Chapter 53
Part 3: Jaae-won
Yeon Sang-hyeon slowly walked through the winding alleys of the slums, following behind the old woman who was guiding him.
His steps were slow, and naturally, the steps of those accompanying him slowed as well.
Not one of them showed any dissatisfaction with that.
The people lined up along both sides of the alley took Yeon Sang-hyeon’s hands and kissed them.
Those who could not manage even that prostrated themselves and kissed his feet, or kissed the hem of his clothes.
The poor had not been able to wash properly. They were filthy and shabby, and every one of them suffered from skin diseases, large or small, making their appearances disfigured. They gave off a repulsive smell of sweat and pus mixed together.
Even so, Yeon Sang-hyeon showed not the slightest sign of displeasure.
His expression was peaceful, without the faintest trace of wavering.
He quietly walked on, accepting, as much as possible, the reverence each of them offered him.
‘Mm, stay composed. Everyone, please act with composure.’
The triplet maids following behind him were completely overwhelmed.
‘Everyone, please follow the maid chief’s example!’
Jeong-ah was listening to the pleas of the poor—pleas they had not dared to make to Yeon Sang-hyeon himself.
“Fairy! Please bestow a blessing upon my child!”
“Please let my husband, who has gone to the front lines, remain safe!”
“Please let my mother rest peacefully in Heaven!”
Jeong-ah had no power to answer each and every one of their prayers.
Instead, she did what she could.
She embraced those who deserved to be embraced, stroked the heads of those who deserved to be comforted, and kissed the foreheads of those who wept in sorrow.
Seeing that, the triplets also approached the poor more actively.
“…Are they believers of the Fairy Cult?”
One of Fourth Young Master’s young strategists, following from a distance, could not hide his bewildered expression as he looked at them.
“I had heard that their influence among the poor was strong, but I never imagined it would be to this extent…”
“I knew that the name of the Grand Madam Dowager still rang throughout all of the Central Plains, but I did not expect them to show such reverence even to her son.”
“Is this a kind of fanaticism?”
Fourth Young Master sighed at the words of the young scholars walking behind him and exchanging opinions.
“Can you still not tell, even after seeing their actions and their expressions?”
“What do you mean by that…?”
He looked at the back of his honored elder brother, visible far ahead.
“…They are not showing reverence to his mother. They are showing reverence to him.”
“…Is that so?”
In contrast, how were the poor reacting to Fourth Young Master and his party?
Even though his group was passing right beside them, most of the poor paid them no attention at all.
“Master.”
The plump maid walking beside him asked,
“If they are this poor, would they not leave the neighborhood on their own if one simply gave them a few coins?”
Fourth Young Master smiled at her adorable question.
“It is not that simple.”
“Is that so?”
He took the plump maid’s hand and explained.
“If they leave this place, where would they have to go?”
The plump maid whose hand he held blushed, but answered sincerely.
“Um… another slum?”
“That is right. But there is no slum anywhere with enough room to take all of them in. They would have to scatter and enter many different slums, and the few coins they received would vanish in an instant.”
“Vanish?”
Fourth Young Master smiled at the maid, whose eyes had gone round.
“They may look as though they simply huddle together anywhere, but whether it is a shack or a hut, all of it costs money in the end. Besides, there would be many people after the money they had.”
He spoke gently, but reality would be far more horrific and cruel.
“Ah…”
Fourth Young Master shrugged.
“For them to leave in peace, they would ultimately need an enormous amount of relocation funds—enough for them to escape poverty itself.”
“I see…”
The plump maid, who came from a wealthy family, answered, but her expression was still somewhat puzzled.
“Are they all beggars? If they worked hard, would they not be able to escape a neighborhood like this?”
At her question, Fourth Young Master finally burst into laughter.
“Most of them all have jobs.”
“Pardon?”
“And they are people who work very diligently and honestly.”
Yeon Sang-hyeon looked at the one-armed young man who was tightly holding his hand and kissing it.
On the young man’s remaining arm, there was a tattoo showing that he had once belonged to the military rolls.
However, on his exposed body, there were even more wounds that had appeared after his service than scars gained in battle.
Yeon Sang-hyeon looked down at the old woman and the children kissing his feet.
The wounds and scars visible on the bodies of the old woman and the children were not marks left by abuse.
Countless hands brushed past Yeon Sang-hyeon’s hands and the collar of his clothes.
Broken nails. Nails that had fallen out entirely without even a trace remaining. Bent fingers. Severed fingers. Hands covered in tiny wounds.
They were traces of unbearably harsh labor.
***
“They are people who will do any work wherever there is work, regardless of whether they are children or adults, regardless of time or place. It is just…”
A bitter smile appeared on Fourth Young Master’s lips.
“No matter how hard they try, the wages they receive are not enough for them to escape this place.”
Under brutal labor conditions, they were worn down rapidly.
If they were injured or became ill, if they were too young or too old, their already meager wages were reduced even further.
If they did not struggle, they could not even survive here.
“There is only one place they can go after escaping this place.”
The Yellow River.
They could only become a handful of ashes and flow away along the river.
It was as though the smell of burning corpses brushed past the noses of those listening.
“Master, it seems the party at the front has reached the destination.”
Fourth Young Master listened to the report, then looked back at his subordinates.
“Everyone, from now on, watch carefully. You will see why my honored elder brother is practically an object of faith to these people.”
His gaze turned forward.
