Even the Coldest Ashes Can Reignite
The saying goes, watch the fire even when you sleep, and always check the ashes. The moment Cheong dropped a bombshell like a Thunder Tremor Bomb, the entire scene fell into stunned silence.
“Your Highness!”
The Northern Army soldiers immediately collapsed. With a loud thud, their knees slammed into the ground hard enough to crack, elbows pressed firmly to the dirt. They still couldn’t believe it. The idea that the Empire’s princess was a hulking giant munching raw sweet potatoes like they were nothing felt utterly absurd.
But these were the words of an Imperial Guard officer of the Seventh Rank. Moreover, his tone was thick with genuine confusion and disbelief. There was no room left for doubt.
It was the moment every man’s fantasy of what a princess should be shattered into pieces. The beautiful, noble, delicate flower who needed their utmost protection—the mysterious, idealized vision of a peerless beauty—crumbled away in an instant.
Perhaps that was why the Northern Army soldiers, foreheads pressed to the cold ground, felt hot tears welling up in their eyes.
My princess… Give me back my princess…
Was it because the ground was so hard and freezing? Their hearts felt frozen solid, cold and miserable.
Yeon Pa was utterly shocked. How on earth had things gotten all the way to the Empress?! There was no way Cheong could be the princess. If she were, no matter how long she had been away from the palace, the wise King would have recognized her immediately.
The Imperial Guards were in an extremely awkward position. A few of the guards had already dropped to their knees and begun raising their arms in salute when they noticed their commander was still standing. It seemed the situation was different. The guards who had been dropping to their knees and folding their arms smoothly transitioned into stretching toward the sky, arching their backs a few times as if that had been their intention all along, then stood up again with an air of perfect naturalness.
It didn’t look natural at all.
Cheong’s face twisted into a deep scowl.
“Why is your knee still off the ground, you bastard?”
“While that is undoubtedly the Empress’s token, there is no possible way the princess could be here. If I am wrong, I will apologize with my life. Would you perhaps grant me the honor of beholding your countenance?”
Makseok answered with formal speech, but his words essentially meant I don’t believe you, so take off the veil and show your face. In other words, this man knew what Princess Yeon-sul looked like.
Cheong pondered for a moment before deciding to trust the Empress. Unless the Empress had gone mad with grief over losing her daughter, then perhaps her face really did belong to Princess Yeon-sul.
With that thought, Cheong lifted her veil.
The peerless beauty that most who had seen it did not hesitate to call the greatest in the world was revealed in full view for all to see.
Makseok’s eyes bulged so wide they looked ready to burst. Even through Cheong’s blurry vision where everything split into a dozen overlapping shapes, the way his focus shook was clearly visible.
Only then did Cheong herself grow suspicious. So there really is someone in the imperial palace who looks exactly like me?
But then—
“Ahem. I almost fell for it. You, no… um, however… that is… Could you perhaps be someone who serves the Empress? A body double for the princess, perhaps?”
Makseok asked hesitantly, in a tone that was neither polite nor rude.
“What kind of blasphemous nonsense is that?”
“You do resemble Princess Yeon-sul, but… that Princess Yeon-sul is not… to that extent…”
A glint flashed in Cheong’s eyes. When it came to catching people by their words, few in the world could rival her.
“Ah, I see. So you’re saying Princess Yeon-sul isn’t this beautiful? That she’s ugly? You must have truly lost your mind. There are limits to looking down on the imperial family. How dare you evaluate noble blood so carelessly?”
“No, that’s not what I meant. The face I saw was… ahem… it had traces of pockmarks…”
“Come here, you. So the Princess Yeon-sul you know is an ugly bitch covered in scars! And because I am a beauty, I must be fake?”
Cheong had acquired new information. It seemed the other person didn’t look exactly like her after all. That made sense. Even the Empress had recognized her instantly with a mother’s sharp eye. And this Imperial Guard had said she resembled her.
