STVS 18

Chapter 18

The head of the So Family Estate.

His name was So Cheong-ja (蕭淸子).

He was Miss So Yeon-ri’s father—and the true employer of us servants.

For the record, I had never seen his face even once. That was because the Master had been away ever since I first entered the So Estate.

Originally, the So family’s main house had been located in Shandong Province.

The So-seong Merchant Guild (昭星商團) run by the estate had mainly operated around Shandong as well, but this time they had expanded southward, establishing new branches and traveling from place to place.

Because there was so much to handle, I remembered Uncle Hwang mentioning that the Master had been away for quite a long time.

Uncle Hwang had said:

“Our Master is an extraordinary man. A true gentleman who values benevolence and propriety, broad-minded and generous. He even has many friends in the martial world of the Central Plains. It’s especially well-known in the jianghu that the head of the Namgung Clan and our Master became sworn brothers!”

To be honest, I didn’t understand even half of what he was saying and just let it go in one ear and out the other. All I took away was that he was an incredibly great man.

So of course, I couldn’t help but be excited.

After all, he was the father of our young lady—the greatest peerless beauty in the world, the most beautiful woman of all time, So Yeon-ri. Surely, like father, like daughter—he couldn’t be ordinary in looks either, right?

With that expectation of a charming, distinguished middle-aged man, I enthusiastically went outside with the head steward—

…and then.

“Huh?”

I was a little taken aback.

He was certainly handsome. Around his forties, no potbelly, and with a neat face—by any standard, he was more than respectable.

But still…

“Isn’t he a bit… underwhelming to be Miss’s father…?”

While I was secretly disappointed, the head steward stepped forward and welcomed the Master.

“Why did you come without any notice, Master? Had you informed us in advance, we would have gone out to greet you…”

“Haha, it’s fine. Everyone knows how busy you are, Steward Jeok. How could I summon you back and forth? Don’t worry about it.”

“Still, if the Master calls, I must come. Did you finish what you were working on?”

“That can wait for later… but who is this child?”

At that moment, the Master’s gaze turned toward me. Nervous, I bowed deeply. The steward beside me quickly introduced me.

“This is the child who has recently begun serving the young lady. Truly a remarkable one. Everyone in the estate praises how sincerely and devotedly she serves Miss—”

The steward continued with a stream of flattering words.

How I spared no effort for the young lady, how my loyalty was unmatched, how sincerely I treated her—things so embarrassing my face grew hot just listening.

But the Master listened attentively. He even let out a sound of admiration when the steward mentioned that I had persuaded the young lady to take her medicine.

“Amazing. Ari has an incredibly stubborn nature—she rarely changes her mind once it’s set. To think you persuaded her…”

“Haha…”

“You’ve done well. Please continue to take good care of Ari.”

“Y-Yes! Please leave it to me!”

I bowed so deeply I nearly folded in half. The Master smiled warmly and patted my shoulder. Encouraged by his approval, I thought to myself:

“He’s such a good person…!”

As I watched the Master’s back with shining eyes as he headed toward the inner quarters, the steward—who was about to follow—hesitated and asked me:

“By the way, earlier you seemed like you wanted to say something. You mentioned having a request…”

Ah—my request.

“N-No, it’s nothing! Shouldn’t you go attend to the Master first? My request isn’t urgent, so I’ll bring it up later.”

The steward smiled gently.

“Very well. Be sure to tell me. I’ll be waiting.”

I licked my lips in secret as I watched him follow the Master inside.

Honestly, it was urgent. My mother’s life was at stake—who could be more desperate than me? But it wasn’t right to grab a busy man and speak carelessly.

I’ll explain it properly next time…

As I turned away, trying to suppress my regret, a thought crossed my mind.

“Then why did the Master come back now?”

I found out the answer not long after.

“Isn’t it about time for the young lady’s seizure?”

“Seizure?”

I was eating snacks with Aso when she said that.

