The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Merchant Group - Chapter 673

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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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The Youngest Son of the Eun Hae Trading Company Chapter 673

Chapter 673. The Hwangbo Clan (3)

Hwangbo Seon-yu, the Great Swordmaster, had been listening intently to their conversation.
But now was the time to take active measures.
I wasn’t a man of leisure, after all.
So I rose from my seat and approached them with a question.
“Forgive my intrusion. Is that medicinal salve truly so effective?”
“And who might you be?”
I responded with a respectful bow and clasped fist salute.
“My apologies for the late introduction. I am Eun Seo-ho, the Small Merchant Guild Leader of the Eun Hae Trading Company.”
“Eun Seo-ho of the Eun Hae Trading Company?”
“Ah… the Seonhyeop Mirang Great Swordmaster?”
It was somewhat embarrassing, but such a reputation certainly proved useful at times like these.
“Honestly, it is more honor than I deserve.”
Having expressed my modesty, I continued.
“I overheard your conversation and came to inquire. The truth is, my elder brother has been suffering from a carbuncle, and I inadvertently caught wind of your discussion. Please forgive my eavesdropping.”
“I see!”
“Think nothing of it. There is a saying about shared suffering, is there not? Besides, we were not speaking in confidence.”
“Thank you for your understanding. Might I trouble you for more details about this matter?”
“Of course. Though I must confess, this is not from my own experience. I merely heard from those around me that a certain physician’s salve had cured their carbuncles.”
“I see.”
I subtly placed coins on the table as I spoke.
“If you have time after your meal, might I impose upon you to guide me to this physician?”

A short while later.
We finished a satisfying meal. I wondered why Hwangbo Seon-yu had chosen that inn, and it seemed to be because the food was delicious.
Every inn we’d selected on the way here had served excellent food.
He appeared to be quite the connoisseur, and I found myself smiling at the thought of how he must have suffered drinking poorly brewed tea on the first day we met—something he’d deliberately done.
Though I still didn’t understand why he’d deliberately brewed the tea so poorly.
Usually I could make some educated guesses, but Hwangbo Seon-yu was no ordinary man….
“This way, please.”
My party and I followed the two men’s guidance toward an inn.
“This is an inn… is it not?”
“Yes. The physician is staying here.”
“I see. In any case, thank you.”
We entered the inn.
The interior was so crowded with people that there were scarcely any empty seats.
Then a voice reached my ears.
“You’ve actually seen the Emperor himself? Of course!”
“What did His Majesty look like?”
“Truth be told, I don’t remember much. I was too focused on taking his pulse.”
I pushed through the crowd and moved forward.
A long-bearded middle-aged man was eating while speaking.
Judging by his appearance alone, he looked like a charlatan peddling tales for a living.
He cleared his throat.
“In any case, His Majesty was suffering from a carbuncle. Moreover, despite trying various treatments, there was no improvement. So I prayed earnestly to heaven and earth every single day. Then one day, while researching medicinal ingredients, I accidentally fell asleep, and an Immortal Sage appeared in my dream. I made medicine according to what he told me, and the carbuncle disappeared without a trace.”
He touched a jar placed on the table with his hand as he spoke.
“This is the very salve containing that secret formula.”
“But why do you wander about instead of staying in the Imperial Palace?”
“Sigh… I’ve said this several times already, and now you make me say it again.”
He sighed as he spoke.
“The Imperial Palace is a frightening place. I became entangled in court politics… and ended up wandering like this.”
“I see.”
“Let’s stop with such gloomy talk and discuss the medicine instead. This salve, you see, is a miraculous cure that completely healed His Majesty’s carbuncle. Half a silver tael per jar!”
“I’ll take one!”
“I’ll take one too!”
People rushed to buy the salve.
Seeing that everyone paid immediately without hesitation, I could tell they had all come specifically to purchase this salve.
I asked someone who was leaving with the salve they’d bought.
“Is that salve effective?”
“Of course! My father was suffering from a carbuncle on his back, so I bought this salve and applied it, and he improved noticeably.”
“I see.”
I called for Palgap.
“Buy one of those salves.”
“Understood.”
“And Jin Yu Warrior, please keep watch over that physician.”
“I shall obey your command.”
“I will return to the Songhawol Inn and await further instructions.”

