At my question, Palgap chuckled as he answered.
“They say the Dong Clan’s illustrious young lady has died.”
“Is that so?”
Of course, it wasn’t something you were supposed to say with a smile, but Palgap knew.
That so–called death was fake.
And it meant our plan was moving along nicely.
“They’re saying she was walking along the road when a rat suddenly jumped out, scared her, she fell, and just happened to smash her head on a garden stone and died on the spot.”
The three of us had racked our brains to come up with a story where no one could be held responsible.
“So they say they’re from that household and are here to buy pigs.”
In this region, funerals are held as lavishly as weddings. They slaughter pigs, share the meat, and share their grief along with it.
“So when’s the funeral supposed to start?”
“In two days, they say.”
It was finally time for us to move.
I looked around at the Escort Guards and spoke.
“This matter is a secret. You all understand, right?”
“Of course.”
At Escort Guard Seo Wu’s answer, everyone nodded, including Escort Guard Myeong Jong and Escort Guard Chang Un.
“I’ll stake my life on keeping this secret.”
Hey now, it didn’t need to be that dramatic…
Still, I guess that just meant he’d really keep his mouth shut.
If the funeral was in two days, that meant Lady Jaryeong’s body would arrive sometime tomorrow.
The funeral only started after the coffin was set up behind the folding screens.
Which meant tonight we had to sneak in and hide ourselves in advance.
This time, getting caught was not an option, so only Escort Guard Seo Wu and I would move.
The stronger your martial arts, the less chance there is of being noticed.
Late that night, when everything around us was wrapped in darkness…
Escort Guard Seo Wu and I headed for the Dong Clan’s main estate.
As expected of a collateral branch of the imperial family, the estate was enormous.
Rustle.
We slipped over the wall into the courtyard, then headed toward the spot the Guizhou Commissioner of Land Affairs had told us about.
It was the room where Lady Jaryeong’s body would be laid out.
When we arrived, we spotted a small door high up near the ceiling.
We’d come here to hide so we could personally confirm how the Murim Alliance verified Lady Jaryeong’s death.
I’d discussed it with the Commissioner beforehand, and he’d pointed out a suitable place.
“Jaryeong’s body… saying it like that feels strange. Anyway, in the room where they’ll temporarily set the coffin, there’s a small door up near the ceiling. It was built to use as a storage loft, so from there you can see everything below.”
That door right there was exactly what he’d described.
It was high enough that you’d normally need a ladder, but for us it was nothing.
Tap–!
We lightly sprang up, clung to the wall, opened the door, and slipped inside.
We closed the door, leaving only a tiny crack so we could see outside.
Just like the Commissioner had said, the inside was fairly spacious.
But it clearly hadn’t been used in a long time; dust blanketed everything.
Still, it was far better than hanging from a beam or rafter for three days straight.
And when it came to dust, there was a way to deal with that.
Vmmm.
I stirred up my internal Qi, gathered the dust into a clump, and swept it off into a corner.
Now it finally felt a bit livable.
At the same time, the long wait for our patience to be tested began.
Creak.
The next day, the door slid open and people came in.
They spread a cloth over a wide table and carefully set the coffin on top.
“Check the deceased’s condition.”
“Yes.”
They opened the coffin.
Lady Jaryeong lay inside, looking for all the world like a real corpse.
Just in case, I quietly probed her Qi with the barest trace of internal strength, so no one would notice.
Her heartbeat was faint but steady, which meant she was definitely alive.
The White-Haired Painter-Physician’s skill really was incredible.
Good thing we’d slipped in ahead of time. Among the people who had just entered, I could feel the Qi of someone from the Unorthodox Sect.
As they bustled about, getting ready to leave the coffin and go, he secretly drew a needle from inside his robe.
Huh? That bastard?
At the same moment, I sensed someone’s presence nearby suddenly jolt.
It was Escort Guard Jin Yu’s Qi.
I’d left him at the Commissioner of Land Affairs Office to watch over Lady Jaryeong’s safety and to see if anyone tried to approach her to verify her death.
That was why he had accompanied Lady Jaryeong here.
I hurriedly sent a voice transmission.
– Just watch and don’t intervene.
I said that because I didn’t sense any poison from that needle.
Even if it had been coated with poison, as long as too much time didn’t pass, I could detoxify it anyway.
I’d expected them to at least feel for a pulse, but I hadn’t thought they’d use a trick like this.
Then again, if you want to be sure someone’s truly dead, that might actually be the most reliable method.
