Chapter 73
Part 23: Case Closed (2)
Kang Ho clutched at his hair.
The Central Inspection Pavilion had begun a full investigation.
Through his deal with the Chief Administrator of the Inner Court, the Head of the Law Enforcement Court had intended to divide the credit with the Inspection Pavilion, but now he had no choice but to deploy two of his departments.
“Otherwise, the Central Inspection Pavilion would steal away most of the credit!”
“Normally, this would have been something that only the Sixth Department of Law Enforcement needed to handle.”
“Then are you saying that, simply by summoning me alone, Young Master, you moved the Central Inspection Pavilion and made two departments of the Law Enforcement Court take action?!”
He cried out as if screaming.
“And you even forced the Chief Administrator of the Inner Court to stop covering things up and instead remove the rotten husks quickly and efficiently!”
Yeon Sang-hyeon shrugged.
“If that old man judged that he could no longer cover it up, then that method must have seemed like the best option.”
“That can’t be. That can’t be…”
Kang Ho paced around the room, muttering to himself.
“Wait. The confidential report!”
He had thought the Deputy Head of the Inspection Department had entrusted him with a secret mission because of his friendship with his grandfather.
Yeon Sang-hyeon smiled.
“Did I not tell you?”
Kang Ho repeated what Yeon Sang-hyeon had said before.
“Whoever gave you this opportunity must be an old man with quite a close relationship with your grandfather…”
In truth, the one who had given him the opportunity was Yeon Sang-hyeon.
He sank down where he stood.
Without caring about the gazes in the room, he sat there and muttered to himself.
At the sight, the triplet maids covered their mouths and whispered.
“Has… has he lost his mind?”
“I think he is probably comparing himself to Zhou Yu after meeting Zhuge Liang.”
“Hmm. From what I can see, that young master does not seem as remarkable as Zhou Yu.”
At that moment, Kang Ho suddenly snapped his head up and sprang to his feet.
“…Then how did you know, Young Master, that I would answer the summons?!”
He rushed in front of the Young Master and dropped to his knees.
His glasses had already disappeared somewhere, and his clothes were a mess.
“My direct superior, who advised me to conduct the preliminary investigation, clearly said this to me! If you do not wish to do it, I will never force you!”
Because of his relationship with Kang Ho’s grandfather, the Deputy Head of the Inspection Department could not force him into an investigation that might put him in danger.
“That is because I knew you were investigating the Inner Court’s misconduct related to Wongakjeong on your own.”
“H-how…?!”
Come to think of it, Yeon Sang-hyeon had naturally asked him before.
Whether the stewards involved in the misconduct related to Wongakjeong were those who had distinguished themselves and risen rapidly within the past ten years or so.
He had already known.
Jeong-ah, who had been listening silently, opened her mouth.
“Inspection investigator Kang Ho, that does not seem to be the important thing right now.”
“Yes?”
Jeong-ah spoke to him calmly.
“Listening to Master’s words, it seems inspection investigator Kang Ho was walking alone into the mouth of that old monster, the Chief Administrator of the Inner Court.”
The triplet maids nodded.
“Now that you mention it, that is true.”
“Our Master has bestowed upon him the grace of saving his life.”
“As expected of Master. He could not simply leave the grandson of his friend alone.”
Hot tears welled from the eyes of Kang Ho, who was kneeling before Yeon Sang-hyeon.
“Y-Young Master… for someone like me, whom you had never even met…”
“I did not do those things for you. You merely happened to be on the path I was walking.”
“That does not matter… If it had not been for you, Young Master, I would have acted like a fool until I ended up dead.”
Yeon Sang-hyeon patted him on the head.
“There is a way for you to repay this favor.”
Kang Ho put on a solemn expression.
“Please give me your command! This man, Kang Ho, shall risk his life to carry it out!”
Yeon Sang-hyeon gave a faint laugh.
“No, I do not need anything like that. First, hand over to me everything you remember about the Inner Court’s account books.”
“Yes?!”
“And then you will draft the confidential report to be submitted to the Council of Elders together with me. What do you say?”
“T-that is…”
A fierce conflict surged within him.
It meant handing over every confidential matter related to the Inner Court’s account books to Yeon Sang-hyeon, and Yeon Sang-hyeon would write the report however he wished.
“Tsk, tsk. Where did the person who said just now that he would risk his life to carry out the task go?”
“Men these days are all talk. As expected, the only person like our Master is Master himself.”
“For a pathetic man like him, the word ‘man’ does not suit him.”
