Episode 210
I couldn’t understand the party’s intentions.
At best, they summoned the head of the delegation and asked, “What is a tourist attraction in Jungwon?”
It wasn’t just that.
The title “Gongnyeo (公女)” feels stiff, so wouldn’t it be easier to call her “Sojeo” instead? Wouldn’t she be careless and reject her guard?
Now he looks drunk and disheveled.
It was as if he was having a private drink with an innocent friend.
Time passed by in vain.
About an hour had passed since we sat down.
“Sozer.”
I put down the glass in my hand and opened my mouth softly.
Since he didn’t get to the point until the bottles were gone, I was the first to reach the limit of my patience.
This was enough of a meaningless conversation that was only wasting time.
“If there’s nothing more to talk about, I’ll just head back.”
“Aren’t you in too much of a hurry? “It’s a place that was prepared with great care.”
“Even though it was a carefully planned event, it doesn’t seem like a very productive conversation took place.”
“What kind of conversation is productive?”
“······?”
“If you had threatened me by telling me to help you get to the position of palace guard, if you had tried to appease me by saying that I would reward you greatly if you cooperated with the plan. Do you think the Sohyup would have listened to my story?”
It was as if he was saying that he knew what Confucius One and Confucius had given me.
I stopped my hand for a moment, then silently raised my head and made eye contact with Woo Hwayeon.
“If it’s not threats or appeasement, then for what purpose did you call me? “It’s not like he just wanted to hear stories about Jungwon.”
“What makes you think no?”
“yes?”
“I am very interested in the world outside South Korea. I have a lot of questions. So, I thought I would like to invite the small cooperative and have a chat.”
“······.”
I couldn’t figure out how much was sincere and how much was false.
Woo Hwa-yeon put the empty liquor bottle in the corner and picked up a new bottle from under the table.
Pong!
As soon as the stopper was opened, a strong aroma of liquor spread out.
It seemed to be a much stronger type of alcohol than the fruit wine I drank earlier.
She said as she poured alcohol into my glass.
“It looks like you don’t believe it.”
“It’s hard to believe it out loud.”
“Actually, there is one thing I would like to ask you. “It may be a bit different from what the Sohyup is thinking of.”
A meaningful statement.
Woo Hwayeon took a deep breath as she put down the bottle and spoke with a slightly nervous expression.
“When I complete my duties as an envoy and return to the central plains, I would like you to take me with you.”
“······!”
* * *
I ended up making a blank expression.
I never would have thought that she would say that she wanted to go into exile in Jungwon.
“Are you serious?”
“yes.”
Woo Hwayeon’s voice became serious.
The innocent look I had shown before seemed like a lie.
“Weren’t you aiming for the position of princess?”
“It was not I who was interested in the palace grounds, but my maternal grandfather. “I am nothing more than a puppet.”
“······.”
“It may be hard to believe, but I am actually not interested in the position of palace lord. I expressed this intention several times to my maternal grandfather, that is, to Dokgokju of the time. In the end, he was unable to go against the flow and became the leader of a faction…”
To calm my confused head, I emptied the alcohol in my glass in one go.
A heavy silence fell.
‘Did they bite the guards for this?’
Now I can understand to some extent the actions that Hwayeon Woo has shown so far.
The reason why he bitten the guards so defenselessly, the reason why he begged me to tell him about tourist attractions in Jungwon, and the reason why he showed such a friendly attitude towards me that I thought it was excessive.
“Are you saying you decided to leave Namman just because you didn’t want to be on the palace grounds?”
“It’s not that I particularly dislike power. “I just thought the price I had to pay to get it was too high.”
“What does that mean?”
“As the fight for control of the palace intensified, our relationship became estranged, but the relationship between me and my brothers was not bad until a few years ago. “All four of you treated her little sister kindly for a long time.”
“······.”
“I don’t know. “Is it so wrong to think that you don’t want to kill your loved ones with your own hands?”
It was a statement with many implications.
In order for Woo Hwa-yeon, a young woman, to ascend to the throne of the palace and stabilize her power base, she had to go through a process of purge.
You may say that there is no distinction between men and women in martial arts, but the reality is not so easy.
There was a common notion and a universal perspective in society.
In order to overcome all that and reign as the conqueror of Namman, he inevitably had to become an iron-blooded monarch.
I remember hearing that the Empress of the North Sea also shed a lot of blood in the process of ascending to the position of palace lord.
‘There is nothing more to say if Woo Hwa-yeon is, as she said, a puppet of Dokgokju.’
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Even if I was a poisonous winemaker, I would never spare the other brothers who could threaten Woo Hwayeon’s position at any time.
That’s what the fight over power was like.
“One day, a thought occurred to me. I don’t know what the meaning of climbing around the palace, even with the blood of my brothers on my hands, is. “If I had to work so hard to get to the top of the palace, I wouldn’t be the one to have real power.”
A wry smile appeared on Woo Hwa-yeon’s lips as she continued speaking quietly.