And this was probably the only chance they’d get to try it.
He jabbed the needle into Lady Jaryeong’s leg.
She didn’t so much as twitch.
Hardly any blood flowed out, and what little did was stagnant, dead blood.
I would have preferred not to leave any wounds on her body, but this was something we had no choice but to accept.
After confirming the lack of reaction, he casually wiped the blood away with his sleeve and slipped the needle back into his robe.
It all happened in an instant.
I made sure to etch that man’s face clearly into my memory.
For now I had no choice but to let it go, but once he reported to his superiors… he’d be the one vouching, “She’s really dead.”
I sent another voice transmission to Escort Guard Jin Yu.
– I’m giving you an additional order. Keep that man under surveillance.
– I receive your command.
Three days passed after that.
We often heard wailing from outside, but no one came back in to recheck Lady Jaryeong’s body.
Creak.
The door opened and a group entered, shrouded Lady Jaryeong’s body, and closed the coffin lid.
Then they hoisted the coffin and carried it out.
It was time for us to move again.
Taking advantage of the empty room, Escort Guard Seo Wu and I slipped out of our hiding place as well.
We quickly headed for the cave the Commissioner had told us about.
In the region where the Dong Clan’s main estate stood, they practiced what’s called cave burial, placing coffins with bodies inside deep within a cavern.
Since the area was so damp, the best method was to leave the dead in a well ventilated cave.
That local custom was one of the reasons I could come up with this plan.
The cave lay up a fairly steep mountain path, but we made our way there without any trouble.
After waiting there a short while, we heard noisy voices and footsteps approaching.
The men carrying the coffin came in and set it down to one side.
They sprinkled liquor around, lit candles, and recited the funeral text, and among them I spotted the man who had stabbed Lady Jaryeong with the needle.
Which meant Escort Guard Jin Yu had to be somewhere close by…
Ah, there he was.
– Anything to report?
– Yes. I saw him send out a courier letter.
– So he reported to his superiors.
– That’s right.
Hmm?
– I intercepted the letter in the middle and checked the contents. It said they’d confirmed Lady Jaryeong of the Dong Clan was dead, without a doubt.
– You actually checked it?
– Yes. He used the same method that a man named Im Do used previously to send a letter, so I was able to check it.
Ah… he meant the trick of hiding the letter in a tree and having a bird carry it up the chain.
– But I couldn’t confirm where the letter was being sent. My apologies.
– That letter needs to reach the higher–ups safely. Only then can we say half of this operation is a success. You’ve done well. Come to the meeting spot tonight between 7 and 9 p.m. As soon as Escort Guard Jin Yu arrives, we’ll depart.
While we were talking, the people who’d finished the rites and recitations began filing out of the cave.
Lady Jaryeong’s older brothers all wore utterly vacant expressions.
Her mother could barely stand from grief, and the Commissioner looked stricken with sorrow.
Of course, his anguish wasn’t because he truly believed Lady Jaryeong was dead, but because he had to turn his living daughter into a dead person on paper.
That resentment and hatred toward the Murim Alliance was a great help to me.
There’s a saying.
The enemy of my enemy is an ally.
But even so, watching them like that made my chest ache and left me feeling unbearably heavy.
That anger… I’ll definitely settle it for you.
About four hours after they left…
When I could no longer sense anyone’s presence, I opened the coffin, slit the burial shroud with my dagger, and lifted Lady Jaryeong out.
Looking around, I saw other sets of remains neatly stacked nearby.
Once the bones in a coffin here had dried out completely, they were taken out and piled to the side like that.
If they didn’t, the cave would have filled up long ago.
First, I bowed my head to them.
I’m sorry.
But this is to save one of your descendants, so I ask for your understanding.
Now I needed to choose a suitable set of bones to place in the coffin in Lady Jaryeong’s stead…
Clatter.
As if answering my words, one skull from the stacked remains rolled, bounced, and dropped right into the coffin.
Was that their way of giving me permission for what I was about to do?
I placed that skull’s bones into the coffin, splashed extra strong liquor over it, and set it alight.
Whoosh!
The flames roared up as fiercely as the liquor I’d poured.
And with that, the evidence was gone.
“Let’s go!”
“Yes.”
I picked Lady Jaryeong up in my arms and made my way out of the cave, then headed toward where Palgap and the others were waiting.
“Young Master!”
Somehow knowing exactly when I’d arrive, Palgap was there waiting for me.
“Over here, sir!”
