The Second Eunuch Regains His Manhood

Chapter 230: The Crown’s Gift

The Crown Princess was besotted with the disciple.

However, Yujinhwi had doubts. She had come to understand now. In the future she had shared with the Crown Princess, the disciple was a certain figure. The disciple had crowned the Crown Princess as the Emperor and held power second only to the Emperor.

But that was the disciple of the future.

The current disciple was not the one the Crown Princess knew.

Lee Cheol-soo, as she knew him, was devoted to the sect and innocent—a person she felt she needed to protect.

But why was the Crown Princess trying to drive the disciple into a corner?

Yujinhwi’s gaze turned to the Crown Princess.

Juga-yul’s eyes narrowed. Yujinhwi’s image was reflected in her unfocused gaze.

‘It’s always fascinating, isn’t it?’

If asked to name a figure that had completely changed compared to her past life, Juga-yul would point to Geomseong without hesitation.

Geomseong Yujinhwi.

In her past life, she lived as a man until the very end, and by her later years, she had lost nearly all of her humanity.

But in this life, it was different. Now, she, no, she was living as a woman and reclaiming her humanity.

Truly, it was Noya.

Who would have thought that the Geomseong would change so profoundly?

As Juga-yul pondered this and smiled, Yujinhwi’s voice echoed in her ears.

[I don’t know what you believe about the disciple, Your Highness, but the current disciple is not the one you think he is. He’s just a young lad. Entrusting such an enormous task to a boy…]

Yujinhwi lowered her head in salute while looking up at Juga-yul.

Juga-yul.

In the future that was now lost, she had spent far more time with the disciple than Juga-yul did.

But that future was already gone.

In this newly changed world, the one who had spent the most time with the changed disciple was not the Crown Princess but rather Yujinhwi, the disciple’s older sister.

Therefore, the one who knew the disciple best was not Juga-yul but me.

Yujinhwi thought that way.

Thus, she could not understand the Crown Princess’s obsession.

[Lady Yujinhwi. I think you are misunderstanding something.]

A voice of the Crown Princess rang in her head. The expression on her face vanished. She spoke through thought.

[Do you think I would order Noya without considering such matters? Noya will not fail. I will do anything to protect her.]

Juga-yul’s gaze shifted toward Yujinhwi.

It was good that Geomseong had regained humanity. However, occasionally her cockiness was quite displeasing.

Having been with Noya for over half a century, there wasn’t anyone in the world who understood her better than Juga-yul.

Yujinhwi and Juga-yul’s gazes crossed in the air.

From Juga-yul’s gaze, Yujinhwi read a deeper fanaticism.

Having considered everything and planned, it was indeed the kind of action one would expect from the Crown Princess. Yujinhwi realized now.

Juga-yul had great plans.

And her great plans had yet to fail.

So surely, the disciple would be fine.

Yet, the unease was unavoidable.

[Noya will succeed. So, Lady Yujinhwi, you need to be ready to capture the Imperial Secretariat when the time comes.]

The Imperial Secretariat Yeon Sobak.

If they captured him and uncovered the Blood Sect’s headquarters and the current location of the Demon, Juga-yul intended to reveal that the Imperial Secretariat was indeed the Blood Sect’s master and officially declare war against the Blood Sect.

In her past life, she had not been able to pinpoint the Blood Sect’s stronghold.

That was because the Blood Sect had erased their traces and hidden themselves so thoroughly.

But she had a rough idea of their location.

‘The Blood Sect has disappeared from the Central Plains. Then, naturally, they must be gaining strength in the periphery.’

The Blood Sect’s goal was to unify the world and create their own realm.

To do so, they absolutely needed to control the Central Plains. Three hundred years ago, during the Blood Sect Rebellion, the Demon had destroyed the old Yuan dynasty for the sake of achieving this.

Thus, the Lord of the Right and the four major forces had likely infiltrated the realm, gradually taking control from within.

But not anymore. Because of Juga-yul’s covert actions against the Blood Sect and Noya’s unintentional interference in the Demon’s maneuvers, they had changed their strategy.

They vanished from the Central Plains. They fled to the periphery.

‘There are very few forces outside that have the potential to invade the Central Plains.’

Surrounding the Central Plains were barbaric groups traditionally known as the Northern Barbarians, Western Foreigners, Southern Man, and the Eastern tribes.

However, among them, only two groups were both hostile to the Empire and possessed the potential to conquer the Central Plains.

The Mongols of the North and the Jurchens of Liaodong.

The Mongols founded the old Yuan dynasty and ruled the Central Plains, while the Jurchens established the old Jin dynasty during the Song era and ruled over Northern China.

Of course, the martial arts of the Jurchens were lost during the massacre by the Mongols at the fall of the Jin dynasty, and the martial prowess of the Mongols was largely diminished when the Demon burned Beijing and destroyed the Yuan, leaving both the Jurchens and Mongols considerably weaker than during their prime.

Yet, their potential to conquer the Central Plains could not be ignored. Hence, the Ming Empire has been training Northern troops since its founding to prepare for invasions from the northern barbarians and has employed appeasement tactics by allowing trade with border minorities while inciting discord among barbaric tribes.

‘The Demon. He must be hiding in either Mongolia or Liaodong, orchestrating the barbarians behind the scenes to plot an invasion of the Central Plains under the pretext of resurrecting the old Yuan or Jin dynasties.’

Without that method, there would be no way for an outside force to conquer the Central Plains.

With commands already given to the Northern troops at the borders to keep watch over the activities of the Mongols and Jurchens, reports about suspicious movements from the Jianzhou Jurchens had been continually rising.

However, that alone could not fully pinpoint the Blood Sect’s headquarters.

There was insufficient justification to convene an expeditionary force under the banner of subduing the Blood Sect.

