Chapter 347
Wei Yan-ho looked with cold eyes at Nok-gi, who had been reduced to minced meat.
There was no room for sympathy.
This man was someone who had clung to power and committed countless crimes.
And even if this man had been a good person, it wouldn't have mattered. Unless one didn't draw a sword, from the moment one drew a sword, all considerations of human feelings had to be discarded—this was Baek Mu-han's teaching.
If one intended to use a sword while harboring human feelings, one shouldn't have drawn the sword in the first place. A sword is a weapon meant to kill people.
"Huu…"
Wei Yan-ho let out a low sigh and turned his head.
"Who's next?"
It was nothing special to say.
But the impact those words left was significant. The Black-clad Enforcers where Wei Yan-ho's gaze fell began to shuffle backward step by step.
Fear spreading like ripples.
Those whom they hadn't even dared to approach had been swept away in an instant. How could they possibly oppose such a monster?
"I'll consider anyone holding a weapon as intending to fight. And as you've seen, I don't show mercy to enemies. Only those who want to know how sharp my sword is should keep holding weapons. I'll count to three…"
Before the words were even finished, weapons came clattering down to the floor. Those who had lost the will to resist knelt on the ground.
"Eh…"
Wei Yan-ho scratched his cheek.
"This ends too simply."
The beginning had been grand.
But the end was utterly anticlimactic.
"Ah, over there…"
Wei Yan-ho, remembering the fierce battle between the armed guards and the scholars at the entrance, turned his head.
"What the…"
He saw Moon Yu-hwan waving at him with a joyful smile.
"What kind of scholars fight so well?"
This wasn't proper etiquette.
Even so, the Imperial Guards were people who made their living through martial arts, but if scholars overwhelmed them, what would become of the Imperial Guards' dignity?
Taking a quick glance, the Emperor's face didn't look particularly bright either. Even if they had betrayed, the fact that scholars had swarmed and suppressed the Imperial Guards that the nation had painstakingly trained wouldn't be pleasant.
"Eh… then?"
Wei Yan-ho, after looking around once, walked shuffling toward Prince Lee and the Emperor.
"It seems everything is finished?"
"…It seems so?"
"Yes. Though it feels somewhat bland."
"…"
Prince Yi's beard trembled puddle-puddle.
Bland?
He could guarantee that if it hadn't been for Wei Yan-ho, everyone here would have been completely massacred. The Emperor would probably have fallen into the hands of that wicked Nok-gi as well. Nok-gi's preparations had been that thorough. Even Prince Lee had thought for a moment that no light could be seen.
'But this fellow was that light.'
It was a reality he didn't want to acknowledge but had no choice but to acknowledge. They survived thanks to Wei Yan-ho.
"Aren't you going to report?"
"Ah!"
Prince Lee startled and straightened his body. Now wasn't the time for such thoughts.
"Your Majesty!"
Prince Lee prostrated himself flat before the Emperor.
"This subject was foolish and caused such a calamity. How could I dare to fathom Your Majesty's devastated feelings, but fortunately, through the activities of Your Majesty's loyal… ful… subjects, the situation has been suppressed. Please issue your command. I will root out the faction of the Eastern Palace that conspired with the criminal Nok-gi and clear the dark clouds from the Imperial Palace."
The Emperor clicked his tongue.
He seemed to understand his brother's feelings of having to fumble at 'loyal.' Looking at Wei Yan-ho grinning behind the prostrated Prince Yi, his mood was peculiar.
"Hear me."
"Yes!"
"The suspended position of the Censorate Director is restored from this very moment. Censorate Director!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
"Arrest everyone involved in this matter. I have absolutely no intention of overlooking this incident. As I will treat those who conspired as treason, arrest every single one without missing anyone!"
"Long live! Long live! Long live the Emperor for ten thousand years!"
As Prince Lee buried his head on the ground, everyone watching prostrated themselves.
It was a moment when the Emperor's majesty was fully displayed.
"…Should I prostrate myself too?"
Except for one person.
* * *
The disturbance was quickly suppressed.
The fact that Nok-gi had concentrated all his forces in one place turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Most people didn't even know what was happening to the Emperor until the situation was completely resolved.
All those with even the slightest connection to the Eastern Palace were imprisoned in the palace dungeon. The prison warden, who had to accept the most prisoners since the palace dungeon was established, screamed in protest, but the Censorate ruthlessly pushed the prisoners into the dungeon.
Some Imperial Guards confirmed to have participated also had to be disarmed and investigated.
The Imperial Palace was in unprecedented turmoil.
Treason.
Those who learned that Nok-gi, the head of the Eastern Palace, had plotted treason and directly attempted to assassinate the Emperor held their breath and closed their eyes. They knew that in such times, one wrong word could cost them their head.
Extremely chaotic, yet also extremely quiet… such a strange atmosphere filled the Imperial Palace.
Except for one place.
"The guest treatment was absolute crap!"
Wei Yan-ho had no choice but to be angry.
This was something anyone would be angry about. If someone who thought they were being treated well discovered that they had actually been treated poorly, anyone would have complaints.
Wei Yan-ho's feelings were exactly like that now.
He had thought he was being treated well while in the guest quarters, but looking at the table before him now, he realized that what he had been eating was no different from dog food by comparison.
In front of the enormous table set to a dizzying degree, Wei Yan-ho was delighted, angry, and also…
"Please sit down, please! Just please!"
He was scolded.
