I Prayed for a Murim Reincarnation, But I Was Born as the Youngest Imperial Prince - Chapter 64

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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 64
While the three watched the fire across the river from afar, Admiral Lee Dae-yong shouted in a cold voice.
“The Namgung Clan shall receive the Imperial Command.”
When the Imperial Edict was unfurled, whether Namgung Un-seong felt bitter inside or not, he fell to his knees and bowed.
“May the Emperor live for ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand years. The Namgung Clan receives the Imperial Command.”
Watching that, Seonwu spoke.
“Ha, even the great Changtian Jianzun of the world cannot help but kneel and bow before an Imperial Command.”
“He arrogated the title of emperor and spewed sacrilegious words, but that was just nonsense spoken where no one could see. How could he blather like that out in the open?”
“Heheh, still, the Imperial Sword Form is a sword technique that can only be fully mastered by harboring the mindscape of an emperor. Kneeling like that must really make his stomach turn.”
Jun stared blankly at Seonwu, wondering if he had always been such a shameless fellow.
[Hey, you’re the one who made him like that.]
Would the Demon-Subduing Grand Duke really appear leading so many masters just because he was bored?
Did the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner lead the auditors here just because he had nothing better to do after eating?
In the first place, when writing the letter to be submitted to His Imperial Majesty, hadn’t he himself helped refine the sentences?
[Yeah, I did it. So what if I did! Bwahahaha.]
Watching Seonwu laugh excitedly only via sound transmission, Jun added the next lines.
[But the Namgung Clan has no choice but to take it. This is the limit of your Namgung Clan. Is it something like that?]
[Ahem, that’s a bit too blatant.]
[Oh, really?]
[Anyway, since they crossed the line, shouldn’t I also pull out my hidden ultimate move, Father Summoning?]
[Ah, right. That is truly an ultimate move. A far more terrifying ultimate move than even Tianma Dai Miejie or Bufa Wuxian.]
Since it was a single move that could completely change the Namgung Clan into a different Namgung Clan, it was truly terrifying.
[How far are you going to take this?]
[That depends on how far they went.]
They say you can know ten things by seeing one, but how far would that ten go?
Neither Seonwu nor Jun knew.
The Namgung Patriarch himself would know best, but since he wouldn’t confess smoothly, investigation came first.
Admiral Lee Dae-yong read the Imperial Edict.
“Because the Namgung Clan possessed excellent martial arts, We cherished their talent and recognized their various privileges. However, rumors have reached Our ears that instead of using this for the peace of the nation and the safety of the people, they have been rapacious and tyrannical.”
Seonwu immediately noticed that his royal father hadn’t written that himself.
Someone underneath probably wrote it well enough on their own.
“If We leave alone those who flout the laws of the land and extort the people just because they possess martial arts, everyone will follow suit. If the country is endangered in the future, how shall it be governed? However, since these rumors may have been fabricated by three people creating a tiger, We shall first clarify the right and wrong, and the truth and falsehood. Therefore, We send the Admiral of the Golden Dragon Guard with the Executioner Axe Tally, so do not act rashly and cooperate with the investigation.”
“Various crimes… What on earth is the crime of this main family?”
Namgung Un-seong was truly flabbergasted.
What kind of slanderous accusation was this?
Which bastard dared?
And even if there were such slander, how could they send the Golden Dragon Guard to pressure the Namgung Clan like this?
“The first charge is that you stole the achievements of other sects and made them the Namgung Clan’s to deceive the sovereign, and though there are several other charges, they cannot be disclosed one by one to the subject of investigation beforehand. First, seal the manor and forbid anyone from entering or leaving. Blockade it!”
‘Stole the achievements of other sects.’
Only then did Changtian Jianzun Namgung Un-seong realize what kind of trap they had fallen into.
‘How could this be….’
Swearing by heaven and his ancestors, the Namgung Clan had never stolen another’s achievement.
They had merely received the tribute that was rightfully theirs.
The Namgung Clan was the Emperor of Anhui, and the other Wulin martial artists in Anhui naturally had to show etiquette to the Namgung Clan.
In other words, if they subjugated the demonic monsters that appeared in Anhui, dedicating a portion of that achievement to the Namgung Clan as the Namgung Clan’s share was simply the proper way of things.
Stealing?
That was something thieves did.
They had merely received tribute as an emperor.
Just as the Imperial Family collected taxes from the world, the Namgung Clan had merely collected what was to be received in the Namgung Clan’s domain.
Although they could not claim to be the emperor who collected taxes from the entire world like in the days of the Southern Song, even so, the Namgung Clan was one that turned its face to the south and inherited the Imperial Sword Form.
