When it rained, the maids became busy.
They hurried to gather the laundry spread out, checked the drainage, inspected the buildings to make sure no water was leaking inside, wiped down the floors, and set up waterproof covers…. The workload increased so quickly that they couldn’t help but be frantic.
The White Princess sat on her bed and thought deeply about something. She quietly watched the maids who were running around the White Tiger Palace under the lead of Headmaid Ye Rim
Was it the right thing to do… I’m anxious, but I can’t just sit back and do nothing…
The one who secretly leaked information to the Bright Moon General of the Hwalseong District was White Princess Ha Wol.
Ha Gang Seok of the Inbong clan had used a poison called “slow poison grass” to gain control over Maid Seol Ran. Soon, the poison would spread through her body, and its effect could be either intensified or lessened depending on the techniques of the head of the Inbong clan.
The White Princess leaked this information to the Bright Moon General so that he could take action in advance.
Since the head of the Inbong clan dared to touch Maid Seol, the Bright Moon General will inevitably raise a significant rebellion against the Inbong clan. Even if it means he would be making enemies of them, at the very least, I must not become his enemy.
For the White Princess, even the Inbong clan where she had spent her entire life was nothing more than a tool for her own rise.
She was someone who would turn her back on the Inbong clan if the losses outweighed the gains.
Now that she had become the mistress of the White Tiger Palace and had her own independent power, she was in a position to weigh the benefits and losses of her relationship with the Inbong clan.
The Bright Moon General will come to me for help.
However, the White Princess’s calculations carried a certain level of risk.
She secretly smuggled out information from within the Inbong clan, leaked it to Seol Tae Pyeong, and helped him as an insider.
At the same time, she maintained a facade of indifference towards the Inbong clan. This allowed her to move between the two sides.
Bright Moon General Seol Tae Pyeong was already balancing between the Inbong clan and the Jeongseon clan.
Likewise, she could align herself with whichever side offered the greatest advantage for her own rise to power.
If anyone found her behavior vile and despicable, the White Princess would be the type to laugh at their disdain.
After all, the world was driven solely by self-interest and calculations.
When he heard the news, Seol Tae Pyeong would likely be enraged.
Then he would calmly search for a way to punish the Inbong clan for their treacherous schemes.
For someone like him, the White Princess who was an insider of the Inbong clan with ambitions to climb higher would be an ideal pawn to exploit.
Though this Cheongdo Palace appeared beautiful and romantic on the surface, beneath the surface it was a political battleground where everyone was ready to stab each other in the back.
There was no way he would leave such a useful pawn like the White Princess unused. No matter how righteous Seol Tae Pyeong was, as a high official holding the title of Bright Moon General he would have to adapt to the realities of his position. He couldn’t afford to remain passive, especially if it was for his sister’s sake.
He had both the capability and the justification to act.
How long could one continue to cry out for honor and righteousness?
Fall.
Acknowledge that you too had become a person who exploited others, stabbed them in the back, and was deeply mired in the filth of this political swamp.
When that happens…
The White Princess sat on her bed with her head lowered as she muttered to herself. She wore a troubled expression on her face.
When that happens, only then will we truly be equals.
She was aware that she was a spiteful and wicked woman.
Even so, the White Princess couldn’t change.
If there was someone she couldn’t reach, instead of standing beside them, she would rather drag them down to her level.
If they spat at her for being filthy and disgraceful, she would greet them with a smile.
Yet the White Princess’s joy never faded.
Just like when she had smiled with satisfaction, more than anyone else, when she saw the jealous gaze of the Vermilion Princess fixed on her.
She might be sinister and gloomy, but that was simply who Ha Wol was.
And so, the White Princess quietly waited for Seol Tae Pyeong.
However, Seol Tae Pyeong didn’t come, even as night fell.
“….…?”
“White Princess! Something terrible has happened! You must go to the main house of the Inbong clan right away!”
Instead, her headmaid Ye Rim burst in urgently and shouted such words in a loud voice.
***
The rain drizzled down steadily.
A man was walking through the rain.
He was someone who had risen to the high rank of Bright Moon General. A man who was responsible for the large fiefdom of Hwalseong District with numerous aides and attendants under his command.
Unless they were of general rank, most of the officials inside the palace had to be mindful of him, and his martial strength was so great that few dared to boast of their skills in his presence.
Yet the man walking through the rain wasn’t wearing his resplendent official robes, nor was he accompanied by a single attendant.
He was simply walking alone, wearing his shabby everyday clothes, and trudging through the rain.
Though his head was lowered and his face was hidden, anyone could see the eerie aura emanating from him.
A large sword hung from his back.
He had left his home with nothing but that sword in hand.
The downpour grew fiercer, the heavy rain was almost obscuring his vision.
Yet he continued to trudge through the mud, step by step, until he finally reached the main gate of the Inbong clan mansion in the Anseok district of the Imperial Capital.
The Inbong clan was among the most powerful in Cheongdo, a name that could never be excluded from a list of the Empire’s elite.
