Chapter 62: Geoncheondong [3]

Ganghyuk did not know who it was, but it must be a high-ranking official, considering that how Sunshin stood up promptly to show his respect. So, Ganghyuk stood up and made himself tidy as well. He was accustomed to the life in Joseon, as it had been some time since he arrived here.

“Ehem…”

The lord that Sunshin mentioned clear his throat to let them know that he had arrived. At the same time, Sunshin rushed out of the room. He was so agile that he could not be considered drunk at all.

“Have you arrived, your lordship?”

“Yes, are you preparing to go?”

“Yes, I owe you a lot.”

“No, I did not do anything. You deserved it.”

They looked very friendly as they exchanged pleasantries and talked a bit. Ganghyuk was introduced a while later.

“Nice to meet you. I am Baik Ganghyuk.”

“Oh, you are Baik Ganghyuk? I have heard of you many times.” The middle-aged man laughed jovially, seeming to be glad to meet him.

“I heard that you were a good doctor.”

“No, sir. I just know a little about medicine.” He had learned to express his humility in Joseon as he bent his body, pretending to be a humble man.

“Please come in. I will order to prepare a new table.”

“Okay.”

The man came inside the room with the cushion on the saddle.

‘Eum? Why does he carry his cushion?”

It reminded Ganghyuk of the Mayor of Anseon as he went inside the room while wondering. The dishes and bowls were all gone already. The maid must have cleaned them up quickly.

‘How in the world does he train his maid? Did he hit them to make them follow the instructions?’

Ganghyuk thought of his body servant Dolseok, who was so different from the maid of Sunshin. He was faithful, but very slow.

Recently, he did not follow his instructions, and complained a lot.

“She will get a new one soon.” Sunshin said while sitting down on the floor. It seemed like he had never broken his leg.

The newcomer probably had the same thought, as he showed a satisfactory smile on his face. He then went on to place the cushion carefully.

“You seem really well now.”

“It was all done by Ganghyuk.”

“You are really a great doctor!”

“I forgot to introduce your lordship to Ganghyuk.”

“Oh, did you? I thought that you had already introduced me.”

The man sat down on the cushion very carefully while Ganghyuk tried to diagnose the disease. Considering that he had frowned a little when he sat down, he was probably in pain.

“Does he have hemorrhoids?”

He was a twin of the mayor of Anseon as far as the disease condition was concerned. Of course, this man here looked way more dignified and decent.

“I will introduce myself.”

“Ah, yes, your lordship!”

Ganghyuk bent his head. He did not know who it was, but he was called lordship anyway, which meant that he was a high-ranking official. It was possible that he was a Grade 1 or 2 official. There would be no harm in having a good relationship with him.

“I am Ryu Seongyong. I have known Sunshin since he was very young.”

“Ryu… Seongyong!” At that moment, Ganghyuk felt sorry that he thought of the mayor of Anseon on seeing Ryu Seongyong.

“Eum? Why?”

“No sir, I have admired you always…”

“Haha… Thank you.”

Ryu Seongyong was a famous man even in the contemporary times. He might have met many people who showed the same reaction as Ganghyuk. But, it was the first time to see a man shouting like Ganghyuk did.

“I am honored.” Ganghyuk’s voice was delivered from his heart. He was sitting between Lee Sunshin and Ryu Seongyong right now, truly feeling honored and glorified.

He would not exchange this place for the world, with the dragon on the left and tiger on the right.

With this great official and admiral, how was Joseon at such a risk?

What a leader he was!

‘Seonjo, what did you do?’ He could not say anything.

Rattle!

Just as he was lost in his thoughts, Sunshin’s maid got a table. As Sunshin said that he had gone hunting, he probably had caught many pheasants. This table also had a pheasant and a jar.

Ryu Seongyong seemed to know the taste of the drink already as he said with pleasant laughter. “We met today to see him off. Fill your glass.”

“Yes, your lordship.”

With the proposal of Ryu Seongyong, Sunshin and Ganghyuk filled the glass quickly. When everybody had his glass in his hand, Seongyong opened his mouth again.

“Sunshin, I had some difficulties to recommend you to Josanbo Manho.”

Josanbo Manho… It was quite a high position for a newly passed officer to be appointed at, a grade 4 official. Sunshin knew that it was all due to the recommendation of Ryu Seongyong that it became possible.

“I know, your lordship!”

“Be a good officer!”

“Yes, your lordship. I will not forget it.”

“Good. I am sorry that I could not tell you a happy story before you go.”

“No, your encouragement is enough.”

“Heoheo… Good! Let’s have the glass.”

The session became a little awkward after Seongyong came, as Ganghyuk and Sunshin could not enjoy themselves freely. Instead, they drank while listening to Seongyong’s remarks.

“Although Sunshin knew it already, maybe Ganghyuk has not heard about it.”

“Yes, your lordship.”

“A few days ago, Tachibana Yashiro came to the palace as an envoy.”

“Yashiro?” It was a totally unfamiliar name. He knew only a few Japanese actually. He knew Sora Aoi or Satoshi, who were Japanese AV stars.

“He flirted with Sangju Mayor Song Eunghyung, and showed rude behavior in Hanyang.”

