âTwo letters?â
âYes, I think youâre virtuous enough to get such letters.â
Sungmun made a hearty laugh.
In fact, his son was looked down as a good-for-nothing until recently.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
But as a famous doctor he has now become prominent enough to correspond with noblemen in Hanyang as well as make friends with the mayor.
From the point of Sungmun Kanghyokâs position today was quite impressive.
âHere you go. Read them slowly.â
âYes, dad.â He received the letters from Sungmun and put them in his sleeves orderly.
He wanted to read them carefully later because he was not yet competent to read and understand Chinese letters before others.
Maybe he needed Yojuâs help.
âBy the way, that servant you hired the other day...â
âOh, Kyongwon Park?â
âI see that he is very sincere and diligent.â
âReally? Has he already started to work?â
âSure. Even with the bandage around his arm, he arranged books for me, asking me about difficult characters he couldnât understand.â
âOh, thatâs good.â
Kanghyok was surprised to hear that because he had his left arm amputated only several days ago.
And he was taking a handful of medicine every day.
âI told him not to, but he insisted so strongly.â
âI see. I hear he was a fellow soldier who was at the battlefield with Dolsok. I hope he is in your good hands, dad.â
âOf course. As you know, he lost his arm while fighting with the Japanese raiders. How can I be mean to such a man?â
âThanks, dad.â
Suddenly Kanghyok wondered if Yoju was well.
It seemed that she was overcoming the loss of her father well.
She could eat now and get by in one way or another.
âDolsok!â
âYes, master.â
âLet me go and see Yoju how she is doing.â
âWhat? Your father will be mad if he knows about it.â
âDonât worry. I can see her secretly.â
With a worried look Dolsok escorted Kanghyok to Yojuâs room.
âFollow me quickly, master.â
But Kanghyokâs pace was slow.
âYou have to run, master.â
âThey told me a nobleman should not run!â
Come to think of it, that was right.
âThis way, master.â
âOkay.â
âLet me check out if anybody else is in the room, master. Nope, only Yoju.â
Without any difficulty Kanghyok arrived at the back door of Yojuâs room.
âGood job, Dolsok.â
âLet me stand over there. If see someone approaching, let me give a signal to you.â
âOkay.â
âBut you have to come out quickly after seeing her.â
âSure. Youâre bugging me too much, man.â
Shaking his head violently, Kanghyok went into Yojuâs room.
She was not surprised to him coming in.
âHow are you, master?â
âAre you alright?â
âI still feel under the weather, but I can get by.â
âI see...â
Kanghyok sat down face to face with her and spent some time like that.
âWhat are you going to do in the future?â he asked.
âWhat do you mean?â
âAre you going to keep drawing?â
âOh...â
It seemed that Yoju already decided on something.
âWonât you want to travel to Hanyang to continue your drawing there?â
Hanyang?â
âYes, Hanyang.â
This time she couldnât open her mouth for some time.
After turning it over in her mind for a while, she quietly asked, âWas my drawing helpful to you, master?â
âOf course.â
Kanghyok didnât hesitate to answer because he always thought so.
âAre you sure?â
âAbsolutely. Iâm now looking for medicinal herbs, based on your pictorial book on herbs. Yoni and Dolsok are also learning from your book.â
âI see...â
She lowered her head with a satisfied smile, which Kanghyok didnât notice unfortunately.
âSo, youâre going to follow me to Hanyang, arenât you?â
âYes, Iâd love to.â
âGood for you. Donât worry about your house as I know somebody who is going to take care of it.â
âGot it. I just count on you, master.â
Kanghyok recalled Kyongwon Park, the new member of his family.
Isnât he a nobleman? Besides, he can read Chinese characters, too.
Kanghyok was thinking of finding him a house for rent.
Fortunately that house he had in mind was near Yojuâs.
âOkay, Yoju. Pull yourself together well, and let me know if you need anything.â
âThanks for caring about me, master.â
âYouâre welcome. As youâre the daughter of my benefactor, so itâs my duty to help you.â
âYouâre my benefactor, too.â
âYou bet. Isnât our relationship fantastic?â
Kanghyok came out of the room with a hearty laugh.
