Monopolizing Fortunes (212)
Monopolizing Fortunes (212)
"I am overwhelmed by Your Majesty's grace in remembering so insignificant a person as myself."
"You're practically a meritorious subject. Of course I remember you. If you wished, you could rise to a military post or a government office."
"This insignificant one is now a martial artist—no, a thug of the Underworld."
"You mean you prefer being a thug to being a high official?"
"That is so."
"Heh heh heh! So there was another person here like Tong-dal."
Seeing how everyone who spent time with Do Tong-dal ended up changing that way, that too could be called Do Tong-dal's power.
Yang Su-pan spoke.
"First, let us go to your quarters so you can recover from the journey."
Even though they had taken a carriage, they had pushed hard to make it in time for the wedding.
"I think I'll be fine once I catch my breath over a cup of tea."
Jang Yu-seom guided him to the room. The room prepared for the honored guest was not lavish, but it was neat and tidy.
When the window was opened, one met the rear garden, where old pines, the garden, and a pond came together in harmony.
"I will go to Tong-dal and tell him that His Majesty has arrived."
When Yang Su-pan left with Jang Yu-seom, Ju Hyeong-seon remained alone in the room. Ju Hyeong-seon sat by the window overlooking the rear garden and savored tea made fragrant by a subtle aroma.
"This is good."
The position of emperor was sheer exhaustion. From the moment he opened his eyes in the morning, work poured in, he had to meet with all manner of ministers, and there was not a moment to draw a deep breath.
On top of that, he had even been poisoned and hovered between life and death, so the thought naturally came to him: "Did I become emperor for this?"
With the modest rear garden before him, the quiet time of drinking tea alone could not help but be wholly pleasant.
He was spending a rare moment of thoughtless tranquility before the rear garden when someone entered his unfocused field of vision.
She looked about sixteen, poised on the border between girl and woman. With her brows slightly furrowed, she crossed the rear garden, deep in thought about something.
Then, as if sensing Ju Hyeong-seon's presence, she turned her head. Without realizing it, Ju Hyeong-seon let out an "Ah!" of admiration.
He had seen countless women, and just as many beauties. But this woman—to Ju Hyeong-seon, she looked not like a girl but a mature woman—was the first to shake his heart the moment he laid eyes on her.
The eyes beneath her gently curved brows sparkled mysteriously, and the nose at the center of her face was as pert as a clove of garlic. Her firmly closed lips glistened as if she had bitten into a red rose, and even the fine down on her slender jaw seemed to gleam.
What especially captured Ju Hyeong-seon's heart were those two eyes, brimming with spirit. Looking into them felt as though his whole heart were being drawn in.
"Who are you?"
At the woman's question, Ju Hyeong-seon came abruptly to his senses.
"And who are you, to ask me that?"
The woman approached and stood by the window. Because the room was elevated, Ju Hyeong-seon looked down at her, and she had to tilt her head back as far as it would go.
"I asked first."
"I am someone who does not necessarily have to answer."
"That is for me to judge after I hear the answer."
She was bold. Of course, she was probably treating him this way because she did not know his status, but even that boldness pleased him.
"And if I say I must hear who you are first?"
The woman raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. She looked angry, but even that was endearing.
"The room you are in is one that can only be occupied by the highest honored guest of the Righteous Chivalry Sect. It would have to be someone like the head of the Nine Sects and One Gang, the Five Great Clans, or the Five Martial Banners, but you are not of such status. And from the look of it, you have not trained in martial arts, so you are no martial artist."
"How do you know I have not trained in martial arts?"
"The aura you give off, and those fine hands. You absolutely cannot be a martial artist."
Even being addressed as "you" did not strangely offend him.
"Then who do I seem to be?"
"A figure of the court, I would say. But among those close to my master, if it is someone this young......"
The woman's expression turned startled, and Ju Hyeong-seon was startled as well.
'Her master?'
The woman hastily dropped to her knees.
"This lowly one greets His Imperial Majesty."
In the woman's action, without a trace of hesitation, there was certainty that Ju Hyeong-seon was the emperor. Given that she had figured out he was the emperor from just a few deductions, she was no ordinary clever woman.