A short while later.
Palgap returned to the Songhawol Inn with the medicinal salve he had purchased.
“It was in high demand, so I barely managed to procure one.”
“Well done.”
I took it upstairs to my room, and Hwangbo Seon-yu followed, asking me a question.
“Why did you have him purchase that?”
“To determine whether that man is truly a charlatan or an impostor.”
I held up the medicinal salve that Palgap had brought and explained.
“If this salve is genuine, he’s merely an impostor, but if it’s counterfeit…”
“Then he’s a fraud.”
“Precisely.”
I placed the salve on the table and called for Lee Pil Warrior.
“Lee Pil Warrior.”
“Yes.”
“Can you determine what components make up this salve?”
“I shall examine it.”
Lee Pil Warrior approached the table.
“Please feel free to sit comfortably while you conduct your analysis.”
“Very well.”
Lee Pil Warrior retrieved something from his belongings, then sat at the table and began examining the salve.
He was a man of the Sichuan Tang Family.
Though he had left the Sichuan Tang Family due to certain circumstances, it would be no exaggeration to say he had learned everything the family could teach him before reaching adulthood.
In truth, he had not previously used the secret medicines or poisons of the Sichuan Tang Family, but after Man Gyeol Elder granted him permission, he began researching such remedies and toxins.
The texts that Man Gyeol Elder had given to Lee Pil Warrior contained information about the Sichuan Tang Family’s secret medicines, which enabled him to create his own unique antidote formulas.
Lee Pil Warrior donned gloves made of green leather and began his analysis of the salve, while the rest of us decided to descend to the first floor to drink tea.
“Palgap, assist Lee Pil Warrior.”
“Understood.”
While we were on the first floor conversing and drinking tea, Palgap came down.
“Young Master. Everything is ready.”
That meant Lee Pil Warrior had completed his analysis.
We made our way back to the guest room.
“You’ve arrived?”
“Yes. Have you discovered something?”
He nodded at my question.
“Are you perhaps familiar with rabbit dung root grass?”
That plant earned its name because its roots are round and bulbous, resembling rabbit droppings.
Since it only grows in the southern regions of the Empire—places like Guangdong or Fujian Province south of the Yangtze River—few people in Shandong here know anything about it.
The physicians and apothecaries in this region likely wouldn’t be familiar with it either.
I know about it because the Eunhae Trading Company specializes in medicinal materials, and I have extensive experience with them.
Still, I never expected to hear about it in this place.
“Could this possibly be made from Rabbit Droppings Root?”
“Why do you have such a serious expression?”
Hwangbo Seon-yu asked, noticing my grave demeanor. There was good reason for it.
“Rabbit Droppings Root is… a poison plant.”
At my words, Hwangbo Seon-yu’s expression grew cold.
“Did you just say poison plant?”
“Yes.”
I turned to Lee Pil Warrior.
“Would you mind providing an explanation?”
“Of course.”
Lee Pil Warrior continued.
“I added this salve to my secret formula’s reagent….”
His explanation contained quite technical terminology.
Yet he simplified it for our benefit, making it comprehensible to us.
Watching his eyes sparkle as he explained to us, I could tell he was truly born into the Sichuan Tang Family.
“Thus, I determined that this salve was made by mixing Rabbit Droppings Root with beeswax.”
“I see.”
“And as my lord mentioned, this Rabbit Droppings Root is a poison plant. While its roots refine the skin, the medicinal potency is so strong that water boiled from the roots won’t spoil even after a year.”
“Then isn’t that beneficial?”
“Indeed, it appears so on the surface. However, precisely because that potency is so powerful, it carries severe side effects—which is why it’s classified as a poison plant. Look at this container. Isn’t it remarkably small?”
“You’re right. For a salve meant for the skin, the quantity is far too little.”
The container holding the salve was no larger than a thumb.
“This amount is manageable, but using two or more containers becomes dangerous.”
I added my explanation.
“Hallucinations and delirium can occur, and in women, it can cause infertility. Moreover, the risk of cardiac arrest is quite substantial.”
Lee Pil Warrior spoke.
“The fact that the salve quantity was controlled to this degree suggests the maker likely knew about these side effects.”
“Correct.”
We moved immediately.
The fact that people who had already used it and seen results were buying it again meant the side effects were beginning to manifest.
In other words, it was time for this self-proclaimed Imperial Palace physician to leave this place.
I had wondered why he specifically operated in Northern Shandong, near Hebei Province, but now I understood.
