Chapter 872

“It was a brief diversion, but I enjoyed it.”

A shiver ran down my spine. At last, I knew who the middle-aged man was—the answer I hadn’t been able to find no matter how hard I thought.

The Son of Heaven…!

The ruler of the continent, who governed all under heaven.

The man who’d seized the throne in a coup after bathing the Imperial Capital in blood a little over ten years ago.

I stared wide-eyed at the middle-aged man before me—no, at the Emperor.

How?

Everything that had happened proved who he was. The question came from what I already knew.

He should still be around forty.

When the young, ambitious fourth prince of the Great Nation launched his coup, he’d been no older than his late twenties.

A little over ten years had passed since then. At most, he should have just turned forty.

And yet…

Even being generous, he looks over fifty.

I couldn’t write it off as a face that had aged prematurely. He was the Emperor, a man above all others, not some country bumpkin who had spent his life farming under the blazing sun. More than that, he was a Supreme Peak master. How could he look so old?

By comparison, the fact that the Emperor of the Great Nation was a Supreme Peak master wasn’t all that shocking. As the fourth prince, he’d distinguished himself in battle time and again thanks to his exceptional martial talent.

Still, I hadn’t expected it.

One person suddenly came to mind.

Ma Sanbao. The East Depot’s second-in-command, who’d spent the past decade and more serving as the Emperor’s right hand while hiding his own rebellious ambitions.

Did he know about this?

If Ma Sanbao had known, he would have told me long ago.

That left only one conclusion.

Even Ma Sanbao didn’t know. No—that’s not quite right. The Emperor must have deliberately kept it hidden.

A chill ran down my spine. Part of my conversation with Ma Sanbao the night before flashed through my mind.

“The Emperor is a sinister man who keeps his schemes close. You can see it in how he still uses the Embroidered Uniform Guard to keep the East Depot in check, even after all these years.”

“But isn’t the East Depot also the Emperor’s right hand?”

“Yes. More precisely, it was the late Emperor’s right hand.”

“…!”

“Do you know what all powerful people have in common? They suspect everyone, then suspect them again. I still haven’t learned how the current Emperor and Baek Yeon joined forces, but after the Embroidered Uniform Guard’s coup succeeded, the East Depot became something the Emperor had little use for but couldn’t simply discard. He handles all his affairs from Qianqing Palace and has kept himself shut away there for years.”

“Qianqing Palace?”

“The Emperor’s residence. It’s highly unlikely, but… if you ever meet him, mind your conduct. Think carefully before giving even the shortest answer.”

The Emperor had hidden the truth even from Ma Sanbao, who was the East Depot’s second-in-command in name and its leader in practice.

So why? Why show me this side of himself?

I couldn’t be certain of anything just yet, but at least some of what Ma Sanbao had told me that day was right.

The Emperor was sinister, and he kept his schemes close. The look in his eyes now, as though he could see straight into my heart, told me that much.

“Ha ha. You look rather surprised.”

His mouth smiled. His eyes didn’t.

After laughing at the sight of me standing there frozen, the Emperor spoke again, his voice low.

“Why? Do I look so different from what someone told you to expect?”

“……!”

For a moment, I couldn’t breathe. Through the air that had suddenly grown heavy around us, I could sense the Emperor’s intentions all too clearly.

He suspects me…

All the more reason to stay calm. I tried not to show what I was thinking.

“Yes.”

“What?”

“I’ve already heard a few things from Hong Jin—or rather, the Deputy Military Commissioner of Shanxi Province.”

“Hong Jin, Hong Jin. It’s been a long time since I heard that name.”

The Emperor gazed into the distance for a moment, as though recalling an old memory. Then his sharp eyes turned back to me.

“What did he say?”

“That Your Majesty distinguished yourself in martial arts early on and gained the throne before you turned thirty.”

“And?”

“That was all.”

“That can’t be all.”

Of course it wasn’t all.

But how was I supposed to tell a man who had killed his own blood relatives to take the throne, “He said you were a fucking bastard”?

I couldn’t simply insist that was all, either. Hong Jin was a loyal retainer the late Emperor had cherished enough to entrust with Prince Shangshan’s care. The Emperor must have known long ago that someone like him wouldn’t have warm feelings toward him.

I needed an answer that would allay the Emperor’s suspicions without getting Hong Jin dragged off by the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

The question was whether any answer could do both.

Fuck, I don’t know.

Sometimes you just had to close your eyes and take the plunge. I swallowed and opened my mouth.

“Actually, he did tell me more.”

“Speak.”

“Well, I can’t say it myself.”

“What?”

“If Your Majesty is curious, perhaps you could summon him later and ask him directly…”

The instant my voice trailed off—

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Sharp winds swept in from every direction. Dozens of black-clad figures dropped out of empty air and surrounded me, thrusting their weapons toward me.

Shhk.

Had they meant to do this from the start? Or had loyalty to the Emperor driven them to anger?

