When Seol Tae Pyeong was granted the position of Bright Moon General and began to amass considerable power as the master of the Hwalseong District…
Maid Seol Ran was also building up many things of her own.
As a special attendant maid in the Crown Prince’s palace, she came to wield influence over numerous other maids and received training in minor Taoist techniques from White Taoist An Cheon.
She was able to hear rumors about the power dynamics among the military officers from Jang Rae, the warrior commander of the Red Palace…… and being well-informed about the news among the maids, she could grasp the situation both inside and outside the palace to some extent.
However, she couldn’t leave the Crown Prince’s palace.
Being a special maid meant she was in a position to direct many other maids, so there was no need for her to run minor errands anymore.
Because of that, compared to her days as an apprentice maid when she could freely come and go from Cheongdo Palace under the pretense of running errands, her physical freedom was now greatly restricted.
As her status rose, so did the number of watchful eyes on her. It was only normal.
In the midst of all this, when the head of the Inbong clan even tried to poison her, Seol Ran realized anew how far she had come.
It felt like just yesterday that she was overjoyed as if she could jump from joy when her beloved brother was granted the title of Bright Moon General, but now she herself had attained a rather high status.
Due to the fact that high officials were beginning to attempt to use her as a political tool, she couldn’t help but realize that her position had become quite significant.
It seems the head of the Inbong clan doesn’t yet know that I didn’t drink the poison.
She organized her thoughts as she sat with her head bowed behind Crown Prince Hyeon Won.
She had heard many times that the Inbong clan and the Jeongseon clan were engaged in a power struggle over the Bright Moon General position.
It was likely that the head of the Inbong clan had tried to poison Seol Ran in order to manipulate Bright Moon General Seol Tae Pyeong to their advantage.
After noticing her younger brother Seol Tae Pyeong’s talent, Seol Ran made a firm decision.
As his sister, if she couldn’t help Seol Tae Pyeong on his path to success, the least she could do was not become an obstacle.
When one pursues great ambitions, it’s common for their family to be placed in danger.
If they can’t control the person directly, it’s common in the political arena to try to control their family instead.
Whether through kidnapping, threats, or bribery…
People often exploit family members as a weakness. They would try to create a flaw that would allow them to manipulate the person.
And she needed to stay vigilant to avoid that.
Seol Ran was already fully aware of this reality.
Should I report everything to His Highness, the Crown Prince? Even if a maid was the intended target, poisoning an item touched by His Highness is not a crime that can be overlooked.
By the time Seol Ran realized the head of the clan’s intentions, she held in her hands a powerful weapon that could end the situation entirely.
Even if not as powerful as the Jeongseon clan, the Inbong clan held considerable authority.
Given their long years of service to Cheongdo, they might not face the most severe punishment, but there was a high chance they’d be subjected to a harsh sentence.
However, that didn’t seem to be what Seol Tae Pyeong wanted.
Tae Pyeong seems to be trying to balance between the Inbong clan and the Jeongseon clan, and it seems that he is not trying to condemn the Inbong clan…
Seol Ran thought about it for a moment, and then finally finished organizing her thoughts.
And after that… she took a moment to catch her breath and pinched her thigh hard.
“Hah… kuh-huh…”
From the time she frequented the White Immortal Palace, Seol Ran had been known for one thing: “She’s good at everything, except she’s terribly bad at acting.”
However, when it came to acting out pain, she could manage it somehow.
The method was simple.
She just needed to actually harm herself to feel the pain.
…It was a straightforward yet crude method that made her question if it was really okay to do this.
“Hah… hah…”
“Maid Seol?”
“I… overworked myself too much yesterday… My body isn’t well…”
In any case, the head of the Inbong clan would think she had been poisoned.
For now, setting it up like this and then discussing the detailed plan with Seol Tae Pyeong seemed like the wisest course of action.
The most urgent thing was to find a way to contact Seol Tae Pyeong.
However, since he spent most of his days not in the main palace but in the Hwalseong District, it seemed like she had to think hard about how to contact him.
***
“When do you think Sun Demonic Spirit Pyeong Ryang will appear?”
The next day, I sat quietly at the Heavenly Jade Pavilion in Heavenly Dragon Hall and asked Heavenly Maiden Ah Hyun.
After all, to kill the Plague Demonic Spirit, we had to defeat the White Demonic Spirit, the Sun Demonic Spirit, and the Moon Demonic Spirit.
