Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 924

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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 924
The imperial capital of Beijing remained crowded as ever.
Jin Cheon-hee first stopped by the inn he owned in Beijing to inspect its operations.
After that.
A wash, fresh clothes.
It was only natural to tidy up my official robes, soiled from the camping.
Once preparations were complete, I headed toward the imperial palace.
‘Ugh, this palace entry procedure is such a hassle….’
The moment I entered, the palace guards began their inspection.
State my name, search the roster, set aside weapons.
They thoroughly searched for any hidden blades or concealed daggers.
Since the spiritual beings Noeji and Hwang-gu couldn’t enter the palace, I left them in the care of the court attendants.
After all that commotion, the familiar imperial palace spread before me.
Magnificent palace buildings with layered walls rising between them.
Garden paths leading to unknown destinations.
This place where laughter and quiet sobs could be heard.
Standing in this place perpetually filled with power struggles, intrigue, and schemes, I gazed blankly at my surroundings.
Before my eyes lay three paths.
One led to the office, another to the Emperor’s secret quarters.
Given that he’d sent letters in secret, it seemed unlikely he meant for me to head toward the court where the officials gathered.
Soon a eunuch came rushing over with an apologetic expression and bowed to me.
“I’ve come to receive your orders!”
He bowed with uncomfortable depth, then took the lead and walked ahead.
Yet, strangely enough….
‘This is a path I’ve never traveled before?’
Where on earth was he taking me?
If it was neither the office nor the secret quarters, what purpose could he have for summoning me?
I couldn’t understand, but decided to simply follow along for now.
Besides, there was no other choice anyway.
* * *
“Governor, we’ve arrived!”
“Huh… This is…. Isn’t this a place where food is prepared?”
“Yes.”
The plaque written in flowing calligraphy read “Jeonryong Geumhwa Kitchen.”
The aroma of food wafted from within.
“Why on earth did you bring me to this place…?”
“….”
When I looked at him with bewilderment, the eunuch merely wore an apologetic expression and offered no answer.
‘I suppose I’ll have to go inside to understand.’
Stepping inside, I found myself in the center of the vast imperial palace kitchen.
An antique table sat before me, and Eun Wang-ya sat alone at its head.
“You came?”
“…Uh… Yes, yes. I have arrived.”
Jin Cheon-hee immediately began to lower himself into a bow.
He was clearly preparing to perform the ritual of ten thousand blessings.
Eun Wang-ya spoke quickly.
“Just sit down.”
“Pardon?”
“Don’t do that—just sit!”
“Ah, ah ah! Understood.”
Jin Cheon-hee was startled and sat across from her at the table.
‘Is this really acceptable with so many eyes watching?’
This wasn’t some hidden pavilion or secret chamber.
I was more accustomed to formal audiences in the grand hall surrounded by high officials.
But to sit facing each other at a table in the imperial kitchens?
‘It would be far more comfortable if she simply gave me my own separate table to sit beside hers.’
A mere servant sitting at the same table facing the imperial presence directly violated all protocol.
Moreover.
‘No matter how I look at it, this resembles nothing so much as martial artists gathered around a table at some roadside inn.’
Jin Cheon-hee sighed softly.
‘I have no idea how this rumor will spread.’
There were already no shortage of people who glared at him with hostile eyes, claiming he enjoyed the Emperor’s favor, and now this.
He could only hope that in his final years, he wouldn’t end up like some Russian fortune teller, lying at the bottom of a cold river.
‘Ah… so it is Eun Wang-ya.’
After staring at her face, Jin Cheon-hee finally lowered his gaze.
‘Oh no. I shouldn’t stare directly at the imperial countenance.’
He wished she had summoned him to that secret pavilion instead.
There, only trustworthy court attendants would be present.
“Do you know who I am?”
“I am deeply sorry to say…”
“Try to guess.”
Jin Cheon-hee gritted his teeth, then spoke while simultaneously sending a transmission.
“This humble servant has no way of knowing what question Your Majesty poses… I confess I am at a loss.”
[…Are you Eun Wang-ya?]
As if in harmony, both the transmission and his spoken words were conveyed simultaneously.
“Your temperament is as expected. The answer is correct.”
For some reason, Eun Wang-ya appeared delighted.
Soon after, steaming dumplings fresh from the bamboo steamer were placed before her.
Of course, one could not truly say they were fresh.
The court attendant Gimi had first tested one with silver chopsticks and tasted it before serving.
After that, he nods and steps back three paces, saying I may eat now.