But that was not what mattered right now.
"This master you just mentioned—could it be Tong-dal?"
"It is so."
"As far as I know, Tong-dal's disciple is only thirteen years old....... To my eyes, you look about sixteen."
"My name is Jang Yeon-seon, and I serve as Sect Leader of the Righteous Chivalry Sect. And my age this year is thirteen."
Ju Hyeong-seon was shocked. Thirteen was still a child. Then why did she look like a woman?!
"I...... I see. I am not good at gauging a woman's age......."
"It is not Your Majesty's fault, so please do not trouble yourself."
He was not blaming himself.
'Thirteen...... still, isn't that too young?'
Even as the thought crossed his mind, Jang Yeon-seon still looked like a woman to him. Ju Hyeong-seon belatedly realized that Jang Yeon-seon was still kneeling.
"You may rise."
With her eyes demurely lowered, Jang Yeon-seon was beautiful even knowing she was thirteen.
'I'm in serious trouble!'
Somehow or other, he sent Jang Yeon-seon away. He could not even remember how they had parted. He pretended to drink tea, but he could not take his eyes off Jang Yeon-seon as she rounded the building and left.
"Hoooh—!"
Ju Hyeong-seon let out a long breath and sank into the chair. The tranquil rear garden now felt like a forest lashed by a storm.
"This makes no sense. No sense. She's only thirteen."
He repeated that muttering ten times, but even self-hypnosis did not work. While Ju Hyeong-seon was reeling from the sudden storm that had struck him, Yang Su-pan returned.
"Tong-dal will come a little later."
Having said that, Yang Su-pan noticed that Ju Hyeong-seon's complexion was strange.
"Your Majesty, did something happen?"
"Something happened...... I suppose that's how I should put it?"
Yang Su-pan quickly scanned the surroundings, but there did not seem to be any particular danger. Ju Hyeong-seon's mood was also far from that direction.
"Your Majesty, may I ask what happened?"
Ju Hyeong-seon let out a long sigh.
"I...... it seems I am in serious trouble."
"What do you mean by that? How could Your Majesty be in serious trouble?"
Keeping it bottled up alone felt like his chest would burst, and if he had to tell someone, there was no one more suitable than Yang Su-pan.
"Do you know Jang Yeon-seon?"
"Is she not the Sect Leader of the Righteous Chivalry Sect and Tong-dal's disciple?"
"I happened to meet her...... and......."
"And?"
"Is there no way to make her my empress?"
"What? Wha—?"
"Of course, her status aside, I know she is only thirteen, but...... ugh—! I don't even know what I'm saying right now."
"What in the world happened between you and Sect Leader Jang?"
"Nothing happened. We just exchanged a few words......."
Ju Hyeong-seon buried his face in both hands.
"It must be that something went wrong in my head from being worn down by heavy duties and then poisoned. It will get better once I return to Beijing."
Yang Su-pan, who knew Ju Hyeong-seon better than anyone, sensed by instinct that this was not a matter to be brushed off so lightly.
'It seems His Majesty has fallen in love at first sight.'
Well, even an emperor was a man, so he could feel that way about a woman. If there was a woman the emperor liked, it was only natural that he could take her, whoever she was.
But if that "whoever" was Do Tong-dal's disciple, the story changed. The age of thirteen would naturally resolve itself with time, but the wall called Do Tong-dal would never erode no matter how much time passed.
Yang Su-pan asked cautiously.
"Can you truly forget her easily?"
Ju Hyeong-seon's answer came immediately.
"No. That I don't think I can is the problem."
A sigh similar to Ju Hyeong-seon's burst from Yang Su-pan's lips as well. A subject ought to fulfill what the emperor desired.
Even more so if it did not deviate from the proper path.
"Shall I casually broach the matter with Tong-dal?"
"How?"
"What else is there but to tell him the truth as it is?"
"That's right. Yes."
The sharp-witted Ju Hyeong-seon now looked like a somewhat dull-witted man. That was how shocking the encounter with Jang Yeon-seon had been.
'This is serious. If he returns to Beijing like this, he might come down with lovesickness.'
At this critical time, when war might break out at any moment, Ju Hyeong-seon's mind leaving the premises was close to a disaster.
