leisurely manner, looking completely unruffled.

A steward came in with a forced smile to invite her. "Assistant Doctor Liu, Imperial Doctor Zhou has already arrived at the back courtyard. Would you like to go and meet her?"

Liu Sanniang sat as steady as Mount Tai and replied softly, "This lowly official was ordered to assist my master in diagnosis and treatment, only responsible for carrying the medicine box and following my master’s instructions. Before coming to the front court, I was told to simply listen to my master, so this lowly official will wait for my master here. It wouldn’t be proper for me to wander about the residence."

No matter what they said, she simply sat in the side hall without moving, insisting she had to wait for her master to come over.

In this way, Liu Sanniang watched as the people in the courtyard grew more and more frantic, more and more panicked, bustling in and out for a full hour and a half before she finally heard someone outside shout, "Imperial Doctor Zhou is here, Imperial Doctor Zhou is here."

Liu Sanniang immediately picked up the medicine box and went out, just in time to see her master coming over with Jiu Lan, being attended like stars around the moon, surrounded front and back, left and right by servants. The legitimate wife and several madams inside also heard the commotion and immediately came out to greet her.

She saw the heir’s wife force a smile and say, "Imperial Doctor Zhou has arrived, please come inside quickly. Our Old Madam has been waiting since early morning."

Manbao gave the heir’s wife a slight nod, then turned her head toward Liu Sanniang and asked with a smile, "Have you been here long?"

Liu Sanniang at once lifted the medicine box and stepped forward, then stood behind Zhou Man after giving a salute, replying respectfully, "I only entered the residence one quarter of an hour earlier than Master."

Manbao nodded. "Let’s go then, and see the State Duke’s wife."

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