‘Imperial etiquette is truly insufferable.’
From a modern person’s perspective, just watching it makes my blood boil.
Soon enough, Eun Wang-ya ate the dumpling.
‘Does she eat alone?’
With delicately crafted silver chopsticks, she chews a single bite slowly, then speaks.
“It tastes awful.”
“Pardon?”
“This dumpling. It has no flavor.”
What exactly is she doing, summoning me here like this?
“Um… then why are you eating a dumpling that tastes bad?”
“My sister has a mouth, but I am the Emperor—do I have a snout?”
“…”
Watching this, Jin Cheon-hee thought to himself.
‘This… is the Emperor?’
Yet his expression remains composed as always.
Eun Wang-ya, unlike Geum Wang-ya, lacks the ability to read hearts.
“Since it tastes bad, clear it away.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
The court attendant hastily removes the dumplings. Naturally, the Imperial Chefs’ expressions darken.
‘Is this some political scheme I’m unaware of?’
Is there really a need to analyze this ridiculous situation?
Eun Wang-ya speaks.
“Dumplings! Can you not bring out aged meat dumplings!”
“…Um, Your Majesty. Aged meat dumplings are made with aged meat.”
“And?”
“…If there is no aged meat, we cannot make them.”
What am I supposed to do! You fool!
The chefs are already glaring at me so intensely I feel like I’m dying!
Those Imperial dumplings she just discarded as tasteless—their aroma alone is exquisite, and just looking at them makes my mouth water.
‘If you’re going to throw them away, give them to me instead! You wasteful Emperor!’
Those are dumplings crafted with the Imperial Chefs’ utmost devotion!
And you throw them away in front of everyone, calling them tasteless?
“Ah, surely I would not ask you to make them without ingredients. I have already prepared them.”
Saying so, she claps her hands.
Only then does Jin Cheon-hee understand.
This was all a performance.
A performance designed to make me prepare dumplings.
‘I’m in a position where I must obey if the heavenly Emperor commands, even without all this—why is she reading my mood so carefully?’
If she had simply thrown me into the kitchen upon arrival and declared “Ah! Bring forth aged meat dumplings! This is an Imperial command!” I would have no choice but to make them through tears.
But what could this kind of performance mean?
‘Could it be that he’s worried I’ll make them less delicious than Ju Wang-ya’s?’
Having thought that far, I immediately erased the fact from my mind.
No matter how I looked at it, the motive was far too petty.
I examined the state of the aged meat and spoke thus.
“Indeed, these are the Imperial Chef’s handiwork. Truly masterfully prepared. Yet with meat this fine, there’s no way dumplings made from it could taste bad.”
“You must make them for me!”
‘…This is absolutely ridiculous…!’
I cursed silently three times in succession, then answered with the smile of a Buddha.
“As you wish, Your Majesty. I shall devote my utmost sincerity to crafting these for you.”
Those dumplings I’d just discarded were truly a waste.
‘They should have all gone into my mouth. Alas…’
I rose to my feet, shedding tears of blood internally.
“Then I shall attend to some state matters. Complete them all in the meantime.”
With those words, he hummed a tune and departed.
‘Wow, no wonder he’s the Emperor—truly doing whatever he pleases!’
I clenched my fists tightly inside.
You bastard.
If it weren’t for me, the Hwa Empire would’ve gone glub-glub to the bottom. Do you understand?!
That damned Emperor, or rather that wretched older brother? Cousin? Anyway, you’re nothing but a hollow-gutted fish with a rotten heart!
He’ll definitely boast about eating these aged meat dumplings to Ju Wang-ya.
Damn it, that’s the problem.
* * *
I felt the jealous gazes of the Imperial Chefs boring into the back of my neck.
It was only natural.
I was an intruder who had entered their sacred kitchen.
A rolling stone that had dislodged the stone already set in place.
Yet because my rank was Prefect, they couldn’t even curse me out.
‘Ah… I didn’t want to be summoned just to make dumplings either, you know?’
The Emperor’s favor.
It was like the life goal of every being living in this palace.
A modern person would think it absurd that a single person’s favor could be a life goal, but there was no helping it.
In this pyramid hierarchy, the Emperor was literally the Son of Heaven sent down by the celestial realm.
In an era where people genuinely believed that if the Emperor’s health deteriorated, disasters would befall the nation.
If it was a dish the Emperor enjoyed eating.
Well, it would be remembered and discussed for generations to come as a legendary tale.
