38. Confucius of peerless beauty.

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It had been a month since I entered the Pear Blossom Seven Palaces.

I, Yu-eun, was finally able to go outside for the first time since entering the Pear Blossom Seven Palaces.

Considering that I had been virtually imprisoned all this time, it was an encouraging event!

Although it was only to the nearby garden, the Pear Blossom Palace was very large. This alone was enough for a stroll. Moreover, with several maids and Su-hyeon-ssi accompanying me, it could be said that they were being considerate in their own way.

“I’m sorry. I should have done this for you sooner.”

Su-hyeon-ssi felt a pang of guilt as she looked at Yu-eun, who was openly delighted.

The thought of one innocent(?) and kind(?) young man suffering because of them made her feel an indescribable sense of apology.

However, she couldn’t betray her liege, Yeo Se-rin-nim. Perhaps this beautiful young man would carry a tragic fate in the future as well.

‘I’ll probably go to hell too.’

She wasn’t deeply religious, but considering the things she had done in the past, she thought it was inevitable. Standing by was also an action. Although she hadn’t actively participated in kidnapping, rape, or murder, being part of an organization that primarily engaged in such activities made her equally guilty.

“No. I’m grateful just for you being here with me and caring about me. That… Strategist-nim.”

At the innocent(?) smile, Su-hyeon-ssi’s heart sank, and tears welled up in her eyes.

Had there ever been a time when their misdeeds weighed so heavily on them as they did today?

Suddenly, she felt a strong desire to retire.

‘But I can’t do that.’

She wanted to return to Hanyang and rest, but she had vowed to repay Yeo Se-rin-nim’s grace for the rest of her life. She couldn’t abandon that.

“You don’t have to call me Strategist-nim, Gongja-nim. There’s no need to be so formal.”

“Yes? Then…”

“Just call me Su-hyeon-ssi. My name is Kim Su-hyeon.”

“Kim Su-hyeon-ssi… Then I’ll call you Su-hyeon-ssi. In return, please call me Yu-eun.”

“…Okay. Yu-eun-ssi.”

Originally, she was going to say, ‘You are the Palace Lord of the First Palace, so I must show you respect,’ but she soon realized that she (the First Strategist) was in the same situation, and eventually decided to call him Yu-eun.

As they strolled through the palace garden, chatting, Su-hyeon-ssi cautiously brought up a topic.

“We’re planning to go outside the Pear Blossom Palace soon.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. There’s a very beautiful harbor in this Zhejiang Province.”

Hangzhou Bay in Hangzhou (Lin’an) was a famous attraction. In this best city of Zhejiang Province, I would be able to find things to enjoy.

She wanted to allow Yu-eun, who was confined, that much entertainment.

The only problem was that it was a kind of gateway to Mount Putuo, where the Putuo Sect was located.

Of course, Mount Putuo was on an island, so it could be accessed from other places, and Hangzhou Bay was quite far away, but as the capital of Zhejiang Province, it had the largest population and logistics, so the Putuo Sect used it to communicate with the world.

Su-hyeon-ssi also knew this well through the spies she had planted in the Putuo Sect.

“But you mustn’t reveal that we are from the Pear Blossom Palace there. Gongja-nim, you must also wear a veil.”

“Eh… A man wearing a veil feels kind of… strange.”

“It’s for your safety, Gong… I mean, Yu-eun-ssi.”

She felt a pang of conscience as she spoke, but she continued calmly.

“There are many mysterious sects there anyway… so you can see people wearing veils quite often, so there’s no need to worry about standing out. And I’ll be accompanying you.”

“If Su-hyeon-ssi says so… I’ll wear it.”

Su-hyeon-ssi smiled faintly and nodded.

.
.
.

A week later.

Su-hyeon-ssi arranged a schedule for Yu-eun as promised.

She had taken care of all the tasks she had to handle as a strategist and planned a trip of about a week.

The companions were Yu-eun, herself, 10 Pear Blossom Swordsmen, and 5 maids.

If she said she was going to play with Yu-eun, the elders would strongly object, so she outwardly justified it as managing subordinate trading companies and sects.

Thus, the long-awaited trip to the Murim.

Yu-eun was excited as before, and Su-hyeon-ssi was also enjoying a special feeling on her first vacation in a long time.

‘I just hope the elders don’t cause any trouble.’

After handling all the important matters, she left the rest to the Second and Third Strategists. Even without her, no major problems would arise.

She tried to shake off her worries and set off.

+++

“It’s nice and comfortable without him, but shouldn’t we start looking for him soon? What if the wives come barging in?”

Yu-eun’s wives already knew that he had been kidnapped. They must be quite angry.

