Chapter 94: He Even Reconstructs Wrists[1] Leaving the eunuch standing in the yard, Kanghyeok headed back into the room.
Inside, Dolseok, Yeoni, and Yeoju were packing their bundles.
The only one loafing around with nothing to do was Makbong, but Kanghyeok did not particularly feel like scolding him.
That bastard only becomes useful when something actually happens.
Or he was also quite useful as a deterrent to keep unpleasant incidents from happening in the first place.
After all, to people who did not know them, Makbong looked far stronger than Yeoni.
"All right, all right, pack the anesthetic."
"Yes, young master."
Dolseok packed the bundle with practiced skill.
Most of it consisted of pouches filled with medicinal mixtures made by combining sumsu and cho-o.[2]
Just as his hand reached for the pufferfish poison, Kanghyeok stopped him.
"Are you insane? Why are you packing that? You want to kill the prince?"
"No… Didn't you say that was a kind of anesthetic too?"
"Huh."
Having too good a memory was a problem too.
He had definitely only muttered that in passing, yet Dolseok had remembered it and was about to put it into action.
"It is, technically."
"It is? I knew it."
Dolseok happily picked up the pufferfish poison again.
At least, he was definitely smiling right up until Kanghyeok kicked him and sent him sprawling across the floor.
Bang.
The noise was loud enough that even the eunuch outside could hear it.
He really is a thug.
Was he not the same man who had kicked a prince without hesitation?
He would probably beat one of his own servants half to death and stay perfectly calm about it.
The eunuch frowned, thinking it displeasing that Gwanghae would want such a man close to him.
Dolseok was frowning too, though in his case it was mostly because of the pain.
"Why are you hitting me?"
"Leave that out for now. Not every anesthetic is the same kind of anesthetic."
"I don't really understand…"
"I'll explain later, so just memorize it for now. We'll use it when it's Makbong's turn for surgery."
The arrow suddenly turning toward him made Makbong's eyes widen.
"Me? I'm getting surgery?"
"Ah… I guess I never told you."
"No. I'm healthy. I don't even have hemorrhoids."
Makbong anxiously rolled his eyes around and pointed here and there at his body,
as if trying to prove that there was absolutely nothing wrong with him.
"Your snoring is too bad. I can't let it go on. It makes me nervous."
"Ah… that's true. Makbong snores like crazy."
Dolseok chimed in immediately.
"But can that really be fixed?"
Yeoni showed intense interest.
In truth, Makbong's snoring and sleep apnea were an extremely serious matter even within the Aeogae gang.[3]
How serious had it been?
Serious enough that, despite his excellent martial skills and even his ability on the swing, he had nearly been kicked out.
At Yeoni's innocent question, Kanghyeok nodded with complete confidence.
"Of course. It can be fixed."
"Huh. Then please do it quickly."
"Yes, you can hear it from the next room too."
Now even Yeoju joined in.
Other than the person who would actually have to undergo the surgery, everyone welcomed the idea.
Even in university hospitals, surgery for snoring was often like this.
The one who snored would never know he was snoring.
The real problem was everyone else who had to sleep nearby.
Looking at Makbong's flustered face as he glanced around the room, Kanghyeok was reminded of the face of a father dragged in against his will.
"No… You said you'd use pufferfish poison, and nobody's pointing that part out."
"Hey, has even one person died from pufferfish poison so far?"
"No one died, but they looked like they were suffering enough to die."
Makbong's fear was entirely understandable.
Even the Steadfast One of the Daedong-gye, who had been so bold and unshakable, had not been able to endure it.[4]
Of course, Kanghyeok had no intention of using it on Makbong as torture, so his worry was premature.
"I'll do yours without pain."
"That somehow sounds ominous…"
"Ah, enough. Right now, the prince's wrist is more important than your snoring. Is everything packed?"
"Yes, young master."
Dolseok picked up the bundle stuffed with anesthetics and all kinds of medicinal ingredients.
Yeoni hoisted a carrying frame holding a basin and other items for hot water.
Yeoju packed up her drawing tools.
