Login Murim Episode 933
I followed Jeongho and looked around carefully.
Contrary to the expectation that there would be some dramatic change, the imperial palace had not changed much compared to when I first arrived.
Courtiers dressed in neat uniforms were moving around at a brisk pace, and heavily armed Geumui Guards were standing guard at their respective positions like iron towers.
However, if there was a big change, it was none other than myself. Sigh.
I thought it was a coincidence when a group of palace people approaching from the other side bowed their heads deeply and passed by. Crash.
Even when the Geumui Committee members, who were on guard with a heavy guard, tapped their armor and performed military rituals, I did not feel anything unusual.
I just thought it was natural since Jeong Ho-gun, who was also a member of the Geumuiui Committee, was accompanying him.
“Is it because your name is Cheonho (千戶), or is it because your ears are buzzing?”
However, Jeongho’s voice in response to those words he threw out as a joke was nothing short of calm.
“You’re less tactful than you look.” “huh?”
“The reason they are polite is not because of me.”
It was only after hearing those words that I suddenly realized.
It was only then that I could see it.
The glances of people passing by around me, their eyes filled with gratitude and respect, are only directed at me.
“uh······
What should I say?
At that moment, when I was at a loss for words, Jeong Ho-gun’s steps, which had been moving forward without any hesitation, suddenly stopped.
No, everyone who came with him stopped at the same time.
Jeez.
A heavy metal sound resounds along with a knife-like movement.
Jeongho glanced at the signboard that said Geoncheonggung (乾淸宮) in front of him, and then turned his gaze towards me.
“I don’t know when I can see you again, so I guess I should say this now.”
His sharp eyes, seen through the deeply pressed helmet, suddenly curved softly like the crescent moon.
“It was an honor to fight with you, Jin Tae-gyeong, the Fire Divine Dragon.”
U | V
I looked at Jeongho with wide-open eyes.
His back, which had never been bent by anyone except the emperor, and his stiff neck were leaning towards me.
With Pogwonjirye (推奉之禮), which is extremely polite.
“Until the day we meet again, I wish you good luck.”
“Please, good luck!”
Cha chachang!
Dozens of Geumuiwi members, who shouted out loudly as if reciting their names, drew their swords and held them in reverse.
At the sight of them standing side by side along the direction leading to Geoncheong Palace, I couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
“Why are you doing this so strangely?”
But soon the laughter stopped and I raised my hands and raised my arms towards them all.
“See you later. please,
A word full of sincerity. That’s enough.
No one knows when we will meet them again, but we decided to postpone the rest of the story until then.
Because in meetings and relationships, there is always parting.
Jeez. Jeez.
I walked slowly along the path made by Jeong Ho-gun and Geumuiwi.
Under the eaves of the towering Geoncheong Palace, the twin warriors, whose faces I could finally distinguish thanks to their newly formed scars, were waiting for me.
And as if there was no need for any further procedures, he quietly stepped aside without blocking my path as I had just climbed the stairs.
The huge iron gate they were guarding was wide open, unlike when they first arrived.
* * *
Geoncheonggung Palace is located in the deepest part of the imperial palace.
In the very innermost place of Geoncheong Palace, the emperor was waiting for me.
“Oh, you’re here.”
Unlike before, his tone was soft and his voice filled with joy.
And smiling eyes,
However, I did not smile at the hospitality of the emperor, who was even called Iron Blood due to his numerous purges and ruthless decisions even before his accession to the throne.
No, I couldn’t exactly laugh. ‘why?’
Although he did not say it out loud, it seems that the embarrassment that he could not completely hide was reflected in his expression and eyes.
The emperor, who was looking at me looking for something to say, smiled and opened his mouth one step ahead.
“You seem quite embarrassed. Well, it’s only natural that the so-called Emperor is acting like this.”
The emperor touched the bandages covering his upper body.
Because of the faint smile on her lips, her sunken cheeks looked even more prominent.
“Jim, if I could give you one piece of advice, it would be to keep your head down in times like this.”
The embarrassment I felt at the sight of the emperor, who had become ridiculously emaciated compared to before Sahol, was still the same, but I tried my best to reply calmly.
“Is there any reason for that?”
“There are two things. Firstly, you can hide your facial expressions, and secondly, you can gain time to think, even if it is only for a moment.”
“okay. Since this has already happened, let me give it a try.”
I lowered my head for a moment, then lifted it slightly before ten seconds had passed.
“I can’t help it because the expression on my face has already been caught, and I think it’s a good thing that I have time to think clearly.”
“Can I hear what you were thinking?”
“I’ve been thinking about why you look the way you do now. That’s the same reason.”
“I had a useless thought. “Jim just overexerted himself in that day’s battle.”
The emperor smiled and waved his hand, but the smile on his lips disappeared as soon as he heard my answer the next moment.
“So, are you having a cherry blossom ceremony again?”
“It was a little late to realize. “I couldn’t even pay attention to the smells around me due to Peha’s unexpected appearance.”
