The Terminally Ill Youngest Daughter of a Medical Dynasty Is a Genius Physician - Chapter 58

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 58
“…….”
Yeon Hui-cheon had no answer.
Byeok Cheong-yeon’s pale blue eyes slowly withdrew from him.
He placed his hand on the Red Ancient Book lying on the table.
“At dawn today, my men discovered a suspicious figure slipping out of Ryeong-hwa the physician’s Separate Quarters.”
My eyes widened.
“From the Separate Quarters?”
“Yes.”
“Then…….”
“We didn’t apprehend him immediately.”
Byeok Cheong-yeon continued calmly.
“We needed to confirm where he was headed.”
His gaze turned toward Baek Cheon-ho.
“After we confirmed he was moving in the direction of Yeon Hui-cheon the physician’s residence, we took him into custody.”
The Meeting Hall stirred with unease.
Byeok Cheong-yeon pressed on regardless.
“And this was found on his person.”
His fingertip tapped lightly against the cover of the Red Ancient Book.
Grandfather’s eyes grew cold and sharp.
“Ryeong-hwa.”
“Yes, Grandfather.”
“Is this the book you borrowed from the Central Library?”
I nodded at once.
“Yes. It’s the book I borrowed the night before last.”
Grandfather’s gaze shifted to Baek Cheon-ho.
“Did you take this from Ryeong-hwa’s quarters?”
Baek Cheon-ho’s shoulders flinched.
“That is…….”
“Answer me.”
At the low weight of his voice, Baek Cheon-ho’s face paled further.
He opened and closed his lips for a long moment before finally lowering his head.
“……Yes.”
Silence fell across the Meeting Hall.
“Whose order was it?”
“…….”
Baek Cheon-ho could not answer that question easily. Then, acting on instinct, his gaze drifted toward one person.
Yeon Hui-cheon.
It was only a moment.
But everyone saw it—Yeon Hui-cheon’s eyes narrowing sharply.
“Why…… are you looking at me?”
“Young Master.”
Grandfather spoke again.
“Baek Cheon-ho.”
Baek Cheon-ho’s body trembled.
“Answer truthfully. Your fate depends on it.”
He squeezed his eyes shut.
Then, at last, he spoke.
“……It was Young Master Hui-cheon.”
“What nonsense is this!”
Yeon Hui-cheon shot to his feet.
“When did I ever give such an order!”
His usual composure shattered for the first time, visibly.
Baek Cheon-ho curled further into himself.
“Young Master…… you told me to bring the Red Ancient Book that Miss Ryeong-hwa had brought from the Central Library.”
“You’re lying!”
“To examine its contents…….”
Baek Cheon-ho’s voice trembled.
“And afterward, you said not to return it.”
As those words left his lips, Yeon Hui-cheon’s complexion visibly changed.
“What?”
“At least keep it until the Progress Report is finished today…….”
“Baek Cheon-ho!”
Yeon Hui-cheon’s sharp cry echoed through the Meeting Hall.
But Baek Cheon-ho, already unable to stop, pressed on with his head bowed low.
“After that, you told me to return it to its place without anyone knowing.”
“…….”
“And you said to leave no trace behind.”
Silence.
The air in the Meeting Hall turned cold.
Yeon Hui-cheon said nothing.
Yeon Do-hwa, seated beside him, also watched her son with closed lips.
Yet her face betrayed little emotion.
“Ha.”
After a long moment, Yeon Hui-cheon exhaled slowly.
The rough turbulence in his expression gradually settled back into its usual composed form.
“……It’s true that I did instruct you to verify the book’s contents.”
Grandfather’s eyes narrowed.
“Didn’t you just claim you gave no such order?”
“Baek Cheon-ho distorted my words in reporting them, which flustered me into a careless slip. I apologize.”
Yeon Hui-cheon answered at once.
“But Father. I never told him to steal the book.”
“…….”
“I only asked him to verify its contents.”
Yeon Hui-cheon bowed with his usual composed posture.
“I am also a physician participating in the treatment of the Branch Family Head. When I learned that Ryeong-hwa had discovered a new lead, I thought it necessary to confirm those details before today’s Progress Report.”
Elder Ju Yeon-seok asked coldly.
“So you sent someone to her quarters to fetch it while Ryeong-hwa slept?”
“I acknowledge the method was improper.”
“And the part about not returning it until the report was finished?”
Yeon Hui-cheon hesitated before answering.
“……That was to give me sufficient time to examine the contents.”
