Demonstration
When the wooden lid was opened, several palm-sized wooden boxes lay nestled inside.
“These are them?”
“Yes. I shall explain each one in turn.”
As everyone gazed at him with curious eyes, each concealing their own private thoughts, Hwiyeom grinned and lifted the wooden box to his left, opening it lightly.
Inside the wooden box, which opened up and down like a clamshell, was a pale honey-colored ointment packed full to the brim.
“This is the Tangga Manneung-go.”
“Hmm, let’s see.”
Dang Un-sang took it first and sniffed.
“Truly no scent at all?”
“It is tasteless and odorless. As you can see, it carries a pale yellow tint, so it is not perfectly colorless, but when spread thinly on a weapon or the like, the color becomes nearly impossible to distinguish.”
“And the toxicity?”
“The Manneung-go itself is non-toxic and even edible. Feel free to touch it.”
“Mm.”
Dang Un-sang dabbed a fingertip into the ointment and rubbed it between his index finger and thumb, testing the texture.
“Smooth yet suitably viscous. Certainly ideal for coating a weapon—it won’t drip, and it will hold poison in place admirably.”
“It has moisturizing properties and will slowly absorb into skin if left alone, but it is not absorbed by metal. It can also serve as a lubricant for mechanisms and mechanical hidden weapons.”
“Absorbs into the skin as well? Excellent—that makes it perfect for mixing with poisons.”
Hwiyeom’s uncle, Dang Unhwa, cut in with a challenge.
“But if it is so moisturizing, this viscous, and remains for so long without vanishing, then even absorption into the skin must take a considerable amount of time, no?”
“You are correct, Uncle. That is precisely why its primary use will be coating weapons.”
Hwiyeom explained as if he had been waiting for the question.
“From my studies, I learned that the distinguishing trait of venoms such as snake venom, spider venom, centipede venom, and bee venom is that they must tear through human flesh and mix with the blood before they can take full effect. Swallowing them or reducing them to powder for inhalation through the lungs fails to produce their proper potency.”
“That’s common knowledge among common knowledge. Nothing so impressive about—”
When Dang Unhwa sniped again, Hwiyeom simply smiled.
“Therefore these poisons must be applied to weapons to be used properly. Yet most of them lack viscosity and lose their toxicity the moment they are exposed to air. We have known this and yet have never been able to employ them as we should, have we not?”
“Are you claiming that this Manneung-go the Young Master has created makes that possible?”
Elder Hong asked with clear suspicion. Hwiyeom answered,
“Is it not said that a hundred hearings are not worth a single sight? See for yourselves. Ye-eun!”
“Yes, Young Master.”
At the summons, Ye-eun entered carrying a small jade bottle and a larger one. She set two white porcelain bowls upon the table and uncorked the large jade bottle. A raw, metallic stench of blood immediately filled the air.
“What is that?”
“Pig’s blood.”
Ye-eun poured half the blood into each white porcelain bowl, then respectfully offered the small jade bottle to Hwiyeom. He accepted it and held it up for the elders to see.
“This is the venom of the rice-spoon snake. I obtained it yesterday with the assistance of the Medicine Warehouse.”
Hwiyeom uncorked the small jade bottle and dripped a little of the venom into one of the two bowls. The moment the deep yellow venom entered the blood, the liquid began to hiss and boil; soon small clots like blood cakes formed.
He took a porcelain rod and stirred thoroughly so that blood and venom mixed completely. Before long the contents had become one sticky, bean-curd-like mass of clotted blood.
“As you can see, the rice-spoon snake’s venom is a blood toxin—specifically the type that coagulates blood and necrotizes tissue.”
“Indeed.”
“Now I shall mix this same venom into the Manneung-go I created.”
Hwiyeom poured the rice-spoon snake venom onto the Manneung-go. Naturally the ointment and the liquid did not blend easily; the venom merely rolled about on the surface. Yet he patiently worked it with the porcelain rod, coaxing the two together.
“As you observe, the Manneung-go possesses a degree of water resistance, but continued mixing allows it to accept liquids. Powders would be even simpler.”
After roughly half a ke—five to eight minutes—of careful stirring, the venom had vanished completely into the ointment.
Hwiyeom pulled on a pair of deerskin gloves, scooped up a generous amount of the prepared ointment, and pressed it into the remaining bowl of blood so that ointment and blood made contact.
At once—
“Oh?”
“Ah.”
“Mm.”
Though decidedly slower than when the venom had been poured in directly, the exact same coagulation occurred.
“Thus it is proven that the Manneung-go can serve as an intermediate medium that delivers toxicity without diminishing it. And furthermore…”
Hwiyeom drew a small dagger from the wooden box and unsheathed it. The blade, faintly gleaming with an oily sheen, caught the light sharply.
“You coated that dagger with Manneung-go as well?”
“I applied it the moment the Manneung-go was completed three days ago, in order to test how long both the toxicity and the ointment’s viscosity would last.”
Hwiyeom dipped the blade into the blood and stirred lightly. When he lifted it again, they could see the blood had likewise clotted into a mass clinging to the steel.
