Blooming even in the mud - Chapter 14

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Even from the Mud, Flowers Bloom — Chapter 14

Emperor Xuanwen drew the dagger from its sheath. The blade was so dark it appeared obsidian black.
“This iron is harvested only in minuscule amounts within Zhanghou State, and exporting it is strictly forbidden. It is a dark steel crafted solely for the ceremonial use of select royalty and nobles.”
Emperor Xuanwen then flipped the blade over. Two characters, ‘Bi-za’, were engraved upon it.
“Bi-za is none other than the alias of Jiang Huang, the Grand General of Zhanghou State.”
“…….”
“This dagger is not a war trophy, nor is there any official record of it being gifted by an envoy from Zhanghou State. So, what reason could Gyeong Baek-jong possibly have for possessing it?”
There was nothing she could say in reply.
She knew the truth. But Emperor Xuanwen would never believe it. In the current situation, it was an absurd excuse that not just Emperor Xuanwen, but absolutely no one would believe.
‘What should I do? How on earth am I supposed to handle this…….’
Yoo Seo-hwa covered her face with both hands, which were trembling violently. Emperor Xuanwen dropped the sharp tone he had used to explain the evidence and gently stroked his daughter’s shoulder.
“Seo-hwa, your father understands how bewildered you must be, but now is the time to exercise restraint. Fortunately, this happened before the Grand Wedding, so none of this filthy mud will splatter onto you. Stay quietly and safely in the Princess’s Palace.”
“…….”
“Visits to the traitors Gyeong Baek-jong and Gyeong Won-ui are strictly forbidden.”

She could not even remember how she withdrew from the Imperial Presence. On her way back to the Princess’s Palace, she had fainted inside the palanquin, causing quite a commotion.
“Princess…….”
Court Lady Lee did not even dare to comfort Seo-hwa, who was sobbing uncontrollably. After weeping for a long time, the princess finally stood up.
The pain in her chest felt as if her heart were being ripped apart. Her dizzy head whispered for her to just faint again and forget everything for a little while, as that would be far easier.
Yet, Seo-hwa wiped away her tears.
‘I don’t have time to sit around dazed. I must pull myself together.’
Her own suffering could not even begin to mimic the agony that Won-ui must be enduring, locked away in prison.
“The weather turns cold at night, so they must be suffering greatly in the prison cells. Prepare warm mattresses and clothes to give to them both. Make sure to pack some food as well.”
Faced with the absolute imperial decree and the laws of the state, she did not know what she, a mere imperial princess, could possibly do. But she had to do something.

* * *

Gyeong Baek-jong possessed both high renown and an excellent character.
When the initial accusation of his collusion with Zhanghou State arrived, petitions defending Baek-jong were submitted, even risking Emperor Xuanwen’s suspicion. However, as the evidence came to light, the situation shifted.
The officials of the Imperial Court played it safe. The absolute limit of what they could do was slip bribes to the jailers of the Imperial Prison, asking them to look after the Gyeong father and son.
“The general has been framed!”
Seo-hwa alone pleaded for Baek-jong’s innocence. She sent letters to the officials and dispatched people to the commanders and captains under Baek-jong’s command, desperately trying to find a way to prove his innocence.
It was for this very reason that Hong Ok-geum had urgently entered the palace, leaving her infant daughter—who had been born only a few months prior and was barely crawling—with a wet nurse.
“I know it’s shameless of me to say this to you. But please, could you grant me just one request?”
“Pr-Princess!”
Before Ok-geum could even speak, Seo-hwa dropped to her knees and pleaded, causing Ok-geum to panic completely. She threw herself down, bowing deeply.
“I had a feeling why you asked me to enter the palace at a time like this, Princess. Is it about General Gyeong? I am merely a woman, but I truly believe he would never commit the crime of high treason. I don’t know if it will be of much help, but I will speak to my husband and my father-in-law.”
Before Seo-hwa could even part her lips to ask for help, Ok-geum voiced the words she had prepared. It was no easy task. Because she had given birth to a daughter, Ok-geum couldn’t even cough loudly at her in-laws’ house, yet she was offering to petition her father-in-law regarding external affairs.
Knowing this, Seo-hwa handed over the letter and items she had prepared in advance.
“Your sentiment alone is enough to make me grateful. You don’t have to say anything else, just deliver this letter to the Minister of State Affairs.”
“I will make sure to deliver it.”
As time was of the essence, Ok-geum took the letter, tucked it away, and immediately left the Princess’s Palace.
Watching her depart, Seo-hwa pressed down on her chest, where even breathing had felt constricted for some time now. The single line from her friend, asserting so firmly that Baek-jong would never commit treason, became a thread of strength in her lonely struggle.

* * *

[The Minister of State Affairs, as his long-time friend, must know better than anyone that General Gyeong would never collude with the enemy.]

