Monopolizing Fortunes (114)
Monopolizing Fortunes (114)
"Ah! So it was the armory."
"Then where did you think it was?"
"Well, I didn't really think anything in particular...... hahaha!"
Do Tong-dal let out an awkward laugh as he stepped into the armory.
"How is it? Dazzling, isn't it?"
Ju Seo-in had good reason to say so. Swords and blades, spears and staves, bows and clubs caught the candlelight and gleamed gold.
Even for Do Tong-dal, who had little interest in weapons, the splendid sight was enough to make his mouth fall open on its own.
"Every weapon here is something a martial artist would stake their life on."
"Martial artists sure have a lot of things to stake their lives on. I'm glad I didn't become one."
"What does a thug stake his life on?"
"Money."
At the immediate answer, Ju Seo-in asked, "That's all?" Do Tong-dal thought for a moment, then answered like a question, "Sometimes loyalty?"
Do Tong-dal was looking over the weapons hanging on the walls when he stopped around the middle of the room. The shape was too familiar.
'Makya Blade?'
A weapon hung there that looked too much like the Makya Blade he possessed (for now, left in someone else's keeping).
At a glance it had seemed so, but on closer inspection he could tell from the scabbard's form that it was not the Makya Blade.
'Not a blade, but a sword. Then the Makya Sword?'
As soon as Do Tong-dal showed interest, Ju Seo-in quickly fetched the sword and held it out.
"Take a look. The late Eunuch Hwang told me its name, but it was so long ago......."
"Makya Sword."
"Right! I think that was the name. He said it's one of the three finest swords in this armory."
Do Tong-dal drew the Makya Sword that Ju Seo-in handed him. The same feeling he'd had when he first saw the Makya Blade came through exactly.
'If the old Alliance Leader saw this, his eyes would roll back in his head. This would be perfect bait for hooking that old man.'
Of course, since he hadn't learned swordsmanship, the sword didn't tempt him. Do Tong-dal was the sort who, even after learning blade arts, didn't covet the Makya Blade.
"If there's anything you like, pick it out. I can give you two...... no, about three."
"What if I tell you a lie?"
"Yes. Ah...... no! It wouldn't really be a lie, would it? Brother Hyeong-seon suits the throne far better than those brutes! Surely it would show in his physiognomy too! You saw it that way as well, didn't you?"
Ju Seo-in looked up at Do Tong-dal with cat-like eyes that seemed ready to burst into tears at any moment.
"All right. I'll think it over."
Ju Seo-in, overcome with delight, threw both arms up. Do Tong-dal asked her.
"By the way, is it all right to take martial arts manuals and weapons out of the Imperial Palace Secret Archive?"
"No. The first-floor manuals might be fine, but the things on the second and third floors are inspected once every five days."
"But you're giving them to me?"
"Well...... somehow it'll work out, won't it? Ah! If nothing else, there are also elixirs! No one would know if you took those out! I've been eating them all this time and no one noticed!"
"There are elixirs too?"
Ju Seo-in's nose rose proudly.
"Of course! The Imperial Palace Secret Archive isn't called a vault for nothing!"
One of the three rooms on the third floor was where the elixirs were stored. When she opened the third door, all sorts of smells rushed out.
There were faint, pure fragrances, and there were also stinks that brought on nausea all on their own.
Ju Seo-in covered her nose first as she entered the room.
"I only ever ate what Eunuch Hwang gave me."
"Why did that eunuch, Eunuch Hwang, have Your Highness learn martial arts?"
"To kill the First Prince or the Second Prince if one of them becomes emperor."
There wasn't the slightest hint of joking in her voice or expression.
"What? Truly?"
"Yes. When I said I would kill them, he said I'd need strength for that, and brought me to the Imperial Palace Secret Archive."
Had the dead Eunuch Hwang been sincere? Or had it been a way to humor a young princess? Since he was dead, there was no way to know.
Judging by this naive princess's behavior and how those around her assessed her, if either the First or Second Prince became emperor, she would certainly attempt an assassination.
Whether she succeeded or failed, she would die, so Ju Seo-in's life was staked on the next emperor as well.
"The ones over here are things you mustn't eat. They can raise your Internal Energy, but they say someone has to help you. If you just eat them alone, you can fall into something called qi deviation."
