The Terminally Ill Youngest Daughter of a Medical Dynasty Is a Genius Physician - Chapter 56

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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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Episode 56
“Baek Cheon-ho.”
Yeon Hui-cheon called into the darkness behind him.
“You called for me, sir?”
Baek Cheon-ho emerged silently and knelt.
Yeon Hui-cheon gazed ahead in silence for a moment.
Moonlight traced the contour of his profile with pale luminescence.
“Yeon Yeong-hwa visited the Central Library this evening.”
……
“She left with an ancient text bound in red.”
Baek Cheon-ho lifted his head quietly.
“The Branch Family Head’s treatment report is due in two days.”
Only then did something shift in Baek Cheon-ho’s eyes—a subtle calculation.
“Do you think it’s coincidence?”
“It seems unlikely, sir.”
“I agree.”
Yeon Hui-cheon turned slowly to face him.
“She must have discovered something about the Branch Family Head’s poison.”
Silence stretched between them.
Yeon Hui-cheon spoke low.
“Bring me that book.”
“You mean I should enter the Separate Building directly, sir?”
“Yes.”
“It only needs to reach my hands before the report. Move when there are no witnesses.”
Baek Cheon-ho did not answer immediately.
Yeon Hui-cheon’s eyes narrowed.
“What is it? Can’t you do this?”
“No, sir.”
Baek Cheon-ho lowered his head.
“I understand.”
Yeon Hui-cheon’s gaze turned once more toward the darkness beyond.
First, he needed to know what was written in that book.
If Yeon Yeong-hwa had found the clue to the poison before him, he could learn its nature and prepare his own defense.
But that alone would not suffice.
If Yeon Yeong-hwa claimed a new poison in her report, she would naturally be asked for evidence.
And if that evidence was this ancient text…
‘I need only make it disappear until the report concludes.’
No matter how compelling her argument, without the written source to support it, acceptance would not come easily.
He would read the contents first himself.
Then strip the proof from her hands.
That would be enough.
“Once you’ve confirmed the contents, don’t return it.”
Baek Cheon-ho looked up.
“You mean I should keep it, sir?”
“At least until the report is finished.”
Yeon Hui-cheon answered as though it were nothing.
“After that, return it to its place without a trace when no one is watching.”
……I understand.
“Leave no trace of this. None.”
“Yes, sir. I will remember.”
Baek Cheon-ho vanished into the darkness once more.
* * *
A day passed.
It was the morning of the treatment report.
I opened my eyes and sprang from the bed at once.
‘I need to check one more time—just once more.’
Yesterday, I’d studied the Red Ancient Text whenever I found a moment.
I took Byeok Chung-yeon’s pulse again, checked the sensation in her right arm, then compared the symptoms recorded in the ancient text line by line against the changes I’d documented.
The more I verified, the higher the likelihood grew that it was Jeok Maek Cho.
‘Now I’m almost certain.’
Still, today was the day I had to report on the treatment’s progress before the elders.
I wanted to make one final check to ensure nothing had been overlooked.
I reached toward the side table next to the bed.
It was the drawer where I’d placed the Red Ancient Text.
Click.
“……?”
I blinked.
‘What?’
I closed the drawer and opened it again.
It was the same.
The drawer was empty.
“……It’s gone?”
Sleep fled from me in an instant.
I climbed out of bed and surveyed the area around me.
On top of the side table, the bookshelf, beneath the bed, beside the medicine box……
But the Red Ancient Text was nowhere to be found.
‘This can’t be happening.’
I’d clearly placed it here last night.
I’d removed everything else from the drawer to keep the book safe, then stored only the ancient text inside, so there was no chance I’d misremembered.
‘Someone took it.’
A chill ran down my spine.
I’d only borrowed the book recently. Few people even knew that fact.
Father and Ryu Jin.
And perhaps the keeper of the Central Library.
Of course, none of them had any reason to steal the book in secret.
Then that meant.
‘……Someone saw me.’
