Chapter 89: Gwanghae [1] Late into the night, Kanghyeok's lecture was still going on.
They had already gone far past the time they had originally agreed on.
But not a single person listening to the lecture looked as though they had any intention of getting up from their seat.
"Then are you saying it is better to eat things that will also become residue?"
Rather, wrapped up in a strange fervor, the questions kept following one after another.
Kanghyeok turned to look at the one who had just asked the question.
As expected, it was Heo Im again.
Everyone's eyes were shining, but Heo Im's were on a different level.
Heo Jun seems like the type who's more interested in internal treatment. Like a model student type... He probably would've gone into internal medicine or pediatrics.
Even now, he was writing down every single word Kanghyeok said without missing so much as a syllable.
So there was no way he had time to ask questions.
By contrast, Heo Im seemed unable to keep his hands still.
Whenever there was the slightest opening, he kept imitating the rough hand movements Kanghyeok had demonstrated.
And he seems pretty sharp too.
Wasn't there a saying like this?
That the best way to judge someone was not by how they answered your questions, but by what kind of questions they asked.
The level at which his mind worked was no ordinary thing.
Wasn't it because of Heo Im, too, that this unexpected extension of the lecture had started in the first place?
If he were not an acupuncturist, Kanghyeok would have taken him in and trained him.
It was a little regrettable.
He truly seemed to possess the qualities of an excellent surgeon.
Well, listening to the lectures should still help him.
Clicking his tongue in regret, Kanghyeok began answering the question.
"That's right. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the key to colon and anal health lies right there. If you're really doubtful, then from now on, when you go home, reduce the amount of rice you eat a little and eat more greens instead. Starting tomorrow, the amount of stool will—"
—Creak.
Just as Kanghyeok was enthusiastically talking away, the sound of a door opening came from somewhere.
Kanghyeok paused for a moment, and Heo Jun turned toward the source of the sound with a flustered expression.
Among those on duty today, the highest-ranking person was Heo Jun.
Everyone else had already left the palace long ago.
That meant the only people likely to come here at this hour were patients.
Or eunuchs attending to patients.
"Scholar Baek, I'll go out and see."
"Ah, yes."
"At this hour, who on earth could it be?"
Because he had been sitting for so long, Heo Jun rubbed his tingling legs as he walked.
Only now that the lecture had stopped did he feel the crushing fatigue.
—Step, step.
The person who had opened the door was striding boldly inside.
Speaking to someone from time to time as he did.
"There are quite a lot of shoes here. Was the Royal Medical Bureau always staffed this heavily at night?"
"To this servant's knowledge, it was not, Your Highness."
"It seems something must have happened."
The sound of footsteps grew faster and faster.
At the same time, Heo Jun's heartbeat quickened as well.
And understandably so, because the man's voice was all too familiar.
What... why is Gwanghae-gun here?
Though he was a son by a concubine, did King Seonjo not have no legitimate sons anyway?
At present, it seemed possible that any of the princes—Gwanghae-gun, Imhae-gun, or Sinseong-gun—might become king.
Sinseong-gun, the son of Royal Noble Consort In Kim, who enjoyed King Seonjo's full favor, seemed the most likely.
In any case, Gwanghae-gun was not an easy person to deal with.
And not merely because he was a prince.
Anyone who had met him could tell.
That he was a man with something unknowable about him.
While Heo Jun was lost in such thoughts, Gwanghae-gun strode into the Royal Medical Bureau.
"Ah. So Heo Jun is on duty."
He nodded at Heo Jun with a rather pleased expression.
He did so even though he knew that Heo Jun had treated Imhae-gun, who was practically his bitter rival in the matter of appointment as Crown Prince.
He was a man with a fairly exceptional ability to distinguish public matters from private ones.
Heo Jun, on the other hand, hurriedly lowered his head as though he had been caught in the middle of committing some grave offense.
"Your Highness. What brings you here at this hour...? You are not feeling unwell somewhere, are you?"