He could roughly guess what kind of items they were.
"This one is called Seolsan Wild Ginseng, and it grows on those tall, cold mountains. If you eat it, it raises your Internal Energy. And this one is called Hwanji Samcho, and this one also raises your Internal Energy. This one that looks like a walnut......."
Ju Seo-in chattered away, pointing at the elixirs. In the brief moment she paused her explanation, Do Tong-dal asked.
"If they're so good for the body, why don't His Majesty the Emperor or others take them?"
"They say the medicines here only help martial artists increase their Internal Energy. For ordinary people, some have no effect, and some become poison."
"Eunuch Hwang said that?"
"Yes. Eunuch Hwang did."
Do Tong-dal thought, 'I'll have to bring the physician in black here sometime.'
"If you want, I can give you some of the elixirs here too. O-of course, I can't give you all of them!"
A definite reason to bring the physician in black had appeared. Do Tong-dal examined the martial arts manuals and weapons a bit more carefully.
Because, if things went well, they could make fine gifts for other people.
"What are you going to do? You'll tell me that Brother Hyeong-seon has the face of an emperor, right?"
"For now, I will think it over."
As Do Tong-dal left the room with the weapons, his gaze fixed on a single book.
'Oho! That looks like it could be useful.'
* * *
"Minister Jeon has made his decision. We will push the Third Prince as the next emperor."
At Yang Su-pan's words, Do Tong-dal simply nodded without any sign of surprise.
"Your reaction is rather......."
"Whatever decision he made, there must be a reason for it."
"You'll help?"
He knew that pulling out now would be the wise thing, but he couldn't just watch Yang Su-pan walk alone down the road to death.
Because sometimes he staked his life on loyalty too.
"First, the emperor must stay alive for at least three months, six at most."
"I can't guarantee that."
The emperor's current condition was such that it wouldn't be strange if he stopped breathing tomorrow.
"That's why I'm going to send for the physician in black."
"The physician in black? The one who treated courtesans' venereal diseases in Hangzhou?"
"In the past, he was a royal physician."
"Huh? Is that true?"
"Have you ever seen me lie?"
"Yes. Plenty of times."
"Hmph! This time it's the truth."
"How did a former royal physician end up as a back-alley doctor in Hangzhou?"
"He had an affair with a palace maid......."
"Huh? That's even more surprising. In a hundred cases out of a hundred, a man would be put to death for that."
"They must have accumulated considerable merit. In any case, the physician in black is the best doctor I know, so I'll bring them in and have them treat the emperor."
"With a past like that, I don't know whether he'll be accepted."
"His own life is on the line, so would the emperor refuse?"
"That's true, but still."
"Bring him in secretly. There will be considerable opposition from all sides."
Yang Su-pan scooted close to Do Tong-dal.
"The goal is set, so now tell me your plan in detail."
* * *
The wine cup that left the First Prince's hand struck the forehead of a musician who was performing. The old musician, who had been playing the zither, fell backward with a scream.
The mood hadn't been particularly bad. The times when the First Prince, who rampaged like a mad dog at all hours, stayed relatively quiet were the times he enjoyed music.
Still, he did have an ear for sound, and when skilled musicians performed, he would quietly savor his wine.
A flustered eunuch asked.
"I...... Your Highness! Is the performance not to your liking?"
"The performance is fine."
It was a performance by Won Cheol-seung, the finest musician in the imperial palace by skill, who had even been granted an office of the senior fourth rank. It was a splendid sound that, no matter who listened, carried a woman's sorrow and brought tears to the eyes.
"Why must such fine music be played by an old man like that? The ears and the eyes are at odds."
It was an absurd reason. For music to reach a certain level, it required as much time as grains of sand on a white beach.
Rarely, a genius appeared and performed astonishing music at a young age, but that was truly rare.
That was why one had to be at least in their forties to make a name as a musician.
Even Won Cheol-seung, now bleeding from the forehead after being struck by the wine cup, had entered the imperial palace at fourteen and only managed to make a name after thirty years of effort.
Won Cheol-seung's performances were so fine that even the emperor lying on his sickbed shed tears. That was why the First Prince sought out Won Cheol-seung most often.
