Chapter 50 — Sincerity (1)
After returning from the provincial office, Choi Sihyeon and Doyul sat down to dinner with Seo Myeongjin and talked over what had happened.
When Seo Myeongjin heard that they had effectively been turned away, he spoke with an awkward expression.
"Haha... I'm sorry about that. Try to understand my position."
"Not at all. It was my own lack of preparation. How could I blame you, Hyung?"
Seo Myeongjin's former post had been Eunggyo of the Office of Special Advisors, a senior fourth-rank position.
The Office of Special Advisors was an academic bureau responsible for managing Confucian classics and historical records while also advising the king.
Because Seo Myeongjin had worked in the central government, it was difficult for him to openly discuss the governor's shady behavior.
Even raising such a matter directly could place him in an awkward position.
So Choi Sihyeon fully understood why Seo Myeongjin had kept quiet.
Even so, he had countless questions.
"...Hyung. May I ask you something?"
"Of course. Ask freely."
"I heard from the Gyeongsang Dosa that the matter currently drawing the governor's greatest attention is somehow connected to you."
"...Haha. Dosa Seo certainly told you quite a lot."
"Hyung, what kind of grudge do you have with that wicked thief?"
At Choi Sihyeon's worried question, Doyul's eyes widened.
...Wait.
If he's talking about the imprisoned thief, that means Hong Gil's subordinate.
Seo Myeongjin and Hong Myeong were involved with each other?
"I kept quiet because it was rather embarrassing."
Seo Myeongjin spoke with a complicated expression.
"As you know, I came down to my hometown to recuperate."
"But my condition hasn't improved."
"If anything, it's been growing worse."
Choi Sihyeon asked directly,
"May I ask... what illness you have?"
"I developed an abscess."
"...A-An abscess...!"
Doyul hadn't known exactly what the term meant at first.
But as he listened, he began to understand.
"So the reason you haven't been improving..."
"It had to be an abscess of all things?"
"That's right."
"Acupuncture, moxibustion, medicine... none of it has improved my condition."
Choi Sihyeon looked deeply saddened and clasped Seo Myeongjin's hand.
"Hyung... the pain must be unbearable."
"How could you greet me with such a peaceful expression?"
"Haha... What are you saying?"
"I was so happy to see such a dear guest that I forgot the pain."
Cold sweat ran down Seo Myeongjin's face.
Doyul fell into thought.
An abscess...
Could it be some kind of tumor?
He knew virtually nothing about medicine.
Still, the fact that Seo Myeongjin had been treated with needles and herbal medicine only made him more uneasy.
"Hyung, then what does your abscess have to do with that thief?"
"...He came to me with a proposal."
"He said he could cure my illness if I introduced him to the governor."
"...What?"
"Is that true?"
Seo Myeongjin's expression darkened.
"Yes."
"But the treatment he proposed was the problem."
"What kind of treatment was he trying to perform?"
Seo Myeongjin hesitated before answering.
"He pulled out a butcher's knife used for cutting meat..."
"And told me he intended to cut into my living flesh."
"You damned lunatic!"
Choi Sihyeon shot to his feet.
"He dared say he would put a knife to your body?"
"Not even an acupuncture needle, but a blade?"
"And a butcher's knife at that?!"
Surgery did exist in Joseon.
Among commoners, there were cases where flesh was cut away with a knife.
But among the yangban class, cutting into the body was an enormous taboo.
So Hong Myeong's proposal to carve into a yangban's flesh with a knife fit for a butcher could hardly have been accepted.
Choi Sihyeon stood there seething.
Seo Myeongjin, however, continued calmly.
"I thought about it for a moment."
"But I decided anger would accomplish nothing, so I simply sent him away."
"Then that fool apparently failed to come to his senses and went directly to the governor."
"Why in the world would he go to the governor?"
"I don't know either."
"I heard he wanted to ask something of him, but..."
"The outcome was obvious."
Seo Myeongjin sighed.
"The governor found his movements suspicious and had him arrested."
"Then, while investigating him, they learned that he had previously drawn a blade in front of me."
"So now he's awaiting punishment."
"Good heavens..."
"So that's what happened..."
...Hong Myeong was trying to treat Seo Myeongjin.
Everyone thinks his actions were insane, but considering the circumstances, there's a good chance he really did intend to cure him.
Doyul put down his spoon and fell into thought.
Something about this is serious.
How did this play out in the original drama?
Doyul organized what he knew based on everything that had happened so far.
"First, let's sort out the facts we know for certain."
"The Gyeongsang Governor's review of the Ibang's death was inevitable."
"So even in the original drama, Yeoni, who conducted the first examination, would've had to come to Daegu."
The Ibang's death had occurred independently of Doyul's intervention.
So regardless of how the dispute involving Jeongmu and Park Jeongdo unfolded in the original drama, criminal proceedings over the Ibang's death still would have taken place.
And the governor would inevitably have conducted the review.
"If I hadn't been here, Kim Jiseok would have brought Yeoni to the provincial office himself."
"The fact that Cheongun also had business in Daegu is indirect evidence."
"In the original storyline, Kim Jiseok probably would've traveled to Daegu with Cheongun."
"And the sequence of events I've been experiencing would've happened to Kim Jiseok instead."
Doyul tapped the table lightly.
"But..."
"Hong Gil eventually becomes Kim Jiseok's right-hand man."
With events unfolding this way, it was becoming obvious what must have brought Hong Gil into Kim Jiseok's service.
"...No matter how I look at it, this incident must have been important."
At first, Doyul had thought the journey to Daegu was simply a measure to protect Yeoni.
He assumed that after this matter ended and they went to Hanyang, the real story would finally begin.
But now the situation looked different.
Doyul remembered a conversation with Changwoo.
Back when his three classmates kept pressuring him to watch the historical drama, Doyul had complained to Changwoo, the one who was always the gentlest with him.
"Hyung, do I seriously have to watch this?"
"Even if you don't like it, just give it a try, Doyul."
"I thought the first episode was just okay, but it gets really good from the second episode!"
"The second episode starts after they leave the original village, and the scale gets way bigger..."
"Ah, wait. That might be a spoiler, so I'll stop there!"
"Just endure it until the second chapter, okay?"
"...Fine."
"...I should've listened to him."
Changwoo's words hadn't contained any direct clues.
But there was still something useful Doyul could extract.
"If what Hyung said is right, then the Park Jeongdo and Ibang incident was the first episode."
"That means I'm currently in the second chapter."
"...Even without knowing the details, that's a huge clue."
If Park Jeongdo and Jeongmu's scheme had been one complete chapter, then its primary settings were Yeongsan and Eonyang.
And the character placed most prominently in the spotlight had clearly been Lee Isu.
If the second chapter followed a similar structure...
Then Daegu was likely the new main stage.
And there was probably another complicated and dangerous incident waiting here, comparable to the schemes involving Park Jeongdo and Jeongmu.