‘Come to think of it, I heard that by Hwa Empire law, one shouldn’t eat the same dish more than three times, yet neither Geum Wang-ya nor Eun Wang-ya follows that rule.’
The dish was complete.
As I placed the dumplings on a plate, Gimi Nae-gwan prepared to take a bite.
At that moment, the Emperor swiftly inserted his chopsticks and brought one to his mouth.
“Oh, this is delicious.”
‘Completely defenseless.’
What was he thinking, acting like this when I could harbor treacherous intentions?
As I stared intently, the Emperor spoke.
“What? Will you do the work instead of me?”
Does this Eun Wang-ya actually practice mind-reading too?
Well, an emperor of the final age.
The murderous workload he’s handling—it’s terrifying just to think about.
“I’m already dying from the work I’m doing, Your Majesty.”
“I agree.”
“What if someone other than me poisons the water or the livestock?”
“You’re saying there exists someone who can deceive your eyes?”
“Gangho is vast.”
“Then you’ll fix it. Or do the work instead.”
Madness.
It was certain that he was literally going insane from the murderous workload.
“You eat too.”
“Yes, sire!”
I was able to eat the dumplings I had made with the Emperor’s permission.
I was so grateful I nearly wept.
‘Hmm, I made these myself, but they’re delicious.’
The harmony between the moist dumpling filling and the soy sauce with chili oil on the surface was perfect.
As I closed my eyes and savored it for a long moment, Eun Wang-ya stared at me intently.
“…What… what is it?”
“Are you really not thinking of taking a position in the imperial household?”
“…No. Why would I want to work someone to death?”
“Even if I gave you gold, silver, treasures, and power?”
Damn it.
I couldn’t help but shudder imagining how this conversation would spread later.
‘Just dismiss everyone and surround yourself with only tight-lipped court attendants instead.’
I answered with tears of blood.
“Rather, take my head, Your Majesty. I cannot handle that workload even in death.”
“Tch!”
Is he pouting?
A gentleman who used to execute imperial relatives without hesitation is now throwing a tantrum like a child—I don’t know how to respond.
Emperor Geum-wang at least seemed to have some minimum boundaries, but Eun Wang-ya has none.
To put it kindly, he’s affable; to put it harshly, he’s playing jump rope with the line.
In Korean, what do you call such a being…?
‘A legendary troublemaker.’
He’s literally tap-dancing with a rubber band around his ankle, as if crossing the line yet not crossing it, crossing it yet not crossing it.
Thanks to that, I feel like I’m falling behind. Quite a bit.
“Hehehehe.”
Eun Wang-ya gazed at my troubled expression and laughed to herself, seemingly delighted by something.
“It’s been a while. Eating rice that wasn’t consumed by another first….”
‘…Was that the reason?’
Eun Wang-ya’s voice carried a strangely bitter undertone.
Soon after, he left half the meal and immediately gestured.
The court attendant nodded and carried it away somewhere.
The attendant who took it was clearly the tight-lipped type.
‘He’s taking it to Geum Wang-ya.’
I finally understood.
Or rather, what I’d been vaguely thinking became certainty.
‘I see. This entire situation is itself part of a scheme.’
The housekeepers, whose tongues were relatively loose.
In contrast, the eunuchs, whose tongues were extremely heavy.
Not all of these eunuchs would have tight lips.
Some loose-tongued ones must be mixed in among them.
‘He’s manipulating the very information that leaks outside the imperial palace.’
Shiver—
My chopsticks came to an abrupt halt.
The reason for this manipulation was simple.
[Are you scheming something using me?]
Eun Wang-ya smiled faintly at my spiritual transmission.
Then he whispered to me, a martial artist, in a voice so quiet only I could hear.
A rapid, soft sound, as if barely rolling his tongue.
In that fleeting moment no one else would notice, I, a martial artist, understood perfectly.
“I’m protecting you.”
…How meticulous this man is.
[I can protect myself. However, being used as a piece on the board….]
“You don’t need to concern yourself with what happens beneath the surface. You simply received dumplings from me today—isn’t that enough?”
I understood.
‘Ah, this is a type of secret art too.’
Easier to use than spiritual transmission, and no one nearby could hear it or even read his lips properly.
Had he mastered such a technique?
Eun Wang-ya smiled softly.
“You probably don’t realize how your position changed because of the fish matter.”
Fish—was he referring to the Goe-eo-in matter?
Clack—
Eun Wang-ya set down his chopsticks.
Then he spoke cheerfully.
“Well then, shall we move to another place?”
What on earth is he thinking?

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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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