Chapter 71
Chapter 71
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 71
Chapter Title: Fame
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Arms crossed as she sat cross-legged on the bed, Hwang Bo-yun muttered under her breath.
"Azure Sound Jade Maiden..."
"Ever heard of her?"
Having finished their street-side medical rounds and returned to the inn, the two were taking time to discuss the information they'd gathered this time.
"No clue."
Even Hwang Bo-yun, who had studied tales of the martial world, was hearing the name for the first time.
"Not one of the Six Great Physicians, right? They vary a bit by region anyway."
"The northern and southern ones differ..."
The Central Plains were divided by regionalism into north and south.
The Three Great Pavilions of the Central Plains were one such example.
All located in the south, they faced backlash from the north, which tried to include places like the Guan Palace Tower or the Penglai Pavilion.
The north-south divide, epitomized by "oranges in the south become trifoliate in the north," was primarily split along the Yellow River into the Northern Huabei and Southern Huanan.
These days, though, it was more commonly divided into the North and Jiangnan.
The Six Great Physicians changed depending on whether you were north or south.
The four common to both were the Medical Ancestor, Divine Physician, Weird Physician, and Physician Saint.
In the north, they added the healer known as Hands of Life and Death, along with Shaolin Temple's King of Medicine Apothecary.
In the south, they included the court physician One Dose Gentleman Seo Woo-kyeong and the money-grubbing Merciless Needle Ghost.
With the Medical Ancestor, Divine Physician, and Weird Physician all hailing from the Wu Medical Academy, their title as the world's foremost medical sect was well-deserved.
"But I've never heard the name Azure Sound Jade Maiden."
Hwang Bo-yun tilted her body with a puzzled look.
"She doesn't seem to want to be known. That patient begged us not to spread rumors about her."
"A hidden expert, then."
In the martial world, it was common to hear warnings to beware hidden masters.
It was a roundabout way of preaching humility, but there really were many such recluses.
The Ten Unorthodox Freaks were a prime example, lurking in the shadows away from the public eye.
Even those outside the orthodox sects never knew when some eccentric master might pop up and cause trouble.
In that sense, it made sense for physicians to include hidden experts too.
"But how do we find her? No Hawon here in Nanchang County. Maybe the Namgung family knows?"
"If she's the kind of doctor your master told you to seek, I doubt the Namgung family would just leave her alone."
Those who needed skilled physicians weren't just ordinary folk.
The martial world craved them even more.
Injuries were their daily bread.
Especially surgeons, treated as second-rate at best in the civilian world, were considered proper healers in the jianghu.
Getting cut or breaking bones was unavoidable in training.
If the Azure Sound Jade Maiden was truly skilled, the Namgung family would have recruited her as a guest elder long ago.
Unless she left Nanchang County altogether.
"The righteous sects aren't that forceful."
"You don't know that."
"...Umm!"
Hwang Bo-yun puffed out her cheeks, sucking in air.
But Wi Sowol's cheeks were just as puffed.
Her small mouth stuffed full of mooncake, they bulged like a hamster's.
The sight killed Hwang Bo-yun's irritation dead. She asked,
"So how do we find someone even the Namgung family doesn't know?"
Wi Sowol chewed vigorously, swallowed the mooncake, and washed it down with water before replying.
"We've got plenty of clues."
"Huh? Really?"
Unlike her curt question moments ago, Hwang Bo-yun now brimmed with curiosity and anticipation.
Wi Sowol, sunk deep into the plush chair like a comfy armchair official, began showing off her deductive prowess.
"First off, we know three things about the Azure Sound Jade Maiden."
"Three?"
"Her moniker: Azure Sound Jade Maiden. Her gender: female. Her profession: physician."
"That's enough?"
"More than enough."
Unless forced into it, physicians all shared a basic drive to heal people.
Otherwise, mastering medicine was no small feat.
The sheer volume of study rivaled Confucian scholars—enough to daunt any layman.
Thanks to Emperor Honghwaje's medical reforms and Yuan nobles turning to medicine as an escape, physicians' status had risen, but they were still kicked around plenty.
The southern Confucian Physicians were another story.
In any case, physicians found meaning in caring for patients.
"If she's a real physician, she'll be where patients are. Unless she takes none at all, but she's already treated someone."
Her patient's friend had met the Azure Sound Jade Maiden not long ago.
Hwang Bo-yun, still unconvinced, shot back,
"Isn't that too broad?"
"That's why we narrow it. We've got another clue: she's a woman."
Female physicians had a narrower niche.
In this era of Confucian separation of sexes, men rarely sought them out when male doctors were available.
No one wanted the finger-pointing.
Of course, if only women practiced, men had no choice.
The reverse didn't hold.
Women's chastity was valued far more than men's.
Thus, a female physician's true worth lay in treating other women comfortably.
"So where would female patients flock most?"
"Whore, houses?"
Spot on, Hwang Bo-yun.
A former top courtesan, through and through.
"Exactly. Brothels. Red-light districts. Highest chance she's around there."
We'd said no Hawon in Nanchang, but never no brothels.
As a bustling city, Nanchang's red-light district was quite sizable.
Even before the Namgung family settled here, it had been Jiangxi Province's hub, boasting splendor as the Gan merchants' base.
