Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 502

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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 502
After crafting the first prototype, the artisans’ hands grew accustomed to the work, and they began producing mirrors at a rapid pace.
Sama Hyeon even created a mirror adorned with massive golden calves and golden pigs at its corners.
Apparently, he was sending that one as a tribute to the Golden King for his own survival.
‘I’ve sensed it for a while now, but their master-disciple relationship is far from normal.’
As I was running the mirror workshop in earnest, a visitor arrived.
“Soggakju, someone from the Gongseon Family has come.”
It was a woman dressed entirely in black, her face concealed behind black cotton cloth.
Though she did not reveal her identity, I could immediately identify her from Gongseon Yeong and Wang Gak-yeon standing behind her.
Nevertheless, Man Seon’s deliberate omission of her name seemed to be out of respect for her wishes.
“It has been a long time.”
“Yes, indeed it has been.”
She offered a formal bow with a rigid expression.
“I shall speak plainly. I have come to see the mirror.”
Sama Hyeon laughed with practiced ease.
“A mirror, you say~”
“There should be no need to specify which mirror, should there?”
Indeed.
The Gongseon Family and I had maintained a mutually beneficial relationship for a long time.
There was no need to go back even to the period after the recent war—this partnership had continued since the days of Cheong-ok.
With such technology in hand, they would naturally have sought out the Gongseon Family first, with whom they had conducted business for so long, or at the very least, they would have approached the Tangmun.
However, it seemed she had come directly after beginning serious negotiations with Sama Hyeon of the Geumhyeol Workshop rather than the Gongseon Family.
As a result, sparks flew between Gongseon Hyeon’s and Sama Hyeon’s eyes.
Crack—
Both of them were individuals who had conducted business through light and shadow.
Their curiosity about new goods was fierce, and their obsession with profit was equally strong.
“First, I shall show you the product.”
Neither Gongseon Hyeon nor Sama Hyeon were the type to engage in emotional disputes over such matters.
However, she had likely come to probe my true intentions in order to gauge the future landscape.
‘Hmm… I never expected her to come in person.’
The manufacturing method was a secret, for now.
This was a matter of Sama Hyeon’s life, after all.
Instead, I could show her the finished products freely.
I called Gongseon Hyeon to stand before the mirror covered with cloth.
“Go ahead and remove the covering.”
With trembling hands, she removed the cloth. There before her lay an enormous mirror that reflected her face with perfect clarity.
“….”
After gazing at the mirror for some time, Gongseon Hyeon reached out and left a fingerprint on its surface.
Then she finally spoke.
“It is glass.”
“Yes.”
“Typically, glass doesn’t offer good performance for its price, so I thought other materials would be better. But this….”
Gongseon Hyeon closed her eyes, lost in thought.
After a moment, she opened her mouth.
“I don’t know what methods were used, but we of the Gongseon Family should be no worse than the Golden King’s faction.”
“Wow~ that’s quite bold. Do you know how many warriors from the Gongseon Family have borrowed money from us~?”
Stop it. Enough of this rivalry!
I spoke quickly.
“I came to help Sama Hyeon, so as his senior, I assisted him.”
“This must be because of the Golden King’s trial.”
“…You knew.”
“Yes. Those of us with quick information networks already know, and we’re trying to influence the situation in various ways. After all, this concerns controlling the black money of the Central Plains.”
“….”
After pondering, Gongseon Hyeon spoke.
“Considering Cheonmyeon Hori’s nature, I never expected you to attempt such a straightforward approach. This must surely be because of Soggakju.”
“Hahaha….”
“The product is certainly excellent. It’s something that could change the game. However, it won’t be easy. The heterodox sects have many other methods at their disposal.”
“Thanks to your help, I’ve asked all the craftsmen to stay in the lodgings behind Bunta until this matter is resolved. I’ve also increased the number of warriors from Baekrin’s faction.”
“That alone will prove insufficient.”
You’re right about that.
Some of those who received the five thousand gold coins from the Golden King use it for business capital, others for gambling funds, and still others for war funds.
“Sama Hyeon plans to sell them one by one to wealthy lords in the underworld.”
Gongseon Hyeon spoke.
“Then I shall handle selling to the bureaucratic side.”
“Ah…. I cannot offer you much commission.”
To those words, Gongseon Hyeon answered calmly.
“Yes. I understand. This time, I shall do it for free.”
At those words, Sama Hyeon spoke.
“They say nothing is more expensive than something free~”
“Yes. That’s true. The Gongseon Family will help Cheonmyeon Hori
for
free, and we shall certainly collect this debt of gratitude someday. Are you still willing to accept?”
‘Hmm….’
As his senior, I considered the matter, but from here on, this is Sama Hyeon’s domain.
After all, he was the one who chose this path, and he was the one who accepted this trial.
His life is what’s at stake.
Sama Hyeon opened his narrow eyes and fell into thought. Soon, he laughed heartily.
“The Gongseon Family is a renowned orthodox sect, so I believe you would not ask for anything improper. I shall accept~”
Those words were a subtle pressure—free help, but no insane requests.
Gongseon Hyeon smiled gently in return, not backing down.
“Do not worry. The Gongseon Family has always pursued the righteous path. We are not like the heterodox sects.”
“Ah, I see. How reassuring~”
“Indeed. We would never peddle red jade like common merchants. Of course we shall maintain propriety.”
“Ah yes. Red jade. You must know well how its sales have fared. The profits always go to my brother, and we support many children of the White Pavilion with them. Surely the orthodox faction can do at least this much~?”
Thus, feeding off each other’s words, they came to an agreement.
