As Prophet - Chapter 136



Only Krnovel

Episode 136. The Visit of the Family

When Ilseonggun bowed and sat down, the old man opened his mouth.

“Failed again!”

“Yes.”

“Even though I sent 500? This is incomprehensible.”

“There were Yang Ju-hyeon’s troops and the training center’s troops.”

“Training center? Has that old man Lee Ki-moon gone senile?”

“They say he came out for training as a trainee and then joined.”

“What about Yang Joo-hyun?”

“In the past, the successful candidate, Bi Jang Jin Dong-hee, was from Yangju Academy. He requested support, and it seems that he came because it was within the territory of the Yangju government office.”

“Did you know in advance?”

“Yes. They say they were well prepared. They built a wall like a castle wall and made the area in front of it like a practice area for siege warfare.”

“What about the guys who went back?”

“They were annihilated. They took a wrong turn in the dark of night and fell into a trap set by the bastards.”

I organized the work, but I didn’t directly direct it, so my share may not be that big. Ilseong-gun let out a sigh mixed with a groan.

“Are you asking me to report it now?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Do you know how much it cost?”

“sorry.”

“I can’t catch one of those helpless guys… … How many times has this happened?”

Ilseong-gun bowed his head. It seems like it won’t be easy to get through today. Will he be able to block the arrows of criticism with words like “I’m sorry” and “I’m sorry.”

“He is by the Grand Prince’s side.”

“I heard that guy came. I also heard that he was too scared to leave… … But didn’t you say that we could just push him with numbers?”

“I found out that he was not only strong, but also had strategic abilities.”

“I knew a long time ago that you have no strategic ability.”

“I’m sorry.”

Bow again. As a member of the royal family, I am not the kind of person who would bow my head to Ilseong-gun, but standing in front of him is so difficult that my bones tremble.

“There are so many dead that there will be chaos today.”

“We will also have a hard time recovering.”

“Yang Ju-hyeon was trying to maintain order, and the training center director said he helped because there was chaos during the training, so that’s it.”

“Too many people have died. This is going to be a problem.”

“Even so, he’s a victim. Go and check.”

“They have eyes and ears everywhere.”

“There’s nothing you can do. Go ahead. Reflect on yourself for a while.”

“sorry.”

Ilseong-gun bowed down with his forehead touching the floor and came out. He was so uncomfortable and frustrated that he could only sigh. When he got down to the outside porch, the people who had been waiting surrounded him.

“Are you okay?”

“are you okay.”

A middle-aged man in black appeared under the middle gate on the other side. It was just before dawn.

“You failed?”

“That’s right.”

“They got through the gate.”

“What? Those guys? How many?”

“It is said that almost everyone entered armed.”

“How? How can you get through the gate at this hour!”

Ilseong-gun shouted.

“It is said that there was a talisman from the Royal Secretariat.”

“Then the report will be sent to His Majesty. Did the Office of the Inspector General or the Chief State Councilor help with this? No, more importantly, why?”

“He said that his training was over and that he would return to his unit, but he didn’t go to the training center.”

“Where did you go?”

The middle-aged man answered solemnly.

“That’s what I wanted to ask.”

“Where did you go?”

“Those who passed through Heunginjimun did not go to the training center, but crossed Unjongga. It seems they are headed to the palace.”

“… … .”

“What on earth did you do? I heard that you were attacking Yangju, and I wonder how they entered Hanyang and headed towards the palace.”

“Are you asking me? What happened to me?”

“I have no right to hold them responsible for their failure. I wonder why they rushed to the palace.”

It’s an expression of curiosity, but it’s a clear point. Power is important not only in terms of position, but also in terms of distance. The guy holding the doorknob was criticizing, not just using euphemisms.

“I don’t know either! I just reported it after hearing the news of failure. Why don’t you find out and report back to me?”

“The matter is so serious that I sent someone to the palace first. I will report now. I think it would be best to wait just in case.”

