The Divine And Demonic Doctor [EN]: Chapter 338

“Are you Bingok Seonja [Jade Bone Immortal], Lady Han, and Shinma Uiseon [Divine Horse Physician], Young Lady Dan?”

He appeared to be in his late twenties.

If Pan-an [a famous beauty in ancient China] and Song-ok [another famous beauty in ancient China] were alive, they might resemble him; he was that strikingly handsome.

“What business does Dongchang [Eastern Depot, an imperial secret agency] have with us?”

The man smiled at Han Seolhwa’s cold question.

“I see I’ve come to the right place. My name is Yoon Heum, and as you said, I am affiliated with Dongchang.”

Perhaps it was due to his delicate features.

The voice of the Weisa [low-ranking official], who identified himself as Yoon Heum, sounded particularly gentle.

However, his eyes were as cold as glass, devoid of any warmth.

His gaze, in stark contrast to his appearance, felt strange and dangerous.

“I heard you have something to present to His Majesty.”

Yoon Heum broached the subject, getting straight to the point.

“May I examine the item?”

After staring at Yoon Heum for a moment, Han Seolhwa took the Jowha Geonjam [Phoenix Carved Hairpin] from her sleeve and placed it on the table.

Yoon Heum examined the phoenix-carved hairpin in silence for a while, then nodded with admiration.

“Indeed, there’s no mistake. It matches the description I heard perfectly.”

Just as he carelessly reached for the hairpin.

“If you’ve heard about the Jowha Geonjam, you must also know its history?”

Yoon Heum paused at the sudden, chilling voice.

“Of course.”

“Then you should also know that it’s not something a mere Dongchang Weisa can handle carelessly.”

Yoon Heum frowned slightly and smiled.

“What can I do? A lowly official like me can only follow orders.”

“Was that order to find the Jowha Geonjam?”

“If it’s the real thing, yes.”

Yoon Heum nodded and met Han Seolhwa’s gaze.

“Then I shall return it to its original owner.”

It was then that a surge of killing intent began to emanate from Han Seolhwa’s entire being.

“I never knew that the emperor, the supposed master of the world, would take promises so lightly.”

Yoon Heum’s face turned pale as he faced Han Seolhwa’s killing intent head-on.

However, he did not lose his composure.

“I clearly said that I would return it to its original owner.”

A strange light flickered in Han Seolhwa’s eyes.

Dongchang was the emperor’s direct organization.

So, she naturally assumed he was sent by the emperor.

But as it turned out, that wasn’t the case.

“The one who sent me here is Her Majesty the Queen Dowager.”

“How can we believe that?”

“If you ask that, Her Majesty told me to answer like this.”

Yoon Heum recited a line of poetry.

“The river’s depths hide billowing waves (水深波浪闊), beware the dragon’s lurking lair (無使蛟龍得).”

It was a part of a poem from Du Fu’s “Dreaming of Li Bai (Two Poems).”

Han Seolhwa nodded.

The verse Yoon Heum had just mentioned was a story known only to her and the current Queen Dowager.

As Han Seolhwa’s killing intent subsided, Yoon Heum sighed in relief and tucked the Jowha Geonjam into his sleeve.

Then, he took out a handkerchief and belatedly wiped away the cold sweat pouring down his face.

“Please understand. It wouldn’t be good for this item to be known to noisy old men.”

Without being asked, Yoon Heum explained why he had come.

“I heard that the officials were arguing fiercely over this topic at the imperial court. His Majesty ordered them to find out the identity of this item, and upon hearing this, Her Majesty the Queen Dowager knew that the time had come and sent me here.”

“So, you’ve been keeping an eye on the Jowha Geonjam.”

“Yes. We know everyone who has held it even for a moment. There are no secrets in the imperial palace. Eyes and ears are everywhere, and especially we eunuchs, we all have loose lips.”

“Ah!”

Dan Akseon exclaimed without realizing it.

Only then did she realize where the other person’s strange atmosphere was coming from.

