Chapter 280: Calculation (2)
The Prince of Xian from Gansu. He was someone I had not included in my calculations. It is embarrassing, but he had slipped my mind for a moment. How many people knew that I possessed demonic qi? I could only call it my own oversight.
“Senior Brother.”
“Yes.”
“Will you rest inside for a while?”
“Sure, why not.”
Sensing the subtle current flowing between the Prince of Xian and me, Myeong-gyeong quickly went into the room.
We went down to the lower floor of the inn and took the most secluded seat.
The inn was still crowded with guests even late at night, clearly indicating that this was Beijing.
“You were invited to the Palace of Heavenly Worship ceremony this time.”
“I am a vassal, after all.”
“I see.”
We were momentarily at a loss for words. But the one who was more desperate was me, so I had to take the lead. Before speaking, I carefully set up a qi curtain to block eavesdropping.
“Does His Majesty the Emperor know?”
“If he did, it would not be me in front of you, but the Embroidered Uniform Guard.”
“I suppose so.”
It was a response I had roughly expected, but I could not relax. The Prince of Xian was a loyal subject of the Emperor, who was preparing a staged rebellion. I honestly did not know why the Prince of Xian had not reported to the Emperor until now.
Was I not, after all, the Emperor’s outright enemy now? If the Prince of Xian had informed him that I was cultivating demonic qi, I would have been in quite a predicament.
“The reason you did not speak?”
“You said you disliked the Demonic Cult. That much is not untrue, is it?”
In truth, that situation had changed somewhat. Back then, yes, but now I had also become the Heavenly Demon. But I could not very well tell him that honestly here.
“That is correct.”
“I am someone who has cultivated demonic qi as well, so I know. It is not only Demonic Cult members who can cultivate demonic qi. I could not report that to His Majesty. He is someone who has even saved my life.”
“Is that so? I think you could have reported it. I am someone who is openly rebelling against His Majesty. You must have seen my rude attitude earlier as well.”
“Yes, that is true.”
The Prince of Xian leaned back and crossed his legs. It was a cryptic attitude that made his true intentions difficult to discern.
“You seem to want me to tell you.”
“Not at all. Honestly, I did not even think as far as you, Prince Xian. It is my oversight.”
“I see.”
“I am sure there is a reason you did not speak.”
The Prince of Xian fell silent. Now it was certain that he had some scheme.
“Do you remember my rebellion plan?”
As I waited quietly, the Prince of Xian finally spoke.
“Yes. You said it was a staged rebellion to draw out the surrounding Demonic Cult.”
“That is right.”
“For some reason, you’re speaking in the past tense.”
“Do you know why the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard are at odds?”
I narrowed my eyes. I had heard this from Northern Pacification Commissioner Baek Yu-gyeom.
“Yes. Because the Imperial Court made it so that the moment they learned those martial arts, they would naturally come to distrust each other.”
“Demonic qi and immortal qi are the same. And as you must know, the Imperial Court’s martial arts are even more incompatible with demonic qi. I do not know how you hid that from His Majesty.”
I had the All Streams Return to the Source talent, so I could dilute the demonic qi. But the Prince of Xian apparently did not.
“My family is a meritorious house of the Empire. Many meritorious houses perished, but our family alone survived.”
I knew. The founding meritorious houses mostly met miserable ends. That was based on historical fact.
The first Emperor, having established the dynasty through revolution, could not help but be anxious. He knew that a force could overturn the nation.
The founding meritorious houses were people who possessed the “power” the Emperor feared, so naturally, they were dealt with. Yesterday’s ally is today’s enemy. That saying was exactly right.
“Do you know what that means?”
“That you have prostrated yourself completely.”
“You know it well. As expected of your broad insight. Most people, if they hear ‘founding meritorious house,’ speak as if wealth and glory are guaranteed. Not so. A founding meritorious house is a candle in the wind. You must know the reason without my saying it.”
“Yes.”
“So, from a young age, my loyalty to His Majesty was almost branded like a fire seal. My father brainwashed me absolutely.”
“Because if you harbored other thoughts, you would face the execution of your entire family immediately.”
“That is how it was. But I was truly confident. Even if I stumbled, I was grateful to His Majesty. Even when I ate, I was always grateful to His Majesty. I cultivated demonic qi voluntarily because I wanted to be of special help to His Majesty. That was how loyal I was.”
Again, the past tense. A chill was beginning to creep up my spine. The Prince of Xian’s tone was gradually becoming one of excuse.
“I never thought martial arts would tear apart the foundation of who I am. I thought it was just the ramblings of the weak-willed. My loyalty to His Majesty was that firm and sincere.”
“That means it is not so now.”
“Ah. I truly cannot understand it myself.”
The Prince of Xian sighed.
“A single thread of distrust rose within me. That seed grew without giving me time to uproot it, spreading its branches. At first, it was the fear that His Majesty might discard me. Even if I remained unchanged, if His Majesty shunned me because of the demonic qi I had cultivated.”
“That is a perfectly reasonable thought.”
“Yes. At first, I tried to suppress it as a sinful thought, but once let loose, it could not be contained. From a certain point on, I kept dreaming of being executed in front of His Majesty.”
The Prince of Xian’s expression was pained. I could not think that he was lying to me now.
