Chapter 209: Chapter 82

Chul Chung’s order was swiftly and secretly conveyed to the provincial governors involved.

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At his order, Joon Han, the governor of Hwanghae Province, Chuk Lee, the governor of Anak, Choogan Park, the governor of Jaeryong, and Ungin Han, the governor of Shinchon, immediately checked out the status of Yorip Chung and his gang’s activities in their areas respectively.

Yorip Chung and his Taedonggye group were planning a revolt to launch an attack against Hanyang in Hwanghae Province and Cholla Province simultaneously; kill Defense Minister Rip Shin; and seize military power.

This was shocking enough to shake the central government of Joseon.

Moreover, when King Sonjo was briefed that Taedonggye had infiltrated into Hanyang, he immediately dispatched the chief commander of the military to Hwanghae and Cholla provinces to catch Yorip and his followers.

Faced with the uneasy and chaotic situation, Kanghyok could retain his composure.

The reason was simple. He maintained a good relationship with Hangbok Lee.

“How have you been?” asked Hangbok, who stopped by Kanghyok’s house almost daily.

Hangbok was a rising star of Soin that emerged as the power group after crushing its rival political faction Tongin.

Sometimes, he came to Kanghyok to ask for his probing through torture, but he did so very rarely.

He just stopped by to greet him and keep him informed about what’s going on regarding the Purge of Yorip Chung incident.

“I’m fine, sir.”

“Good to hear that.”

Hangbok sat on the main floor, and Kanghyok’s subordinates didn’t find him hard to deal with.

Whenever he visited like this, they would bring him fried chicken, which was his favorite.

“It really tastes good all the time,” said Hangbok, enjoying the fried chicken.

“It tastes much better because they mixed the flour you gave us.”

“Is this black stuff pepper?”

“Yes, my lord. Lord Sungryong gave it to me before the incident took place.”

When Kanghyok mentioned his name, Hangbok looked gloomy.

Though Sungryong was a leading figure of Tongin pitted against Soin, Hangbok had no personal grudges against him. While he served Sungryong at the Ministry of Education and Culture for a long time, Hangryong was deeply moved by Sungryong’s character.

Hangbok opened his mouth after chewing chicken for a while, “Lord Sungryong had nothing to do with Yorip Chung, so he would be alright.”

“That’s good for him!”

“Oh, I stopped by today to tell you….” Hangbok put down the chicken bone on the ground and said, “Yorip Chung died.”

“Really?”

“He was found dead in Jukdo Island.”

“It looks like he was chased by the government army and committed suicide himself.”

“Right. Sungbok Byon was also found there.”

“I see.”

Kanghyok met Sungbok in person. He felt it a shame that Sungbok also died.

“What about Uiyon?”

“Oh, that monk? He was killed.”

“Got it.”

Closing his eyes quietly, Hangbok recalled numerous figures who were killed in connection with the Purge of Yorip Chung incident.

The Soin faction initially moved to stop Yorip’s rebellion against the king in the bud, but later cracked down on its rival Tongin faction mercilessly.

“You don’t look good, my lord.”

“Really? Actually, I feel under the weather.”

“Sorry, I can’t help you much.”

“Not at all, I feel sorry for you as I seem to frequently disturb you needlessly.”

Leaning against a wall, Hangbok was just chewing a fried chicken in silence.

Recently, he tended to visit Kagnhyok’s house more often instead of heading straight back home.

It seemed as if he needed some sort of healing time, so Kanghyok let Hangbok do whatever he wanted to do.

“By the way, my lord.”

“Hmm?”

“Have you checked it out? I recently did ask you a favor on that…”

“Oh, you mean the matter of Changkwon Chung?”

Even a remote relative of Yorip Chung was punished. It was certain that his younger brother Changkwon would be the target of government persecution.

“I heard that Changkwon played a big role in quelling the Japanese raiders’ invasion of the Otan village recently. According to the report filed by Yunkil Kim, the mayor of Suwon, Changkwon defended brilliantly in that battle.”

“Yes, he did.”

Yunkil Kim. He was one of the victims of the Purge of Yorip Chung incident. Originally, he was to be appointed as the Minister of Internal Affairs, but he had to be content with his current post as the mayor of Suwon when the Purge broke out.

Fortunately, he had a wide connection with both the Tongin and Soin factions. Though he was a member of Tongin, he didn’t go through the Purge.

“What’s the point of investigating Changkwon, who was already killed? I asked Chul Chung to close the case involving Changkown,” said Hangbok.

“As far as I know, he had a daughter. How would you deal with her?”

Kanghyok cast a glance at the backyard where Yoju was in hiding, disguised as a man.

“Well, they issued an order to search for her. But it’s highly likely that they would close the case, too. Moreover, Changkwon’s offspring is a girl, not a boy, right?”

