The Prince's Midnight Visitor
Chatting about the clash and other matters, the carriage emblazoned with the imperial yellow dragon that symbolized the royal family crossed the Luo River and arrived at Prince Yi’s residence. The guards belonging to the Prince Yi estate opened the gates the instant they saw the carriage. Without stopping even once, it proceeded straight to the front of the inner palace.
“You have arrived, Your Highness.”
“Ah, was there any trouble?”
“None, Your Highness. Everyone in Luoyang knows you went to observe the martial tournament, so no visitors came seeking you.”
“Very well. You may withdraw and rest.”
Ju Si-yeol was a feudal prince. Among those granted princely titles, feudal princes were those who received fiefs, held military authority, and bore responsibility for defending their regions. After usurping the throne from his nephew through the Jingnan Rebellion, the Yongle Emperor had abolished many feudal princes out of fear that others might follow his example, drastically curtailing the authority of those who remained until their positions differed little from house arrest. Yet the feudal princes of the present day had regained a measure of their former power. The reason was simple: with the Ghost Gates opening across the land, the imperial family alone could no longer manage the vast territory.
Watching him carry himself as a true feudal prince, Ju I-hyang let out an admiring gasp, her mouth falling open in a perfect circle.
“Ooh… Uncle, you really are a king. That’s actually quite impressive. It makes me feel like I ought to start calling you ‘Your Highness’ too.”
“Enough of that. I have no desire to hear ‘Your Highness’ from you. Just address me as you always have.”
Ju Si-yeol had returned to being the familiar uncle-like figure Ju I-hyang knew so well. As the feudal princes regained portions of their military authority and began handling proper governance once more, Prince Yi’s estate had transformed into a palace befitting a king. Though it paled in comparison to the Forbidden City where the emperor resided, it was nonetheless divided into outer and inner courts as any true palace should be.
They dismissed the attendants once upon entering the inner court and again upon reaching the inner hall, leaving only Ju Si-yeol, Ju I-hyang, and Yang Se-rim. Yet the moment they stepped into the office within the inner hall, the number of people rose from three to five.
Swish—!
Only after entering the office did Ju Si-yeol sense the presence. In a flash he shifted into a combat stance. The imperial family’s secret art, Heavenly Immortal True Qi, surged forth with a ferocious wave of energy. Though it was the same martial art Han Gye-ran had mastered, the sensation of the qi was markedly different. Even identical techniques could vary slightly depending on the user and the intent behind them, but Heavenly Immortal True Qi was especially sensitive to the practitioner’s personal disposition.
Yet the instant that Heavenly Immortal True Qi erupted, a certain overwhelming presence that filled the room erased the wave entirely.
This is…
In the sensation of being utterly overwritten, Ju Si-yeol recalled the supreme experts he had encountered before: Jinyiwei Commander Gwak Dan, Divine Spear Yang Family Head Yang So-hu, Wulin Governor Han Won-chun… and Murim Alliance Leader Gak-won. Absolute masters who claimed entire regions as their domains. Only then did he understand why he had detected nothing until the moment he entered the room.
The opponent stood on a level far beyond him. If such a person had deliberately concealed their energy, even Ju Si-yeol—who prided himself that few in his age group could match him—would have no recourse. A single drop of cold sweat traced down his cheek in the brief span of time it took for that realization to settle.
Unlike Ju Si-yeol, whose body had frozen solid because he understood the situation all too well, Ju I-hyang—whose emotions still outpaced her reason—clutched her sword and prepared to draw it. The blade had slid halfway from its sheath when Yang Se-rim, recognizing the intruder’s face, cried out at once.
“Princess! Stop! It’s someone we know! Someone we know!”
Yang Se-rim’s desperate plea to restrain Ju I-hyang carried the same urgency as Ju Si-yeol’s own reaction. She was more capable than he was, yet Yang Se-rim had only ever traveled between the Divine Spear Yang Family and the Forbidden City in Beijing. Could she truly be from the Yang Family? Even so, secretly entering a prince’s inner palace was a grave offense tantamount to treason.
Ju I-hyang turned to Yang Se-rim with a look that demanded explanation. Before Yang Se-rim could speak, however, Ju Si-yeol added his own words.
“She’s right, Hyang-ah. I know him as well.”
“Even you, Uncle?”
Ju Si-yeol nodded, eyes fixed on Namgung Woo.
“This is the first time I’ve seen him in person. Isn’t that correct, Changcheon Squad Leader?”
Though the murim existed in a world apart from the imperial court, even a feudal prince could not utter the arrogant title of “Emperor.” Still, if the Changcheon Squad Leader was the Blue Sword Emperor, then the Blue Sword Emperor was surely the Changcheon Squad Leader.
Yang Se-rim, who had stopped Ju I-hyang by claiming the man knew their identities, looked as if she might faint from shock.
“Changcheon Squad Leader…? R-really?”
At her reaction, Ju Si-yeol asked with genuine puzzlement.
“You didn’t know?”
He had assumed she did, but it seemed Yang Se-rim had become acquainted with Namgung Woo through an entirely different channel.
“Well… he’s the hero who helped me when I lost my way last time.”
