Open the Door
"Kidnapped? What the hell are you talking about, and from where?"
I pressed Madam Okryeong hard and bolted outside.
She barely managed to keep up behind me, gasping for breath.
"W-Wolay suddenly said she wanted to buy a new silk dress…"
Self-reproach clung thick to her faltering voice.
Most of life's necessities were handled inside the courtesan house, but when it came to clothes, Ju Wolay herself always went out to her regular silk shop to choose them. At the madam's explanation I clicked my tongue.
Ju Wolay was a woman who had perfected the art of adorning and beautifying herself; she simply could not trust anyone else's eye. That meticulous nature of hers seemed to have invited disaster this time.
"There was a big fight in the marketplace, and some unidentified men in black clothes kidnapped Wolay and dragged her off somewhere…"
Hearing about the big fight in her continuing explanation made me think of Jo Harang.
She must have been guarding the client from the shadows and stepped in the moment things turned dangerous.
And yet the kidnapping still succeeded even with a Transcendental Peak martial artist intervening—just what kind of experts was the culprit employing?
"That place that sent the letter and the carriage last time—where was that again?"
The prime suspect right now seemed to be whoever had sent that letter. Some high-ranking figure from the Imperial Palace who had tried to claim Ju Wolay with vast wealth and power, only to be refused.
Madam Okryeong pulled a crumpled letter from her robes and spoke in a trembling voice.
"I-It was a letter stamped with the seal of the Court of Censors. They didn't say exactly who, just 'a high-ranking person'…"
I glanced sideways at Ilhong as if asking what the Court of Censors even was.
As if she could read it from my eyes alone by now, she rattled off an explanation.
"It's the place that oversees every imperial agency and investigates corruption or crimes among officials. The Censor-in-Chief even has the right to meet the Emperor directly, so countless officials tremble before them."
In short, the absolute core of power that could shoot even a flying bird out of the sky.
I looked back at the madam. For Cheonhwaru, rooted right here in the imperial capital, to refuse a power player like that from the palace—that took some guts.
"Our Wolay's will was just far too firm…"
Reading my gaze, she opened her mouth with a helpless expression.
"Tch."
Ilhong seemed to guess the reason for that firm refusal; she glanced at me once and clicked her tongue resentfully.
"Here, heroes…!"
The madam pointed urgently to a stretch of marketplace that looked like it had been clawed through by a massive brawl.
As we pushed through the murmuring crowd, Jo Harang came into view—beaten black and blue, still tending to her wounds.
"Harang, are you okay? Who the hell dared do this…!"
Even for someone as tough as the Purple Micro Star, seeing her this thoroughly thrashed made my blood boil.
"I-I'm fine… My neck's still attached."
What a manly answer.
With a slightly appalled look, I asked who the assailants were.
"They were all wrapped in black, so I couldn't tell… And their martial arts were something I'd never seen before in my life."
Regrettable, but the situation had been chaotic, and since they were snatching a celebrity in broad daylight the enemies had covered their identities with masks and black clothes.
"But I messed them up pretty good with my greatsword too… If we mobilize the Beggar Sect guys all over the place, we should be able to track the trail…"
Black-clad men carrying off a woman while dripping blood in broad daylight? No way the beggars who occupied every corner of the back alleys would miss that.
They must have left traces and tracks everywhere. In the end, even in a disadvantageous moment, Jo Harang had fulfilled her role to the last.
"But what the hell is that pervert who loves beast ears doing… Ugh, using experts like these?"
Apparently two Peak Realm experts and one Transcendental Peak martial artist had ambushed her at once.
She explained that if she'd been alone it might have been different, but in the sudden situation of protecting Ju Wolay she had had a hard time of it.
"Looks like the culprit really is that high-ranking guy from the Court of Censors. Seeing them mobilize this kind of wealth and experts."
An unbelievable story—that the core layer of the Imperial Palace was tangled up in the stalking of one courtesan.
Jo Harang's eyes widened as she asked me back.
"…Mujin, but what's the Court of Censors?"
"…"
This girl had lived in Beijing way longer than me, so why did she know about the same amount of stuff as me?
I shook my head and took a mooncake from my robes, gently putting it in her mouth.
"Th-thanks."
She mumbled that she was hungry anyway and chomped away happily.
Seeing her eat with such energy, she seemed like she'd recover soon. This one, even if not quite like me, bounced back to normal if she just ate well and rested.
"Ahnyway, thorry…"
"Swallow first, then talk."
At my words she gulped down the mooncake she'd been chewing.
"Anyway, sorry. I couldn't protect the client."
There was nothing for her to be sorry about. Just looking at the wrecked street, you could tell she'd resisted with everything she had.
"What's there to be sorry for? You just rest up and recover. From now on, I'll handle things somehow."
Kidnapping and disappearance were races against time.
The longer it went, the lower the chance of finding the person. So there was a place I needed to check before the trail went cold.
