Fame of the Qinglian Water
“Seong-ah, after we visit the herb shop, let's grab some bingdangho. I'll buy it for you.”
Danmok Seong swallowed a sigh as her starry eyes—innocent clusters of twinkling lights—met Danmok Ryeon's gaze.
“Do you even have money?”
The last Danmok Seong had heard about the Danmok family's finances was from her mother, Danmok Hyeon-yo, back in Henan Province. The clan was in dire straits, but they had to rebuild it—with her mother and herself putting in the effort. She had etched that resolve deep into her heart. So while she herself enjoyed pocket money from her wealthy maternal family, allowing her a comfortable life with fine clothes and a good weapon, her cousin surely wasn't so fortunate.
Seeing Ryeon rummaging around her waist, Danmok Seong reached out to stop her hand. But then Danmok Hyeon-u cut in.
“Don't we have my homemade bingdangho anyway?”
Danmok Hyeon-u chimed in casually, but upon catching the nieces' unmistakably awkward expressions, his shoulders slumped in defeat.
Ryeon murmured with a slightly apologetic look. “Uncle's is... more like herbal dangho.”
“Ah.”
* * *
Ryeon had already steeled herself mentally before deciding to visit the herb shop at Hoseon Medical Pavilion. She wondered how the people from the medical hall—who had split off from the declining clan—would react upon seeing clan members again.
“No, young master! Goodness, I heard you'd finished your closed-door training! When did you grow so tall and handsome?”
But the welcome was far warmer than she'd imagined. Danmok Hyeon-u blinked in surprise, and Ryeon looked around, equally stunned. A man with a cloth wrapped around his head came half-running toward them, beaming as he greeted them.
“Ah, uh... Physician Jong. Long time no see...”
“Indeed! Five years? Six? My word. The little young master from back then has turned into such a fine young man.”
“S-stop, it's embarrassing. And I wasn't that small back then...”
“Of course, of course! That's why I recognized you at a glance.”
Physician Jong clung to Danmok Hyeon-u, chattering happily for a good while before finally noticing the girls and startling again.
“Goodness, and these young ladies... You must be Miss Seong? You look just like Lady Hyeon-yo. Then this must be...”
Physician Jong recognized Danmok Seong right away. They said firstborn daughters took after their fathers, but the Danmok granddaughters were spitting images of their mothers. With Danmok Seong being the exact likeness of the famously beautiful Danmok Hyeon-yo in Hangzhou, it was no surprise.
Physician Jong's gaze shifted to the slightly smaller girl beside her. If Seong was flashy, this one was more subdued. Though the sparkle in her eyes stood out.
“This is my eldest brother's daughter, Danmok Ryeon. I suppose you haven't met her before...”
Danmok Hyeon-u trailed off. Even a former clan physician hadn't seen the direct heir's face because Ryeon hadn't been in any state to go out during that time.
Fortunately, Physician Jong was perceptive. More than perceptive—he knew more than most.
“Could it be... that Qinglian Water...”
He didn't seem to fully believe the rumors that Danmok Ryeon had made it alone, but he wasn't recklessly doubting either—just cautious curiosity. In the jianghu, where bizarre things happened all the time, and given her astonishing genius—which he'd witnessed back in his clan days through her father, Danmok Hyeon-seong—it wasn't impossible.
“Ah! You know about it, Physician Jong?”
“Of course! We're using it here at the pavilion too. These days, Qinglian Water is all the rage...”
“Really?”
“That notorious third son of the Mansong Merchant Group used it and topped the provincial exams, didn't he? The day the results were posted, our pavilion was practically paralyzed.”
Physician Jong shook his head ruefully. That day, every notable family in Hangzhou had scoured nearby medical halls and apothecaries like rats in a hunt for the “true Qinglian Water” that the Mansong youngest had used. If Group Leader Gyeon Wiun hadn't discreetly opened a separate sales channel for the wealthy, there'd still be lines out the door.
Gyeon Wihak won't ace the capital exams too, will he?
