A Taoist temple not too far from the Imperial Palace.
When the incense visitors had left and darkness fell, a group of people ca in.
Although not a few people had entered, the Taoist temple was as quiet as a dead mouse.
The ones standing guard in the darkness were masters of the Imperial Guard in disguise.
After a while, a person ca to visit.
It was Kang Sogun.
As if there had been an appointnt, a person approached and guided Kang Sogun.
"This way."
The way he bowed was very natural. A young eunuch guided him to the inner chamber and then opened the door.
Kang Sogun entered the inner chamber.
A not-so-large inner chamber.
A person was looking at a scroll hanging on the wall.
It was clear that he was not interested in the scroll, but was looking at it because there was nothing else in the room to pay attention to.
On the scroll, a dragon, clouds, and the scenery of the heavenly realm were drawn.
As Kang Sogun entered, that person soon turned around.
The one who had been waiting was the young emperor, Zhu Zhanji.
Kang Sogun, as if he had known in advance, perford a light etiquette.
"Dispense with the useless etiquette. You didn't intend to respect from the beginning, did you?"
Zhu Zhanji waved his hand with an annoyed voice.
Kang Sogun, regardless, finished his etiquette and stared at Zhu Zhanji calmly.
"You said you would no longer live as Kang Hwi, so what brings you to the capital?"
Zhu Zhanji chided him. It was clear that he was holding a grudge about the past.
That was a story from when he did not know about his parents' death.
But Kang Sogun had no intention of explaining at length.
"There was sothing I had to do as Kang Hwi."
"Yes, a person cannot escape their birth. You are my maternal cousin's younger brother, no matter what. It's good that you know now."
Zhu Zhanji's voice softened.
"As a mber of the imperial family, there is sothing you must do."
"..."
"It seems my uncles are after my position. Hmph! A ridiculous notion. They will all die."
Zhu Zhanji could not sit still and paced the inner chamber as he continued to speak.
"A person ca to visit. He said he was a ssenger from the Heavenly Emperor's Castle."
Zhu Zhanji took out a letter from his bosom and handed it over.
「The Son of Heaven reigns but does not rule.」
"How dare you!"
Zhu Zhanji suddenly shouted.
He could not hold back his anger and even clenched his fists.
"For an insolent group to threaten ."
The young emperor had great ambitions.
But as soon as he ascended the throne, he was challenged one after another, so he was in the middle of not being able to hold back his anger.
"My late father tried to strengthen the rule of law and to weaken the power of the powerful families and local magnates to open a way for the people to live."
Kang Sogun nodded.
Although he had not even completed a year, the deceased emperor had carried out various reforms in that short period.
"I will carry on my late father's will. But a group has appeared to block this."
Anger flared up like a fla in the young emperor's eyes.
"Bastards to be killed!"
"Calm your excitent and let's talk."
Kang Sogun's calm voice cald the young emperor's anger.
The young emperor was lost in thought for a long ti and then said in a gloomy voice.
"I have no one to consult with. There are so many people. Now I don't know who to trust. I think I know how lonely my late father was."
The young emperor, after much deliberation, had co out in secret and had called for Kang Sogun.
"That bastard, the ssenger of the Heavenly Emperor's Castle, shalessly looked straight in the face and said."
Anger welled up in his eyes again.
"That if I did not follow the will of the Heavenly Emperor's Castle, I would not last a year."
Kang Sogun's eyebrows twitched.
It was a clear challenge to the imperial authority.
It was understandable that Zhu Zhanji was so angry.
Kang Sogun knew well how much he had wanted the throne. In the end, he had ascended to that position, but since a group of traitors was threatening him, he had no choice but to be angry.
Zhu Zhanji lanted.
"That bastard went in and out of the Imperial Palace, which is guarded by the Imperial Guard, as if it were an unmanned area. It is impossible without a group of traitors."
Zhu Zhanji seed to be more shocked by the fact that the ssenger had co so close than by the warning of the Heavenly Emperor's Castle.