Jin Cheon-hee, Sama Hyeon, Gongseon Hyeon.
The three most money-obsessed individuals in the Gangho had gathered together.
* * *
A gathering of high and low officials in the imperial court.
Han Yi-jeong, the Minister of Revenue, felt her energy draining simply by being present in this place.
Not speaking did not mean she was spacing out. In the end, she had to read the atmosphere of the surrounding officials and the Emperor.
She also had to gauge the mood of her grandfather, the Eunuch General, who stood beside the Emperor with both hands tucked inside his sleeves, fawning.
She had heard that one gets used to it with time, but would she truly become accustomed to this? To this nonsense?
At least not with her years of experience.
Simply standing here felt like someone was inserting a tube into her neck and sucking out her blood drop by drop, in this corner of hell.
She endured the infuriating feeling and merely counted down the hours until she could leave work.
And she could only pray to the heavens that her departure time would not overlap with her grandfather’s.
Her younger sister, who had married in Wanong, clung to her pretty flower-faced husband and sent letters whining, ‘I miss you so much, sister. I hate this world where we must make political marriages. I want to eat home-cooked meals.’ But according to intelligence reports, she was emptying two bowls of rice a day.
And when she ate late-night snacks, that flower-faced husband would play music, creating a newlywed atmosphere.
Her sister would never know.
Whose neck her older sister had twisted to send her off to marriage.
And what contract she had made with that damned grandfather.
‘I want to go home…. KYAAAAAAAAAAH!’
A pterodactyl’s screech echoed in her mind as she waited for the session to end.
Even with the sound of music playing as background noise while listening to the officials’ arguments, this could not be resolved.
This cursed world and its cursed imperial court.
‘Our nation… damn it… dog… damn it… dog… plague…’
The background music in her mind shifted from the gentle sound of a flute to the intense strumming of a seven-stringed zither.
In her imagination, she was already wielding a massive crescent blade, severing the necks of these bastards and that one.
The first bastard to go would be that son of a bitch, the Minister of Personnel.
‘He took all the chicks I carefully raised in the Revenue Ministry with just three memorials… that damned bastard… drop dead!!!!!’
The imagination of slicing through a neck brought some relief… or rather, none at all… Why wasn’t time moving faster?
‘KYAAAAAAAH–! I want to leave work!!!!!! KYAAAAAAAAAH!!’
“…Thus, tribute goods have arrived from Baekrin Medical Guild’s Patriarch.”
“Ooooh!”
Something large covered in cloth was wheeled into the center of the imperial court with a rumbling sound.
When the Emperor tilted his head in curiosity, the cloth rustled.
“From its appearance, it seems to be a mirror. Mirrors of such size are not common, but that alone would not be enough to pique my interest, would it?”
Her grandfather, the Eunuch General, commanded the court attendants.
“What are you doing? Hurry and open it.”
As the silk cloth was drawn back, what was revealed was nothing but a perfectly clear mirror without a single blemish.
“Hmm?”
The Emperor cast a peculiar expression as he gazed down at the mirror.
The midday sunlight reflected in the mirror illuminated the wall.
“Something is different. Come closer.”
At his gesture, the court attendants brought the mirror even nearer.
Only then did Han Yi-jeong, her senses half-restored, speak.
“I humbly beg your pardon, Your Majesty, but it appears remarkably clear. In all my years, I have never seen a mirror of such crystalline clarity.”
“Indeed. How remarkable. What principle allows it to reflect so flawlessly?”
The officials each offered their own conjectures.
“Judging by the materials, it does not appear to be silver or copper, Your Majesty.”
“It seems to be glass… though I cannot fathom how glass could achieve such clarity.”
Several officials covered their faces.
Seeing one’s own visage reflected so clearly stirred an altogether different sentiment.
Had the mirror been slightly clouded, blemishes and scars upon the face would be less apparent.
Yet when one’s countenance was laid bare in such unforgiving detail, it appeared far less handsome than one had imagined.
Conversely, some officials who were pleased with their own reflections straightened their spines and gazed intently at the mirror.
The Emperor spoke.
“You have created something truly amusing.”
“Indeed, Your Majesty.”
“And what of the Medical Guild’s inspection results?”
Though he had already received the report, the manner in which he posed the question suggested he intended to bestow a reward.
Han Yi-jeong interjected.
“The initial findings have proven entirely factual, and I am told that in the interim, a method for erasing smallpox scars has also been discovered.”
Of course, I am aware that this method involves the absurd and extraordinary use of a warrior’s sword qi.
When I first received the report, I stared at it for a long while, questioning whether I had read it correctly.
By nature, sword qi symbolizes a warrior’s lifetime of cultivation, and as the qi becomes a sword and the sword becomes a force, one can glimpse the martial path and bloodline that warrior has walked.
The Wudang sect’s Taiqing Mountain Water carries a weighty and crystalline light, manifesting yin and yang, while the Demonic Cult’s Heavenly Demon Divine Art transcends human nature and depicts a tyrannical way.
The Jegallim Family embodies the Five Elements, the Namgung Family channels lightning, and both are transformed through the sword.
Yet here was someone attempting skin abrasion with such power.
‘My grandfather once said that for the Patriarch of Baekrin Medical Guild, martial prowess is merely a means, and the sword merely a tool for survival. His true intent has always been to save lives.’
Can this truly be called martial?
None are ignorant of the righteousness that dwells in his heart. One need only observe the mad deeds he has committed to understand.
Then what of martial prowess itself?
-What is the true essence of martial prowess?
As the hour of departure remained distant, my wandering thoughts took flight as though sprouting wings.
After all, the world of martial artists was a distant matter for her, a government official.

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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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