“You told him to leave no trace.”
“I was merely concerned that needless misunderstandings might arise.”
At his plausible excuses, several faces around the table grew uncomfortable.
Byeok Cheong-yeon twisted his mouth as if exasperated.
“Misunderstanding.”
“…….”
“You secretly take something from someone else’s quarters and order it left undetected, and you’re worried about misunderstanding?”
Yeon Hui-cheon’s jaw tightened.
“As I said, it was for the patient’s treatment.”
“……Is that so?”
Then I, who had been quiet until now, spoke softly.
All eyes turned toward me.
I looked at the Red Ancient Book on the table.
“Then that makes it all the more…… strange.”
“What do you mean?”
“Earlier, you told me that we must check the original text to verify my account.”
Yeon Hui-cheon’s eyes flickered faintly.
I recalled what he had said during the earlier report.
“I understand your memory is sharp. But people’s recollection can be prone to error.”
“Wouldn’t it be necessary to confirm the original text directly to ensure what you’ve told us is accurate?”
Everyone in this room had heard those words.
“……Yes.”
Yeon Hui-cheon was forced to acknowledge it.
“And you said it was difficult to trust my account because I couldn’t produce the book.”
“That was only natural…….”
“But.”
I placed my hand gently on the Red Ancient Book.
“If what Baek Cheon-ho says is true…… then you already knew where this book was, didn’t you?”
Yeon Hui-cheon’s rebuttal died on his lips.
“…….”
“Your brother had someone take it.”
The Meeting Hall fell silent.
I met his gaze steadily and pressed on.
“If you truly only wanted to examine its contents, why didn’t you say so?”
“That’s…….”
“You pointed out that I’m relying on memory, yet you already knew why the original isn’t in my hands.”
Yeon Hui-cheon’s fists clenched beneath his sleeves.
“And you told him not to return it until the Progress Report was finished.”
“…….”
“Then…… you were trying to prevent me from producing the book here today, weren’t you?”
Tension hardened in Yeon Hui-cheon’s jaw.
“No!”
He ground out the denial.
“I simply needed time to examine its contents first.”
“Then you could have asked properly.”
Unable to remain silent, Byeok Cheong-yeon spoke with cutting precision.
“Did you ask Ryeong-hwa to show you the book?”
“That’s…….”
“Did you question her directly about it?”
“There wasn’t time.”
Byeok Cheong-yeon’s eyes narrowed to slits.
“You didn’t learn of the book’s existence this morning.”
“…….”
“You had time to send someone to steal it in secret, yet no time to ask her yourself?”
Yeon Hui-cheon had no swift answer. Byeok Cheong-yeon turned to Baek Cheon-ho.
“Did you instruct him to obtain it with Ryeong-hwa’s permission?”
“……No.”
“Did you tell him to inform the Central Library’s keeper?”
“No.”
“You told him to bring it without anyone knowing?”
Baek Cheon-ho nodded weakly.
“Yes…….”
Byeok Cheong-yeon’s gaze returned to Yeon Hui-cheon.
“Don’t people call that ordinary.”
His voice turned glacial in the Meeting Hall.
“Theft?”
A faint twist passed across Yeon Hui-cheon’s mouth. Yet he did not retreat.
“You may say what you wish.”
His voice dropped low.
“I acknowledge the method was wrong.”
“…….”
“But the fact that my reason for obtaining the book was the patient’s treatment does not change.”
At those words, Byeok Cheong-yeon’s eyes narrowed.
“You worried so much about treating me?”
“Yes.”
Yeon Hui-cheon answered at once.
“Apart from my position as Branch Family Head of the Geom-cheon Family, a physician’s duty is to heal the patient.”
“That’s strange.”
“What do you mean?”
“That wasn’t the case at the Marketplace.”
Yeon Hui-cheon’s pupils dilated sharply.
“……What are you saying?”
Byeok Cheong-yeon regarded him without the slightest tremor.
“The day I collapsed from poison.”
“…….”
“You saw me before you, and yet you simply turned away.”
For a moment, Yeon Hui-cheon said nothing.
Indeed, when Byeok Cheong-yeon had reappeared as a guest at the Yak Ryeong-ga, there had been no sign that he remembered what happened at the Marketplace.
Moreover, Byeok Cheong-yeon that day could barely keep his body upright. His eyes wouldn’t open properly, and he was on the verge of losing consciousness.
So naturally, he thought he wouldn’t remember.
But then.
‘Could it be… that he deliberately hid it?’

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————