Mentioning the incident from their arrival in Luoyang, Yang Se-rim kept glancing anxiously at Ju I-hyang’s expression. The Blue Sword Emperor. Wasn’t that very name the reason Ju I-hyang had fled Beijing in the first place?
Ju I-hyang, who had seemed ready to charge with sword drawn, simply stood there blinking, blade still half-unsheathed, staring at Namgung Woo. While she remained speechless, Ju Si-yeol spoke again.
“At least I can tell this side bears us no hostility.”
Despite his youth, Ju Si-yeol carried the dignity appropriate to a feudal prince. Faced with an utterly unforeseen encounter and an opponent of overwhelming superiority, he showed tension but no fear. Moreover, he displayed the composure to calmly analyze the situation, confirming the lack of malice from the simple fact that the other party had waited quietly while they conversed.
“Have you finished speaking?”
“We have. Thank you for waiting.”
The exchange felt completely reversed. Namgung Woo was the one who had entered another’s home uninvited, yet here he was being thanked for waiting during their discussion. But this was the way of the gangho. In that world, power was authority, law, and legitimacy itself. Even a feudal prince at the heart of the imperial government could not remain entirely free of those rules once he had stepped into the murim. In a realm where madmen existed who would even attempt to assassinate the emperor, what hope did a mere feudal prince have? In truth, several princes had been slain after treating murim practitioners like common civilians and provoking them recklessly.
“I had hoped to meet you at least once, and now it has come to this. Since you sought me out, you must have something to say. Why don’t we sit and talk?”
“If you would offer me a seat, I would be grateful.”
Only after Namgung Woo had taken the seat Ju Si-yeol indicated did the prince notice the second uninvited guest standing behind him. The man’s presence had completely concealed the other. Since Ju Si-yeol was already familiar with information on the Changcheon Squad, he recalled the female members Paeng Ha-ryeong and Myo-rin and identified the second figure as Myo-rin. Paeng Ha-ryeong was from the renowned Paeng Family; he would have recognized her at a glance.
“So. What business brings the famous Changcheon Squad Leader to visit this old man in the middle of the night?”
In response to Ju Si-yeol’s question, Namgung Woo first offered a courteous greeting.
“Please forgive me for visiting so suddenly.”
Namgung Woo’s cooperative attitude eased Ju Si-yeol’s tension somewhat. The man was an absolute expert who could slaughter all three of them with a single stroke if he wished, so the wariness did not fully dissipate, but it lessened.
“You may or may not have heard, but the Murim Alliance is currently in turmoil over a murder case.”
“A murder case? I have received no reports…”
“That is likely because they are suppressing the news even within the alliance. I believe this murder is merely the foundation stone for a far greater conspiracy.”
“A greater conspiracy? More importantly, how do you know of this?”
“I accepted a request from the Alliance Leader.”
Namgung Woo presented the commission bearing Gak-won’s personal seal.
“I have verified it. Then you came to me seeking assistance?”
“Similar, yet slightly different.”
Ju Si-yeol tilted his head, not quite grasping the meaning. Namgung Woo continued.
“I did not come to receive help, but to offer it.”
“You came to help me?”
“Yes. I predict that the next target of the killer I am pursuing is none other than Your Highness, Prince Yi.”
“He’s a monster…”
Watching the clash between Namgung Woo and the assassin, Ju Si-yeol muttered unconsciously. In this world, reaching the Transcendent Realm before the age of twenty was enough to be hailed as a future candidate for the greatest under heaven. Yet what of the man before him? He was only twenty-seven. A mere three years older than Ju Si-yeol himself, yet the gap between them was so vast that even comparing them felt disrespectful. And this was despite Ju Si-yeol having received every elixir and secret method available to the imperial bloodline.
He now understood that the claim of Namgung Woo having slain Lee Ja-ryong in Beijing contained not the slightest exaggeration.
“Uncle…”
While Ju Si-yeol stared blankly at the battle, Ju I-hyang, who had been standing beside him, tugged at his sleeve.
“Ah, Hyang-ah. Are you frightened? It’s all right. There’s nothing to worry about. You may not fully understand how strong supreme experts truly are, but they are like walking natural disasters. As long as the Changcheon Squad Leader is here, that assassin cannot harm us.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
“Hm?”
For a moment Ju Si-yeol doubted what he was seeing. Ju I-hyang had always been famous in the imperial family for her tomboyish nature. She had preferred famous swords and martial arts far more than the dolls and cosmetics other girls her age adored. She had even been closer to him—a relatively distant relative—than to her own older sisters. Yet now that same Ju I-hyang stood with flushed cheeks, fidgeting shyly in a way he had never witnessed before. With the face of an ordinary girl her age, she spoke carefully.
“Last time… Grandmother said she had decided on my marriage partner.”
“I did hear that the marriage discussion with the imperial side fell through.”
“That’s because Grandmother changed it to someone else…”
At this point even Ju Si-yeol understood the meaning. Had it been his former self, perhaps not, but as Prince Yi who had learned the ways of politics, he grasped it immediately. The Beijing Rebellion led by Lee Ja-ryong. Namgung Woo, who had resolved it, and Han Gye-ran, who had witnessed him firsthand. To Han Gye-ran, the young man capable of filling the void left by Gwak Dan’s death must have appeared in a very particular light.
“It can’t be…!”
“Yes. It’s him.”