As Prophet - Chapter 160



Only Noblemtl

Episode 160. Embrace or Eliminate?

“The military will be here soon. Let’s figure out what we need to know before then. At least we’ll know where to go next. Before it gets dark.”

Dalcheon doesn’t just give orders when he gives orders. He never forgets to say in passing, “How long?”

“Can you help me?”

“I’ve stopped everyone from moving, so it won’t be difficult. Don’t forget the carrot and whip formula.”

“Are these the ones?”

“It’s worse than words. A rebellion, in this peaceful country.”

“That’s why you treated me so harshly?”

“If you press the Suguhyeol and Seungjanghyeol points, they will be able to talk. If they still don’t talk, just kill them.”

“yes?”

Dalcheon’s firm words surprised Mukhyeong, and the men who were struggling and suffering were even more surprised.

“I don’t want to spend the night here. Come on!”

Dalcheon’s words have an irresistible, subtle power. They are neither persuasive nor common sense, and they have no consideration for the listener, but they have a power that makes you say them.

“All right.”

Mukhyeong turned Seo Saengwon over. Cold sweat was running down his face like bean porridge. When Dalcheon pressed the two acupoints he had mentioned, his mouth moved.

“Kill him!”

“What, really? You don’t intend to give me a good answer, do you?”

“Kill him!”

Mukhyeong took out his sword and stabbed the bastard in the left chest. The pure white sword dug into the bastard’s flesh. The sensation of the sword thrusting toward his heart was vivid. The bastard’s face was covered in shock, and a smell of urine rose from below. He really killed me when I told him to… … .

Can’t you please coax me one or two more times? I can’t even have a conversation with this ignorant guy. I have to decide now whether I die or not.

He closed his eyes at the eerie feeling of the water digging into his flesh. What else was there to protect? After all, they were a group of rebels. And he failed. Nothing would change if he were loyal to him.

“Ma, I will tell you!”

“Don’t even change your tone of speech.”

“All right.”

“Hmm, tell me.”

“Where should I start?”

“What do I want to hear? Think carefully.”

“I will tell you. This is the villa of the Chucheong Grand Master. He is a loyal subject who has followed Lady Yeo-ui for a long time. He took care of the family affairs from here. Many things, such as sending people and planning work, began here.”

“What is Chucheong’s name?”

“I know that. Hamza doesn’t know.”

“Where did Yeoui go?”

“I don’t know because So-saeng was here after being injured last night. I heard that he was defeated. He must have fled to another safe house.”

“An-ga (安家)… … Where is that?”

“There are three or four more places inside the castle where you can’t go, and a similar number of places outside the castle. There are many places to go.”

“Ahem. Do you know any places?”

“yes.”

“say.”

Seo Saeng-won answered as he knew. It is the last house in the pharmacy alley, and it is easy to find because the main gate is made entirely of wood. It is on the uphill road from Namdaemun to Yakjeon Street, and if you look down, you can see the Sarangchae, so you can find it right away. He explained three or four houses like this.

“Who is Yeoui? Is she the younger sister of His Majesty the King?”

“I don’t know. It’s completely shrouded in mystery.”

“I would like to get a list of those who agreed. Is that possible?”

“I know a few people, but they are newbies.”

“… … .”

“If you look inside, above the closet, there is a secret space. It extends to the ceiling. There should be a list there. They may not have been able to clean it up because they left in such a hurry.”

Dalcheon’s body moved like the wind. He disappeared from that spot, but it was so fast that it felt unrealistic that he had even been there.

“Where did your soldiers go? They were defeated, but many survived. Is there another gathering place?”

“The 1st Army probably went to the area near the bridge outside Dongdaemun. The 2nd Army is toward Gupabal, but I don’t know the exact location. It’s where you go toward Gupabal and turn toward the valley. It’s where the aristocrats go to enjoy spring.”

“Is there enough space to hide that many soldiers?”

“I have prepared several secret hiding places. They will be hidden in places that cannot be seen.”

“When will the Northern Army come?”

“Yes? You know that too?”

“That’s why I’m urging you!”

“It will arrive soon. I can’t confirm the date. I think it will arrive within two or three days.”

“Which track are you coming from?”

“I don’t know. I think it’s not Cheolryeong.”

“Isn’t it the Iron Cross?”

“Yes. We have carefully planned the route south.”

It was hard to start talking, but once I opened my mouth, it flowed out smoothly. There are many values ​​in the world, but the greatest value is life. Nothing can exist with greater meaning than that. Seo Saeng-won spoke smoothly, as if he had already given up on gathering.

Before half an hour had passed, Dalcheon came walking slowly. He was calmly approaching me, carrying a backpack on his back, but he looked as if he was lost in thought.

Mukhyeong, who had stopped interrogating, sat up.

“Have you found it?”

“yes.”

“But why do you look like that? Isn’t this something to be happy about?”

“Things aren’t looking good.”

“Is it too much?”

Dalcheon nodded.

“This whole country was rotten.”

“oh my god.”

“The reason countless ambush attacks were possible was because you could still get away with it if you failed.”

“Could it be fake? Rather, it’s trying to get rid of all the loyalists… … .”

“That could be the case.”

“… … .”

“Now, let’s hand them over to the soldiers.”

“What about this guy?”

It was Mukhyeong who felt some responsibility towards Seo Saeng-won because he had told him everything.

“How can you do your work with such a weak mind?”

“I told you everything.”

“Do you want to take it out?”

“… … .”

Mukhyeong didn’t answer. Dalcheon pointed to the house next door with his eyes. Mukhyeong raised the man and went out the front door. Dalcheon sat on the edge of the porch with his butt hanging out and sighed.

