I Prayed for a Murim Reincarnation, But I Was Born as the Youngest Imperial Prince - Chapter 61

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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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Chapter 61
Jun rationalized it to himself.
Compared to them, Seonwu was his closest friend, a bond stretching back to their past lives.
If that friend wanted to punish the Namgung Clan for their crimes against the people—on top of their general insolence—there was no reason he couldn’t lend a helping hand.
Besides, it would be even better if he could secure a promise that the Zhuge Clan’s offenses would be offset by this merit.
“Divide and Rule. You know what that means, right?”
It was English they hadn’t used in daily life even twenty years ago, but Seonwu managed to recall it.
“Of course I do.”
Granted, the phrase ‘using barbarians to control barbarians’ existed in this world too.
However, while similar, the nuances were slightly different.
“Hmm, then we need to make it clear that this operation only targets the Namgung Clan, so the other clans don’t panic and interfere for no reason. But I can’t exactly say that with my own mouth…”
“Can you leave that to me?”
“To you?”
“To our family, to be exact. I’ll sway my father so he can move public opinion, ensuring the rest of the Wulin sees that they don’t need to get caught in the same rainstorm hitting the Namgung Clan.”
“If you do that, it’ll be great for me.”
If the Namgung Clan gets thrashed for tax evasion, aren’t we next?
It wouldn’t be ideal if various Wulin forces got scared, banded together, and rebelled against the Imperial Court out of panic.
You shouldn’t burn down the whole house just to kill a few bedbugs.
‘Thanks to the Elixir Monopoly, the current Empire’s tax revenue isn’t lacking.’
It didn’t mean the rest of the taxes were completely unnecessary, but a certain amount of omission was factored into the system from the start; trying to collect every single cent accurately all of a sudden was impossible due to the limits of administrative power.
At the same time, militarily, taking a direction that would alarm the entire Wulin—and even the clans currently loyal to the Imperial Court—was far too reckless.
However, thoroughly destroying just the Namgung Clan was entirely feasible.
Furthermore, while minor infractions were overlooked to some extent, it would serve as a warning that there were lines that shouldn’t be crossed.
The Horn of Qingjuebiao?
Of course, that was a reason too.
If a clan was exceptionally arrogant, the chances were high that they had plenty of dirty secrets hidden away.
To think ‘my beloved Namgung Clan’ turned out like this.
Seonwu felt a deeper sense of disappointment precisely because he had trusted and loved them in his past life.
“Then let’s draft a slightly more concrete plan.”
“Alright.”
With the mindset of ‘who cares as long as the Namgung Clan takes the hit instead of us,’ Zhuge Jun, the Jiryong Prince, began to move.
His friend from a past life desired it, so how could he refuse to cooperate at least this much?
* * *
Having finished his work, Zhuge Jun left the estate with Seonwu and moved to an inn in the neighboring village.
Although that place was also under the heavy influence of the Namgung Clan, it wasn’t a settlement where the subordinate families belonging to Namgung lived together.
He spoke to his uncle.
“Uncle, I won’t return immediately. I plan to follow at a leisurely pace with a newly made friend.”
“Hmm? What do you mean by that? You should know there’s no benefit in leaving the clan vacant for a long time without a good reason.”
Friendship with a newly made friend?
Of course, it wasn’t a bad thing.
That friend’s junior disciple was a promising master capable of defeating Namgung Hyeok-in.
Even if the sect itself was small and obscure.
But it wasn’t an affair important enough for a prominent candidate for the next head of the Zhuge Clan to vacate the family for so long.
If their paths diverged, they could just promise to meet next time and bid farewell.
Hadn’t they already interacted quite a bit during the formation maintenance work?
“If you deliver this letter to the Clan Leader, he will understand.”
Addressing him as the Clan Leader instead of Father was an implicit hint that this involved an official matter, not a mere personal reason.
“What on earth is it?”
“Never, absolutely never break this seal.”
Zhuge Hui-yun was bewildered because the letter Jun handed over was sealed a whopping three times.
‘What exactly did he write to seal it not just once, but thrice? Moving past the envelope and even using a chest?’
Upon closer inspection, the chest even had a Sealing Formation cast on it, meaning that if anyone tried to force it open without knowing the specific method agreed upon between Jun and the Clan Leader, the letter inside would burn to ashes.
“Is it truly an issue of such grave importance?”
“It is a matter intended solely for the Clan Leader’s eyes.”
It was practically an indirect answer stating that while it was important, even his uncle must not find out.