If the ssenger had been an assassin, he would have been dead already.
Kang Sogun was not so surprised because he had heard the story from Baek Jeongmu.
"I have no one to trust but you. Catch those bastards called the Heavenly Emperor's Castle."
Zhu Zhanji held out a golden plaque.
It was a plaque with nine dragons drawn on it.
"This golden plaque symbolizes the emperor. It is as if the emperor is in that place. I will give you full authority."
Kang Sogun looked at the golden plaque and then opened his mouth.
"I do not know the reason why you, older brother, trust ."
A look of anxiety appeared on Zhu Zhanji's face. The thought that Kang Sogun might refuse had occurred to him.
"You and I grew up together. We played together in the Empress Dowager's palace. The you I know is at least not of a character that aims for the back."
A sense of desperation was contained in Zhu Zhanji's voice.
Zhu Zhanji had a hard ti dealing with the Prince of Han and the Prince of Jo.
But when the ssenger of the Heavenly Emperor's Castle suddenly appeared, he had lost his composure.
Above all, he had no choice but to beco extrely sensitive when he was in a situation where he did not know who to trust around him.
Kang Sogun thought for a mont.
To reveal the death of his parents and Jin Uncho, he had to dig into the power around the Imperial Palace.
Kang Sogun suspected that the Heavenly Emperor's Castle was not unrelated to his parents' death.
It was not bad to be on the sa boat as the young emperor for a while.
"Alright. But I have one request after the work is done."
"A request? If it is sothing you want and I can grant, I will grant it right away."
"No. I will tell you then."
Kang Sogun received the golden plaque.
The young emperor's face improved a lot. Then he soon said with a sharp look.
"From today, death will be cast over the capital. Confusion will continue. I will prepare a mansion for you, so how about you stay there?"
It seed that Zhu Zhanji had made so kind of decision.
'Since the emperor has harbored anger and has made up his mind, a storm of blood will blow.'
"You, older brother, and I have not t today. We must remain unrelated in the future. Do you know what I an?"
Kang Sogun said.
It ant not to expose that he was chasing the Heavenly Emperor's Castle.
Zhu Zhanji nodded.
"I will find a place for you to stay for the ti being. You will naturally co to know, so for now, please concentrate on dealing with the Prince of Han."
***
As the dawn darkness lifted, a new darkness ca to the capital.
"Aargh! Murder!"
A eunuch had died in the Imperial Palace.
With that death as a starting point, a wave of death spread throughout the capital.
A group of assassins rode the night and brought death.
There was no way to know which side had killed whom. The dead were silent, and the killers had disappeared without a trace.
When darkness fell, the streets were deserted, and funeral processions continued every day.
"The tis are too suspicious, so it is difficult to stay in the capital any longer."
Namgung Wu ca to visit, saying that he was leaving the capital and returning to the Namgung family.
"Please be sure to visit when you co to Gangnam. We are friends, you know."
Namgung Ryeong was very sad.
After the Namgung family left, Kang Sogun moved his residence to a small mansion.
***
"The owner was an official nad Yun Jipyeong who had served in the Ho family and had retired. But it is said that Yun Jipyeong has not appeared before people for a long ti due to a chronic illness."
The Kang Ha and Kang Ran siblings were watching the mansion of the mid-level official that Kang Sogun had found.
"Recently, the number of rchants visiting that house has increased significantly."
"I heard that there is a place called the Lower Class Sect in the martial world, can you find them?"
"If you need information, wouldn't it be better to request it from the Great Righteous Martial Hall?"
Kang Sogun shook his head.
"The Great Righteous Martial Hall will also be under surveillance."
"I heard that the Lower Class Sect is spread out in places like brothels, fortune-telling houses, and gambling dens. There must be people from the Lower Class Sect in the capital as well."
Kang Ran said.
"Just find out a way to contact them. I will et them myself."
"I understand."
After the Kang Ha and Kang Ran siblings left, Kang Sogun dressed up.
