The Terminally Ill Youngest Daughter of a Medical Dynasty Is a Genius Physician - Chapter 29

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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 29
But sabotaging the examination or tampering with the medicinal pills would be foolish.
Now, with the family head and elders’ eyes all fixed on Yeong Hwa, even the smallest irregularity could cast suspicion on him first.
He didn’t need to act directly.
Yeong Hwa was a child who had never properly studied the Medical Arts.
Merely seven years old.
And worse—a sickly child rumored to have spent her entire life bedridden.
If such a girl suddenly appeared at the Medical Entrance Examination and insisted on diagnosing patients, who would willingly entrust their body to her?
Medical skill was not built on ability alone.
No patient would surrender their body to someone they didn’t trust.
Yeon Hui Cheon slowly returned to his chair. The anger from moments before had vanished without trace.
He wiped the scattered ink from his desk and spoke toward the door.
“Bring in Baek Cheon Ho.”
Shortly after, Yeon Hui Cheon’s personal guard, Baek Cheon Ho, entered the room.
Baek Cheon Ho caught sight of the ink splattered across the floor and the ashes of the burned letter, but asked nothing.
“You called for me, sir?”
Yeon Hui Cheon withdrew a fresh sheet of paper and picked up his brush with an unfazed expression.
“I hear Yeong Hwa will be sitting for this Medical Entrance Examination as well.”
“Yes. I learned of it just now myself.”
“Quite remarkable, isn’t it?”
A faint smile played at Yeon Hui Cheon’s lips.
“I wonder when a child who spent her whole life bedridden learned such medical skill.”
Baek Cheon Ho’s eyes shifted subtly.
Yeon Hui Cheon continued writing neat characters across the paper as he spoke.
“The patients who come for examination must be wondering the same thing, don’t you think?”
……
“Whether they can truly entrust their bodies to a seven-year-old girl who’s never received proper medical training.”
Only then did Baek Cheon Ho grasp the hidden meaning and bowed deeply.
“I will bear it in mind, sir.”
“Bear what in mind?”
Yeon Hui Cheon set down his brush and replied with an innocent expression.
Baek Cheon Ho fell silent for a moment, then quickly corrected himself.
“Nothing at all, sir. You were merely expressing concern for the patients, nothing more.”
Only then did Yeon Hui Cheon smile with satisfaction.
“Yes. I was merely stating facts.”
Baek Cheon Ho bowed once more and was about to withdraw when—
“Ah, one more thing.”
Yeon Hui Cheon called him back with an offhand tone.
“Among the patients who’ve arrived this time, I hear there’s one with a particularly troublesome ailment.”
Baek Cheon Ho raised his eyes.
“That’s merely what I’ve heard, of course.”
Yeon Hui Cheon smiled.
“The examination must be fair, after all.”
After Baek Cheon Ho left the room, Yeon Hui Cheon turned his gaze back to the brazier.
Inside the flames, the final corner of the letter crumbled into black ash.
[Do you truly think the position of heir will wait for you?]
His mother’s question echoed in his ears once more. Yeon Hui Cheon slowly rolled the brush between his fingers.
The slender bamboo shaft bent precariously between his fingertips.
Snap.
At last the brush broke in two and fell to the floor.
He stared down at the broken pieces, wearing the same smile as before.
“You think I’d allow anyone to steal my place?”
A whisper too soft for anyone else to hear dispersed through the empty room.
* * *
The morning the Medical Entrance Examination opened.
“Miss, you must take this too!”
Early in the morning, Ryu Jin thrust a small bundle into my arms.
“What is all this?”
“A spare robe in case the wind picks up, and a handkerchief, and water, and……”
“All of this?”
“Ah! There’s this too!”
“More?”
Ryu Jin turned as if she’d been waiting for this moment, pulling out another bundle from behind her back.
“I packed snacks so you won’t go hungry. And sweets in case you get dizzy, and enough medicine for two doses!”
“Ryu Jin…”
“Yes?”
I found myself staring down at luggage piled high as a mountain.
“I’m going to take an exam, right? Not moving somewhere for a few days?”
“But you never know!”
Ryu Jin’s eyes were deadly serious.
“What if you fall ill during the exam? You can’t go hungry, you can’t get thirsty, you can’t get tired…”
“But, when would I even take the exam?”
“…”
Ryu Jin fell silent.
Heo Jin Byeok, watching from the side, let out a low, theatrical cough.
“I would suggest reducing the luggage somewhat.”
“Right?”