“Understood. I shall ensure it is delivered.”
With that, they parted ways.
Left to themselves, Jun and Seonwu established the general direction of their investigation and finally entered the last stage.
Seonwu began to pen a message to the Emperor, his own Imperial Father.
After finishing that, he wrote a second message to be sent to Admiral Lee Dae-yong of the Golden Dragon Guard.
The two letters would ride the secret networks of the Golden Dragon Guard via Absolute Shadow, ultimately reaching the Imperial Palace.
Anhui Province was right next door, so it wouldn’t take long.
The results would manifest within a few days.
Seonwu pulled out a seal engraved with a four-clawed dragon.
Watching this, Jun swallowed hard.
It wasn’t that he didn’t know his friend was a king of this country and an Imperial Prince, nor was he doubting it.
But seeing the absolute proof of it in reality was a different story.
Even commoners used dragons.
Because the benevolent Emperor had named the country the Great Long Empire, he didn’t strictly forbid the public from using dragons.
However, they were strictly distinguished by the number of claws.
What was permitted for the public was up to a three-clawed dragon.
And the seal used by the five princes featured a four-clawed dragon.
Finally, the one used by the Emperor was a five-clawed dragon.
Just because the Beggars’ Sect boasted of their Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, if they drew a four-clawed dragon somewhere on their property and got caught, they might find themselves turned into a literal graveyard.
“Is that your Imperial Seal?”
“Yeah. Want a look?”
Seonwu held it out thoughtlessly, but Jun waved his hands frantically.
“Hey, to me, that thing is highly radioactive material.”
“Oh, come on, it’s just the two of us.”
“I’m terrified I might make a slip of the tongue somewhere later.”
Since Jun vehemently refused, Seonwu didn’t push it.
What could he do if the guy found it too burdensome?
Instead, he coated it heavily with red ink and stamped the letters with a loud thud.
That crimson color looked different in Jun’s eyes.
His friend had ultimately pressed a big, beautiful red button.
Before long, a nuke would drop on the Namgung Clan.
“Let’s just watch the show from here.”
Who would suspect two people simply spectating from a distant location?
To be precise, it was three people including Absolute Shadow.
“Is the Zhuge Clan ready?”
“My father should have received the letter by now, so he must be preparing.”
“Then I’m sending mine too.”
“Go ahead.”
To think an Imperial Royalty would actually seek the understanding of a mere martial artist from the Zhuge Clan and even coordinate the date to send the letters.
How could the grace and mercy of His Highness the Fifth Prince not be as vast as the heavens?
Of course, Lee Jun’s heart didn’t scream any such nonsense.
Honestly, ‘the heavens’ my foot when it came to this bastard Seonwu.
I could write an entire book if I compiled all of this guy’s embarrassing past memories.
However, Zhuge Jun’s brain was acutely aware of how grand of a consideration this situation actually was.
And unlike himself, his father, whose brain and heart would be in perfect synchronization, well…
‘He might be a bit shocked, but since he’s a man with far deeper internal power than me, he’ll probably just perform a single Small Heavenly Circulation and recover.’
* * *
Upon hearing that Jun had stayed behind after returning from completing the request for the Namgung Clan, the Clan Leader, Zhuge Ganyun, was filled with doubt.
“That boy did?”
It wasn’t because Jun was his son, but he truly possessed an extraordinary mind, enough to earn the alias of Jiryong.
He had fathered several sons, but in his heart, he considered Jun to be the foremost among them.
It wasn’t out of favoritism; there was a perfectly good reason why the Jianghu bestowed the alias of Jiryong upon Jun alone.
Why would such a clever child send a letter instead of returning to the clan?
“Yes. Your younger brother informed him that vacating the family for too long brings no benefit, but even after factoring that in, he stubbornly insisted that he must roam the Jianghu for a bit with a new friend from the Eunhak Sect. Good grief. I wonder if it’s a backlash from doing nothing but family chores so faithfully until now.”
“Hmm.”
“While doing so, he asked me to deliver this letter. He must have been worried that I might open it, considering he sealed it three times like this.”
“Understood. I shall look into it myself.”
Zhuge Ganyun handled other urgent matters first.
He placed the compensation received from the Namgung Clan into the Imperial Vault, and while reviewing the maintenance report, he cross-checked to ensure nothing was left lacking that could cause them to be criticized for faulty construction.
Only after organizing various other affairs of the clan and setting down for a light late-night snack did he finally open his son’s letter.
