episode_0177

In life, such a moment comes once in a while.

The moment when your efforts are not rewarded.

I could tell just by looking at Jojo’s appearance now how shitty he would feel when faced with a situation like that.

Even though we’re in a place where we don’t have to worry about facial expressions, even taking that into account, Jojo’s face was frighteningly stiff.

So much so that I stirred it in case someone saw it.

And what made Jojo like that was the events that have happened recently.

What can I say?

We did our best to protect Hajin.

‘I wanted to stick by his side 24 hours a day and make a close mark like I did when I was protecting Cao Cao in Jinan, but…”

Unfortunately, that was impossible.

This was because Ha-jin already had separate people in charge of guarding her.

Suddenly passing them by and asking us to guard them was the perfect move to arouse suspicion both in Ha-jin and in Won So-won, who was clearly up to something.

So, I completely gave up guarding her at close range and instead tried to always stay within a certain distance from her.

So that if something happens in any way, we can intervene right away.

I would chase after Ha-jin all day like that, and only take a break after confirming that she had entered the Daejanggun’s residence, which was the safest place in Luoyang…

I can’t believe something is happening inside the general’s residence.

It felt like I had been punched in the back, but what could I do?

Things have already happened, and the wheel has started rolling.

“···Suhyeon.”

“Huh?”

“Hajin’s death. Is it really true that Yang Yang instigated this?”

When I first brought up the story related to Ha Jin and Won So, Jo Jo’s position was that although he acknowledged that there was a possibility, he should not cover it up too much and be suspicious.

The fact that something that was originally like this has changed like this… I guess Jojo felt it too.

The fact is that things are going in a strange way.

“Well.”

“Unless Zhang Yang instigated it…”

“Wasn’t it Aman who told you not to jump to conclusions?”

“That’s true…”

“Let’s wait for now. Aman, following your instructions, Master and Myojae are tracking down the whereabouts of those who disappeared from the general’s residence that day, right?”

Those two will definitely come back with something, so why not share this story then?

At my remark, Jojo nodded with a sigh.

“···Can those two find something?”

“You don’t know that.”

I’m not a god, so how can I know whether the two will succeed or not… Still, if there’s one thing I’m sure of, it’s that the combination of the two itself isn’t bad.

First of all, in the case of Jo-in, he is the type with a strange sense of humor, and in the case of Ha Hoo-yeon, he has the perfect cool-headedness to support such a person.

“So let’s trust and wait.”

“Just minding our own business?”

“That’s right.”

He nodded his head once in the affirmative and hinted at Jojo, who had a lot of tension on his shoulders, which was different from usual.

“In that sense… you know, right? What is the top priority?”

“···I know.”

“Let’s just stick to the plan, no more, no less. Just as planned.”

After saying that, I was fixing my sword belt (a leather belt worn around the waist to wear a sword), which had just slipped slightly. Jojo, seeing me like that, smiled lightly.

“Soohyun, aren’t you really nervous?”

“Me?”

“The shoulder straps were loose.”

“Huh? What is it, it’s true.”

When will this be released again?

If I tie it too tightly, it feels like it’s going to get in the way when I swing my sword, so I asked the maid who helped me put on the armor to tie it a little looser.

It looks like he couldn’t hold on and broke free.

‘Shouldn’t I just kick it…’

It must have been a moment when I was thinking that in my mind out of annoyance.

“Really… It may not seem like it, but it takes a lot of work.”

A voice filled with strange joy flowed into my ears, even though it was said as if I couldn’t stop it.

It was right after that that the finger, which felt particularly white and long today, came and touched my shoulder.

Jojo was just tapping the long string with his fingers, as if imitating a cat playing with a toy, and then began knotting the shoulder strap with skill.

It was very skillful work.

To the point where I wonder if he took some time to practice.

“···Surprisingly skillful?”

“Really? I’m glad you see it like that.”

…are you lucky?

“I practiced whenever I had time.”

“You practiced tying armor straps…?”

“Yes.”

why?

That same question rose up in my throat, but Jojo’s fingers, hovering near my shoulder, retreated much faster than I could say it out loud.

And in Jojo’s face, as he put his hands behind his back like that, I could feel the determination.