“Then… why is the Western Palace interfering with the main palace’s affairs? Dealing with Prince Deokhyeon was clearly an order from His Majesty…”
“Shut your mouth!”
Cheong roared with stern authority.
“Now I see you’ve completely lost your mind. What did you just say? Are you truly claiming that His Majesty personally ordered the elimination of his own flesh and blood? You will have to take responsibility for those words.”
Makseok’s heart sank. Of course the order hadn’t come through proper channels. Though it was true that throughout the ancient Silver and Zhou dynasties, emperors of the Central Plains had always been like this—kill your siblings while you still can, for they cannot share the same sun. They were mortal enemies. However, from the previous emperor’s or the parents’ perspective, they could not bear to watch their children kill each other. Thus, emperors who had gleefully massacred their own brothers would impose all sorts of restrictions on their children, telling them to get along and not do the same.
In such a situation, openly killing a prince would cause all the officials to rise up in unison. Even if the owner of the dragon throne changed, there would be nothing to say.
“No, that… someone of your position should understand…”
Makseok felt wronged. He had simply followed orders!
“Understand? Don’t tell me. Are you claiming that His Majesty ordered you to disguise his army as bandits, slaughter all his people, and on top of that, set the mountain on fire to summon flames of hell? Is that truly what you are asserting?”
“Hup.”
Makseok’s words were completely cut off. It was inevitable. Even Cheong, who had spoken the words, was utterly stunned.
This emperor bastard is a real son of a bitch, isn’t he? Even I said it, but damn, this is actually insane. How the hell is a guy like this an emperor?
Irritation surging, Cheong turned her gaze toward the kneeling Northern Army soldiers. Their karma wasn’t particularly clean, but among them, the word “evil” rarely appeared in bright red. Most had two digits, occasionally one, and a few even had glowing blue letters.
“I grant the Northern Army the honor of beholding my countenance. Raise your heads and look upon me.”
The soldiers cautiously lifted their heads and—
Gasp.
The giant rickshaw puller who had been munching sweet potatoes was gone. In her place sat a celestial maiden who seemed to have descended from the heavens.
After all, clothing is completed by the face. Even the lumpy fur coat could not overcome Cheong’s beauty. There was no hulking brute of monstrous strength—only a peerless beauty in simple, elegant attire.
She had merely lifted her veil, yet the earlier screams of my princess isn’t like this! became meaningless. Ooh, she really is a princess. A true princess. So beautiful.
Moreover, these were Northern soldiers. They were warriors guarding the border in the harshest frozen lands where no women could be found. Their tolerance for feminine beauty was dangerously low. Even an ordinary woman would make them drool and declare her truly beautiful. To see a candidate for the greatest beauty of all time left them speechless with emotion.
They were simply entranced. Was this a dream or reality? The more they looked, the more wondrous it became. They felt they could spend their entire lives protecting her and die happy…
“I ask the general before me. Before your eyes stands a traitor without equal in the world, dressed in silk and tarnishing His Majesty’s dragon name.”
Cheong didn’t have much to work with. She had to press the advantage while they were still dazed. If she gave them time to think, only she would be in trouble. She couldn’t exactly say, Do you have any other proof? Shall we all run to the Empress together and ask if I’m her real daughter or not?
“Will you simply stand by and watch?”
The general snapped back to his senses. The judgment wasn’t difficult. Was she the real princess? He didn’t know. But was the token real? It seemed so. And even if he took the Imperial Guard’s side, that bastard wasn’t going to drop his grudge and suggest they become best friends. Obviously not.
“Fire!”
It was an order without context. However, well-trained soldiers with strict discipline do not panic or hesitate before commands.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The explosive sound of steel bowstrings snapping back to position rang out simultaneously. Two hundred and fifty iron spears tore through the air from fifty steel crossbows. A few were deflected by weapons, but most dug mercilessly into flesh and bone. Some even pierced straight through bodies and continued onward.
To Cheong, it looked like something was flying, followed by the sight of Imperial Guards dancing and collapsing with thud, thud, thud.