“Don’t go?”

“That’s my opinion.”

“This is good.”

There are frequent quarrels in the organization. There can be. But the guys here are too arrogant because they hold the doorknob. It was because of the power of the organization and the power of the presumed Wangchin that they had to bow their heads and come in, not because of our military force. My usual discontent raised its head, but I couldn’t say anything more and went up to the main hall where I waited every time I came.

“What about Seo Saeng-won?”

“I told you to treat it. I lost my sword too. It’s a mess.”

It wasn’t his fault that things went wrong, but I felt needlessly resentful. I was also concerned that I had been captured by the enemy because I couldn’t contact him properly. Should I have reported this to Huizhou Yeoui?

The thing I hate the most is false reporting, and the next is no reporting. I am the one making the judgment, so don’t omit reporting. If you don’t know how to weigh the pros and cons of an issue and arbitrarily decide whether or not to report, things will go wrong, right? The reason his words lingered in my heart was because I was worried that I might be doing something wrong.

The men came up one by one and sat down around him.

Soon after, news came that the men had entered the palace through Geonchunmun. They were running towards the East Palace, and it seemed that they were trying to take revenge. Not only was I being reprimanded for failing to attack, but I was also going to be scolded for not being able to stop them from entering the palace. I was sitting there in a state of anxiety, unable to go or enter. It had been too long since I had even eaten breakfast.

Yeo-ui sent a group of informants to the government offices and the palace. Some had contacts with the court ladies, while others were close to the eunuchs. There was no need to do this because the government offices had many informants so that information could be quickly transmitted, but quite a few of them headed west in a hurry.

As the sun rose and the hot wind warmed the ground that had cooled the night before, and white mist rose, Yeo-ui called Ilseong-gun. As he was about to enter the place where they had met in the morning, she told him to go to the Daejeon in the back.

It was a place I rarely went to, so why was it happening? My heart was pounding so hard that it was reaching my chin and I couldn’t keep my composure.

There were quite a few people gathered in the main hall. There were officials, soldiers, and palace maids. He was sitting on a slightly elevated platform, like a throne. He covered his face with a silver mask that he used when he was on public duty. The cold silver color that he could not get used to no matter how much he looked at it was scary.

There were dozens of people sitting together, but I couldn’t hear a single breath. As I sat down like a latecomer, Eunmyeon’s sharp gaze flew at me.

“The Grand Prince has murdered the Crown Prince!”

“Yeaa!”

“What did you say?”

“no way.”

I raised my palm toward the noisy people and they instantly became quiet.

“We attacked Yangju Academy last night, but we failed. We sent 500 men, but not many of them returned alive. With the training center’s troops and the Yangju County Office’s troops, there must have been less than 200 troops, but we failed completely. We led those troops through Hanyang Castle at dawn, entered the palace, and surrounded the Crown Prince. All of this was impossible. How they passed through Hanyang Castle at dawn, how they all entered the palace, and what the royal guards were doing are all incomprehensible. In the end, they killed the crown prince. The head of the royal guards, Naegeumwijang Seo Jae-cheol, also died.”

The audience was speechless, as if they had eaten honey.

“I can’t even imagine what will happen next. No, what has happened since last night until now is simply unbelievable.”

Ilseong-gun mustered up his courage and shouted loudly.

“It’s a rebellion! Their target will be His Majesty!”

Everyone’s gaze turned to Ilseong-gun.

“I led an armed army into the palace and killed the crown prince. If I leave without doing anything, I will definitely help Your Majesty, regardless of what happens next.”

I was worried that I would get in trouble for something else, so I actively expressed my opinion, but unexpectedly, Eun-myeon nodded up and down.

“I think so too.”

“This is a serious matter. If another force takes action before the plan is fully developed, all our efforts will be in vain. We have gathered here with the determination to ensure that the Crown Prince succeeds to the throne, and to use his achievements to secure important posts in this country, and then develop the country. If the Crown Prince has died by the sword of the vicious Grand General, we must turn our attention to protecting Your Majesty. I request that all forces within the country be mobilized to attack the Grand General’s forces.”

