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Chapter 50
Furthermore, My Uncle…
“His eyes are dark under the lids—like a panda!”
It looked as though my uncle hadn’t slept in days.
The dark shadows beneath his eyes showed just how much burden rested on his shoulders.
Which meant, in other words, that without him, the Medical Hall wouldn’t function properly.
I looked at the mountain of paperwork stacked high before asking him,
“Why are there so many documents to process at the Medical Hall?”
“Ah, these are reports related to the Tang family’s clinics scattered throughout the Central Plains. And these…”
Tang Sayuk rifled through the stack and pulled out one document.
“These are for a new project we’re planning. It’s still in the planning stage, so there’s a bit more paperwork than usual.”
A new project?
“A new project?”
“Yes. We’re planning to expand the Tang Clinic and build a teahouse beside it.”
Tang Sayuk smiled.
“Do you know what the hardest illness in the world to cure is?”
“Hmm… Father’s illness?”
“That’s certainly difficult… but, let’s set that aside for a moment.”
I thought for a while.
From what I had learned, there were two kinds of illnesses—those of the body and those of the heart.
And between the two, of course, the hardest to heal was—
“An illness of the heart.”
The body has form and wounds that can be treated with medicine.
But how does one heal something invisible and untouchable—the heart?
Tang Sayuk smiled, as if I had given the right answer.
“Yes. The illness of the heart cannot be cured by medicine alone.”
He looked at me and said softly,
“But I’ve always wanted to create a place that could heal the heart as well.”
As he spoke, a distant look clouded his eyes.
‘Does he have a wound in his own heart?’
Or… perhaps he knows someone who does?
As that thought occurred to me, I began to sense the meaning behind his words.
“So that’s why you’re planning the teahouse, right? Because even when dozens of bowls of medicine can’t heal a wound, a single cup of tea can melt the pain away—like snow in spring!”
Physicians listen to their patients before prescribing medicine.
But there is no one whose only role is simply to listen.
And sometimes, such a person is exactly what people need—
Someone who will just listen to the burdens piling up in their heart.
Tang Sayuk smiled warmly. “Yes, clever one.”
He bent down and showed me the document he was holding.
Drawn upon it were the cross-section plans of the Tang family clinic,
and beside it, the architectural plans for the new teahouse.
“We’ll build the teahouse right next to the Tang Clinic.
We’ll stock it with tea leaves known to soothe the mind,
and I plan to have our young apprentices or medical students spend time there—
listening to those who need someone to confide in.”
“By medical students… you mean?”
“To become true physicians, they must learn to read their patients’ hearts.
By listening to people’s stories in this place, the apprentices will grow into better healers.”
I glanced from the plans to my uncle’s face.
His eyes sparkled as he spoke about the teahouse.
They were the eyes of someone dreaming.
Someone with a goal, a purpose, a vision.
For a moment, I forgot about checking on Father’s medicine and just listened, completely drawn in by his words.
He didn’t seem at all like someone who could commit a sin grave enough to be banished from the family.
‘Then why… why was he expelled?’
He fell silent midway through talking about “illnesses of the heart,”
his expression distant—as though lost in thought.
I didn’t interrupt.
It didn’t feel like he was merely staring into empty space,
but rather thinking deeply of someone.
I crouched beside him.
Peeking my head out slightly from my sleeve to check the situation in the infirmary,
then tucking it back in, I waited.
He finally said,
“Biya, don’t you think a physician who can heal even the illness of the heart would be a true divine doctor?”
“If this plan succeeds, Uncle, you’ll become a true divine doctor!”
He smiled. “Yes. So then…”
Suddenly, he reached out his hand to me.
‘Huh?’
Instinctively, I placed my hand atop his.
He held it firmly.
“How about it? Would you like to learn from the man who will become a divine doctor?”
“…Huh?”
“I’m not joking. If you ever wish to learn medicine and become a physician, come to me.”
His eyes gleamed so brightly that it was almost overwhelming.
‘Wait a second… this feels familiar.’
Wasn’t this exactly what I’d already gone through—with both Grandfather and Aunt?
Do all of them lack disciples or something?
I remembered my aunt asking me to join the Floral Academy and couldn’t help but laugh.
“Why are you laughing?”
“I just thought of Aunt.”
“Xiaoyong?”
“She made me a similar offer!”
At that, Uncle laughed and squeezed his eyes shut.
“I figured as much…”
“But I turned her down.”
“Oh?”
“I’m already Grandfather’s disciple. I can’t have two masters at once.”
“It’s all within the family, though—does it matter that much?”
“Still, for now I want to focus on what Grandfather’s teaching me.”
That was my gentle way of declining his offer too.
Understanding my intent, Uncle nodded.
“Then promise me this—if you ever do wish to learn, you’ll come to me?”
“Yes, I promise.”
“It’s a deal.”
“Of course.”
He extended his little finger, and without hesitation, I hooked mine around his.
I smiled up at him, meeting his eyes—and then suddenly—
‘…Ah!’
It came back to me.
That’s how Tang Sayuk ended up being expelled from the Tang Clan!
‘The teahouse… it was because of the teahouse!’
The first teahouse he opened wasn’t in Sichuan.
It was beside a Tang family clinic in Anhui province.
If my memory serves right, the tea served at that teahouse later caused trouble.
People who drank it began to see hallucinations, hear voices—
their minds falling into disarray.
Even the wife of the Namgung family’s head suffered the same symptoms and eventually took her own life.
When the Namgung clan investigated the matter,
they discovered that the tea leaves used in Tang Sayuk’s teahouse were actually hallucinogenic grass!
‘That’s right… that’s what happened.’
Naturally, the Sichuan Tang Clan bore responsibility.
They shut down both the clinic and the teahouse in Anhui,
and punished Tang Sayuk as the one in charge.
My hand unconsciously tightened around his finger.
“Because of the teahouse…”
That teahouse had been his lifelong dream.
And yet, because of that dream, he was stripped of his license and cast out of the family?
“Hm? What are you talking about?” Uncle asked, puzzled.
“A-ah! Nothing!”
Startled, I quickly shook my head.
Apparently, I’d said that last part out loud.
But knowing now that my uncle’s expulsion would come from the teahouse incident—
there was no way I could sit still and do nothing.
‘I need him.’
He was the former disciple of the previous Medical Hall master, and the current head himself.
That meant he was the finest physician in the entire Tang Clan.
If he were expelled…
‘There’d be no one left to make Father’s medicine!’
Even aside from that, I couldn’t let him be punished unjustly.
His downfall would weaken Aunt Tang Xiaoyong’s influence,
allowing Tang Paejin to seize power in her place.
That must not happen.
If the teahouse incident was truly his doing, I had to prevent it.
But if it wasn’t… then I had to uncover the real culprit who framed him.
And I was certain—it was the latter.
Tang Paejin had likely used the teahouse to bring Uncle down and undercut Aunt’s position.
‘But what should I do?’
I wasn’t allowed to leave the Tang estate yet.
Even with guards, I was still a child under strict supervision.
Just then, someone knocked on the pharmacy door.
A young apprentice peeked his head in.
“Master, are you busy?”
“I’m talking for a moment. What is it?”
“Someone’s here asking for you.”
“Tell them I’ll come shortly.”
“Yes, sir.”
The boy disappeared, closing the door behind him.
His footsteps pattered away down the corridor.
And then my eyes lit up.
“Uncle!”
“Yes?”
“If—just if—I were to learn medicine from you… would that mean I could visit the Tang Clinic and the teahouse too?”