“In this manner the toxicity is preserved for at least three days. In my estimation, depending on the proportions of venom and Manneung-go, it should remain effective for a week at minimum.”
“Ohhh…!!”
Unlike Dang Unhwa, whose expression looked as though he had bitten into something foul, Dang Un-sang’s face brightened dramatically. He strode forward, pulled Hwiyeom into an embrace, and clapped him hard on the back.
“Well done! Well done indeed! I had my doubts, yet you truly outdid yourself! Is there anything more joyful than this? Hahaha! Is that not so, Elder Hong?”
“…Indeed. Congratulations, Family Head. And congratulations as well, Young Master.”
Elder Hong bowed to Hwiyeom and Dang Un-sang, masking a faintly bitter look.
The Head of the Medicine Warehouse, who until then had merely observed in silence, finally spoke up.
“The Young Master’s ingenuity is truly astonishing. Yet there remain further items that warrant wonder, do they not? Young Master, are the remaining contents also the same Manneung-go?”
“Ah, yes—of course. I simply got carried away.”
Dang Un-sang looked a touch embarrassed. Hwiyeom gave him a bright smile, then opened the second small wooden box.
“The Manneung-go may be mixed with poisons, but it can just as readily be mixed with medicines. This salve contains camphor, clove, cinnamon, mint, and other ingredients excellent for bruises and for dispersing stagnant blood. I named it Hogol-go—Tiger Bone Paste—because applying it is said to make one’s bones and muscles as strong as a tiger’s.”
“Hogol-go?”
It was none other than the tiger balm Hwiyeom had used so faithfully since childhood.
“Hmm, the scent is quite strong.”
“Yes, that is the mint. Because of the mint, the skin feels a hot-and-cool sensation when it is applied.”
“Hmm, let’s try.”
Dang Un-sang dabbed Hogol-go onto his finger and rubbed it across his wrist; his expression lit up.
“Haha, this is truly marvelous. That cool, tingling feeling is most refreshing. Elder Hong, you try some as well. You must have far more places that ache and throb than I do.”
“…Very well, then…”
Even Elder Hong seemed tempted by the claim that it was good for the joints; he applied a generous amount between his finger knuckles. Without thinking he let out a soft exclamation of surprise.
“It feels as though I am soaking in a hot compress. The scent is invigorating, and the joints themselves seem to grow limber. Quite excellent.”
When the usually impassive Elder Hong reacted so favorably, Hwiyeom seized the opening at once and asked casually,
“Elder Hong, if we put this on the market, will wealthy old gentlemen buy it? Or will they not?”
“…They will buy it. It is medicine produced under the name of our Sichuan Dang Family—there is no reason to doubt it.”
“In that case, if we quietly spread the rumor that real tiger bone is in the Hogol-go and then charge a handsome price, that would not be difficult either, would it?”
“Are you telling us to deceive the world with lies under the Dang Family name? That will not end well, Young Master.”
“Deceive? The word is rather harsh. We have never officially advertised that tiger bone is included, have we? Rumors floating about the marketplace are hardly a new occurrence.”
Elder Hong was briefly left speechless by such brazenness.
In the modern world such a claim would invite condemnation for false advertising and even legal penalties, but in the Central Plains there was no such danger. Moreover, even if the Dang Family themselves stepped forward—though they had no intention of doing so—no one would demand they reveal their ingredients to prove whether tiger bone was truly present. This was not an age with a food-and-drug administration that inspected materials, demanded clinical trials, or pried into compositions. Asking a family to disclose its compounding methods and ingredients was tantamount to demanding they hand over secret techniques; who would ever agree?
Yet Elder Hong was still an elder who assisted in the running of a great house. Coldly weighing the gains and losses, he was forced to concede.
“…Even if suspicion exists, there is no evidence. An excellent scheme.”
Receiving Elder Hong’s signal of surrender, Hwiyeom grinned.
“Shall we move on to the next product?”
“There is more?”
When his mother, Eun Seol-ran, asked, Hwiyeom smiled and lifted the third wooden box. Palm-sized like the others, this one was beautifully inlaid with mother-of-pearl, unlike the first two.
When the box opened, a small silver mirror was affixed to the upper lid so that one might examine one’s face, while the lower compartment held a vivid red rouge.
Eun Seol-ran’s expression brightened at once.
“Oh my, this is rouge!”
“Try applying some, Mother. I expect it will feel quite different from what you have used before.”
Eun Seol-ran dabbed the rouge onto her fingertip and carefully smoothed it across her lips. Gazing at her reflection in the silver mirror, she smiled with satisfaction.
“Much softer and more moisturizing.”
“The longer you use it, the more you will notice the difference. Traditional safflower rouge is made by forming the powder into pellets and then grinding it with oil each time one wishes to use it, is it not?”
“That’s right.”
“Yet oil mixed with safflower powder dries and cracks before long, so one cannot prepare it in advance. Making it fresh every time is bothersome, and so much is wasted that it becomes a shame.”
“Exactly. That is why one ends up using it less and less.”