"Unwell? My wrist is always like this."
Gwanghae-gun muttered while looking down at his right wrist.
Perhaps he had gone somewhere to draw a bow again, because he looked to be in considerable pain.
Even with the naked eye, one could see his fingertips trembling slightly.
Feeling all the more ashamed, Heo Jun could only bow his head.
"I am sorry that the medicine I gave you has not been of much effect."
"Hm? No, no. That medicine is remarkable. It's just that the effect doesn't last very long."
Gwanghae-gun smiled as he recalled the small pill Heo Jun had given him.
It would have been nice if he had given him several at a time, but Heo Jun always gave only a single day's worth.
He had said that was all he could obtain, so Gwanghae-gun had accepted it as such.
"But why are there so many people at the Royal Medical Bureau?"
"Ah, that..."
Heo Jun turned to look toward the inner part of the Royal Medical Bureau with the expression of a man who knew the inevitable had finally arrived.
Everyone was holding their breath, but there were simply too many people for the noise to disappear entirely.
For instance, the sound of collars brushing against clothing.
The sound of low coughs.
The sound of Dolseok yawning, and so on.
Strictly speaking, there was nothing wrong at all.
Everyone including Kanghyeok had been officially issued entry passes, and the others were originally people of the Royal Medical Bureau in the first place.
After a dry cough, Heo Jun cautiously opened his mouth.
"I am ashamed to report... we were listening to a lecture on medicine."
"Listening? Not a lecture you were giving?"
Cheomjeong Heo Jun's reputation had long since spread vividly throughout the palace.
Otherwise, among the many acupuncturists, jubu, and jikjang who had spent long years in the Royal Medical Bureau, why would Heo Jun have been entrusted with the treatment of Imhae-gun?
Moreover, by treating Imhae-gun without incident, Heo Jun had only cemented that reputation further.
In both name and reality, he was the foremost divine physician in court, and in other words, the greatest physician in Joseon.
And yet such a Heo Jun was receiving instruction from someone else.
From Gwanghae-gun's point of view, that naturally stirred quite a bit of curiosity.
Especially since he also happened to be suffering from some physical discomfort at the moment.
"Yes. That is so. He is someone whose grounding in medicine is many times deeper than mine."
"There is such a person? Then I should have a look myself."
"Ah..."
Unlike usual, Heo Jun could not immediately volunteer to guide Gwanghae-gun inside.
Because he had recalled the words and conduct Kanghyeok had shown so far.
He still could not forget the shock of the first time Kanghyeok met the Busa.
To suddenly stick cow pus into Kim Yungil's nose.
And on top of that, there had been hardly any polite formalities at all.
When handing over certain "medicines," he had even worn an expression that looked almost teasing.
Kanghyeok probably thought he was hiding it, but anyone watching could tell.
If he acted that way in front of Gwanghae-gun too, they might all die.
"Why are you hesitating so much?"
"It's just that... the one giving the lecture has rather unusual qualities."
"Is that so? Perhaps his status is low?"
At Gwanghae-gun's words, Heo Jun hurriedly waved both hands.
Whatever else might be true, there was absolutely nothing lacking in Kanghyeok's status.
If anything, he was a yangban among yangban.
Which made it all the more shocking.
"No. He is the eldest son of Baek Seungmun."
"Seungmun? Ah, the one who served as Grand Academician of the Hongmungwan?"
"Yes, that is correct, Your Highness."
"The son of such a man is deeply versed in medicine? How interesting."
If anything, Gwanghae-gun seemed even more intrigued.
After all, however much of a prince he was, he was still only in his teens.
Would it not have been stranger if he had no fascination with extraordinary people and strange happenings?
In that sense, Kanghyeok was someone who could satisfy Gwanghae-gun's fantasies to a fair degree.
If not among strange happenings, then certainly among extraordinary people.
"Yes. Even if he behaves in ways that fall short of etiquette, I beg that Your Highness overlook it generously."
