YCHW Ch 79

Sobaeguk would have given up his liver and gallbladder if it meant knowing what the emperor thought about Yoonso. Even when he had caught the runaway Yoonso, he had not given any hint. And now that he had placed Yoonso on the empress’s throne, he had not shown any intention regarding his second son to him, and had taken Hyunbi with him on the military campaign.

Was it a miscalculation to have raised Yoonso at his private residence, not sending him to the palace because he did not want to make him a puppet of the royal family, because he wanted to hold the reins? He had thought the emperor would grow anxious if he kept Yoonso at home, since he cared so much for the Yeongchunhwa and was desperate for their guardian energy, but nothing of the sort had happened.

However, was not his own rise to power all because he held Yoonso as a hostage? He had no doubt that the reason he had been able to attain the highest official position in the So family was all because of Yoonso. Furthermore, was not the emperor’s complete pardon of the high treason committed by a runaway Yeongchunhwa thanks to the expectations he had for Yoonso’s guardian energy?

Sobaeguk could not be satisfied with the mere position of Vice Minister of Personnel. He had to overcome the fierce opposition and one day obtain the title of Duke. But he could not predict what choice the emperor, who was so cold he seemed capable of cutting ice, would make, and anxiety coiled deep in his chest.

After a debate akin to an invisible sword fight passed and a brief silence fell, the emperor, who had been as still as a statue, turned his gaze somewhere. In response, the Vice Minister of Justice stepped forward to the front of the throne.

“Your Majesty. Today at the hour of the rabbit, the sinner confessed the mastermind behind the plot and took his own life. It is my grave oversight for not preventing the suicide of a traitor. Please mete out the proper punishment.”

A quiet stir went through the main throne hall. The sinner confessed the mastermind and took his own life? The sinner had consistently argued that he had only followed the empress’s orders, so the Vice Minister of Justice’s statement was a crucial key that could turn the situation around. Sobaeguk felt the stifling anxiety in his chest gradually turn into hope, and he lowered his glistening eyes fully.

“The mastermind.”

The emperor’s heavy words were thrown into the midst of the ministers. The changing atmosphere within the hall swiftly swept over everyone’s shoulders.

“It is more important to reveal the mastermind now. Report the truth.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. The sinner, Bu Wan, revealed today at the hour of the rabbit that he had slandered His Highness the Empress under the orders of Kang Pilseok, a registrar belonging to the Ministry of Personnel, not His Highness the Empress, and unable to overcome the fear of execution, he took his own life. Upon the sinner’s confession, we raided Kang Pilseok’s private residence, but he too had already taken his own life, and we could not find any actual evidence. However, does not his death itself prove his guilt?”

As the air in the main throne hall grew chilly, everyone’s shoulders hunched. Sobaeguk’s mind raced. With an official from the Ministry of Personnel behind it, the Ministry of Personnel would no longer be able to make any claims regarding the empress.

However, it was hard to believe that a mere registrar had plotted all of this. Surely there was a bigger presence behind him…

“A mere registrar slandered the empress.”

The emperor muttered softly, but as this was the main throne hall, it could not be a light-hearted remark to himself. He could see the officials of the Ministry of Personnel, tense and worried that the blame would fall on them. The sight was satisfying, yet as he himself belonged to the Ministry of Personnel, it left a bitter taste in his mouth.

“I do not believe the Vice Minister of Justice is naive enough to believe that.”

“I will do my utmost to find the one who manipulated Kang Pilseok.”

“Have the body of Kang Pilseok, who dared to escape punishment through death, be thrown into the fields to become food for the beasts, and punish his family according to the laws of the nation.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

As the Vice Minister of Justice stepped back, the emperor tapped his fingers on the armrest of the throne, thud, thud, and slowly looked over the ministers. The steady sound echoing in the deeply silent space heightened the tension and tightened its grip on their necks.

The officials who had denounced the empress were staring at the floor with pale faces. Sobaeguk let out a sigh of relief, yet for some reason he could not be entirely happy, and he barely concealed his unease and swallowed dryly.

“The reason I have not said a word about this matter until now is that I judged the truth would be revealed if I waited. You make such a fuss when no conclusion has been reached. Anyone would think you gentlemen were the ones behind it.”

A lighthearted laugh was laced into his final words, but everyone present knew it was by no means a joke. The emperor’s gaze, piercing down from the top of their heads, was like that of a tiger that had reigned for a thousand years. So even the ministers, cunning old foxes who had been through all sorts of trials, were mere mortals before him, and there was nothing they could do but remain silent.

