Chapter 73 – The Imperial Family (5)

“How dare someone interfere with my plans… I will not let them get away with this.”

The grand scholar of Confucianism, a figure who could be said to dominate the empire’s academia, revealed his fury toward Yu-jin.

While Jo Cheong-won was agonizing over the princess’s suitor, a visitor arrived at his estate. It was Admiral Mun Won-sang, the man at the pinnacle of the empire’s military.

A single command from him could mobilize a million imperial soldiers. Only the emperor’s direct agencies—the Embroidered Guard, the Eastern Depot, and the Phantom Brigade—were beyond his control.

“I expected you to come, but I didn’t think it would be this soon.”

Atop a gracefully built pavilion before a bamboo forest, Jo Cheong-won greeted Mun Won-sang, feeling the cool autumn breeze.

The fury that had filled his eyes just moments before had already been replaced by a gaze of profound wisdom.

It was those eyes that allowed him to overwhelm countless people without having mastered any martial arts.

However, Mun Won-sang was one of only two masters in the Transformation Realm within the imperial palace. He remained unfazed even when meeting Jo Cheong-won’s profound gaze.

“Is that so?”

Mun Won-sang followed a different political path than Jo Cheong-won, leading to constant opposition between them. Yet, there was only one reason for him to seek out the head of the rival faction, and Jo Cheong-won already knew what it was.

“There can only be one reason you’ve come.”

“Since you already know, this will be quick.”

Mun Won-sang replied indifferently to Jo Cheong-won’s words. The two men, standing at the apex of the civil and military factions, stared at each other for a while. After a moment, Mun Won-sang took a seat, and Jo Cheong-won poured him tea.

“Have you found out who he is?”

“You ask the obvious. They say he is the Grand Young Master of the True Dragon Sword Clan.”

While his summons by the emperor was a secret, the fact that Yu-jin had entered the imperial palace with Ju Yun-hui was already widely known.

Hearing Mun Won-sang’s words, Jo Cheong-won frowned. Even he, who had no connection to the martial world, knew what kind of family the True Dragon Sword Clan was and how much power they wielded.

“Does His Majesty the Emperor desire the power of the martial clans? I knew he never cared much for precedent, but this is too unconventional. Of course, I’m sure you wouldn’t agree.”

Even before ascending the throne, the emperor had revealed his unconventional thinking, which had always left Jo Cheong-won baffled.

While those unconventional ideas had led to the empire’s revival, Jo Cheong-won, who valued traditional methods and precedent, was not fond of the emperor’s ways.

“Of course. I have no complaints about His Majesty’s policies themselves. The current emperor understands the military better than anyone. But his excessive pursuit of efficiency is a problem for me as well.”

The empire traditionally valued civil officials over military ones, but the current emperor did not. He treated military officials with the same respect he showed civil ones.

He had initiated several wars to allow military officials to achieve glory, and Mun Won-sang himself had earned many merits. As such, it was unthinkable for him to oppose the emperor’s will.

But on this matter, even he could not help but defy the emperor.

“His Majesty is already strengthening the power of the intelligence agencies. If he accepts the Grand Young Master of the True Dragon Sword Clan as the imperial son-in-law, that man will undoubtedly be made to work within those agencies.”

An imperial son-in-law could never operate in the open, in the public eye of the imperial court. However, the wise emperor would never let the Grand Young Master of the True Dragon Sword Clan sit idle, and he would surely utilize Yu-jin within the intelligence agencies, where records are not kept.

“If that happens, the power of the shadows could grow to surpass that of the light. I do not wish for that.”

“On that, we are of the same mind.”

As men who worked in the light and left a record of everything, they could not possibly be fond of the figures from intelligence agencies who schemed in the shadows and left no trace. Jo Cheong-won took a sip of tea and spoke.

“Shall we arrange an assassination?”

Jo Cheong-won uttered the terrifying words with a perfectly calm demeanor, but Mun Won-sang just scoffed.

“You know nothing of the True Dragon Sword Clan’s Grand Young Master. Among the countless rising stars of the martial world, he is the one who has reached the pinnacle. He is said to have already surpassed the peak and is looking beyond. What assassin could possibly ambush him? Let’s not make the mistake of stirring the grass and startling the snake.”

At Mun Won-sang’s words, Jo Cheong-won wore a regretful expression. He had not risen to his position simply because of his academic talent. His schemes were as formidable as his scholarly achievements, and more than a few people had fallen into his traps and met their ruin.

Many among them had even died under mysterious circumstances. But since Mun Won-sang had spoken, he had no choice but to abandon the idea of an assassination.

“Then we must make His Majesty abandon the idea.”

Jo Cheong-won’s words made Mun Won-sang’s eyes gleam. He was satisfied that he had swallowed his pride and come here. If that old fox was so confident, he surely had something up his sleeve.

“Do you have a way?”

“Of course.”

A confident smile played on Jo Cheong-won’s lips, his eyes filled with certainty. He knew well that martial power was not everything in this world, and he intended to prove it once again.

*His strength is irrelevant. Your Majesty, things will not go entirely as you wish.*

Jo Cheong-won firmly believed that he had to step in for the bright future of the empire.

