“Two letters?”

“Yes, I think you're virtuous enough to get such letters.”

Sungmun made a hearty laugh.

In fact, his son was looked down as a good-for-nothing until recently.

But as a famous doctor he has now become prominent enough to correspond with n.o.blemen in Hanyang as well as make friends with the mayor.

From the point of Sungmun Kanghyok's position today was quite impressive.

“Here you go. Read them slowly.”

“Yes, dad.” He received the letters from Sungmun and put them in his sleeves orderly.

He wanted to read them carefully later because he was not yet competent to read and understand Chinese letters before others.

Maybe he needed Yoju's help.

“By the way, that servant you hired the other day…”

“Oh, Kyongwon Park?”

“I see that he is very sincere and diligent.”

“Really? Has he already started to work?”

“Sure. Even with the bandage around his arm, he arranged books for me, asking me about difficult characters he couldn't understand.”

“Oh, that's good.”

Kanghyok was surprised to hear that because he had his left arm amputated only several days ago.

And he was taking a handful of medicine every day.

“I told him not to, but he insisted so strongly.”

“I see. I hear he was a fellow soldier who was at the battlefield with Dolsok. I hope he is in your good hands, dad.”

“Of course. As you know, he lost his arm while fighting with the j.a.panese raiders. How can I be mean to such a man?”

“Thanks, dad.”

Suddenly Kanghyok wondered if Yoju was well.

It seemed that she was overcoming the loss of her father well.

She could eat now and get by in one way or another.

“Dolsok!”

“Yes, master.”

“Let me go and see Yoju how she is doing.”

“What? Your father will be mad if he knows about it.”

“Don't worry. I can see her secretly.”

With a worried look Dolsok escorted Kanghyok to Yoju's room.

“Follow me quickly, master.”

But Kanghyok's pace was slow.

“You have to run, master.”

“They told me a n.o.bleman should not run!”

Come to think of it, that was right.

“This way, master.”

“Okay.”

“Let me check out if anybody else is in the room, master. Nope, only Yoju.”

Without any difficulty Kanghyok arrived at the back door of Yoju's room.

“Good job, Dolsok.”

“Let me stand over there. If see someone approaching, let me give a signal to you.”

“Okay.”

“But you have to come out quickly after seeing her.”

“Sure. You're bugging me too much, man.”

Shaking his head violently, Kanghyok went into Yoju's room.

She was not surprised to him coming in.

“How are you, master?”

“Are you alright?”

“I still feel under the weather, but I can get by.”

“I see…”

Kanghyok sat down face to face with her and spent some time like that.

“What are you going to do in the future?” he asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Are you going to keep drawing?”

“Oh…”

It seemed that Yoju already decided on something.

“Won't you want to travel to Hanyang to continue your drawing there?”

Hanyang?”

“Yes, Hanyang.”

This time she couldn't open her mouth for some time.

After turning it over in her mind for a while, she quietly asked, “Was my drawing helpful to you, master?”

“Of course.”

Kanghyok didn't hesitate to answer because he always thought so.

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. I'm now looking for medicinal herbs, based on your pictorial book on herbs. Yoni and Dolsok are also learning from your book.”

“I see…”

She lowered her head with a satisfied smile, which Kanghyok didn't notice unfortunately.

“So, you're going to follow me to Hanyang, aren't you?”

“Yes, I'd love to.”

“Good for you. Don't worry about your house as I know somebody who is going to take care of it.”

“Got it. I just count on you, master.”

Kanghyok recalled Kyongwon Park, the new member of his family.

Isn't he a n.o.bleman? Besides, he can read Chinese characters, too.

Kanghyok was thinking of finding him a house for rent.

Fortunately that house he had in mind was near Yoju's.

“Okay, Yoju. Pull yourself together well, and let me know if you need anything.”

“Thanks for caring about me, master.”

“You're welcome. As you're the daughter of my benefactor, so it's my duty to help you.”

“You're my benefactor, too.”

“You bet. Isn't our relations.h.i.+p fantastic?”

Kanghyok came out of the room with a hearty laugh.

