Normalizing the Imperial Household (2)
[A moment later, Seongnakwon.]
The emperor had become a beautiful girl. And we heard the tale of the secret behind the existence known as "Yi Seol," Moyong Seol's mother.
She was a sore finger. No, beyond that—she was a scourge upon the murim.
Talking about her could be uncomfortable in many ways, but since she'd been mentioned, there was no avoiding the story.
"Your mother hid her identity as an imperial princess and ventured into the murim as one of the later-generation talents."
Sword Saint Geomseong slowly opened his mouth before the nameless grave marker.
"Many speculated about the origin of Yi Seol's martial arts, and they reasonably inferred that her techniques came from over there in 'Dongyi.'"
"Dongyi, you mean..."
"The people even further east than Yodong. Fortunately, no one denied that she was from the Central Plains, but opinions sharply divided over the source of her martial arts."
Sword Saint Geomseong drew his sword and assumed a stance.
"Haedong Geombeop. That was the martial art publicly known as hers, passed down from a mysterious sect in Dongyi. But its true nature was an imperial martial art, enshrined in the deepest vaults of the imperial family."
Not the Moyong family's swordsmanship or his own signature Chilseong Geom, but an entirely different stance. He personally gripped his sword and began to move.
"Huanglong Yukhap Geom. Her sword was an imperial art long forgotten."
"Mother..."
"In terms of pure martial prowess, she was a woman who ranked within the Thirty Greatest Experts Under Heaven. A woman overflowing with a sense of justice, she stepped into the murim herself to repel the Magyo, which had begun influencing even the imperial court."
Sword Saint Geomseong thrust his sword forward. The form resembled not the Moyong sword style, but the Namgung sword—rooted in the "Imperial Sword Forms"—no. You couldn't call martial arts similar just because they aimed in the same direction.
If the Namgung style was the sword of self-proclaimed "emperors of the sword" in the murim, then the Huanglong Yukhap Geom that Moyong Cheon wielded was a sword meant for the "emperor" himself.
"She and I met. I loved her. We defeated the Cheonma and bore you. I thought our happiness would last forever."
"...Until Jeolmok Jeong struck."
"Yes."
Clang.
"Truth be told, I suspected Jeolmok Jeong from the moment you were born. But until you turned seven—until your hair turned snow-white and you vomited blood—I believed you'd grow up normally."
"......"
"My wife went mad with self-blame, convinced she'd inflicted Jeolmok Jeong—no, Gu-eum Jeolmok—upon you. She fell into heart-devil possession and slaughtered many, becoming a public enemy of the murim."
"Then..."
Moyong Seol slowly spoke.
"Where is Mother's body now?"
"I don't know."
"I thought Father was the one who struck her down in the end."
"Yes. I did it. With the gift she gave me."
Moyong Cheon looked up at the sky as he answered.
"She fell from the cliff, and I descended to search for her, but I couldn't find the body. I wanted to keep looking, but no one else could search those cliffs. And you kept collapsing, vomiting blood."
"......"
"I had no choice. Pour my inner energy into you to stem the bleeding somehow, or search for your mother's body somehow. I chose you."
"......"
"It may be regrettable, but I have no regrets. My choice was not wrong, and I'm satisfied that I saved you."
Moyong Cheon, who had been gazing at the sky for a long while, turned his head to look at us.
"I never imagined I'd end up recounting the past like this, but there it is. She was an imperial princess, but she never revealed it, nor did the imperial family announce it. They cited imperial neutrality at times, and she didn't want to cause trouble for the Moyong family."
"If word got out that the empire's princess had become the lady of the Moyong house, then the Moyong family would no longer be a murim clan, but..."
"Part of the empire."
Sword Saint Geomseong shrugged.
"It would simultaneously create the imperial court's greatest political rival."
An imperial princess backed by the world's greatest martial artist. No, it wouldn't end there. Sword Saint Geomseong was a national hero, and in the Shaanxi region, which had suffered directly from the Cheonma, the common folk revered him as a "war god."
—Make Sword Saint Geomseong emperor!
For those in the palace guard or the Eastern Depot with ties to martial arts, or those scarred by past betrayals within, it would be all the more tempting. Even before Yi Seol's imperial blood was known, such talk had circulated as jokes.
But if this story spread for real?
"Well, everyone would shy away now."
Ten years ago, maybe not—but now that Yi Seol had died as a murim public enemy, the story changed. Of course, efforts to recruit Sword Saint Geomseong into the court would continue.
"Let's set aside the old tales and speak of the present—and the future. Physician Seok."
