Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 428

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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 428
“Hahaha, aren’t you delighted to be joining us like this?”
Ju Wang insisted that Baek Rin-ui-seon stop being so formal and forcibly boarded his carriage.
‘So the purpose was to travel together.’
‘This was what she intended all along.’
Jin Cheon-hee and my Master exchanged knowing glances with the same understanding.
However, Ju Wang-ya either deliberately feigned obtuseness or simply settled into the seat of honor, thoroughly enjoying her royal prerogative.
Jin Cheon-hee decided to make the best of the situation and retrieved the refreshments he had prepared in advance.
It was castella cake, freshly removed from the pot.
I had lightly toasted the surface with a fire-starting technique and drizzled it generously with honey syrup.
“Ohhh! Truly, the Veiled Madman does nothing halfway!”
“If you enjoy it, I would be most delighted.”
“Hmm… I appreciate that you’re not being overly deferential, but couldn’t you speak more casually?”
“Of course. I shall endeavor to do so.”
“Good!”
Ju Wang nodded happily and took a bite of my castella.
“Mmm! Exquisite! Baek Rin-ui-seon, I envy you. How did you manage to take on a disciple with such culinary talent?”
“Appearances aside, he does cause me considerable headaches.”
“Even so, if one can enjoy such delicacies, that’s a small price to pay.”
She laughed heartily and gazed at Jin Cheon-hee with covetous eyes.
Then she added one more thing.
“Yonseok! Write a lengthy reply to Princess Sobaek.”
“Yes, Your… Majesty?”
Jin Cheon-hee’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Goodness, how that girl became infatuated with such a fellow. Anyway, write her a long reply.”
‘I thought I had been quite proper with my correspondence so far. Was it insufficient?’
Truly, the royal family.
‘Such formality is not enough! I must search through ancient texts to craft proper etiquette for my letters…’
Jin Cheon-hee nodded while imagining how Princess Sobaek would have been exasperated by such thoughts.
“Understood! I shall write as lengthy a reply as possible.”
“Good. That should suffice.”
She wore a contented expression with eyes that seemed to say, ‘Daughter, your mother has done her part.’
Only Jegalling concealed his expression behind his fan amid this mutual misunderstanding.
My Master seemed to find the two of them quite amusing.
* * *
Ju Wang was lost in happiness listening to the sound of my guqin playing.
“You’re truly like a thief’s hook—even after parting ways, I can’t stop thinking about you.”
“Yes, even the medical staff who worked under me say they constantly miss my cooking. Hahaha.”
A harmonious atmosphere had naturally developed.
“I must have our Sobaek send many letters.”
“Yes, I shall take care of it.”
Ju Wang-ya hummed along to the melody Jin Cheon-hee was creating, then suddenly broached the main topic.
“The nomadic tribe that has risen in rebellion is called the Sukshin clan.”
“The Sukshin clan?”
Ju Wang-ya nodded at Jin Cheon-hee’s words.
“The nomads beyond the borders live divided into various tribal factions, but this Sukshin clan possesses particularly great power. They have apparently unified the other tribes and become their ‘Khan’—what they call a king in their language.”
Jin Cheon-hee, from Earth, somehow thought of Genghis Khan.
Ju Wang-ya continued.
“And now this Sukshin clan is advancing southward. Have you heard their numbers?”
Jin Cheon-hee shook his head.
“Hmm… Euni and Geum did conceal it well. But it will become known soon enough regardless. It’s only a matter of time.”
“I suspect the numbers are not insignificant.”
“Indeed. Three hundred thousand.”
Three hundred thousand!
My heart sank at those words.
“That’s… an enormous number.”
“It is. Terrifying indeed. But do you know what’s even more frightening? True to their nomadic nature, they plunder as they advance southward to sustain their supplies. Moreover, being nomads, their mobility is exceptional—making them extremely dangerous.”
‘Wow… I hadn’t considered this.’
The Sukshin clan.
The northern border regions of Shanxi Province.