Saw me taking the book from the Central Library.
I stared at the empty drawer, my lips pressed tight.
Suddenly, today’s treatment progress report flashed through my mind.
On the very morning of the report, the ancient text I’d planned to use as evidence had vanished.
The timing was far too convenient to dismiss as mere coincidence.
‘Could it be……’
A face did come to mind.
But I had no proof yet.
More importantly, I couldn’t afford to waste time searching for the missing book right now.
‘First, I need to prepare for the report.’
I hurriedly changed clothes and gathered the medical records I’d prepared.
* * *
That morning.
Grandfather and Father, along with four elders, took their seats around a long table.
Below them sat the medical attendants who had participated in Byeok Chung-yeon’s treatment.
Yeon Hui-cheon and myself.
Today was the first formal report on Byeok Chung-yeon’s progress to be made before the family’s elders since treatment began.
“Then let us begin.”
Grandfather’s voice settled over the Meeting Hall.
His gaze turned first to Yeon Hui-cheon.
“Hui-cheon.”
“Yes, Family Head.”
“Tell us what you have observed so far.”
Yeon Hui-cheon stood from his seat.
“Yes.”
He unfolded the records he had prepared.
They were far more neatly organized than what he’d shown Mother days earlier.
“When we first began treatment, the Branch Family Head was in a state of severe general weakness.”
Yeon Hui-cheon’s voice was measured.
“Most notably, there was reduced sensation and muscle rigidity in the right arm, and the pulse showed an irregular flow consistent with poison’s lingering effects.”
The elders nodded as they reviewed the records.
I listened quietly to his words as well.
So far, everything he said was accurate.
It matched the progress I’d explained and what he’d confirmed through his own Pulse Diagnosis.
“Initially, I considered a formula to supplement Qi and Blood, but given the possibility of Residual Poison, I prioritized detoxification.”
Yeon Hui-cheon’s gaze touched me briefly.
“After adjusting the subsequent prescriptions, the pulse gradually stabilized, and both appetite and vitality improved beyond their previous state.”
“Mm.”
Elder Heo Un-baek stroked his beard.
“Then the course of treatment itself wasn’t unfavorable.”
“Yes.”
Yeon Hui-cheon lowered his head.
“Recently, the toxic qi hasn’t been as pronounced as it was initially.”
That much was also true.
Byeok Chung-yeon’s complexion had improved, and her pulse was more stable than when I’d first examined her.
Yeon Hui-cheon turned the page of his notes.
“Synthesizing these observations, I believe the toxicity remaining in her body has weakened considerably.”
His voice gained strength as he continued.
“I believe the current loss of sensation and stiffness in her right arm are likely Aftereffects remaining after the poison has dissipated.”
……
I lifted my head at those words.
‘Aftereffects?’
Our eyes met.
He continued speaking as if nothing were amiss.
“Therefore, I concluded that going forward, while remaining vigilant against any lingering poison, treatment should focus on restoring the depleted Qi and Blood and repairing the damaged Meridians.”
The report ended.
Silence fell across the Meeting Hall for a moment.
Elder Ju Yeon-seok opened his mouth, reviewing the notes.
“Delaying the supplementing formula initially was also because of the Residual Poison.”
“Yes.”
“And now the pulse is stable?”
“It is.”
“Then there’s no issue moving forward with formulas to supplement Qi and Blood.”
Several of them nodded quietly.
On the surface, it was a sufficiently plausible conclusion.
But.
‘No.’
I looked down at the notes in my hands.
Yeon Hui-cheon had missed something.
A very small change.
Yet one that could not be overlooked lightly.
Though we’d examined the same patient, the conclusions we’d drawn were entirely different.
“Yeong-hwa.”
Grandfather called me then.
“What do you make of it?”
I rose from my seat without hesitation.
“I see it differently.”
Yeon Hui-cheon’s eyebrow twitched slightly.
Every gaze in the Meeting Hall turned toward me at once.
I unfolded the notes I’d prepared.

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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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