The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 71

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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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A Fading Clan’s Limited Life — Episode 71

“Medicinal herbs harvested with such exquisite skill — I haven’t seen the like in ages. My, so the young lady hired this person? Your eye for talent is truly remarkable.”
“In the old days, did our pharmacy have many herbs of that quality?”
“Yes, indeed. Decades ago, there was a great sect in these parts called the Yak Seon Mun — comparable to the Si Chuan Tang Mun in the west. They cultivated their own herb gatherers and physicians, maintained vast herb gardens, so procuring fine medicinal materials wasn’t nearly as difficult as it is now…….”
When a master of a given field dwells nearby, those around them naturally benefit from their influence. Yet Pung So Gang grew wistful for a moment, as though those prosperous days had long since passed.
“Still, what good fortune that the young lady has managed to procure such a remarkable herb merchant!”
“But what about the taste of this Dora Ji Cheong we made?”
“Who takes medicine for its taste? Isn’t that so, Pharmacy Master?”
“Quite right, quite right!”
Dan Mok Hyeon U clapped his hands in agreement. Dan Mok Ryeon regarded both men in silence, then shook her head inwardly.
‘One of them is far too protective of me, and the other is simply in no position to give me harsh criticism. I’ll need to ask Hwa Ryun again.’
A boy with that peculiar, steely edge to him — when he offered his objective opinion, it seemed preferable to her uncle’s stance of “everything our niece makes is perfectly fine!”
“Grandfather said we should send this batch to Hua Shan as well, so I’m preparing the Clear Lotus Water to go with it.”
The shipment would go through the Dan Mok Clan’s courier station.
Once only a faint shadow of its former self, the courier station had grown modestly in influence since taking on even a portion of the Clear Lotus Water distribution.
‘I need to expand the courier station further.’
Wasn’t the lifeblood of commerce in the end distribution?
Of course, it was no simple task.
One had to continuously train and supply capable couriers, and one had to continuously procure new routes for them to work.
Among those steady operations, imperial tribute transport was the most lucrative — but it was nearly impossible to secure without connections to the imperial court, and for a courier station like theirs, barely clinging to existence, even attempting grain transport would be presumptuous.
‘Should I expand the courier station only to match the current scale of Clear Lotus Water supply?’
To do that, she would first need to speak with the Man Song Merchant Guild.
Considering the revenue from Clear Lotus Water sales, the Man Song Merchant Guild seemed unlikely to refuse, but since there was nothing to be done about it immediately, Dan Mok Ryeon shelved her thoughts for now.
As she finished preparing the Clear Lotus Water and Dora Ji Cheong for the courier station.
Looking up at the figure beside her, Dan Mok Ryeon tilted her head quizzically.
Dan Mok Hyeon U had worn a slightly darkened expression since they began making the Dora Ji Cheong. Even now his eyes seemed deep with some troubled thought.
“Uncle, is something weighing on your mind?”
Dan Mok Hyeon U startled so violently he nearly leapt from his seat.
Dan Mok Ryeon circled him gently, then began to wave the fan he always carried with him. A cool breeze spread through the air around them. It was the effect of Purification.
“Troubled? Not I — not since you awakened, my dear. All my worries have vanished.”
Dan Mok Hyeon U spoke with a playful, somewhat boastful air. His lighthearted tone left no room for objection. As Dan Mok Ryeon pursed her lips, he shifted the subject.
“Ah! What if you wrote a short note to enclose with the Baek Yak Cheong? Those receiving it would surely be delighted.”
“Yes, that’s a wonderful idea!”
Dan Mok Ryeon quickly began writing on the paper Dan Mok Hyeon U had provided.
She meant to send a jar to Gyeon Eon Jo of the Man Song Merchant Guild as well.

— As the weather grows colder, dissolve it in warm water and take it. When I visit, I mean to speak with you about Clear Lotus Water transport…….

Having written that far, Dan Mok Ryeon burned the paper and began again.

— As the weather grows colder, dissolve it in warm water and take it. The taste may be bitter, but it will do your body good.

‘It might be better to discuss the courier station business with Aunt Gyeon Wi Un.’
If Gyeon Eon Jo, the master of the Man Song Merchant Guild, took on the work, it would certainly be handled with care. And it wasn’t strange for her to ask this of him.
Yet if she proceeded through Gyeon Wi Un, she would simultaneously be bolstering Gyeon Wi Un’s position proportional to the Clear Lotus Water revenue, while Gyeon Wi Un would in turn need to distance herself from the existing courier station for her sake. And thereafter, wouldn’t the Dan Mok Clan’s courier station naturally continue to be her channel of choice?
Having finished these thoughts, Dan Mok Ryeon then wrote a letter to Jong Physician of the Ho Seon Ji Gak pharmacy. She meant to send a jar there as well.

— I made this from the balloon flower you gifted me then, and send it now with gratitude.

The balloon flower she had received then was long since used up, and this Dora Ji Cheong was made from balloon flower sourced from a supplier, but she phrased it thus all the same.
She wrote a letter to the Hua Shan Sect in Shaanxi as well. Her step-uncle Cheong Yun was still in Closed Training, so the letter would likely be received by the Sect Leader, his master.