Blood welled where the keen blades had cut my skin, then rolled down my neck.

These bastards… They’re serious.

The men left no gap in the circle around me. They had the blank indifference of butchers slaughtering livestock—and the deadly resolve to kill me the instant the order came.

At the same time, a hand gripped my sleeve tightly.

Squeeze.

Prince Shangshan Zhu Bao.

The young prince had been frozen since the moment he learned the middle-aged man was the Emperor. I gave him a smile, hoping to reassure him.

The Emperor had been watching us in silence. Suddenly, he shook out his voluminous sleeve.

Flap.

As the fabric billowed, the black-clad men withdrew their weapons and sprang into the air. They vanished into the Emperor’s quarters as though melting into them, leaving only the faintest trace of their presence. Their concealment technique was almost a divine skill.

“Your Majesty’s men are certainly loyal.”

This time, I wasn’t being sarcastic.

At my genuine admiration, the Emperor answered dryly.

“Loyalty isn’t all they have. They’re no match for the Slaughter Saint you’re close to, of course.”

“……!”

“What? Did you think I wouldn’t know even that much?”

I fell silent. This time, I really was surprised.

Everyone under heaven knew the title Slaughter Saint, but only a tiny handful knew that he’d reappeared after vanishing long ago.

Yet the Emperor knew not only that he was back, but that he and I were connected. He must have learned it through the vast intelligence network he had spread across the continent.

“Did the Embroidered Uniform Guard tell you?”

Displeasure and interest mingled on the Emperor’s face at the question that slipped out of me.

“You have remarkable nerve, asking me that.”

I had somehow survived the last exchange. There was no sense in provoking him further. Sensing the line I’d crossed, I lowered my head.

“I’m sorry.”

“I stand in fear and awe, Your Majesty.”

“Pardon?”

“Not sorry. You should stand in fear and awe, as everyone does before me.”

Both characters in hwanggong, the phrase he demanded, meant fear. It was the highest expression of deference to an Emperor whose authority knew no bounds.

He kept staring at me after he finished speaking. I tried again.

“I stand in fear and awe, Your Majesty.”

“Better. You’re a lawless thug from the martial world, so I can’t expect much. But from now on, you can learn one thing at a time.”

A faint smile spread across his wrinkled lips. My stomach twisted.

But…

First, I have to survive.

I wasn’t the only one in danger. Everyone’s lives depended on what I said and did.

That included the young prince whose trembling hand still clutched my sleeve.

Just then, the Emperor’s gaze, indifferent until now, finally settled on his only younger brother.

“Come here.”

The trembling against my sleeve stopped at once.

Prince Shangshan hadn’t regained his composure. He had gone rigid as a statue.

“Do you intend to make me say it twice?” the Emperor asked quietly.

“……!”

Prince Shangshan looked at him with trembling eyes, then raised his head to look up at me. He drew a ragged breath, released my sleeve, and stepped toward the Emperor.

No—he threw himself down in a full prostration and bowed.

“I-I, your subject, Prince Shangshan Zhu Bao, pay my respects to Your Majesty, my imperial brother.”

A heavy silence settled over the room. It lasted a moment, or perhaps much longer.

The Emperor looked down at Prince Shangshan, his eyes too deep to read. His face was so cold that it was hard to believe he was looking at his much younger brother.

Then he spoke.

“How old are you this year?”

“T-Twelve, Your Majesty.”

“You have good Muscles and Bones. Have you trained in martial arts?”

“Yes.”

“We brothers devoted ourselves to martial arts from childhood. Only our eldest brother took more after a civil official.”

Prince Shangshan drew a small breath. As he grew older, Hong Jin must have told him bits and pieces about his family. But hearing it from his only brother carried a different weight.

Especially when that brother was the Emperor of the Great Nation—a man he could never treat like an ordinary sibling, and the enemy who had sent their family to their deaths.

“I… see.”

“Taizu, our grandfather, founded the Great Nation through martial force, too. It’s part of the imperial family’s tradition. Looking at you, it seems blood really does tell.”

The Emperor added in a dry voice, “Whether that proves a poison or a boon, I cannot say.”

“……!”

“……!”

I barely held back a groan.

Even before we reached the Imperial Capital, I’d guessed that the Emperor’s intentions toward Prince Shangshan were anything but friendly. Still, his reaction to the prince was alarmingly blatant.

Is he really that wary of a brother so much younger than him?

Power was ruthless.

People fought like beasts over the little wealth they had, even with their own parents and siblings. What would it be like over a vast continent, an entire empire?

Even so, the Emperor’s suspicion of his youngest brother, a boy of twelve, was terrifyingly thorough.

And, in a way, well-founded. People led by Ma Sanbao were already dreaming of rebellion.

The Emperor’s next words were proof that his wariness had passed the point of no return.

“From now on, I’ll look after you.”

“……!”