The Terminally Ill Youngest Daughter of a Medical Dynasty Is a Genius Physician - Chapter 22

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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 22
“It’s possible. Especially if administered in very small doses over a long period—it would be hard to distinguish from an illness.”
Father gazed at the Jeok-sa-cho inside the bottle as he continued.
“But cultivation is difficult, and since it only grows in specific regions, it’s rarely used in practice.”
A poison easily mistaken for illness.
A poison administered in tiny doses over years.
I couldn’t tear my eyes from the Jeok-sa-cho inside the transparent bottle.
“Ryeong-hwa?”
At Father’s call, I snapped back to attention.
“What’s wrong? Your complexion looks pale.”
“It’s nothing. I was just startled by how many medicinal materials there are.”
Father scrutinized my face with suspicion but didn’t press further.
Settling me more securely in his arms, Father spoke with practiced ease.
“Don’t worry. If there’s something you don’t know, you can always ask your father.”
“Do you know everything about all the medicinal materials here?”
At my wide-eyed question, Father’s gaze grew slightly clouded.
……
“Father?”
“Ryeong-hwa. A truly skilled physician, even when faced with an unfamiliar material, will think deeply and seek to understand it…….”
“……You don’t know, do you?”
“My goodness. Your perception is already frighteningly sharp.”
I let out a stifled laugh, and Father contentedly stroked my head.
“There. That’s the face I wanted to see. Come now, this time somewhere without snakes.”
“A-again?”
“Ha ha ha!”
I shrank back with distaste, and Father laughed heartily.
Then, his expression grew quite serious.
“Now let’s gather the things you’ll need to make medicinal pills. Do you see anything similar to what you used before?”
“Well, first there are those herbs over there!”
After that, I found one by one the medicinal materials that resembled those in my memory.
I didn’t know their names, but I remembered their shapes and scents clearly.
Father set aside the materials I’d chosen and examined their condition.
Then his hands suddenly stilled.
“Something’s odd.”
“What is it?”
Father spread the medicinal materials out on the table.
The Hwang-jeong-geun with its yellowish tint.
The Cheong-maek-cho with white cracks running through the inner stem.
The Maek-hyeol-ja, unusually small and bearing black seeds.
“They’re all varieties that grow in the Northern Region.”
“All of them?”
“Yes. Not from exactly the same place, but they all grow in regions quite close to each other within the Northern Region.”
I gazed down at the materials without speaking.
‘Perhaps the reason I survived until seventeen in my first life was because of this…….’
In my first life, my father had steadily sent medicinal materials obtained from the Northern Region.
Most were taken by Yeon Do-pyeong, but some were certainly passed on to me.
Though I couldn’t fully recover without knowing the exact formula, perhaps they had slowed the progression of the illness.
“Do the Northern Region’s materials suit my body particularly well?”
“That’s possible. Or perhaps the properties these materials share in common have been effective against your twisted Qi and Blood.”
Father’s gaze grew serious and settled.
“I’ll send someone to the Northern Region to investigate where these materials grow. I must also examine what commonalities they might share.”
Father examined each material once more as he continued speaking.
“And I’ll have all the records and materials I left there brought back.”
“Yes. Please look into it thoroughly.”
“I will.”
I looked at the materials once more.
The reason Father’s materials were the only ones to show effect against my illness.
Perhaps the answer lay in the Northern Region.
After selecting the necessary materials from the Central Medicinal Herb Storehouse, we made our way to Je-yak-dang, the largest medicinal preparation facility on Herbal Medicine Street.
Inside Je-yak-dang, large and small Medicinal Decoction Pots and Mortars were arranged in rows.
Between the rising steam and the thick fragrance of medicinal herbs, apothecaries and medical assistants moved about in purposeful haste.
“It’s been ages since I was here, and nothing’s changed. Not one bit.”
“So you make the medicine here?”
“Yes. The whole process happens in this place—preparing the medicinal materials, grinding them, decocting them, and finally shaping them into pills.”
Father led me to a small compounding room at the far end.
Inside were a polished table, mortars of various sizes, and medicinal knives and sieves arranged in neat rows.
Father drew a tall chair close to the table so my hands could reach it, then lifted me onto the seat.
He opened a box of medicinal materials.
I picked up a slender yellow root.
“This is Hwang-jeong-geun, isn’t it?”
“That’s right.”
“What is it used for?”
“For those whose vitality has waned and whose bodies have grown thin. Taken over time, it strengthens the organs, but use too much at once and it can damage the stomach instead.”
“Hwang-jeong-geun…”
I rolled the name around in my mouth and giggled.
“Why are you laughing?”
“I called it the yellow tail. Look how the end splits like that—it looks just like a tail.”
Father examined the root seriously, then nodded.
“Hmm. You’re right—it does look like a tail.”
“Doesn’t it?”
Father smiled as he watched me giggle.
“Then remember its proper name is Hwang-jeong-geun, but what if we call it the yellow tail when it’s just us?”
I nodded enthusiastically.
Next I picked up a dark red berry.
“This was Maek-hyeol-ja, right?”
“Yes. It promotes blood flow and unblocks stagnant Qi and Blood.”
