Chapter 86: Heo Jun's Consultation [1] "Gwanghae?"
"Shh. How can you omit the honorific like that?"
Heo Jun clamped a hand over Kanghyeok's mouth at his reckless words inside the palace.
It was something he always felt, but he truly wondered what kind of upbringing this man had received.
Baek Seungmun, Kanghyeok's father, was one of the most renowned Confucian scholars of the age.
So how was it that his son lacked even such basic decorum?
Meanwhile, with his mouth blocked by Heo Jun's hand, Kanghyeok was thinking about Gwanghae.
Gwanghae?
The first thing that came to mind was that he was the king later deposed by the Injo Restoration.
Because of that, he never received a temple name or posthumous title and was known only as Gwanghae-gun, the name he had used as a prince.
When I was younger, I thought the "gwang" in his name just meant mad.
As far as Kanghyeok remembered, when he was in middle school and high school, public opinion of Gwanghae had been unspeakably harsh.
Using the somewhat bizarre conduct he showed in his later years as a pretext, people compared him to Yeonsan-gun.
To the point that his infamy even surpassed Seonjo's.
These days, though, that's not true at all.
Rather, more and more people judged Injo, who overthrew him, to be the more incompetent ruler.
He could not remember exactly when the shift began, but recent evaluations of Gwanghae-gun were far more favorable than in the past.
Kanghyeok himself tended to agree with that public reassessment.
What Gwanghae had shown during the Imjin War in particular had left a deep impression.
Had he not shown almost the exact opposite of Seonjo, who had been preoccupied only with fleeing?
He had managed public sentiment fairly well, and had even fought the Japanese himself.
"Hm."
Taking advantage of the moment when Heo Jun's grip loosened slightly, Kanghyeok pushed him away and reassured him, since the man still looked visibly flustered.
"Don't worry. It was just such an unexpected name."
"I see. Hm."
Heo Jun still looked not entirely reassured as he glanced at Kim Gyehan.
Fortunately, the man was asleep and even snoring.
But that did not mean one could casually blurt out a prince's name however one pleased.
Gwanghae, of all things.
If the wrong sort of people heard it, it could become grounds for a charge of treason.
The times were that dangerous.
"Then please be more careful."
"I understand. Haha. Anyway, what exactly is wrong with His Highness the Prince that has you so troubled, Teacher Heo?"
"That is… shamefully enough, I cannot make sense of it at all. Here, I organized it as best I could."
Heo Jun handed over a scroll he had been carrying inside his robes.
Its edges were quite worn, suggesting that he carried it with him day and night.
Judging by Heo Jun's usual meticulous nature, he must have been worrying over it constantly.
Quietly impressed, Kanghyeok accepted the paper.
"He tried to draw a bow, but his strength failed him and he could not pull it. Afterward, his hand trembled for a long time, and he suffered greatly."
"During sword sparring, he dropped his sword. He said his hand had gone numb. For a while afterward, he could not even grip a sword."
"While writing, he put down his brush and rested for a long time. He seemed to be in severe pain. His Majesty was worried."
The paper was densely filled with entries like those.
It seemed that Heo Jun had followed Gwanghae-gun around and recorded all of his symptoms.
"Hmm."
Scratching at his rough chin beard, Kanghyeok read through the enormous record Heo Jun had compiled.
After reading the first few lines, he thought Gwanghae-gun's illness might be a cervical disc problem.
But the more he read, the more he shook his head.
A disc problem did not usually present like this.
The symptoms seem to appear mainly with hand movement.
If it were a disc issue, there should have been records about the entire arm going numb, or difficulty lifting the shoulder.
Of course, it was possible that Heo Jun had overlooked such symptoms.
No way that man would miss them.
He could tell just by looking at this record.
It was practically obsessive in its thoroughness.
If symptoms like that had existed, Heo Jun would never have failed to note them.
So it was better to assume there was some other cause.
That would be much better for both Gwanghae-gun and Kanghyeok.
There's no way I'm attempting cervical disc surgery here.
Even Kanghyeok did not have the nerve to open up someone else's cervical spine without proper equipment.
Especially if the patient was a prince of a kingdom.
And Kanghyeok himself belonged to that kingdom.
If he made even a single mistake, the first thing he would have to worry about was losing his head.
"Hmmm."
By the time the second groan escaped Kanghyeok's lips, Heo Jun had moved a little closer.
With eyes full of curiosity and expectation, he looked at Kanghyeok.
"What do you think? Do you suspect any particular illness?"
"I'll ask first. What did you suspect, and what treatment did you try?"
It was a slightly apologetic thing to say, but other people's trial and error could be quite useful.
Was there not a reason people said one should read books by those who had failed rather than those who had succeeded?
Apparently, people in Joseon knew that fact quite well too.
After all, they had already coined and widely used the saying learning from another's mistake.
"I… sigh. This is rather embarrassing."
"It's all right. Looking at these symptoms, even I cannot guess easily."
"Then I will tell you."
Heo Jun let out a low sigh.
He looked in turn at Dolseok, Yeoju, and Yeoni standing around him, then opened his mouth.
"At first, I judged that the trembling of the hand came from weakened vitality."
"I see."
