Chapter 69: Oseong Lee Hangbok [4]
Ganghyuk had to walk for a while as he followed behind Lee Hangbok.
Lee Hangbok was not rich, because he had lost his father when he was very young. But, Kwon Yul was rich, because his father was the Prime Minister in Joseon, titled Yeonguijeong. Therefore, his house was very large.
“Although my father-in-law was in the office for a short time, he earned a lot as he is quite talented.”
In a sense, it could be considered that he extorted people to make money.
“My father-in-law is slow, but he is a good man.”
Hangbok pulled his leg constantly, and Ganghyuk did not know how he should react. First of all, to Ganghyuk, Kwon Yul was too great to be made a travesty of. He was called ‘Chungjanggong’ in modern times.
‘As the saying went, ‘Lee Sunshin in the sea and Kwon Yul on the land’.’
Hangbok made a traversty of Kwon Yul constantly. If he were a someone else, Ganghyuk would have hit his head by now. But, the man was Lee Hangbok, who was called Lord Oseong in the modern times. He was famous for his loyalty.
“Yes, yes.” As a result, Ganghyuk could not help but follow him while nodding his head.
“Here we are! Here is another father-in-law of mine.”
“Yes, sir.”
“What do you mean with ‘Yes’? I mean my wife.”
“Yes, I know.”
“Haha…Wait a moment.”
Lee Hangbok opened the door and went to the room. Some sounds arose, which showed their close relationship. He criticized his wife a lot by saying that she was ugly and resembled her father, but it seemed that they loved each other a lot.
Lee Hangbok opened the door after a while.
“My wife is also wondering if there is any solution. Would you like to see her?”
“Yes, can I bring my assistant?”
“Okay.”
Ganghyuk looked back at Yeoni, who was currently sporting a girl’s hairstyle and wore female costume. She looked like a proper trainee or an assistant.
“Yeoni!”
“Yes, sir…” She answered modestly, acting as if she were Yeoju.
“Where is Yeoju?”
Hearing Ganghyuk’s question, Dolseok answered quickly. “She went out with Makbong.”
“With Makbong? Why?”
“Makbong is busy finding a place for performance, but does not have a gift of gab. I heard of the incident when we had smallpox in the village.”
“Ah, I heard that too. He talked way too much nonsense.”
At first, they thought Makbong was crazy or dumb. In Hanyang, there were lots of high-ranking noblemen; therefore, he might not be able to speak well.
“So, Miss Yeoju said that she would help him. These days, she did not have much work to do, so she was somewhat bored as well.”
“Ah, good! A change is always good to get refreshed.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Well, may we go in?”
Ganghyuk came into the room guided by Hangbok. The latter’s wife sat in front of them, and he almost laughed on first seeing her.
‘It is true! She is exactly the same!’
If she had a beard, she would be exactly Kwon Yul. He could now understand why they wanted to change her face.
“Heom… I must see her closely.”
“Ok, you can see her closely. But, do not touch her.”
“Sure.”
Although they were both noblemen, Hangbok was quite different from Changgweon. If Ganghyuk had told Changgweon that he would like to see his wife’s face, he would roll him in the straw mat without any other words.
‘Ah… It reminds me of Changgweon.’
No matter what, he was quite a good man. If Ganghyuk knew that he would die soon, he might have had a drinking party before the latter passed away.
It was a pity!
“Eum…”
When he saw her from a distance, she was really a female Kwon Yul. If she went to the marketplace, everybody would recognize her like ‘You are the daughter of Kwon Yul, right?’
She must have had face that question quite often for sure.
“She resembles her father, right?” Hangbok asked, almost making Ganghyuk laugh.
“Keum” But, he could somehow suppress the laughter with his reason.
“Do you want to do something to your chin?”
“Yes, here.” Suddenly, a husky voice voice arose, then a strong hand held the thick chin.
“Heo!” Ganghyuk had to turn away his head for a while. “Let’s see…Yeoni, come and touch here.”
“Yes, sir.” Yeoni complied as she was told on the way to the house.
“How is it? Is it bone?”
“Eum… It is hard, but I don’t know. I am confused.”
The muscle of chin was one of the strongest muscles in the body. If it were well developed, it could be as hard as a stone.
“Can you open the mouth and then close it?”
“Like this?” She followed Ganghyuk’s instruction very well.
“Yes”
“How about now?” Ganghyuk asked Yeoni,who was constantly examining the chin with her hand.
“It is more relaxed now.” Yeoni replied based on what she felt.
“Good! Then, please close it.”
“Oh, it has become hard!” Yeoni exclaimed.
From this observation, it was clear that that was not a bone; it was muscle. Although the effect would not be dramatic, something could surely be done.
Thinking this, Ganghyuk nodded his head. At that moment, Hangbok, who was waiting behind him, asked, “Is there any solution?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“What is it? Tell me.”
He had married a daughter of an influential person, Kwon Yul. Although he was a Grade 5 official, his power and money exceeded his current office.
“I need a blowfish.”
“Blowfish?”
“Yes, blowfish.”
Blowfish had been eaten in the Korean peninsula for a long time. Although it was poisonous, it was safe if well treated. Most important of all, it was very tasty. Hence, Lee Hangbok knew what it was of course.
“But, where can I get it?”
“How about asking officers in the province?”
“Eum, true…I have some friends.” However, it seemed that Hangbok’s friends lived quite far.
