Chapter 75
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 75
Chapter Title: Barking Dogs Get the Stick
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He shook the golden goblet in his hand. The red wine inside sloshed around, catching the light and gleaming like blood.
"This cup was originally meant to be poured out on the floor to wish long life and prosperity to His Imperial Majesty the Emperor..."
Cheonwi paused for a moment, staring into empty space as if an invisible someone were standing there.
"But since His Majesty is now in 'paradise,' I'll drink it in his stead."
It was an ambiguous statement. It could mean he was recuperating... or that he was no longer of this world. The ministers' faces paled once more, but Cheonwi continued without a care.
"To the glory of the empire... and to my passionate nights!"
Cheonwi drained the goblet in one gulp.
The heroines watching him climbed up onto the dais. Tira, Iron Blood, Yeonhwa, Sword Queen, Snowflower Princess, Sohee. The empire's greatest beauties gathered at Cheonwi's feet.
Tira rubbed her face against his knee, while Yeonhwa leaned against the armrest of the throne, gazing up at him. They looked just like the concubines attending an ancient king.
"To that!"
The heroines' clear voices rang out, and the ministers hurriedly raised their goblets as well.
"T-To that!"
"Long live Lord Cheonwi!"
Cheonwi tossed the empty goblet to the floor. Clink! The clear shattering sound rang out like a starting pistol.
"The music stopped! What are you doing?"
Cheonwi shouted at the musicians.
"Louder! More energetically! It's the Emperor's birthday. Play with such spirit that even the dead would rise and dance!"
The musicians jumped in fright and grabbed their instruments again.
The drums that had paused thrummed once more, and the shrill pipes sliced through the air. This time, the rhythm was even faster, even more stimulating.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The courtesans' dances wove into the heart-pounding beat.
Cheonwi lounged on the throne's armrest with one leg crossed over the other, leisurely watching the sycophants make fools of themselves.
One drunken minister climbed onto a table, tied his necktie around his head, and started dancing. Another grabbed a maid's hand and spun her around. The palace's decorum had long since been tossed to the dogs.
The Emperor's birthday party... without the Emperor.
This was the empire's most dazzling comedy and its most wretched tragedy.
Cheonwi wiped the wine from his lips with the back of his hand and muttered inwardly.
'Big Brother, don't feel too hard done by.'
His eyes grew cold.
'I'm making very good use of the power you discarded. You can just stay shut away in that little room... enjoying eternal happiness.'
As the banquet grew rowdier, Cheonwi's shadow swelled, seeming to swallow the entire palace beyond the throne.
The heroines' laughter mixed with the ministers' flattery, creating a bizarre dissonance. In the midst of the noise, Cheonwi savored absolute solitude and pleasure in equal measure.
But the brighter the light, the deeper the shadows.
Just as the banquet hall's mood reached its peak and everyone was about to bow their heads to Cheonwi, shouting "Long live Cheonwi!"...
A sharp crash erupted from the corner of the hall.
Shatter!!
The piercing sound tore through the revelry in an instant.
It was like the scream of a tightly strung wire snapping. Fragments of a white porcelain goblet flung to the floor sparkled as they scattered everywhere.
Silence descended in a flash.
The musicians' performance that had been assaulting eardrums cut off abruptly.
The dancers, who had been whirling sensually in their flowing garments, froze like statues. The drunken ministers staggering about lost their smiles in a heartbeat.
Hundreds of eyes turned to the source of the sound.
There sat Cheonwi, lounging askew on the throne in his red dragon robe... and a man pointing accusingly at him.
A skinny man in blue official robes.
The former head of the eunuch bureau handling the palace's inner affairs, the Chief Steward Eunuch of the Imperial Kitchens.
His trembling finger jabbed at Cheonwi as he bellowed in a vein-popping voice.
"You bastard Cheonwi! Get down from there this instant!"
This was no mere shout.
It was the bone-chilling cry of an old eunuch who had spent his life immersed in imperial protocol and etiquette.
The banquet hall chilled as if doused in cold water.
No one dared even breathe loudly. To point at Cheonwi the regent—and during the "frenzied banquet" at that. The old man must have finally lost his mind.
But Cheonwi himself reacted with perfect nonchalance.
"Hm?"
He lifted his eyelids lazily, golden goblet at his lips.
"Chief Steward Eunuch? Your face is so flushed. Have you had a bit too much?"
There was no hint of surprise or anger in his voice. It was merely the languid, bored gaze of a master watching a yapping puppy.
"Too much drink leads to mistakes. It's a good day, so I'll let it slide. Go sleep it off."
Cheonwi waved him off dismissively, as if shooing a fly.
That attitude poured oil on the Chief Steward Eunuch's burning rage.
"You... you insolent wretch!"
The Chief Steward Eunuch stamped forward into the center of the hall. A fierce light blazed in his eyes.
He glared at the ministers surrounding the throne and at Prime Minister Oh, who lay prostrate on the floor.
"Look! If you have eyes, look properly!"
The Chief Steward Eunuch's voice boomed through the hall.