Yoon Heum smiled and looked at Dan Akseon.

“Is this your first time dealing with a eunuch who has had his Yang [male genitalia] removed?”

Dan Akseon’s face turned red.

She realized that her unintentional exclamation could be a sore spot for the other person.

She had heard about the eccentric and narrow-minded nature of eunuchs.

And most eunuchs tended to avoid mentioning anything related to it.

However, surprisingly, the Yoon Heum before her smiled quietly as if it were nothing, and then turned to Han Seolhwa again.

“And you don’t have to worry. The Queen Dowager I have known values promises more than anyone else, and she knows their weight. Ah! And……”

Yoon Heum belatedly took something out of his sleeve and handed it to Dan Akseon.

Dan Akseon realized it was a neatly folded piece of paper and looked up at Yoon Heum with a puzzled expression.

In response, Yoon Heum gestured for her to open it and take a look.

“Huh?”

Surprise filled Dan Akseon’s eyes as she received it and checked the contents written inside.

“Why would you……”

At that moment, Yoon Heum raised his index finger to his lips.

It meant that the contents should be kept secret.

Dan Akseon could see that his words that there were no secrets in the imperial palace were not empty words.

‘Even so.’

Yoon Heum winked at Dan Akseon, who was unable to speak in surprise.

“This is a small token of our sincerity. I hope it will be helpful.”

Dan Akseon suddenly felt strange.

This was her first time meeting Yoon Heum, and until now, there hadn’t been any notable exchanges with government agencies like Dongchang.

But to show such great favor?

It was difficult to readily understand the reason.

“The Yoon who works at the Sarye Gam [Ceremonial Bureau] and uses the character 봉(Bong) and 자(Ja) is my father. I heard that he has recently been in deep communication with Grand Master Neung, the lord of Muwi.”

“Ah!”

Dan Akseon was able to grasp the situation at once with just the name Neung Somil.

It was common for eunuchs who could not have children to adopt sons to continue their lineage.

Although they were not connected by blood, the affection between father and son was no different from that of ordinary people.

“A real man is one who risks his life for someone who recognizes him. Even if he doesn’t have his Yang.”

Dan Akseon bowed her head at Yoon Heum’s joking words.

“Thank you. I won’t forget the favor you’ve shown me.”

“I hope you will deal with it wisely……”

Yoon Heum, responding with his unique smooth smile, turned his head towards Han Seolhwa.

“Now that the Queen Dowager has stepped in, the audience with His Majesty will be successful. Then, I shall take my leave……”

Yoon Heum, who had shown proper etiquette, disappeared like the wind with the government soldiers, just as he had when he first entered the inn.

“That man is quite a master.”

Dan Akseon nodded silently at Han Seolhwa’s words.

The fact that he could withstand Han Seolhwa’s killing intent head-on from such a close distance and speak so calmly was enough to guess that his martial arts were considerable.

After a while.

Dan Akseon asked what she had been curious about all along.

“But what is the Jowha Geonjam?”

“It’s a key.”

“A key?”

“Yes. It looks like a fancy hairpin, but in reality, it’s a necessary item to open the door to a certain place.”

“Where is that place?”

“It’s the stone tomb of the Jang family in Daeheung, Suncheon Prefecture.”

Dan Akseon tilted her head, then soon realized the meaning.

“Are you talking about the Jang family, who are said to have amassed the greatest wealth since Seokchong [a legendary wealthy man]?”

Han Seolhwa nodded.

“It is said that all sorts of treasures inherited over the generations are stored there.”

The current emperor’s mother, Queen Dowager Jahyohun, was a descendant of that Jang family.

“Why did the Queen Dowager have that key?”

“Do you want to hear it?”

“You don’t have to tell me if it’s difficult.”

She said that, but Dan Akseon’s eyes were sparkling with curiosity.

Han Seolhwa smiled quietly at the sight.

“Have you ever heard of the place where I stayed?”

