Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 254

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 254
After several hours of discussion, my Master, who had been listening in silence, finally spoke.
“I believe the posterior auricular vein surgical method would be more suitable for this patient. First, the size and location of the tumor are better suited to that approach. Moreover, if she enters government service, hearing loss will become an obstacle when she faces a critical juncture. Even if it’s only one ear.”
“….”
Everyone swallowed their words at that statement.
Where she would go was the imperial palace.
Officials who died from missing a single whispered word formed rivers of blood.
Then Jin Cheon-hee, who had been listening, asked.
“What if she has no intention of entering government service?”
She had clearly said at that time.
That she didn’t want treatment, not even for her younger brother to advance in her place.
But my Master answered coldly.
“That is not something she can choose. The Eunuch General would offer his granddaughter to the Emperor at any moment if he thought it would benefit His Majesty.”
A clear line was felt.
Though she was known to be cherished, my Master was saying that was different from this.
“Of course, since one ear cannot hear, that part might be considered unhelpful to His Majesty and could be taken into account. However, power is like this. If His Majesty thought such a disability would still be beneficial….”
“…You’re saying he could sacrifice his own family as a discarded piece?”
My Master nodded slightly instead of answering.
Perhaps, truly perhaps.
Han Yi-jeong may have been naive.
She may have thought that if she became useless and worthless, her grandfather wouldn’t use her.
But who decides that usefulness?
I lowered my eyelashes and sank slowly into thought. Then I reached a conclusion.
“Regardless, I am merely a doctor who treats patients. If there is the best treatment method, I will follow it.”
* * *
After the meeting ended and all the doctors left.
Only the Acupuncture Guild Master, I, and Jegalling remained in the Medical Guild conference room.
Jegalling took a deep sip of tea.
The long meeting had left the tea steeped to bitterness. Yet Jegalling drank it without concern.
He almost looked like someone who had lost his sense of taste.
“So the patient refused treatment after the pulse diagnosis?”
At those words, my eyes widened slightly.
‘My Master already knew.’
The situation was strange indeed.
Suddenly, under the pretext of having the Hwaju Medical Institute and Baek Rin Medical Institute compete, the granddaughter wasn’t sent to Baek Rin Medical Institute.
Yet it didn’t seem she received proper treatment at the Hwaju Medical Institute either.
With no mention of the illness, it was likely no pulse diagnosis was performed. But the Hwaju Medical Institute wouldn’t have refused to examine the Eunuch General’s granddaughter unless the liver was already outside the abdomen.
The conclusion was that the granddaughter herself refused.
Combined with my question at today’s meeting, my Master seemed to have completely understood.
“Yes… I explained thoroughly that her life was in danger, yet she refuses treatment.”
“A brain tumor, and yet he’s still doing this….”
“They say he’s opening a path to office for his younger brother… but after hearing the story, it seems like there’s more to it than that. I suspect he’s hiding something else.”
“That would make sense. In a way, it’s a decision only the young can make. Youth.”
My Master fell into thought, his eyes half-closed.
His appearance was younger than most men in their twenties thanks to his martial prowess, yet those eyes belonged to someone seasoned and cunning.
No matter how much martial arts concealed the passage of years, those deep eyes could not be hidden.
My Master continued speaking.
“No matter how formidable the Eunuch General’s power may be, a single family cannot produce two Ministers of the Six Ministries. The balance and checks wouldn’t align.”
Driving down the protruding nail is the instinct of power.
One can rise slightly higher than others, but only within the limits those who support you will tolerate.
And only within the limits His Majesty, who holds the hammer, will permit.
“Then one of them would have no choice but to take a suitable sinecure position. Even if both possess exceptional talent, there’s no shortage of such capable individuals among other powerful families or those who’ve passed the civil service examination.”
“That’s how it is.”
Tap, tap—
My Master slowly tapped the table with his fingers.
The rhythm he created was as precise as a metronome.
“Why would he go so far as to concentrate power in his younger brother’s hands? Is there really a need to do that much?”
“….”
My Master didn’t answer.
After a moment, he spoke with a playful expression.
“I have my suspicions about the reason, but you should figure it out yourself.”
“Pardon?”
At those words, Sima Bing, the Acupuncture Hall Master who was present, let out a small laugh.
“This would certainly be good experience for the Patriarch. It’s the kind of study necessary to become a Medical Guild Master.”
“Couldn’t you two just tell me if you know?”
My Master was firm.
“Figure it out yourself.”
How on earth was I supposed to figure this out? Sima Bing answered as well.
“It will be good experience for the Patriarch.”
Was this also part of my training to become a Medical Guild Master?
‘My Master is healthy now, so couldn’t he take these lessons at a more leisurely pace?’
These people truly had no mercy.
Sima Bing spoke with an aggrieved expression.
“I’m not even sure why I came to this meeting in the first place.”
I answered.
“That’s because you need to handle the anesthesia, Hall Master.”
“Pardon?”
The Hall Masters who supported Baek Rin Medical Institute.
All of them except the Martial Arts Hall Master had studied the surgical techniques of the Buseul School in depth.
It was only natural.
The human body is an organic whole, requiring the mobilization of all medical arts, and depending on circumstances, each discipline exerts different influences on the others.
