Chapter 76

Part 1: The Result of Rumors

Along with the resounding voice of the gatekeeper warrior announcing the opening of the gates, the main gates of the Inner Court began to open all at once.

The protocol stewards holding various ceremonial instruments played them with all their might.

The standard-bearers carrying all kinds of flags followed behind the First Young Master and his maids.

Among them, the largest flag, symbolizing the First Young Master of the Luoyang Sword Clan, fluttered in the wind.

Amid everyone moving with perfect discipline, the First Young Master’s distinctive, loose gait stood out.

“Are you saying the highest echelon of the Inner Court has no need to participate in the opening ceremony?”

The Sixth Department Head’s gaze turned toward the highest-ranking members of the Inner Court, who were lined up before the main building.

“Then for what reason are they…”

The Luoyang Sword Clan, Second Young Master’s faction.

The sharp light of the dawn sun was shining upon the documents that covered the wall.

“The Chief Administrator of the Inner Court and the Swordless…”

The Second Young Master’s strategist, Han Myeong-hwi, was going over the results of his inference again and again.

“The Chief Administrator of the Inner Court is only natural, if anything…”

Strong suspicion filled his face.

“…But why in the world the Swordless?”

At that moment, one of his close aides entered his open office.

“Um, a rather strange report just came in.”

Han Myeong-hwi gave no answer, but the aide reported as usual.

“They say the First Young Master held an opening ceremony when he left the Inner Court.”

Han Myeong-hwi, whose thoughts had been interrupted by a trivial report, frowned.

“What is so strange about that that you would report it all the way to me?!”

The aide flinched and hurriedly continued the report.

“B-but they say the Inner Court’s highest-ranking personnel came out and attended the opening ceremony.”

“What of that…?!”

Han Myeong-hwi, who had been about to lose his temper, stopped.

“Were they originally supposed to attend?”

When Han Myeong-hwi showed interest, the aide hurriedly conveyed the rest.

“According to the person who brought the news, no. In addition, before the opening ceremony began, they apparently exchanged pleasant conversation with the First Young Master. And…”

He finished the report with a half-doubtful expression.

“They say the atmosphere was so good that laughter could occasionally be heard. That is all.”

After finishing the report, the aide watched Han Myeong-hwi’s expression.

“To say that they chatted pleasantly with the First Young Master—the very culprit who had overturned the Inner Court until dawn—and that the atmosphere was good… It seems we need to reassess the reliability of the informant. For now, I will confirm it again later through another informant.”

“…No.”

“Yes? You mean there is no need to reassess?”

Han Myeong-hwi looked at the wall filled with documents, his lips trembling.

“I mean that report is almost certainly true, with no need to confirm it!”

“No, why would that…”

The aide, who had been about to ask Han Myeong-hwi, closed his mouth.

It was because Han Myeong-hwi’s expression was far from ordinary.

“Yes. Then everything makes sense. It makes sense!”

His hands trembled.

“Call in every strategist under me! Now! Tell even the ones outside to come in, all of them!”

“Y-yes! Understood!”

The aide rushed out of the office.

Left alone in the room, Han Myeong-hwi approached the wall.

Now everything was falling into place.

“Yes… That Swordless bastard—no, First Young Master Yeon Sang-hyeon.”

The way he referred to Yeon Sang-hyeon had changed.

Who had been among those who saw the young First Young Master most closely in the past?

Several could be named, but among them, the Inner Court, which served the Patriarch from the closest position, could not be left out.

And the higher-ranking they were, the closer they would have been to the Grand Patriarch and the First Young Master.

Why would those people gather in one place and look upon the face of the First Young Master, who had lived as though dead all this time?

Not yesterday, when the First Young Master had visited, but today, even creating the pretext of an opening ceremony?

“Those people—the madmen of the Inner Court’s highest echelon—gathered to see it with their own eyes! Namely…”

At that moment, he could even discern the source of the rumor that “the First Young Master would end his seclusion.”

“To witness with their own eyes the moment another successor appeared in this clan!”

He cried out as if screaming.

“They wanted to personally see the one they might one day come to serve!”

He shouted as if having a fit.

“This incident! Everything about this incident! It was that First Young Master’s departure ceremony!”

***

The protocol secretary, an old woman dressed in an elegant court robe, was smiling.

She was looking at the First Young Master as he passed through the final gate in the distance.

At the very last moment before the gate closed, she felt as though her eyes had met the First Young Master’s when he looked back.

She smiled brightly.

Others might not know, but she was certain.

And she thought that, among them, there were surely a few who shared the same thought as her.

To such people, this was no mere opening ceremony.

This was a welcoming ceremony announcing the return of First Young Master Yeon Sang-hyeon.

‘Welcome back, Young Master.’

Her gaze remained fixed there, as if nailed in place, until all the gates had closed.

‘I, this old woman, am certain that the day will come when I serve you, Young Master.’

The corners of the old woman’s eyes, who had once been the dedicated steward of young Yeon Sang-hyeon, grew moist.

***

At that moment, the Life-Severing Ghost Sword sighed and opened his mouth.

“Opening ceremony or whatever else, I do not really care, but…”

He pointed toward the forest path of Wongakjeong.

“The First Young Master has already gone in with the Head Maid.”

Only then did the triplet maids come back to their senses. They squealed and ran inside.

The triplet maids felt as though they were walking on clouds.

Now that they had reached Wongakjeong, no one was following behind them, but at the very moment of the opening ceremony, it had been the very scene they had dreamed of.

