Doctor’s Rebirth

Chapter 59

-Having heard such words, how could I remain still? Shall I make this pig unable to move his legs forever?

As she drew her sword, Cheon Yoo-rang hurriedly stopped her.

-I don’t know which unorthodox sect you’re from, but please just break his legs.

-Why?

-Breaking his legs would be satisfying, but if you cut them off, I fear I’ll have nightmares.

-Very well.

Crack-

She vigorously broke both of the official’s legs.

Even while unconscious, the official wailed like a pig being slaughtered. She said:

The next day, she headed to Namcheon Tavern. She rented the largest room and ordered all kinds of delicacies.

The server rubbed his hands, saying she was generous and magnanimous like a true Princess.

For Namcheon Tavern, she was an unparalleled guest.

Then, she called for Cheon Yoo-rang alone. A huge room with a huge table of liquor.

Seeing the lavish food covering the table, Cheon Yoo-rang felt intimidated. And in the middle of it all sat Wangya Ju, wearing a loose red silk robe.

-How about it? Do you feel like serving me in bed?

Hearing her voice, Cheon Yoo-rang prostrated himself.

-Please spare my life!

-Oh? No answer about serving me, and now you’re begging for your life?

-This lowly one was too ignorant to see what happened that night.

-How did you figure it out?

-I recognized your build and movements.

-I’ve seen many dancing entertainers as I drifted from tavern to tavern, but I’ve never seen anyone as perceptive as you. Is that all it took?

-…I thought it strange that such a lofty Princess would seek out a lowly entertainer like me.

She burst out laughing at his words.

-You make me out to be a petty person who beheads people for night entertainment. I’ll just ask you this. If it were me, not that pig, would you serve me in bed?

At that time, Wangya Ju, Feng Juha, was a dream-like figure for all entertainers.

Unlike other officials or royalty, she didn’t beat or forcibly take entertainers.

She just drank and enjoyed the arts. She was also generous in her spending.

Moreover, she was good at composing poetry, and if her poems were hung next to a tavern’s sign, business would improve the next day.

There were many who wanted to spend a night with such a woman.

Cheon Yoo-rang bowed deeply again.

-Please kill me.

-Are you refusing to serve me?

-Although this lowly one is ignorant, I believe that while I can sell my dance, I cannot sell my body.

-The body is not for sale?

She laughed for a long time.

-I’ve learned a lesson from you. I’ll never make such a joke again. Then, will you dance for me?

-Even if I want to dance, without music… You should call for musicians.

-Musicians? Why call for them when I’m here?

She ordered a zither to be brought.

She rolled up her bright red silk sleeves and plucked the strings.

The clear sound of the zither resonated in the night.

She leisurely recited poetry to the accompaniment of her zither.

Cheon Yoo-rang danced to that sound.

Although he had heard countless melodies and entrusted his body to them while living as an entertainer, he had never experienced such a heart-stirring timbre before.

Feng Juha said to Cheon Yoo-rang:

-I only want to see your dance.

Their love began like that.

Less than a year into their relationship, she put the most expensive red jade ring in the imperial capital on his finger, pledging her love.

-Please take it back…

-Hahaha, if I take back the red jade ring, next time you’ll want a blue jade one. If I take back even the blue jade, you’ll want a diamond.

Despite numerous objections, Wangya Ju made Cheon Yoo-rang her Imperial Prince Consort.

She was the one who had refused even the imperial throne because it was stifling.

There was no way she would endure a political marriage.

‘This was the content of the novel that I knew.’

On the surface, it’s the romance of the century, a Cinderella story. But what if this was planned from the beginning?

If Cheon Yoo-rang was a spy from the Hao Sect, and his goal was to become the lover of Feng Juha, one of the Imperial Princesses at the time?

He probably didn’t aspire to be a favored concubine.

Just becoming one of the entertainers who danced and sang at the tavern would have been a profitable venture for the Hao Sect.

‘Strangely, he didn’t serve her in bed at that time.’

What kind of sect was the Hao Sect?

In martial arts novels, it’s always a sect that expands its influence through taverns.

They buy orphaned children with money, teach them dance and music, and then have them sell alcohol.

As an unorthodox sect, they engage in all sorts of illegal money-making activities, but the most valuable among them is information.

Just as there’s no place without beggars where people live, there’s no place without alcohol.

One of the moments when humans are most honest is when they’re drunk.

The information gathered at such times is sold at a high price through the Hao Sect.

The time when Wangya Ju was called Feng Juha was a period of intense struggle for the imperial throne.

Information about Feng Juha would have been very expensive.

If ordered to serve her in bed, they would have certainly ordered him to extract information even if he had to do so.

He refused that.

Jin Cheon-hee found it strange.

‘In the novel’s description, it said he was really prepared to die. What if that wasn’t because he was afraid Wangya Ju would behead him in anger? If he was afraid the Hao Sect would kill him…?’

While cleaning up after the surgery, the master had explained.

He said that while the gu parasites in the martial arts world vary in their effects and ecology, they have one thing in common.

All gu enter as larvae and grow by feeding on the host’s internal energy.

Because they form their bodies with exactly the same internal energy as the host, they’re difficult to detect through pulse diagnosis.

If they can be detected by pulse diagnosis, he said they don’t qualify as gu.

‘If that were possible, all the demonic cult spies in both orthodox and unorthodox sects would have been rooted out.’

Judging by the size and color of the gu inside Cheon Yoo-rang’s body, it seemed to have been settled there for a long time.