Wei Jeong-han threw the chopsticks he was holding at Wei Yan-ho. Wei Yan-ho caught the flying chopsticks and said as if wronged.
"But while I was here, other people were eating food like this. You shouldn't discriminate against people."
"Didn't I tell you this is food specially granted by His Majesty! If everyone in the Imperial Palace ate food like this, the country would collapse several times over. Even His Royal Highness eats modestly, so what are you so dissatisfied about!"
"That gentleman can eat but chooses not to, while I can't eat unless it's prepared for me, so how is that the same!"
"Why can't you eat! You've earned enough money to be counted among the richest in the Central Plains!"
"Huh?"
Wei Yan-ho tilted his head.
Come to think of it, that's true?
Following his master's teaching that more money is unconditionally better, Wei Yan-ho had only thought about earning money, but hadn't thought about how to spend it.
"But thinking about it, no matter how much money you have, you can't eat food like this unless you hire a cook at home."
"Tsk tsk, this foolish fellow. To be so ignorant of worldly affairs."
"What?"
Wei Jeong-han clicked his tongue and said.
"Just go to any restaurant in Suzhou or Hangzhou and there are plenty of places that serve better than this. Places where you can eat and sleep no worse than His Majesty if you have money. What's the use of having lots of money if you don't know how to spend it. Tsk tsk."
Wei Yan-ho tilted his head.
"Have you been there?"
"Of course!"
"To those places?"
"Of course!"
Looking at Wei Jeong-han speaking proudly, Wei Yan-ho asked as if puzzled.
"But those places… aren't they pleasure quarters? Where courtesans come out?"
"Uh, ahem…"
"I'm going to tell mother."
"Let's eat! Let's eat!"
"Look at you changing the subject."
"Eat, you brat!"
Wei Yan-ho pouted.
The one who farted is the one getting angry!
"But… how long do we have to stay here?"
"Who knows."
Wei San-ho cleared his throat and spoke.
"Though the situation has been somewhat resolved, Nok-gi's remnants must be hiding throughout the Imperial Palace, so we'll have to maintain our positions until it's completely cleaned up, won't we?"
"There are armed guards in the Imperial Palace too."
The answer came from outside.
"The problem is that we can't trust those armed guards."
Wei Yan-ho waved at Prince Lee and Moon Yu-hwan entering through the door.
"Wow! It's really been so long. I was disappointed I couldn't greet you when I saw you from afar this time, but you've come at a good time."
At Wei Yan-ho's warm welcome, Moon Yu-hwan smiled broadly.
"Young Master Wei seems to have become brighter. Have you lost some weight?"
"I've suffered a lot."
Wei Yan-ho sighed.
"When I was at the manor, I thought I was caught up in quite troublesome affairs, but looking back, that place was heaven. There's probably nowhere in the world as quiet and comfortable as the Grand Manor. Couldn't you accept me as a retainer?"
"Of course, if Young Master Wei became a retainer of our manor, it would be an honor for me. But now Young Master Wei has become someone our manor cannot contain, hasn't he? Of course, even then you were too great a person for our manor to contain."
"You're gilding my face. Actually, I'm just a lazy person."
Moon Yu-hwan looked at Wei Yan-ho with a kind face.
"There's no law saying a lazy person can't become great."
Wei Yan-ho scratched the back of his head.
He liked this aspect of Moon Yu-hwan.
Others always told him: everything's good but fix your laziness, if you just fix that laziness you could improve more.
But Moon Yu-hwan simply acknowledged everything about Wei Yan-ho and accepted him as he was. Yet he never withdrew his goodwill toward Wei Yan-ho.
It was truly strange that a Confucian scholar who most guarded against laziness was Wei Yan-ho's only understanding person.
"Hehe, it's strange that you're suddenly being formal with me. Please speak comfortably."
Moon Yu-hwan slowly shook his head.
"People have appropriate treatment according to their position."
"I heard that if the person is uncomfortable, not being overly ceremonious is proper etiquette."
"Haha, I'm learning something great from Young Master Wei today. That's right. What makes the heart comfortable is the highest etiquette. I shall do so."
For the first time since entering the Imperial Palace, a harmonious atmosphere was being created.
"Don't I even exist, you brat?"
"If I talk to you carelessly, you'll just scold me again. I can tell without even looking now."
"Grrr."
He had been looking for something to nitpick anyway, so there was no room for excuses.
"But when are we leaving? It seems like there's nothing for us to do here now."
"Wait a little."
"So when exactly do we have to wait until…"
"Hmm…"
Prince Lee made a slightly troubled expression.
A rebellion in the Imperial Palace was never a good thing. No matter how smoothly it was suppressed, the very fact that there was a rebellion conversely proved that imperial authority was not solid.
Moreover, the fact that martial artists played a decisive role in suppressing the rebellion was something that brought shame to the Emperor's face.
'Damn that Nok-gi bastard.'
Even though the crisis had passed, his anger hadn't subsided yet. Even if he was going to rebel, he should have done it properly, but the fact that he had bought off the Emperor's guards and even made the Imperial Guards his allies shocked everyone.
'For now, we need this fellow until things stabilize.'
The divine prowess Wei Yan-ho had shown left a deep impression on the high officials gathered there. If such Wei Yan-ho claimed to be the Emperor's person, it would be possible to quickly calm the unrest.
And there was a bigger problem than that.
"Yan-ho."
"What the… why are you like that all of a sudden? You're scaring me."
"Do you have any idea who might be behind Nok-gi?"
The atmosphere in the room began to sink rapidly.