I was able to defeat the Moon Demonic Spirit without much difficulty because I had the Jade Leaf Sword that the White Immortal Elder had given me, but I was worried about the challenges ahead, especially with the Sun Demonic Spirit.
In my situation, all I could do was keep my body in good condition, continually train, and wait for the right moment. Seeing me like this, Heavenly Maiden Ah Hyun rested her chin on her hand and spoke with a serious expression on her face.
“…I don’t know…”
“……..”
Ah Hyun. This great girl who had repeatedly turned back time to kill the Plague Demonic Spirit and carried the burden of the world’s crisis on her shoulders. This girl seemed to have a terrible memory.
“Tae Pyeong-ah … do you think I have a terrible memory?”
Yet, despite that, her instincts were incredibly sharp.
“This isn’t a matter of memory… the Plague Demonic Spirit is incredibly vicious. The sun demonic spirit, the moon demonic spirit, and the white demonic spirit all directly inherited power from the plague demonic spirit, so their actions change every time we go through this cycle.”
Indeed, didn’t the moon demonic spirit suddenly appear in the middle of the Heavenly Dragon Hall this time?
When thinking about that, there was no way to predict how Sun Demonic Spirit Pyeong Ryang would come after me.
From my perspective, it felt like I was just sitting and waiting for my neck to be cut, which wasn’t a particularly pleasant feeling.
Still, since I was managing the Hwalseong District that the Vice General had given me well and also working as the Bright Moon General, time seemed to pass quickly.
Before I knew it, the season had changed, and autumn was slipping away.
The time of lush greenery had ended, and as the leaves began to fall one by one, the days seemed to grow shorter.
Under the dusky early evening sky, Heavenly Maiden Ah Hyun quietly watched the waterfall.
Even after rewinding time so many times, seeing her remain so relaxed made her seem utterly unpredictable.
Or perhaps, if she didn’t act like that, her heart wouldn’t be able to endure it.
…Am I reading too much into it?
Maybe she’s just absent-minded …
“Tae Pyeong-ah.”
“Yes.”
“I feel like you’ve been having quite a few rude thoughts about me lately…”
“……”
“You’re not denying it… Ugh…”
As I said, despite that, her intuition is annoyingly sharp.
“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…?”
I’ve heard that Sun Demonic Spirit Pyeong Ryang is a huge disaster that can destroy one-tenth of the vast Cheongdo Palace.
If such a huge demon were to appear, wouldn’t it make sense to drop everything else and focus solely on killing it?
What could possibly be more important than that? If it shows up, I’ll abandon whatever I’m doing and rush to kill the sun demonic spirit first.
But the world is full of uncertainties.
The Plague Demonic Spirit might see something that I cannot, so I can’t act recklessly.
“Looking back, Sun Demonic Spirit Pyeong Ryang always seemed to appear when you were in the middle of something crucial, whether it was when Maid Seol was in danger or when there was a major incident in the Hwalseong District…”
“Just thinking about it gives me a headache…”
“But you’ve always handled it well, so as long as you stay vigilant, you’ll be fine… Just don’t ever let your guard down…”
After saying this, Heavenly Maiden Ah Hyun changed the subject.
“In any case, I want to bring Maid Seol back to the Heavenly Dragon Palace before the sun demonic spirit appears. As I mentioned, once the sun demonic spirit situation is over, my authority will significantly diminish.”
“…….”
“Don’t look so gloomy. It’s something that’s bound to happen.”
With the appearance of the Moon Demonic Spirit and the Sun Demonic Spirit
Now that two special demons have blatantly shown up in the heart of Cheongdo Palace, it’s only natural that the qualifications of the Heavenly Maiden of the Heavenly Dragon Palace will be called into question.
A Heavenly Maiden of the Heavenly Dragon Hall who has used up nearly all of the dragon’s power in a failed attempt to kill the Plague Demonic Spirit is nothing more than an empty shell.
For her, there’s no way to survive the scorn and finger-pointing of the high officials.
What becomes of a dismissed Heavenly Maiden?
I do not know.
And Heavenly Maiden Ah Hyun doesn’t tell me either. It’s as if she’s afraid I might do something drastic if I knew.
That unsettles me, so I’ve asked her several times, but Heavenly Maiden Ah Hyun just deflects with a frivolous smile every time.