In front of the large mansion, there were about four or five warriors standing guard.
They sheltered under the large eaves of the main gate and were scanning the area for any suspicious activity.
When a figure more suspicious than anyone they had ever seen appeared before the gate, they gripped their spears tightly and shouted.
“Who, who goes there!”
It was unthinkable that they wouldn’t recognize the face of Bright Moon General Seol Tae Pyeong.
However, the current Seol Tae Pyeong wasn’t dressed in his usual official robes. He was soaked to the bone and looked like a drowned rat while carrying nothing but a single sword.
It was hard to imagine that the usually imposing general, who always moved with an entourage, would appear alone in such weather at this location.
His appearance was nearly that of a beggar, leaving the soldiers no choice but to react aggressively.
“I asked who you are! How dare you try to enter this place looking so disheveled, you insolent fool!”
A soldier who seemed to be the squad leader stepped forward and pushed his spear.
When Seol Tae Pyeong suddenly raised his head, his eyes glinted with a crimson light, giving off a sinister vibe.
“Open the gate, you fu*king bastard.”
The unexpected curse made the squad leader flinch involuntarily.
“What?! You, you bastard…!”
The squad leader gritted his teeth and tried to grip his spear tightly, but in the brief moment he blinked, his gaze was already directed toward the sky.
It was only after he was thrown to the ground that he felt the pain rising in the back of his neck.
As raindrops started to fall on his face, he tried to get up again but couldn’t move as he wished.
Only then did he realize that his opponent was no ordinary man, but it was far too late.
There was one thing he could never tolerate: anyone who dared to toy with his sister Seol Ran’s life.
Power, palace protocol, all of it meant nothing to him. If needed, he would turn everything upside down.
He was strong against the strong and equally strong against the weak. If something stood in his way, he would crush it without hesitation—even if it was the house of the powerful Inbong clan.
To Seol Tae Pyeong, anyone who dared to play with Seol Ran’s life bore that much weight.
“C-Call someone! An intruder! We’re under attack by an intruder!”
Bang!
Seol Tae Pyeong kicked open the mansion’s main gate.
The startled servants of the Inbong clan screamed and scattered in all directions. Seol Tae Pyeong ignored them and walked through the drizzling rain.
When he passed through the main gate and reached the courtyard, the nobles of the Inbong clan who had been sitting on the porch of the mansion trembled and fled in fear.
Several warriors guarding the mansion rushed out, but Seol Tae Pyeong didn’t even draw his sword as he swiftly subdued them.
The attack was so sudden that the guards had no time to organize themselves, and their individual skills were far too weak to defeat someone of Seol Tae Pyeong’s caliber.
By the time the head of the Inbong clan heard the commotion and came out to the courtyard, Seol Tae Pyeong had already single-handedly subdued all the guards.
The courtyard of the Inbong clan mansion that was drenched in rain was filled with unconscious guards sprawled across the ground.
When the head of the clan locked eyes with Seol Tae Pyeong who was glaring at him with killing intent, a shiver ran through his body.
Bright Moon General Seol Tae Pyeong turned out to be a very politically adept person.
When he brought the Inbong clan and Jeongseon clan to fight in the Hwalseong District, he intuitively knew how to maximize his value within Cheongdo Palace.
In his days as an apprentice warrior, he might have acted on impulse, but since his rise to high rank, his rationality had grown considerably.
Yet there were times when glimpses of his wild nature still surfaced.
Following the Vice General to hunt down demonic spirits, slaying dozens of bandits in a single night driven by bloodlust…
Before becoming a rational politician, he was a warrior who had bathed in blood, and there were moments when that deadly aura still clung to him.
The sight of Seol Tae Pyeong drawing his sword and glaring at the head of the Inbong clan. Those sharp eyes piercing through the raindrops.
That sight was eerily familiar.
It was an image that no seasoned official of Cheongdo Palace could ever forget.
The blood-stained swordsman who had walked alone through the palace’s main road after slaying seven generals and cutting down hundreds of soldiers.
The mad Sword Sovereign, Seol Lee Moon.
As the image of that terrifying traitor, who was known as the worst swordsman in the history of Cheongdo Palace, overlapped with what he was seeing, Ha Gang Seok couldn’t help but fall backward in a disgraceful manner.
“Heek…! Crazy…! Why is that guy…!”
Ssshhh
When he steadied his vision and looked again, it was not Seol Lee Moon standing in the rain, but Seol Tae Pyeong.
Could blood really be deceived?
The blood of the mad Sword Sovereign, who was furious to the very tip of his head, instilled fear in anyone who faced him.
“Y-You there…! Bring… bring more men…! Get the guards here!”
There were still warriors left guarding the Inbong clan’s mansion.
However, none of them dared to think of standing in Seol Tae Pyeong’s way.
The head of the Inbong clan should have known.
Even though Seol Tae Pyeong had curbed his temper after rising to a high-ranking position, he was fundamentally a man who knew no restraint.
