As Prophet - Chapter 23



Only Krnovel

Episode 23. Rebirth is not loyal to people.

“It looks like there’s a set period of time for you to stay here.”

“Nothing has been decided, but I don’t plan on staying long.”

“Hmm, it’s not confirmed? Hmm. Then please help me out in the meantime.”

“There is already a pre-arranged arrangement… … .”

“If it’s Baek Sa-ban’s work, I’ll let him help me with my work. Then, won’t you naturally do my work as well?”

“It’s just an escort.”

“Yes, that’s just a simple escort. That’s what I want too.”

“There are already many people here… … .”

Dalcheon stopped talking and pointed to his subordinates eating on a bench beyond the cypress tree fence.

“And wasn’t there someone you called Master earlier? One person like that would be enough.”

“Do you know the master’s martial arts?”

“I don’t know. I’m just guessing, but I think so.”

“The master told me to catch him no matter what.”

“I think it is an excessive judgment. Sosaeng is no one’s sword. When Sosaeng fights, it is for the sake of the country and the people.”

“If helping me is the way to serve the country and the people… … .”

“I am not loyal to people.”

“Oh my, what is this? There is someone in the world who would say such things in front of me.”

The conversation progressed quickly as he spoke as if he were drunk. The prince, who did not know how, persistently asked for Dalcheon’s help, and he ended his request by saying that he would make Baek Sa-ban his man and make him work under him, so he should work even harder.

He suddenly asked me to eat, and then he even asked me to help him with his work, almost forcefully. He made his request in a half-drunk manner, so it seemed insincere, but judging by the way he clarified his words at important points, it was definitely not the nonsense of a drunkard.

Above all, the context in which he asked in that way felt very natural. He seemed like the kind of person who could do that.

“Anyway, I will do it that way, so please understand. I will set a date soon, so come to the palace with Baek Sa-ban.”

“Is this the palace?”

“The Baek Sa-ban Gong will know, and people will go. It will be the Yangju Bonga. I will send people to the Baek Ga-jang in Yangju.”

“Do you know Baek Sa-ban well?”

“I know. He is the best local official, a wise administrator, and a kind father to the people. He was unable to advance because he had no problems, but he was promoted because of his contribution to suppressing this rebellion. Both sides do not like him, and the other side thinks he will not be of any help anyway, so how can he get ahead? I came to Hanyang, but I will never rise if I continue like this. An official position requires pushing and pulling, but how lonely it must be when there is no one. If I pull you up, you will rise quickly. Power is like the wind. It seems easy to grab, but it goes away. You have to do it when you can.”

When I heard it, it was half a threat. It sounded like he was saying that if you don’t help, he won’t help Baek Sa-ban.

“He is a person who only works hard.”

“Yeah. Who would want to hire someone like that? He’s no help to me… … .”

“The people are good. They are getting better.”

“Then what’s in it for me?”

“In the first chapter of ‘Mencius’, King Hui of Liang, it is said, ‘Why should one say profit?’”

“Oh, you can even write! You’re a living person.”

“There must be someone like that. There must be someone who is neither on my side nor on anyone else’s side, but who works hard for the people.”

“That’s what you think. Do the people in the government think the same way?”

“They are people who studied Zhu Xi’s philosophy. If they are like that, philosophy would have been nothing more than a bad tool to make the people docile.”

When Dalcheon raised his voice in anger, the prince shook his head and took a step back.

“That could be the case, but how could everyone be like that? If you look at it broadly, it flows along the inside, that’s what I wanted to explain. If you look at it by extending the time span a little, it’s all like that.

“How much would I know about the world, having only lived in the palace? I just repeat what I hear from others.”

The general took a step back, so he couldn’t keep pestering him. Every time Dalcheon’s voice got louder, the guards around him started to stir. Some even turned their belts around to draw their swords, as if they were going to punish the rude person on the spot.

“Anyway, I will send someone, so you can enter the palace with Baek Sa-ban.”

“All right.”

“How much better is it than getting beaten a hundred times? And getting a meal at the same time.”

“… … .”

As the general staggered to his feet, Cheolmuung supported him from his side.

“Okay, Iron Man. I didn’t drink much.”

As the demonstrators were carrying the men on horseback, Dalcheon asked Cheolmuwoong a small question.

“But what kind of general are you?”

“You are the Grand Prince of Mars.”

“Oh, yes.”

“know?”

“No. I don’t know.”

“But why do you pretend to know?”

Cheolmuwoong’s attitude is not good. He rushes at him as if he will answer him with one question and turn his life upside down. Dalcheon takes a step back. It seems like he is going to cut him down. Cheolmuwoong immediately changes his attitude.

“That’s what they say.”

It’s not easy to deal with a temper tantrum. It’s better to apologize clearly and end what needs to be ended, but Dalcheon’s expression turned cold as he tried to muddle through. Cheolmuwoong yelled at him again.

“Your Majesty the Grand Prince is leaving! Aren’t you going to see him off?”

Dalcheon followed along silently and bowed his waist. The prince’s party slowly disappeared down the west side of the road.

* * *

Since I was full, I didn’t really need to go home. I walked around the neighborhood a bit more and stopped on my way home. I was obsessed with the thought that something big had happened. A grand prince is not just a superior to a county magistrate, but a son of a king who is above all people, higher than the superior of the superior.

I thought about making excuses like I was the son of a king with no other position. Should I make excuses like that it wasn’t me but that the nobleman insisted so strongly that I had no choice? No, that’s not an excuse. That’s the truth. The right answer would be to say that I had no choice because the powerful were pressuring me with their power.