‘Probably… it was fed and settled from a very young age.’

And this gu, he said, was less lethal and painful than those used in places like demonic cults.

But he said it does one fatally cruel thing.

‘If the specified medicine isn’t taken within the time limit, it causes anorexia in the host.’

They can’t eat any food, and even if they do, it makes them vomit.

There’s nothing more terrible than starving to death.

Jin Cheon-hee quickly moved his thoughts.

‘How did the Imperial Prince Consort die in the novel?’

Grieving deeply at the fact that he could never dance again…

He starved to death.

Another puzzle piece fit into place.

Click.

“Ugh…”

Just as Jin Cheon-hee’s thoughts were organized, the Imperial Prince Consort opened his eyes.

After groaning for a while, he said:

“Ugh… Where is… No, no. Did the surgery go well?”

Even in this situation, he spoke politely to Jin Cheon-hee.

As if saying he wasn’t worthy of being an Imperial Prince Consort.

After some deliberation, Jin Cheon-hee said:

“A gu was discovered.”

At that moment, the Imperial Prince Consort was silent.

An ominous feeling arose.

Jin Cheon-hee immediately stuck his finger into the Imperial Prince Consort’s mouth and looked.

Crunch!

“Ugh!”

As expected, he tried to commit suicide by biting his tongue.

If he hadn’t wrapped his hand in internal energy, his hand might have been cut off.

‘This is why martial arts people are…! Always trying to commit suicide. Always! What do you think your life is worth, you fools!’

Jin Cheon-hee groaned in pain.

The Imperial Prince Consort opened his mouth in surprise. Even so, Jin Cheon-hee had no intention of withdrawing his finger.

Instead, Jin Cheon-hee used his other hand to press an acupoint on the back of the Imperial Prince Consort’s neck.

“I’m on your side, Imperial Prince Consort!”

“…”

He doesn’t believe it.

Well, a man who received Hao Sect spy training instead of gifted education from childhood wouldn’t easily trust people.

It’s just that he’s only biting his tongue because he lacks strength after the surgery, but once he regains his strength, he would undoubtedly attempt suicide in various ways seen in martial arts novels.

Jin Cheon-hee thought:

‘I spent 10 hours performing surgery without eating or drinking to save you, you fool…’

The temporary external fixation on the Imperial Prince Consort’s leg was truly Jin Cheon-hee’s magnum opus.

If he hadn’t touched it at all, it would be one thing, but after spending 10 hours sweating blood to save him, how could he let him commit suicide like this!

“Do you know how many doctors are here? Whatever suicide attempt you make, we’ll save you every time. More importantly, do you think Her Imperial Highness will remain calm if you die?”

He shakes his head.

Jin Cheon-hee shouted:

“What if she falls ill, unable to bear the grief!”

Of course, it’s a lie.

In the novel, she was very sad but didn’t lose her physical strength.

Still, she did become a recluse, abandoning all state affairs and living in a thatched hut next to the tomb.

Jin Cheon-hee’s words seemed to have an effect, as the strength left his eyes.

When Jin Cheon-hee slightly released the acupoint, he finally spoke:

“Her Imperial Highness is not such a weak person.”

“At least, she’ll suffer in pain for the rest of her life every time she thinks of you.”

“…”

A tear rolled down his eye.

“After countless hardships, I secretly obtained a secret medicine to kill the gu. I thought I had killed it for sure… I thought I was free, but why…”

“Did you kill the gu to cut ties with the Hao Sect? It must have been difficult.”

“Yes. It seems the medicine was insufficient.”

The gu didn’t die.

It just entered a dormant state due to the medicine the Imperial Prince Consort took.

Of course, if it had endured in that state for a long time, it might have really died.

Such a gu woke up again. It was obvious why it woke up.

‘The White Dragon Divine Pill must have had some effect. Since it’s imbued with qi, it must have had a special effect.’

The gu lives on a portion of its master’s internal energy as nourishment.

Rather than the antibiotic effect of penicillin, I suspect it’s due to the elixir-like effect of being made in the martial arts world.

‘In the book, he went to the Hwaju Medical Pavilion and had his leg amputated. They would have fed him elixirs then too to preserve his strength, so the gu must have woken up after gorging on the elixir.’

Whether at the White Dragon Medical Pavilion or the Hwaju Medical Pavilion, the gu waking up was inevitable.

The fortunate thing is that this time it woke up during surgery at the White Dragon Medical Pavilion, so it could be immediately discovered and dealt with.

If it had been at the Hwaju Medical Pavilion, they would have just amputated the leg and prescribed long-term medication, so only the patient himself would have known that the gu had awakened.

‘Once the most difficult puzzle is solved, the rest keep solving themselves in a chain reaction. If a person addicted to gu caused such an incident, then surely…’

Jin Cheon-hee asked one last question:

“Did you really fall from your horse?”

“…”

He bit his lip and didn’t answer.

The words of the guard warriors who witnessed it and the wounds when seen did match injuries from falling off a horse. But it didn’t make much sense.

A horse good enough for the Imperial Prince Consort to ride would be quite well-trained, so for it to suddenly rear up and go berserk during a hunt…

‘As I thought. This person knew why he fell off the horse. The reason was probably because of the Hao Sect.’

Even so, he couldn’t say that he was actually a Hao Sect spy and this problem arose because he was trying to cut ties with them.

Jin Cheon-hee thought:

‘That’s just the nature of criminal organizations.’