North of Shanxi Province stretches vast grasslands, wastelands, and highland plateaus.
Cold regions extend far and wide, and the Empire estimates that several million people inhabit these lands.
Of course, that’s only about one-twentieth of the Empire’s total population, but due to their nomadic nature, everyone from children to the elderly possesses exceptional horsemanship and archery skills.
Furthermore, the nomadic peoples possess martial arts passed down through generations.
While these alone are not as formidable as martial arts proper, when combined with horsemanship, they demonstrate devastating power.
“I… see.”
“Your complexion looks troubled. Veiled Madman.”
“I am concerned about what lies ahead.”
“Set your mind at ease. I shall ensure the Baekrin Medical Guild focuses on treatment in the rear echelon. Furthermore, the military forces of the Baekrin Medical Guild will not be conscripted as combat troops.”
Hmm, everyone from the Eunuch General to the King is telling me to be at ease.
Not to worry.
‘What is this? Are they advising me to prepare an umbrella before the hellfire falls?’
Had I been a true martial artist from this world, I might have wept with gratitude at the Emperor’s consideration and the King’s assurance.
But I am an Earthling who has learned through human history that dragons and politicians’ teeth cannot be trusted.
There is no way I could take this at face value.
‘How should I arrange my formations to protect myself?’
What concerns me most is Jeong-shin.
I cannot be certain they will truly send him to the rear…
‘Still, if I consider the King’s martial prowess, wouldn’t it be safe? And Master is here too?’ A thought that’s about 2% convincing does cross my mind.
“Will the King serve as supreme commander?”
“No, no. I’m not about to take on such tedious work. I excel at killing fellow imperial subjects, but my experience fighting the foreign races is lacking.”
He was referring to the civil war that had occurred during the struggle for the throne.
I hadn’t expected him to speak of it with such mockery.
Regardless, my Master posed a question.
“Then who will assume the position of Commander-in-Chief?”
“Yuk Heon.”
At those words, my Master’s eyes widened slightly.
“Yuk Heon. It seems he’s already become a Grand General.”
Ju Wang answered to that remark.
“He’s such an exceptional talent that his promotion was overdue. Now that I think about it, wasn’t it you, Jegalling, who treated Yuk Heon’s Seven Yang Meridian Severing condition in the past? The eldest son of the Yuk Family, a prestigious and powerful clan of the empire.”
The Yuk Family.
In ancient times during the Three Kingdoms period, the house of Yuk Son.
Now they were one of the empire’s most influential families.
A prestigious clan that had produced administrators for generations, and they also had a considerable record of producing generals.
‘I never expected my Master’s old stories to surface like this.’
Jegalling answered calmly.
“Yes, meridian severing conditions aren’t limited to Yin Meridian Severing alone.”
“If there’s Nine Yin Meridian Severing, then there must be Nine Yang Meridian Severing as its opposite. Yuk Heon isn’t at the Nine Yang level, but rather Seven Yang Meridian Severing.”
“Fortunately, I was able to treat it at that time.”
“You’re being too modest. While Nine Yin is said to be incurable, wasn’t Seven Yang also considered an incurable disease? Yet you managed to cure it, making you a benefactor to the Yuk Family. Hmph!”
The Yuk Family was one of the important patrons of Baekrin Medical Guild.
I had vaguely thought there might be some connection with the Jegallga, but I never expected it to be intertwined like this.
Ju Wang asked Jin Cheon-hee a question.
“Do you know what happens when Seven Yang Meridian Severing is cured?”
“Hmm… I don’t have any records on it, so I’m not certain.”
“Haha, Baek Rin-ui-seon. It seems you haven’t taught your disciple about that.”
At those words, Jegalling nodded.
“In fact, at that time it was accomplished by fortunate coincidence with a miraculous medicine, so it can’t really be called medical technique. Moreover, I haven’t been able to find that miraculous medicine since.”
“Is that so? You’re being too strict. If it were me, I would have boasted about it far and wide.”