Chu Sim-yang felt incredibly anxious standing before Chu Se-gu, who was reading the princess’s letter, which was steeped in desperate earnestness.
His conviction that Baek-jong could never have colluded had been dulled by the mounting evidence. Even so, a faint inkling of doubt remained, but because no one dared to incur the emperor’s displeasure, everyone turned a blind eye to their suffering. Beneath that lay a sliver of guilt, knowing they were doing nothing while a friend was dying.
In the midst of that, the princess’s letter received through Ok-geum was like a white elephant. He couldn’t tear it up and throw it away, nor could he easily present it to his father.
‘If my wife, who usually never raises her voice at home, hadn’t pleaded so desperately for the first time, this letter would have just gathered dust without me doing a single thing.’
The reading didn’t take long. Se-gu set the letter down. Sim-yang found it strange because the emotion flickering across his father’s face was closer to annoyance at being saddled with a troublesome chore.
‘He finds it annoying rather than difficult?’
The question didn’t linger long. Se-gu’s voice cut through his wandering thoughts.
“Even if your wife begged you, how could you just blindly bring a letter like this?”
“It is a letter from the Princess, so I couldn’t simply ignore it…….”
“Don’t do anything foolish and just take a couple more concubines.”
“Both my wife and I are young, so won’t we see a son soon enough?”
Sim-yang was slightly taken aback by the sudden recommendation to take concubines, but on the other hand, he felt relieved that the topic had shifted away from the Gyeong father and son. Just bringing them up had made his conscience flare up uncomfortably.
Se-gu, who couldn’t possibly miss his son’s psychological state, clicked his tongue.
“I was actually planning to visit the Imperial Prison in the coming days anyway, so tell your wife that I’ve acknowledged it.”
This single remark was the entirety of Se-gu’s reaction after reading Seo-hwa’s letter.
In any case, he did intend to visit the Imperial Prison one more time, so a few days later, Se-gu made his way there.
‘Things have fallen into place almost too perfectly.’
The only things he had actively manipulated were the letters framed to look like collusion.
Se-gu knew perfectly well that those letters alone wouldn’t serve as definitive proof. It was enough just to divert Emperor Xuanwen’s attention so that he couldn’t focus his care on the Crown Prince.
‘I never imagined Jiang Huang’s dagger would show up there. Heaven itself is aiding me!’
He had kept Sim-yang entirely in the dark while orchestrating these covert schemes. His childless eldest son was sickly and his second son had died young, making his third son, Sim-yang, the de facto successor to the family. Yet, there was a glaring flaw in his son’s disposition.
He lacked the cold-heartedness and cunning required to ruthlessly push even a lifelong friend into the abyss for the sake of his own desires and the safety of the clan.
‘If he found out the truth, he’d only fret anxiously and risk ruining everything.’
Among his children, the one who inherited his greed the most was Chu Na-yeon, but she was a daughter anyway.
‘A daughter needs only to be obedient to her father, meekly following whatever marriage match is decided for her. Though with her nature, no matter whom she marries, she’ll find a way to achieve her desires within that household.’
Having arrived at the Imperial Prison, Se-gu brushed aside his thoughts and adjusted his expression. With a grief-stricken face, he discreetly slid a money pouch to the torturer, and was promptly guided inside.
The jailers had been receiving bribes from various sources to look after Baek-jong. The inside of the cell was kept clean, and water and cotton cloths to wash the wounds were laid out.
Even so, they couldn’t conceal the heavy stench of blood that smelled as if it were rotting.
“Hey, Baek-jong. Are you awake?”
Baek-jong, who lay slumped in a bloody heap in the corner of the Imperial Prison, barely managed to twitch his eyelids.
His blood-matted hair was disheveled, and there wasn’t a single patch of skin free of wounds. With his broken and twisted legs, he would never be able to run or ride a horse again, even if he were released alive.
It was a sight so wretched that it struck a pang of guilt even into Se-gu, who had been self-congratulating himself for escaping the impending crisis.
Baek-jong muttered in a thoroughly raspy voice. He couldn’t even open his eyes properly.
“……Se-gu? Is that you?”
“Don’t force yourself to move.”
Se-gu bent his waist and stepped inside the cell.
There had been a strict warning from Emperor Xuanwen that news of the Imperial Interrogation must never reach Princess Sukjeong’s ears. The princess believed that there had been no severe interrogation thus far, but the reality was quite different.
From the very first day the accusation was brought forward, a harsh interrogation under torture had commenced.
Emperor Xuanwen thoroughly blocked the princess’s eyes and ears. The letters and supplies she continuously sent vanished along the way.
Se-gu had simply thrown away the letter and the provisions the princess had requested he deliver to the Imperial Prison.
“It must be unbearable, but hang on just a little longer. I shall find a way to prove your innocence.”
As Se-gu offered these hollow words, Baek-jong barely shook his head, a movement almost imperceptible.
“If you do…… even you will come to harm…….”
Seeing Baek-jong worry for his friend even in this state made Se-gu’s eyebrows twitch. Would his long-standing inferiority complex have been appeased if he had seen the man wailing about the injustice of it all?
Se-gu shifted the subject.
“How is Won-ui? Shouldn’t we at least save that boy?”
It was just as he was about to ask where Won-ui was, since he was nowhere to be seen inside the cell. The door swung open, and the damp, lingering stench of blood grew a degree thicker.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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