At the triplet maids’ words, Kang Ho slammed his head to the floor.
“This man, Kang Ho! From now on, I shall obey only the Young Master’s words! From this day forth, I, Kang Ho, shall live serving the Young Master as my lord!”
The provocation worked far too well.
“No, there is no need to go that far…”
“No, Young Master! If you have no need of me, then please take my life here and now!”
He had inherited his grandfather’s personality exactly.
Yeon Sang-hyeon gave a bitter smile and patted his shoulder.
“Kang Ho, rather than being by my side, there will be many things you must do in the Inspection Department from now on.”
“Am I now to become the Young Master’s informant planted inside the Inspection Department? If you command it, I shall memorize and deliver to you every secret stored in the Inspection Department!”
“No, no. There is no need to be that serious.”
He forcibly raised Kang Ho to his feet.
“Let us do one thing at a time. One thing at a time.”
“Yes! Please give your command!”
“First, after you do what I told you earlier, you will live exactly as you normally have. Understood?”
“Yes!”
“There is a way for you to repay this favor.”
Kang Ho put on a solemn expression.
“Please give me your command! This man, Kang Ho, shall risk his life to carry it out!”
Yeon Sang-hyeon gave a faint laugh.
“No, I do not need anything like that. First, hand over to me everything you remember about the Inner Court’s account books.”
“Yes?!”
“And then you will draft the confidential report to be submitted to the Council of Elders together with me. What do you say?”
“T-that is…”
A fierce conflict surged within him.
It meant handing over every confidential matter related to the Inner Court’s account books to Yeon Sang-hyeon, and Yeon Sang-hyeon would write the report however he wished.
“Tsk, tsk. Where did the person who said just now that he would risk his life to carry out the task go?”
“Men these days are all talk. As expected, the only person like our Master is Master himself.”
“For a pathetic man like him, the word ‘man’ does not suit him.”
At the triplet maids’ words, Kang Ho slammed his head against the floor.
“This man, Kang Ho! From this day forth, I shall follow only the Young Master’s words! From now on, I, Kang Ho, shall live serving the Young Master as my lord!”
The provocation had worked far too well.
“No, there is no need to go that far…”
“No, Young Master! If you have no need of me, then please take this humble one’s life here and now!”
He had inherited his grandfather’s personality exactly.
Yeon Sang-hyeon gave a bitter smile and patted him on the shoulder.
“Kang Ho, rather than staying by my side, there will be many things you must do in the Inspection Department from now on.”
“Am I now to become the Young Master’s informant planted inside the Inspection Department? If you command it, I shall memorize and deliver to you every secret kept in the Inspection Department!”
“No, no. There is no need to be that serious.”
He forcibly pulled Kang Ho to his feet.
“Let us take it one step at a time. One step at a time.”
“Yes! Please give your command!”
“First, after you do what I told you earlier, you are to live exactly as you normally have. Understood?”
“Are you telling me to first rise in the ranks and prove that I am worthy to serve the Young Master?! Understood!”
Yeon Sang-hyeon gave up.
“…Yes. Just do not get yourself killed in some strange place while trying to earn merit. If you are given a mission, you are to report it to me first before you act. Understood?”
“Yes! I shall keep it in mind!”
At that moment, Jeong-ah reported to Yeon Sang-hyeon.
“Master. Someone is approaching.”
The triplet maids rushed at Kang Ho, fixed his hair, and straightened out his clothes.
Kang Ho blushed and said to them,
“U-um, would you happen to know where my glasses are…?”
“Your glasses?”
“Yes. Without my glasses, I cannot see anything properly…”
Before anyone knew it, he had returned to his usual self.
The triplet maids sighed.
And a short while later,
the protocol secretary came to inform them that the bedrooms prepared for their temporary use were ready.
***
Late that night.
Luoyang, a large workshop.
Two men walked out of the place that the Law Enforcement Court had passed through one hour earlier.
Just as they had been an hour ago, the guard servants were as quiet as if their mouths had been filled with honey.
The two men looked dangerous at first glance, and they did not seem to be in a very good mood.
The man whose face was covered in scars cursed.
“Damn it. The original mission alone was hard enough to kill me…”
He roughly shoved the documents recording the information he had obtained from the workshop owner into the pack on his back.
At the sight, the bald man frowned.
“Where is the next place?”
The scarred man asked the bald man, who was looking through the document with the list of places to visit.
There was no answer.
“Hey, you know we have to organize all that again later, right?”
The scarred man also frowned.