I looked at the emperor’s frozen face and took a deep breath. The rich yet unique scent that seeped into my nostrils clearly matched what existed in my memory.
“Since when did you know?”
As I heard the emperor’s deep voice, I remembered the first time I set foot in Geoncheong Palace.
The vaguely familiar scent I felt from the emperor I finally met face to face, as well as the moment when I learned the truth through someone who happened to be blooming cherry blossoms.
“I didn’t know. Initially.”
“I don’t know how you noticed. “It is not easy to find it on the market, but it is said that martial people avoid things that are harmful to the mind and body.”
“What you know is correct. It’s definitely that way. “Murim people.”
I added calmly.
“But I heard eunuchs do it often.”
“······It’s Hongjin.”
The shelf life of a wound once sustained is long.
Whether the cause is psychological or physical, the human mind and body clearly remember it.
Even after decades have passed and the scars have faded, the scars of the past still ache. How much worse would it be for eunuchs who had their important parts cut off?
Hong Jin was no exception.
Whenever he couldn’t overcome the pain that came on him unknowingly, he touched the cherry tree, and thanks to that, I unexpectedly learned a secret about the emperor.
“Since when on earth，and for what reason are you making a fuss?” “There is no reason.”
Before he could say anything, the emperor pointed at his head with a bitter smile.
“No matter what Jim says, nothing much will change.” “······no way?”
An attitude that seems to have already given up. In addition, there are hand gestures with meaning.
The emperor touched his dry lips as he looked at me, who was holding out his arms.
“That’s right. What you are thinking about right now is:’
M |»
“Blood Hongo (血魂皇). “The cursed poison has already reached my very marrow.”
The moment when guessing turned into certainty. Without realizing it, a single curse word came out of my mouth, almost like a moan.
“Holy shit.”
“That’s cruel. How dare you say such vulgar words in front of Jim, the father of all people. “If Commander Baek were here, he would have been taken to prison right away.”
If anyone else had heard this, they would have been trembling and begging for forgiveness, but I sighed as I looked at the emperor who was frowning.
“Is that a joke coming out now?”
“Did I tell you that Jim has a knack for telling jokes?”
“This is my first time hearing it. “It’s even creepy and boring.”
“That’s because you’re a boring person. When Jim was on the battlefield, he would drink and laugh with his men every night. “It was a really fun time.”
“I don’t necessarily want to say this to a critically ill patient, but I’m sure Your Majesty would have enjoyed it just by herself.”
“No way. “Every time Jim said something, everyone would laugh.”
“······Such.”
I don’t know who the subordinates were at that time, but I think they had a hard time making me smile.
Of course, what does it matter in this situation?
I shook my head at the sight of the tactless division commander, no, the emperor.
I asked what I was most curious about first. “Since when?”
“Ten years ago. To be exact, it was right after the coup.”
The emperor continued calmly, as if he had nothing more to hide.
“The loyalist I trusted took action. “By the time I realized it, it was already too late.”
“Anyone in His Majesty’s inner circle who knows this fact…
“It’s just two people. Baekyeon and Sogyo. No, maybe we should call it a palace now.”
The emperor looked at me and added:
“And today, here, one more person knows the truth that should not be known.”
Immediately realizing the meaning behind those words, I clicked my tongue slightly.
“Do you want to do something like murder?”
“If I try, are you willing to accept it?”
“Not at all. “I will live until I poop on the wall.”
“In that sense, Jim is much better.
“It’s impossible for an emperor to behave like that.”
It was then.
The emperor, who had been laughing lightly, suddenly coughed.
Cough.
Golden sleeves stained red. Seeing me looking around with my face frozen due to the sudden vomiting of blood, did the emperor shake his head a beat earlier?
“Don’t do anything stupid.”
“What is this pointless thing to do?”
“If you are thinking of calling a medical doctor,
“I mean dumplings.”
“If it were a disease that could be treated with their medical techniques, they would have taken action a long time ago. But what was the reason Jim hid this fact even from the medical doctors?”
The emperor looked at his blood-soaked sleeves and muttered to himself.
“Abama and umamama. And the three older brothers and the elders of the imperial family who worked reassuringly for the position of Jongmyo Shrine… Not a single person was an exception. “No one could escape death.”
right. No one could escape the demonic hand of Blood Hongo.
That was also why his attempts to put everything back after the coup ended in vain.
The former emperor, the empress, the crown prince, and other direct royal family members died one after another, and the fourth emperor, who initiated the coup, was branded an unforgivable scoundrel and usurper.
“I have no more regrets. In order to survive, I had to consume all kinds of elixirs, carve my bones, and learn martial arts to overcome the poisonous nature of Blood Hongo. “I’ve been wasting away like that for a whopping ten years.”
I finally realized it.
Why was he, who had the world’s largest territory and numerous armies at his feet, how was he able to reach his current level?
“After enduring more than ten years of winter, spring has finally arrived, and that is it.”
Right now at this moment.
There was a bright smile on the emperor’s lips.