"A mere subject dares sit his ass on the throne reserved for His Majesty alone and drink! If this isn't treason, what is?!"
His accusations were utterly correct.
In a land where the Emperor was still alive and kicking (even if effectively imprisoned), for a subject to sit on the imperial throne was a capital crime worthy of immediate execution.
The ministers' eyes wavered.
"W-Well, that's true..."
"By the letter of the law, he's right..."
"But Lord Cheonwi's power pierces the heavens right now..."
They murmured, glancing at one another. Agreeing with the Chief Steward Eunuch meant fearing Cheonwi's blade; defending Cheonwi left them without justification. They were caught in a bind.
The Chief Steward Eunuch grew bolder at their indecision.
"The imperial dignity lies in the dust! Ministers who received His Majesty's grace should drag down this insolent fool—yet you're all tongue-tied like you've eaten honey!"
He jabbed his finger at Cheonwi once more.
"Guards! Seize Cheonwi immediately! Any who defy my order will be deemed traitors!"
They were orders from the former head of the eunuch bureau, but not a single soldier moved.
The palace's military authority had long been in Cheonwi's grasp. The guards merely gripped their spears and watched his face.
Then.
Shing—
A chilling metallic ring sliced the silence.
Before Cheonwi could even speak, his "flowers" guarding him reacted first.
Iron Blood moved quickest.
She drew the sword at her waist and glared at the Chief Steward Eunuch like a beast.
"You must be dying to get killed."
Iron Blood's voice was cold as wind from the underworld.
"Daring to insult my man? I'll cut off that filthy finger."
Her killing intent pricked the Chief Steward Eunuch's skin.
Next, Tira lifted her head from Cheonwi's knee. Her golden eyes narrowed into slits like a predator's.
"Grrr..."
A low growl rumbled from Tira's throat. She crouched low as if to crawl forward on all fours, baring her fangs.
"Barking dogs get the stick. Anyone bothering Cheonwi, I'll rip them apart. Do I need to tear out your throat to make you see sense?"
The beastly killing intent made the Chief Steward Eunuch flinch and step back. But he held his ground.
"Y-You wanton harlots...!"
"Shut your mouth."
At that moment, Yeonhwa slowly rose from where she leaned against the throne's armrest.
Her empress robes embroidered with splendid phoenix patterns rustled open. Her expression was icy, but her gaze held an inviolable dignity.
"Chief Steward Eunuch."
Yeonhwa called to him softly.
"Are you daring to cause a commotion before me, your Empress?"
The Chief Steward Eunuch's eyes widened.
He stared at Yeonhwa in disbelief.
"Y-Your Majesty...! Pull yourself together! Whose side are you on?!"
He looked desperately to the heavens.
"Oh, calamity! Late Emperor! How has this nation, this imperial house come to this?! Has everyone been bewitched by that fiend?!"
The Chief Steward Eunuch's wail echoed through the hall.
The mood was already hurtling toward catastrophe.
Then, a heavy motion came from the throne.
"Enough."
Cheonwi slowly rose from his seat.
As he moved, Iron Blood, Tira, and Yeonhwa parted like clockwork, stepping back to clear a path.
Cheonwi descended the steps one by one toward the Chief Steward Eunuch.
Thud, thud.
The booted footsteps seemed to crush the Chief Steward Eunuch's heart.
Instead of anger, Cheonwi wore a venomous smirk.
"Treason... such a grandiose word, Chief Steward Eunuch."
He stopped right in front of him. The overwhelming height difference and radiating pressure made the Chief Steward Eunuch swallow dryly without realizing it.
"I'm merely acting as His Majesty's 'proxy,' guarding this heavy throne while he's indisposed. An empty seat gathers dust, so I was wiping it clean with my ass, that's all."
"D-Don't lie!"
The Chief Steward Eunuch roared back.
"Rumors abound that you've locked His Majesty in some deep chamber and usurped the government! Do you think I don't know it's your medicine that's left him unresponsive?!"
"Oh?"
Cheonwi raised an eyebrow in interest.
"Rumors, huh. Got any proof?"
"Proof? Your sorry ass on the throne is proof enough!"
"That's too flimsy."
Cheonwi clicked his tongue.
"Accusing the empire's regent on mere suspicion without evidence. Chief Steward Eunuch, isn't this the real treason?"
"W-What?!"
"Attacking the Emperor's proxy is a challenge to the Emperor himself. You're the one disrupting imperial discipline with your aged body—a malignant tumor."
Cheonwi's eyes turned icy in an instant. The playfulness vanished, leaving only a predator's killing intent.
"Time to clean house."
Cheonwi snapped his fingers lightly.
Snap!
With the crisp sound, something dropped from the shadows high on the ceiling.
Whoosh!
Black-masked shadows.
They were the shadows of Dark Heaven, the supreme martial force under Cheonwi's command.
They landed silently, surrounding the Chief Steward Eunuch in seconds.
Dozens of gleaming blades aimed at his throat.
"H-Hic...!"