"Looks like I'll have to borrow the power of the Beijing Beggar Sect guys for the first time in a while."
Back then I'd called them to the capital without much thought, but since then the largest information network of the righteous factions had been giving me solid help left and right.
"Shall we go see Uncle Park Chil?"
I started walking with the group.
The Beggar Sect truly deserved its reputation as the greatest information network in the Central Plains.
Even though they had only just begun laying down an active web of informants in the capital, Four-Knot Disciple Park Chil answered every question I threw at him without hesitation.
"So Uncle Park Chil, the kidnappers didn't divert anywhere else—they headed straight for the Court of Censors building?"
Based on the sightings of beggars everywhere, then scraped together and collated, Park Chil answered that it was all but certain.
"A lovely beauty in crimson silk robes—Ju Wolay, correct?"
"Yes, that's right. That's how she looked the last time we saw her."
"Then it's almost certain. Someone inside that Court of Censors building was waiting for her."
And the person waiting desperately for Ju Wolay—the most likely culprit—Park Chil named as Censor-in-Chief Yang Gunjwa.
"Even within the power vortex of the Imperial Palace, he is the one who wields absolute authority."
What had slithered out of the underbrush was none other than the head of the Court of Censors himself—a snake.
And we finally learned the reason for the kidnapping as well.
"Recently there was a man buying up Ju Wolay's personal portraits of beauty at high prices. That man turned out to be Yang Gunjwa. That grotesque beast-like appearance… must have matched his tastes perfectly."
This was practically a settled fact. The more I thought about it, the more ironic the whole situation became.
Ju Wolay had only been lying to lure me in, yet it turned out she really had been targeted by a dangerous bastard like that.
"Unbelievable. Seriously."
Ilhong let out a hollow laugh.
Anyway, if they had stashed her somewhere remote, I would have simply charged in, smashed the place, and recovered her. But if they had hidden her deep inside the Court of Censors, right in the heart of the Imperial Palace, things were not going to be simple.
Even I had no intention of charging head-on into the absolute core of power.
"Boss, you did exactly that with the Sichuan Tang Family Manor, remember?"
Back then I still had Dang Yeohye as my backer. And I had the faith that once we rescued the clan head, everything would sort itself out.
But now, even if I somehow got in and found Ju Wolay, nothing would be resolved.
It would only make the situation more complicated.
"I need my own support force—a solid backer."
"…That sounds like the kind of thing that makes everything explode again."
What she had thought was just beating up a stalker was about to balloon into a huge incident; Ilhong stared at me in disbelief.
"Ahem."
"Whatever. I've gotten used to it hanging around with you, Boss."
She looked at my fake cough and snorted a laugh.
She seemed to have grown fairly accustomed to me by now.
"Anyway, thanks for the information. It was a huge help, Uncle Park Chil."
I took out a payment from my robes and tried to hand it over.
But Four-Knot Disciple Park Chil waved both hands and stubbornly refused.
I asked why on earth he was refusing, and instead of answering he showed me the lengthened knot on his waist sash.
"I've been promoted. I'm a Five-Knot Disciple now."
"What… That's insanely fast."
"Hahaha, it's all thanks to Young Hero Dan Mujin."
With a proud face he said it was all because of me and actually thanked me instead.
"No, what did I even do…"
I had no memory of doing anything special for him. If anything, I had just ordered him around for free whenever I needed something.
But from the Beggar Sect's perspective, they seemed to regard that as a close connection—a link.
And they seemed to believe that through me they might one day bring back their runaway Dragon Head Clan Leader.
"Please keep calling on this Five-Knot Disciple often. Future Dragon Head Clan Leader."
This old man had some serious social skills. He would never go hungry wherever he went.
"But are you sure? I was going to pay you in gold."
I had made a tidy sum from the recent imperial request, after all.
So I had planned to lump in everything I had used him for until now and settle the whole tab.
"H-how could a man take back his word? I-I'm fine…"
Knowing how tight-fisted I usually was, he had probably only expected copper or silver at most.
But I never skimp when it comes to people I'm grateful to. If only so I can use them again later.
Even while refusing, Park Chil kept glancing at the gleaming gold coins as if they were burning into his eyes.
"Ah, just take it."
So I snorted a laugh and flicked a gold coin at him.
"…Hah! Thank you!"
He snatched the gold with a beaming face.
The Court of Censors was located deep inside the Imperial Palace.
To get there we once again had to visit the imperial grounds. Every time I set foot in the palace nothing was ever easy, but with Ju Wolay taken I had no choice this time.
When we reached the gate, the guards crossed their spears and glared.
"Who the hell are you!"
Without a word I pulled out the Imperial Jade Token and thrust it forward. The imperial crest flashed in the sunlight.
Even the notoriously high-handed gatekeepers had no choice but to bow their heads before the presence of the Imperial Noble Consort.
"Well then, hop to it."