At the very least, shouldn’t they naturally receive tribute from subjugations carried out within the territory of the Namgung Clan?
To drive such a legitimate matter into a theft that deceived the sovereign.
‘…This trap will not be easy to escape.’
Still, he could not just sit still and take it.
If the Imperial Family suppressed Wulin like this, Wulin also had its own thoughts.
He sent out a sound transmission.
[Before the sealing is completed, send a few people outside to head to the other clans. Quickly!]
[Yes.]
* * *
Seeing the Namgung Clan being blockaded, Seonwu stood up.
Although he had submitted a letter to his father, he had waited just to confirm the actual progress of the matter.
Now that the investigation would proceed, it was out of his hands.
Around the time it concluded, the Admiral would probably ask for his opinion on how far to set the line of punishment, but that was a matter for then.
It was the task of thoroughly searching the foremost of the Five Great Noble Families, so it wasn’t something that would end in a day or two.
It was a waste of time to wait around for that.
“Since there won’t be much for us to do here for the time being, shall we head somewhere else first?”
“Yes, let us do so. Senior Brother.”
At those words, Jun quickly chimed in.
“Then why don’t we stop by our Zhuge Clan for a bit?”
“The Zhuge Clan?”
“I got permission from my father to return home late, but I still want to see his face and get permission to roam the land once again. Besides, you haven’t been to the Zhuge Clan yet, right?”
“That’s true. It wasn’t the order in the original plan, but it doesn’t matter if it changes a bit. Right, let’s go.”
Considering Jun’s position as well, Seonwu nodded.
Absolute Shadow listened to the conversation between the two with a burning gaze.
‘That sycophantic bastard, changing His Highness’s intentions as he pleases.’
If His Highness had an original plan, he should naturally follow it.
How could he alter His Highness’s footsteps using his family affairs as an excuse?
‘I’ll let it slide since you don’t know….’
Still, it was audacious.
However, since His Highness had already accepted that sycophant’s request and decided to head to the Zhuge Clan, what could he do?
The duty of a guard was to escort, and the duty of a hound was to hunt.
Neither of them involved giving advice to the lord to do this or that.
At any rate, while the Namgung Clan was being turned upside down, the three headed toward the Zhuge Clan.
As Anhui Province and Hubei Province were attached to each other, the distance from Namgung to Zhuge wasn’t all that far.
However, compared to the martial arts possessed by the three, their speed wasn’t fast, because Seonwu moved leisurely, combining it with a journey through the mountains and rivers.
On the other hand, the secret message from Jun stating that he was escorting ‘His Highness’ reached the Zhuge Clan at ultra-high speed.
* * *
The Patriarch of the Zhuge Clan, Zhuge Ganyun, read the secret letter his son had hastily sent and burned it as it was.
‘A dragon is coming….’
Now was the time to choose.
It was a choice that staked the very survival of the clan.
He couldn’t even discuss it with the clan members.
‘A contact came from Namgung as well.’
If you cut out all the long-winded words, the core was this.
The Imperial Family is suppressing Wulin, so let us join forces to protest the injustice and stop the current investigation.
Otherwise, after Namgung, it will be your turn next.
‘But will it really be so?’
Clearly, Namgung is the leader of the Five Great Noble Families.
And they put forward none other than the ‘Imperial’ Sword Form as the patriarch’s martial arts.
It was a grand sword indeed.
Since it was a sword art mentioned without fail whenever discussing what the best sword technique in Wulin was.
The problem lay in the meaning carried within that sword technique.
Even a child in the marketplace knew.
The sword intent of the Imperial Sword Form was ‘Emperor’.
Of course, there were several people in the history of Wulin who used the alias of King or Emperor.
Right now, masters corresponding to aliases like Sword Emperor, Saber King, or Fist Emperor were not just one or two if you lined them up all the way from that ancient era.
Since one had to be among the Top Ten Masters to receive such an alias, it wasn’t an immensely large number either.
There were also those in fields outside of Wulin.
There was one called the Tea King because he made tea marvelously, and there was one who received the title of Song King because he sang so well.
Therefore, using titles of honor like King, Emperor, or Sovereign limited to one’s own field was recognized by custom, and it was something even the current Empire permitted.
‘But is the Emperor of Namgung limited to Wulin, or is he an emperor limited to the sword? Truly?’
Exousing themselves like that, they had dodged the blades of the previous Yuan Dynasty and the current Empire until now, but….
What kind of mindscape the opponent harbored was something masters couldn’t help but feel among themselves.
And the Imperial Sword Form was not an emperor of the sword alone.
‘It is a martial art that rides an incredibly dangerous line.’
The martial arts of the Nine Great Sects, which sought to become Buddhas or immortals, were out of the question in the first place.