“And you will understand why I invited my honored elder brother into our plan, even if it meant offering him shares.”
Everyone’s gaze turned ahead.
The first thing that entered their sight was a building with a tiled roof.
Because the shacks around it were so shabby and filthy, that building drew the eye despite being old and not particularly large.
As they drew a little closer, they could see a great number of people lined up at the entrance, making the place bustle like a marketplace.
One of those who had learned martial arts sharpened his eyesight and read the signboard hanging on the building.
“Jamae-won?”
They entered the front yard through the central gate, which had been cleared in advance.
It was utter chaos.
“Meals this way! Those here for meals, line up this way!”
Men and women, old and young alike, each holding a bowl, stood in a long line, waiting for the porridge boiling in a huge cauldron.
“The sick this way! Please stand over here!”
Beneath a roof made by patching together worn-out tents, countless patients lay on the ground with only a single layer of straw beneath them.
Boys and girls who could hardly be told apart as apprentices or something else ran around frantically.
The voices of doctors first sorting the people in line according to the severity of their conditions mixed with the voices of doctors trying to save those in critical condition.
And those who appeared to be apprentice physicians or female healers helping them had cloth wrapped all over their bodies.
“…Leprosy patients?”
When one maid covered her mouth in fright, the maid chief scolded her.
“Leprosy has low contagiousness. Do not show an excessive reaction for no reason.”
Just then, one doctor approached them.
“Ah, there is no need to worry. They have all been completely cured. Their scarring remains severe, so they cover themselves. They are not patients.”
Fourth Young Master nodded.
“The conquest of leprosy. One of the achievements my honored mother left behind.”
“That is correct. In order to repay that grace, they are training in medicine and helping us.”
The doctor smiled.
“Since you call her your honored mother, you must certainly be Fourth Young Master of the Luoyang Sword Clan.”
He began guiding them inside.
The plump maid asked on behalf of everyone what they were curious about.
“Is it profitable to sell food and practice medicine in a slum?”
The doctor leading the way widened his eyes, then burst into laughter.
“Ah, this is not a place that does business.”
Fourth Young Master took over the explanation.
“This is a place that provides food and medical care to the poor free of charge. My honored elder brother pays all the costs and operates it.”
At those words, everyone failed to hide their surprise.
Fourth Young Master’s maid chief added to his explanation.
“In every large slum within Luoyang, there is always one of these Jamae-won.”
The doctor smiled kindly.
“And every Jamae-won is also a shrine that enshrines our teacher, the Medicine Fairy.”
**
In one hand, she held a branch from the bodhi tree, and in the other, she held a bottomless medicine pouch.
The living beings gathered at her feet filled their bellies, learned wisdom, attained enlightenment, and were saved.
She was Yak So-yu, the Medicine Fairy, said to be the incarnation of Bhaisajyaguru, the Medicine Buddha.
Fourth Young Master respectfully held the incense in both hands and waved it several times through the air.
After placing the incense in the large incense burner, Fourth Young Master stepped back and, together with his subordinates, put his palms together in a reverent posture.
After spending enough time paying his respects, he raised his head and looked at the Buddhist painting beyond the incense burner.
In a world where drought and flood were mixed together, the people groaned in suffering.
The hungry, the ragged, and the sick rolled on the ground, wailed, and writhed in agony.
And there was one who saved them.
The woman standing barefoot upon the burning earth was beautiful, and at her lips was the compassionate smile of a Buddha.
“Please watch over us…”
After briefly murmuring a prayer, Fourth Young Master turned and stepped outside.
His subordinates followed him with solemn expressions.
As soon as they came out, another group of the poor entered to offer their prayers.
Even after that, countless people were still lined up outside.
After looking at that sight for a moment, Fourth Young Master turned to his scholars.
“Do they still look like fanatics intoxicated by false faith?”
No one dared answer, ashamed as they were.
“Now do you understand why they received my honored elder brother with such devout attitudes?”
Everyone answered and nodded.
Fourth Young Master clicked his tongue at them.
“You always run your mouths, pretending to know this and that about the affairs of the world, but in the end, your eyes cannot see beyond the lofty walls of the main estate.”
Who among them could possibly protest?
“It is common for those who conduct great enterprises and fight for power, those who call themselves tacticians and strategists, to be ignorant of the poor and the destitute.”
He looked at the scholars, who had lowered their heads.
“That is because they cannot buy any of the goods we handle. They are merely people to be used for a few coins, then replaced once they break and fall apart.”
Fourth Young Master clapped his hands.
Everyone raised their heads and looked at him.
“Even so, you must know this. In the end, Heaven’s Heart begins with the hearts of the people, and the will of the people is Heaven’s will, beginning from the very lowest place.”
The small, young boy placed Heaven’s will into his tender mouth.
“If you are to find sharp, ingenious schemes and build firm strategies in the future, becoming true tacticians and strategists, you must engrave that principle deep within your hearts.”
The young scholars cupped their hands and answered loudly in unison.
Fourth Young Master nodded at the sight and said,
“So, do you now understand how remarkable and great my honored elder brother is?”
The scholars were about to answer in unison, but hesitated.
What did that have to do with this?
“You stupid fools!”
Unable to watch any longer, the maid chief grabbed hold of her master as he jumped up and down in frustration.
“Now, now. The First Young Master is waiting for you, Master.”
“Ah!”
At those words, Fourth Young Master ran.
“Honored elder brotheeer! This unworthy younger brother has arrived late!”