Because of the Master’s sudden arrival, my schedule had opened up. The young lady had gone to meet him, and without having to attend her medicine, I had nothing to do—so I slacked off and ran into Aso.

I stuffed a bite of glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves into my mouth. Seeing that I’d finished it in one go, Aso handed me another and continued.

“Come to think of it, you probably don’t know. This one’s a bit late. The young lady has a seizure once every six months.”

“Once every six months?”

“Yeah. It used to be once a year, but the interval kept getting shorter until it became every half year. You know… she probably had one right before you came. I remember it clearly.”

“……”

“When that day comes, everyone’s on edge. Her seizures keep getting worse over time. That’s why we say she’s crossing the Gate of Life and Death. Whether she survives this episode… or passes away.”

“…Is it really that bad?”

“Of course. There were rumors before that she wouldn’t even live past fifteen. And you treated her like that without knowing?”

Ah… no. I didn’t know it was that serious. She was always so lively and energetic…

Only then did the reality hit me—how the young lady was living on borrowed time. That she was in a situation similar to my mother’s, slowly approaching death day by day.

Still, there was one thing better in her case.

She had a known solution.

That was—

“Yes. Now’s the time!”

I jumped to my feet. Aso, in the middle of peeling bamboo leaves, looked at me.

“What? What now? Where are you going?”

“I remembered something.”

“Again? You always suddenly remember things and suddenly run off. So what is it this time? No point asking—you won’t tell me, right?”

“No, it’s not like that. It’s just…”

I swallowed dryly and asked:

“Do you know where Physician Jeong is right now?”

* * *

I hurried toward the Sonang Garden.

I naturally assumed the physician would be at the apothecary, but it was a dead end. He had already been summoned by the Master and gone to Sonang Garden.

I paced anxiously nearby, waiting. Fortunately, before long, I spotted the physician coming out after finishing his examination.

I raised my hand high.

“Physician Jeong…!”

By now, the physician and I were fairly familiar with each other.

Ever since I began serving the young lady, I’d gotten injured so often. After treating my wounds daily and exchanging a few words each time, we’d grown comfortable enough to speak casually.

The physician turned at the sudden call, then widened his eyes when he saw me.

“Oh? What brings you here? You haven’t come by much lately… Are you hurt again?”

“No, no—it’s not me. I mean… is the young lady done with her examination? Is she all right?”

“Heh. Is that why you came? The young lady is… not well. In fact, I feel worse for troubling the Master’s heart.”

“Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about…”

I walked with the physician toward the apothecary, chatting as we went.

Once we arrived, I got straight to the point. I spoke of the knowledge I had from the original story—the method to alleviate the young lady’s illness—as though I had heard it somewhere.

At first, the physician listened absentmindedly, but soon he focused intently and let out a small exclamation.

“Oh! A new perspective indeed! So it’s not a lack of yang energy, but an overabundance of yin energy pushing her body to the brink of rupture… How did you come to know of such a method?”

“My mother is ill as well. While searching for physicians everywhere, I happened to meet a herbal gatherer. Talking with him reminded me of this.”

“Hm… with that theory, such a prescription does make sense. Using a medicine that disperses energy to release the excess qi filling the body…”

I looked at him with hopeful eyes.

“Then wouldn’t that method help the young lady’s illness too? This seizure as well…”

But my hope didn’t last long.

“That would be difficult.”

“Pardon?”

The physician let out a deep sigh and shook his head.

“I understand what you’re saying. But as the herbalist said, that would only be a temporary measure. If her body truly is overflowing with energy, then suppressing a seizure would require extracting a vast amount of qi all at once.”

“Th-Then… isn’t there an herb like that? One that can draw out a large amount of energy at once…?”

“There isn’t. Ordinary herbs can only nourish the body or slowly disperse toxins. To move such a massive amount of qi at once, only a spiritual elixir (靈藥) infused with the energy of heaven and earth would suffice.”

“……”

“Unless you can obtain something like that…”

The physician sighed again.

“There is no solution.”