Ch 331: Visit To The Sanatorium
Was Baek Heung-eon old? He was. In the modern era, a man over forty could still be considered middle-aged, but in this era, he had already entered the latter half of his life. Time, once passed, does not return; in the blink of an eye, one’s hair turns gray.
Her nose twitched slightly. Facing the oncoming wind, she sniffed and opened her mouth to ask Baek Ho-heon.
“I hate that person, but also I don’t want to hate him, right?”
The young child thought for a moment, then nodded.
“Right. He treats us badly, so I hate him. But he’s still our father, so I don’t want to hate him. Sister, should I hate him or not?”
This was a very difficult question to answer. This wasn’t the first time Baek Ho-heon had asked a question of this nature. Baek Hak-yeom’s attitude remained clear. She didn’t want this child to view his father as an enemy. However, she couldn’t just talk about the principle between a loving father and child that essentially didn’t exist. So she said to Baek Ho-heon:
“If he treats you well, you don’t need to hate him. But if he treats you badly, keep your distance. You are still young; when you are older, you can decide for yourself what to do.”
Baek Ho-heon nodded. Whether he understood or not, he didn’t say anything. The two returned together to Yeomseokwon. Muk-eo had gone to the tuberculosis village and hadn’t returned yet. She had left secretly without telling Yeongchun, and naturally, she returned quietly.
At that time, Baek Heung-eon, who had returned to Jukjeokwon, finally realized this fact. Why in the middle of the night were Baek Hak-yeom and Baek Ho-heon wandering around the house? Baek Ho-heon was understandable, but Baek Hak-yeom clearly looked like she had just come back from outside. A Miss going in and out at midnight; what kind of state is that? Is the gate of the National Duke’s office a city gate?
However, it was too late to think about it now. Moreover, he was now looking at himself somewhat objectively. He knew that even if he had found fault with her at that time, it would have been useless. Instead of finding fault with Baek Hak-yeom, there was a very high possibility that he would have been counterattacked. Every time he thought he had found fault with Baek Hak-yeom, she somehow managed to push him into a corner.
At Yeomseokwon, Baek Hak-yeom was leading Baek Ho-heon into the pharmacy. Sitting in front of the herbal medicines piled up in an armful, still unsorted, she finally opened her mouth and asked him.
“Why did you come here in the middle of the night to wait for me? It was already late when I went out; when did you come?”
Baek Ho-heon said.
“Around Jasi （11 PM to 1 AM）. I couldn’t sleep, so I came over after thinking about it. Second Sister, can you find some more books? I’ve memorized all the books you gave me last time.”
He scratched his head as he spoke.
“I don’t know what the contents mean, but I thought that if I memorized them first, whether I understand them or not, I could slowly figure out what they mean.”
After he finished speaking, worried that Baek Hak-yeom wouldn’t believe him, he immediately started memorizing the books.
Baek Hak-yeom was once again amazed by the Hong Family’s greatness. For such a young child to memorize medical books so quickly and fluently. How amazing will he be when he grows up? Wouldn’t he succeed even if he honed his studies to enter the civil service?
She slightly regretted it. Shouldn’t she have told Baek Ho-heon to study instead of learning medicine?
Thus, Baek Ho-heon memorized books for almost half a jasi. He asked Baek Hak-yeom.
“Were there any mistakes?”
Baek Hak-yeom shook her head.
“There were no mistakes. You’re more accurate than me.”
She wanted to ask Baek Ho-heon to think carefully, whether he didn’t want to hone his studies. So she said to the boy:
“If you want to enter the civil service, don’t focus your mind on medicine. This is just icing on the cake; it won’t add to your brilliance once you’ve entered the civil service. Besides, even if you want to enter the civil service, I can help. Isn’t your future brother-in-law the prince?
However, Baek Ho-heon resolutely shook his head.
“I only want to learn medicine. I don’t want to do business, and I hate official positions even more. I heard that you’re going to build an academy. You’ll teach medicine there, right? If so, I’ll go there to study. If I study all my life, I can practice herbal medicine and acupuncture.”
He clenched his fist.
“Second Sister, watch me. I won’t embarrass you.”
She had nothing more to say. This child had already made up his mind to follow this path. Then so be it. If the Baek Family opposes it later, she can help then.
She got up and found the books. Since Baek Ho-heon was learning these books through memorization, she found books introducing herbal medicines. They contained characters, paintings, and almost all the herbal medicines she knew.
“Memorize all these names and pictures. Regardless of anything else, you’ll at least be able to recognize the herbs later. This is the foundation of being a physician, so you must diligently memorize it.”
She urged Baek Ho-heon.
“If you want to know more about herbs, simply looking at pictures and books won’t do. You have to practice. While memorizing the book, also look at the herbalists outside, and be able to distinguish the herbs you memorized in the book yourself. Or go directly to Geumsaenggak and ask your fourth sister to find all the herbs little by little.”