How could it lack even a single pleasure quarter?
"Let's go. Mid-Autumn Festival's in two days—we need to move now."
Seeing Wi Sowol's resolve to clear her schedule for the real festival, Hwang Bo-yun fired up too.
"Alright! Let's check it out!"
Nanchang County's red-light district was impressive indeed.
Brothels on the scale of Twin Flower Pavilion—the top one in Hwang Bo-yun's old haunt of Gangneung County—lined the streets one after another.
The crowds were on another level.
More people than on any regular street; walking felt like being swept along by a massive wave.
The atmosphere burned hot.
Regardless of gender, their faces glowed with joy and excitement.
Even in the pleasure quarters, Mid-Autumn was special.
The moon-gazing festival, the Moon Repelling Rite, was fundamentally for women.
Among all holidays, it was the only one centered on them.
Following the tradition that "men do not bow to the moon," women led the rite.
Only the emperor could transcend gender, offering sacrifice to the Moon God on behalf of all under heaven.
Courtesans ventured out for moon-viewing too.
Not all, but half every other year, assigned by the quarter's guild to specific houses.
The remaining half reaped the real windfall.
They made a killing from male travelers come to Nanchang for revelry, cashing in on festival fever.
Brothels hosted all sorts of events honoring the occasion too.
These few days were the red-light district's hottest time of year.
"Whoa... so many."
Amid the surging crowd, Hwang Bo-yun stood firm like an unyielding rock.
Immovable as a mountain.
A diamond buddha in the flesh.
"Hurry... inside... this way."
Wi Sowol, by contrast, wobbled precariously.
With her inner energy sealed, she was just a frail little girl.
Hwang Bo-yun grinned mischievously.
"Want your big sis to carry you piggyback, little Sowol?"
"...Piss off."
Sealed energy or not, Wi Sowol was Wi Sowol.
She quickly realized she couldn't rely on Hwang Bo-yun.
Using her small frame, she deftly slipped through the gaps in the crowd and darted into an alley.
Then hit a wall.
"Hey, this alley's off-limits."
North and south differed greatly.
Northern alleys were called hotong; southern ones, nong.
Both ends had narrow gates or fences called aemun, guarded by sentries.
To keep outsiders out, naturally.
Like the broader regionalism, cities had their own alley enclaves forming communities.
These gatekeepers were a nice little revenue stream for local sects, so Wi Sowol first eyed the man's attire.
'Namgung family?'
No Namgung characters, so probably not.
Why would they send their warriors to guard for pocket change?
Unless cooperating with the Gan merchants for private security.
He had the build but no detectable aura—likely hired from a broker by the quarter's guild.
"What if I pay the toll?"
"No outsiders. Only residents of this nong."
"I see."
That just made her want in more.
Wi Sowol's hunch hardened into certainty.
A red-light district teeming with female patients.
Prestigious houses like Namgung wouldn't frequent it, mindful of reputation.
They'd respect the unwritten community rules to avoid public ire.
What better hiding spot?
Wi Sowol stepped back and exited the alley.
Hwang Bo-yun, right behind, nodded silently.
No need to spell it out—they knew each other's intent.
Ego bruised, Wi Sowol had no choice but to borrow Hwang Bo-yun's hand to vault the wall.
Her lightfoot skill was amateurish, but no one in this alley would notice.
Namgung presence didn't mean no other sects in Nanchang, but none crazy enough to meddle in the pleasure quarter.
No one wanted Hawon suspicions.
Thus slipping into the alley easily, Hwang Bo-yun and Wi Sowol slowly scanned as they walked.
"Think she practices martial arts?"
"Probably."
"Hard to sense auras here."
"Watch for people. Houses with lots of traffic."
No one shared a house with multiples unless suspicious.
Heavy foot traffic meant something fishy.
Thus prowling the inner alleys intently.
"There."
Hwang Bo-yun pointed.
A woman in flashy courtesan garb glanced around, knocked, and vanished inside as the door opened.
The angle hid it from Wi Sowol.
Tucked between tight buildings, slightly recessed—less visible.
Hwang Bo-yun, with Eagle Eye Vision always active, had spotted it.
They approached the building.
"No aura... particularly."
Hwang Bo-yun murmured softly.
Was this it?
"Too cautious for just visiting a friend."
Suspicious.
Worth checking.
'Over the wall again?'
Wi Sowol eyed the fence.
This height, she could manage without help.
As she pondered, her perky nose twitched.
"Here."
"Huh? Why?"
"Smells like it. Arsenic and mercury."
Wi Sowol knocked straight on the door.
No need for walls.
This was it.
Dead certain.
Moments later, footsteps from beyond.
Perhaps sensing they were women.
The door opened promptly.
A beautiful woman appeared.
She exuded a poignant air, ripe with the allure of early thirties.
"Who... are you?"
Belated wariness.
Time to channel past experience, thought Hwang Bo-yun.
Reverting to Gangneung's top courtesan, Hwang Yeon—but Wi Sowol was faster.
"Ma Yu-seung. Do you know that name?"
At the name, turmoil surged in her eyes.
They trembled fiercely, stained with disbelief and resentment.
"You...! Are you that bastard Ma Yu-seung's daughter?!"