Chapter 279: Calculation (1)
I like calculations. Whether I started liking them after becoming a merchant or before, I cannot remember. What I do know for sure is that after becoming a merchant, I developed a compulsive habit of calculating every situation.
“Wh-what is it?”
Myeong-gyeong, flustered, grabbed my sleeve. I placed my hand on Myeong-gyeong’s head.
“Don’t worry, Senior Brother.”
Normally, Myeong-gyeong disliked it when I put my hand on his head, but he did not complain this time. That was how flustered he was.
“Protect His Majesty the Emperor!”
People clamored. From somewhere, a rolling sphere burst open, spewing mud and fog.
“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!”
The Imperial Guard surrounded the Emperor in several layers. A natural reaction.
Through the fog, masked figures charged in. Since the founding of the Great Empire, this was likely the first time the Forbidden City itself had been invaded.
In such chaos, no one would notice if I sent a voice transmission to someone.
I sent a voice transmission to a nimble figure wearing a gray mask.
—Seize the criminal on the stage and retreat.
I did not know exactly who he was. But it did not matter. He would relay my transmission to the others.
Originally, it would have been impossible for those people to reach the Forbidden City.
The impossible had become possible for two reasons.
First, today was a day when many outsiders were invited, so most of the formations installed in crowded areas to prevent accidents had been deactivated.
Second, the Imperial Guard who should have been guarding the outside of the Forbidden City were all gathered in the Hall of Supreme Harmony plaza to protect the Emperor.
“They are Demonic Cult followers! Everyone, protect His Majesty!”
The Imperial Guard recognized them as Demonic Cult followers at a glance by the aura they exuded.
Naturally, they were ones I had prepared.
To finish explaining the calculations I mentioned earlier, when Hyeong Tae-seong’s letter arrived, I had calculated every possible scenario.
First, if Hyeong Tae-seong had conveyed correct information with good intentions.
Second, if he had conveyed incorrect information with good intentions.
Third, if he had conveyed correct information with bad intentions.
Fourth, if he had conveyed incorrect information with bad intentions.
The probability that the Imperial Court was involved was three out of four. If the information was incorrect, the Imperial Court had intervened. If the intentions were bad, Hyeong Tae-seong was acting according to the Imperial Court’s will.
Therefore, I had no choice but to plan with scenarios other than Hyeong Tae-seong conveying correct information with good intentions more in mind.
In theory, I should have come up with strategies to counter each of the second, third, and fourth scenarios. But I did not have enough time for that, nor did I have many tools at my disposal.
In conclusion, the strategy I devised was simple. A grand move that could cover all scenarios where the intentions were not good and the information was not correct.
That was to gather the Demonic Cult followers in the Turobeon and attack the Forbidden City. Unless their guts had burst out of their bodies, they would never have thought of attacking the Forbidden City directly.
If I flipped the board over, I could then issue commands via voice transmission as the situation unfolded. That was my thinking.
My signal was scratching the back of my neck. Fortunately, there were actual Demonic Cult spies within the Imperial Court, and they were able to relay the message to the Demonic Cult followers outside.
The moment Hyeong Tae-seong was dragged out, I scratched the back of my neck, and this was the result.
The Imperial Guard were thrown into chaos by the sudden attack, and the Demonic Cult followers seized Hyeong Tae-seong and quickly escaped the Forbidden City.
Even after the Demonic Cult followers escaped, the chaos continued. The Imperial Guard, preoccupied with protecting the Emperor, realized only belatedly that the Demonic Cult followers had escaped, and only then began to clear the smoke and sort out the situation.
“Everyone, stay where you are! The situation is under the control of the Imperial Guard!”
A man in golden armor, appearing to be the commander of the Imperial Guard, shouted with deep internal energy.
The people, who had been bustling about, froze completely at the Imperial Guard’s thunderous shout.
“Are there any casualties?”
“No, sir!”
There were no casualties. What I wanted was chaos, not death, so there were no casualties.
“Then why did you come?”
“The criminal on the stage has disappeared.”
“Oh.”
The Imperial Guard commander gritted his teeth. He likely could not understand. No one would have thought that Hyeong Tae-seong was that important to the Demonic Cult. In truth, he was not important at all; he had only become important because of my voice transmission.
“Check for other damage and report everything.”
“Yes, understood!”
“Your Majesty. Since another attack may come, let us end the Palace of Heavenly Worship opening ceremony here.”
“Hmm. Very well.”
At the Imperial Guard commander’s words, the Emperor was escorted into the Hall of Supreme Harmony. The Hall of Supreme Harmony was the heart of the Forbidden City. That it had been breached meant security needed to be re-evaluated.
“The ceremony is concluded here!”
Since the Forbidden City had been attacked, an unprecedented event, the Palace of Heavenly Worship ceremony also ended without fanfare.
“All participants in today’s event will be investigated by the Imperial Guard, so do not leave Beijing!”
The Imperial Guard commander issued a stern order. Since the Forbidden City had been breached, they would be investigating whether there was an insider.
But that was merely a formality to show the Emperor, and they would not be able to find any connection between me and the Demonic Cult.
I left the Forbidden City with Myeong-gyeong. Since the Forbidden City had been attacked, they could not keep outsiders inside any longer.
“Senior Brother.”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
The moment we stepped out, I apologized to Myeong-gyeong.
“I brought up the Prince of Jianzhou without consulting you.”
“You said you were using me. Wasn’t that the same thing?”
“Yes.”
“It’s fine. It was a wall I had to overcome someday.”
Myeong-gyeong spoke maturely. He had apparently already had some premonition.
