I Prayed for a Murim Reincarnation, But I Was Born as the Youngest Imperial Prince - Chapter 66
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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 66
Although it was not actually made of jade, the object colloquially referred to as the Imperial Seal filled the room with the palpable presence of an auspicious aura.
Of course, even so, this alone could not completely dispel the suspicion that it might be a forgery made from some mysterious material obtained from somewhere.
“Forgive me, but…”
“You mean you cannot trust me just by looking at a single external object like a seal?”
“Of course, I know that anyone who dares to forge the King’s seal commits a capital offense punishable by the eradication of nine generations, but…”
When an Imperial Commissioner departed from the Imperial City, that news would always be transmitted first through the local provincial administration officials.
Since it wasn’t just one or two people coming, there was no need to suspect that the commissioner was a fake.
However, since the Zhuge Clan Head had never seen the face of King Wuryong, who had come in secret…
Daring to suspect King Wuryong was a sacrilege, but it would also be a great disaster to ruin the family by mistakenly trusting a fraud.
Seonwu did not blame him.
‘If someone approached me claiming to be the President’s hidden secret power, I’d be careful too.’
Much less an Imperial Prince whose position was far higher than that, so how could he just blindly believe it with an “Ah, is that so?”
‘If it were my elder brothers, they could easily prove it by showing their unique martial arts that have reached the Realm of Creation.’
But he had no choice.
Seonwu lightly bared his chest.
“Will you believe it if you see this?”
The Yeouiju embedded in Seonwu’s chest.
The moment he saw it, the Zhuge Clan Head prostrated himself without any further delay.
“Chanse, Chanse, Chanchanse. I greet Your Highness King Wuryong. It is truly an honor that you have brought your noble footsteps to the humble home of this servant.”
Watching the prostrated Zhuge Clan Head, Seonwu felt slightly uncomfortable.
‘Uh, this is a bit awkward.’
Of course, whether it was the Zhuge Clan Head or anyone else, bowing down before him was common sense in this era.
In fact, if someone didn’t prostrate before the Imperial Prince whom the Emperor favored and appointed as King, people around them would say they had lost their mind.
However, it did not feel very comfortable to receive a flat, prostrating bow from someone who was Jun’s father.
“I do not particularly care for detailed etiquette, so please rise.”
“Your grace is boundless.”
The Zhuge Clan Head stood up, but he still kept his waist bent politely and his head bowed.
He did not dare to look directly at Seonwu’s royal countenance.
“You may assume a more comfortable posture…”
“How could I dare do such a thing?”
“Still, like Jun over there…?”
Seonwu, who was about to say that he could just behave like his son, was shocked to see Jun bowing his waist and lowering his head just as politely beside his father.
[Hey, even you are doing this?]
[Then with my father acting like this, should I hold my head high and stare straight at your royal face?]
[No, I mean, you see me every day.]
[That’s when you’re my friend Seonwu. If I did that in front of His Highness King Wuryong, it would put too much strain on my father’s heart.]
“Let us sit down and talk comfortably. I do not know if the conversation will grow long, and I do not wish for you to remain uncomfortable.”
“Your grace is truly immense.”
All three sat in chairs.
Even so, the Zhuge Clan Head did not dare to look directly at the royal countenance.
His gaze was slightly lower.
Jun behaved exactly the same way.
Because he didn’t want to put a strain on his father’s heart.
‘Looking back, if my father ever overheard me using Sound Transmission to call this guy a bastard or a brat, he might actually have breathing difficulties.’
Of course, he had no intention of committing such filial impiety, so he stayed quiet.
Seonwu felt like calling him a bastard at Jun’s acting as a polite subject, but he understood.
“Have you already heard from your son that I intend to travel incognito and roam the land of Wulin?”
“I have not heard the details, but only that you are traveling incognito.”
“Then I must tell you that first. I intend to travel incognito and look around the entire Zhongyuan. While doing so, I plan to visit at least the Nine Sects and One Gang, the Five Great Noble Families, or other influential sects equivalent to them.”
“Is it a secret inspection?”
“Not quite an inspection.”
To tell the truth, as a martial arts novel mania, he was just sightseeing.
But he couldn’t say such things to the detriment of King Wuryong’s dignity.
And it was also true that viewing was not everything.
“However, although I received the title from my Imperial Father and was given a position beyond my merits, it is also true that I do not know well how the world is actually governed. How can one know everything from books alone, and how can one know properly when trapped behind a curtain of men?”
The Zhuge Clan Head was impressed by the expression ‘curtain of men’ used by Seonwu.
‘What a truly exquisite expression and insight. How could someone who has just reached the capping age think that far…’
Although his martial arts were said to be the weakest among the five princes, wasn’t the kingly talent who knew the Dao of governance the greatest among the five?
Of course, martial arts were the most important thing in ruling a nation…
‘Although one can win the world with martial arts, one cannot govern the world with martial arts alone.’
Seeing the image of King Wuryong, which fit well with the philosophy of the Zhuge Clan, he raised his evaluation of Seonwu even higher.
“Therefore, I intend to look around broadly to see what evils have not yet been corrected, so that chivalry and righteousness may stand tall and the people’s livelihood may be at peace.”
[Of the things you just said, only ‘chivalry and righteousness’ is real, right?]
[If you practice chivalry and righteousness, the people’s livelihood will naturally improve! Are they separate things?]
[Well, yeah, they aren’t completely unrelated.]
Jun admitted that much.
The King himself traveling the bottom to see if there were any evils and correcting them to comfort the people’s livelihood.
It was a wonderful thing.
That was possible because he was in a position to leave the administration of state affairs to the existing provincial administration commissioners and others.