Dolsok, who was looking around cautiously, let out a sigh of relief.
âYouâre back, master!â
âYes, you can enjoy drinking as much as you can when you go back.â
âThanks, master.â
Confirming Yoju was doing well, Kanghyok and others felt much more relieved now.
âLooks like Yoju is alright in every way,â said Kanghyok, who got on a horse.
âYes, Yoni said the same thing,â said Dolsok.
He was holding the horse by the reins.
Kanghyok was on his way to the mayorâs house in a long time.
âYoni and Makbong, you told me youâre looking for a good place to play your acrobatic show in Hanyang, right?â
âYes, master. I hear there are several acrobatic teams like ours, but we donât have to worry about.â
âGood. What if something goes wrong on your way to Hanyang? You should move together.â
âYes.â
They soon arrived at the mayorâs official residence.
Kanghyok got off the horse quickly.
No matter how close he was to the mayor, Kangyok didnât want to give the impression that he was arrogant.
âHow come you got here in person like this? You can just hand over Viagra pills through a messenger,â said Dolsok.
âWell, I got here for something else.â
âDo you have the pills for the mayor?â
âOf course, I do.â
It was now impossible to think of the mayor without Viagra pills.
Since he received them from Kanghyok, the mayor couldnât be happier.
âWelcome, Kanghyok! How come you got here without any notice?â said the mayor.
âWell, I didnât want to disturb you, sir.â
âOh, donât say that. Come on in, man.â
âYes, sir.â
As the mayor greeted him in person, the soldiers were surprised a lot.
How could the mayor come to the door to greet anybody without any high rank?
They felt Kanghyok might be a provincial governor.
âHey, what are you doing now? Donât you see this precious guest?â demanded the mayor.
Some of them quickly prepared a dining table with alcoholic drinks, along with traditional sweets and cookies.
The mayor went into a guest room with Kanghyok, decorated with folding screens and silk mats and blankets on the floor.
âHave a seat.â
âThanks, mayor. Hey, Dolsok, wait a moment here.â
âYes, master.â
After putting together the shoes taken off by Kanghyok and the mayor, Dolsok came out of the room.
Now both sat face to face comfortably.
Puffing up with self-importance, the mayor looked at Kanghyok.
âSo, what business brought you here?â
âIn fact, I want to ask you a favor.â
âReally? Tell me anything.â
The mayor was nodding even without hearing what he had to say.
Clearly the mayor seemed to know how to win over the other partyâs heart.
Much impressed by the mayorâs way of winning one to his side, Kanghyok said, âWell, Iâve got to get some medicinal herbs.â
âMedicinal herbs? I have already informed the herbs department that you can take whatever herbs you want.â
âWell, they donât have the herbs that I want.â
âReally? What are they?â
The mayor was anxious to do him whatever favor he was asking.
âWow, how powerful the effect of Viagra is...â
Kanghyok said, stroking a silk bag that he carried in his sleeves,
âItâs called somsu. This is the poison of a toad.â
âToad? Oh my...can you use it as medicine?â
âYes, sir. I think it will be very useful for me to treat heavily wounded people.â
âGot it. I think they can catch toads in the mountains without any difficulty. Let me order my soldiers to catch them.â
âThanks, mayor.â
Now, the mayor pulled the table closer to him and filled a cup for Kanghyok.
âKanghyok!â
âYes, mayor.â
âWonât you go to Hanyang?â
âReally? In fact, I would love to travel there to see my friends there.â
The mayor smiled gently at his answer.
âThatâs not what I mean...I think I am going to be reassigned to the government administration department by the king sooner or later.â
âAre you being nominated as its minister?â
âHahaha. Donât talk about it loudly. Nothing has been decided yet.â
Though the mayor pretended to have stopped him hurriedly, it was clear he was already appointed as the minister of government administration department.
The mayorâs offer was like asking him to take some position in the central government.
But the current king was Sonjo, who was going through the turbulent times.
âWhen something went wrong, my life might be ruined.â