"You look like the master of a prestigious family when you dress like this."
Jang Oh admired Kang Sogun.
The appearance of him wearing a splendidly embroidered silk robe and even a jade pendant and a sword was like that of the master of a powerful family.
"The carriage and the guards?"
"They are ready."
Kang Sogun rode in a splendid carriage and went to Yun Jipyeong's mansion with four guards.
The gate of Yun Jipyeong's mansion was firmly closed.
"Hand over the visiting card."
As Jang Oh knocked on the main gate, a servant ca out.
"The young master of the Kang Residence wishes to see the master."
As Jang Oh handed over the visiting card, the servant looked at the carriage and then went inside.
After a while, the main gate opened and a man who looked to be about thirty ca out.
As Kang Sogun got out of the carriage and entered, the man bowed and said.
"I am Yun Seokjung, the eldest son of the Yun family. What brings you from the Kang Residence in Nanjing?"
"Since I have co up to the capital, I am visiting those who had a connection with my late father."
"My late father, you an Duke Kang? Did my father and Duke Kang know each other?"
Yun Seokjung asked back in surprise.
Although Yun Jipyeong had risen to the position of a vice-minister of the Ho family, he had retired right away.
He was not of a status to associate with high-ranking people like Duke Kang.
"I will talk about the details when I see Vice-Minister Yun."
Yun Seokjung rolled his eyes.
"I am sorry, but my father is ill and it is difficult for him to et outsiders."
"That is why I have co to visit him in his illness. I have also brought so restorative dicine."
As Kang Sogun looked back, Jang Oh held up a wooden box.
Yun Seokjung was flustered.
"In any case, please co inside."
Yun Seokjung personally guided him to the guest hall.
The master of the Kang Residence was the emperor's maternal cousin's younger brother. Although he had no official position, his status was extrely high, so the Yun family could not treat him carelessly.
As the maids brought tea, Yun Seokjung bowed politely and said.
"Actually, my father has cut off all exchanges with outsiders since he left his official position. He wishes to live the life of a wild man with poetry as his friend, so I only said that his illness was deep."
"Is that so? It seems I have disturbed Vice-Minister Yun's enjoynt of such a secluded life. But since I have co, I ask to see him."
"Please wait a mont."
Yun Seokjung left the guest hall.
Yun Jipyeong was in his own study.
"He wants to see , ntioning my late father?"
Yun Jipyeong, with his half-white hair neatly tied and wearing a scholar's cap, was the very picture of a pure scholar.
Yun Jipyeong said with a hardened face.
"His visit is neither a coincidence nor a visit to the sick. Our identity must have already been exposed."
"What should we do?"
"I should have given up this place when that incident happened, but my lingering attachnt has made things complicated."
Yun Jipyeong blad himself.
He had thought that it had been settled by killing the old eunuch and leaving his body in his collapsed house, but he realized that it was not.
"He is more persistent than I thought. Besides, he is a master. I must give up this place now. It's a pity."
Just then, a calm voice was heard from outside the door.
"Is there a need to give up sothing so precious?"
Kang Sogun opened the door and ca in.
"What is this?"
Yun Seokjung shouted in surprise.
"To barge into soone else's inner chamber without permission. No matter how high the authority of the Kang Residence is, is it alright to do this?"
Kang Sogun ignored Yun Seokjung and said to Yun Jipyeong.
"The dead eunuch blew up his own house, so I wonder what kind of move you will use."
Yun Jipyeong, who had been sitting until then, slowly stood up.
"The people of the Kang Residence are curious about useless things. That's why they brought death upon themselves, and it is a pity that their descendant is also bringing disaster upon himself."
Surprisingly, a sharp killing intent spread from Yun Jipyeong's entire body.
He was not just a re scholar.
"As expected, it was a good thing I ca."
Kang Sogun still spoke in a calm voice and glared at Yun Jipyeong.
"There is nothing you can hear."
Yun Jipyeong gave a strange laugh.
(End of Chapter)
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