“I used you too, Junior Brother.”
“What?”
“When His Majesty asked for you, you refused immediately. If I had been alone, I couldn’t have done that.”
“Really?”
“Having you by my side gave me courage. I wasn’t alone.”
Myeong-gyeong turned to me and grinned. I had been mistaken to think Myeong-gyeong had overcome the Emperor from the start. He had overcome the Emperor because of me.
In the end, I had helped rid Myeong-gyeong of his fear of the Emperor, just as I had originally intended.
“Thank you. If it weren’t for you, Junior Brother, I would have continued to live under his shadow.”
“No. I may have set the stage, but you were the one who moved, Senior Brother.”
I placed my hand on Myeong-gyeong’s head. He immediately shook it off.
“I told you to stop.”
“You were fine with it earlier.”
“When?”
He was so flustered that he did not even remember that. Well, if he did not remember, that was fine in its own way.
“But the situation is really exquisite. The Demonic Cult suddenly attacking the Forbidden City.”
“……Ah. Right.”
“And why did they take that man? Was he a Demonic Cult spy?”
Myeong-gyeong rested his index finger and thumb on his chin, deep in thought. I felt quite guilty inside. If he knew that Hyeong Tae-seong was not a Demonic Cult spy but that I was the Demonic Cult’s spy, how would Myeong-gyeong react? He would surely suffer a terrible sense of betrayal.
Imagining Myeong-gyeong’s disappointed expression was quite a blow. Could I persuade him? Not just Myeong-gyeong, but the other Wudang Martial Uncles, my master, and my Senior Brothers as well?
That thought suddenly made me feel hopeless. I shook my head. Worrying about things that had not yet happened was not my style.
“In any case, we ended without knowing who the Palace Master was.”
“Indeed. He acted as if he were someone truly extraordinary. And the Vice Palace Master is the Martial Alliance Leader, no less.”
Myeong-gyeong and I speculated about a few people who could be the Palace of Heavenly Worship Master, but we gained nothing.
In the end, the identity of the Palace of Heavenly Worship Master remained a mystery until he revealed himself.
“For now, let’s stay at the inn. The Imperial Guard will be coming soon for the investigation.”
“Right.”
I took Myeong-gyeong to the inn. As long as we did not leave Beijing, there were no restrictions on our movements.
So I took Myeong-gyeong all over Beijing. I knew all the places with delicious food.
“Mmm, delicious.”
“Right?”
“You seem to know these things well, Junior Brother.”
“I’m a merchant. You need a broad perspective.”
Myeong-gyeong seemed to enjoy the outing after a long time, running around excitedly. Of course, Beijing was completely enemy territory for me, so I was on high alert, wondering what might happen. Fortunately, there were no ruffians attacking us in broad daylight on the main streets.
After wandering all day and returning to the inn, the Imperial Guard was already waiting to hear our account.
As I had expected, it was merely a formality, and they did not ask many questions before moving on. No matter how much I was their enemy, the possibility of me being a Demonic Cult member was beyond their imagination.
“That ended more blandly than I expected.”
“Well, what would they have to ask us?”
“True.”
Questions like whether we had seen anyone suspicious before the Palace of Heavenly Worship ceremony. We could just make something up for that.
“Can we go now?”
“No. There is something I need to look into.”
“What?”
“They asked us to capture the Mad Buddha.”
“Ah, right. But do we really have to catch him?”
Myeong-gyeong wore a displeased expression. He must have felt the same unease I had. It was, after all, a rather abrupt request.
“But we have no excuse to refuse.”
“Isn’t it not a bad proposal for our side too?”
“Is that so?”
“Anyway, the Mad Buddha is a villain who has aroused public outrage across the Central Plains. If we catch him, we can gain that reputation.”
As expected, Myeong-gyeong was clever. I almost placed my hand on his head again but stopped. If I did it again today, he would really get angry.
“But, Senior Brother. There’s something like this in the world.”
“What?”
“’A chance to make easy money,’ ‘I’ll give you something for free’—words like these are always, always, always traps.”
“……Is that so? But they say opportunity knocks three times in a lifetime.”
“Usually, people fall into that trap. ‘I’ve worked this hard until now, isn’t this a fitting reward?’ No. You have to live honestly in this world.”
“Coming from you, Junior Brother, that’s not very convincing.”
“What do you mean? Where else would you find someone who lives as honestly as I do?”
Myeong-gyeong stared straight at me. That gaze was something even I could not withstand, so I looked away.
“It’s really that simple. If there’s a chance to make easy money, why doesn’t he do it himself and recommend it to me? You just have to think that. It’s not easy to reach that thought when you’re caught in a trap, though.”
“Hmm.”
Today too, I had taught Myeong-gyeong a piece of life wisdom. It felt somewhat fulfilling.
Anyway, there was something unsatisfactory about the request to capture the Mad Buddha. But if we caught him, it would certainly help the reputation of the New Justice Association and me, so I planned to look into it. If, as the Imperial Court said, they had a solid lead.
“For now, let’s wait. They will surely bring information about the Mad Buddha. Until then, we just need to rest.”
“I feel a bit deflated. Now that the important part is over.”
The Palace of Heavenly Worship ceremony had been the heaviest weight in our hearts. In truth, it had been the same for me. Taking Myeong-gyeong around to eat delicious food was also because my tension had slightly eased.
But it seemed that easing of tension had come too soon.
Because in the middle of the night, a visitor came to find me.
“Have you been well?”
“……Prince Xian.”
The Prince of Xian from Gansu had come to find me.
…He was one of the few people who knew that I possessed demonic qi.