Chapter 883

It was only natural for the imperial palace to be heavily guarded.

But since the current Son of Heaven had taken the throne, its defenses had grown into an impregnable fortress beyond anything the past could compare to.

Ten times as many guards. Security that shut outsiders out completely.

Even a well-known court official couldn’t enter or leave without an authorized pass.

Some gossips had dared to call the palace the largest, most splendid prison in the world.

But today, even that derisive nickname aimed at the Emperor seemed out of place.

“Affiliation and name.”

“I’m Hong, from Seok Family Manor. Here are the identity tags and inventory of the belongings of the people who came with me.”

“Ah, forgive me. You’re the steward of Seok Family Manor! Is your Family Head keeping well?”

“Thanks to Your Excellency’s concern, he’s as hale as ever.”

“Ha ha, I’m glad to hear it. We’ll have to continue our conversation later. All right, next!”

“Good day. I’m from the Continental Escort Bureau…”

A grand banquet on this scale required a great many supplies and people.

The Outer Palace, the palace’s outermost section, was bustling with outsiders—a sight rarely seen there over the past decade. Officials drafted from various departments to prepare for the banquet sorted the arrivals into groups.

Naturally, people were treated differently according to their status and importance.

The wealthy merchants, whose contributions would help fund the imperial treasury and the banquet, received the warmest welcome. Next came those who had brought rare tribute gifts, hoping to make an impression. Far below them were the performers who had come to enliven the festivities.

Circus troupes, for instance, whose livelihoods depended on performing all sorts of feats.

“Damn it. A circus troupe at my age…”

The Fire King, Jeok Cheongang, muttered as though lamenting his fate.

If the proud ancestors of the Fire Gate Clan had seen him now, they would have wept beneath the earth… or perhaps not.

Unlike those inflexible bastards from the Nine Sects and One Gang, they might be gathered in the heavens right now, peering down through the clouds and snickering.

“Hey, isn’t that Jeok Cheongang fellow over a hundred?”

“He passed a hundred ages ago. He’s probably lived longer than anyone in our sect’s history. Isn’t dying young practically a Fire Gate Clan tradition?”

“That’s what happens when a one-disciple lineage keeps picking the most hotheaded bastards in the land to teach. Anyway, the imperial palace. That ought to be interesting. Who was his master?”

“Me.”

“Me? You still haven’t learned your lesson? When an ancestor as exalted as I am calls on you, how are you supposed to answer?”

“I-I’m sorry.”

“Again.”

“Seventeenth Sect Leader, Hong. Wi. Ryang!”

Something like that, probably.

Imagining his master standing stiffly at attention, Jeok Cheongang felt a lump rise in his throat.

“I’m sorry. I raised my disciple so poorly that even you, Master…”

At the sorrowful sound of his voice, Taishan, standing beside him, spoke with a solemn expression.

“I want five-spice pork.”

“Namho, kill that bastard right now. I’ll allow it.”

“Really? You mean it? I can really do that?”

“No, you can’t!”

Namho eagerly reached for Taishan’s throat, but Sama Pyo hurriedly stopped him.

A few steps away, the Divine Physician watched the scene and chuckled.

“There’s no danger of our identities being exposed. Anyone can see we’re a fine circus troupe.”

Jeok Cheongang gave him a disgruntled look.

“To hell with that. Does it make any sense for me to be in a circus troupe at my age?”

“And what about at my age? At least you look young, Old Master. There’s no mistaking me for anything but an old man.”

“……”

“We’re already here, so what else can we do? Taishan—no, Geosan—is enormous. A circus troupe is about the only cover that won’t raise suspicion.”

For all his complaints, Jeok Cheongang couldn’t disagree.

“That… is true.”

The East Depot might not wield the power it once had, but it could still arrange a wide variety of thoroughly prepared false identities.

Half a day before they entered the palace, however, the East Depot specialist who came to deliver the human-skin masks and identity tags they needed had taken one look at Taishan. After a long silence, he’d asked:

“D-Does this man have to come too?”

“I’d love to leave him behind, but we have no choice. I swear he’d cause trouble if we did. If the Embroidered Uniform Guard caught him, he’d spill everything for one plate of five-spice pork.”

“Taishan not that kind of traitor! Taishan wouldn’t sell out his friends for just one plate!”

“Fine. Ten plates, then. Extra meat and spices.”

“Hmm. Hmmmmm. Taishan needs a little time to think.”

“See? That’s the bastard we’re dealing with.”

“Ah…”

“What can we do?”

“We’ll have to change your cover. With a man that size, merchants are out of the question. A circus troupe would be best.”

“A circus troupe? You want to turn this old man into a street clown?”

“I-I’m sorry, but there’s no other way. You’re all highly skilled masters. A few feats should be enough to make you look the part.”

“Feats? You mean holding oil in your mouth and breathing fire?”

“That’s right.”

“But that won’t be enough for a grand banquet at the imperial palace.”

“We’ve already made arrangements, so you only need to look convincing. That large fellow will draw particular attention, though. To be safe, he should practice a few feats beforehand.”

“Feats. Such as?”

“As you said, holding oil in his mouth and…”

“That bastard doesn’t keep anything in his mouth. Whatever goes in, he chews up and swallows without mercy.”

“Then… tearing firewood apart with his bare hands…”

“That won’t be a problem. He tears people apart with his hands.”

“…Please never say things like that inside the imperial palace. You absolutely must promise me.”