The guards flinched as if the voice had jogged a memory.
I walked straight on from there all the way to the headquarters of the Eastern Depot.
"At this rate I'll have the palace paths completely memorized."
Ever since seizing the Imperial Jade Token through my previous exploits, I had become one of the rare people who could come and go to the Eastern Depot headquarters and request a private audience with Cheon Su-gong.
So whenever anyone tried to stop us I simply shoved the token in their faces, and as a result we reached Cheon Su-gong's office in a single breath.
When we barged in unannounced like that, Cheon Su-gong—who had been reading through secret documents—looked up with an incredulous glare.
"Unbelievable."
He dropped the documents with a thud and continued with a sigh.
"The Director of the Eastern Depot is not some connection you call whenever you need him, you lunatic."
His eyebrows twitched as he glared at me.
He seemed to have piled up quite a few grievances against me; he launched into a harsh lecture as if he had been waiting for the chance.
"Honestly, what a reckless brat. It's only because the Imperial Noble Consort and Princess Dohwa look kindly on you that you're still breathing. To me, no matter how I look at it, you're just…"
"Just?"
I casually cut in and asked.
"A somewhat useful colt. So know your place and don't cross the line."
If that cold-blooded Director of the Eastern Depot was calling me "useful," he was actually looking at me pretty favorably.
In a way it almost sounded like praise. And I wasn't becoming a palace eunuch anyway—a troubleshooter just needed skill.
"What's with that look? I'm busy, so spit out your business already."
Since he told me to state my business, I steadied my breath and laid out the entire chain of events that had brought me here.
The complicated story of how Beijing's most famous courtesan—well-known even among the imperial family and court officials—had apparently been kidnapped by the Censor-in-Chief of this place.
Cheon Su-gong's expression hardened for a moment, then twisted into pure incredulity.
"You crazy bastard… Now you're going after the Court of Censors too?"
"I'm the one who's wronged here."
I waved both hands vigorously.
Why did he keep acting like I was the one poking at people? Weird prejudice. And if anyone had struck first, it was the Censor-in-Chief of the Court of Censors.
The man who was supposed to uphold the law had kidnapped Ju Wolay in broad daylight like a lawless thug and beaten Jo Harang half to death.
"What kind of troubleshooter are you… constantly getting tangled up in messes like this?"
"…You're telling me."
Ilhong, who had kept her mouth tightly shut until now out of fear of Cheon Su-gong, unconsciously chimed in.
"You brat."
Cheon Su-gong shot me an uneasy glare.
"The other party is the Court of Censors, granted independence by the Emperor himself for the purpose of surveillance. You cannot simply tear the place apart just to find one person."
"Even so, the famous Ju Wolay was kidnapped. We have to try something."
Easy or not, I had to pull it off if I was going to save Ju Wolay.
When I locked eyes with him, making it clear I had no intention of backing down, Cheon Su-gong rubbed his temples as if exhausted.
"If the justification is solid, a high-ranking member of the imperial family gives permission, and the Eastern Depot takes the lead, wouldn't at least searching the place be possible?"
Just because they had been granted independence did not mean they were free from the imperial hierarchy or the influence of the royal bloodline.
If a precious person put their weight behind us, we could charge in and find Ju Wolay.
"And if you go in like that and find nothing?"
Cheon Su-gong's eyes sharpened as he pressed on.
"The backlash will be enormous, you fool."
From ancient times the Court of Censors had been a place that kidnapped people like ghosts, locked them up, interrogated them, and tortured them—so it was full of hidden and secret spaces.
On top of that the security was airtight and the layout was like exploring a labyrinth, so even if we got inside there was no guarantee we could find her, Cheon Su-gong explained.
"Full of secret spaces, you say… For that, I happen to know a technician who is absurdly good at finding exactly those things."
A man who had cracked open countless secret vaults and was thoroughly familiar with every kind of hidden space, mechanical traps, devices, and formations.
And not long ago he had also come to owe me a large debt.
"…Hmm. Then there is a condition."
"Yes, please speak."
Seeing that I showed no sign of backing down and would, just like before, inevitably obtain imperial permission, Cheon Su-gong attached a condition.
"If we raid the Court of Censors and it is proven before everyone that an official who is supposed to uphold the law kidnapped the famous Ju Wolay… then the treatment of the Censor-in-Chief will be decided by us."
In other words, whatever punishment they decided to mete out, they would handle it themselves, so I was to forget about the aftermath for the Censor-in-Chief.
He seemed to be thinking of linking this incident through some deal or proposal so that it would benefit Princess Dohwa.
The political arena was always like this. One person's weakness and mistake became another's opportunity.
"Fine by me."
If I refused, there would be no chance to save her at all, and securing Ju Wolay's safety came first.
When I nodded, Cheon Su-gong finally looked satisfied.
"Good. Let's do it."
We clasped hands on the agreement to tear into the Court of Censors.