But if you ask me why that wave hit me, I can’t help but confess that it was because of my own thoughtless movements. If I hadn’t been banned, this wouldn’t have happened. And there was also the method of not rushing out and hiding tightly. There was also the convenient thought that if I came out and made a fuss, who would know who it was? At first, I wanted to blame others, but my own negligence was greater.

Coming to a new place, I was a little excited. They say there is nothing new under the sun, but since I still lack experience, everything felt new to me. Perhaps the warmth of the spring sun after a long winter stirred my emotions. The lack of restrictions that made it possible to go a little further than usual made things happen.

Dalcheon’s reason grew cold.

When the powerful need a warrior, it is when they want to do something that they cannot do with their power. What can a warrior like me do? It is one of the following: eliminating a rival, protecting against an invisible threat, or commanding an army to prevent civil war or rebellion when necessary.

No one regards martial arts as a lifestyle habit for maintaining a healthy mind. Even less does anyone recognize it as a way for the seeker to advance toward the divine realm.

I shook my head to avoid the pungent smell mixed with the smell of the request, but the worries piled up in my head wouldn’t go away.

I stopped walking and went down to the river. The white sandy beach spread wide across the dune and the grassland behind it spread wide, with new grass sprouting up in lush green. I slowly walked through the green grassland below, where the annual grass that had grown lush the year before had dried up and turned white. I shook my head occasionally as I ate grass, as if it was a good idea.

As I approached the water’s edge and sat down like a frog in the rain, I heard the sound of horse hooves behind me. I turned around in surprise and saw Baek-ui-hyeong standing on the hill. A curtain fell before my eyes, dark and dark.

“Hey hey hey!”

Dalcheon didn’t respond when he called loudly. He pretended not to hear and just stared at the waves. When people are upset, looking at water makes them even more upset. Sa-hyeong called again and came down the embankment on horseback. He came down slowly from the end of the long embankment like a painting, and I wondered how he knew he was here.

There are some things that a sage with abnormally developed senses does when he goes about his life like a normal person. One of them is pretending not to hear something even though he hears everything. If I say that I overheard a conversation that took place hundreds of years ago, I would be the only one who is strange, even if I am telling the truth. That is why I pretend not to know things even though I know them. This is the case now.

When the executioner came closer, about thirty feet away, he turned his upper body around and looked back, grimacing as if he was dazzled.

“Dalcheon!”

“Oh, yes, death penalty.”

Dalcheon got up and shook his butt.

“What are you doing here?”

“I was looking at the river.”

“Are there many ships?”

“I saw a few boats and a dozen rafts passing by. How did you know we were here?”

“There aren’t many places to go nearby. I thought it would be nice to come here since the view is wider.”

“Why? Why did you find it?”

I haven’t said anything yet. I wasn’t planning on saying anything until it was discovered.

“I just wondered where he went.”

“Did your trip to Hanyang go well?”

“Of course… … . He was promoted to the position of High-ranking Official* in the Ministry of War. It is not easy to rise to that position all at once, but he has been recognized for his long experience as a local government official.”

* Dangsang-gwan: An official or government official who is permitted to sit on the ceremonial table in the hall when conducting a court meeting. Rank 3rd rank or higher.

“Hoo.”

“If he is a high-ranking official, he is a third-rank official.”

“I climbed several steps.”

“That’s right. I’m more worried. I’m worried that I’ll be blown away by the blind wind in the political world of Hanyang, where I have no connections.”

The words flying touched the corner of Dalcheon’s secret that he had hidden. He had to talk, admit his mistakes, and be forgiven…

“Nothing happened?”

“Well, something happened… … .”

Dalcheon was crying.

“What’s going on in this countryside?”

“I saw the Grand Prince. He is said to be in the palace.”

“Grand Prince? What kind of grand prince?”

“I don’t know. I was discovered when I entered the wrong Gangmujang in Yanggeun. I was hiding in the forest far away, but I heard that the deceased, who was the great general’s teacher, discovered my presence.”

The brother-in-law was startled and grabbed Dal-cheon’s shoulder and turned him around, asking.

“I hope I wasn’t rude!”

“Examples are not the problem.”

“What’s the problem, then?”

“Help the great army.”

“Ask the priest for help? Do you mean to work under him?”

“Yes. So I told him that I couldn’t because I already had a prior engagement, and he asked me if I was the magistrate’s choice. He said that he would put the magistrate under him and that I should help him with the work.

So I said I wouldn’t be in this world for long, but I wanted to do it right while I was there… … That’s how it turned out.”

“How do you know the priest’s abilities?”

“Among the group, there seems to be a person who is said to be the master of the great general. He was hundreds of yards away, but he sensed my presence and told me to go and catch him and make him his man.”

“The priest?”

“I also felt the blue breath, but it didn’t appear, so I thought it was a courtesy for the living and passed it by, which was a mistake.”

“The Grand Prince listened to his teacher’s words and caught you to persuade you?”

“It was almost coercion. They were talking while drinking, and the words were like a stream of water flowing from a stream of water.”

“Whew, what a great army! There are many people under His Majesty.”

“I said it was a palace.”

“If it’s the other palace… … Ahem, it’s not the East Palace where His Highness the Crown Prince resides. If you’re going to save a military man when it’s not the capital of the country… … Heh heh, how could this be?”

“He said that he would send someone in a few days and that he would ask you to enter the palace with Elder Baek.”

“Oh, oh, oh.”

Baek Yi-hyung sighed towards the sky. He couldn’t tell if it was a good thing or a bad thing.