Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 515

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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 515
I sent the exhausted Tamho Brigade to the Martial Arts Alliance.
Cheon-hee and Samjeolchuho rushed toward Hangzhou with maximum speed using lightness martial arts.
There was only one place to go—the official residence where the Zhejiang Province Governor stayed.
When we sent word that we had come as envoys of the Martial Arts Alliance, garrison soldiers arrived shortly and gave this response.
“The Governor currently has a prior engagement and finds it difficult to move about. Please visit another time.”
“I see. Since we came in haste, there’s no helping it. Very well. I’ll come back tomorrow.”
When I returned a day later, they gave a similar answer.
“The Governor is not feeling well and is not receiving visitors. Please come again at a later time.”
Yet the sound of music drifted elegantly from the Governor’s residence.
A sick man wouldn’t summon performers and enjoy a banquet.
Looking at Samjeolchuho’s expression, she didn’t seem particularly surprised—it looked familiar to her. She appeared merely somewhat disappointed.
‘Ah, Sister must have anticipated this.’
Reaching that point, I began to understand what this meant.
‘The garrison soldiers are already colluding with the Suksin Tribe.’
Sister had said it herself.
There was much blood on Haesa Bangju’s hands.
By simple calculation, for the Black Blade to squeeze the commoners’ blood for so long, there had to be many people willing to turn a blind eye.
One of them was surely behind this wall.
Gazing at the ornate gate and the impressive statue of Guan Yu, I sighed.
‘Haesa Bangju didn’t tell us about this either.’
Well, there was no need to reveal it now. It was his own collusion, after all.
I dimly grasped why Haesa Bangju’s fate would not be good.
He had paid money to close the eyes of the officials—he would not live three more years.
“What shall we do, younger brother?”
“In a place where I was long ago, Sister, everyone struggled to endure even a single day. So when Jeon Seo-gu finally erupted, people lost their minds.”
“Jeon Seo-gu?”
“Yes. That creature called El Ti-i.”
“El Ti-i? That’s quite a strange tale.”
Samjeolchuho wasn’t really listening.
After all, Ilgwang had been acting like a madman for days on end, and his eccentricities and strange tales reached her ears even without seeking them out.
Some contained substance, but others were nonsense whose purpose she couldn’t fathom.
So like everyone else, she half-listened and half-ignored.
I rummaged through my sleeve.
More precisely, it was a bracelet.
I had pushed it deep inside my wrist, hidden all the way down past my elbow, so it took time to retrieve.
“Please look at this.”
A golden dragon twisted in its coils, staring down at the garrison soldiers.
“This is…!”
My pale eyes quickly assessed the garrison soldier’s condition.
‘Oh, I don’t recognize it. The golden dragon makes it look like something impressive, but I have no idea what it is!’
As expected, a mere official couldn’t identify an inspector’s credentials.
“It’s an inspection badge.”
“…An inspection badge!”
Only then did he show surprise.
At least he didn’t doubt the inspection badge itself.
That made sense, since it was Ilgwang from Hangzhou who had produced it.
I spoke.
“Please guide me to the Zhejiang Province Governor.”
“As you command…!”
Indeed, power accelerates all procedures remarkably.
Absolutely at the speed of light.
* * *
“A mere inspector comes to see me, the Zhejiang Province Governor!”
Hmm, angry roars echoed through the corridor.
We were moving quickly, skipping some procedures, yet such words reached my ears—someone must have rushed ahead to give him a heads-up.
“A mere inspector doesn’t have the authority to summon me, the Governor…but who is this inspector anyway?”
Before he could finish speaking, I opened the silk-covered door.
Creak—
“Greetings!”
“Kyaaaah?! Ilgwang?!”
The way he fell backward looked like some old slapstick comedy.
Recognizing me instantly upon seeing my face suggested he’d either seen me from afar or witnessed my appearance described—one of the two.
“…That’s not it. Is your spine doing well?”
Ah, he was a former patient at the Baekrin Medical Guild.
I made it a point to keep quiet about patients’ personal matters and positions, and after treatment, I didn’t pay much attention to how they lived unless they returned with related ailments.
“Oh, so you’ve become the Zhejiang Province Governor. Congratulations!”
This man’s memory was remarkably vivid.
He’d come with a spinal disc problem and had thrown a fit demanding the entire annex for himself.
At that time, the annex was already fully occupied, and it happened to be when Han Yi-jeong was admitted.
Another official had visited him then, and though I don’t know what was said, he quieted down on his own.
In truth, such matters were far too common at the Medical Guild to address one by one.
So he’s advanced in rank. This fellow.
“Ahem, the Governor has been occupied with duties and neglected matters. What business does the Patriarch of the Baekrin Medical Guild have in meeting with me?”
Where did that temperament go? Now he was playing humble and courteous—it was amusing.
Meanwhile, the Zhejiang Province Governor had different intentions.
‘Isn’t this Ilgwang, whom His Majesty has favored greatly? Damn…!’
I hadn’t known that the one carrying the Imperial Direct Inspector’s badge was Ilgwang.
Whether he’d received it temporarily or held the inspector position long-term was unclear from his position as Governor, but one thing was certain—this was a crisis.
‘He treated the Prince Consort of Ju Wang-ya and earned her favor, received two thousand households of stipend, and there are rumors of fiefdoms being granted…?’
Though I haven’t directly witnessed the Emperor’s court, the rumors about him are certainly loud and widespread.