With that, the preparations were finished.
It really did look like a Joseon dream team.
Wearing a satisfied smile, Kanghyeok shouted,
"Good. Let's go."
They were, after all, traveling with a eunuch who served a prince walking in front.
Even in the crowded market streets of Hanyang, no one could get in their way.
Even entering the palace happened at lightning speed.
The one who stopped their steps was none other than Yi Hang-bok.
He recognized Kanghyeok even from afar and strode over.
Having become a Pyeongnan Gongsin through the merit of successfully bringing the Gichuk Purge to a close, his authority inside the palace was overwhelming.[5][6]
"Well, well, Kanghyeok."
That did not mean he had suddenly become a different person, of course.
The swaggering way he greeted him was little different from the first time they had met.
"Ah, elder."
Kanghyeok lightly bowed his head in greeting.
Yi Hang-bok burst out laughing and patted him on the back.
His eyes, however, were directed at the eunuch walking ahead.
With his extraordinary memory, he had apparently already figured out whose servant that eunuch was.
"I heard you've been going in and out of the palace a lot lately, so I thought you'd gotten interested in official office. But now I see you've become close with Prince Gwanghae."
"It just sort of happened that way."
"That's a good thing. A very good thing."
Yi Hang-bok kept laughing as he patted Kanghyeok on the back.
At the same time, he waved his other hand toward the eunuch as if to tell him to go on ahead for the moment.
The eunuch had no choice but to step back helplessly. There was no way he could reject the word of Yi Hang-bok, whose influence was soaring.
After confirming that the eunuch and the others had moved some distance away, Yi Hang-bok leaned close to Kanghyeok's ear and whispered,
"But be careful. The king is still young, and he dislikes the princes building up power."
"Ah. Oh. Mm."
Kanghyeok let out different exclamations in sequence as understanding dawned.
At first, he had thought the old man had completely misread the situation.
He had no real intention of using Gwanghae to do anything.
Of course, compared with Seonjo, he would make a much better king to serve, but was he not still too young?
Just because I think that way doesn't mean everyone else will see it the same way.
Kanghyeok slowly looked at the people passing around them.
Most glanced at him the way one looked at a cow or a chicken and kept walking, but some did recognize him.
Anyone who could be expected to know was already aware that he had cured Lord Ryu Seong-ryong and helped Yi Hang-bok deal with the Gichuk Purge.
In truth, even without holding office, Kanghyeok's influence was not insignificant.
One only had to look at the gifts that arrived at his house almost every day.
I need to be careful.
As Yi Hang-bok had said, Seonjo was still a very young king.
Even by his actual birth and death years, he still had decades left before he would die.
That made Yi Hang-bok's advice invaluable.
"Thank you, elder."
"Yes. I knew you'd understand. Unlike someone else. Heh heh."
Leaving behind a cryptic remark, Yi Hang-bok hurried off.
Who's 'someone else'?
Kanghyeok muttered as he watched Yi Hang-bok's back.
Even so, nothing came to mind.
You had to know something in the first place before you could think about it.
Ah, whatever. I have to treat him first. After that… I should be more careful.
Kanghyeok once more followed after the eunuch.
Before long, the group reached Gwanghae's residence.
As expected, the first thing that caught the eye was the huge rock planted in the yard.
Compared with the last time he had seen it, there was only one difference: the painting on the rock had not been fully erased and still remained.
It had not been intentionally preserved.
There were obvious traces showing that someone had started erasing it and then stopped partway through.
Looks like it hurt too much, so he had to stop.
The thought that Gwanghae's condition might be more serious than expected made Kanghyeok quicken his pace.
"Where is His Highness?"
"Ah, he is inside. He is with Heo Jun from the Royal Medical Office."[7]
"Please lead the way."
"Yes."
By now, Kanghyeok was practically speaking in banmal outright.[8]
Yet the eunuch seemed not to notice in the slightest and continued to treat Kanghyeok with the familiarity of habit.
The eunuch scurried into the room and then came back out.
"He says you are to come in at once."
"Mm. Understood."
