Ch 336: The Yu Family’s Method
At that time, Baek Hak-yeom was leaving the city with Donggungwon. Since Muk-eo was left at home, the maid she took this time was Yeongchun.
Prime Minister Yu Deok-an’s mansion was fifteen li west. Donggungwon told her on the way.
“The mansion looks rather unassuming from the outside. Compared to the villas of high-ranking officials, it’s somewhat lacking. However, the inside is quite elegant. Every building, landscape, even a single stone, has a unique form. It shows considerable effort was put into its construction at the time. Prime Minister Yu is a scholar who has spent his life appreciating calligraphy and painting, cherishing them as prized possessions. He has countless rare records, some hundreds, perhaps even thousands of years old. The mansion we’re going to will be filled with precious objects, each worth a whole fortress, visible everywhere. They are placed inside as if they were ordinary objects. Even a casually placed chair could be a several hundred-year-old antique. It is quite valuable.”
Baek Hak-yeom frowned throughout this explanation.
“Even a contemporary Prime Minister, a high-ranking official of the first rank, even if receiving a generous salary, could not accumulate such immense wealth? What kind of character is this Yu Deok-an, that he could possess so many fine objects?”
Donggungwon chuckled and said,
“His character is actually quite decent. In any case, the Prime Minister Yu I’ve met is not a great sage, but he is certainly not bad. Those objects, to put it simply, were all legally obtained. This is because his family has had a hobby of collecting antiques for five or six generations. The objects accumulated over generations have been passed down, how could they be counted?”
“Furthermore, the Yu Clan has many talented individuals. Almost every generation produces extraordinary talent, whether in poetry, writing, or singing and dancing; nothing is unorthodox. Therefore, they always receive rewards. Even if His Imperial Majesty doesn’t bestow them, Empress Mama will. Or a Prince, or a Royal Prince, or the Queen Dowager. Furthermore, since they happen to know their preferences, the rewards are also those things, and so receiving rewards has led to their present state.”
Baek Hak-yeom was impressed. It turned out they were legally obtained. Apparently, the successive monarchs of Dongjin were lovers of talent.
Donggungwon continued to obsessively explain Yu Deok-an’s mansion. Baek Hak-yeom felt that her disciple’s detailed explanation of the Yu Clan was not merely for the sake of understanding, but had another purpose.
She simply listened in silence.
Donggungwon said,
“Prime Minister Yu’s villa was originally built for a concubine. It has been over ten years. Building a mansion outside and letting a concubine live there was because there was a strong-willed wife in the house. She controlled the power and was extremely jealous. Prime Minister Yu’s concubines died one after another at her hands. At least five, by conservative estimates. The concubine who came to live in this mansion was Prime Minister Yu’s most beloved. To protect her safety, she couldn’t be left within Sangdo City, and had to be secretly placed in the suburbs. But unexpectedly, her peaceful days didn’t last even two years. The concubine eventually died. From then on, Prime Minister Yu greatly quarreled with his wife, and his wife even went to Empress Mama.
This place is a painful memory for Prime Minister Yu. He hadn’t been there for several years. He even forbade anyone from mentioning it. He was afraid of recalling the painful past. However, after she fell ill, his wife insisted on sending him here. And she pressured him to submit a petition requesting rest on the grounds that he needed to paint a landscape painting. Prime Minister Yu knew he couldn’t reveal his illness, and not for himself, but for the sake of the Yu family, he endured it without going against the Grand Lady.
Baek Hak-yeom listened to his story and asked,
“You are a physician who protects his life, but in protecting his life, you also had a very high chance of contracting the illness yourself. So, even if you had a deep relationship with the Prime Minister, you couldn’t have possibly examined him and prescribed medicine risking your own life. I believe my disciple is not one who would risk their life for material gain. Even just lying with him and hiding his symptoms is already breaking Dongjin’s laws. So tell me, what conditions did the Yu Clan offer in exchange for this deal?”
Donggungwon answered truthfully, without hiding anything.
“Master’s words are right. I am not one who ignores a just cause. Someone who has contracted a serious illness that could rapidly involve the entire household, even if I had a personal relationship with Yu Deok-an, I shouldn’t hide it and protect him. The reason I had to do that for the Yu Clan is… because they are holding my younger sister.”
“What?”
Yeongchun couldn’t bear to listen anymore.
“Donggung Teacher means the Yu Clan has taken your younger sister hostage? You are truly shameless. On what grounds did you do that? Even if he is the Prime Minister, he doesn’t have that kind of power, does he? To seize someone, isn’t that only possible through a government office?”
Donggungwon was also very embarrassed. This matter had burdened him for too long. The Yu Clan had pressured him to take care of Yu Deok-an for several more months to prolong his life. Although, to guarantee the physician’s life, he had gone in with a screen in between, his face hidden by a mask, he still couldn’t completely rest assured. Therefore, every time he left the Yu Clan’s villa, he thoroughly cleansed his body with medicine and burned all the clothes he had worn.