As if tying the knot also made a resolution.

*****

Black or red things have mysterious power.

Should we say that it is the power to awaken the madness that lies dormant within humans?

That would be true if it were just black or red, but what if it applies to both cases?

Also… what if the whole place is full of such things?

The answer to that was now unfolding before my eyes.

“Kill it! Let’s kill the eunuchs and avenge the general!”

“Sa, save me… Wow!”

“You trashy eunuchs!”

“I, I am not a eunuchㅡ”

Is this what hell looks like?

Wherever I looked, there was fresh blood.

Still, when we first crossed the threshold of the imperial palace with our troops, we seemed to have put up some resistance, but before we knew it, we had completely lost the will to resist as the imperial palace began to burn.

Behaviors close to massacre were observed here and there.

In the meantime, there seemed to be several unjust victims.

This was because the hardliners who pushed into the imperial palace calling for the extermination of eunuchs spread it to the soldiers because they thought it was a way to distinguish between eunuchs and non-eunuchs.

You can tell whether someone is a eunuch or not based on nothing else but the presence of a beard.

Thanks to this, a laugh-out-loud skit took place in one corner of the imperial palace.

Perhaps, like me, he is someone who is not good at growing beards in the first place. A young official, who was accused of being a eunuch and was on the verge of death, sometimes ended up licking his lower legs in front of people who would not have even dared to humiliate him in order to prove that he was not a eunuch. Because I did it.

The soldiers who tried to kill the official in question by accusing him of being a eunuch saw that and were busy giggling and making fun of the official, even though they could not apologize.

That’s what I saw at first glance while moving with JoJo, but what about other places?

It would definitely have been worse, but it would never have been less.

That alone is enough to make you wonder how this matter will be resolved in the future, or even whether it will be possible to resolve it, but to top it all off, they even set fire to the imperial palace.

Did they all go crazy thinking that, if they did well, they might be able to obtain power close to that of everyone else, something that Sipsanshi and Hajin enjoyed?

If this were to happen, some people would not be able to avoid criticism or impeachment when the matter was concluded.

Although they are now bound together under the name of Hajin, the moment the power of the eunuchs is wiped out through this rebellion, those who participated in today’s rebellion will no longer consider each other as comrades.

It is obvious that you will be viewed as a competitor rather than a companion, so why would you go to the rescue if someone else is being attacked?

Rather, it would be fortunate if this was an opportunity and he did not join the attacking party.

Well, that was something to think about later, there were other important things to do now.

“So what is the position of the Emperor, or rather, His Majesty?”

Of course, that was why I asked Jojo, who was walking next to me, that question in a quiet voice.

“North Palace.”

“Is Jang Yang there too?”

“They said yes.”

“Then slowly…”

“Yes, we should move.”

It’s not like I stayed behind under the pretext of cleaning up after everyone else while everyone was trying to harvest one more head from the eunuchs.

Part of it was to make it easier to understand how the situation was going, but in fact, it was more about saving the soldiers’ stamina as much as possible in preparation for when they had to move.

And finally… it seemed like the time had come.

If Zhang Yang dragged the royal family and confined himself to the North Palace, located in the farthest corner of the palace, it would mean that all other places were in our hands.

In other words, even if the remaining eunuchs, including Zhang Yang, locked themselves inside and attempted a sit-in protest with desperate resolve, they could not expect support from outside.

There is no way an old monster as self-conscious as Jang Yang would not know such an obvious fact… so he would definitely choose the option of running away.

Relying on the strength of others to hold on in the imperial palace is only a good attempt when there is still power left to support him. Trying to do such a thing in a situation like now where the eunuch power itself has been uprooted will only be like asking for death. That is.

So he will definitely run away.

Just like the guy named Geon-seok who died for us once did.

However, he cannot run empty-handed… he will definitely drag the emperor and other members of the royal family along on his escape…

In that case, wouldn’t it be natural to chase after him and take the emperor’s safety into his hands?

“You said the place he was holed up in was the North Palace, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Then where will they choose as their escape route…”

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

“Are you His Majesty the Emperor?”

“Well, are you…?”

“Dongtak, Dongtak Jung-young.”