The Eunuch Reclaims His Pride (5)
"...Your Majesty, please grant us your permission."
"......."
"Your Majesty!!"
The ministers raised their voices, calling out to the emperor. Everyone bowed their heads to the supreme ruler above all men, but the looks on their faces were eyes demanding something fierce from him.
"The notion of 'unassailable officials' was originally just bluster from the Murim thugs. Over the past fifty years, it was the Murim world that sowed chaos in the land, and it was the Murim world that incited rebellion against the imperial house!"
"If we don't act now, it will be too late! Please authorize the subjugation of Murim! What threat are these so-called righteous Murim sects even if they band together as rebels?"
"Proclaim the Peng family in the capital and the Moyong family exempt, but declare all other regional Murim forces as organized crime syndicates and demonstrate the imperial dignity!!"
Why were the ministers so vehemently crying out for the annihilation of Murim?
They had already discussed this several times in the palace council chambers, and the conclusion was clear: it wasn't impossible if they set their minds to it.
As long as the Moyong family wasn't an enemy.
Precisely, if the Moyong family wasn't among the imperial house's foes, Murim was nothing. Even if the Moyong family merely stayed neutral, the court could move against Murim.
But why act now, after leaving them alone all this time? Because they'd left them be, only to suffer a crushing defeat at the hands of someone called the Cheonma. The regular army had been utterly demolished by a single supreme expert. Not hundreds or thousands, but over ten thousand troops wiped out.
This was an unforgivable affront to the imperial house—no, to the nation itself.
All the while, the imperial house had been cultivating the power to subdue Murim by force, and that power had finally ripened to the point of action.
Above all...
"Thanks to Physician Seok Mu Wol of the Moyong family, treatments for Blocked Meridian Syndrome are now possible, and Murim sects are thrown into disarray! This is our chance!"
Thanks to the chaos sparked within Murim forces by a single physician, those who had studied its power structures—even without mastering martial arts themselves—began shouting that it was feasible.
"While patients come to the Moyong family for Blocked Meridian Syndrome treatments, permit investigations into the other Murim sects and families to uncover every crime they've committed!"
"Above all, allow us to collect the taxes they've evaded all these years! Dismiss the local officials who took bribes from Murim sects and families to neglect tax collection, and dispatch new ones to demonstrate the imperial dignity!!"
"......Enough."
The emperor raised his hand amid the ministers' desperate pleas.
"I understand your opinions well. Retire for today."
"Your Majesty!!"
"I said enough!"
The emperor slammed the armrest of his throne with a thwack and rose to his feet.
"It feels like just yesterday that Murim scum brought a bloodbath to this palace, splattering blood even on this throne. And now you all clamor for more bloodshed! Bluntly speaking, which of your children here has learned martial arts and intends to duel warriors to the death?!"
The ministers fell silent at the emperor's roar.
"O-our sons lack the will, not the talent for martial arts...!"
"Even without talent, they could serve as soldiers! If you're not willing to sacrifice your own first and just plan to yap from safety on this land, then I shall pretend I never heard you!"
The emperor barked harshly and stormed away from the throne.
"Execute us, Your Majesty—."
Despite their words begging for death, the emperor clenched his fist tightly against the ministers' piercing gazes from behind, but in the end, he could only sigh deeply and retreat to his palace.
It was impossible to simply ignore—the public sentiment had already shifted.
The "Murim Uselessness Theory" that had spread from the capital had expanded into the "Murim Rejection Theory," with the Magyo and Moyong family driving the final nail.
At the very least, the court had to annihilate the Magyo to show the nation what it ought to do. They needed to position the Moyong family's Sword Saint—not as the world's greatest swordsman, but as the "Greatest General Under Heaven"—to wield his blade for the imperial house, the nation, and the common people.
Such opinions were seriously circulating in the court, and some extremists were raising their voices to reject not just the Magyo, but all of Murim.
When it came to power, I'd only ever encountered it indirectly through the likes of the Magyo or Moyong family.
The power wielded by the Cheonma. The power held by the Moyong family head and deputy head.
Having seen only that, I'd formed my own standards for what power meant.
But today, I realized that when it escalates to the level of national power, truth can become falsehood and falsehood truth at times.
"Who would've thought we'd leave the Moyong family and head to the capital."
"I never imagined we'd get to leave the Moyong estate like this."
Moyong Seol, sitting beside me, glanced around the carriage curiously. It wasn't one from the Moyong family—it was an imperial carriage.
"This is the one for imperial royals, right?"
"So they say. Anyone not of royal blood who rides it could lose their head for lèse-majesté."
"Is it okay for us to ride it?"
"The family head is up front in the lead carriage, escorted by imperial troops, so no major issues. The guy in charge of this carriage sent it personally."
We were currently traveling from Yodong Province to the capital.
No matter how much we held the upper hand as the "A-listers" treating various Blocked Meridian Syndrome patients from Murim, when the patient was the imperial house, we couldn't just demand they come to us.
"They didn't notice from the other Murim forces, right? That we're heading to the imperial house."
"They won't. That's the power of... this thing called authority."
Authority.
Was I marveling simply because they'd provided an imperial carriage for us? No.
It was the power to mobilize over a hundred people—including the imperial carriage—without leaking a whisper of information, slipping us out secretly and whisking Moyong Seol away to the capital.
The power to silence everyone escorting us.
The power that kept even the information-savvy Beggars' Sect beggars or Haomen spies from sniffing out national affairs.
The power to hide our trip to the capital—even our entry into the palace—from fellow ministers within the court itself.
Screeech.
"You've kept us waiting long, I see."
As the carriage halted, Grand Eunuch Taehwan-gong himself opened the door.
"Follow me. No need to fuss over excessive etiquette—relax."
Taehwan-gong beckoned lightly and proceeded ahead, while Moyong Seol and I clasped hands tightly and followed.
"You okay?"
"Saying this in the palace might be disrespectful, but standing before the family head is way more nerve-wracking."
Before the emperor?
I was the guy who'd spent a night with the Sword Saint's daughter and then told the Sword Saint himself, "I took your daughter's virginity."
If there was anything in the world to fear, it'd be Moyong Seol rejecting or abandoning me, or the Cheonma appearing to manipulate the Godok in my body and force me to do what I don't want.
I was confident nothing else could scare me—no matter what.
Not even facing this nation's emperor.
"Your Majesty. I've brought Physician Seok."
"Mm."
A space darker than the Moyong family's secret chambers.
"Pleased to meet you, Divine Dragon Physician. And daughter of the Moyong family."
From the shadows, beyond widely spread feet, a low voice greeted us—a man who looked about the same age as Deputy Head Moyong San.
"I've heard from Taehwan-gong. So, you treat any illness a patient has."
The emperor's shadow asked.
"...Yes, Your Majesty."
"If you can cure any disease, can you cure mine as well?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Then."
Rumble.
As Taehwan-gong withdrew his feet...
"Me."
The emperor revealed himself.
"Cure me."
"......."
"Into a woman."
"......."
Fear.
It wasn't always born from death.