Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 55

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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 55
I solemnly invoked my parents’ names in the oath.
I could have invoked my grandmother and grandfather’s names as well if asked.
Just as I finished the pledge, a commotion erupted outside.
Before I could even turn around to see what was happening, the door burst open.
“What is the meaning of this? We are in the middle of——”
Gasol, who had rushed in, cut off the Hwaju Uigak member’s words with an urgent announcement that fell like thunder.
“Baekrin Uiseon commands that you prepare the medical hall and come at once!”
My eyes widened slightly.
An order to prepare the medical hall was not something befitting this Baekrin Uigak.
When patients arrived, we simply treated them—but preparing the medical hall?
Before I could voice my confusion, the medical assistant spoke.
“A royal prince has arrived!”
A royal prince?
I paused to consider the meaning of that word.
Royal prince. It referred to members of the imperial bloodline who lacked succession rights to the throne. This could include siblings at minimum, or extend to children at maximum.
“A royal prince, you say?”
Gungwi asked in bewilderment.
The medical assistant replied.
“Yes. Prince Ju Wang has arrived.”
At those words, the Hwaju Uigak member cried out.
“That cannot be. Prince Ju Wang is a long-standing patron of Hwaju Uigak. Have you mistaken the name of another royal prince?”
“I would never commit such disloyalty as to lose my head over a mistake. It is undoubtedly Prince Ju Wang himself.”
At that statement, the faces of the Hwaju Uigak members turned deathly pale.
The patronage that Prince Ju Wang provided to Hwaju Uigak was no small sum.
But it was more than merely a matter of financial support.
Simply by serving a member of the imperial family, the medical hall had become a symbol of great prestige.
Because he was willing to entrust his own body to this place, countless martial artists sought out Hwaju Uigak, trusting in its credibility.
I thought to myself.
‘So a loyal VIP customer has come to a rival establishment.’
Hwaju Yakson was the type to send subordinates and make petty threats.
This was the perfect opportunity to silence that bastard.
* * *
All the imperial family members in this world were descendants of Taeho Bokhi.
Bokhi was a primordial creator deity and one of the Three Sovereigns who transmitted the Eight Trigrams, fire, and animal husbandry to humanity.
He fathered children in the human realm and produced descendants, and those descendants became today’s imperial family.
The imperial family used the surname Poong.
As befitted those who claimed a creator deity as their ancestor, those with concentrated bloodlines manifested supernatural abilities.
The hierarchy of the imperial family was determined by two factors.
1. How strong was the power of one’s maternal relatives.
2. How deeply she inherited Bokhi’s blood.
The manifestation of bloodline abilities knows no distinction between male and female, and no one can predict how such powers will emerge.
The imperial families of this continent fight with spears drawn, regardless of age or gender, for the right to wear the imperial crown.
Ju Wang was born with the most formidable ability among them all. Yet she was also one who refused to become empress of her own accord.
Her nature was simply too bold and free-spirited.
There was no way she could spend her entire life confined within the imperial palace.
Thus, she elevated one with thinner bloodline but greater virtue and wisdom to the throne as empress, while she herself became the Military King, supporting imperial authority.
She possessed two distinct abilities.
1. She could manipulate the mass of any object her hands touched.
2. She could manipulate the temperature of any object her hands touched.
The simultaneous manifestation of two abilities was exceedingly rare.
Beyond that, she also possessed unparalleled talent in martial arts and commanding prowess as a great general.
Thus, despite lacking powerful maternal relatives, she systematically crushed the forces of eight imperial princes and princesses. In the aftermath of pacification, she placed her cherished younger sibling upon the throne.
Truly a human slaughtering machine, a dragon pillar guarding the imperial seat.
She favored crimson robes, loved wine, possessed an uninhibited spirit, and adored beauty and splendor.
Among all things, what she loved most was the blood of her enemies.
To her, the empress bestowed the title of Ju Wang, the Pillar King.
I pondered this thought.
‘Ju Wang? But why on earth would she come here?’
Normally, she would never visit Baekrin Uigak.
Where Ju Wang went was Hwaju Uiseon—the medical hall she had long conducted business with.
I came to understand.
‘The matter concerning Gungwi is far greater than I imagined.’
So much so that it altered the movements of imperial royalty itself.
With the assistance of my medical staff, I quickly prepared my robes and stepped outside.
Numerous medical assistants had already gathered to receive the Military King.
Not long after my arrival, the palanquin finally appeared.
Twelve warriors carried it directly on their shoulders.
The aura emanating from each warrior bearing the palanquin was so formidable it was suffocating.
“The Military King arrives!”
All the medical assistants bowed their heads to the ground in respect.
“Long live the Military King, ten thousand years, ten thousand years, eternally ten thousand years!”
A prayer that she might live ten thousand years and care for the empress.
“Cease with such formalities. I have no time for such courtesies.”
A woman dressed in crimson robes, like blood itself, descended from the palanquin.
An overwhelming pressure washed over us.
It was extraordinary. Merely one person had stepped onto the ground, yet the moment her feet touched the earth, the aura was so tremendous it became suffocating.
I thought her radiance resembled crimson flower petals blooming with blood.
The beginning of spring, the season when one meets the person they long to see.
A day when fate and destiny intertwine according to the harmony of yin and yang.
In that sense, this year’s Beginning of Spring was particularly auspicious.
Behind Ju Wang, a patient was carried down on a stretcher.
* * *
The patient’s body was in terrible condition.