However, a few were still standing. The one at the very front seemed completely fine. Makseok had stood casually even before the steel crossbows because he trusted his Harmonious Realm mastery combined with the Emperor’s Blood Technique granting him an indestructible diamond body. His subordinates, however, had been anxious. They weren’t sure whether their lesser version of the Emperor’s Blood Technique—something closer to “difficult to injure”—could withstand the iron arrows.
And the result spoke for itself.
If the success gurus from Cheong’s hometown—those arrogant con artists with no qualifications or foundation who still tried to teach people how to succeed—had seen this, their eyes would have gleamed.
Look! If you lack confidence in yourself, how can you overcome trials? Those with confidence can even block arrows with their bodies and bounce them away! Everyone, do you know why I succeeded despite failing in business so many times? It’s not because my parents gave me unlimited financial support no matter how many times I failed! It’s entirely because I’m just that talented! It’s not because money keeps pouring into my account from somewhere even when I quit my corporate job to travel the world! In the end, I quit everything and became a ‘Hope Evangelist’ who filled an entire year’s lecture schedule! Look at this confident, wonderful instructor! Belief in myself! The confidence that I will succeed! That belief is the beginning of success. The mind and spirit decide everything! Now repeat after me! I will succeed! I am destined for greatness! I am not afraid of arrows!
And so, the number of Imperial Guards still standing was five. Among them, the only one without a single arrow wound or injury was Makseok alone.
This was the difference confidence made.
And here was another person full of confidence—a renowned general who placed strong trust in both himself and his subordinates.
“Attack!”
“Waaaaah!!”
“Kill them!”
“He said to kill!”
The soldiers all at once gripped their spears or crescent blades and charged.
Cheong, as expected, snapped the strings of her chest covering with both hands, drew her Wolgwang-geom, and boom! stomped the ground.
“You bastards! How dare you! Fine! If you want to die, I’ll send you there myself!”
Makseok roared and swung his arm. Spear shafts were sliced apart in droves. The Northern soldiers quickly retreated and reformed their lines with perfect coordination. However, even if he was only half a step into the Harmonious Realm, a Harmonious Realm master was still a Harmonious Realm master. Makseok shot forward like an arrow, his palm wrapped in roaring flames that formed a flaming dragon. The moment it coiled around his arm, he struck a soldier’s head.
The soldier, seeing the palm filling his vision, suddenly recalled the sight of his hometown. The smell of steaming rice at dusk, his tenacious mother, his mischievous younger siblings, and his father with the bad leg who would look at his son and say—
“Black Flame Dragon, stop!”
His breath caught in his throat. The beloved scenery vanished instantly as whoosh! a scorching hot wind blasted his face, and his body was hurled backward in a dizzying rush.
Cheong had grabbed the soldier by the back of his neck just before his head was smashed apart by the nameless but cool-sounding palm technique, saving him, then flung him backward.
Makseok stared at Cheong with heavy wariness.
Cheong first asked what she was most curious about.
“Hm. What is the name of that martial art?”
“……It is the Yellow Dragon Eighteen Palms.”
Yellow Dragon! With the Azure Dragon in the east, White Tiger in the west, Vermilion Bird in the south, and Black Tortoise in the north, the Yellow Dragon in the center symbolized the imperial family.
If a Beggar Clan member had heard it, they would have flown into a rage, claiming that not only had the government bastards stolen their martial arts, they had even arbitrarily changed the name. However, even from the imperial palace’s perspective, they had something to say this time. The original name had been far too treasonous. A martial art that opposed dragons? The name itself was the very definition of a rebel’s technique.
Makseok grumbled in resentment.
“Why is the Western Palace interfering with what His Majesty is doing? No matter if it is the Empress, do you really think you’ll get away with this?”
The Western Palace was the residence for the Emperor’s women, so its name alone referred to the Empress’s faction, but Cheong paid no attention to such common sense.
“Shut up!”
Cheong leaped forward, sword tip leading the way.