Particularly, His Majesty greatly praised my work in containing the smallpox, and reportedly was delighted when I presented him with a perfect mirror that reflects all things.
And that’s not all.
As for the merits I’ve accumulated in the war against the Suksin Tribe—people won’t stop talking about it.
And yet I delayed meeting such a person for two days?
‘Stupid subordinates. If Ilgwang had arrived, shouldn’t they have told me immediately?! If that man with the inspection insignia somehow speaks ill of me to His Majesty… what happens to me…?!’
Indeed.
To rise to the position of Governor, one had to be sensitive to power.
Especially since I hadn’t received a royal title like Ju Wang—ultimately, I was merely a mayfly official whose life ended the moment the Emperor decided to execute me.
Samjeolchuho watched the man’s sudden change in demeanor and transmitted his voice.
[Our younger brother certainly has influence in political circles. I already knew about that inspection insignia, but it seems there’s more to it than just that.]
[Haha. Fortunate indeed.]
[Your exploits on the battlefield, treating the Prince consort of Ju Wang-ya, and treating the King… well, those add to your reputation.]
[Ah, so the information has spread that far.]
At my words, Samjeolchuho chuckled softly.
[Though my body wanders remote mountain villages, my ears are always open. No one dares speak carelessly about it, but rumors circulate nonetheless. Surely the ‘Twin Golden Dragons’ whom everyone thought dead are actually alive…]
[Hahaha.]
[You’re not being very detailed about it.]
[Everyone is already speculating on their own. And my life is precious to me as well. Simply revealing this inspection insignia is burden enough.]
[Isn’t that tremendous authority? Why have you been hiding it away like some sacred treasure?]
Every authority comes with responsibility.
I know what could happen if I wielded it carelessly.
Right now I roam the martial world like a mountain hare, but one misstep and I could become a caged rabbit in the imperial palace.
‘There were stories like that among the scholar tales.’
Martial arts novels that begin with the protagonist as a scholar.
Titles often appear as ‘Scholar ■■’ or ‘■■ Scholar,’ usually four characters.
Half the time the protagonist flees the imperial palace after working as a scholar, another half learns martial arts suddenly while studying, and since I’m reincarnated into a scholar’s family, I’m forced into Confucian studies as well.
Some endings show the protagonist overthrowing the Emperor and achieving revolution, others have them offer sharp criticism to court officials before retiring from the world, and some avoid imperial connections entirely.
Surprisingly, endings where one returns to being an official are… well… uncommon.
They exist, but they’re not common.
Unlike overseas martial arts novels, Korean martial arts fiction treats politics as crucial—under Confucian ideology, if governance isn’t conducted properly, readers grow skeptical.
If the nation falls into chaos and people suffer, why don’t peasant rebellions like the Yellow Turbans arise?
The Emperor misgoverns, and on top of that, the Imperial Guard is weakly written?
Officials can’t be touched, they say, yet heterodox sects readily cut the throats of commoners—why not the Emperor’s?
The Korean spirit that true loyalty means serving even a tyrant with a knife at one’s throat doesn’t disappear.
It’s not just about accepting bribes and ignoring smuggling—when events like great famines or plagues appear, readers inevitably question the administrative response.
‘Right. I mustn’t let my guard down either.’
So I should only use this inspection insignia when absolutely necessary.
Leaving me, who was desperately trying not to become the protagonist of a scholar tale, behind, the Zhejiang Province Governor heard the detailed circumstances from Samjeolchuho.
“How can this be! A den of smugglers among the islands under Zhejiang Province! Of course we must suppress them! We absolutely must suppress them! Ahem…”
[Brother, does a person really become like this once they reach the rank of Governor?]
[Losing bribes would certainly hurt, but it’s better than losing your head on the spot, isn’t it?]
[Indeed, the bureaucracy is terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.]
I let out a soft chuckle.
To her, someone steeped in the ways of Gangho since birth, such bureaucratic attitudes were nothing short of absurd.
“Don’t worry! Our headquarters will immediately summon the Naval Commander, so rest assured!”
[Tch… pretending like you’ve never heard of it before. As if reports haven’t already been filed hundreds of times over.]
[Sister, please restrain yourself. If we push further, we might actually ruin everything.]
[Somehow, little brother, you seem quite accustomed to this.]
[Running a Medical Guild tends to make one familiar with such matters.]
Samjeolchuho found it remarkable how I answered so calmly and composed.
Though we’d only just met, these people were different from Gangho warriors.
Samjeolchuho felt this keenly and could only shake her head inwardly.
Just as we were wrapping up and about to leave, the Zhejiang Province Governor suddenly called out to me.
“There’s something I’d like to ask of you urgently. Could you spare a moment?”
“What might that be?”
I flashed a professional smile in response.
The Zhejiang Province Governor hesitated for quite some time before finally deciding he couldn’t let this opportunity slip away and opened his mouth.
Unlike the old days, competition had grown, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to receive treatment from the Patriarch of Baekrin Medical Guild.
But feeling he’d regret it if he let this pass, he finally gathered his courage and spoke.
“My vital energy has been depleted lately, and I’ve been having some… difficulty sleeping at night, you see.”
“Ah, I see.”
Leaving Samjeolchuho dumbfounded behind, I calmly took his pulse.
[Little brother, do all doctors in Medical Guilds cultivate their bodies like this to accumulate spiritual essence?]
[Yes. That’s why my Master established the Medical Guild in the mountains. To avoid unnecessary killing, if possible.]
The Gangho warrior was left in shock.

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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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