Chapter 93 — The Medicine Bearer Through the Chaos

Old Friends Under the Tree

Right on Tuat time, Tinh Yen found Kinh Ba Van's private room, a simple room deep in the residence of high-ranking royal physicians, with only an old wooden desk, a few bookshelves filled with medical books, and a small oil lamp that radiated warm yellow light throughout the room. When she knocked on the door and entered, Ngan Ba Thuyen was already sitting there, facing Kinh Ba Van across a simple tea table, both older men had a rare heavy silence.

"Sit down, Doctor Do." Kinh Ba Van said, pouring her a cup of hot tea. "Tonight, we will tell you the whole story, without hiding anything anymore."

Tinh Yen sat down, holding a cup of warm tea with both hands to calm her rising nervousness. Her eyes looked back and forth between the two old doctors, waiting.

Ngan Ba Thuyen was the first to speak, his voice slowly as if reopening the layers of time dust covering a memory that had been buried for too long. "Twenty-two years ago, Thich Lieu Nguyen - then still under the customary name Duong Tu Nguyen - was the Chancellor of the Thai Y Vien, the youngest person to ever hold that position in the history of the Dong Lam court." he said. "Kinh Ba Van and I were both young medical students at that time. We were fortunate to be directly taught by him and considered him a teacher and an example to follow throughout our careers."

Tinh Yen slightly opened her mouth in surprise. Even though she had somewhat guessed this through previous discrete clues, hearing it confirmed directly still made her stunned. "Your master... used to be Chancellor?"

"That's right." Kinh Ba Van continued, his voice low and full of nostalgia. "He is a talented, fair-minded Chancellor who always puts saving people above everything else, including the rigid rules of court etiquette. Because of that impartiality, he has become a thorn in the eyes of some people in the court who are profiting from his position."

"That year, a major drought occurred in the Southwest, bringing with it famine and epidemics." Ngan Ba Thuyen continued, his eyes distant as if he were reliving that very moment. "Can Ba Thong, at that time was still a young emerging official in the Ministry of Ho Chi Minh City, was assigned to be in charge of transporting food and medicine to that area. Lieu Nguyen, during an inspection trip with the relief team, discovered that a large part of the medicine sent was fake, mixed with useless powders, without any real therapeutic effect."

"What did he do when he found out?" Tinh Yen asked, her voice trembling slightly.

"He did exactly what you would do yourself if you were in that situation." Kinh Ba Van replied, a sad smile flashed across the corner of his lips. "He immediately reported to the royal court, requesting an investigation of the entire medicine supply chain. But Can Ba Thong, with his cleverness and the relationships he had built, quickly turned the situation around before the investigation really began."

Ngan Ba Thuyen clenched the teacup in his hand, his voice began to tremble with pent-up emotions for twenty-two years. "Just a few weeks later, a high-ranking mandarin in the court, who had received many favors from Can Ba Thong, suddenly died after taking a medicine prescribed by Lieu Nguyen himself to treat prolonged insomnia. Can Ba Thong immediately accused Lieu Nguyen of intentionally poisoning that mandarin to silence him, using his position as Chancellor to fabricate a perfect, undeniable case."

"It's a slander." Tinh Yen spoke, her voice choked with anger, even though in her heart she had already guessed the direction of the story.

"That's true, but at that time, no one in the court dared to vindicate him." Kinh Ba Van said, his voice carrying a deep regret that could not be hidden. "The evidence was so elaborately staged by Can Ba Thong - the drugs in his house were switched, the prescription books were edited. He was sentenced to death, awaiting execution."

A heavy silence enveloped the room. Tinh Yen felt tears rolling down her cheeks, imagining her master, who always taught her to "save people first, question their status later", was unfairly condemned by the very court he devotedly served.

"What happened then?" She asked softly.

Ngan Ba Thuyen and Kinh Ba Van looked at each other for a long time, then Kinh Ba Van continued, his voice now carrying a tension as if he was confessing a sin that had been hidden all his life. "The night before the execution, I and Ngan Ba Thuyen, then just young doctors with no power in the court, risked our lives to organize his escape." he said. "We don't have the strength to exonerate him before an entire court manipulated by Can Ba Thong, but at least we can save his life."