After barely sending Baek Ho-heon out, Baek Hak-yeom sat in the pharmacy and couldn’t sleep. Her mind was filled with the image of Yeop Tae-hu singing, the story she heard after hypnotizing a young palace maid, and the words Ho Won-jeop said before she died.
Her intuition told her. These three things were very closely related. But what was the relationship? She felt like she had found a clue, but she couldn’t fully understand it. No matter how much she thought, she couldn’t find a breakthrough. If she found that breakthrough, Baek Gyeong-hong’s whereabouts would also become clear.
Of course, she still didn’t understand. What use would it be to take Baek Gyeong-hong, who was already ruined? Could someone like her, who is ruined, intimidate someone? What benefit would she have for the other party? Or perhaps, could someone cure her face and neck?
Baek Hak-yeom thought that was a possibility. If Ho Won-jeop had a hand in this, she would have left behind medicine to cure Baek Gyeong-hong before the palace banquet. She hadn’t met Ho Won-jeop many times, but through several confrontations, she knew something about the ability of that Daeguksa Temple. It wouldn’t have been difficult for Ho Won-jeop to make that kind of medicine.
If that’s the case, Yeop Tae-hu would have definitely used all means to rescue Baek Gyeong-hong.
Then the question returns to, whose hand did Yeop Tae-hu borrow to rescue her? And where was the rescued person sent?
With such speculations, she lay on the mat in the pharmacy and gradually fell asleep. She was too lazy to go back to her sleeping quarters.
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The day broke, and the servants woke up. Yeongchun searched for Baek Hak-yeom for a while, but she didn’t wake her. She wanted her to sleep a little longer. She woke her only after Muk-eo returned to the house, and after washing and having breakfast, she talked with her about the harvest they had obtained by looking around the tuberculosis village.
“That village was very large. There were about a thousand people inside, and it was a magnificent sight, but also very frightening.”
Although she was speaking, fear still remained in Muk-eo’s heart.
“It couldn’t be said that people were living in the village; they were simply trapped. There were no physicians to treat them. But the physicians couldn’t be blamed for being heartless; nor could the court be blamed. There were too many people, all of whom were seriously ill. If a physician set foot there, they would never be able to leave. The servant thought that the court also had no other way. But if the disease could be cured, they wouldn’t just be trapped and wait to die.”
This was Muk-eo’s impression. She continued.
“I arrived early. At that time, people weren’t yet asleep; they were sitting in groups of three or five on the street talking. One Mrs. Han was pregnant; her belly was already so large that it seemed to be at least seven months pregnant. The woman stroked her belly, wept, and said that this child wouldn’t be able to be born, because she didn’t have much time left. The woman had already started coughing up blood.
And there were also babies who were not yet a year old. Some children caught it from the adults in the house; some were born in this village. Their parents were all gone; it was unknown how much longer they could live.”
Muk-eo sniffled. Unable to bear it any longer, she said:
“If Miss can save them, please save those children first. They were so young; I couldn’t bear to watch them.”
Baek Hak-yeom had predicted this situation a long time ago, but hearing Muk-eo describe it firsthand was definitely different. So she nodded.
“Don’t worry. Since I’ve decided to take on this matter, I will take responsibility until the end. Although we have to go step by step and test the medicine to prove that my medicine is effective outside, the people in the village can’t wait that long. Some people can’t even wait a day or two, right?”
Muk-eo replied.
“Miss is right. Many people were on the verge of death; it wouldn’t be strange if they died at any moment.”
She sighed lightly. Then she got up and went into the pharmacy.
Muk-eo followed Baek Hak-yeom. Baek Hak-yeom selected herbal medicine, ground it into powder, carefully smoothed it with her hands, wrapped it in red paper, and handed it to Muk-eo.
Baek Hak-yeom said.
“Go there again tonight. Put this powdered medicine into the well in the tuberculosis village. It won’t be able to completely cure them, but it will at least prevent the symptoms from worsening. It will be enough to buy us time until we release our medicine to the market.”
Muk-eo was overjoyed.
“With this medicine, they can at least not die, right?”
Baek Hak-yeom nodded.
“They will be able to survive for a month. However, tuberculosis is not something that can be easily cured. So, this is to buy as much time as possible for them to survive. When the pills are accepted by the people, you can bring them then. And tell me something else.”
Muk-eo nodded and continued.
“Many of the people in that village were those who moved there as whole families. I heard that one family was a merchant family from another region; they originally traveled between the capital and other places doing business. However, they unexpectedly caught tuberculosis, and as a result, the whole family contracted tuberculosis.
They originally planned to leave the capital quietly and return to their hometown, but they were discovered by the people and reported to the government office. The government office prevented them from entering or leaving the capital and sent the entire family of seven to the tuberculosis village. In half a year, five of the seven died, and now the siblings are still alive, but they don’t have much time left.”
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