'Even if Tong-dal permits it, is it proper for Sect Leader Jang to become empress?'
The choice of the empress had already been given to Do Tong-dal. Though he was emperor, Ju Hyeong-seon was the only emperor in history without an empress.
That was the result of no one paying attention because his chances of becoming emperor had been slim. So now everyone was rushing Ju Hyeong-seon's marriage.
Since Ju Hyeong-seon had no reason to object either, empress candidates were steadily gathering.
The imperial palace had long since turned into a battlefield over the empress's seat. And in the midst of that, Ju Hyeong-seon had suddenly fallen for Jang Yeon-seon, so it was by no means a small problem.
'What is Sect Leader Jang's family like? They run a merchant company, wasn't it? Is there any particular flaw?'
There was more than one or two things to investigate. In truth, there were many women who entered the imperial palace at thirteen.
If one married a young crown prince, thirteen was not young at all.
The problem was persuading Do Tong-dal. It might be far harder than persuading Jang Yeon-seon's parents.
'No, wait. If his disciple becomes empress, that's not bad for Tong-dal either.'
It would be, quite literally, an honor for the family.
'Normally, that would be true. But this is Tong-dal!'
While Yang Su-pan was racking his brains alone, Do Tong-dal's voice came from outside.
"Your Majesty, it is Do Tong-dal. May I enter?"
Startled, Yang Su-pan told him to come in, and the door opened. But instead of Do Tong-dal, who should have been there, a woman he had never seen before stood in the doorway. A rare beauty, at that.
"Who......?"
"It's me."
"Gah—!"
Ju Hyeong-seon and Yang Su-pan both recoiled because Do Tong-dal's voice had come out of the beauty's mouth.
"Is that really Tong-dal?"
"Why do you look like that?"
Do Tong-dal scratched his head, then undid his tied-up hair. His hair, uncut for a long time and reaching down his back, cascaded loose, making him look even more feminine.
"Gulp! I didn't know you had that kind of hobby."
At Yang Su-pan's words, Do Tong-dal scowled fiercely.
"Don't talk nonsense about hobbies. They said I have to know how to apply makeup because I'm supposed to disguise myself as Prince Yeongun's concubine Jeong Hwa-yeong, so three women pounced on me and made me into this."
Do Tong-dal belatedly offered Ju Hyeong-seon a greeting: "I see Your Majesty."
"Hm! Would you care to enter the imperial palace and become my woman? Pfft!"
At Ju Hyeong-seon's joke, Yang Su-pan also burst into laughter.
"Yes, yes. Both of you, laugh all you want."
Do Tong-dal sat in a chair and waited for the laughter to die down.
"Your Majesty has not yet fully recovered. What brings you all the way here?"
"It's your wedding, and I found I had nothing proper to give you. Aren't you the man who seems to have everything in the world?"
"That's not something His Imperial Majesty should say to a thug. So you came empty-handed?"
"I am the gift....... Is that not enough?"
"Tch! More than enough. Thank you for coming. What thug in the world has ever had His Imperial Majesty as a wedding guest? Heh heh heh......."
"I am always sorry to you, and grateful. You rush about so tirelessly for the country and its people, and because of my younger brother you even had to hurry your wedding like this. Truly, I have no words."
"It's all for my sake. When the country is too chaotic, even a thug gets tired."
Even while shouldering all of that alone, Do Tong-dal never made a show of it. That made it all the more appreciated.
As they chatted about this and that, Yang Su-pan's mind was elsewhere. He had to tell Do Tong-dal that Ju Hyeong-seon had taken a liking to Jang Yeon-seon, but there was no suitable opening to bring it up.
"Lord Yang."
"Huh?"
"Do you have something to say to me?"
"M-me?"
"You do. And it's something incredibly awkward. What awkward subject could there possibly be between Lord Yang and me?"
Right. Better to deceive a ghost than to evade Do Tong-dal's eyes.
"Well, the thing is."
From Yang Su-pan's gaze alone, Do Tong-dal could tell it was connected to Ju Hyeong-seon.
"Why are you two acting like this today? Did you commit some crime against me?"
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