Some Hangzhou medical halls might actually explode. Physician Jong shuddered at the thought before shaking it off.
“...So what brings you here, young master?”
“My niece insisted on coming to this herb shop. She got interested when I said we get the clan's herbs from here.”
It was obvious which niece. Danmok Seong looked distinctly unenthused, while Danmok Ryeon's eyes sparkled brightly.
Physician Jong quickly recalled who had managed the herbs sent from Hoseon Medical Pavilion to the Danmok clan.
Was it Assistant Physician Cheom? That fool—did he tamper with the shipments to the clan?
The girl's upward gaze felt anything but ordinary. When Danmok Hyeon-u first appeared at the pavilion years ago, Physician Jong had briefly wondered if the Danmok clan was trying to reabsorb their physicians. The clan had declined after losing its heir and with the retired patriarch never fully recovering from his injuries, but lately, their name had been popping up more often.
The Qinglian Water—said to be made by the Danmok granddaughter who'd never once stepped outside the estate—was slowly but surely spreading through Zhejiang Province. That single drop of transparent, refreshing oil was a cure-all. It seemed simple enough to replicate, but no one could match the potency of the essence provided by the Danmok clan.
How much money has flowed into the Danmok clan from Qinglian Water in just these past few months?
The buzz had started among the Mansong Merchant Group's clerks and accountants, whose wrists and finger joints were constantly aching from ledger work. They'd verified its effects early and snapped it all up, spreading the word until even the smallest apothecaries in Hangzhou stocked it. And then the story of this girl outshining the Geum clan heir had set the whole city abuzz.
The rising Geum clan had been encroaching on the fading Danmok clan's position, but the sparring match had blunted their momentum. Just as everyone was murmuring about the enduring strength of traditional noble houses, here came Danmok Hyeon-u at Hoseon Medical Pavilion.
This wasn't just a casual visit. Something was up!
“Hoseon Medical Pavilion's herb shop is the best in Hangzhou. Shall we head this way?”
The herb shop had been renowned even when the pavilion ran it independently, but absorbing the Danmok clan's medical hall had added their expertise, boosting its fame further.
But.
“Hmm...”
Ryeon stood on tiptoe, peering around with a somewhat disappointed look. It wasn't boredom—Danmok Seong's expression made that clear.
“Is this really the best herb shop in Hangzhou?”
“W-well... yes.”
Caught off-guard by Ryeon's calm question, Physician Jong stammered a bit, his confidence waning. But it wasn't empty praise just because he worked here. The shop handled over half of Hangzhou's herbs while tirelessly researching new efficacies and refining them, steadily ensuring a uniform supply of the finest quality.
“Hmmm.”
Ryeon waved a small white jade fan—like a child's toy—while pursing her lips in thought, puffing them out slightly. A child's serious face wasn't imposing so much as adorably comical, but for some reason, Physician Jong couldn't laugh. He fidgeted anxiously before offering an excuse.
“Truth be told, decades ago, the Yaeseonmun held a solid position. But after the Dongjeong Blood Massacre, when they vanished... it hit herb supplies hard. Things have only just stabilized now, you see.”
“Yaeseonmun?”
Ryeon's eyes widened at the unfamiliar name.
Physician Jong smiled warmly, like an old man telling his granddaughter a bedtime story.
“They said the west had the Tang clan for poisons, the east had Yaeseonmun for medicines. It was that renowned—'Tang for toxins, Yaeseonmun for remedies.'”
“But they disappeared?”
“Yes, overnight. Some say they were immortals who ascended to the heavens, tales like that.”
“Let's drop that.”
Danmok Hyeon-u cut in, not wanting to scare his nieces with grim stories. It wasn't some fairy tale of mortals becoming immortals. Some Blood Valley fiends had attacked Yaeseonmun, annihilating it—but the attackers were all wiped out too, spawning eerie rumors. It all boiled down to bloodshed, so Physician Jong promptly shut his mouth.