He was the man who drew his sword in front of the special unit for the sake of the heartbroken Black Princess. The man who beat up the Ghost Hands to defend the falsely accused White Princess.
He should have known that once Seol Tae Pyeong was enraged, there was no telling what he might do, but he had mistakenly assumed that Seol had abandoned such tendencies after taking on the position of the Bright Moon General.
When Seol Tae Pyeong gripped his sword and swiftly approached, the head of the Inbong clan fell disgracefully onto the wooden floor and landed on his butt.
When one spends a long time in the political arena, they become distanced from the real threat of death.
But one must never forget.
If you are stabbed with a sword, you will die.
If your neck is twisted, you will die.
If you are beaten until your bones break, you will die.
If you are struck with a heavy blunt object, you will die.
He might have forgotten, but people can really die ridiculously easily.
It had been far too long since the head of the Inbong clan had felt the fear of death.
He had never imagined, not even for a moment, that someone would come to his mansion with a sword in hand so openly like this.
And why would he? How could anyone possibly deal with the aftermath of such an act?
No matter how powerful the Bright Moon General had become lately, to actually storm into the mansion of a prominent and influential family with his sword drawn?
There was no way such a thing could be overlooked or forgiven. No one in the world could pull off something like this.
Moreover, it was unthinkable that someone holding the position of the Bright Moon General, who knew the weight of his actions, would do something so reckless.
He also bore the stigma of being a member of the Huayongseol clan. If he did something like this, there would be no way to handle the consequences.
Based on such rational and logical reasoning, the head of the Inbong clan had slept soundly without worry.
But now, the man before him seemed to transcend such reason and logic.
Seol Tae Pyeong looked down coldly at the head of the Inbong clan who was sprawled on the floor.
“D-Do you think you’ll get away with this? Even now, it’s not too late! P-Put down your sword!”
Seol Tae Pyeong, who was as cold as ice, did not answer those words.
The head of the Inbong clan’s arm trembled so strongly under that cold gaze that even raising his eyes was a struggle.
“They say that the Bright Moon General has stormed into the Inbong clan’s mansions and is swinging his sword around! I saw the guards of the Red Palace running toward the Inbong clan’s mansion!”
“What? Bright Moon General? Bright Moon General Seol Tae Pyeong?”
“Yes!”
The chief secretary of the Ministry of Justice Wang Han was stunned as he listened to his subordinate’s report.
Bright Moon General Seol Tae Pyeong was a long-time friend of his. They had spent years together at the White Immortal Palace, so he knew well what kind of man he was.
If Seol Tae Pyeong decided to uphold his convictions, he would disregard palace rules or anything else and act according to his beliefs.
At times he could be reckless, but no matter how impulsive he was, he was not the type to do something completely irrational. Especially after taking on the title of Bright Moon General.
Tae Pyeong-ah, that guy…., has he lost his mind because of his sister… But to act so rashly and without considering the consequences…?
Wang Han knew well how serious Seol Tae Pyeong could become when Seol Ran was involved.
Still, an odd sense of unease crept in. It was the kind of unease that only someone like Wang Han who was skilled at reading people could sense.
…Or is there another motive? This seems too abrupt and unnatural to be just a result of heightened emotions…
“Find out more! I need to go check the situation myself!”
“But wouldn’t it complicate things if someone from the Ministry of Justice got involved?”
“I’m not going as a Ministry official, just as a friend. Prepare a horse for me.”
“Understood! You’re heading to the Inbong clan’s residence, right?”
“……”
Wang Han paused. He rested his chin on his hand as he pondered, then shook his head.
“No.”
“Huh?”
“We’re going to where the Crown Prince’s special attendant maid resides. She should be resting at the Peaceful Moon Pavilion in the outer palace right now.”
Wang Han’s instincts were sharp.
Instead of heading to where Seol Tae Pyeong was, he directed his horse toward where the maid Seol Ran was.
It was too strange that she hadn’t reacted at all while her brother was causing such a commotion.
The rumor that Seol Tae Pyeong was rampaging had already spread throughout the palace.
The military officers of the Red Palace were swiftly moving toward the Inbong clan’s mansion.
Among them was the warrior commander Jang Rae who was sweating nervously.
Is Bright Moon General Seol Tae Pyeong really going on a rampage?
He knew that Seol Tae Pyeong was somewhat emotional, but it didn’t feel like he was ever this extreme.
In any case, the most urgent task was to stop him. With that in mind, Jang Rae Do geared up and dashed out of the Red Palace.
– Well, we don’t know exactly when the sun demonic spirit might appear, but… we can still make some guesses.
– Is that so?
– Considering how cunning the Plague Demonic Spirit is, it will probably wait for the moment when you’re least prepared to make its move
– The moment when I’m least prepared…?
By the time it became clear that Seol Tae Pyeong had lost all reason and couldn’t regain his senses…
In one corner of the underground prison of the Red Palace, a rotten stench began to rise when suddenly an arm emerged from the dirt floor.
The harbinger of the great disaster that would be remembered in the history of Cheongdo Palace made its appearance.
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