"He escaped that night, leaving behind his entire identity, his career, and his real name." Ngan Ba Thuyen continued, her voice choked. "The court records later recorded that he died while trying to escape from prison, being shot down in the middle of the river. That was a lie orchestrated by myself and Kinh Ba Van, bribing the prison guard to have time for him to escape far away before being hotly pursued."

"Before leaving, he split his white crane talisman." Kinh Ba Van said, taking out from the desk drawer a small wooden box that had become old over time. "Half of the piece, he carried with him, as a reminder of his lost true identity. The other half, he gave to Ngan Ba Thuyen, advising that if one day, someone brings the other half of the piece, please help that person at all costs - because that will be a sign that fate has arranged a new opportunity for the truth to be revealed."

Ngan Ba Thuyen opened the wooden box, inside was the remaining half piece of jade talisman, engraved with half a white crane, the jade veins sparkling under the oil lamp - a perfect reflection of the half piece Tinh Yen has always carried with her for many years.

"I kept it for twenty-two years." He spoke, his voice trembling with pent-up emotions finally released. "Waiting for the day that piece of jade reappears. When you entered the Royal Hospital that year, carrying half a piece of jade talisman, I knew right away that it was it - but I still didn't have the courage to say it right away, because I was afraid that, once the truth was brought up again, Can Ba Thong, who at that time had climbed to the powerful position of Minister of the Household Ministry, would find a way to harm you like he had harmed your master."

Tinh Yen reached out with a trembling hand to take half the jade piece from Ngan Ba Thuyen's hand, then took her own half piece from the basket, placing the two pieces side by side for the first time after twenty-two years of separation. They fit together perfectly, forming the complete image of a white crane flapping its wings, the symbol of the Royal Physician - the symbol of an oath that has never been forgotten, despite having to endure many years of separation and injustice.

"So everything my master taught me..." She said, her voice choked up. "All the philosophy of saving people regardless of status, all that he passed on — came from this tragedy."

"That's right." Kinh Ba Van nodded. "And now, after twenty-two years, the path you took — from a little girl from a fishing village, to a medical doctor who exonerated herself against a similar plot, and now someone who helped bring the very person who murdered your teacher to justice — is perhaps exactly what Liu Yuan, or Duong Tu Nguyen, had always hoped would happen, even though he probably never dared to believe it would come to fruition so completely."

Tinh Yen hugged the two pieces of jade tightly to her heart, tears falling endlessly, but this time, they were no longer tears of pain alone, but a blend of grief, gratitude, and a rare feeling of completeness when finally, after many years of carrying an unsolved mystery, she found the whole truth about the teacher who shaped her entire life.

"So now..." She asked, her voice still shaking, "what can we do to restore his honor? He deserves to be known by his true name, not as someone who died in disgrace."

"That is exactly what I and Doctor Ngan plan to do, as soon as the trial of Can Ba Thong officially takes place." Kinh Ba Van replied, his voice had regained some of its familiar calmness, but his eyes still held an emotion that was hard to hide. "With Chu Dac Hoanh's testimony, with the two pieces of jade talisman now merged, and with the evidence about the case twenty-two years ago that I and Doctor Ngan are willing to testify, I believe that this time, the truth will not be buried for another day."

Ngan Ba Thuyen nodded, placing a trembling hand on Tinh Yen's shoulder. "I'm sorry, for being silent for so long, making you carry doubts for so many years." he said. "But looking at you sitting here today, carrying within you both your grandmother's legacy and that of Lieu Nguyen, I know that in the end, all that waiting was not meaningless."

The three people sat quietly together for a long time under the light of a small oil lamp, no one said another word, only the quiet sound of the night outside the window and the warmth of a truth that was finally fully shared, closing one of the heaviest mysteries that Tinh Yen had carried with her throughout the long journey of her life.