Dolsok, who was looking around cautiously, let out a sigh of relief.

“You're back, master!”

“Yes, you can enjoy drinking as much as you can when you go back.”

“Thanks, master.”

Confirming Yoju was doing well, Kanghyok and others felt much more relieved now.

“Looks like Yoju is alright in every way,” said Kanghyok, who got on a horse.

“Yes, Yoni said the same thing,” said Dolsok.

He was holding the horse by the reins.

Kanghyok was on his way to the mayor's house in a long time.

“Yoni and Makbong, you told me you're looking for a good place to play your acrobatic show in Hanyang, right?”

“Yes, master. I hear there are several acrobatic teams like ours, but we don't have to worry about.”

“Good. What if something goes wrong on your way to Hanyang? You should move together.”

“Yes.”

They soon arrived at the mayor's official residence.

Kanghyok got off the horse quickly.

No matter how close he was to the mayor, Kangyok didn't want to give the impression that he was arrogant.

“How come you got here in person like this? You can just hand over v.i.a.g.r.a pills through a messenger,” said Dolsok.

“Well, I got here for something else.”

“Do you have the pills for the mayor?”

“Of course, I do.”

It was now impossible to think of the mayor without v.i.a.g.r.a pills.

Since he received them from Kanghyok, the mayor couldn't be happier.

“Welcome, Kanghyok! How come you got here without any notice?” said the mayor.

“Well, I didn't want to disturb you, sir.”

“Oh, don't say that. Come on in, man.”

“Yes, sir.”

As the mayor greeted him in person, the soldiers were surprised a lot.

How could the mayor come to the door to greet anybody without any high rank?

They felt Kanghyok might be a provincial governor.

“Hey, what are you doing now? Don't you see this precious guest?” demanded the mayor.

Some of them quickly prepared a dining table with alcoholic drinks, along with traditional sweets and cookies.

The mayor went into a guest room with Kanghyok, decorated with folding screens and silk mats and blankets on the floor.

“Have a seat.”

“Thanks, mayor. Hey, Dolsok, wait a moment here.”

“Yes, master.”

After putting together the shoes taken off by Kanghyok and the mayor, Dolsok came out of the room.

Now both sat face to face comfortably.

Puffing up with self-importance, the mayor looked at Kanghyok.

“So, what business brought you here?”

“In fact, I want to ask you a favor.”

“Really? Tell me anything.”

The mayor was nodding even without hearing what he had to say.

Clearly the mayor seemed to know how to win over the other party's heart.

Much impressed by the mayor's way of winning one to his side, Kanghyok said, “Well, I've got to get some medicinal herbs.”

“Medicinal herbs? I have already informed the herbs department that you can take whatever herbs you want.”

“Well, they don't have the herbs that I want.”

“Really? What are they?”

The mayor was anxious to do him whatever favor he was asking.

'Wow, how powerful the effect of v.i.a.g.r.a is…'

Kanghyok said, stroking a silk bag that he carried in his sleeves,

“It's called somsu. This is the poison of a toad.”

“Toad? Oh my…can you use it as medicine?”

“Yes, sir. I think it will be very useful for me to treat heavily wounded people.”

“Got it. I think they can catch toads in the mountains without any difficulty. Let me order my soldiers to catch them.”

“Thanks, mayor.”

Now, the mayor pulled the table closer to him and filled a cup for Kanghyok.

“Kanghyok!”

“Yes, mayor.”

“Won't you go to Hanyang?”

“Really? In fact, I would love to travel there to see my friends there.”

The mayor smiled gently at his answer.

“That's not what I mean…I think I am going to be rea.s.signed to the government administration department by the king sooner or later.”

“Are you being nominated as its minister?”

“Hahaha. Don't talk about it loudly. Nothing has been decided yet.”

Though the mayor pretended to have stopped him hurriedly, it was clear he was already appointed as the minister of government administration department.

The mayor's offer was like asking him to take some position in the central government.

But the current king was Sonjo, who was going through the turbulent times.

'When something went wrong, my life might be ruined.'