After the specialist’s desperate, repeated warnings, Jeok Cheongang, the Divine Physician, and the Fire Dragon Pavilion members had received new names and faces and been allowed into the imperial palace.

Of course, there was no doubt the East Depot’s immense power had made it possible.

“So everything in the letter was true. I can’t believe we got into that magnificent imperial palace so easily.”

At Jeok Cheongang’s mutter, the pretty, freckled girl beside him—who had been looking around carefully—answered.

“It was probably easier because this is the Outer Palace. Security at the Inner Palace is on another level. The Imperial Guards protecting the Outer Palace are elite soldiers, but the Inner Palace is guarded by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Emperor’s personal guard.”

“How do you know so much?”

“My grandfather told me. The imperial family entrusted him with several important jobs a long time ago.”

“Huh. I suppose that makes sense, given that he’s the Escort King. And you remember stories you heard as a child remarkably well.”

Jeok Cheongang looked at Ju Hwaran with an affection he never showed anyone else. A faint smile touched her face, tense until now.

That was when someone called out.

“Is everyone here?”

A court official swept an arrogant gaze over the gathering. His loose robes did nothing to hide his bulk or the belly that bulged like a well-fed pig’s.

“As the official in charge of the music for this grand banquet, I will inspect and sort you all before the festivities begin.”

Clank. Clank.

A heavy metallic sound rang out the moment he finished speaking.

The newcomers wore gleaming golden armor and carried an aura far more imposing than that of any Imperial Guards the group had seen so far. The other circus troupes who had come to perform at the banquet, along with the courtesans and musicians, swallowed nervously.

“The Embroidered Uniform Guard…”

There was no mistaking them.

Permitted to wear gold, one of the Son of Heaven’s symbols, they were the Great Nation’s finest troops. Alongside the East Depot, they were its most powerful watchers.

Unlike the Imperial Guards, who could be seen throughout the Imperial Capital, the Embroidered Uniform Guard rarely appeared. When they did, their authority was unmistakable.

As formidable as the man who now stepped forward, his eyes gleaming.

“I am Jeong Hogun, a Thousand Captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.”

His voice was calm, but a heavy aura pressed down in every direction.

Jeok Cheongang sensed his intent well before that wave of energy reached the crowd and swiftly sent a Sound Transmission.

—Everyone, be on your guard.

The inspection and sorting the fat official had mentioned would be neither ordinary nor easy.

They’re using the Embroidered Uniform Guard to weed out possible assassins.

Flies always gathered around a well-laid feast.

It would be one thing if they were merely a nuisance. Flies armed with swords and spears and aiming for the Emperor’s life were another matter entirely.

Fortunately, Jeok Cheongang’s group and the East Depot had anticipated this.

I knew it.

Know your enemy and know yourself, and you can fight a hundred battles without peril.

To prepare for just such a situation, the Divine Physician had personally made Energy-Dispersing Poison, which disrupted internal energy, and given it to the group. Jeok Cheongang had already reached the realm of Returning to Simplicity and could conceal his qi at will without it.

The only problem is that bastard Taishan…

But contrary to his fears, Jeong Hogun’s gaze rested on Taishan only briefly before moving away.

Or rather, trouble broke out elsewhere before he could examine Taishan closely.

“You there. Step forward.”

“M-Me, sir?”

The sparrow-mustached man, who looked like the steward of a pleasure house, asked in a trembling voice. Jeong Hogun shook his head.

“No. The courtesan behind you.”

“W-Whatever could be the reason…?”

“She knows better than I do. Don’t you?”

The courtesan, who looked barely twenty, had a pure, lovely face. She blinked in surprise, then threw herself face-first onto the ground.

“T-This girl has done nothing wrong!”

Jeong Hogun replied flatly.

“I think so too.”

“Th-Then why…?”

“But the sachet at your waist smells of bitter poison.”

“……!”

“Will you explain yourself?”

The courtesan raised her head and stared up at Jeong Hogun in bewilderment.

Then she yanked the hairpin from her hair and swung it in a flash.

Whoosh! Thunk!

A faint sound of air being cut, followed by a spray of blood.

Jeong Hogun watched with a lowered gaze as the courtesan plunged the hairpin into her own neck.

“Why?”

“T-Twelve years ago. Grrk. My father and mother, my younger sibling… Cough.”

“Revenge. Yes, I suppose so.”

“The Emperor… I have to k-kill…”

Thump.

Still coughing up blood, the courtesan went limp and collapsed.

Jeong Hogun stared down at the corpse in silence for a while, then spoke abruptly.

“Remove the body. Take everyone who came with her to the prison.”

“Yes, sir!”

“W-Wait! We didn’t know anything about this! We really don’t know a thing…”

Clang-clang!

The cold sound of drawn blades drowned out their desperate excuses.

Realizing they had no choice, they disappeared somewhere under the Embroidered Uniform Guard’s escort, faces filled with despair.

Jeong Hogun watched until they were gone, then turned to the person he had put off questioning.

“You there.”

“Huh?”

“You said you belonged to a circus troupe.”

“Yeah.”

Taishan looked around blankly. Jeok Cheongang lowered his head, weighing whether to wait a little longer or step in himself.

Just as he cautiously curled his hand into a fist, a voice from far away reached his ears.

“Oh, Hogun. What are you doing here?”

At the familiar voice, Jeok Cheongang reflexively raised his head.

A young man was walking toward them with a wide grin.