“It’s difficult to tell whether you’re taking an examination or moving house.”
“But… uh…”
Ryu Jin bristled.
I burst out laughing.
“Fine. Just bring the medicine and water.”
“…What about the snacks?”
“Well… those too.”
Only then did Ryu Jin’s face light up.
“I knew you’d need them! Oh, and—”
Ryu Jin slipped her hand into her robe as though she’d been hiding a secret weapon, and drew something out.
“Wishing Yeong Hwa’s success!”
“Ta-da!”
“…”
I stared blankly at the cloth fluttering in her hands, emblazoned with large characters.
When on earth did she make such a thing?
“There’s more!”
And it wasn’t over.
This time Ryu Jin produced a red cloth headband, tying it snugly around her own forehead.
“Soon to be: Genius Physician Yeong Hwa”
Soon to be a genius physician? What’s that about…?
“…Ryu Jin.”
“I’ll stand outside the examination hall with this and cheer you on!”
“Don’t you dare.”
“Yeong Hwa! Top score!”
“It’s the Medical Entrance Examination.”
“Yeong Hwa! Greatest physician in the realm!”
“I’m not even a Medical Practitioner yet.”
“Yeong Hwa! The future of Yak Ryeong Ga!”
“This is getting more embarrassing by the second.”
Ryu Jin paid no mind, clenching both fists tight.
“The moment you come out, I’ll even scatter flower petals for you!”
“When did you even prepare flower petals!?”
“I picked them last night!”
I glanced sideways at Heo Jin Byeok.
“…You didn’t try to stop her?”
“I did.”
Heo Jin Byeok answered with a weary expression.
“So she went and made her own headband as well.”
In his hand hung another headband, inscribed with “Soon to be: Genius Physician Yeong Hwa”.
“There’s one for you too! You can both wear them right now!”
“I absolutely will not.”
“I sized it perfectly to your head…”
“That is not the pressing concern at this moment.”
In the end, I couldn’t hold back—laughter spilled out of me. The tension that had been coiling in my chest loosened, just a little.
“All right, I hear you. I appreciate the support, but let’s leave the headband and cloth here.”
“What about the flower petals?”
“Those too.”
“……Can’t I just sprinkle a tiny bit?”
“No.”
A whine escaped her.
After barely managing to quell Ryu Jin’s excessive worry and her wave of encouragement, I left Byeol Dang.
* * *
The dawn had not yet fully broken, but the Bon Dang of Yak Ryeong Ga was already stirring with the footsteps of countless people.
A pale mist clung to the spaces between tile roofs, drifting slowly, while dewdrops clinging to the eaves caught the first rays of the rising sun and gleamed with a soft, pearlescent glow.
Once every three years.
A gate that all must pass through to be recognized as a formal Medical Practitioner of Yak Ryeong Ga.
With failure meaning another three-year wait, the Main Courtyard was thick with palpable tension.
Preparation Tables stood in precise rows for the examination, and upon them lay Mortars, Herbal Decoction Vessels, Needle Cases, and Herb Containers, all arranged with meticulous care.
Attendants hurried back and forth for final verification of herb quantities, while the examinees checked their instruments in silence or steadied their breathing with closed eyes.
Then, from one corner of the courtyard, a hushed murmur arose.
“……Is that Yeong Hwa?”
The gaze of one person drew the eyes of others naturally in the same direction.
At the foot of the Bon Dang steps.
A small girl, dressed in a neat pale-green robe, stood quietly cradling a Needle Case and Herb Container in her arms.
“She looks much younger than I expected.”
“They say she’s seven years old.”
“But has she ever actually studied the Medical Arts properly?”
Someone’s question prompted the one beside him to lower his voice.
“I heard she spent her whole life bedridden.”
“And now suddenly she’s taking the Medical Entrance Examination…….”
“The elders approved it themselves, though.”
“I’ve heard she makes medicinal pills well. But making medicine and actually examining a real patient are two different things, aren’t they?”
Several nodded silently.
No one dared to laugh outright.
But suspicion lingered in their glances, impossible to hide.
I listened to their whispers from a distance and drew a quiet breath.
‘The rumors have spread already, it seems.’
A seven-year-old girl who had spent her entire life on a sickbed.
That was all they knew of Yeong Hwa.
They knew nothing of the Medical Arts refined through ten lifetimes of living, nor of the countless hours spent meeting patients and crafting remedies.
So there was no reason to feel wronged.
Whether I possessed true skill. Whether I deserved to become a Medical Practitioner.
I would show them today.

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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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