The Emperor had grown sickly, and the Empress was unable to conceive.
Anyone could see that the next Emperor would clearly be the imperial prince born by Deung Hyeryeon.
On top of that, unlike Zhu Seogi, who had no support base whatsoever, Deung Hyeryeon and the imperial prince had the immensely powerful Eastern Depot standing behind them.
The House of Ouyang also felt the gravity of the situation and tried to help the Empress conceive, but no medicine worked.
No matter what famous physician they brought in, none could clearly identify why Zhu Seogi was ill.
As time passed, more people naturally began attaching themselves to Deung Hyeryeon’s side, and as a result, the power of the House of Ouyang naturally declined.
Now people were arguing that because Zhu Seogi’s body was weak, the Crown Prince should be appointed as soon as possible.
The House of Ouyang opposed them, saying they had to wait, but the tide was already turning.
No one cared about Zhu Seogi himself.
Zhu Seogi felt as though he existed merely to produce descendants.
Only one person comforted him.
Empress Ouyang Hye.
When he was with her, his heart felt at ease and settled.
But he could not even stay with her for long.
His health would not allow it.
He could meet her only when his condition improved for a little while.
If Zhu Seogi died as things stood, the only remaining heir, Deung Hyeryeon’s son Zhu Cheonmin, would become Emperor.
If that happened, the world would belong to Deung Hyeryeon and the Eastern Depot behind her.
People kept it quiet, but everyone already knew.
The person Deung Hyeryeon truly loved was the eunuch of the Eastern Depot.
For him, she would do anything.
If that happened, the person who would effectively control the next Emperor would be none other than the Eastern Depot eunuch.
Even now, the Eastern Depot’s power pierced the sky.
But if he could control even the Emperor however he wished, then he would be able to wield power greater than the Emperor himself.
To make that reality come true, the Eastern Depot was hurrying to prepare the appointment of the Crown Prince, but something went wrong.
Some Hanlin Academy scholars who supported the Emperor had stolen the Imperial Seal to stop the Crown Prince’s appointment.
They had written an imperial edict for the Emperor, secretly swapped it with a fake, and stolen the Imperial Seal.
That had been possible because such documents were prepared by the Hanlin Academy.
The Hanlin Academy had prepared meticulously and acted with all their might as though they had sided with Deung Hyeryeon.
And when those people let their guard down, the Hanlin Academy wrote a fake imperial edict and stole the Imperial Seal.
When the Eastern Depot realized the Imperial Seal had vanished, they kept the news from leaking elsewhere and searched for it in secret, only for the matter to be caught in the intelligence net of their bitter enemy, the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
Unintentionally, the Embroidered Uniform Guard had joined the hunt for the Imperial Seal as well.
*****
The place where Zhu Seogi stayed was his secret safe house.
It was a place they had barely managed to secure, and very few people knew of its existence.
As the Eastern Depot’s surveillance of Zhu Seogi intensified, the House of Ouyang had secretly used a double to make it seem as though Zhu Seogi was lying in bed, then moved the real Zhu Seogi to a safe location.
There, Zhu Seogi anxiously waited for someone.
“Today is definitely the day... Did they fail after all?”
Zhu Seogi waited desperately for the Lecturer of the Hanlin Academy, who had not appeared even though the appointed day had arrived.
It was then.
He heard signs of people, and two men entered.
After confirming one man’s face, Zhu Seogi smiled brightly.
“Lecturer of the Hanlin Academy! You have come.”
“Your Majesty! The night air is cold. Why are you outside?”
“I was waiting for you.”
“Please punish this subject for making Your Majesty wait!”
The Lecturer of the Hanlin Academy dropped flat and begged forgiveness, but Zhu Seogi quickly raised him to his feet.
“What are you saying? I know better than anyone how hard you have worked for me. What crime could there be?”
“Your Majesty! Your grace is immeasurable!”
“Did you find the Imperial Seal?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. It is here!”
Zhu Seogi received the silk bundle the Lecturer of the Hanlin Academy respectfully offered.
He hurriedly untied the knot and checked what was inside, then let out a deep breath.
