Chapter 77 - Daedonggye [3]

Chapter 77: Daedonggye [3]
Ganghyuk could not sleep well for days because of anxiety.
He was worried if Byon Sungbok would talk about Yeoju somewhere.
With reasonable inference, it was nearly impossible, but he could not take it easy.
‘He is a traitor so where does he dare to talk about her in public?’
At most, he could talk about her to Jeong Yeorip.
It was improbable that he would talk about her in a government office or in the marketplace.
‘But I am still anxious. Goodness.’
A treason.
Although he did not know about history very well, he knew what the result of the treason was.
A traitor or a wrongly accused traitor might have tragic death…
‘There were a lot of Sahwa and Oksa in our history.’ [Sahwa means a massacre of scholars and Oksa means death in prison literally]
When he was a high school student, it was a big task to remember various Sahwas and Oksas. A lot of people died of such massacre, and he could not remember all of them.
He was brought to Joseon unexpectedly and he managed to find the way to live in the given state. He really hated to be involved such an incident.

Aho

He sighed.

Ei

He gave up thinking further.
Even though it was daytime, he laid down on the futon.
Somebody knocked on his door while he spent time like that.

Sir, Yeoni and Makbong came back.


Ok, let them come in.


Yes.

Dolseok opened the door and Yeoni and Makbong came in.
Ganghyuk laid down on the futon for some time so his hair was tangled.
He did not care to show his tangled hair.

What did you find?


Yes… Daedonggye is not an usual organization, sir.

Yeoni started to talk.

At first it was organized in Jeollado but now it had expanded to Hwanghaedo. Byon Sungbok is a member who works in Hwanghaedo.


Hwanghaedo?


Yes, sir.


Eum.

Jellado was quite far from Hanyang.
But Hwanghaedo… It was a very short distance.
He could not help thinking about dark thoughts.

What are their activities?


It seems that the organization is for the ones who are strong and agile. There were not many people who knew about it in detail and even the people who knew it did not want to talk about it.

Yeoni seemed to talk that it was not easy to find but she could finally find what it was.
Ganghyuk asked with shining eyes.

Then, what do they do?


Mostly they gathered and trained their martial arts… there was a very famous incident.


Incident?


Yes, when Japanese bandits invaded Jeonju, they defeated Japanese bandits with the request of Jeonbu Buyun (Grade 2 officila).


Wow, they might have strong force.

Ganghyuk could not hide his exclamation.
Buyun is a high-ranking official comparable to Gwanchalsa [A provincial Governor].
If he made a request, the Japanese force might be quite big.
‘It must be the size of the bandits that attacked Eotanmyeon.’
If they defeated such Japanese bandits, the force might not be negligible.
‘Is he really trying to make a treason?’
On the other hand, he could understand Yeorip a bit.
With his investigation, Ganghyuk found out that Yeorip was an extraordinary genius.
He passed Gwogeo [National Exam to recruit a government official in Joseon] and got an office when he was very young. He changed his party from Seoin to Dongin suddenly.
He did not know the exact reason, but it seemed that King Seonjo hated Yeorip.
He went to his hometown after King Seonjo came to the throne.
‘He might not like Seonjo, either.’
He had not met Seonjo but considering all the books and media that Ganghyuk had read in that world, Seonjo was not an attractive king.
He was probably a bad man.
‘But treason is not a good thing, either’
The subject in Joseon where loyalty was the best virtue, thought of treason!
That could not be successful.
Ganghyuk shook his head and then asked.

Was there any other special event?


No, sir. But they might have meetings regularly.

It comforted him.
With Ganghyuk’s calculation, Gichukoksa was still far.
If the history did not change because of butterfly effect that he had made, he would have some time before the terrible event.

Good. You did a good job.


Thank you, sir.

When Yeoni finished the report and was about to leave, Makbong hesitated to leave.

Why are you not going?


Sir, I have something to report.


Oh, what is it?

He did not expect Makbong had something to tell him.
He might use his brain this time.
But Ganghyuk did not expect much and asked him insincerely.

Ok, tell me. What is it?


Yes. Well…


What are you doing?


Ok, I will tell you. After the incident in Jeonju, Daedonggye became famous.


Yes, it might be…

A private martial art group defeated Japanese bandits!
No wonder that it became famous.

Therefore, many people joined the group and among them, there are many famous people.


Is that so? Do you know any famous people who joined the group?


Including Byon Sungbok, there were Park Yeonryeong, Ji Hamdu and Euiyeon. They were famous in their fields.


Heum

Although Makbong told they were famous, Ganghyuk had not heard of them.
That means they were not great people who left their names in the history.
‘Yes, they are a local group at the moment.’
He thought he should not need to worry about them anymore.
Ganghyuk laughed.
When he looked back at it in later time, it was ridiculous to ignore this report. But it was the right thing for him to do at that time.

Ok, good job. Makbong, you did a good job.


We are learning letters from Miss Yeonju.


Really? Yes, she is a good teacher.


Yes, sir. She is kind and knowledgeable.