Therefore, the Imperial Secretariat Yeon Sobak.

They needed to capture him to garner both information and justification.

The Blood Sect.

They needed to be dealt with. Only then would Juga-yul’s great plan be complete, allowing her to enjoy the era of great peace alongside Noya and the Wine Pond and Meat Forest.

Juga-yul thought this as she looked at Yujinhwi and said, “So, until the time comes, focus on your training. Failure of the operation cannot be tolerated.”

“Understood, Your Highness.”

Yujinhwi bowed her head.

She knew in her mind how important the disciple’s role was in this operation. The disciple also despised the Blood Sect. Therefore, he was likely pleased to receive the mission.

But her heart could not yet accept it. She wanted to be by the disciple’s side immediately.

Yujinhwi suppressed such feelings.

The disciple wished for the downfall of the Blood Sect. Moreover, the true enemy of the sect was also the Blood Sect. Therefore, to perfectly execute the operation that would deal a fatal blow to the Blood Sect, she had to leave the disciple’s mission to him.

That was what the disciple wanted.

However, her heart was directed towards a distant land in Jiangsu Province, where the Mosan Sect resided.

Yujinhwi bit her lip, and Juga-yul looked down at her.

‘The completion of the great plan is near.’

Very soon.

She would be able to see Noya and everyone again in the Forbidden City.

Juga-yul thought this as she coldly smiled.

*

To be honest, I started feeling something was off when Ucheong-hyeong started being overly polite.

One of Dongchang’s main duties was overseeing and constraining the Martial World.

Furthermore, the figures in the Imperial Palace barely regarded the Martial World’s distribution. No matter how much they called themselves emperor or crown prince among themselves, from the perspective of the palace, they were all just an equal horde of martial artists and wildlings.

Thus, it made no sense for Ucheong-hyeong of Dongchang to treat me, a mere wildling, so politely. It would have been more appropriate for her to brush me aside with arrogance.

This friendliness from Ucheong-hyeong indeed felt suspicious, but it made sense if it was under the Emperor’s orders.

‘The Emperor predicted I would seek cooperation from Dongchang.’

Indeed, the Emperor was exceptional.

I thought to myself, I hadn’t misjudged.

[I’ll take you to the main house now.]

Ucheong-hyeong’s thought echoed.

When she mentioned “the main house,” it wasn’t this disguising venue but rather a genuine underground secret space where intelligence operations took place.

[Understood.]

I replied to Ucheong-hyeong, and soon Jeomsogi approached my table.

“Sir, the Commander has prepared a separate room for the guests. Shall we go?”

Jeomsogi whispered to me.

I nodded.

“I will go.”

“Then please follow me.”

I stood and followed Jeomsogi. Passing through the spacious first floor towards the annex, we arrived at a luxuriously decorated separate room.

“This is it. Then I shall take my leave.”

After Jeomsogi left, a shadow emerged from the corner, a figure clad in night attire. The agents from Dongchang.

As they tampered with the floor’s mechanism, quietly, a hidden staircase to the underground emerged.

The mechanism made no sound whatsoever.

It was a familiar scene. I stepped into the staircase. After descending for a while, the door closed behind me naturally.

After a bit more descent, torches appeared along with an iron door. Standing in front of the iron door, the mechanism activated, and the door opened.

The underground workspace revealed a scene of eunuchs dressed in robes diligently working on documents.

It looked just like the familiar Dongchang Residence.

“Nice to meet you again. I shall greet you once more. This is the Great Hero, I am Dongchang Ucheong-hyeong, Gwang Jaryang. Hohohohohohoho.”

With his bearded, typically castrated face, Gwang Jaryang emitted a distinctive laugh typical of eunuchs from Hanam.

Seeing a familiar face from my past life reignite memories.

Once more stepping into the world of eunuchs.

As Gwang Jaryang eyed me, he said, “Please have a seat.”

He gestured to a chair. Although it was underground, thanks to the night pearl embedded in the ceiling, it wasn’t too dark.

Seated at the table, Gwang Jaryang brought out refreshments.

I savored my tea.

“So, what is it that you need our assistance with, Great Hero? Hohohohoho.”

His incessant laughter was irksome, but I suppressed it and said.

“The Mosan Sect possesses the Upper Clear Secret.”

“I’m already aware of that much information.”

“A decisive confrontation against the Demon is scheduled in fifteen days at the Mosan Sect. Take this opportunity of chaos to secure the Upper Clear Secret for us.”

“Understood. We will arrange the Heavenly Net to surround the Mosan Sect on the day of the ritual, and I will secure it together with that.”

Ucheong-hyeong Gwang Jaryang confirmed.

Moreover, I subtly provided him the information that the decisive confrontation against the Demon was set for fifteen days later.

That information would soon head straight to Beijing.

I had achieved my purpose for visiting Dongchang.

“Thank you for your cooperation. Then I shall take my leave.”

“The Emperor has given you a gift, Great Hero. Please receive it before you depart.”

The Emperor?

Gwang Jaryang presented me with a wooden box. The box was sealed, so even the Dongchang fellows would have no idea what was inside.

“I accept the Crown Princess’s gift.”

I knelt and paid my respects while taking the wooden box, then left the residence and returned to the surface.

Surface pavilion.

On the table laid a spread of delicacies beneficial for stamina, including snake soup and Dongpo pork.

Using my senses, I detected no human presence around. It was perfectly my own situation.

It was an invitation to unseal the Emperor’s gift.

I tore the seal off the wooden box and opened the lid.

The item that emerged from the Emperor’s gift was…

‘This is a Spring Flower House, isn’t it?’

Indeed, it was a book depicting erotic illustrations.

So, in other words…

It was a Spring Flower House.

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