“It truly is here. Are you all right? What of the others?”
At Zhu Seogi’s question, the Lecturer’s expression stiffened.
The moment Zhu Seogi saw that expression, he understood.
“I am sorry... Because of me, innocent lives...”
“No, Your Majesty! They gave their lives for Your Majesty!”
“Their lives were precious too. All of this would be over if I alone disappeared...”
“Your Majesty! You are one chosen by heaven! Please harden your heart!”
When the Lecturer of the Hanlin Academy dropped to the ground and pleaded, Zhu Seogi raised him up again.
“Very well. I shall strive and strive again, so their sacrifice will not be in vain.”
“Your Majesty!”
At Zhu Seogi’s answer, the Lecturer shed tears of deep emotion.
As Zhu Seogi stared quietly at the Imperial Seal, countless thoughts passing through his mind—
“Heh heh heh. It’s real. They said if we stayed here, the Imperial Seal would come to us on its own.”
With that sinister voice, black figures began dropping from the air one after another, and in an instant, the courtyard was filled with dozens of masked men.
The Lecturer of the Hanlin Academy quickly stood before Zhu Seogi and watched them warily.
“Wh-who are you bastards! Do you know where this place is?”
“We do. The Emperor’s secret safe house.”
Since they knew exactly what this place was, Zhu Seogi and the Lecturer of the Hanlin Academy tensed.
“Your Majesty. Quietly hand the Imperial Seal over to us. Then return to the imperial palace as though nothing happened.”
“How insolent! You scoundrels! What is this rudeness before His Majesty!”
At the Lecturer’s shout, the black-masked man at the front frowned.
“Damn. Old man’s got quite the voice.”
Then he drew his sword and said, “Well, if you have any last words, leave them behind. We were told to kill you.”
“Was it Changdok who sent you?”
Changdok was what the ministers called the Chief Eunuch of the Eastern Depot, shortened from Eastern Depot Chief.
The masked men gave no answer.
“Enough. Cut down the noisy old man. Capture the Emperor alive and force him back to the palace.”
“Yes!”
They were people who did not treat the Emperor as the Emperor.
The instant one man shot forward like lightning and thrust his sword toward the Lecturer of the Hanlin ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ Academy—
CLANG!
CRAAACK—
The sword broke, and with a heavy sound, a black object shot backward at high speed.
BANG—
The thing that struck the wall, fell straight to the ground, and went limp was the masked man who had drawn his sword and charged in just moments ago.
The entire courtyard went silent in an instant.
With a stunned expression, Zhu Seogi stared at the back of a man whose approach he had not noticed at all.
“I apologize for greeting Your Majesty in this manner. My name is Jeok Wigang.”
Then he looked at the masked men and said, “What’s the point of wearing masks? Your voices are thin. Eunuch bastards pretending to be men and throwing your weight around.”
At Jeok Wigang’s words, killing intent surged in the masked men’s eyes.
“Make sure you take that son of a bitch alive. I’ll cut off his manhood myself and shove it into his mouth.”
At their leader’s order, the other masked men also charged toward Jeok Wigang with murderous eyes.
“Even the way you move is girlish. Now I’m curious. Do you bastards sit down when you piss?”
“You damned son of a bitch!”
He was casually bringing up a taboo that should never be spoken of, let alone asked about.
Swords full of killing intent flew wildly toward Jeok Wigang.
The instant those swords were about to strike his body—
SHAAAAANG—
The blades were pulled by an invisible force, and their motions were thrown into disarray.
The masked men’s pupils widened.
The swords they had just thrust toward Jeok Wigang were being held in his grip, crushed and warped.
Absurd grip strength.
Worse, those swords had been wrapped in sword qi, yet he had caught and crushed them barehanded.
The masked men were horrified.
PA-PA-PAT—
“I’m curious whether your faces are pretty too.”
The men panicked as their masks were stripped away in an instant.
They hurriedly tried to cover their faces.
“That won’t do.”
WHUMP-WHUMP-WHUMP—
“Guh!”
“Urgh!”