He honestly told Baek Hak-yeom,
“Master, I’m overjoyed that you accepted me as your disciple yesterday. But to be honest, at that moment, I didn’t think of using Master’s status to save my younger sister. In any case, he is the current Prime Minister, and the Yu Clan has maintained power for so long, it’s no exaggeration to say that their power reaches the heavens. I didn’t want to involve Master. But unexpectedly, Master mentioned having a way to cure tuberculosis. Only then did I think about saving my younger sister.”
Having said this, he stood up and knelt before Baek Hak-yeom in the carriage.
“My parents passed away three years ago. My younger sister is only six years old this year. My parents had her in their old age. She’s the only family I have left in this world. Therefore, Master, I beg you. If you are going to make a deal with the Yu Clan, please save my younger sister. Although the Yu Clan may not harm her now, I am very worried that she might contract the disease. If they don’t wait for our medicine…”
“I understand, get up.”
Baek Hak-yeom didn’t let him say more and reached out. Then, without any courtesy, she pulled Donggungwon up. Her strength was so great that a grown man was lifted up by one hand of a young girl. Donggungwon was shocked. But he realized. His Master was not only skilled in medicine and poison skills. Her martial arts were also extraordinary. He recalled the night of the palace banquet. His Master and the Tenth Prince had surprised everyone by leaping from Unnamed Mountain.
“Donggungwon.”
Seeing the other person sit down, she said meaningfully,
“I don’t know how you regard me, but the moment you took me as your master, I decided to consider you as my family. No matter what difficulties you face, I hope you think of me first. There may be situations that bother me, but I am your master, so all of it is my responsibility. Donggungwon, I will save your younger sister. However, if there is a next time, I hope you don’t tell me the truth only when it’s like this. Isn’t there a saying that once you become a master, you should treat them like a father for life? At least I will use everything I can to help and protect you. Do you understand what I mean?”
Donggungwon had never been a sentimental person. This was because of the countless deaths and partings he had experienced in his half-life working in medicine. Though not cold-hearted, he was certainly not the easily swayed boy of the past.
But Baek Hak-yeom’s words moved him. Baek Hak-yeom watched as Donggungwon slightly tilted her head and quickly wiped her face with her hand. She couldn’t see exactly what she was wiping, but the slightly reddened eyes were very clear.
She knew what was in his heart. His only family was in the hands of another, their life threatened. On top of that, his work and life were also threatened.
The fact that the pathogen could easily spread to more people made the situation worse. In addition, there was another stepping stone laid by the Yu Clan. The longer Yu Deok-an lived, the more time the Yu Clan gained.
It was a fortune beyond measure. They needed time to arrange the path laid using the Prime Minister’s position. Such a huge family couldn’t possibly withstand a pillar suddenly being pulled out one day.
Donggungwon said nothing more. He trusted Baek Hak-yeom’s abilities, and even if the newly appointed Angel Princess couldn’t do anything to the Yu Clan, he thought her status as Queen Consort would bother them. She might even frighten them.
What a funny thing to say, who is the King? The one who has nothing to fear in the world is the Tenth Prince. He appears calm on the outside, but he is a Madu who can take someone’s head with a single hand. Even the Yu Clan couldn’t dare to touch the Tenth Prince. So, Donggungwon believed his younger sister would survive.
No one spoke on the way. Only when they were almost there did Baek Hak-yeom ask Donggungwon,
“Do you know if your younger sister is in Sangdo City or in this villa?”
Donggungwon nodded.
“I know. She’s right here in this villa. In a very secluded corner of this mansion, far from where Prime Minister Yu lives. I made a promise with them. But if I fail to see Prime Minister Yu’s illness on time, or delay the schedule, not fulfilling their demands, they will harm Soyo.”
Donggungwon’s younger sister was Donggungyo.
Baek Hak-yeom nodded.
“She’s in this villa, that’s good. It saves the trouble of going back and forth. Once we arrive, we’ll put Prime Minister Yu’s illness aside and demand they release the person first. If they don’t, I’ll just storm in. It’s only tuberculosis, don’t worry. It’s nothing serious, I guarantee we’ll safely go in and come out.”
Yeongchun absolutely trusted her Miss’s ability. On top of that, after following Muk-eo and harassing Baek Heung-eon in the middle of the night, her courage had also grown. Even hearing that they might have to storm in and snatch someone, Yeongchun was so excited that she wanted to jump for joy.
“Are we really going to snatch her? That’s so exciting.”
Yeongchun excitedly rubbed her hands, then pulled out a pouch of powdered medicine from her sleeve.
“I’m glad I brought this along. Later, I’ll be in the front for Miss. If anyone disobeys, I’ll just knock them out.”
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