It was because people here were unfamiliar with Rabbit Droppings Root, yet the region was relatively prosperous.
Long ago, Rabbit Droppings Root was used for skin beautification.
It possessed the efficacy of smoothing the skin.
However, due to its toxicity, various side effects emerged, and ultimately the trend of Tofun Root Herb never crossed the Yangtze River.
It could cause mental problems, and people could even die from cardiac arrest.
Regardless, that man sold the medicine despite knowing this.
And he did so by selling it under the Emperor’s name.
The moment I heard what he said at the inn earlier, I knew he wasn’t a genuine Imperial Palace physician.
I can understand him saying he doesn’t remember the Emperor’s face.
But to speak of the Emperor’s medical condition to people!
For physicians working in the Imperial Palace, information about the Emperor’s medical condition is classified as the highest secret.
Speaking of it would cost him his head.
Not metaphorically—actual execution.
Moreover, it’s not just him who dies; his entire family perishes as well.
Soon we arrived at the inn where the physician was staying.
But…
“Ah, the physician left the inn a while ago. He said he needs to go to another village now.”
“I see.”
Beside the Shop Attendant who spoke thus, I spotted the medicine.
“Did you purchase that medicine from the physician?”
“Yes. I saw my colleague using it after buying it, and it worked remarkably well. So I spent a considerable sum to purchase it.”
“That… it would be best not to use it.”
“What? What do you mean by that?”
“It’s counterfeit medicine.”
“Do you mean it’s fake medicine made from flour or something?”
“Counterfeit medicine would actually be fortunate. That is poison.”
“Poison? No, you should at least have some restraint in your slander. How could such a remarkable medicine possibly be poison? What basis do you have for such a claim!”
As expected… this kind of reaction.
Human belief is inherently somewhat irrational.
People believe what they think is true, even when it isn’t, and breaking that belief is simple.
You merely need to destroy the foundation upon which they believe.
Yet people continue to believe falsehoods because they wish to believe them.
There’s no need to exhaust oneself trying to change such people’s minds.
The more you do, the more stubborn they become, only deepening the conflict.
Humans are thinking beings.
Left alone, they naturally begin to wonder, ‘Wait, is that really true?’
In any case, there are various ways to destroy the foundation of falsehood, and one of them is credibility.
I revealed my identity to the Shop Attendant.
“I am Eun Seo-ho, the Small Merchant Guild Master of the Eun Hae Trading Company.”
“Could it be? The Seonhyeop Mirang Great Swordmaster?”
“That’s correct. As you know, our Eun Hae Trading Company specializes in medicinal herbs. So I purchased one of these medicines out of curiosity, but…”
I spoke with a grave expression.
“Upon investigation, I discovered it contains a poisonous herb that initially shows efficacy but ultimately causes severe side effects that lead to death.”
“Is that truly the case?”
“Why would I tell such a lie and tarnish the name of the Eun Hae Trading Company?”
I continued speaking.
“That physician left the inn today because the side effects will manifest in just a few days. I cannot forgive someone who deceives innocent people for profit.”
I spoke with heightened conviction.
“I swear by the name of Seonhyeop Mirang—I will find that charlatan and expose the truth.”
Palgap responded to my words.
“Honestly, Young Master, isn’t this overstepping? We’re busy—why not just continue on our way?”
“No. That I learned of this matter is surely a sign from heaven that I must set things right.”
“If your resolve is so firm, then there’s nothing more to say. Very well, Young Master.”
“Tell the others never to use that medicine. I must go catch that fraud.”
And so we left the inn.
I felt relieved watching the Shop Attendant push the medicine bottle aside with obvious distaste.
In truth, even if the Shop Attendant used that medicine, no immediate disaster would befall him.
But I could not bring myself to ignore something harmful while knowing full well its dangers.
Perhaps Palgap was right—perhaps this was overstepping my bounds.
“My lord.”
“Yes?”
Hwangbo Seon-yu the Great Hero spoke to me.
“I am grateful that you walk the righteous path.”
At this, Seo-woo Warrior smiled and said.
“We too, my lord, often think the same when observing you. Haha.”
The reason I could afford such composure.
I had already ordered Jin Yu Warrior to keep watch over that physician.
– Geumryeong, find Jin Yu Warrior for me.
– Chirp!

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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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