Ganghyuk did not like the Japanese because of the Japanese bandits in Eotanmyeon. He remembered the day when Changgweon died to save his life.

At that moment, Sunshin said with shining eyes. “If I were there, I would have cut him with a single stroke.”

“No, he was an envoy. We should not kill him without special reasons.”

“How could an envoy dare to insult people like that? He said to the mayor that he had white hair without doing any good deeds…”

“He sprinkled pepper in the welcome dinner. That was beyond tolerance.”

It seemed that Sunshin had already known the story, considering how he showed his anger. Seongyong watched him conveying his determination, then showed a smile on his face. It seemed that he had some other intentions.

“Therefore, we will not accept his offer.”

“Then, won’t you send an envoy to Japan?”

“No. We are not accustomed to sea travel. How can we send an envoy carelessly?”

“Good! That is a good decision!”

So, they drank more while laughing. Ganghyuk could not understand the situation fully because he did not know the context. But, he could gain some new information from this nevertheless.

‘At least, it would take some time for Kim Seongil and Hwang Yungil to go to Japan as envoys.’

He did not know who Yashiro was, but anyway, it seemed that Joseon would not send an envoy to Japan. Then, they would have some time to Imjinwaeran.

Realizing that, Ganghyuk became a bit relaxed. He was worrying about Imjinwaeran because Sunshin was starting his public life earlier.

Now, he was conscious enough to ask questions. “Sorry, your lordship. I do not know what happened. What did the envoy do?”

Seongyong laughed at the remark of Ganghyuk. “Ah, yes. You were in Suwon.”

“He participated in the combat in Eotanmyeon as an army surgeon.”

“Yes, I heard. Yungil wrote about you. He filled half of the letter with your story.”

It seemed that Yungil had told everything about Ganghyuk to Seongyong as well, who was apparently moved by the contents of the letter.

“I heard that you even cured smallpox along with Heo Jun, who is in Naeuiwon right now.”

“Yes, I heard that too. They are really great people.” Sunshin pushed him hard with his eyes, trying to tell him to accept the offer and get an office.

‘I don’t like Seonjo.’

Wealth and power were always good, but he did not want to serve for Seonjo. So, Ganghyuk shook his head and Sunshin stopped pushing him. Seongyong did not notice the silent conversation between two as he spoke.

“Anyway, the man called Yashiro is a very rude fellow.” Seonyong continued after sipping his drink. “He insulted Sangju mayor Song Eunghyung by saying, ‘I myself came to have white hair after fighting in the battlefield all my life. But, you have played with Gisaeng and enjoyed your life here. So, why do you have white hair like me?’ He said that on his face with an expression of confusion as if it was totally incomprehensible for him.”

“He was a rude one undoubtedly. How could he behave as he pleased in somebody else’s country?”

Sunshin drank wine fiercely as if he could not suppress his anger. On the side, Ganghyuk listened to Seongyong while nodding his head.

‘It must be true that he spent his whole life in the battlefield.’

In Japan, it was the age of civil wars between the 15th and the 16th century. He did not know how old Yashiro was, but he might have been on the battlefield for decades. To him, the peaceful Joseon might have been truly unfamiliar.

‘Son of a bitch.’

He could not help from swearing thinking of the war that Joseon would suffer because of the Japanese.

“What did he do at the party?”

Seonyong answered after being satisfied with the anger in Ganghyuk’s eyes.

“You know how precious pepper is, right?”

“Yes, I know.”

It was very dear and scarce, so commoners could not get it at all.

‘It was said to be imported from Japan. Most of it was consumed in the palace, and the rest of it was exported to China.’

“He sprinkled pepper everywhere during the party. What would you think happened? The Gisaengs and music players all tried to pick it up.”

“The party must have been ruined.”

“That was not the end. He then said something after the party which was even worse.”

“What did he say?”

Seongyong could not suppress his anger while thinking of the night, so he tried to pacify himself for a while before telling him. He breathed deeply a few times and continued. “He told that Joseon would fall because the people were not disciplined.”

“If he were within hailing distance, I would cut him definitely.” Sunshin could not suppress his anger at all as he drank consecutively.

However, Ganghyuk thought that it was not totally wrong.

‘It is half true.’

If it were not for these two patriotic people, Joseon must have truly collapsed.

He had experienced the combat in Eotanmyeon. The bows were too old to shoot arrows, and were easily broken. There were some good bows too. But, they did not have enough arrows. The governor said that he would supplement weapons, but he did not know how effective it would be.

Sunshin managed to calm down and said to Seongyong. “By the way, you wanted to see Ganghyuk.”

“Yes, I did.” Seongyong said as he changed position, clearly feeling uncomfortable.

“Eum… What should I do?”

“Please give me some time.”

If it was a normal situation, he would have already picked up the blade and tried to have an operation. But, the object in question were the buttocks of Ryu Seongyong. He did not want to make an imperfect operation like he did for the mayor of Anseong.

He wanted to make his buttocks brand new or nearly brand new.

“Is that so? When do you think is good? It interrupts me a lot during the work.”

Ganghyuk did not know at that moment, but Ryu Seongyong had actually fainted during the war because of the hemorrhoids.

His hemorrhoids were very severe.

“I will make it as soon as possible.”

“Okay! I will wait for your message then.”

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