“Are you talking about Subing Palace [Ice Reflection Palace]?”

Han Seolhwa nodded.

“It’s an unsuitable name for a place that’s barely a hut. Originally, that place didn’t have a specific name.”

A frozen pond surrounded by a snowy field of extreme cold.

To avoid the troubles of the world and troublesome relationships, Han Seolhwa had lived in seclusion there for a long time.

People came from time to time, but it was rare to avoid the case of 선자불래(善者不來) 내자불선(來者不善) [Good people don’t come, those who come are not good].

And most of them paid the price under the frozen pond.

The exception was Cho Akryang, who occasionally stopped by to check on her safety.

Then one day.

“I heard a sobbing, stifled song through the raging blizzard.”

―Death’s farewell silences even tears (死别已吞聲), life’s farewell is always sorrowful and sad (生别常惻惻).

The voice was so mournful and sorrowful that she went outside.

After walking along the song for a while.

She was soon able to find a woman freezing to death while hugging someone.

“Even as she herself was dying, she was trying to save her son.”

The memory of that day was as vivid as if it were yesterday.

That’s how strong the other person’s first impression was.

Even in the midst of being on the verge of life and death, she was very dignified and resilient.

“The child she was holding was fifteen years old at the time, so he was about the same age as you are now.”

“Ah! Then?”

Han Seolhwa nodded.

“She is the current Queen Dowager, and the child she was holding is the current Emperor.”

Puzzlement appeared on Dan Akseon’s face.

“Why were they wandering in such a remote place?”

“Because there were people trying to kill them.”

At the time, the vicinity of the hut where Han Seolhwa was staying was known as an ominous place through word of mouth.

So, the Queen Dowager at the time took the risk and fled there to ward off the assassins.

When she met Han Seolhwa, she pleaded desperately to save only her son, no matter what happened to her.

She also added that a group of people had attacked them while traveling with her son.

When she reached the part where only the two of them barely managed to escape to this place thanks to the sacrifice of the escorting warriors.

Those with considerable martial arts skills began to appear one after another.

“They were all people who had wandered the battlefield. They had eyes like war ghosts, and their bodies reeked of blood.”

Perhaps they believed in their number of twenty.

They immediately attacked the mother and son and Han Seolhwa.

Dan Akseon smiled bitterly.

Because she could guess the result without hearing it.

“In return, she gave me the Jowha Geonjam. She said that it was the only thing she could give as a token of gratitude at the moment.”

And she promised that if she ever came to her with it, she would give her what she wanted.

It was also she who gave the name Subing Palace to the hut where Han Seolhwa stayed.

As her benefactor who saved the imperial family, she wanted to bring her to the palace at all costs, but when Han Seolhwa adamantly refused, she did so to soothe her disappointment.

“Ah, there was such an episode.”

Dan Akseon nodded, then felt something strange at that moment.

“Did you sell such a precious item to a merchant group?”

Han Seolhwa’s eyes flickered awkwardly.

“I didn’t think I’d ever see them again.”

Dan Akseon was slightly taken aback, but curiosity took precedence.

“But who were the attackers?”

“You know that the late Emperor died suddenly, right?”

“Yes. I heard that he was an emperor with considerable abilities. But there were also stories that his reputation wasn’t good.”

As such, the late Emperor was a man who, apart from his abilities, engaged in all sorts of eccentric behavior.

Even the reason for his sudden demise was absurd.

He visited Nanjing under the pretext of suppressing the rebellion of his relative, Prince Yeong, and fell into the water while boating on the way back.

He barely escaped drowning, but suffered aftereffects as a result, and eventually his health deteriorated and he died young.

The problem was that he had no son to succeed him.

In the end, Ju Houchong, the Prince Heungseong, the eldest of the late Emperor’s cousins, ascended the throne at the age of fifteen, and he is the current Emperor.

“The only reason he could become emperor was because he was the highest in the line of succession.”

And Dan Akseon couldn’t hide her surprise at Han Seolhwa’s words that followed.