“Got it.”

“I hear you had a close relationship with Changkwon since you were young, so I’m sorry to have you go through this.”

“I’m alright, my lord. As I’m in your good hands, I am feeling fine these days.”

“Sure. Everything will be wrapped up soon.”

Having said something significant like that, Hangbok left the place.

“See you next time.” Then he walked up to the gate, waving both hands.

But he suddenly turned back as if he recalled something. “By the way, do you happen to know Joon Huh?”

“Oh, yes, I do. I exchanged letters with him in the past.”

In fact, Kanghyok was so busy that he couldn’t see him after he arrived in Hanyang. He wanted to meet Joon if he could.

“I hear that Joon has been looking for you. I forgot to relay his message to you.”

“Does he want to see me urgently?”

“Yes, Keyhan Kim, the king’s eunuch, made a misstep and fell. He seems to be in critical condition. Sorry, I’m really absent-minded these days.”

“Where should I go to see him?”

If the eunuch had fallen, he would have suffered external injury.

“Come with me. Joon must be at the Royal Medical Service right now.”

“Royal Medical Service? Got it. Let me bring my assistants.”

“Sure. By the way, Joon asked me to contact you long time ago. I wonder if something wrong happened to the eunuch.”

Hangbok repented for his failure to inform Kanghyok in advance.

Kanghyok could figure out how chaotic Joseon’s government was now, given that such a smart official as Hangbok was so absorbed in the political strife.

That suggested Joseon was far from prepared to deal with the upcoming Japanese invasion.

‘How could Joseon politicians be locked in fierce factional fighting when the country’s state was hanging by a thread?’

To his best knowledge, there were numerous prominent scholars and politicians affiliated with Tongin killed in connection with the Purge of Yorip Chung incident. All of them were killed for the simple reason that they were close to Yorip.

Besides, premier Sushin Noh, vice premier Unsin Chung and other core figures of Tongin were also fired from their jobs for the same reason.

“Master, we’re ready for the surgery.”

At Kanghyok’s order Dolsok, Makbong, Yoni and Yoju gathered around him.

As Yoni and Yoju were disguised as men, they looked natural.

Even Hangbok, who had a discerning eye, couldn’t find out their identity by their look.

“Good. Let’s go then.”

“Yes, my lord.”

They passed by Konchondong on their way to the palace.

After the Purge incident broke out, the markets on both sides of Konchondong were less crowded than before.

“I’m heading to the Royal Medical Service now.”

Hangbok showed his ID card and a letter to the security guard who stopped him.

The letter was stamped with premier Chul Chung’s seal, which indicated that the person who held the letter could freely come and go out of the palace.

Hangbok and Kanghyok tied their horses and went inside.

“It’s good that you got the letter with Lord Chung’s seal.”

“I think so, my lord.”

It was not the first time that Kanghyok had stepped into the palace.

He went there several times to torture the imprisoned to exact their confessions.

‘I feel strange this time as I came here to save the eunuch’s life.’

At that time, the atmosphere of the palace was pretty tense.

Though he didn’t do anything wrong, he just got cold feet whenever he set foot on the palace.

“Royal Medical Service is located over there.”

“Oh, I see.”

The medical building was not big enough.

Hangbok stopped a man walking around and said, “Go and tell Doctor Joon Huh that Mr. Kanghyok Paek is here.”

“Oh, yes!”

The man ran into the building like the wind.

A little while later, someone came running to Kanghyok.

Though his face and official attire was spilled with blood here and there, Kanghyok could instantly recognize his face.

“Dr. Huh!”

“Wow, welcome, Dr. Kanghyok!”

“It’s been a while!”

“Let us come in quickly.”

“Oh, yes.”

Kanghyok forgot that Joon was totally dedicated to treating patients.

So, Kanghyok was taken to the medical office without exchanging even simple pleasantries with him.

“Come this way.”

“Sure.”

Taking off shoes, he hurriedly stepped into the room.

He strongly smelled blood from inside the room.

“What the heck is this?”

“He is a eunuch serving the king, but he fell from the steps by missing his footing.”

“Oh my god…”

His condition was very serious.

He quickly took out a blood pressure device and stethoscope.

“Dolsok, check his blood pressure. Yoni, wipe his wound with water. Makbong, let the unnecessary staff out except for Dr. Huh.”

“Yes, master.”

While Dolsok and Yoni were busy doing their jobs, Kanghyok put the stethoscope on his chest.

The eunuch was bleeding from his lungs, which was very serious.

Shik, shik.

Kanghyok could hear the sound of air coming out from the right lung.

When he made a frown at that, Dolsok cried in an urgent voice, “His blood pressure is 70 over 40, No, it’s 60 now… It keeps falling, master!”