‘If he writes a letter to his friends now, it will take a month for him to obtain the fish.’ Ganghyuk came from a world where any product could be delivered at his door on the same daym or a couple of days later at most.
This world was really inconvenient!
“Maybe, we can find it in the marketplace.”
“Okay! We will try the marketplace first.”
Lee Hangbong went on to follow Ganghyuk. The latter even doubted at this point if he were unemployed, as he looked so free.
“Are you not going to your office today?”
“Office? I am off today.”
Did they have day-off In Joseon? Ganghyuk did not know that. He realized that they might actually be living quite happily.
Come to think about it, Lee Hangbok looked very happy indeed.
“I see! Will you come with me?”
“Yes.”
…
The marketplace in Hanyang was different from that in Suwon. It was much wider, and had a greater variety in products available. He could find some imported goods from Japan, China, and some farther countries.
How could he know the marketplace very well?
It was all because Ganghyuk roamed around a lot when he did not have work. In Hanyang, Seongyong was the only patient, so he had had a lot of time to explore the area.
“Where can I find it?” On the other hand, Lee Hangbok was tensed. Ganghyuk felt his strong will as if he would have her treated on that very day. It seemed that it had been quite a long time since they had married. Ganghyuk wondered how he had lived until then.
“Let’s go this way.” Dolseok guided them; he had a good memory and sense of direction. He knew the direction better than even the servant who escorted Hangbok.
“Here, we have a spice market.”
When they turned around a corner, they could instantly smell pepper. It was a very expensive spice, so there were not many customers here.
“Here, we can find salt.”
“Salt…”
While Dolseok gave the introduction to the area, the merchant there was seen. Dolseok was a demon at finding the way to anywhere.
Ganghyuk and Hangbok simply followed him while nodding their heads as Yeoni looked around with a tensed face. She was prepared for an attack, which was not probable here though.
“Here, we can see a fish shop.
“Hey, you are like a navigator.”
“Yes, haha…”
It was not probable that he knew what a navigator was, but Dolseok did not ask back any more. He had experiences of suffering a hit or a blow whenever he asked about a new word.
“Eum…There are a variety of dried fish here.” Hangbok went into the shop, and the owner stood up with a surprised face.
Hangbok was well-known among people as an elegant young man, and Ganghyuk was also well-known in the marketplace; he was notorious as the head of the gangsters.
“What can I do for you, sir?”
“Ah, do you have a blowfish?”
“Blowfish? Yes, sir! Several came today.”
“Oh, that’s great!”
Everything was going very well. The merchant soon came back with a salted blowfish. “It tastes very good if you steam it.”
Ganghyuk asked. “Is it already processed?”
“No, sir! If you want, I will do it now. I will remove stuff here and there.” The man pointed at the parts with the testicle or ovary.
Ganghyuk shook his head, “You don’t need to do that.”
“Pardon? It is very dangerous if I don’t remove those parts. It has poison in it.”
“I need the poison.”
“Pardon?” The merchant used to think that Ganghyuk was a gangster, and now, he wanted to obtain a poison. Under such circumstances, the former became very afraid of selling the blowfish to Ganghyuk.
Finally, Hangbok explained the situation.
“He is a famous doctor. A poison can be a medicine if used well. Give it to him.”
Lee Hangbok was a famous celebrity in Hanyang. He used to be a gangster during his childhood, but he was a public officer now. As he guaranteed things, the merchant decided to sell the fish to them. He could not help but follow the orders anyway.
“Ah, yes,”
When the merchant was about to put them in a basket, Ganghyuk stopped him.
“Eum, separate the poisonous parts and put them in a separate basket.
“I see.”
Ganghyuk decided on that as he would then not need to separate it by himself. Moreover, he did not know how to do that anyway. ‘Today, we will have steamed blowfish.’
They could have a nice time today, as blowfishes were quite delicious.
The merchant was very good at separating those parts. He peeled the skin and separated the liver, ovaries, and intestines.
“It’s all done.”
“Good! Please put them separately.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Dolseok and Yeoni, take them.”
“Yes, sir.”
Dolseok held the basket with the flesh and Yeoni held the basket with the poison.
Just when they were leaving the shop, there was some noise from nearby.
“Son of a b*tch! Why is this place yours?”
“Where are you from, son of a b*tch? It is my area!”
Apparently, the curses in Korea could not have been developed if it were not for dogs.
“What is it?” Hangbok could not pass this kind of an incident.
“Shall we go?” Ganghyuk was also curious. The treatment was not urgent, and it could not be done today anyway. If he misused tetrodotoxin, he could kill a human.
It had to be done after proper clinical experimentation.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes, sir.”
It was said that watching a fight or fire was the most exciting thing since the old times. As expected, there were a lot of curious bystanders here. Hence, it was hard to reach there.
However, they could not shout ‘Go away. Here comes the nobleman.’ easily.
Hangbok was well-known, and he was a government officer. He should be in the office at this time.
If they did announce his arrival, that would advertise that the government officer was not going to the office, but being in the marketplace and watching fight.
Hence, there was no other option but to use force.
“Your servants seem to know martial arts.” Hangbok said while watching Yeoni and Dolseok, who made way for them using Taekeyon.
“Yes, they learned it well.”
“That’s good.”
Because of those two making the way, Hangbok and Ganghyuk had some time to talk while they walked. A while later, they arrived at the place of the incident.
“Eum?”
“Why? Do you know them?”
“Yes! Why are they here?”
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