Ganghyuk agreed that Yeoju was a really good teacher.
She was really good at giving some examples whenever she taught letters.
It made her lecture very interesting and Ganghyuk could remember the letters well by associating the old stories that she had told.
Ganghyuk had built up good knowledge in Sino literature [Korean literature written in Chinese] thanks to her and it helped his life in this world a lot.

Did I tell you that we would go to the Lord Ryu Seongyong’s house? I have a meeting there.


Yes, sir. We are ready to go.

Yeoni showed the sword on her belt.
After the sudden attack by Byon Sungbok, she was always armed.
It seemed that she thought she was the bodyguard of Ganghyuk.

Ok, good. Let’s go.

Ganghyuk stood up from the seat.
He held his home visit bag in his hand.
He knew it was very useful based on his experience. It was useful not only in the medical scene but also in the combats.
‘It is a magic thing.’
He did not know what kind of magic it was.
However, it was very useful to him anyway.

Sir, your horse is ready.

Dolseok was ready to hold the reign of the horse.
On his waist, there was a short club.
He might think that he could fight better with small club than with a sword, which he could not sway proficiently.

Good. I think we will not have any incident on the way to his house. It is very near from here.


Yes, I think so. But it is better to be prepared, sir.


Yes, it would not do harm to be fully prepared for some bad incidents.

Actually, they did not know that they would have an attack on the way home from Hangbok’s house.
It was a life to have unexpected things like that.
It was always better to be prepared.

Let’s go.


Yes, sir.

The group looked quite good.
In the front, Dolseok and Makbong protected Ganghyuk and beside him there were Yeoni and the Flail.
Behind them, Bandit 1, Bandit 2 and Yeoju followed.
It could be comparable to a marching group of a government official.

Hugh, look at him.


Yes, he pretends to be an official. It is said that in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is a king.

There were some people who criticized Ganghyuk.
They were the noblemen who were in government offices and received salary from the government.
They could not criticize him in public, but they had a bad feelings in them.
Although they had public offices, Ganghyuk did not respect them at all.
Ganghyuk did not care but the servants were offended by them.

Sir, they do not respect you. I think you must have a public office.

Dolseok wanted Ganghyuk to enter government service most.
It was because he knew that the governor and lord Ryu Seongyong had recommended him.

Public Office?


Yes, sir.


Do you think I am matched with the image of a public official?


Eo, I don’t know…

Dolseok was the one who could not tell a lie.
He hesitated to say something but soon he said what he thought.

A man like Sir Lee Hangbok is doing a public job…


Ah, em. Yes, you are right.

He did not know that such a free spirited man could be in Joseon.
He wore the public office uniform and went to the palace to meet the king.
Thinking of him, Ganghyuk might be able to perform a public office.
‘I can ingratiate myself with my superiors.’
He had lived in the world that the flattering is a must.
He was ready to bow and scrape, if needed.
‘Yes, it would be better if I had a public office. The attack last time and the things related to Yeoju…’
If he became a public officer, he would have more power than now.
Then he would not be attacked in Hanynag.
It would be easier for him to hide Yeoju.
Ganghyuk thought that he might have an office to keep what he had.

Please think about it, sir. A public office will solve many issues.

These days, it seemed that Dolseok was more of a learned man than Ganghyuk .

Wow, you made a good statement. You might have learned it from Yeoju.


Yes, sir.

Yeoju added a praise.

He is very clever. He does not forget what I have taught.


Yes, I know that. He is good at medicine now.


Sir, don’t exaggerate. If you brush gold on me, it will shine too much.


See, you use figure of speech. You become a learned man.


Haha.

They arrived at Ryu Seongyong’s house.
It was natural because it was a stone throw distance.

Doctor, glad to see you again.

The servants who have already known Ganghyuk received his horse and greeted Ganghyuk.
He tried to make his clothes tidy before he went in.
He saw a marching group coming.
It was Lee Hangbok who led the marching group.
He was not smiling. More specifically, the smile on his face disappeared, when he saw Ganghyuk.

Yeo, Ganghyuk.


Yes, sir.


Good to meet you here. I have something to tell you.


Oh, what is it?

Ganghyuk thought if something happened to his wife.
But it could not be. His treatment was perfect.
If not, he should feel sorry for the people of the performance group who had sacrificed their legs for the experiments.

It is not a good subject to discuss here.

Hangbok pulled Ganghyuk to the corner of the yard.
The servants did not stop them.
The servants knew that those two noblemen were unusual, and they did not respect etiquette too much.

What is it, sir?


I heard that there was a fuss near your house. I went to the scene out of curiosity and the police had the things that you had used. Fortunately, the policeman lost the thing the next day, so it was not considered as an evidence.


Ah, on that day.


Yes, what happened?

It was an open question, but his tone suggested that he had already known the answer.
It was similar to the question that old professors asked in the operation room.
To check and get the confirmation.
A kind of trap.
When he was asked such a question, he must think well in advance before giving an answer.

Nothing.

He tried to pretend that there was not a special thing.
But Lee Hangbok was not an easy type.
He asked again looking into his eyes.
This time, he asked a closed question.

There is a rumor that a person affiliated with Jeong Yeorip was seen in Hanyang. Is it related with the incident at that night?