episode_0143

*** ***

Yu-kyung pondered the events of last night for a day.

Just imagining a wolf kidnapping my younger brother, who wouldn’t hurt even if I put it in his eye, made my blood boil…

“What on earth do you guys do?”

“I’m sorry! Your Majesty!”

“Hey, look at Sima Yan! We have eliminated all the pests that have been eating away at this empire for over fifteen years, and we have not even rooted out the bandits who have been doing as they please!”

“I’m sorry! Your Majesty!”

Is it just “? In the process, not a single member of the government was harmed, and countless assets were recovered and handed over to the central government, but what did the officials do in the meantime?”

“I’m sorry! Lung haaah!”

“But the ministers drew up a budget plan with the gold that Sima Yeom gave them!! What can we do if we can’t even gather one opinion!!”

“I’m sorry!! Lung haaaa!!”

After looking at the national affairs with passion and with a boiling stomach, my head became clear. After all, people have to work. Yu-kyung, feeling relieved and shaking her head in satisfaction, thought about last night.

‘It was such a waste of time.’

Yesterday, I pushed Hyeok Kirin too hard and wasted precious time burning unnecessary hatred towards my virtual brother-in-law. Instead of enjoying the opportunity to meet and chat for the first time in twelve years, I ended up throwing it away in anger.

‘I ended up wasting my precious time in haste.’

It is true that it is possible to live as a princess in the imperial palace, but marriage is something that is impossible in the martial arts world where people disguise themselves as men.

But even though I was anxious, I was too anxious. Marriage is a line that divides a person’s life. It wasn’t something that could be defeated like roasting beans in a flash of lightning. Even if Hyuk Kirin had someone he liked, there was nothing he could do during his time in the imperial palace.

‘It was not too late to change Yuya’s heart through marriage even after leaving the imperial castle. ‘Yesterday I missed something I should have done.’

I was so blinded by the provocative facts that I couldn’t see the forest. Marriage was not the only factor that could have made Hyeok Kirin decide to return to the royal family. Wouldn’t they come back if we made them feel closer to the imperial palace than to the martial arts world and made it a more enjoyable space?

Yu-kyung nodded, satisfied.

Yes, this is the right strategy.

Yu-kyung looked back on her childhood and the memories she would share with Hyeok-ki-rin. Each one was a childlike story, a precious memory, and one that touched the heart.

“Hahaha.”

Yes, this is correct. Yu-kyung burst out laughing.

Yu-kyung felt her mind refreshed.

Hyeok Kirin, as a martial artist, seemed happy enough and also seemed far away, so I urgently tried to catch him. But was that really the right attitude for a brother?

As a brother, my duty was to do my best to help Hyuk Kirin live a happy life.

As long as Hyukkirin stays in this palace, let’s always try to laugh together. Fun with family. Shouldn’t we give Hyeok Kirin a taste of the joys of living in the palace?

So, you should erase all unnecessary thoughts from your mind and only think about having a good time with Hyeok Kirin.

Yu-kyung was drinking tea with such a gentle smile.

“Princess Yuya has found the person she loves.”

His face hardened upon hearing the report from the palace maid in Gungcheongjeon.

*** ***

“Ha.”

The room where all the court ladies were bitten. Hyukkirin sighed and rested his chin on his hand.

‘Illusion Resistance…’

Hyeok Kirin was fiddling with the sun gun on top of his head. It was one of the imperial treasures and was literally an item imbued with positive energy. It gives off energy like the sun, making people look trustworthy and manly.

Naturally, people live with a little bit of energy flowing out. Men are bound to shed positive energy, and women are bound to shed negative energy. If you wear this Taeyanggun, no matter how much you are a woman, you will have the same impression as a man.

A drinking party was held after leading Ho Cheonan, Heukmyo, and Yeo Il-ye to Sima Yeom’s residence. When he woke up drunk from a drinking party, Sima Yan informed him that he had noticed that Heukmyo and Ho Cheonan were women disguised as men.

At that time, I just thought he was a person with sharp senses.

It was only after hearing from the fortune-telling sect that Ho Cheon-an had a constitution with resistance to illusion that I realized that she had been caught in the crossdressing from the beginning… but in the end, nothing changed.

‘I’m a crossdresser… because I’m always giving myself a chance to get caught.’

Once he reached the level of Hyukkirin, it was possible to use a reverse technique that could completely change his skeleton. Nevertheless, that was the reason for maintaining the original body shape as much as possible.

‘Hyeok Kirin was a woman disguised as a man? The goal was not to disguise it perfectly so that people would say, ‘That’s nonsense!’

The goal was to camouflage it so that people would say, ‘Hmm… I guess that’s possible…’

It was not a taboo to be a female Murim person, and the reason she had to disguise herself as a man was to undermine the legitimacy of the succession to the throne and to block the movement of supporters of Princess Yuya, who were still very powerful at the time.

If only the cross-dressing woman had not become a martial artist… Hyeok Kirin, who had assumed that, smiled bitterly. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have remained in the Jeomchang faction until now.

At that time, the central faction that supported Hyuk Kirin was quite powerful. They would have done everything in their power to bring Hyuk Kirin back to the imperial palace, regardless of means or methods, and countless sacrifices and accidents would have occurred in the process. In the worst case scenario, the country might have been divided into two factions and fighting.