It was a very traditional physician's answer, and not one that Kanghyeok found entirely incomprehensible.
In reality, low blood sugar or a lack of major nutrients could indeed make the hands tremble.
Of course, not just the hands, but other places would tremble as well.
The corners of the eyes, for instance, or around the mouth.
"However, His Highness Gwanghae-gun's symptoms were limited only to the hand. So the tonic prescriptions I gave showed no real effect."
"Hm."
Indeed, Heo Jun was no ordinary man.
He was the sort who knew how to move forward through failure.
If he had been born in the modern era, he might have become someone who left a mark on the medical world.
"Upon closer observation, I found that the symptoms were especially severe in the right hand."
"Oh. Does His Highness mainly use his right hand?"
"That is correct. He always eats and writes only with his right hand."
"Hm."
That was quite useful information.
If the symptoms were worse in the hand he used more, then the cause might lie in using it too much.
Kanghyeok listened closely to Heo Jun, nodding continuously.
"Please continue."
"Ugh."
Dolseok and Makbong were growing rather bored, but since their master was listening intently, there was little they could do.
Normally, they might have gone outside for a stroll.
But this was the palace, and they were frightened.
They were common lowborn men who knew nothing of etiquette. If they happened to run into some high-ranking person and made a mistake, what would happen then?
Boring as it was, it was safer to stay here.
"After observing more closely, I also learned that His Highness's symptoms mostly occur below the wrist."
"I see."
"And I also learned that when he first rises in the morning, or after resting for a long time without movement, he has hardly any symptoms."
"Ah. I see, so that's how it is."
Kanghyeok kept nodding.
All the while inwardly admiring Heo Jun's powers of observation and the way his thoughts proceeded.
What Heo Jun was saying now was almost textbook material.
So much so that Kanghyeok felt, for the first time in ages, as though he were listening to a lecture.
A pleased smile even began to rise to his lips.
Yes, this is it.
First, consider the whole body, then gradually narrow the scope.
When describing symptoms, explain them in as much detail as possible.
Especially the factors that worsen or relieve them.
Kanghyeok knew these principles too, but did not always keep to them.
It was astonishing that Heo Jun was naturally following them without ever having been taught.
"And also… hm. It seems that when His Highness repeats the same movement, the symptoms become much worse."
"What sort of movement, generally?"
"His Highness has a hobby of painting, but the subject is rather unusual."
"Unusual? In what way?"
Kanghyeok was interested not only in the illness but in Gwanghae-gun as a person, so he leaned forward as he listened to Heo Jun.
It almost felt like listening to an old story from his parents in childhood.
"In the place where His Highness resides, by his order, they brought in a large rock."
"A rock…?"
"Yes. He paints on that rock every day."
"Every day? Then does that mean he paints over one painting with another?"
At Kanghyeok's question, Heo Jun quietly shook his head.
There was even a faint smile on his lips.
"No. That is the unusual part. Once he finishes one, he immediately erases it. The rock is very smooth, so if water is sprinkled on it and rubbed with hanji paper, it comes off quite easily."
"Huh. That really is an unusual hobby."
"Yes. His paintings are quite good, so each time he erases one like that, it even feels wasteful."
"Then… perhaps the symptoms appear when he erases them?"
"Yes. That is when they are worst. Has this been of some help?"
"Mm."
Now that he heard it, Gwanghae-gun seemed rather unpretentious in some ways.
Painting it himself was natural enough, since it was his hobby, but to erase it himself as well.
No, perhaps he even considers the act of erasing part of the painting.
It had something of a postmodern feel, but somehow Kanghyeok thought Gwanghae-gun might really see it that way.
After all, he was a king who attempted policies that would have been considered quite radical for his time.
Though he failed, and in the end was deposed.
Anyway, that hobby may well have sharply worsened the symptoms.
To erase something, one inevitably had to shake the wrist from side to side and apply force with the grip.
Neither was particularly good for wrist health.
"I have the general idea now."
"Do you? Truly, the depth of Scholar Baek's medical skill is beyond anything I could dare measure."
Heo Jun looked sincerely moved.
In a way, it was only natural.
How many patients had this man already saved before Heo Jun's eyes?
And not just any patients, but ones even Heo Jun, one of the greatest physicians of the age, had been unable to treat at all.
"You praise me too highly."
"No, no. Hm."
Heo Jun fell silent for a moment, then stared directly at Kanghyeok.
"Then what medicine should be used to cure it?"
"Hm."
Medicine.
There were already quite a few kinds he could think of at once.
One of them was even in his house-call bag.
I don't know how much it'll help, but…
If the illness Kanghyeok had in mind was correct, then medicine alone could not cure it completely.
This was an era where drugs seemed to work unusually well, so one could never be entirely sure.
But that only applied to antibiotics.
It did not hold true for other medicines.
"First, give him this medicine. He must take it today."
He did not bother adding, otherwise it will disappear.
Fortunately, Heo Jun did not ask the reason.
He was simply grateful.
"Thank you. Will this be enough?"
"No. Since I'll be coming to see this patient Kim Gyehan every day anyway, I'll hand you the medicine each time."
"Ah."
"And if the medicine does not work fully, then I will meet His Highness in person."
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