"Your Highness, could you not enjoy the music with your ears and look upon the palace maids attending you with your eyes?"
A wine bottle flew at the eunuch who offered this perfectly sensible advice. Fortunately, the bottle passed the left side of the eunuch's face and shattered against the wall.
"You dare presume to meddle even in what I set my eyes upon!"
When the First Prince flew into a rage, not only the First Prince but all eight people at the drinking gathering prostrated themselves.
"This lowly wretch has dared disturb Your Highness's mood! Please spare my life!"
If he made the common plea of asking to be killed, he might truly end up dead.
"You want to live? Then find me a musician who can delight my eyes and ears together."
He meant to bring a woman who was young, beautiful, and also skilled at performing. It wasn't that the imperial palace had no young, beautiful female musicians.
But they could never satisfy the First Prince's ears. The moment one was brought, both the musician and the eunuch might die.
"I will do my utmost!"
* * *
Yang Su-pan handed Do Tong-dal a long wooden box. Do Tong-dal opened the box and wore a satisfied expression.
"You've made it roughly similar."
"Just where do you intend to use this sword?"
Inside the box was a counterfeit that imitated only the Makya Sword's outward appearance.
"I'm going to swap it for the real one in the Imperial Palace Secret Archive."
"What? You're going to steal from the Imperial Palace Secret Archive?"
"You have to pay me for taking part in this work, don't you?"
"W-well, yes."
"I'll take just a few things from the Imperial Palace Secret Archive. Of course, no one will even know they're gone."
"But nothing that has entered the Imperial Palace Secret Archive has ever come out......."
"There's a first time for everything. Are you saying you can't bear to part with them?"
"Ah...... no, they're not even mine, so what would I have to begrudge? Still, I'll have to report it to the Third Prince."
There was no chance of refusal.
"And find a way for the First Prince to leave the imperial palace. Killing him inside the palace is difficult."
In broad daylight, the First Prince was almost never alone. On top of that, no matter how skilled a master was, breaking through the imperial palace's layered security was by no means easy.
Even one of the Ten Great Masters of the martial world would not be able to break through the imperial palace's security, kill the First Prince, and escape.
So to assassinate the First Prince, there was no choice but to lure him outside the imperial palace.
"That's not an easy condition. Both the First Prince and the Second Prince stay shut up in the imperial palace all year long."
Those two were men who sought the greatest pleasure in the safest place.
"That's the first step. You can't reach your destination without taking a step."
"I'll try."
Do Tong-dal looked at Yang Su-pan with a rare serious expression.
"Do you know how many lives are riding on this?"
"There must be many."
"I don't care whether it's a hundred thousand or a million people I don't know. But if this goes wrong, not only you, Censor Yang, but everyone I care about could be in danger."
This was the work of enthroning an emperor. Succeed, and they would be meritorious subjects; fail, and they would be traitors. For traitors, the most dreaded punishment in the world was sure to follow.
"I know."
"I will prepare, but we absolutely must not fail. So each of us must accomplish our assigned task no matter what."
"Understood."
"Then I will leave the imperial palace tomorrow."
"Before you go, let's arrange for you to meet the Third Prince and Minister Jeon."
Having promised to do so, Do Tong-dal visited the Imperial Palace Secret Archive once more that night with Ju Seo-in.
"Spar with me once. Then I'll let you take everything you want."
At Ju Seo-in's words, Do Tong-dal was horrified.
"The guards are posted all around, and you want to spar?"
"Don't worry. There's a suitable place."
The place Ju Seo-in led Do Tong-dal to was the basement of the Imperial Palace Secret Archive. The underground chamber, which looked to be about seventy pyeong, had walls made of brick.
The countless marks gouged into those bricks were the traces of Ju Seo-in's training over the past ten years.
"All this time, I've only learned martial arts and never once fought anyone. So I don't know how strong I am...... no, I don't even know whether I can fight."
What Ju Seo-in felt was a martial artist's thirst.
'Why would a princess learn martial arts and willingly choose suffering?'
Do Tong-dal couldn't understand people who turned away from a path of flowers to deliberately walk a path of thorns.
But with Ju Seo-in making such an earnest face, he couldn't heartlessly refuse.
"Then shall we spar, simply?"
* * *