Chapter 129: If That's the Case, Then You Should Grant Him an Official Post [2] -Whoooosh.
A bleak, chilly wind shook the paper door hard.
"What is with the weather all of a sudden?"
Kanghyeok was warming his body against the heated ondol floor.
From the knees down, he was entirely tucked beneath a thick mat.
It was a posture no different from that of some idle loafer sprawled around the marketplace, but no one criticized him.
Even Yeoju, who had grown up under the firm teachings of old-fashioned Joseon propriety, kept her mouth shut.
She merely chimed in about the weather.
"Winter is near, so that must be why."
"With weather like this, business suffers too."
Kanghyeok opened the door slightly and looked outside.
Not a single person could be seen in the courtyard that had been bustling just five days earlier.
Because of that, the treasure that had been piling up like a mountain in the back courtyard had all long since been moved into storage.
Damn it.
There was originally a famous saying in private practice.
Be prepared, and there will be no trouble.
That was what it was supposed to mean.
But in private practice, it meant something entirely different.
That when it rained, there were no patients.
Naturally, it could be applied in many different ways.
For example, all foul weather like this counted too.
So this is why clinic directors checked the weather forecast so carefully.
Whenever he had heard people say that, he had only laughed.
The patients Kanghyeok usually saw were not the sort who would give up on treatment because of the weather.
Most of them were cancer patients on the verge of death. Would they really fail to come just because of a little rain or snow?
He had thought that sort of thing applied only to neighborhood clinics.
In the end, I'm a neighborhood clinic too now.
Even more unpleasant than the empty courtyard were the disciples idling around doing nothing.
Passing by, he had seen that Makbong was already passed out drunk.
Dolseok had been running around with a bow earlier, but now he was nowhere in sight.
He had surely gone off to some nearby hill.
Yeoni had no doubt gone with him.
So only Yeoju is here.
Kanghyeok turned to look at her as she silently remained absorbed in arranging books.
Come to think of it, only Kanghyeok and Yeoju were sitting alone in the treatment room.
Just the two of them, man and woman, in a room that was not even that large.
It felt a little strange.
"Ahem."
Kanghyeok gave a small cough, then spoke again.
"What have you been drawing this whole time?"
The moment Kanghyeok's gaze suddenly turned on her, Yeoju hurriedly hid the paper.
Then she muttered in a very flustered voice, "Hm? Ah... Just this and that."
"What is it? Why are you hiding it? I see you drawing all the time."
"It's not a medical drawing..."
"So what? Do people only ever draw that? Let me have a look."
Was it not the way of things that even something trivial became interesting once someone tried to hide it?
Kanghyeok was the same.
At first, it had only been a routine question, but now he felt like he would die if he did not find out what she had been drawing.
"What is it?"
"Come on..."
Yeoju had not exactly spent all her time idling either.
Every morning, had she not been training in taekkyeon under Yeoni's instruction?
Her movements had become fairly nimble in their own way.
Though even so, they still could not compare to Kanghyeok moving at his full effort.
"What on earth did you draw that you're hiding it so carefully?"
"It's nothing."
"I'm curious..."
Just as the two were in the middle of bickering, someone knocked on the door.
"Young Master."
It was Dorikkae.
Among the servants under Kanghyeok, he was one of the relatively higher-status ones.
Unexpectedly enough, he also handled work neatly and without gaps.
"Oh, what is it?"
"Guests have arrived."
"Who?"
"The... two people you were waiting for."
"Really? My elder brothers have come?"
"Yes."
Kanghyeok hurriedly straightened his rumpled clothes and rushed outside.
The wind was still cold, but somehow it felt more bearable than before.
The moment he saw the two men standing by the main gate, he practically could not feel the wind at all.
"Elder brother!"
Kanghyeok ran barefoot across the courtyard, which had begun to freeze stiff.
"Kanghyeok."
In contrast, Sun-sin merely called his name in a low voice.
Yi Sun-sin looked quite changed after so long apart.
First of all, strands of white hair were mixed here and there, giving him the dignity of a seasoned commander.
"Elder brother. It has been a long time."
"Yes. Have you been well?"
"Thanks to you. Haha."
"I heard from Simin. He said you cured this friend's illness as well."
"Haha. If a doctor has a patient, then of course he has to cure him."
