Chapter 2696: Enduring It

The logistics officer from the Ministry of War responsible for escorting the medicine spat after passing the checkpoint, swinging his whip and shouting, “Hurry up, the frontline is already fighting, if we delay, none of us will have a good time.”

The laborers pushing the carts spat inwardly, as if they were the ones causing the delay. Wasn’t it you who couldn’t pass the checkpoint that wasted time?

The person in charge of escorting the goods was also angry, shouting for everyone to hurry while complaining to his colleague, “We should escort the medicine with the provisions. Escorting the medicine separately is a waste of effort, not to mention there are so many troubles on the road and the strict checks above. We can’t even get through checkpoints without problems, and any issue falls on us.”

“Enough complaining. Hasn’t the official document from above arrived? I heard they have informed all the way stations and local officials along the route. No one should dare to stop us now.”

“That’s just talk. We’ve traveled this road for years, and those ‘thieves’ have eyes only for money, not life,” he complained, “Besides, the military side is strict. I heard the last batch of medicine sent to the frontline was checked not just for quantity but also if processed by the Imperial Medical Office, a sniff and a glance were enough to tell.”

They couldn’t even change some if they wanted to.

Of course, they didn’t want to change it, but some of the ‘thieves’ were hard to deal with, and for the sake of convenience, they had to pay some ‘price’ on the way.

He felt exhausted, escorting something from the Imperial Medical Office took more effort than escorting provisions five times.

Meanwhile, Wen Tiandong was reporting to Zhou Man, “… Teacher, what should we do with the two boxes of medicine that were swapped?”

Manbao said, “Record it first and have a few students skilled in processing medicine handle it tomorrow.”

Manbao thought for a moment and said, “I remember Chen Banxia and Suye did well in their processing classes.”

Wen Tiandong smiled sheepishly, being in a different class, he wasn’t familiar with their grades.

However, Chen Banxia’s grades were indeed good, often among the top in exams, as he recalled, being in the same batch.

But the most outstanding was Zhou Liru, after Zheng Gu’s batch of competent graduates, her overall grades were always in the top three, often surpassing him.

Manbao said, “Have Chen Banxia and Suye lead a few people to handle them, trying to process the medicine as much as possible.”

Wen Tiandong hesitated slightly and said, “One of the boxes of astragalus has some damp and moldy at the bottom.”

Manbao’s face tightened. She pursed her lips in displeasure but eventually suppressed her temper, “Sort them out and throw them away, no, bring them to me.”

Wen Tiandong relaxed seeing her not losing her temper and quickly asked, “How do we process the box of astragalus?”

“Honey frying,” Manbao pondered, “Many injuries on the battlefield relate to blood loss. Honey-fried astragalus can replenish and boost energy,” and continued, “Write to inform the Imperial Medical Office, seven-tenths of the astragalus in the next batch should be honey-fried.”

“Yes.” Wen Tiandong noted it down, bowed, and exited. Outside the tent, he saw Bai Shan standing with his hands behind his back. Frightened, he quickly bowed respectfully, “Brother-in-law.”

Bai Shan’s eyes flashed with amusement. He nodded to him and stepped aside, smiling, “Go on with your work.”

Wen Tiandong sighed in relief and quickly left.

Only then did Bai Shan lift the curtain and enter.

Manbao wasn’t in a good mood, but seeing him made her smile despite herself. She stood up to greet him, “I didn’t see you by His Majesty’s side.”

Bai Shan smiled, “I went to handle official duties with someone and came over as soon as I finished.”

He reached out to smooth her brows, trying to ease them, “What upset you so much?”

Manbao grabbed his hand, turned around, and sat in a chair, “Don’t mention it. We checked the first batch of medicine that arrived yesterday. Two boxes were swapped. Although the quantity matched, there was a box of parched angelica and honey-fried astragalus swapped for raw materials.”

Bai Shan frowned. Processed medicine and raw medicine have different values, and their properties can greatly differ, some raw medicines even being toxic.

Manbao said, “The uses and effects of raw and processed medicines are different. Luckily Wen Tiandong and the others checked carefully, hum, those people put a layer of processed ones on top, while the bottom was all raw, with the record showing processed ones. If the person dispensing medicine isn’t careful and uses raw ones as processed ones…”

Manbao gritted her teeth, raw astragalus can enhance defense, promote urination, reduce swelling, expel pus, and promote flesh regeneration, while honey-fried astragalus can replenish energy, treat internal injuries and blood collapse, with completely different effects and uses.

Bai Shan frowned and asked, “Has this been reported?”

Manbao sneered, “There are at least four more batches of medicine. Wen Tiandong asked the escorts, and they said the medicine wouldn’t be delivered without some ‘benefits’ on the way. I don’t care if they speak the truth. This matter is recorded, for settling accounts later in autumn.”

Bai Shan nodded, “Indeed, at this time the war is the priority. If any of these four batches aren’t delivered on time, you’ll be lacking medication.”

Manbao nodded, “But I’m not easy to deal with; I’ve already secretly complained to His Majesty.”

Zhou Man is not easy, and naturally, neither is the Emperor. Although she complained subtly without directly accusing, having just finished a battle with few injuries, why was the second batch of medicine urgently needed?

It must be that something went wrong with the first batch, prompting her complaint about the second batch.

So the Emperor couldn’t help but turn to ask State Duke Zhao, “Is there any issue with the provisions?”

State Duke Zhao said, “Rest assured, Your Majesty, I’m keeping an eye on it. Local authorities dare not overdo it, and now is not the time to pursue.”

Provisions need to be requisitioned locally too.

State Duke Zhao said, “If Your Majesty is displeased, settle it afterward. For now, stability is priority.”

The Emperor nodded, stern-faced, “As long as they don’t go too far, I can overlook it.”

At present, nothing is more important than the Eastern Expedition.

State Duke Zhao understood it was due to Zhou Man’s complaint today. He smiled and said, “Your Majesty, Lord Zhou is still young and inexperienced with the harsh world outside, hence she’s intolerant of any grievance.”

The Emperor asked, “What grievance did she suffer? Has a local authority withheld her medicine?”

“They didn’t withhold it,” State Duke Zhao’s smile faded as he said, “Perhaps they also know Lord Zhou is favored by Your Majesty, so they didn’t dare go too far, just swapped her two boxes of medicine. However, I heard she was quite angry. When first discovered, she kicked the box in anger, directly detaining the escorts, interrogating them for a long time before releasing them.”

Matters in the military couldn’t escape State Duke Zhao’s notice, it depended simply if he wanted others to know he knew.

Evidently, in this matter, he preferred to feign ignorance, indicating he didn’t wish it to escalate.