Chapter 97 — The Medicine Bearer Through the Chaos

The First Foundation

Three weeks after Tinh Yen chose a suitable piece of land near the coast of Lach Dua, a delegation of envoys from Yen Phung capital came, bringing with them an official royal decree and an amount of initial support for the construction of the medical clinic - the result of what Kinh Ba Van had promised before she left. The messenger also brought along a personal letter of his own, with familiar, neat handwriting.

"Doctor Do." The letter wrote. "I have presented to the Holy King all the necessary documents, and he has approved the official award of the name 'Te Sinh Duong' as a medical clinic recognized by the royal court, with special land tax exemption for the first twenty years, and the right to be issued precious medicinal herbs from the reserves of the Royal Medical Institute whenever necessary. I have also had a complete copy of the Hundred Herbs Chan Sutra copied to be kept at the institute, while the original, of course, still belongs to you, its most worthy heir."

Tinh Yen read each line with an indescribable emotion, clearly feeling the thoughtfulness and absolute trust that the teacher in the capital had given her. She folded the letter carefully and put it in her handbag along with the other precious things she always carried with her.

Construction work began soon after, with the participation of almost all Lach Dua villagers. Dang Van Kinh organized human resources, carpenters and bricklayers from neighboring villages were also invited to contribute, while Ton Ba Nghi was in charge of managing materials and project progress with the meticulousness of a person familiar with military discipline.

Ngan Ba Thuyen, despite her old age, still continuously participates in planning the medicinal garden behind the medical shop, taking advantage of decades of experience as a royal physician to select medicinal herbs suitable for the coastal soil, combining harmoniously with the folk medicinal plants that Mrs. Khue once planted in the small garden in the past.

"We should also plant the plants your grandmother used to use." He said to Tinh Yen, as they both stood in the middle of the land being plowed to prepare for the medicinal garden. "Not only for their usefulness, but also as a way to preserve a part of her memory, right where her children and grandchildren are continuing their careers."

Tinh Yen nodded, her eyes filled with tears at that delicacy, then together with him, she began sketching out the details of each row of plants, each type carrying a story, a separate lesson from the two teachers who shaped all of her medical knowledge.

News about the construction of Te Sinh Duong spread far and wide throughout the East Sea region, and within just one month, many families from neighboring villages came to visit, wishing to send their children with good qualities to study medicine. Tinh Yen organized a simple test, not focusing on background or family conditions, but only looking for children with patience, compassion, and a little sensitivity to plants and herbs - exactly the same qualities that Mrs. Khue herself had seen in her years ago.

Among the selected children, there was a girl about ten years old, the daughter of a poor fisherman family, her eyes were bright and full of curiosity at each type of medicinal plant introduced, always asking questions that surprised even Ngan Ba Thuyen because of her sharpness beyond her years. Tinh Yen looked at that little girl and couldn't help but remember herself when she was eight years old, the first time she followed Mrs. Khue to the forest to pick medicine, filled with excitement at a new world of knowledge that was opening up.

Little Tep, now familiar with his work as an assistant in military medicine, becomes an unofficial guide for the new children, using his own inexperienced but honest experience to help the children get used to their new environment. Looking at that scene, Nhuoc Lan couldn't help but laugh.

"She now looks like a senior." Nhuoc Lan said, standing next to Tinh Yen to observe. "Just a few years ago, he was a child in need of help, and now he can help others."

"That is the most beautiful thing about medicine, I think." Tinh Yen replied, smiling at the group of children huddled around a newly planted medicinal bed. "Knowledge and compassion, once given, will always find a way to return, in a new, stronger form."

While the project was gradually being completed, an unexpected guest came - Mr. Tam Ro from Go Say village, along with a few villagers, traveled a long way to visit, bringing news that Thanh Phong had fully recovered and also some precious herbal seeds from the mountains that he believed would be useful for the new medicinal garden.

"I heard that you set up a medical shop here. I had to come and see." Tam Ro spoke, a gentle smile clearly visible on his face full of wrinkles and weather. "Besides, I also want to personally bring you some precious seeds, as a belated thank you for saving that boy, and also for the lesson you taught me that year."

Tinh Yen received the gift with deep respect and invited him and his group to stay for a few days to visit the construction project. Tam Ro, with the sharp eyes of a person who has been attached to plants all his life, contributed many valuable ideas to Ngan Ba Thuyen in arranging the medicinal garden. The two old men quickly became close, often arguing passionately about the uses of each type of root and medicinal leaf.

"The profession of medicine is truly a strange thread, able to connect people from the most distant lands together." Tam Ro commented, one afternoon when Tinh Yen and Tinh Yen stood watching the project gradually take its complete shape. "From a small village in the middle of the mountains and forests, all the way to the East Sea, with the same heart wanting to save people."

"I always believe that, sir." Tinh Yen replied, smiling as she looked at the bustling scene of the construction site. "The profession of medicine does not discriminate between regions, rich or poor, you just need to have a heart steadfast enough to pursue it to the end."

Before leaving, Tam Ro also left a promise - to introduce Te Sinh Duong to other traditional healers he knew scattered throughout the border areas, building a network to exchange experiences and medicinal materials, so that medical knowledge would no longer be limited within the boundaries of a single land.

Three months after the groundbreaking date, the main frame of Te Sinh Duong was completed - a row of sturdy wooden houses with bright red tile roofs, including a medical examination and treatment area in the front, a teaching area in the back, and small rows of rooms for boarding students, all surrounded by a gradually green medicinal garden. Lach Dua villagers, on a rare free afternoon, hung up a large wooden sign engraved with the three words "Te Sinh Duong" right above the main gate, under the emotional witness of everyone present.

In the evening, after a long day of work, Tinh Yen stood in front of the slowly taking shape of the main house of Te Sinh Duong, imagining the day it would be completed - where the lights would shine every night, where the sounds of smoking and students reading would resound regularly, where a part of the legacy of Mrs. Khue and Lieu Nguyen would be continued for many more generations, not just hers.

Ngan Ba Thuyen walked over and stood next to her, both of them quietly looking at the newly hung wooden sign gently swaying in the night sea breeze. "You have come a very long way, Doctor Do." He said, his voice filled with pride. "From a lost orphan girl, to the founder of a medical clinic whose name will be remembered for many generations to come."

"I'm not doing this alone." Tinh Yen replied, turning to look at him with deeply grateful eyes. "If it weren't for my grandmother to teach me the first lessons, without Master Lieu Nguyen to open up a broader horizon of knowledge for me, without him and the Prime Minister to trust and support me, I wouldn't have been able to go this far."

"That's how knowledge works, you know." Ngan Ba Thuyen said, his eyes looking far away at the quiet night sea. "No one can complete a long journey alone. Each person can only carry it for a part, then hand it over to the next person, continuing on and on, like a string with no real end."

Tinh Yen nodded, clearly feeling the deep meaning in those words, then they both stood there silently for a long time, listening to the sound of the ocean waves echoing from afar, the sound of the wind blowing through the coconut leaves, and even further away, the laughter of the children still lingering late playing in the yard, under the starry night sky of the East Sea.

Before retiring, Tinh Yen lingered a while longer, looking around at the newly completed project, from the bright red tiled roof that still smelled of new wood, to the lush green medicine beds behind, to the wooden sign hanging high at the main gate. She knew that this was just the beginning of a long road ahead, but for the first time in many years, she felt complete peace, no longer encumbered by open questions or unanswered ghosts of the past.