‘He even deployed a formation?’
Just how confidential was this?
At this level, it was no different from repeatedly warning his uncle, Hui-yun, that this was top secret.
The reason he had deliberately waited until this hour was partly because other matters were pressing, but also because it was easy to naturally dismiss the servants around him.
Thus, once he was completely alone, he broke the seals three times.
‘No, to deploy a formation across all three layers. What on earth is this?’
A formation this small conversely required far more materials and sincere effort.
What exactly was he trying to do?
When he finally pulled out the letter, Zhuge Ganyun was left utterly speechless to find it written in code.
It was far too excessive to be considered a mere letter from a son asking his father for permission to wander outside the house for a while.
And the moment he thought it was excessive, his expression turned profoundly solemn.
‘If that boy went to such excessive lengths…’
There truly might be something going on.
Just how confidential was it?
[Father, if there are any people around you, please dismiss them without fail.
And please read on while maintaining your composure.
It would also be wise to set up a Soundproofing Formation in advance.]
What could possibly warrant this?
[Your son cannot return to the clan right now, even if I wish to.]
Why?
[While conversing and discussing the Daodejing with my friend from the Eunhak Sect, the phrase ‘The Way that can be spoken of is not the eternal Way’ truly resonated with me.]
If a path is called a path, it isn’t necessarily the true path?
[Since I have been urged to accept a task, how could your son possibly withdraw at his own whim?]
Accept a task?
However, the expressions ‘urged to accept’ and ‘cannot withdraw at my own whim’ were contradictory in their phrasing.
[The intent of Seonyoung, my friend from the Eunhak Sect, is truly vast and lofty. He wishes to roam the Wulin, investigate various deep-seated evils, and embark on a Chivalrous Journey to correct them. He has urged me to join him, and I simply dare not refuse.]
A friend urges him, and he dares not refuse.
One had to read between the lines for phrases like this.
And by the time he reached these two sentences, it contained a belief that surely his father, the Leader of the Zhuge Clan, wouldn’t fail to recognize the clues when provided with this much information.
‘Could it be… the true identity of the Eunhak Sect is…’
If the Way is not the Way, then the Sect is not the Sect.
Did this mean it was a secret inspection force of the Golden Dragon Guard or the Yuelongwei?
Though he understood Jun’s metaphor, the Clan Leader’s intellect did not quite stretch far enough to deduce His Highness King Wuryong, Seonwu.
It wasn’t due to a lack of intelligence on his part, but because Jun had deliberately avoided writing down more details.
[Having investigated according to this path, there is a massive evil that ruins the livelihoods of the people. Correcting this would be a small act of chivalry, but on a larger scale, could it not be considered showing love for the people of a foreign nation? Compared to that, my position within the clan is nothing but a trivial matter.]
‘…….’
Rather than a remarkable young master who had obtained a Fortuitous Encounter and emerged from a ruined sect called the Eunhak Sect, which no one even knew existed…
What if he was actually a young master serving as a Royal Secret Inspector deployed by the Golden Dragon Guard to monitor the Wulin?
And what if that Royal Secret Inspector had singled out Jun, telling him to travel together and do some work?
‘Even if that were the case, we could decline the conscription of an inspector by leveraging the power of our clan.’
The Zhuge Clan possessed at least that much influence.
It wasn’t a matter where he had to say he ‘dared not refuse.’
If the rank of that inspector was merely that of a common guard.
But what if ‘dare not’ wasn’t just an exaggerated statement blurted out by Jun?
He wouldn’t say ‘dare not’ for an investigation led by someone of a guard’s rank.
‘A Hall Master…?’
If it were an inspector who had received a rank equivalent to a Hall Master, it would make sense.
Setting aside the Clan Leader himself, it would be difficult for Jun, who was merely one of the prominent successors, to refuse on the spot.
It was only proper that he, as the Clan Leader, should connect with the Admiral of the Golden Dragon Guard, exchange appropriate courtesies, and then go through the process of pulling his son out.
In the meantime, Jun would have to work for a few months, at least pretending to comply.
[The Namgung Clan is arrogant, believing that the eyes of heaven cannot reach Anhui, and their numerous evils have already been exposed. This seems to be a disaster they have brought upon themselves.]
However, the contents went from bad to worse.
Even if the inspector was at the level of a Hall Master, they shouldn’t possess enough power to bring disaster upon the Namgung Clan.
The Clan Leader’s suspicions only grew deeper.

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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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