I wish they would all just die. (4)
“Th-This!”
Yeom Malsaeng cried out in horror.
“Turn your heads! Now!”
“This……”
“I told you not to look! Turn away this instant, before I gouge those eyes out?!”
The workers flinched at his harsh words and quickly lowered their eyes.
“Damn it! I told you to be careful!”
Yeom Malsaeng floundered helplessly for a moment before suddenly roaring at Chung Myung.
“Clean this up at once! Hurry!”
“But there’s nowhere to put them…”
“Then wrap it up in that cloth over there or something!”
“Like this?”
Pretending to cover the swords with the cloth, Chung Myung instead pulled out even more swords that remained inside the wooden crate.
“Y-You wretched bastard! I will never let you off!”
“When you put it that way, I don’t feel like working.”
“Waaaaaaaaah!”
The disciples of Hwasan turned their backs on the raging Yeom Malsaeng and exchanged glances.
“Those were swords, right?”
“Yeah. Definitely.”
“Hey, Jwa Gohak. Didn’t you say before that it was impossible to get a proper sword in Beijing?”
Jwa Gohak opened his mouth with a stiff expression.
“…Within Beijing, not only the private possession and sale of weapons, but their transport as well, is prohibited. Moreover, weapons in such quantities…”
“Hmm.”
Baek Cheon nodded with a grave expression.
“It seems we’ll have to look into this further.”
Baek Cheon could not shake the feeling that this matter was becoming far more serious than he had expected.
⠀
That night.
“It’s really dark.”
“Shh. Keep quiet.”
The disciples of Hwasan, who had entered the warehouse where the mysterious crates were stored, exchanged glances.
“We got in surprisingly easily.”
“…Because we took control of the workers from the start. The people standing guard are workers too, after all. It wasn’t difficult.”
“No one expected Uncle Hong-ga to be this helpful.”
“He really makes quite a contrast with the other ‘Hong’ in Hwaeum.”
“Indeed.”
“All right, enough idle chatter.”
Baek Cheon looked at the crates piled up like a mountain and slowly curled up one corner of his mouth.
“Let’s find out first. Whether it was only that one crate that was a problem, or whether all of this… is a problem.”
“Yes.”
“Open it.”
Following Baek Cheon’s instructions, the disciples of Hwasan began taking down the crates from the top. Then they pried open one of the tightly sealed crates with their bare hands.
Crack.
The disciples of Hwasan pushed aside the lid that had been covering the crate and carefully drew back the cloth wrapped around the goods. As soon as they saw what was inside, groans escaped their lips.
“…It’s a sword, Sasuk.”
“This one’s a bow.”
“…This looks like armor.”
The faces of the Hwasan’s disciples grew paler and paler.
They had suspected as much, but once that suspicion was truly confirmed, it was more than even they could handle.
“Sasuk, this…”
“Not yet.”
Baek Cheon bit his lip hard and pointed at the crates.
“Just to be sure, let’s check a few more. Not the ones at the top – take out one from the middle and one from the very bottom and open them too.”
“Yes. Understood.”
Jo Geol and Yoon Jong quickly took out the crates Baek Cheon had pointed to and tore off their lids.
“…There are swords here too.”
“This one too.”
Baek Cheon raised his head and stared at the ceiling for a long while, then slowly turned his gaze towards Jwa Gohak.
“Hey, bookworm.”
“…”
Jwa Gohak looked as though his soul had nearly left his body.
The disciples of Hwasan were just as flustered by the weapons piled up here, but no matter how great their shock was, it could not compare with the bewilderment Jwa Gohak was experiencing.
“What do you think?”
At Baek Cheon’s words, Jwa Gohak looked once more at the crates scattered across the floor and bit his lip hard.
“I don’t know for certain either, but…”
Jwa Gohak let his words trail off, as though trying somehow to deny what he had seen. But in the end, unable to interpret the sight before him any differently, Jwa Gohak opened his mouth with a deep sigh.
“The swords here… are similar in design to the sabers [군도(軍刀)] used by the army.”
Baek Cheon’s expression hardened further.
“The same goes for the bows… and the armor. No matter how I look at it, these….. don’t seem to be things prepared for hunting or some other pastime.”