At the heavy impact they felt in their stomachs, their hands dropped without their realizing it.
THUD—
Their legs lost strength from the pain, and they collapsed to the ground.
Their faces were pale and delicate.
“Prettier than I thought.”
“Y-you damned bastard.”
Even in agony, they ground their teeth and glared at Jeok Wigang as if they would kill him.
“You’re from the Eastern Depot, right?”
“Do you think we would tell you that?”
“You don’t have to. Who else in the imperial palace has men walking around like women besides the Eastern Depot? Isn’t that why you go around wearing masks? What good are masks when your voices are so thin?”
“I-I’ll kill you!”
Enraged by Jeok Wigang’s words, they all charged at once.
CRAAACK— CRACK—
CRASH— THUD—
But without even knowing how they had been hit, they were sent flying into the wall.
Jeok Wigang’s gaze was directed at the leader.
“If we take off that bastard’s mask, we should be able to tell who he is, right?”
At Jeok Wigang’s words, the leader faltered and backed away.
To think there would be a madman who stripped off every mask one by one to confirm faces.
Could he deal with him?
He considered it for a moment, but no.
Hadn’t he seen Jeok Wigang deal with his subordinates in an instant?
Even he could not subdue his own men that quickly.
Then there was only one thing left.
BAM—
The moment he made his decision, he launched himself with all his strength.
At that instant—
SLAP—
His face flashed white.
THUD—
Along with the sensation of his body striking something solid, pain flooded in.
When he came to his senses, he was on the ground.
WHIP—
As he groaned in pain, his mask was stripped off.
He quickly tried to cover his face with his hands.
CRACK—
“Aaaaaagh!”
A fierce pain tore through both arms, and strength left them.
When he turned his head in agony, he saw his arms dangling uselessly.
“I told you not to cover it. How am I supposed to know who you are if you keep hiding your face?”
This bastard was a demon.
He had to be a demon.
But he could not give up like this.
He slammed his face straight down into the ground.
Even if he had to mash his face apart, he had to make himself unrecognizable.
WHUMP— WHUMP— WHUMP—
Like a madman, he smashed his own face against the ground again and again.
Before long, his face was so drenched in blood that its shape could no longer be recognized.
And he laughed.
“Heh heh heh. Well? Can you recognize me now?”
It felt satisfying, as though he had landed a blow on that damned demon.
“Why? Keep going. You think that’s enough?”
“Huh?”
This was not the reaction he had wanted.
Jeok Wigang grabbed him by the hair and began smashing his face into the ground again.
CRAAACK— CRACK— CRACK—
The force was on an entirely different level from when he had done it himself.
RIIIIP—
And it did not end with smashing him down.
Jeok Wigang was grinding his face into the ground, scraping the skin away.
“You have to go at least this far to make a face unrecognizable. Don’t you think?”
“Aaaaaagh!”
Watching him writhe in agony, Zhu Seogi and the Lecturer of the Hanlin Academy turned their heads and covered their ears.
It was too cruel to keep their eyes open and watch.
“N-no matter how much you torture me... I have nothing to say.”
“Yeah. You don’t have to say anything. I’m not curious about anything. I just wanted to know who you were.”
That response only made it more bewildering.
“Whether you talk or not, every Eastern Depot bastard will end up just like you. How’s that? Doesn’t that make you feel a little better? Since your comrades will end up the same way.”
He really was a demon.
Jeok Wigang lifted the blood-soaked face and said, “I know a bit of sorcery. With that sorcery, I can heal a person back to normal. Interesting, isn’t it?”
Why was he saying that to him?
No.
Could he possibly?
Could he heal his face?
His pupils shook violently.
Impossible.
He had not seen it, but even a great immortal could not restore his face to its original state.
He could feel that his face had been crushed and his bones twisted.
He thought Jeok Wigang was only saying it, but an inexplicable unease flooded over him.
Then Jeok Wigang placed his hand on his face and murmured an incantation.
In that instant, bright light rose from his hand, the pain subsided, and a cool sensation spread through him.
Then he vividly felt his bones being set and new flesh growing.
“All done. You’re handsome.”