Kanghyeok removed his shoes and went inside.
Dolseok, Yeoni, Yeoju, and Makbong followed behind him.
Makbong, in truth, did not have much to do, but Kanghyeok let him in anyway.
It was a hundred times better for him to doze off inside than to cause trouble outside.
"Oh. So you've come."
Gwanghae, whom they had not seen in some time, had grown quite gaunt.
His right hand rested on a pillow, but it seemed that even so, the pain continued.
"Ah… Your Highness. You don't look well at all."
"I'm sorry. I ignored what you told me and overdid it, and now… it's turned into this mess."
"Let me take a look."
"Please do."
Kanghyeok hurriedly rolled up Gwanghae's sleeve.
Unlike before, the wrist was now slightly swollen.
Ah, this is bad.
No matter what part of the body it was, swelling was never a good sign.
Squish.
When Kanghyeok pressed it, it even made a sound like air escaping.
"Ugh."
At the same moment, a cry of pain escaped Gwanghae's mouth.
"Mm."
Kanghyeok gave only a brief response.
His thoughts were too tangled to say anything more.
The joint capsule—the sac surrounding the joint—has ruptured. If it burst in this spot… yes, probably on the radius side. I can just suture it, but…
The condition was worse than he had expected, which meant the surgery was likely to take a very long time.
Kanghyeok turned a regretful gaze toward Dolseok.
Or rather, more precisely, toward the bundle slung over his shoulder.
Maybe I should've just told him to bring the pufferfish poison after all…? No. Not yet…
If it were to be used for torture, that would be one thing, but it was still inadequate for surgery.
The potency of the drug was not the issue.
He needed something that could maintain respiration steadily.
For example, a device that could be inserted into the airway.
For today, we do it the regular way.
Kanghyeok ended his brief deliberation and settled on a plan.
He had already devised a technique beforehand, so only slight adjustments were needed.
"How is it? Is it very bad?"
Gwanghae asked with a worried face.
The fear that the injury might be untreatable was clear in his expression.
Heo Jun, standing behind him, looked much the same.
Surgical lesions were still beyond him.
"It is bad."
"That is serious. At this rate, will I never be able to use this wrist again?"
If Kanghyeok had not been here, that likely would have been true.
Did I make a mistake giving him the steroid injection?
If he had not, Gwanghae would probably not have pushed himself this far.
He would have kept hurting the whole time.
Maybe it's also because of the side effects.
Steroids were extremely good medicine, but they were also drugs that absolutely could not be used recklessly.
Especially around joints and ligaments, one had to be careful again and again.
If mishandled, things could even rupture.
Then is this my fault?
Kanghyeok's expression stiffened in shock for a moment, but he quickly shook his head.
For Baek Kanghyeok to make a mistake?
That was absurd.
Still, he could not simply leave it this way.
Once his hand had touched a case, he possessed the arrogant conviction that it had to be fixed no matter what.
"No. I'll fix it. But I'll have to use the knife."
"I must accept that."
"Teacher Heo, I'll need your help as well."
"Gladly."
"Then first…"
Kanghyeok opened the bundle Dolseok had brought and took out the anesthetic.
In the meantime, Heo Jun poured boiling water into the basin Yeoni had brought.
It seemed they had prepared it in advance.
"Your Highness, first take this and get some sleep."
"Sleep?"
"Yes. When you wake up, the treatment will already be finished."
"Mm."
Gwanghae's face grew a little uneasy as he looked back and forth between Kanghyeok and Heo Jun.
Both of them were nodding, and somehow it did not seem as though he had any grounds to refuse.
"Very well."
"Yes, Your Highness. Please do not worry."
Kanghyeok counted to seven inwardly, and as expected, Gwanghae fell asleep.
From this point on, the real beginning started.
Rubbing his hands together, Kanghyeok gave out orders.
"All right. Dolseok and Yeoni, gloves and masks. Teacher Heo, watch His Highness's breathing. Yeoni, draw. Makbong, stand by."
"What about you, young master?"
"First, hand me the knife."
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