Rumors of the Cannon-Wielding Freak
The princess had heard the rumors. As the emperor's child, she could not afford to slack in her training to inherit the great nation later. The Ming Dynasty's national power had a clear ceiling when lifted by a wise ruler, but a foolish one could drag it down endlessly, smashing through the floor. Thus, she believed the imperial family must be competent, and handling all matters with total dedication and responsibility was not optional—it was essential. They had to make the impossible possible, for countless lives hung on their shoulders.
Especially now, with the Jurchens rampaging in the north, Japanese pirates in the south, local officials slyly testing the waters now that the imperial house seemed weakened, and those arrogant murim bastards strutting around like the world was theirs just because they had some strength. With so many forces threatening the throne, handing it to her incompetent half-brother would be nothing short of treason, she thought. Joo Hyejin, bearer of the Zhu imperial blood, was striving to claim the throne despite the massive hurdle of being a woman.
Her current struggles were part of that. To surpass her brother—who held the edge in succession solely because he was male and not for any merit—she needed to demonstrate an overwhelming gap in ability. She had already proven her administrative prowess as Prefect of Hubei Province; now it was time to show her military talent.
Appointed Total Commander of Zhejiang Province, overseeing all military forces there, she arrived in the capital of Hangzhou with high hopes—only to face a headache that would soon plague her.
The Imperial-Murim Non-Aggression Pact. Originally a redistribution of power to favor the warriors who aided the imperial house during the founding wars, it had become a nightmare. Those once-humble fighters had grown arrogant and uncontrollable, slippery enough to rarely give officials cause for punishment. Managing them was a nightmare.
Groaning, she furrowed her brow amid stacks of documents, pulling another all-nighter—when the report came: "A freak—civilian or murim, who knows—is wandering around carrying a massive cannon, blasting away everywhere!"
At first, she dismissed it as nonsense. Zhejiang had no major murim sects. Someone causing trouble here? She even suspected opium circulation had loosened military discipline and ordered an investigation.
The report cleared that up, at least—no opium or such issues. Which meant... the cannon-wielding freak was real. Somehow, that felt more dangerous than drugs.
Honestly, it sounded absurd. Cannons weren't like common cold weapons; they were heavy, finicky to maintain, impossible to move without wheels. Even top-tier murim experts would need to pour in internal energy just to grunt and hoist one up.
But the report said the freak didn't seem to use internal energy. "Could it be a signal cannon? Or maybe a lighter Western musket, or even a Joseon Victor's Cannon Assembly?"
"No, ma'am. I saw it with my own two eyes! It was a massive cannon, clear as day!"
"...Hmm."
Was she too skeptical? Even a small blunderbuss strained belief, but lugging around something over 100 geun bare-handed—and firing it? She could hardly credit the report. Maybe her common sense had gone awry. What was this disconnect?
"Hey, you hear the news? Word in murim is some lunatic's walking around with a cannon!"
"What kinda bullshit is that? Cannons weigh a ton—ain't like you can just carry one without a cart!"
"I'm tellin' ya, it's true. Black Snake Hall got wrecked the other day, right? They couldn't catch the guy, so the rumor spread like wildfire."
"What? The guy's nuts! Messing with Black Snake Hall for no reason?"
If she hadn't overheard such chatter in inns and post stations along the way, she'd have written it off as a hoax.
"Haha, drop dead."
—BOOM!
But with the scene right before her eyes, she couldn't deny it. Her gaze fixed on the freak hoisting a cannon and firing it with abandon.
Rubbing her throbbing temples, Joo Hyejin quietly summoned the Inspector General attending her.
"Sigh... Inspector."
"...Yes, Princess."
"Capture him."
"...As you command."
The Inspector General, who had been silently gauging her mood at her side, bolted forward without hesitation to eliminate the source of her displeasure.