“Oh! I called it the heartbeat berry.”
“Heartbeat berry?”
“Yes. When you eat it, your heart goes thump-thump and beats faster.”
Father’s expression suddenly hardened.
“You didn’t… eat it directly, did you?”
“Just a tiny bit.”
“How much?”
“One… seed?”
Father pressed his forehead and exhaled deeply.
“Ryeong-hwa. Maek-hyeol-ja is absolutely not something a child should chew and swallow raw. Especially not when your Qi and Blood are as weak as yours—it could strain your heart.”
“But I felt a little better after…”
“Listen to me. From now on, don’t go eating medicinal materials you don’t understand. Do you hear me?”
“Yes…”
I pouted, yet his scolding didn’t feel unwelcome.
In my past life, there was no one to worry about what I ate or how much I suffered.
No one to listen when I discovered an herb’s properties, no one to correct my mistakes.
I smiled softly and said nothing more, setting the Maek-hyeol-ja down carefully.
Father sorted the materials by type, then asked me a question.
“Tell me the preparation method of the medicine you made, as much as you remember.”
I pointed to each material with my finger in turn.
“For Cheong-maek-cho, you remove the leaves and use only the stems. For the yellow tail, you peel off the outer skin and cut it very small. Then you decoct those two first, and when the liquid reduces by half, you add the heartbeat—I mean, the Maek-hyeol-ja.”
Father watched me carefully.
“You know quite a lot. Who taught you?”
“I just… learned by making it many times.”
Father’s gaze grew heavy for a moment, but he didn’t press further.
“Then try making it yourself. I’ll watch over you.”
“Yes!”
I first removed the leaves from the Cheong-maek-cho.
But the thick stem was not easy for my small hands to cut.
After it slipped from my fingers several times, Father extended his hand.
“Here, give it to me.”
“I can do it.”
Father stared at me.
“There’s a difference between what you can do and what you shouldn’t strain yourself to do.”
‘There you go again.’
Father split the thick stem of the Cheong-maek-cho in one swift motion and laid it before me.
“You handle the thin strands.”
“Yes… all right.”
In my past life, my hands would bleed from the work, yet I had to prepare the medicinal herbs alone.
But now it was different.
Father handled the tasks that required strength, and strangely, that eased something in my chest.
Next, I peeled the outer layer from the Hwang-jeong-geun and sliced it into fine pieces.
I placed the chopped Hwang-jeong-geun into the mortar and gripped the small pestle with both hands.
Thump, thump.
From pressing too hard, a fragment of the medicinal material flew out of the mortar.
“Oh!”
Father quickly picked it up and returned it to the mortar.
“Don’t rush.”
He placed his large hand over mine.
“Don’t just strike down with force. Press the herb, then twist gently at the edge.”
Following Father’s guidance, I pressed the herb firmly with the pestle, then gave it a slight twist.
The hard root crumbled at once.
“Like this?”
“Yes. Try again.”
This time, I produced a much finer powder.
“Excellent. You’re truly my daughter.”
My chest tingled at the brief praise.
Learning through trial and error alone was utterly different from being properly taught by someone else.
Knowledge that had scattered in fragments seemed to find its rightful place, one piece at a time.
I placed the prepared Cheong-maek-cho and Hwang-jeong-geun into the medicinal decoction pot.
When the water had reduced by half, I added the Maek-hyeol-ja, and the broth turned a deep red.
“Now the heat should be turned down.”
Father adjusted the flame of the brazier according to my instruction.
“This low?”
“A bit lower still.”
Without complaint, Father fine-tuned the flame.
‘Father is a far more skilled physician, yet he doesn’t dismiss a word I say.’
Watching him follow precisely the order I gave him, warmth bloomed deep in my chest.
After straining the thoroughly steeped decoction through a sieve and mixing it with honey and medicinal powder, a sticky dough was complete.
“Now I just need to roll them into balls!”
I placed the dough on my palm and carefully began to roll it.
But one side caved inward while the other jutted out awkwardly.
It looked more like a crumpled pebble than a medicinal pill.
“That’s strange…”
“No one shapes them perfectly the first time.”
Father pinched off a portion of the medicinal dough and rolled it between his palms.
After only a few rotations, a smooth, perfectly spherical medicinal pill emerged.
“Wow. It’s so beautiful!”
“Try again. Don’t press too hard—roll it slowly in the center of your palms.”
Following his words, I rolled the dough again.
This time, though slightly bumpy, the medicinal pill turned out reasonably round.
“There!”
“That’s better. A proper shape this time.”
Across the table lay medicinal pills of varying sizes and forms in a row.
Among them, the single pill Father had made as a demonstration stood out—perfectly formed and gleaming smooth.
I reached for the smallest one.
Father immediately caught my wrist.
“Wait.”
He took the pill, smelled it, then touched the edge of it to his tongue to taste.
Only after carefully inspecting the color and texture did he place it back in my palm.
“This will do. You can take it.”
I looked down at the pill resting in my hand.
‘If this medicine works as it should…’
Then I would earn the right to sit for the Entrance Examination.
I drew a short breath, then brought the medicinal pill to my lips.

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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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