"Yes, yes. Let me see his face first. The more you speak like that, the more curious I become."
"Yes, Your Highness. This way."
Heo Jun let out a deep sigh and started walking.
Toward the very place where Kanghyeok had been lecturing just moments ago.
As expected, Kanghyeok was sitting in the most comfortable posture in the world.
Or rather, it was hard to tell whether he was sitting or lying down.
He was leaning far back, using the broad backs of Dolseok and Makbong as cushions, with his feet lightly resting on Yeoni's lap.
Anyone seeing him would have thought he was lounging in a hammock.
"Hm."
Even Gwanghae-gun, it seemed, had not expected a sight like this, because a low groan escaped him.
Even King Seonjo did not sit in such a posture.
It was the sort of pose one would expect only from wastrel rogues in the marketplace.
At that sound, a few people turned their heads, and without exception, all of them rose and bowed.
"Y-Your Highness."
At the words "Your Highness," the rest also hurriedly got to their feet.
Yeoju, behind Kanghyeok, did the same, while the only ones who remained sitting were Kanghyeok, Dolseok, Makbong, and Yeoni.
Kanghyeok had failed to hear because he was lost in thought, while the others had been dozing off and nodding in their sleep.
Fortunately, Gwanghae-gun did not grow angry.
Rather, he pointed at Kanghyeok with an amused expression.
"Is it that man?"
"Yes, that is correct. It seems he is simply worn out from lecturing... I will wake him."
"That would be best. I grow more curious about his face by the moment."
Heo Jun hurried over to Kanghyeok and shook his shoulder.
"Uh... Scholar Baek?"
"Hm? Ah. Teacher Heo. I was just thinking about which instruments should be made first. Haha."
Kanghyeok scratched the back of his head as though nothing were amiss.
He had truly been absorbed in thoughts of making instruments.
That was because it was by no means a simple matter.
Forceps will be too difficult.
He did not know the level of Joseon metallurgy, but it was probably impossible.
Wasn't making teeth measured down to the millimeter too much to ask?
He needed some way to simplify that further, but at the moment nothing came to mind.
Compared to that, an Army retractor or a scalpel should be easy.
A replaceable-blade system would not work, but making something with a fixed blade shape in the first place should not be difficult.
After all, making knives was already a routine thing.
It should be possible to make one smaller.
In any case, the blacksmiths inside the palace would surely be the best in Joseon.
Heo Jun forcibly turned Kanghyeok's head, though the latter was still lost in thoughts of instruments.
"Scholar Baek, look who has come."
"Hm?"
Even though Kanghyeok was now face to face with Gwanghae-gun, he did not react in the slightest.
Most of it came from his ignorance, but part of it was also because Gwanghae-gun's appearance had been too sudden.
Think about it.
How many people live their lives expecting to meet a prince?
Even if they were living in Joseon.
"What are you doing just staring? This is His Highness Gwanghae-gun!"
Only after Heo Jun's tearful scolding did Kanghyeok grasp the situation.
"Oh, oh!"
Kanghyeok hurriedly straightened his body.
Then he bent his head deeply.
It felt as though there should probably be some other formal etiquette, but he could not do what he did not know.
From Kanghyeok's point of view, not offering a handshake already counted as considerable self-restraint.
"How do you do. I am Baek Kanghyeok."
He had omitted all the words like Your Highness the Prince, but Gwanghae-gun only looked amused.
Having lived his whole life surrounded by stiff Confucian scholars, seeing someone like Kanghyeok piqued his interest.
"Good. I am Yi Hon."
At the name Yi Hon, Kanghyeok tilted his head for a moment.
Then he realized at once that this was his personal name and lowered his head again.
Right. Joseon is the Yi dynasty.
The fact that he had only now recalled something so obvious felt utterly ridiculous.
"It is a pleas—... no. Hm. It is an honor."
"Haha."
Gwanghae-gun laughed heartily and waved his hand.
"Come, come, everyone sit back down. I am curious what kind of lecture was being given."
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