When I opened the carriage door, there was a woman sitting inside.
She was a maid from the Dong Clan’s main household.
Some time ago, Lady Jaryeong had saved her life.
A precious heirloom had gone missing from the main house, and she’d been accused of stealing it.
Back then, Lady Jaryeong found the lost item for her, and thanks to that she was cleared of all charges.
So when we asked for her help this time, she readily agreed.
Getting help from one of the personal attendants would have been ideal, but that would have attracted too much attention in too many ways.
Attendants practically never leave their mistress’s side.
Maidservants, on the other hand, were all but invisible, making her the perfect choice.
The reason we’d specifically arranged for a maid was that someone had to look after Lady Jaryeong and help change her clothes.
Every last one of us traveling together was a man.
Besides, she couldn’t very well travel all the way to Beijing in the clothes of a corpse, especially when we’d have to stop at inns along the way.
“Oh my goodness!”
When I climbed into the carriage with Lady Jaryeong in my arms, the maid jumped in shock.
“Young Lady!”
I spoke calmly to soothe her.
“Don’t be startled. She looks dead right now, but in about two days she’ll open her eyes.”
“R–really?”
“Yes.”
I nodded.
“So please change her into the clothes we’ve prepared.”
“All right.”
“I assume you’ve already heard the plan for what comes next from my attendant.”
She nodded.
“From now on, you must never reveal Lady Jaryeong’s true status.”
“I heard that too. It’s to protect Young Lady’s life, isn’t it?”
“That’s right. But someday, she will be able to reclaim who she truly is. I promise you that.”
It was a promise I was making to myself as much as to her.
For Lady Jaryeong to reclaim her identity meant the Murim Alliance would no longer be able to come after her life.
Right then, Escort Guard Jin Yu rejoined us, and we set out immediately.
Just as we had on the way here, we took a boat and sped back toward Beijing along the river.
.
.
.
Roughly ten days passed like that, and we were still on the boat.
“How’s the seasickness? Are you all right?”
At my question, Lady Jaryeong nodded.
“Yes.”
“I’m surprised. I thought you’d get seasick for sure.”
At that, she laughed softly.
“I didn’t know I wouldn’t get seasick either.”
Two days after the day we took her out of the coffin, she opened her eyes, just as the White-Haired Painter-Physician had said.
Right after that, she coughed up a mouthful of blood.
It was the stagnant, dead blood that had been pooled in her body.
Once that was out, her blood must have started circling properly again, because color returned to her body, and now she was moving perfectly normally.
Senior White-Haired Painter-Physician, you’re truly amazing.
“We’ll be arriving in Jinan before long.”
To avoid the Murim Alliance’s eyes as much as possible, we planned to disembark at Jinan and travel to Beijing from there.
“Are you cold?”
She shook her head at my question.
“I’m fine. The cold just means I’ll finally get to see real snow.”
“That’s true. You’ve always wanted to see snow, haven’t you, Lady?”
“Um… where will I be living from now on?”
“We’ll prepare a quiet house where you can stay. There, you’ll live under a different name and a different identity.”
I’d already asked my master for help by letter sent through Geumryeong, so we could give her a new identity.
Right now, my master is known to others as a descendant of the great hero Gwak Hoon.
Because Gwak Hoon’s descendants lived in hiding, hardly anyone remembers the details about them, which makes it perfect.
At the same time, it’s a position no one can carelessly meddle with.
Fortunately, my master had gladly agreed.
“Um… I have a favor to ask.”
“What is it?”
“If it wouldn’t be a bother, would it be all right if I helped out with the merchant group’s work?”
“Huh?”
“The truth is… I studied all kinds of things to help with my father’s work.”
That was something I hadn’t expected at all.
I decided to test her abilities a little.
“Are you good with numbers?”
“Yes.”
“Have you, by any chance, studied the Four Books and Three Classics?”
“Yes, I’ve studied them all. And…”
She went on to explain the other books she had learned from.
I couldn’t help being quietly astonished at what she said.
At this level, she could probably sit for the civil service exams right now.
She was only nineteen, and she’d already mastered all that?
Come to think of it… Lady Jaryeong’s father had placed first in the imperial examinations.
She really had inherited only the best from both her parents.
I posed a question as a little test, and after thinking for a moment, she gave the correct answer.
Until now, I’d only focused on her ability to see the future, but even without that, she was an exceptional talent.
I smiled.
“Then would you like to work as my deputy? As it happens, I’ve been in need of one.”
–TL Notes–
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