— I, Dan Mok Ryeon, have made a full recovery thanks to the concern of Daoist Cheong Yun, and hereby send a modest jar of Baek Yak Cheong made with my own hands.

She’d started with “for your kindness,” but then worried the letter might leak out and reveal Cheong Yun’s loss of internal energy, so she’d crossed it out and rewritten it.
After a moment’s deliberation, she decided to send a separate copy to Gyeon Wi Hak in Bei Jing as well.
The current thriving state of Clear Lotus Water owed much to what he had created.

— Uncle, I hope the occasion brings you strength. This Baek Yak Cheong is made by my own hands.

As Ryeon finished writing that far, Dan Mok Hyeon U, looking down from beside her, let out a barely audible murmur.
It was a murmur of confusion at why Ryeon should call someone else uncle when he was the one who deserved the title. When Ryeon broke into a grin, Dan Mok Hyeon U felt a little embarrassed and averted his eyes with a small cough.

* * *

In front of Dan Mok Hyeon U’s quarters sat a very small pond.
It held a carp he’d received as a gift in childhood, but during his long Closed Training and the decline of the family’s fortunes, it had not been properly tended—the fish had survived, though its scales had grown dull and dark.
Ryeon crouched by the pond and gently fanned the water with her fan.
During all her visits, she had purified the water for him, and now it ran clear, and the carp’s eyes grew brighter with each passing day.
These days, whenever Ryeon came to the pond, the carp would flick its tail and scatter droplets across the surface.
“Where is Uncle?”
“He stepped into the pharmacy for a moment, they said.”
Hwa Ryun returned from asking the servants at Dan Mok Hyeon U’s quarters and tilted her head as she spoke.
Ryeon rose to her feet, tilting her head as well. Today was supposed to be their flute lesson, yet Uncle hadn’t returned.
“The pharmacy? Why? It’s not one of the days we make Clear Lotus Water or Baek Yak Cheong.”
Hwa Ryun paused briefly before answering.
“I think he may have been hurt.”
“What?!”
Ryeon jumped to her feet in alarm, and Hwa Ryun quickly moved to catch her.
“Are you planning to bathe with the carp?”
“Hurt? Where?”
“I don’t think it’s terribly serious, though.”
“Ho Gang told you that?”
Ho Gang was the name of Dan Mok Hyeon U’s servant—a man of few words and cautious temperament who would not speak carelessly.
Hwa Ryun first pulled Ryeon a few steps away from the pond, then spoke.
“Not exactly. He only said Uncle went to the pharmacy, but… it felt that way.”
“Then let’s go see for ourselves.”
“He said Uncle would return shortly and we should wait here…”
Since Ho Gang had not stayed at Dan Mok Hyeon U’s side but had remained at the quarters to relay the message, it seemed the wound was not a serious one.
Yet what on earth had Uncle been doing in the midst of the household to injure himself?
“Then we’ll meet him on the way.”
“Ugh, why did I even mention it.”
Hwa Ryun muttered, glancing at Ryeon’s face as the girl quickened her pace, though she cast a sideways look back at her friend.
“‘Why did I mention it’—what kind of thing is that to say?”
“Look at your sister’s face. You’ve gone pale as a sheet.”
Ryeon touched her cheek and shook her head.
As they entered the pharmacy, it was bustling with activity. People moving about recognized Ryeon and hurried to greet her, but she waved them off and searched for Dan Mok Hyeon U.
“Uncle!”
“Eh? Ryeon, what are you doing here?”
Dan Mok Hyeon U, his hand wrapped in bandages, jumped to his feet at the sight of her.
“Ah, careful.”
The physician tending his bandages let out a small groan of protest, but Dan Mok Hyeon U waved the cloth aside and moved toward Ryeon, quickly hiding the wound behind his back.
“Uncle, you’re hurt!”
“No, no, it’s nothing. Who told you that?”
“How did it happen?”
Seeing that Ryeon was in no mood for excuses, Dan Mok Hyeon U shrugged slightly.
“I was practicing at dawn when the sword slipped from my grip, that’s all.”
Ryeon extended her hand. Dan Mok Hyeon U hesitated for a moment, then quietly offered his own.
Ryeon took both his hands in hers. The palms were thick with calluses and old scars, and beneath the bandages, a wound deeper than she’d expected was visible.
This was no injury from sparring without caution, nor from a blade that had slipped during solitary practice—how could a sword slip so badly during ordinary training as to cut so deep?
Dan Mok Hyeon U felt embarrassed at having shown such clumsiness before his niece and twisted his hand awkwardly.
“You needn’t worry. Your uncle is truly fine.”
Ryeon drew a deep breath and released his hand. As the physician came forward to finish the treatment, Dan Mok Hyeon U kept his gaze on Ryeon and tried his best to smile.
Ryeon understood.
Dan Mok Hyeon U’s Heart Demon still gripped his heart.

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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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