“Then?”
Jwa Gohak chewed on his lips for a while before finally forcing himself to continue.
“..…To fight, I suppose.”
“To fight, you say.”
Baek Cheon, who had repeated the words to himself once, narrowed his eyes.
“With whom?”
A brief silence passed through the warehouse.
“I don’t know. No, we must not know.”
Jwa Gohak answered, his face pale. There was clearly something in his voice now that had not been there before.
“Even to speculate would be an act of disloyalty. What exactly these things are… no, not what they are, but what purpose they are meant to serve is not for us to determine.”
Baek Cheon slowly nodded.
They had come here only to find evidence of what Do Hyeon was doing. Anything beyond that was not their concern.
“Is this enough evidence?”
“…More than enough.”
Jwa Gohak clenched his fist. His fist began to tremble, from the excessive force he put into it.
Bringing this many weapons into Beijing alone was a grave crime for which there would be no excuse, even if his head were cut off on the spot. No excuse would be accepted.
‘It had to be. This is high treason [대역죄(大逆罪)].’
Intent was irrelevant in a case of high treason. If one commits an act that constitutes rebellion, one is simply punished for high treason. And Do Hyeon had clearly crossed that line.
But….
“Is that so?”
At that moment, Chung Myung, who had been listening while seemingly half asleep, spoke up indifferently.
“It doesn’t look that way to me?”
“…Pardon?”
Jwa Gohak blinked and turned to look at Chung Myung.
Seeing Chung Myung wearing a strange smile, Jwa Gohak’s brow furrowed involuntarily.
“What do you mean, it doesn’t look that way?”
“Let’s sort out the situation first”
Chung Myung snapped his fingers.
“So what we have right now is that this Chief Eunuch or whatever he’s called is smuggling a huge quantity of weapons into Beijing, right?”
“That’s right.”
“What’s even more frightening is that we don’t know when he started or how many weapons he has brought in. For all we know, he may already have stockpiled enough weapons to arm several thousand people. Isn’t that right?”
“S-Several thousand?”
“That’s the most conservative estimate. There could be far more than that.”
Cold sweat began running down Jwa Gohak’s back. Come to think of it, Chung Myung was right. Hadn’t Hong-ga said that it had already been several years since these sorts of items had begun entering the Gahwa Merchant Guild?
“What do you think that means?”
Deep tension settled over everyone’s faces.
“You’re saying he’s really plotting an actual rebellion?”
“W-Watch your mouth!”
“But, Sahyeong. If that isn’t the case, there’d be no reason to bring this many weapons into Beijing.”
“…”
At Jo Geol’s response, even Yoon Jong seemed at a loss for words, his lips merely twitching.
If the amount of weapons brought in numbered dozens – or, being very generous, a few hundred – one might think of other possible uses for them. But thousands?
“It’s the Chief Eunuch we’re talking about – the Chief Eunuch. From what I’ve heard, this man practically has the entire Imperial Court in the palm of his hand right now. Someone in his position could openly bring in as many weapons as he wanted if they were for official use, couldn’t he? But a man like that is secretly bringing weapons in through the back door.”
“…That’s right.”
“Then where do you think those blades are meant to point?”
“…”
Once again, a heavy silence descended. There was only one possibility.
Just as everyone was thinking the same thing…
“That’s the problem.”
“Huh?”
Chung Myung tilted his head to one side and spoke gruffly.
“Looking at the situation, it means that this Chief Eunuch has completely lost his mind and is trying to chop off the Emperor’s head so he can become Emperor himself.”
“…That’s, um, a bit too extreme, don’t you think?”
“Well… it may be extreme, but it isn’t wrong.”
It was then that Baek Cheon, unable to think of anything to say in reply, could not bring himself to continue.
“But the problem is, that can’t be the case.”
“Huh?”
Chung Myung shrugged.
“Do Hyeon, the Chief Eunuch. He’s a eunuch, isn’t he?”
“…So what?”
“What would a eunuch do after becoming Emperor?”
Baek Cheon’s eyes widened.
“If a eunuch became Emperor, then of course he’d… Huh?”
Everyone wore a puzzled expression.