"You're barefoot. Let's go inside. It's cold."
"Yes, yes."
With a face more delighted than ever, Kanghyeok headed back toward the room.
In that gap, Yeoju, having once again perfectly restored her male disguise, quietly slipped out of the treatment room and headed to her own consultation room.
A half-finished drawing was hidden in her robes.
So Yeoju's gone. Well... there's nothing good about her lingering where men are gathered.
Someone like Sun-sin, especially, with such sharp eyes, was dangerous.
She was not merely a woman in male disguise, but the family member of a traitor.
"Come, come, sit here."
"I heard you were preparing a banquet."
Sun-sin smiled in good spirits as he sat facing Kanghyeok.
"It's not really a banquet... Just a gathering where I invited people I know to celebrate."
"If you invite everyone you know, that already makes it a banquet."
This time Simin patted Kanghyeok on the back.
And rightly so, for Kanghyeok unexpectedly had good connections.
He knew all kinds of people whose names anyone would recognize.
"Since it's for none other than Elder Brother Yi Sun-sin, I should hold a banquet at least."
"Haha. I'm not that great a person... Yet you alone give me such a welcome, Kanghyeok."
Seeing Sun-sin smile with self-mockery, Kanghyeok could not help but smile bitterly as well.
Well, he really isn't yet that great, not at this point. To think he's only just becoming a hyeongam.
After all, it was nothing more than a title equivalent to that shit-spewing hyeongam in Anseong.
Of course, Yi Sun-sin could not have expected to fill his stomach with rank at the first sip either.
Still, it felt like a serious slight.
"I believe that someday, elder brother will do something great for the country."
"That must not happen."
"Hm?"
"For a warrior like me to distinguish myself, some great disturbance would have to occur. Would that not harm the country?"
"Huh."
As expected, Yi Sun-sin was a different sort of man.
Kanghyeok, unable to suppress his admiration once again, spoke.
"As expected, elder brother is remarkable."
"Enough of that... Come, let's drink."
Yi Sun-sin took out several bottles of liquor from within his robe.
It was the very same liquor they had drunk before.
The liquor personally brewed by Yi Sun-sin's mother.
"Oh."
"I knew you'd like it. Have a cup."
The three of them passed cups back and forth and soon became warmly drunk.
Their drinking gatherings continued day after day, and in the end, even lasted until the actual day of the banquet.
"Sun-sin, your face is already red."
Ryu Seong-ryong sat down while making a joke.
"We've been drinking since yesterday."
"Haha. Did the ghosts of men who died unable to drink attach themselves to you?"
Seong-ryong laughed heartily, then suddenly looked around the courtyard.
The courtyard, which had been desolate because of the cold weather, was now so crowded there was hardly room to set one's feet.
That was because everyone Kanghyeok knew had come pouring in.
"Still, Kanghyeok, you've truly been blessed with good fortune in people. While honing your medical arts, how did you also manage your relationships so well?"
"Ah. Well. Haha."
Kanghyeok gave an awkward smile.
He had never really managed anything in particular, but people had gathered around him on their own, which only made it feel absurd.
"Ah, Kanghyeok. It's been a while."
This time it was Jeong Cheol.
"Hey, Kanghyeok."
Yi Hangbok was there too.
He had even received a letter written personally by Gwanghae-gun.
Yi Sun-sin's eyes widened at the astonishingly splendid circle of people around Kanghyeok.
"You've really lived diligently, haven't you?"
"That's not really it. Haha."
Just as he laughed like that, he felt someone slowly creeping closer.
That person had already been hovering nearby for a long while, and it seemed he had judged that this was the perfect chance.
It was none other than Hwang Yungil.
"Oh. Kanghyeok. Lord Ryu. It's been a while."
"So you came too?"
"My greetings, Elder Hwang."
"That's enough greeting. Heheh."
Yungil deliberately squeezed himself beside Ryu Seong-ryong and jabbed him in the thigh.
He meant that Ryu should start the conversation quickly.
Ryu Seong-ryong did not particularly hesitate, since he also thought it would be a good thing if Kanghyeok helped.
"As it happens, Hwang Yungil is here too... Kanghyeok, there is something important he wishes to say to you. Will you hear him out?"
"Hm? Ah... Yes, of course. If someone has something to say, I should hear it."
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