The Eunuch Regains His Pride (1)
After taking the Extreme Yang Pill, Yeocheong had become a prospective mother. Just like with Geomhu, if there was one side effect that wasn't really a side effect, it was that the reservoir of inner energy in her middle dantian had grown considerably.
"So wishes spoken aloud and one's true heart are different after all."
Sword Saint Geomseong spoke with self-deprecating bitterness, gazing at Yeocheong's inner energy reservoir with a wry smile.
"Were you thinking that from the start, or did you just say something plausible to save face in front of others?"
"Doesn't it depend on how much the person truly desires it?"
Dohwang responded to Geomseong's self-mocking words.
"Wishes aren't limited to just one thing. If someone asks for your most fervent desire right now, you'd name the most urgent one on the spot. But if they offered three, ten more after that, wouldn't you start agonizing over it?"
Having roamed the murim longer than Geomseong, Dohwang's words pierced straight to the heart of human nature like a sage's insight.
"Human greed knows no bounds. Once one desire is fulfilled, another arises, and even when that's satisfied, the greed grows further in that direction."
"Hmm..."
"You feel content with yourself as you are, but some people, even if they seem to have everything on the surface, crave even more. That's why they say the haves always want more."
"In that case... at least for Yeocheong, it doesn't apply."
At Geomseong's words, Yeocheong slowly opened her eyes. Her face was hazy, as if she'd just woken from sleep, blinking as she tried to sit up.
"......."
Yeocheong propped herself up. Awkwardly rising from her lying position, she twisted her body as if sensing something off.
"Hm...?"
And then she realized it.
"!!"
The reservoir of inner energy in her middle dantian had suddenly swelled enormously.
It must have been startling. But openly groping it like that might be stimulating for some onlookers—
Rustle.
As her hand immediately went to her lower abdomen, I let go of any misconceptions about her.
"Lady Yeocheong. You're fine."
"Th-that...!"
"Just as Geomhu underwent a bit more rejuvenation when she became Geomhui and gained the ability to bear children, you've simply gotten larger breasts now that you can bear children."
"Ah...."
"Now you can rest assured and give birth. Feel free to get pregnant without worry. However...."
I pointed at the floor in front of Yeocheong, who was gradually relaxing her tension.
"Regarding the Moyong Family, we ask that you help the Moyong Family protect itself from vicious evildoers by linking us with the imperial palace."
"...How can I assist?"
"Build a bridge to the palace."
"A bridge."
"The Moyong Family needs to join hands closely with the palace's supreme power holder."
Yeocheong wielded power too. As the savior who rescued the emperor and the imperial family's foremost sword, she symbolized the court's unofficial military might. After all, it was a bit embarrassing for the palace to claim a woman— one who wasn't even a general but a martial artist—as their strongest. Thus, despite her formidable strength, she couldn't openly display it externally, making her 'official authority' relatively weak by comparison.
"So that if murim folk—or even commoners—ever commit outrages against the Moyong Family, the state's power can step in to suppress them."
"...I understand the meaning."
Yeocheong placed a hand on her chest and nodded solemnly.
"If everyone could have such miracles, the empire would surely plunge into great chaos. Even just the Extreme Yang Pill alone...."
Yeocheong swallowed hard, trailing off. She glanced at me, Geomseong, and the others in the room, clearly holding something back.
"Sword Saint."
"Hm."
She turned her gaze to Geomseong and stared intently without a word.
Telepathy?
High-level experts could converse by transmitting inner energy, or so they said.
Judging by Dohwang's expression, they're really talking just between themselves.
Dohwang's face had stiffened slightly, so he apparently couldn't eavesdrop on their telepathy. Even among Hyeongyeong realm masters, there were grades. The current situation wasn't solely about that, but even in the Hyeongyeong realm, some excelled more in martial prowess while others shone in telepathy or lightness skills.
"...Indeed. It wasn't a mistake."
Yeocheong stared straight at me. From where her gaze landed, I could guess what she'd asked Geomseong.
It was my veins.
She's figured out my blood is an ingredient.
She must have detected the faint trace of blood essence in the Extreme Yang Pill and realized it was mine.