To save patients through collaboration with the Surgery Hall, the leaders issuing those orders naturally must study as well.
A doctor is a position that demands endless study.
Naturally, Sima Bing, Acupuncture Hall Master, had studied surgery to a considerable degree.
Jin Cheon-hee let out a soft chuckle.
“No matter how I think about it, there’s simply no one with your talent in anesthesia and recovery right now, Master.”
The way he smiled while saying this seemed to be saying, ‘Shall we settle the score for that little prank you just pulled?’
And so Sima Bing, Acupuncture Hall Master, found himself kidnapped by Professor Jin.
* * *
‘What in the world is the reason for saying he’ll send his younger brother a position when his own life is in danger?’
I’m aware that in the martial world, there are often cases where people choose death because they cannot reveal secrets, harbor grudges, or have some kind of curse placed upon them.
Of course, as a doctor, it’s my duty to dissuade anyone talking of suicide and save them, so I try my best to persuade them.
When that doesn’t work, I inform the patient’s family and guardians of the situation so they can help convince him.
In modern times, I’d think this violates patient confidentiality.
But in this Confucian society where people eat by the sword, it’s considered natural that family should know if a patient is ill.
By this era’s moral standards, a doctor who hides such things becomes a strange fellow deserving of a blade through the heart.
Since she’s the Eunuch General’s granddaughter, even the Hwaju Medical Institute has been crossed, but originally I should have refused treatment.
Isn’t that unfilial conduct?
Or perhaps there’s a high probability he’s already sent a letter.
‘But… he’s saying he’ll die if his younger brother doesn’t get a position…?’
The other side will likely end up in a minor post, but who would treat the Eunuch General’s granddaughter carelessly?
No matter how minor the position, even if the family tree gets somewhat tangled, local magistrates would come running barefoot to serve her.
‘He has a time bomb in his brain and he’s saying he’ll die if his younger brother doesn’t get a minor post…?’
I really don’t understand.
‘If I send a letter… no. That would only complicate things further.’
There is a method where the Eunuch General could step in directly and force the surgery. But then the patient would have nowhere to place his trust.
Moreover, even if the surgery succeeds that way, in the end only Baek Rin’s Medical Institute would bear the burden between the Eunuch General and his granddaughter.
‘Forget it, I’ll just ask directly. I’ll take some abuse from the patient, so what.’
I decided to be direct, as a Korean would.
The closest guardian and the person involved.
I’d confront the younger brother.
There’s no point in twisting things around here anyway—it won’t yield good results. When preventing warriors from choosing death, family has always been the best medicine.
The Eunuch General is family, so to speak, but as my Master said, prioritizing the Emperor’s service comes before his granddaughter’s wishes, so only the younger brother remains.
From the perspective of being able to face him immediately as well.
And indeed, I could see my younger sister Han So-jeong standing anxiously in front of the Medical Guild’s main hall with her servants.
It seemed she was inwardly sensing that something was going wrong.
The moment she saw Jin Cheon-hee, she began walking over, and it was clear she had many questions.
My younger sister Han So-jeong opened her mouth.
“Um, would you be able to spare me some time?”
A careful question, yet desperation seeped through it, making it heartbreaking.
I nodded.
“The Medical Guild’s bamboo grove has quite a beautiful view. Would you care to take a look?”
A hint that there was something not meant for outside ears.
True to her status as the daughter of an influential family, Han So-jeong immediately grasped my meaning.
She turned her head and dismissed the servants.
* * *
Whoooosh—
Walking quietly through the bamboo grove, I spoke of the pulse diagnosis results and their implications, as well as the patient’s reasons for refusing treatment.
That refusal meant death.
After listening for a while, my younger sister Han So-jeong’s footsteps came to a halt.
“So that’s how it is. Ah… that’s right. This foolish older sister of mine… really.”
The younger sister, who had always been as courteous as her older sister, finally let out a small curse.
But from lips that had never spoken harsh words, “foolish” was the only curse she could manage.
Eventually, the words she couldn’t express became tears that flowed down her cheeks.
She wiped them away with her sleeve and suddenly turned around, breaking into a run.
The fact that she didn’t even say “excuse me for a moment” showed just how great Han So-jeong’s shock was.
She headed toward the hospital room where her older sister was staying.
Creak—
The door opened without even a simple warning or asking for permission to enter.
Han Yi-jeong, who had been reading a book, looked up. In that instant,
Smack—!
Stars burst across her cheek.
“Did you think you could repay this by dying?”
“What do you mean—”
In that moment, Han So-jeong grabbed her older sister Han Yi-jeong by the collar.
“Did you think you could escape by dying?!”
“….”
Older sister Han Yi-jeong glanced at me once, then looked back at her younger sister.
She seemed to understand how things had unfolded.
“So-ah….”
So-ah appeared to be Han So-jeong’s pet name.
“What is my marriage to you! Did your younger sister marrying into a foreign land seem so pitiful to you?!”
“I….”
“It is my duty. If Grandfather wishes it, then I go. Someone in our family must do this anyway!”
“If you go… if you go like this, you won’t be able to come back. If you leave like that, you’ll never return again!”
Finally unable to hold back, older sister Han Yi-jeong cried out at her younger sister.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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