“But this Manneung-go blended with safflower powder will keep this same condition for at least half a year.”
“Oh my, is that true?”
“Yes. If our Dang Family produces and sells rouge boxes like this, would people not buy them in great numbers?”
“Of course they would!”
While Eun Seol-ran opened the rouge case and scrutinized her reflection from every angle, Hwiyeom brought forward the next box.
“Mother, there is this as well.”
“What is this?”
“I have named it Mijeop-muk—Beautiful Lash Ink.”
He opened another luxurious lacquered box, identical in quality to the rouge case. Inside, a jet-black ointment glittered.
It was none other than mascara.
“Good heavens, it looks just like the Milky Way…”
“I mixed finely ground charcoal into the Manneung-go and sprinkled in a little pearl powder.”
“Pearl! Something so precious?”
“Only inferior grades too small or poorly shaped to be used as ornaments—so the cost is negligible. Customers, however, will not know that, and we can therefore command a high price.”
“You mean to make and sell this too?”
“I merely wish to be of some small help to the family’s finances…”
Dang Un-sang’s expression turned eager at those words, and he asked at once,
“Well then, how does one use this Mijeop-muk?”
“With a dedicated fine brush, like so…”
Hwiyeom rolled a cotton swab—made by affixing cotton to a toothpick—across the mascara until it was thickly coated, then applied it to his mother Eun Seol-ran’s eyelashes, lifting them upward.
“In this way it makes a woman’s eyelashes appear longer, darker, and fuller.”
“Oh my goodness!”
“And one may also draw it over the brows so that they look neater and more beautiful.”
“Heavens above, heavens above!”
Watching his mother fuss and exclaim with delight as though she had never once worried over her son, Dang Un-sang allowed himself a wry smile for a moment before stroking his chin thoughtfully.
“Let me see, my lady. Mm, most beautiful indeed.”
“Yeom-i has thought of something truly remarkable, my lord. I am so very proud.”
“Then what of the final box?”
“This is seokgam—soap. It is a sort of by-product made from the leftover oils and residues that remain after producing Tangga Manneung-go.”
“And what is it used for?”
“Used for laundry, it removes grease and blood stains thoroughly even without lye. It also softens the hands.”
“Ohh, a useful item indeed.”
Yet for all the polite words, their reaction was far milder than for the previous products. Watching his parents, Hwiyeom smiled wryly to himself.
In a way soap may be the most valuable item of all, yet without any concept of public hygiene…
“Will you manufacture and sell this Hogol-go, the Non-Drying Rouge, the Mijeop-muk, and the soap?”
“Yes. Production costs little and can be done in large quantities, so they can become a new source of revenue for the family.”
“But someone will certainly make counterfeits and sell them.”
“So long as they do not know the true manufacturing method of the genuine article, even the best counterfeit will differ in quality. And if any scoundrels in Sichuan dare to steal the name of the Sichuan Dang Family… well, we need only go and punish them, do we not?”
At Hwiyeom’s words Dang Un-sang spoke with a cautious expression.
“Your thinking is dangerous. Though the Sichuan Dang Family is no paper tiger, it is true that we no longer command the same prestige as before. We are not so formidable that we can punish just anyone…”
“Even so, apart from the Qingcheng Sect and the Emei Sect, is there any other school in Sichuan that would dare set its sights on the Sichuan Dang Family?”
“That much is true, yet…”
“Moreover, the Mijeop-muk and the Non-Drying Rouge are cosmetics. Taoist masters of Qingcheng who have renounced the secular world and the nun-disciples of Emei would only invite public finger-pointing if they meddled with such things. Hogol-go might be counterfeited, but that is a matter of overwhelming them with superior quality.”
“Mm…”
“And Father, do not worry. Should some bold fool produce counterfeits, we need only send him an empty bowl, quietly.”
“An empty bowl?”
The anecdote of Cao Cao Mengde sending an empty bowl as a poisoned gift to Xun Yu was famous. Thus the act of sending an empty bowl had come to mean a threat of death by poison.
“No one who receives an empty bowl bearing our family crest will continue selling counterfeits with composure. Even if our family’s glory is no longer what it once was, are we not still the foremost house under heaven when it comes to poison? Even without lifting a finger, that mere threat will make the recipient suspect everything that enters his mouth until his blood runs dry.”
“….”
“Of course, if we also express a little goodwill to the local magistrate with a portion of the sales revenue so that we may assist one another, so much the better.”
“….”
After a long silence spent weighing every angle, Dang Un-sang finally nodded.
“Your words are correct. You have accomplished a great deed.”
“Thank you, Father.”
“I intend to establish a new ‘Ointment Directorate’ devoted to the specialized production and supervision of Tangga Manneung-go, and to entrust its overall command to you. Are you capable?”
At his father’s question, Hwiyeom smiled with a confidence far beyond his years and performed a formal clasped-fist salute.
“Upon the name of the Dang Family’s rightful heir, I shall answer the Family Head’s expectations.”
And so the inventions of Hwiyeom—destined to turn not only Sichuan but the entire Central Plains upside down—made their first appearance before the world.