The list included almost all of the ministers. Even those who had distinguished themselves in this battle were included. It was not uncommon for the enemy to be within. This could have been a disaster. If they had turned their troops around during the battle, they would not have been able to stop the enemy, but would have been defeated by their own forces.

While I was thinking about it, Mukhyeong came back alone. He came back and sat quietly next to Dalcheon.

“What are we going to do with those guys?”

“You can just hand it over to the military. We’ve sent them off after about this distance, so they’ll arrive soon.”

“Who is the Grand Master Chucheong?”

“I have a guess… … Hmm, it doesn’t seem like it would be that hard to find out. I feel like if you ask a high-ranking official, they’ll probably know.”

“What’s so difficult?”

“It is truly frightening that almost half of the government officials are included in the group that is colluding with foreign enemies to overthrow the country. It is almost the same as the Seonsaengnok or something like that that I got from the Joseon Dynasty. It is all covered.”

“Tonight will be a difficult night.”

“Yes. Phew. I need to catch Yeo-ui quickly.”

As the two men were muttering, the soldiers came running. After Mukhyeong handed over the case and relayed the handling policy, he left Anga.

* * *

The new king was shocked when he received the list. As he entered the side hall at dusk and was working, his hands began to tremble.

Dalcheon, who had no idea what was going on, placed them side by side with the Seonsaengnok and compared them one by one. He had one of the eunuchs write them down quickly, and an unimaginable list of names was listed. Among them were the Do Seungji, and one of the Daejeon eunuchs. There was also the name of the Do-chong-gwan, and the Chu-cheong Dae-gam was called Ilseong-gun. Dalcheon, who knew almost no one, had a calm expression.

“Oh, so that’s what the tall guy did. What could he have lacked?”

“Oh, this guy figured out he couldn’t get up there.”

“There are three goldsmiths. Oh my, so even if they were arrested, they would have been released quickly.”

“The military is completely rotten.”

Dalcheon continued to mutter. It is difficult to explain the reason for the rebellion with things like promotion or movies. It was a large-scale movement that could not be explained with those. The new king sighed. The power of the former king was really like a light in the wind. It seemed that he could understand why things did not work out, and why the former king was so narrow-minded and prejudiced.

“Your Majesty, what will you do now?”

“What should we do? Will it be clean if we kill them all and send them into exile?”

“The officialdom will completely collapse.”

“It’s better to have nothing than to sit there and do something else.”

“Think carefully. Are you going to embrace it or eliminate it all?”

“Power is something that cannot be shared. It must be eliminated.”

“There will be a strong backlash.”

“What on earth is that gentleman, Commander-in-Chief? And what is the Chief Secretary?”

Only then did Do Seung-ji realize what the list was and his face turned pale. Do Seung-ji took a step forward and bowed his head.

“Your Majesty, please kill me.”

“Speak.”

Hot tears fell from Do Seung-ji’s eyes.

“It was my son who fell for their scheme. My son caused an accident in Ihyeon, and they threatened Soshin, who was trying to stop it.”

The new king’s expression brightened like a child who had discovered an interesting toy. It may have been because he was hopeful that things could change if it was something I could understand.

“Ahem, that sounds plausible… … .”

“In exchange for turning a blind eye, I asked for information about the secret service.”

“so?”

“I handed over a few discarded papers from the journal. It’s the work of the Royal Secretariat, but when you rewrite things, there’s a lot of stuff that gets thrown away. They get burned in the back office, but a few months ago, they started handing it over to the palace.”

“I didn’t know who you were going to! That’s what you were going to say.”

“Yes.”

“You must have known all about the palace’s circumstances.”

“That’s right. And I understand that he used that to threaten several officials. Quite a few officials fell for it.”

“Are you trying to tell them that it’s not their fault?”

“I can’t agree with the fact that Sojik is one of them. It was obviously wrong, but I didn’t think that it would lead to Sojik’s disloyalty.”

The king’s expression hardened. If you call in a hundred officials and ask them, not a single one will say it was their fault. No matter what happens, it’s nearly impossible to blame them for something. They’ve prepared more loopholes than rabbit holes. They may have interfered with the work, but they think it’s not their fault because it was done in secret. They’re the ones who have the ability not to do it. If you say that this was also a custom, then there’s nothing to say. They just changed the way they published the Seungjeongwon’s journals a little. They just didn’t check the burning, so if they say they didn’t know, that’s it.

“Whew. I guess you don’t think it’s your fault.”

“No. I have sinned by trying to close my eyes. If I did not, I would be executed for my son’s sins, so I had no choice but to do so. However, it was clearly wrong. Your Majesty, please kill me.”

The new king lowered his head and glared fiercely. That guy is that guy. It’s not that there are seeds of rebellion, but it’s a group of guys who have been emptied as much as they need and as much as I said was okay.

“Do you know who Yeo-ui is?”

“I didn’t even know there was such a person.”

“Do you know the King of the previous generation?”

“Of course. He has forgotten the world and gone into seclusion.”

The conversation became long. The king thought while asking questions and listening to answers, and the minister answered, emphasizing the inevitability of what had been done. He thought that he had only overlooked a small mistake and that it was not something that should be punished as treason.

Dalcheon, who was listening to the conversation between the two, tries to sneak out, but the king calls him.

“Where are you going?”

“We’re going to try to catch them. Ilseonggun and Yeouido.”

“Do you know where it is?”

“I have a few places in mind, so I plan on stopping by.”

“Don’t keep me waiting.”

“It’s almost time to leave.”

“What are you talking about in this mess?”

The conversation between the two people flows awkwardly. They are unable to escape the inertia of their previous relationship as a teacher and a student.