“I’ll be the one organizing it anyway, so don’t bother me right now. I’m so pissed off I feel like I’m about to explode.”
The weapons hanging at his waist clattered.
The bald man snorted.
“If you do not fix that temper of yours, you will have a hard time getting promoted.”
“What does that have to do with you?”
As they exchanged sharp words, they entered a deserted alley.
The work they were doing was not something that would benefit from being seen by others.
The scarred man reflexively moved both hands toward his weapons.
But he could not draw them.
Several blades were already positioned around his neck.
He tried to roll his eyes to grasp the situation.
“Do not move your eyes.”
At the chilling voice filled with unmistakable killing intent, he took both hands away from his weapons and raised them.
“I do not know what this is about, but I will not resist. Ask whatever you wish.”
A woman’s cold voice came from behind him.
“To dare investigate, from behind the scenes, a case being handled by the Law Enforcement Court of the Luoyang Sword Clan. You lot truly have guts.”
At the mention of the Luoyang Sword Clan’s Law Enforcement Court, the scarred man’s breathing grew rough.
“T-there are circumstances behind this. If you hear us out first, you will understand!”
The woman laughed coldly.
“Then speak.”
“We are people from the Daeseon Trading Company.”
The name of the trading company was rather unusual.
“…Daeseon Trading Company. Do you have proof?”
Since the woman seemed to know the name of the Daeseon Trading Company, the scarred man felt a little relieved inside.
“I have an identification token in my breast pocket.”
“Take it out. Very slowly. If you move even a little too quickly, your head will fall first.”
The scarred man took out the token very slowly.
“It is genuine.”
The woman ordered her subordinates.
“All personnel, withdraw your swords and move to the next rendezvous point.”
“Law Enforcement Envoy, but these men…”
“Does my order sound like a joke to you?”
“No!”
After everyone else had disappeared, the woman dressed in black, the Law Enforcement Envoy, sent a voice transmission to the scarred man.
‘The crow crying atop the old pine tree by the road?’
The scarred man hurriedly answered through voice transmission.
‘Do not ask whether Mount Tai is far.’
The Law Enforcement Envoy gave a faint laugh.
“A mere hunting dog, yet you have learned martial arts.”
“……”
“I had been too busy to set aside time, so this works out well now that I have run into you.”
The scarred man gave no answer or reaction. The Law Enforcement Envoy took out a bundle of documents from inside her clothes and threw it to him.
“Deliver this to those above.”
Before he could answer, the Law Enforcement Envoy vanished.
“Cough, cough…!”
The bald man, who had been thrown into a corner with his pressure points sealed, coughed roughly and rose to his feet.
As she disappeared, she had released his pressure points with a gust of finger wind.
“…Damn it. That took ten years off my life.”
Feeling his whole body soaked in cold sweat, the scarred man hurriedly hid the bundle of documents he had received inside his clothes.
***
The Luoyang Sword Clan.
One of Second Young Master Jin Myeong’s offices.
“This is information that the Daeseon Trading Company classified as ‘high grade’ and delivered immediately.”
The bundle of documents delivered to the office was neatly spread out on the desk by the personnel there.
“…Internal information from the Law Enforcement Court.”
The Second Young Master’s strategist, Han Myeong-hwi, stroked his mustache.
One of his close aides looked through the documents and opened his mouth.
“There is a considerable amount of investigation records. We will combine them with the existing materials at once.”
As the close aides carried the documents out of the office, a large space came into view.
Only in that place, dozens of people were absorbed in their work, forgetting the night.
They were compiling information flooding in from every direction.
“This is investigation information that came in from the Law Enforcement Sixth Department’s information network.”
The person who received the bundle of documents ran to one wall, where bookshelves were lined up in a row.
He found the compartment for the Law Enforcement Court among them and placed the bundle of documents inside. Soon, that bundle was selected by an analyst and moved elsewhere.
A single sheet of paper summarized and organized by the analyst was then carried by someone else back to Han Myeong-hwi’s office.
Then, by the hand of an aide, it was attached to a suitable place on the wall, which was already filled with such documents.
Han Myeong-hwi looked at that wall, brightly illuminated by the glass lamps, and narrowed his eyes.
“…Just whose stage is this case playing out on?”
Time passed.
The personnel moved busily, and more documents were placed on the wall.
Before long, the sun began to rise, but Han Myeong-hwi’s eyes remained fixed on the wall.
His dry lips parted.
“The Chief Administrator of the Inner Court…”
His face was filled with deep doubt toward the answer he had found.
“And the Swordless…?”