Ju Wang rubbed his chin and spoke to Jin Cheon-hee.
“When Seven Yang Meridian Severing is cured, one becomes a Primordial Yang Constitution. The physique transforms into something comparable to a Solar Constitution.”
“I see…”
“Because of this, if one learns martial arts of the Blazing Yang True Qi lineage, one can become extraordinarily powerful. Though the position of Grand General itself doesn’t rely solely on strength.”
“Why is that?”
When Jin Cheon-hee deliberately played along as if he didn’t know, Ju Wang became animated.
“A Grand General must also be deeply versed in military strategy. If one isn’t excellent in tactics and stratagems, he’s not fit to be a Grand General! That’s why generals are divided into strategists and warriors, but those who are both strategists and warriors are rare.”
“I see.”
Like conducting social interactions on Earth, Jin Cheon-hee eagerly offered his affirmations.
Ju Wang was quite pleased with Jin Cheon-hee’s demeanor.
‘Indeed, he’s precisely the talent needed for the Ju Wang Residence.’
She continued speaking.
“Why do you think Guan Yu was called the Enemy of Ten Thousand Men? And why is he now revered as a guardian deity with temples built in his honor? It is because he was a strategist, a military commander, and the embodiment of loyalty and righteousness.”
“Ah, I see….”
“Lü Bu was certainly a formidable military commander, perhaps even surpassing Guan Yu in raw martial prowess, but he was no master of strategy.”
“That’s right!”
“While strategists devise the grand plans, it is those who possess both intellect and martial strength who triumph in tactical combat.”
“Then it must be common for tactical failures to unravel even the best strategies!”
The founder of the Jegallga was already Zhuge Liang himself.
I applauded Ju Wang-ya enthusiastically, offering praise with each clap.
Ju Wang-ya continued speaking with evident satisfaction.
Her interjections were so perfectly timed—the seasoned experience of someone who had navigated organizational life, not a novice.
“Precisely. Strategy is the grand vision, while tactics are the techniques and methods employed in actual combat—a subordinate concept to strategy. One who fails to grasp this can never become a true strategist and commander.”
“Ohhh….”
I brightened, clenching my fists tightly.
“In that sense, a supreme commander must be proficient in both strategy and tactics. Only one who is both a strategist and a martial master can truly hold such a position.”
Ju Wang eagerly expounded his knowledge to the strategist family.
And the strategist family… being strategists themselves, they diligently pretended not to know.
For even if organizational life was bitter, one had to adapt to survive as a strategist.
Besides, Ju Wang was quite a respectable lord.
My Master spoke with evident satisfaction, fanning himself with his fan.
“I predicted that Yuk Heon would become a master, but I never imagined he would reach the position of supreme commander.”
‘An old acquaintance of Master’s… could they perhaps be called friends?’
I detected a distinctly different tone from when he spoke of other families.
Since they were not from the martial world sects, perhaps there were fewer entangled debts between them.
Then Ju Wang continued.
“Hahaha, after curing the Seven-Yang Severed Meridians, this fellow earned the epithet Baek Rin-ui-seon. No one in Gangho had ever treated five or more severed meridians before. Of course, the Yuk Family provided active cooperation in this.”
“Wow….”
“Hahaha, you flatter me. My disciple treated me, who suffered from the Nine-Yin Severed Meridians. Is this not the student surpassing the master?”
At that moment, a halo seemed to shimmer around my Master.
“Indeed, Baek Rin-ui-seon cares little for self-praise, but boasting about his disciple is his highest priority.”
My bias was far too obvious.
Regardless, Jegalling spoke.
“Ah, is that so? I was actually wondering whether to boast about the new medicinal candy my disciple created… but it’s even shaped like a carp.”
“Ah, no! You must boast! You absolutely must!”
Ju Wang hastily waved his hands.
Indeed, the surest way to win someone over was to capture their stomach first.
I eventually nodded in agreement.
‘I’ll need to bring out more snacks.’
My Master’s boasting about his disciple was only just beginning.

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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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