Among secular martial arts, where else was there a martial art that so blatantly harbored the mindscape of an emperor as the Imperial Sword Form?
‘After the founding of the nation, the country has also become quite stable.’
When turning their eyes inward, if the Imperial Family decided to lightly punish Namgung, the self-proclaimed emperor who stood out too much?
‘Do we really need to form an alliance and block it together with them?’
For whose benefit?
With his excellent brain, Zhuge Ganyun pieced together a very plausible factual relationship.
Of course, it was a massive miss.
In reality, Seonwu still thought the Imperial Sword Form itself was extremely cool and liked it.
Far from being displeased by the Namgung Patriarch’s martial arts claiming the title of emperor, he only thought, ‘Isn’t it cool?’
However, no matter how smart Zhuge Ganyun was, there was no way he could know the heart of a reincarnated wuxia novel fan.
He looked at it from a common-sense perspective.
Seonwu was merely disappointed that the ‘Namgung Clan he used to like’ had repeatedly shown an appearance of extorting the weak in reality, and was just trying to set justice right…
At any rate, he felt no reason for Zhuge to take the hit together with the Imperial Family’s decision to break Namgung’s arrogance.
‘Rather, if my son caught the eye of King Wuryong, isn’t this an opportunity?’
Choose horizontal alliance over vertical alliance.
He deeply resonated with his son’s earnest plea.
The leader of the Five Great Noble Families, Namgung.
During the Southern Song, they branched out as a side line of the Imperial Family and cooperated with the Imperial Family to control the Wulin clans, and even when Song fell, they remained as a force in Wulin to maintain their power.
During the Yuan Dynasty, with their own wise conduct, though it wasn’t as much as during the Song Dynasty era, they maintained their position as the first among the Five Great Noble Families.
Back then, it was an era when the Yuan Dynasty might grind down the entirety of Wulin, so instead of the entire Wulin aligning and submitting, they received a promise to spare Wulin.
But what about now?
‘Namgung seems to want to do what they did during the Yuan time once again….’
Unlike the Yuan, which was a vicious demonic way, could this not be called a peaceful reign?
On top of that, His Highness King Wuryong, who is spearheading this matter, wants Zhuge to play a part in the vacuum created by pressing down on Namgung, so why oppose that?
How large that part would be must be confirmed after meeting him in person, but they should offer loyalty as much as they are trusted.
Burning the letter sent by Namgung immediately, he waited for his son’s return and the visit of the noble guest.
* * *
Finally, Seonwu arrived at the Zhuge Clan.
On the way to the Zhuge Clan, he saw how many formations were installed.
“Wow, they’ve installed quite a lot of formations.”
At Seonwu’s admiration, Jun replied via sound transmission.
[To be honest, wouldn’t there be more surrounding the Imperial Palace?]
[Hey, you punk. Still, you guys have more than the Namgung Clan. It’s no fun comparing with the Imperial Palace in Wulin, so leave that out. You brat.]
“Even so, aren’t we occupying one pillar of the Five Great Noble Families with just our formations?”
“Heh, indeed.”
“When was the last time a master of the Realm of Creation came out of our main family?”
It wasn’t that he really didn’t know when, but Jun emphasized that it was that much of an ancient matter.
“We are currently called the Five Great Noble Families, but actually, it wasn’t always five, you know?”
“I heard there were times when there were more?”
“Right. It shrank down to five during the Yuan Dynasty. But our main family’s formations are so useful that even Yuan left the main family alone while harassing them.”
Though there was no mass slaughter of Wulin, there was a lot of pressure in many ways.
“There’s no law saying it can’t increase again.”
Seonwu recalled several other prestigious families he had seen in wuxia novels.
[Wait, you’re going to increase it again?]
[Five is a bit boring, isn’t it? Aren’t there one or two famous families that appear here and there in novels? There’s the Huangbo Clan. The Zhenzhu Yan Clan. The Yue Clan that uses spears well. And the Sima Clan, right?]
[Hey, first of all, the Sima Clan here is a demonic way, so it won’t work.]
[Ah, that’s right.]
As the brain on the side of the demonic practitioners, they were playing a grand role in the darkness.
Exclude Sima.
[Anyway, five seems a bit boring?]
[You novel mania bastard. Think about whether increasing the clans will be helpful to your royal father or not.]
[No, there’s no law saying it has to be bad, you’re making me look like an undutiful son. It depends on what form it takes!]
[So do you even have a form in mind?]
[I can just think about it slowly from now on.]
[You’re basically confessing you had no thoughts at all.]
An absurd conversation took place where royalty wondered if they should grow the clans a bit more, and a martial artist from a clan chided him to think of the country.

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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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