Of course. They'd have scoured every apothecary trading with the Moyong Family, testing combinations of dozens, hundreds, or more ingredients to uncover the pill's secret. The palace might not control murim directly, but they gathered intel to intervene anytime.
In that sense, I worried how much Yeocheong would reveal to the palace—but
"My apologies, but from now on, I'd like only Physician Seok and the Sword Saint to remain for the discussion."
With a resolute expression, Yeocheong asked the others to leave.
"Hey, Yeocheong."
"I'm sorry. Lord Dohwang. I know you arranged this meeting, but I'll brief you separately after hearing from the parties involved."
"Hmph. It's disappointing, but is it palace business?"
"Yes."
"Then no choice. ...However."
Dohwang reluctantly stood, then shrugged while pointing at me.
"If you're keeping Physician Seok, you should keep the other one too, for fairness."
"Pardon?"
"Husband and wife are one body, aren't they?"
Dohwang winked at me and stepped back.
"......What a fine man."
Moyong Seol, who had been clinging to my arm the whole time, pressed even closer to me, while Geomseong nodded as if it were obvious and waved us off.
Dohwang indeed. One sentence had instantly deepened ties with the Moyong Family.
"Pardon the imposition, Lady Moyong."
Once Geomhu and the others had left, leaving only me, Geomseong, and Moyong Seol, Yeocheong finally spoke quietly.
"I-it's not that I meant to exclude Lady Moyong. Truthfully, I hesitated even to bring this up, but the topic might be awkward from a Moyong 'lady's' perspective."
Though her words dragged on, I immediately understood where she was being considerate of Moyong Seol.
"Is it about manhood?"
"......!!"
Yeocheong's eyes went wide. She hadn't expected me to read her thoughts so precisely.
"Th-that...."
"Not the emperor, surely."
"......."
At the same time, Yeocheong scanned me rapidly with a tense expression.
"If someone wants a connection to imperial power through you, Lady Yeocheong...."
"Nine out of ten would naturally think of the one you risked your life to save—His Majesty the Emperor. But no matter how desperately even he might wish for something, wouldn't there be a prerequisite step?"
"......."
"We need contact with the preeminent eunuch, the court's true power: Taehwan-gong."
We couldn't go straight to the emperor. Before that, we needed to securely pull a power holder who encompassed all the ministers to our side.
"Lady Yeocheong. You've just 'cured infertility.' Set everything else aside and focus solely on that perspective."
Yeocheong could now get pregnant.
"If a woman can become one, what's to stop a man?"
"......!"
"I don't know what Taehwan-gong truly desires, but if he wishes for it to return, I can restore it anytime."
A woman had been made fertile—what reason was there a man couldn't? Things that were gone could regenerate, revive. What would Taehwan-gong, who had to be castrated in boyhood to enter the palace, think upon hearing Yeocheong's story?
"If you're the lifesaver who rescued the emperor, Taehwan-gong rose from lowly eunuch to the pinnacle—not to mention...."
"He served His Majesty from before he was even crown prince, aiding his ascent to the throne with monumental merits, as both great vassal and mentor."
Yeocheong nodded emphatically.
"We'll speak to Taehwan-gong and bring him here to the Moyong Family. However...."
"However?"
"That is."
Yeocheong hesitated, looking embarrassed—or as if she couldn't bring herself to say it. Unlike when she'd telepathically confirmed the Extreme Yang Pill's secret with Geomseong, she seemed reluctant to speak openly to an outsider.
"That is...."
"Is it about the King of Inexhaustible Virility?"
At Geomseong's words, Yeocheong's pupils trembled like aspen leaves.
"King of... inexhaustible virility? Father, who on earth is...?"
"...The king of bedchamber arts, they call him. He was so renowned in that realm that demonic lustfiends once offered their own women as bait to trap him, just to steal a glimpse of his secret techniques."
King of Inexhaustible Virility. I'd heard the name before. Even the lust-mad Cheonma had vowed to uncover his deeds upon conquering the Central Plains—a grandmaster of erotic arts.
"That is...."
"Who would've known? A famed Hyeongyeong demonic master who could send women to ecstasy without manhood turns out to be this empire's top eunuch."
"......."