“After many days and nights of contemplation, I’ve come up with a plan. Listen carefully, Tae Pyeong-ah…”
“A plan, you say…”
“Put your suspicions aside and just listen… It’s better than you might think…”
These days, it’s become possible for me to openly cast suspicious glances at the Heavenly Maiden of the realm.
How blasphemous this was… If the maids of the Heavenly Dragon Hall found out, they would clutch their necks and faint, but I was only human.
When exposed to the same environment repeatedly, people inevitably adapt.
Heavenly Maiden Ah Hyun was…
Heavenly Maiden Ah Hyun was… easy to deal with…!
That was the truth, so what could I do…!
“Make Maid Seol suffer from a fever.”
And the plan Heavenly Maiden Ah Hyun came up with was something I could never have imagined.
***
“A pleasure to meet you. I’m In Yun, a craftsman. As I’ve heard, you’re quite a handsome gentleman. Ohoho.”
“I’m In Ok Cheon; I make a living through metal refining. I’ve heard a lot about you from the Chief Councilor, Lord Bright Moon General.”
“I’m In Gwi Chun, a blacksmith. Nice to meet you.”
A week later, people who had clearly spent decades in the field flooded into the Hwalseong District.
All of them had been in the metallurgy industry for a long time, and aside from Craftsman In Yun, they all had deep wrinkles on their faces. This only reflected their vast experience.
These kinds of technicians were not easy to handle.
They wouldn’t work unless the conditions were ideal, and if they weren’t properly treated, they would leave for better opportunities.
For now, they were sitting in the Hwalseong District as instructed by the Jeongseon clan, but unless they were provided with the best conditions, it wouldn’t be long before the chamber was filled with noise and complaints.
Since that wasn’t something I looked forward to, I greeted In Yun who stood at the front as the representative of the technicians with a loud and cheerful greeting.
“Thank you all for making the long journey! The Chief Councilor will be inspecting the place tomorrow, so I’m sure you’ll hear many good things!”
“……..”
The Hwalseong District.
I had called out to the technicians who greeted me, but their response was cold.
It was as I expected.
They were a group of seasoned technicians who had been through countless trials. They valued practicality above all and were rarely swayed by worldly power.
Perhaps it was characteristic of people from the Jeongseon clan. They often pursued power but also harbored important philosophies in their hearts besides power.
In contrast, they stood on the opposite side of the spectrum from the people of the Inbong clan who were solely focused on power.
Maybe that’s why it was difficult to control them with just the title of Bright Moon General.
In their eyes, I was likely seen as a young and inexperienced person who held a lofty position without the merit to back it up.
Even so, since they couldn’t be completely free from worldly power, they showed the basic respect due to a superior, but nothing more.
Moreover, their gaze which was directed at the manager who had been standing quietly behind me was unsettling.
“The one who declared she would become the finest official as an inspector of study, why is that same Si Hwa now playing the role of a manager here?”
With a smirk, someone glanced at manager Ha Si Hwa with disdain.
It was In Yun, the craftsman.
She was the representative of the Jeongseon technicians. Her red hair fell down, and she bore a faint resemblance to the Vermilion Princess, but unlike the ever-elegant princess, In Yun had a sharper and more materialistic demeanor.
Her short bob cut ended just above her shoulders. This was likely because anything longer would interfere with her work.
Female technicians often had short hair like that. The fact that she compromised by keeping it just above her shoulders was likely an expression of her desire to groom herself as a woman.
“A craftsman, huh? Not long ago, you kept talking about wanting to be like your grandfather, pounding iron all day… So, was that the extent of your conviction?”
Ha Si Hwa responded in kind with a faint smile on her face
It felt as if sparks were flying between the two, but I stepped in with a light cough to interrupt them.
Regardless of In Yun’s attitude, Ha Si Hwa was my subordinate so she had no choice but to bow her head and step back.
“Anyway, take a break and settle in. I’ll come by to check on things once the internal affairs are settled.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
With that, I sent In Yun and the technicians off after they had expressed their thanks.
It seemed that the development plan for the Hwalseong District was finally gaining momentum.
“General Seol, I’m very concerned.”
At that moment, Bi Cheon approached me and spoke.
“If this continues… Won’t the Hwalseong District become nothing more than a battlefield between the Inbong and Jeongseon clans? It’s like trying to mix oil and water that can never mix.”
“That’s exactly what I wanted.”
When I said that, Bi Cheon looked at me in stunned disbelief.
You still have a long way to go, Bi Cheon.
In a battlefield, the place that draws the most money is always the fiercest battleground.
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