For a moment, I saw her and my past life overlapping.
Thinking back to the past when I was forced into a life I didn’t want by someone else’s will, I furrowed my brows.
“After much thought, I came to a conclusion. “It would be better to abandon everything and leave the palace than to live forever as a puppet that obeys other people’s will.”
“So you asked me that?”
“yes.”
“I would like to ask why you want to go to the midfield. It must not be easy to settle in a land with a completely different lifestyle and culture.”
“Dokgok’s area of activity is all over southern Manchuria. In the end, the only way to escape from the poisonous country is to leave Namman.”
“I know what you mean. But is it okay to say something like this to a stranger? “From Sozer’s perspective, I don’t think I’m a trustworthy partner.”
“For me, this is an opportunity that will never come again.”
In short, it meant that we were in no position to choose between cold and hot food.
‘Believing or not believing is the second problem.’
After drinking a glass of wine to quench her thirst, she politely bowed her head and continued her conversation.
“Please ask me again. Please take me to the midfield.”
“······.”
“It will also be consistent with the purpose of the mission.”
“Is it consistent with the purpose of the mission? “What do you mean by that?”
“Even if the small cooperative wins the secretariat competition and a non-aggression pact is signed, there is no guarantee that it will be strictly observed. However, if I were to say that my new recruit was in charge of the Murim Alliance, it would be a different story.”
To put it simply, it meant making yourself a hostage or prisoner.
As she said, the non-aggression pact could not be a perfect means of deterring war.
There is no law that guarantees that a promise will be kept.
It may be unlikely, but if the next palace lord decided to break the contract, the treaty, which was just a piece of paper, would be simply torn up and thrown away in the middle of the day.
‘Woo Hwa-yeon is the blood relative of Palace Lord Yasu and the granddaughter of Lord Dokgok. If she had him as her hostage, her chances of going to war would be infinitely lower.’
I rubbed my chin with my hand and was lost in thought.
It was something worth thinking about.
If it was possible to safely bring her to the midfield, the best result would be achieved.
Because her presence will act as a powerful deterrent to war.
Would Dokgokju let go and just watch?
‘Is that possible?’
Dokgokju was trying to enthrone Woo Hwayeon as the lord of the Beast Palace.
Even while ignoring the will of the person involved.
Of course, there was something he wanted to achieve through her.
If I accepted Woo Hwa-yeon’s proposal, I would definitely end up in trouble with Dok-gok.
‘The risk is too great to take.’
Although the level of Dokgokju was not known for certain, many people assumed that he had reached the level of Hyeongyeong.
No matter what, I didn’t want to turn the absolute expert into my enemy.
‘It would be better to put it on hold for now.’
It wasn’t long before I was able to come to a conclusion.
It was too risky a proposition to blindly accept.
Above all, I could not completely trust Woo Hwayeon.
What guarantee is there that she only told me the truth?
“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can give you an answer right now.”
“······.”
“and.”
I suddenly threw the needle in my hand toward the ceiling.
Kwaaaaaaaa!
The condensed brain energy soared up, creating a large hole in the ceiling.
“Keuuk!”
The man who had been hiding on the ceiling and eavesdropping on Woo Hwayeon’s story let out a lethargic sound and fell onto the table.
Kwajangchang!
The table broke, and broken plates and bottles flew into the air.
“······!”
Woo Hwayeon’s eyes widened.
The man was wearing black night clothes and a mask.
The guards waiting outside ran into the room, shouting at the sudden commotion.
“this guy!”
“Princess! Are you safe?”
I slowly got up from my seat without even looking at them.
Woo Hwayeon looked back and forth between me and the masked person with trembling eyes.
“Looking at his attire, he doesn’t seem to be a palace warrior, and it looks like he was placed under surveillance by Sojeo in Dokgok.”
“······.”
“Please take care of the cleanup. “I’ll just leave now.”
* * *
At the same time, this Confucius’ residence.
A warrior with a majestic physique approached Confucius, who was sitting at his desk sorting out documents, and spoke to him.
“Confucius.”
“Is the investigation over?”
“yes. “I made a report and brought it to you.”
“Leave it and go.”
A thin report was placed on the desk.
Approximately two hours passed by.
“Ugh.”
As Confucius finished his work and stretched out, his eyes turned to the report that had been pushed to the corner of his desk.
He picked up the report, looked at its contents, and muttered.
“There are a lot.”
The document contained the names of the Central Plains people who visited the Beast Palace and their personal details.
After carefully reviewing the report, Confucius raised his eyebrows and smiled.
There were as many as dozens of people.
Everyone thought there was no way they could have an amicable relationship with the Sacheon branch leader.
Therefore, he instructed his subordinates to observe the delegation.
“also.”
As a result, useful information was obtained.
The name written in the corner of the report caught my attention.
He was an elder from a great family that held the first rank of the five generations.
Since he was a person of high status, it seemed worthwhile to tempt him.
“It’s Hwang Bo-kyung…”
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