"Yes, family head."
"In the worst case, you take Seol and head to the imperial family."
"......"
Literally, the worst case.
"Even if everything is exposed to the world and everyone desires you, there is one place in the realm with the power to suppress such greed."
"If the emperor holds it, they could suppress it."
"Exactly. It won't be like Emperor Qin Shi Huang's era, of course... but they could crush it with authority. If not, they could mobilize the army."
Even if the whole world knew the truth of the Geukyang Jihwan, if its custodians were not a mere murim sect but the imperial family, nine out of ten would abandon thoughts of seizing it by force.
This "force" didn't mean just martial might. Money, power, capital, wealth, information, medicine—all manner of things.
—Can you afford to go against the imperial palace?
If the answer was no, most would envy or resent the court but ultimately return to their lives.
"The imperial palace can be a fitting shield to protect you."
"The reason you call it the worst case must be that we'd have to live as members of the imperial family, not the Moyong house."
"Precisely. Like a phoenix entering a cage of its own accord, you'd live in the court's most cherished golden birdcage, by their rules. Under everyone's watchful eyes, stripped of freedom, confined within the palace walls."
Seongnakwon was different from the Moyong estate. Even if we couldn't freely leave here, Seol and I had at least the minimal freedoms of a married couple.
"The palace might appeal... Seol-ah."
"Yes, Father."
"If you enter the palace, your marital... ha."
Sword Saint Geomseong let out a sigh.
"Your bedroom will always have a eunuch or palace maid standing by, or even if dismissed, they'll be lurking outside with ears perked."
He laid bare the reality(?) of the imperial palace.
"Th-that's no good!"
Moyong Seol rejected it outright. Had he told a different story, she might have asked out of curiosity about the palace, but Sword Saint Geomseong had clearly planted the one scenario she'd hate most, widening the gap.
"Physician Seok."
"Yes, family head."
"If the palace demands anything further from 'our Moyong house,' it'll likely be the imperial princesses who will suffer outbreaks of Jeolmok Jeong in a few years. Can you treat them?"
"Of course. I'll treat them."
Not just the palace's Jeolmok Jeong patients, but every sufferer across the Central Plains would be under my care.
"Family head. If the absolute worst happens... say, if the emperor covets the empress's position..."
"No need to worry about that."
Sword Saint Geomseong turned his head toward the capital.
"When the empress sees the newly transformed emperor, she'll love her... breasts or whatever. No reason to dislike it."
He'd almost said something odd just now.
[A few days later, the capital's imperial palace. Empress's Palace.]
Scrape, scrape.
A black-haired woman lay sideways on the bed in the empress's chambers, rubbing white gemstone ornaments together as she cast a cold gaze downward.
"Taehwan-gong."
"Yes, Your Majesty the Empress."
The beauty known as the "empress" addressed Taehwan-gong—who stood ramrod straight with hands clasped—narrowing one eye sharply and gesturing around.
"If you've dismissed all my palace maids for a private audience, there must be some vital matter to report only to me. With His Majesty absent, what brings you here so suddenly? Haven't we always been politically opposed?"
"I come to resolve that opposition."
"Ha. Is that even plausible? You seek to keep the current emperor on the throne, while I want my son—"
"His Majesty wishes to step down and place Crown Prince Hwang Taeja on the throne."
Twitch.
"...Ha. What on earth is the emperor thinking?"
"He seeks to receive love from a woman who does not love men, and continue their marital bond."
"!?!!?"
The empress startled at the suddenly resounding—
"Wh-who is that!"
—girl's voice, but quickly realized its source and panicked further.
"Ch-Chief Eunuch, from within your robes...!"
"Pardon the intrusion."
Taehwan-gong parted his eunuch robes left and right, and out popped a black-haired beauty.
"My lady."
"Wh-what... j-just now, what in the...?"
"You've suffered greatly bearing children in the arms of a man you don't love. Now, let me grant you the love you desire."
"......"
The girl swiftly approached the frozen empress and lifted her chin with a hand.
"From me."
"......"
The empress slipped a hand under the girl's skirt, her already-wide eyes bulging as she stared long and hard.
"Is it truly...?"
"I've come like this to fulfill your wish. You've endured much, my lady."
"Ah, aaah...."
"Will you accept my love?"
"......That is."
Tears streamed from the empress's eyes at the emperor's touch.
Grab!
She yanked the girl-emperor onto her bed.
"......"
Taehwan-gong wiped tears from his eyes with his sleeve, leaving the loving couple behind.
"The Bukhae Binggung...? "