“Would that…. not be possible?”
“I mean, there’s no reason it couldn’t happen, is there?”
“Even if he could, what would he do afterward? He wouldn’t have any children anyway, so would he just be Emperor for his own lifetime and then choose another one?”
“Hey, he could adopt someone.”
“From his perspective, wouldn’t that be rather meaningless?”
“…”
Baek Cheon looked at Jwa Gohak with a flustered expression. Jwa Gohak, too, was scrambling with a look as though he had just been caught completely off guard.
“W-Well, if you look at history…”
“If we do?”
“There have been several times when court eunuchs staged rebellions and seized power surpassing that of the Emperor, but… yes, that’s right. None of them ever became Emperor. Not even once.”
“Why?”
“Why do you think? Because they’re eunuchs. What would a eunuch even do after becoming Emperor?”
“…”
Jo Geol whispered quietly to Yoon Jong.
“Isn’t this some kind of eunuch discrimination?”
“Be quiet. This isn’t the time for that.”
“Even so, they are being awfully dismissive.”
“That’s what history tells us.”
Jwa Gohak began scratching his head furiously.
“Eunuchs start rebellions to obtain power comparable to the Emperor’s, but… Do Hyeon already wields power comparable to the Emperor’s in the first place!”
“……So?”
“People may risk their lives to seize something they don’t have, but what idiot would take a risk to obtain something he already possesses?! If he were that much of a fool, he never would have become Chief Eunuch!”
“…Why are you getting angry at us?”
“Leave him be. He must be frustrated.”
By now, Jwa Gohak was practically tearing his hair out.
“Then what are all these weapons for? What on earth is this crazy eunuch planning to do?!”
Baek Cheon sighed as he watched Jwa Gohak kick the weapons irritably, having abandoned all dignity as a Confucian scholar. This seemed far more complicated than they had expected.
“Ah, forget it. There’s no need to overthink it.”
“Huh?”
“Let’s keep it simple. We didn’t come here to stop a rebellion in the first place, did we?”
“…What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“Whatever the purpose of these weapons, one fact cannot be denied: Chief Eunuch Do Hyeon had the Director of the Ministry of Revenue bring a large quantity of weapons into Beijing at his behest.”
The disciples of Hwasan slowly nodded.
“So if we simply report this situation properly, Do Hyeon will lose his head. Then we’ll have accomplished our mission.”
“…”
“Heheheh. Either way, Do Hyeon is finished! Finished!”
Chung Myung stared blankly at the snickering Jwa Gohak before speaking.
“How, exactly?”
“What?”
“How are you going to bring him down?”
“Were you even listening? The weapons here are more than enough evidence.”
“Right, exactly. So how are you going to use the weapons here as evidence?”
“…What do you mean?”
“Are you planning to carry all of this to the authorities and hand it over?”
“…”
“Or what? Draw a picture and insist that you saw all this with your own eyes?”
Jwa Gohak stared blankly, blinking. What in the world was he…
“Ah, no, wait a moment.”
“Or are you going to find someone and say, ‘There are a huge number of weapons stockpiled at the Director of the Ministry of Revenue’s residence right now. Let’s go check it out together’?”
“…”
“You said it yourself. Power is the ability to do what otherwise can’t be done. Bring any ordinary official here, and they’ll make it as though none of this ever happened, and by the time someone important enough actually comes here to investigate, every last weapon in this place will have vanished.”
“Ah….”
Jwa Gohak’s mouth slowly fell open.
It was right here. Undeniable evidence capable of bringing down not only the Director of the Ministry of Revenue, but even Chief Eunuch Do Hyeon himself.
And yet……
“Y-You’re saying this can’t be used as evidence?”
“…”
“W-What the hell does that even mean? This… What is this?”
“…”
“How is that supposed to make any sense?! This goddamn insane world! Aaaaaaargh!”
“Hey, keep it down a little..”
“Gureeeeeeh? Huh? Uaaeurgh?”
“He’s broken again.”
“No wonder…”
Jwa Gohak, foaming at the mouth, fell backward. The tears gathered at the corners of his eyes scattered sorrowfully through the air, one droplet after another.
Special Spinoff Chapter 70 >>>
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