A man in his thirties with a refined appearance had suffered a severe fall from a horse.
Fortunately, there were no serious internal injuries, but his legs were the problem.
His leg bones were fractured, protruding through the skin.
‘A fracture—and an open fracture at that…!’
Severe pain would undoubtedly follow.
“Jegalling. Take his pulse immediately and begin treatment. Hurry!”
Ju Wang.
One of the Emperor’s sisters and the mistress of Juwang House.
She shouted urgently to everyone in a pale, strained voice.
The stretcher moved swiftly toward the treatment room, carried by Juwang House’s martial artists without a single tremor.
I laid the patient on the medical bed.
“Aaaaahhh!”
The patient groaned from the intense agony.
The fact that he hadn’t lost consciousness spoke volumes of his mental fortitude.
My master immediately began taking his pulse.
“Reduction appears difficult.”
Reduction—in the martial world, this typically refers to manual reduction.
Manual reduction means fitting the broken bone fragments together with one’s hands, like puzzle pieces.
In the martial world, they use a method of applying splints in this state and waiting for natural healing.
‘But this isn’t just any fracture—it’s an open fracture. The risk of contamination is significant.’
This was one of the incidents that had occurred in the novel.
However, seeing it now in reality, the condition was far worse than what I’d read in the book.
I asked immediately.
“How long ago did the accident occur?”
Like other traumatic injuries, fractures have a critical window of time.
“The Prince Consort fell from his horse about two hours ago. But who is Sohyeop?”
‘Two hours… So the accident happened nearby. Of all places, it had to happen near Baekrin Uigak… The incident differs from the novel. No, that’s not important right now. Focus on the patient.’
Prince Consort. Ju Wang’s husband.
Everyone seemed greatly shocked that it wasn’t just anyone from Juwang House, but the Prince Consort himself who was injured.
However, only I knew this from reading the novel. Yet if I remained calm in this situation, that would be strange in itself.
I also feigned surprise, opening my mouth wide.
A martial artist from Juwang House asked.
Jegalling answered instead of me.
“He is my direct disciple.”
At those words, the people of Juwang House looked shocked this time.
It was because I appeared younger than they expected.
Regardless of those around me, I remained lost in thought.
‘One hour. That might be manageable.’
Then the Hwaju Medical Assistants cried out.
“Amputation is necessary!”
“What!? You’re saying to amputate the leg right now!”
Ju Wang exclaimed in shock.
Yoo Ho raised his voice.
“These are guests. This is the treatment room of Baekrin Uigak. Hwaju Medical Assistants, please leave.”
At those words, the Hwaju Medical Assistants spoke calmly.
“You speak truly. However, this is no ordinary patient—is not His Lordship someone who has long stood with Hwaju Uigak? This humble one entered with urgency, hoping to be of service.”
As Yoo Ho moved to expel him, Ju Wang raised his hand to stop him. Then he asked this:
“In the Hwaju Medical Assistants’ assessment, is this a situation requiring amputation?”
“Bone fragments have protruded outward. If they remained inside, healing through manual reduction would be possible, but in this state it is dangerous. To save the patient’s life, amputation is necessary.”
It was an unfavorable turn of events.
At Baekrin Uigak,
the Hwaju Medical Assistants spoke first about the merit that the Baekrin Medical Assistants would have established,
stealing it away.
As a result, the appearance became quite strange, but it was not Hwaju Uigak’s place to conceal it.
If this could turn Ju Wang’s steps back, that would suffice.
And in their view, this was indeed a matter requiring amputation.
The patient groaned and spoke.
“Your Lordship….”
“Speak. Rang-rang.”
A term of endearment for the son-in-law, Cheon Yu-rang.
“Rather than live my whole life on one leg, I would choose to end it myself.”
At those words, Ju Wang’s brow furrowed.
“How can you speak such words?”
“Please, I beg you… Ugh…! Do not amputate. Do not take away my only joy. Your Lordship….”
Ju Wang’s eyes wavered.
I thought to myself.
‘This scene… it’s definitely different from the novel. Originally the accident would have happened near Hwaju Uigak. There must be variables I don’t know about.’
Originally, the accident should have occurred near Hwaju Uigak.
Since Ju Wang had sought out Hwaju Uigak.
‘Is there a butterfly effect? Or is it a conspiracy?’
The future had changed.
The location of the accident had changed.
At that moment, Ju Wang would refuse the son-in-law’s earnest plea and amputate the leg.
It was an unavoidable choice to save his only son’s life. Yet for Cheon Yu-rang, it was the cruelest punishment imaginable.
A courtesan, an entertainer who had lived his entire life unable to dance—that meant death.
Though his lowly status meant others pointed fingers, Ju Wang’s favor had always been beside him, allowing him to live.
Yet as a dancer, the inability to dance for the rest of her life was something no amount of compensation could replace.
After that, she refused all food and drink, gradually losing her vitality.
—Please, I beg you, take just one spoonful. My beloved… I have prepared every delicacy under heaven for you, so why can you not eat?
Without amputating her legs, she would die.
But even with the amputation, she died.
From that moment on, Ju Wang lost interest in state affairs and confined himself in isolation. And that signified a crisis of imperial authority.
Thus the world descended into chaos.
Like dominoes, a single small factor grew larger and larger, toppling the imperial house.
Having thought this far, I could reach one conclusion.
‘As I suspected. There’s definitely a conspiracy at work here. What should I do?’

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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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