Because he was a prince and had long-standing relationships with key figures in Hanyang politics, Ilseong-gun had quite a bit of say among those gathered. His experience, which came from his old age, had a persuasiveness that no one could match. Although his actual abilities were exaggerated, when Ilseong-gun said something like this, others would often back down and acknowledge it. But this time, Eun-myeon nodded. Ilseong-gun was delighted. He felt that his opinions were more popular than those of the doorknobs. Ilseong-gun got up, riding the wave of the atmosphere.

“We must act in the name of protecting His Majesty and defending the country. If the guards had done their job, this would not have happened. I think we should rush to the palace immediately and strike them down to set things right.”

Eun-myeon turned his head. The sunlight that had just shone through reflected white. In the place he was looking at, there was a group of unmanned people sitting separately in two rows.

“I would like to hear your opinions.”

Among these large, distracting men, a very ordinary-looking man leaned forward.

“I will go out at any time to take away your worries.”

“What are your current preparations?”

“It’s not enough, but we can eliminate about 200 soldiers from the training center in an instant.”

“What if all the guards join forces?”

“Even if we had 1,500 guards on duty, we wouldn’t be pushed back. If we have the ability to infiltrate with the high-ranking officers at the center, we would have no shortage of the necessary targets to destroy.”

“Good! It’s a good thing you didn’t reveal the size of your force.”

“Loyalty!”

I knew that Yeo-ui had quite a few troops that she was training separately. They were strong and well-trained, so they could handle most things in the blink of an eye. Why would we have a meeting when we could just mobilize those guys to fix things? Did he read Il-sung-gun’s mind? Eun-myeon answered right away.

“Those of you who have gathered here are like-minded. We cannot allow the rebellion to succeed. All of you, gather your household’s military personnel and gather in front of Gwanghwamun by the end of the afternoon. Things can only succeed when we join forces. I hope that no one will make excuses for not sending people.”

Ilseong-gun pressed his knees hard. Now he understood why everyone was gathered for a meeting in such an urgent situation where the situation was changing by the minute.

“The age of wood has passed and the age of gold has arrived. Before we go, please write down a list of the people you want to assemble in advance, and you will be sufficiently rewarded after success.”

“Loyalty!”

“Loyalty!”

“Loyalty!”

Many people shouted loyalty while touching the floor. Ilseong-gun looked into the distance with a look of deep concern, feeling a strange sense of foreboding. If it was the energy of the neck, it was referring to Joseon. If I heard it wrong, it would have been heard as saying that Joseon was declining. Ilseong-gun shook his head sharply. That couldn’t be true. I also knew that he was one of the royal relatives, so how could he dare say that Joseon was declining? It’s just the expression. It must be so.

Ilseong-gun rolled his head while shouting ‘loyalty’ insincerely. It was a matter that absolutely had to be asked.

“I have a question.”

Perhaps out of concern that it might ruin the ripe atmosphere, many uncomfortable gazes were directed at Ilseong-gun.

“Speak.”

“I wonder what happened to the Northern Army that was supposed to come.”

The quick-witted Ilseong-gun omitted the word Yeojin. Eun-myeon lamented.

“Time does not wait for us. It has been two days since we passed through, but since we are coming in secret, it will take at least five days to arrive in front of Hanyang.”

“All right.”

“Things are getting worse, so we can’t just wait for them to come.”

“Yes.”

“Now everyone, return to your headquarters and gather in front of Gwanghwamun with the unmanned personnel.”

A bell rang. My heart sank. The meeting was over. There was nothing more to say and nothing to do. White feet came down in front of Eun-myeon. He watched the people leave absentmindedly. Il-sung-gun, worried that someone else might say something, squeezed himself out of the crowd.

I came back with a list of names and the number of people.