“I am telling you, it was truly a moment worthy of maids serving the First Young Master of the Luoyang Sword Clan!”

“So everyone, from now on, you must hold an opening ceremony too!”

“Hold flags like this! Blow trumpets too! And march in perfect step!”

The special unit members guarding Wongakjeong’s main gate looked flustered.

“Ah, no, young ladies. What are you suddenly talking about?”

“An opening ceremony? Does anyone know what that is?”

Every one of those middle-aged men was especially weak to these girls, who were like daughters to them.

At his shout, Sam-ryeong turned back.

“What about that line-stepping thing? The First Young Master said he was ‘going to step on the line.’ What exactly does that mean?”

Sam-ryeong shrugged.

“Master merely said that now he has stepped on the line, things will begin moving on their own.”

“Wait!”

Jeong-ah, who had been quietly following behind her master, opened her mouth.

“Master.”

“Hm?”

“About the things you told inspection investigator Kang Ho yesterday.”

“Ah, what about them?”

Jeong-ah’s lowered eyes gleamed.

“Your schemes in the Inner Court were splendid. However, were those not only the schemes within this particular incident?”

Yeon Sang-hyeon’s steps stopped.

“…As expected, I cannot fool the Head Maid’s eyes.”

He turned back to look at Jeong-ah.

“From now on, you will be able to see the things that have left our hands begin to move in interesting ways.”

A deep smile rose on his face.

It was a mischievous smile, but for some reason, Jeong-ah felt goosebumps rise over her body.

***

The Luoyang Sword Clan, Central Square.

With one sijin remaining until noon, many people had gathered in the Central Square, some of their own will and some against it.

The apprentice maids who had been ordered to undergo reeducation after pointlessly picking a fight with Jeong-ah, the Head Maid of Wongakjeong, were also there.

It was part of their education.

The instruction steward of the Steward Department, who was in charge of their education, had brought them here.

‘Oh my, did you hear? The trial we are going to observe now is apparently the trial related to that First Young Master’s book expenses.’

‘Oh my, oh my. How improper. Are they really going so far as to hold a public trial for such a thing?’

‘If it were our family, we would have handled it quietly.’

‘With this, that woman called the Head Maid of Wongakjeong will be publicly humiliated once again.’

‘Exactly.’

Until they had set out, the girls had cheerfully enjoyed gossiping like that.

But now, those same girls were streaming tears, covering their ears, and burying their heads.

“Stop! Stoooop!”

Bound to the execution frame, the Western Gate Steward screamed as if her throat were tearing apart.

She twisted her whole body like a fish pierced by a harpoon.

At her scream, the judge presiding over the public trial thundered with a shout full of internal energy.

“That wench still has not repented of her crimes! What are the law enforcement envoys doing?!”

His shout rang loudly throughout the square.

The sight of the judge, whose face was painted with bizarre makeup, brought to mind a magistrate who had just risen from hell.

The instruction steward urged the apprentice maids on.

“Apprentice maids, open your closed eyes and remove your hands from your ears at once!”

The maids of the Steward Department standing behind the apprentice maids moved.

They forced the apprentice maids to raise their heads, open their eyes, and watch.

The instruction steward looked around at them.

“Remember this! This is the final end met by those who violate the solemn laws of the main clan, dare to deceive the First Young Master, and collapse the discipline of the main clan!”

The hands of the law enforcement envoys, dressed in dazzling, ornate attire with terrifying makeup painted on their faces, began to move.

“Kyaaaaaaagh!”

Along with a horrifying scream, the Western Gate Steward’s skin was being flayed from her body while she was still alive.

Their movements were merciless.

“Uuugh…!”

Some of the apprentice maids vomited, but the maids of the Steward Department did not let them go.

The vomit that spilled down dirtied the fronts of their clothes.

Beside the Western Gate Steward, another punishment was being carried out.

“Aaaah! I was wrong! I was wrong!”

The one begging until her throat tore was none other than Steward Bang.

“Good! You are repenting very well!”

The judge seated on the high platform nodded, looking rather satisfied.

“Maintain that attitude and repent of your sins until the very moment your life ends!”

The law enforcement envoy stared directly into her terror-filled eyes and poured boiling water over her lower body.

A choking sound came from her mouth, but that was only the beginning.

A law enforcement envoy holding an iron comb began scraping away her cooked flesh.

A scream burst from her mouth.

The servants of the Bang family, who had come intending to take even her remains back with them, tightly shut their eyes.

The judge shouted toward them.

“You servants of the Bang family, return and tell them! Tell them what price is paid for daring to go beyond a request for favors merely because a few members of your family serve in the main clan!”

The servants collapsed to their knees where they stood.

“Watch and listen clearly from that spot, then go and report it! Report what kind of end was met by criminals who dared disturb the discipline of the main clan!”

In addition to those women, all those who had stood before the Western Gate Steward were sentenced to the severest punishment.

Every one of them screamed as they endured brutal punishments with their entire bodies.

Those who had gathered in the Central Square, whether willingly or unwillingly, watched the scene in fear and trembling terror.

Some mocked the criminals, pointed fingers at them, and sneered.

In the end, all of the Western Gate Steward’s skin was flayed off, and it was hung like a flag at one of the entrances to the Central Square.

The servants of the Bang family returned carrying only the torso of their young lady, whose flesh had been entirely stripped away and whose head had been cut off.

The heads of the criminals, fixed in the expressions with which they had screamed in pain and met their deaths, were preserved and displayed in places where many people passed.

Beside them, their crimes were written out in detail, awakening vigilance in everyone who passed by.