***

While Mun Won-sang and Jo Cheong-won were conversing, Yu-jin was busy embracing Ju Yun-hui. Having been thoroughly infused with Yu-jin’s yang energy for several days, Ju Yun-hui’s beauty had grown more alluring and seductive.

Her once jade-like skin now glowed with a new luster, and her expressions and the curve of her eyes held something that stirred lust. Even the court ladies who served her could not hide their surprise at her transformation.

“My lord… my lord…”

“To resist so much when you enjoy it like this… I just don’t understand.”

Yu-jin smiled at the sight of Yun-hui pestering him and took off his pants. Yun-hui glanced at his member, then extended the glistening pink tip of her tongue, wet with saliva.

With a slight shrug of her shoulders, she took his member into her mouth. After licking it for a moment, she began to stimulate the underside with the tip of her tongue, letting out increasingly intense nasal moans.

“Ahh… my lord…”

In just a few days, the aversion that had once been on her face had been replaced by a seductive allure. She displayed her improved skills, desperately working her tongue.

As a sticky thread of saliva stretched from the corner of her mouth, her tongue slowly traced a path from the base to the tip. Then, she sharpened the tip of her tongue and stimulated the very center.

“Good… you’re getting better.”

Veins bulged on Yu-jin’s massive member. Despite having relentlessly pleasured Yun-hui for days, his tool had lost none of its vigor, and he savored the stimulation of her tongue.

“My lord’s… is so big… and wonderful…”

Yun-hui whispered sweetly to Yu-jin, moving her head up and down in large motions. Looking down at her service with satisfaction, Yu-jin reached out and groped her breasts.

While persistently kneading her breasts, he playfully teased her flower with the tip of his toe. Yun-hui shook her head violently as if in protest, feeling a breathtaking shame, yet at the same time, she moved her slender waist to match the rhythm of his playful foot.

“My lord, if you keep teasing me like that!”

Was she trying to pay him back for everything he’d done to her? The once-passive princess began to lick Yu-jin’s member aggressively, as if to say she would get her way somehow.

Yun-hui took Yu-jin’s member deep into her throat and moved her head even more vigorously.

Her actions fueled Yu-jin’s desire. Unable to hold back, he roughly grabbed her hair and thrust frantically up and down, as if trying to drive his member into the depths of her throat.

“Haaak!”

A pained moan escaped Yun-hui, but Yu-jin ignored it and poured himself into her mouth without restraint.

For a moment, Yun-hui collapsed in exhaustion.

“Your Highness, His Majesty has commanded that you and Lord Kang Yu-jin attend the royal court assembly.”

Hearing the court lady’s voice from outside the door, Yun-hui’s expression turned to one of shock. It was no exaggeration to say she was an utter mess.

She had been tumbling with Yu-jin continuously, barely even washing herself, so it was only natural. There was still some time before the assembly, but it wasn’t enough for her to properly prepare herself.

“Well, I suppose I have to go.”

Since Yu-jin had also been summoned, he had no choice but to leave. He sighed, left the room, and followed a court lady to another chamber.

As the court lady helped Yu-jin change his clothes, she caught sight of his member, still boasting a magnificent size, and blushed.

For her, who had long refused men in hopes of being embraced by the emperor, it was a great stimulus.

*Should I touch it? Or not?*

The court lady was, first and foremost, the emperor’s woman. Whether the emperor touched her or not, the fact that she belonged to him remained unchanged.

*Well, I’ll hold back for now.*

Marveling at his own self-control, Yu-jin let the court lady tend to him. She sighed and dressed him in robes that only royalty could wear.

To distract himself from the court lady, he mentally ravaged Ju Yun-hui. But it wasn’t enough. Brainwashing himself with the idea that it was fine as long as he didn’t get caught, Yu-jin spoke to the court lady.

“If your heart remains unchanged, I will give you what you so desperately desire.”

At Yu-jin’s words, the court lady beamed and nodded.

***

Yu-jin headed to the palace where the royal court assembly was being held, accompanied by Ju Yun-hui. Countless masters stood guard around the palace, maintaining an ironclad perimeter. When the two of them approached, the guards parted to make way as if they had been expecting them.

“Announce us.”

Ju Yun-hui said, looking at a eunuch. A master dressed as a eunuch went inside, and soon, the heavy doors opened.

Quite a few people were gathered inside the palace. Yu-jin could tell that, regardless of their martial skill, none of them were ordinary.

“Hah, how audacious!”

Yu-jin was wearing robes that only members of the imperial family could wear. For him to be acting like royalty before the wedding had even taken place was utterly dumbfounding to the officials.

Those who worked for the intelligence agencies gave him favorable looks, but most of the officials sent cold glares in his direction.

However, Yu-jin ignored them and focused on an old man who was smiling at him. That old man was more unpleasant than the middle-aged man beside him, who was glaring with a terrifying aura.

*The middle-aged man next to him is a master of the Transformation Realm. But for me, old men like that are the trickier ones. People who fight with words are truly annoying. This is going to be a pain.*