He was supposed to show his face every two weeks, but he was slacking off like this, so he would have a hard time when he returned.

“Do you think you have any right to say that while lying down and eating instant noodles?”

Seo-hyeon-ssi kicked away the cup noodles rolling around Eun So-ryeong-ssi, who was lounging around most carefree.

Our Eun So-ryeong-ssi, scratching her stomach on the mat, was even scratching Seo-hyeon-ssi’s nerves.

Since Yu-eun disappeared, she had been acting like a wild person, even extorting money from trading companies as if she had become a Green Forest bandit.

Seo-hyeon-ssi was acting rudely towards the elders of the Mount Hua Sect, and So-ryeong-ssi was openly engaging in Demonic Path activities.

As a result, the perception of the Harem Palace within the Murim Alliance was getting worse and worse.

Of course, the Murim Alliance leadership knew from the beginning. Even before a city was destroyed, Yu-eun, the Palace Lord of the Harem Palace, had committed terrible atrocities.

However, they had embraced the Harem Palace at the Murim Alliance level in order to reduce the power of the Demonic Murim and, furthermore, to eliminate Yeo Se-rin-nim, one of the top Demonic Path masters.

“Act like a maid. Just because the master likes you a little, do you think you can do whatever you want?”

“I want to say that to you. You’re just a young thing, picking fights with me over everything. Know your place. A woman who’s not even thirty trying to act tough.”

“I’m going to kill you someday.”

“Yeah, keep dreaming.”

Seo-hyeon-ssi climbed on top of So-ryeong-ssi’s stomach and grabbed her collar.

“The moment you’re abandoned by the master will be the end of your life. Got it?”

“That’s so childish. Do you have middle school syndrome? Look at your 말투 [mal-tu, way of speaking].”

So-ryeong-ssi calmly took out a cigarette even at that moment.

Seo-hyeon-ssi couldn’t help but feel infuriated.

“Team Leader-nim, location confirmed.”

“…Where is he?”

“It seems he’s in a city called Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province. Ah, in modern terms, it’s Hangzhou.”

“Hangzhou…”

“Hangzhou? Where is that?”

“You can think of it as being next to Shanghai.”

“Wow. That’s really far. When did he go all the way there?”

Currently, Seo-hyeon-ssi and the others were in Kaifeng City, where the Murim Alliance headquarters was located.

Seo-hyeon-ssi was staying in an inn provided by the Murim Alliance, and the others were occupying a Green Forest stronghold nearby.

It was much closer to go to Hangzhou City from Xi’an, but even so, they had to travel thousands of miles.

“What are you going to do? Are you going to go?”

So-ryeong-ssi released Seo-hyeon-ssi’s collar and got up, dusting off her clothes.

She still had a sulky look on her face as she stuffed several packs of cigarettes into her pocket.

“If you’re going, I’ll specially go with you. Our weak Seo-hyeon-jjang can’t win alone, right? The Sword Empress, was it?”

“Ha.”

Seo-hyeon-ssi just laughed in disbelief.

Although Seo-hyeon-ssi had lost to the Sword Empress, So-ryeong-ssi was several levels weaker than her.

And yet, she was putting on such airs and saying she would go with her.

In the end, was she still Yu-eun’s maid?

“Now I’m called the Demon of Merciless Slaughter.”

“Anyway.”

“Of course I’m going. But shouldn’t we take some sacrifices with us?”

“Our Seo-hyeon-ssi has become a coward?”

Seo-hyeon-ssi couldn’t capture Yeo Se-rin-nim alone, so she was thinking of bringing along some Righteous Path masters.

And to do so, she had to be able to explain how she knew Yu-eun’s location in a convincing way.

“Zhejiang Province, where Hangzhou City is located, is where the Pear Blossom Palace and the Putuo Sect are located.”

“The Pear Blossom Palace!”

“And the Namgung Clan is located at the edge of nearby Anhui Province. Why don’t you try contacting those people? They might already know.”

Seo-hyeon-ssi nodded at the secretary’s words.

If a large clan like the Namgung Clan was nearby, they might have enough information.

Moreover, the elder of the Namgung Clan was the one who had actively stopped the conflict when there was friction with the elder of the Mount Hua Sect. He seemed to have a good personality.

Perhaps he had fallen for Seo-hyeon-ssi, but if she could extract information, she didn’t care about that.

“Okay. Let’s go to the Murim Alliance.”

“Bye. Have a good trip. Bring back some cup noodles when you come back.”

Seo-hyeon-ssi, throwing a rock at So-ryeong-ssi, who was talking nonsense, left the mountain stronghold and headed for the Murim Alliance.