“Even if it were something the empress had done…”

“…”

“What is the big deal if the empress played with a few dolls.”

At the emperor’s added remark, Sobaeguk froze in bewilderment. The emperor’s words just now were, to be frank, stirring up trouble.

Would not some people harbor suspicion? That the real mastermind was the empress, and the emperor was trying to cover it up. And with good reason. Both of the criminals involved in this case had taken their own lives, making it difficult to find any more evidence, and the dead tell no tales, so now no one could ascertain the truth.

Sobaeguk then realized why he could not be completely happy even though Yoonso had been cleared of the false charges. It was because the situation fit together so neatly that it left a rather unsettling aftertaste. But it was not suspicious enough to raise further questions.

As if to break the long, chilly silence, one of the prime ministers stepped forward and spoke.

“Your Majesty. I offer my counsel. Who would dare to doubt His Highness the Empress’s true intentions? However, it is clear that His Highness the Empress was slandered by wicked people, and the loyal desire to quickly uncover the truth must have been expressed in an urgent manner. I hope that with your broad magnanimity, you will understand the hearts of your subjects.”

“I do hope that is the case.”

It was the Minister of Works, one of the three prime ministers leading the Daeyeong court. At her counsel, the emperor reluctantly brought the matter to a close.

The Minister of Works was the first Yeongchunhwa to rise to the position of prime minister, and since she was usually a thorn in their side, there would be no small number of people whose pride was hurt despite her defense. Sobaeguk did not want the matter to escalate any further either, but he felt displeased that the Minister of Works had stepped forward like that, and his lips twitched.

As the atmosphere eased, the emperor gestured for the royal physician who had been waiting at the very back. The royal physician came to the front of the throne hall, paid his respects, and reported.

“Yesterday, the imperial personage personally campaigned to Geumju, and through the healing of His Highness the Empress, he has recovered eighty percent of his dragon body.”

Sobaeguk barely managed to suppress the urge to jerk his head up and quickly drew in a breath.

Eighty percent. Eighty percent!

The emperor’s body, which had only ever healed by twenty to thirty percent since his first night, had been a long-standing concern of the court. But for him to recover eighty percent immediately after receiving Yoonso’s healing was nothing short of a miracle.

“Congratulations, Your Majesty!”

“Congratulations, Your Majesty!”

The civil and military officials bowed their bodies to celebrate the joyous occasion. With this, everyone here, and all the people of the world, would know of Yoonso’s necessity, his usefulness.

The emperor rose from the throne with the words that he would conclude the morning assembly. The sound of his distinct footsteps cut through the center of the main throne hall and gradually faded away.

Just as the tension that had gripped his whole body was about to release, the short hairs on the nape of his neck stood on end, and a cold sweat suddenly broke out. Sobaeguk followed the sound of the footsteps that still seemed to echo in his ears, then turned his chaotically shaking eyes toward the throne.

He was overcome by the feeling of having watched a well-orchestrated play. The emperor who had remained silent all along, the confession and suicide that were revealed at just the right time, and even the royal physician’s report.

Did that man named Kang Pilseok really commit the crime? Was his death truly a suicide?

If the emperor wanted to kill a single low-ranking official, there would be no reason why he could not. Furthermore, he had dismissed the major incident of cursing the emperor with the absurd expression ‘playing with dolls.’

The meaning of that was no different from saying that he would tolerate it even if Yoonso had cursed him. It was a warning that from now on, any questions or suspicions they threw would be useless.

While joy welled up at the fact that Yoonso had become such a precious Yeongchunhwa to the emperor, fear began to creep in step by step. If the empress existed outside the law, what kind of influence would that have on this court, on the Son of Heaven?

As a scholar to the bone, he felt an instinctive rejection, but as the head of the So family, greed also flickered. Sobaeguk’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as if swallowing the unknowable thing that had swelled up in between.

𓇢𓆸

When the palanquin was set down at Jiseo Palace, the feeling that he had returned ‘home’ arose, and a hollow laugh escaped him. Looking back, he had never once considered his family home to be his home, but now it seemed this place would become his home. The man he loved was here, and there were people who cared for him, so he had more in his hands here than at his private residence, at least.

A wave of fatigue washed over him after getting out of the palanquin, and Yoonso let out a faint sigh as he entered the bedchamber.

“You must be tired. How was the hellscape?”

Yoonso, who was sipping the tea Yeondeok had brought, rolled his eyes at his curious and worried question. What should he tell him? He did not want to describe it all as it was and make Yeondeok anxious. But he did not want to downplay it as if it were nothing, either.