“No matter how much I wanted to give my life for His Majesty, I did not want to give it while being branded a traitor. I wanted to be a loyal subject who left an honorable memory with His Majesty. But as those dreams continued, I could not endure it any longer.”
It was terrifying. The Prince of Xian’s martial art was actually controlling his subconscious.
I feared that as well. Was that not also the reason I had rejected Gwan Seo-ye’s advances? It felt like a will not my own, but one created by the martial art. And if the Prince of Xian’s words were true, my hypothesis was correct.
“So what are you trying to say?”
“I am planning a real rebellion.”
“……Hmm.”
I heard roughly what I had expected. Come to think of it, in my previous life, I had not known the situation after the rebellion ended. It had been largely covered up by the Imperial Court.
Was the Prince of Xian’s rebellion in my previous life a real rebellion or a staged one? The Prince of Xian’s cultivation of demonic qi was not my influence, so it was likely a real rebellion.
In the end, the Prince of Xian had come to ask for my help in his rebellion against the Emperor.
Of course, I was also thinking of overturning the Imperial Court. But collaborating with the Prince of Xian, who had prepared such a large-scale rebellion, brought a different kind of pressure.
“You are clever, so you must know what I am trying to say.”
“I know.”
“What do you think?”
The Prince of Xian covered his mouth with both hands and asked. Countless scenarios flowed through my mind.
It had been a long time since I had run calculations in my head this quickly.
“……Give me an answer quickly.”
The Prince of Xian asked impatiently. Just then, the calculation was finished. I nodded.
“Let’s do it.”
“How forthright. Honestly, I did not expect you to give an answer right away.”
“Hesitation leads to a bad move. Right now, giving each other a long time is not beneficial for either of us.”
The Prince of Xian nodded in agreement. In fact, by revealing his rebellion plan to me, my range of action had already been limited.
If I refused here, the Prince of Xian would not leave me, who knew of his rebellion plan, unattended.
Then I would have to deal not only with the Emperor but also with the Prince of Xian of Gansu, with the still-weak forces of the New Justice Association. That was quite a burden for me.
“First, I would like to hear how far the rebellion plan has progressed.”
“I do not think it is appropriate to talk here. No matter how well you have set up a qi curtain, this is Beijing.”
“There is a saying that the darkest place is under the candle.”
“There are no dark places in Beijing. I know this better than you. We will probably talk for a long time, and if it becomes known in Beijing that the Prince of Xian and I have been talking for a long time, it will not be good. You should come find me in Gansu later.”
“Gansu. That is far.”
“Even if it is far, you must come. I cannot go. The Imperial Court is constantly monitoring the movements of the vassals.”
“That is true.”
Come to think of it, I might also need to visit Xinjiang Turobeon. Gansu was on the way to Xinjiang, so if I planned it well, I could make the trip.
“Alright. Let’s meet in Gansu.”
As the Prince of Xian was about to rise, I grabbed his wrist.
It was an unbelievable rudeness toward a vassal, but we were now in the same boat. The Prince of Xian did not rebuke me for it.
“What is it?”
“I have a few more questions.”
“Make it quick.”
“Who is the Palace of Heavenly Worship Master?”
“He is the former Grand Tutor. He was the one who taught the current Emperor.”
“Grand Tutor?”
A Grand Tutor would be quite old. And a former one at that.
“Isn’t he practically a walking corpse?”
“No. The Imperial Court has found some clues regarding longevity. The Grand Tutor must also be benefiting from that.”
This was another story I was hearing for the first time. Longevity. The longevity that Qin Shi Huang had so desired in ancient times. Was the Empire saying they had found it?
“Longevity. That is a refreshing shock.”
“I do not know the details either. But those who fall into the Imperial Court’s favor are taught the art of longevity if they wish. Of course, those who wish to live out their natural lifespan are excluded.”
“So that Grand Tutor must be in the Emperor’s favor.”
“I think it might be the opposite.”
“The opposite?”
“The Emperor cannot easily touch the Grand Tutor.”
“That was when he was the Crown Prince. Now he is the Emperor, is he not?”
“No. The Emperor fears the Grand Tutor. I heard this in the past, so I am certain.”
I frowned. Was there something that the person at the apex of the Empire’s power feared? Learning that he feared the Grand Tutor was quite useful information.
“I understand. By the way, do you know anything about the Mad Buddha?”
“My, you are really trying to get your money’s worth.”
The Prince of Xian let out a hollow laugh.
“I am sorry, but I do not know much about the Mad Buddha. However, the Imperial Court would not have asked you to capture him for no reason. They must have set some kind of trap.”
“I understand.”
A reasonable opinion. I nodded and then released the Prince of Xian’s wrist. He seemed unaccustomed to having his wrist grabbed, rubbing it as he looked around.
“Then I will see you in Gansu.”
“Very well.”
I deactivated the qi curtain. I seemed to have gotten everything I could from the Prince of Xian.
The Prince of Xian looked around and left the inn as leisurely as possible. It was a posture to prepare as much as possible for any Imperial Court people who might be there. As expected, the Prince of Xian was no ordinary person.
‘Rebellion. Revolution.’
I remained seated and pronounced the words syllable by syllable.
For some reason, they felt sweet on my tongue.