The reason something like that didn’t happen was because she became Hyeok Gi-rin, a cross-dressing woman and a martial artist.

Princess Yuya actually became a martial artist and was learning martial arts! As if that wasn’t enough, he did something bizarre by dressing up as a man and acting like a man!

Became a martial artist. He became an official disciple of the Jeomchang school. Dressed as a man. All of these were fatal flaws in legitimacy, and the moment this fact became known, the faction that supported Princess Yuya was virtually finished.

Therefore, they had to return Princess Yuya to the imperial palace without any rumors, and instead of using all their might, they had no choice but to use the minimum amount of force possible to prevent rumors from spreading.

In the center, Yugyeong actively interfered with the Yuya princess faction, and the Jeomchang faction blocked the physical force.

‘If… I hadn’t chosen to live as a cross-dressing female warrior.’

An indescribable amount of blood must have been shed. And when the blood flowed and the winner and loser were decided, either Yu-chan or Hyuk Kirin would have been in a position where they had to take responsibility for the blood.

Such a situation was prevented. Yugyeong smoothly strengthened the imperial authority, established a family, and gave birth to children, thereby strengthening the succession. As a disciple of the Jeomchang sect, Hyeok Kirin took care of the priests and left the imperial palace to pioneer a new life.

It was truly an ideal result. Hyukkirin thought. Even if she were given the chance to go back in time and choose again, she would choose to live as Hyeok Kirin, a cross-dressing female warrior, rather than as a princess.

‘still…’

Still, the regret remains.

If you stand in front of Hocheonan wearing beautiful clothes, makeup, and accessories decorated with gold and precious stones.

If that were the case, then it wasn’t a close friend… would I have heard something else?

Could it have remained in Ho Cheon-an’s mind as something more special?

“What are you regretting now?”

Hyeok Kirin rubbed his cheek and tried to cheer himself up. My brother would come soon. It was a rare opportunity that would last less than two weeks at most. I didn’t want to die on a day like that and have my brother worry about me.

With a timely knock on the door, the court lady announced Yu-kyung’s arrival.

“Hehe, is your brother here?”

“Yes. It’s Yuya. How was your day today?”

“Yes. Well, it’s a little stuffy… but it’s bearable.”

“Haha. Yes, you have been lively since you were young. When the court ladies missed your tracks, you went outside first.”

“Is that so… Now that I think about it, I mostly remember playing in the garden.”

Hyuk Kirin smiled as he recalled the memories Yu-kyung brought up. Due to the age difference, Hyuk Kirin fell into a strange mood while listening to the memories that Yu-kyung remembered but Hyuk Kirin did not.

“Hahahaha!”

“Huhuhuhu!”

The two people laughed and talked about their childhood memories. At first, Hyuk Kirin was laughing because he was conscious of Yu-kyung, but soon he became happy and started laughing naturally.

The characteristic of a memory story is that you become immersed in it without noticing the passage of time.

Yu-kyung, who was talking about various things, stood up with a regretful expression.

“Phew. okay. It’s already late at night. I have to go back before dawn.”

“Wow, isn’t this taking up too much of your brother’s time?”

Hyeok Kirin looked worried. Since Hyeok Kirin was an expert, just eating a small breakfast was enough to get him through the day. However, Yu-kyung has not learned martial arts at all. If you watch state affairs during the day and come here at night to spend time with Hyeok Kirin, it will be quite a strain on your work day…

“Haha, I can’t help but think about this. It’s okay if you go in now and sleep for a while.”

“…Yes, don’t overdo it.”

Yu-kyung thought as she left Hyeok-ki-rin’s room with a smile on her face.

‘Ever since you were young, you haven’t been able to hide your expressions well.’

The smiles themselves were similar, but there were many differences in their liveliness. That’s why Yu-kyung was able to realize this as soon as she met Hyeok-ki-rin. It means that he is quite heartbroken because his friendship was cut short by the person he cared about.

“Hehehehehe.”

This bastard is now…driving a nail into his younger brother’s chest, which wouldn’t hurt even if he put it in his eye?

In fact, it was a natural result. It made no sense to have romantic feelings for a woman who knew she was a man, and even if she knew she was a man, it was also realistically difficult to feel attracted to a woman who was always dressed as a man.

It was hard to call Hyuk Kirin’s current appearance attractive as she didn’t even wear the most common makeup and was busy hiding her feminine charms rather than emphasizing them.

But…what does it matter?

The moment it was confirmed that Hyeok Gi-rin’s heart was hurt, his rational judgment towards Ho Cheon-an died.

The eunuchs bowed closely as they looked at Yu-gyeong, who kept a smiling face. Hyeok Kirin didn’t know, but the internal officers knew. Yu-kyung, who lived as an emperor for a long time, always smiled consistently, regardless of the flow of emotions.

I was on my way back after finishing a secret mission. Even though there was no need to manage her facial expressions, Yukyung maintained a smiling face. The eunuchs could sense that Yu-gyeong was having bad thoughts in her head and was smiling habitually to hide them.

“Please summarize the details of that damn child. Right now.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

Somewhere between night and dawn. Dongchang, the empire’s intelligence agency, began to move.