Seonwu implicitly looked at the Clan Head and continued his words.
“However, in doing so, your son would be perfect as someone to accompany me and lend me his wisdom.”
“My son’s talent is mediocre, so how could he be of any help to Your Highness?”
“No. From my perspective, talking to your son reminded me of the old saying, a relationship like fish and water.”
Seonwu copied the exact words Liu Bei said after obtaining Zhuge Liang.
The Zhuge Clan Head calmed his beating heart.
‘A relationship like fish and water!’
Three Humble Visits to the Thatch Hut.
Relationship like Fish and Water.
Bowing Deeply and Exhausting Oneself.
If one’s heart did not race upon hearing these words, it was clear that they belonged to the infiltrated Sima Clan, not the Zhuge Clan.
He didn’t know what kind of method Jun had used to receive such high praise from His Highness King Wuryong, but wasn’t it a truly tremendous evaluation?
“So I would like to take your son with me and employ him, but of course, it won’t be for free.”
Saying so, Seonwu placed the prepared spiritual medicines on the table all at once.
The total number was fourteen.
Wondering what they were, the Zhuge Clan Head read the names written on the boxes containing the spiritual medicines.
‘Huh? Is that Wudang’s Supreme Clarity Pill? And that is the Tang Clan’s Ten Thousand Poisons Pill… That is our family’s Tianji Pill.’
They were the best spiritual pills that each sect prided themselves on.
They were extremely difficult to make and required tremendous ingredients, so there was not a single Tianji Pill left in the Zhuge Clan at present.
‘Except for Shaolin’s Great Rejuvenating Pill, they are all here.’
Although the Great Rejuvenating Pill was said to be the best among Wulin’s spiritual pills, the ones presented here were all the best spiritual pills each sect boasted of.
Of course, since each faction had presented them at the Fifth Prince’s birthday festival, it was not strange for them to come out of his robe now.
‘Is he telling me to choose one of these?’
If it was a gift for sending his son into service, it was more than generous.
But which one should he take?
‘Hmm, the one with the best compatibility with our family’s martial arts is the Tianji Pill, but that’s assuming the same material costs were used…’
He took pride in the efficiency of his family’s Tianji Pill, but he did not lose his cool judgment.
‘As expected, Wudang’s Supreme Clarity Pill is the best among them.’
However, the Tang Clan’s Ten Thousand Poisons Pill was also tempting.
Because it had a special ability specialized in a different direction…
‘No. Still, Wudang’s Supreme Clarity Pill is the best. Although our family’s heart law will not be able to absorb its efficacy fully, even so, this is the best.’
He made a cold judgment.
“With a total of fourteen spiritual pills, it should be enough as the price for employing your son, right?”
“Pardon? Are… Are you saying you are granting all of these?”
“Since I have gained a relationship like fish and water, I should give at least this much.”
The Zhuge Clan Head blinked his eyes.
‘He is granting all the best spiritual pills of the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Noble Families, except for the Great Rejuvenating Pill?’
The number alone was fourteen.
Although it meant receiving back the one his family had presented, it was still a whopping fourteen pills.
And to be honest, many of these were superior to the Tianji Pill, the highest spiritual medicine of his family.
‘With fourteen of these, a Jeoljeong Gosu…’
Fourteen more could be raised.
And by that time, one of them, or if lucky, two of them might be able to rise to the Transcendence Realm.
Although the Realm of Creation was out of the question.
‘There are only twenty Jeoljeong Gosu in our main family.’
To bestow spiritual pills that could raise fourteen more?
‘Oh my god, I have to rethink this.’
It was too much to be the price for employing Jun.
He shouldn’t just foolishly think, ‘Wow, my son’s value is this high,’ and be happy.
How could his alias be Tian기신산 if he were that stupid?
Anyone who was a government official in the Imperial Court, let alone the Zhuge Clan Head, would be able to read the implication.
‘This means he is seeking the cooperation of our entire family!’
While the Zhuge Clan Head was reading the hidden meaning with certainty, Jun and Seonwu exchanged Sound Transmission.
[Hey, don’t be stingy. Just give it all at once, including the Great Rejuvenating Pill.]
[No can do, I’m keeping that one as a souvenir.]
[You have a better one called the Tianlong Pill at home anyway.]
[It’s about romance, not performance! The Great Rejuvenating Pill is a no-go.]
[Tsk, just give it all.]
[If you need it, I’ll bring you a Tianlong Pill later.]
[Oh, that’s a promise?]
Unaware of what words were being exchanged behind him, the Clan Head continued his own calculations.
There is a common saying that those who eat salt drink water.
And if one received such a grand bounty.
The giver would also harbor corresponding expectations.
To bestow this much grace, but not offer proper loyalty afterward?
If he put himself in the other’s shoes and thought about how he treated his subordinates, he would know immediately.
In that case, what they would feel would go beyond disappointment to a sense of betrayal.
“I wonder if it is alright to receive this much…”
The Zhuge Clan Head declined once for form’s sake.
Because an overly great grace was just as heavy.
Seonwu smiled, saying it was fine.
“Your son is truly of great help to me. There is no need to decline.”
Fourteen peerless spiritual pills?
Well, compared to the enormous wealth he would possess as the beloved youngest prince of the current Imperial Family and King Wuryong, what did it amount to?
It was just a fraction of the spiritual pills made from ingredients monopolized by the Imperial Family every year.
In comparison, when he had failed grandly with that coin with a dog’s face on it in his past life, the amount Jun helped him with was relatively much larger.
Although the absolute value might be small, it was right to calculate such things by relative value.
The fact that Jun was telling him not to be stingy and to hand over the full set.
The fact that he would give him a Tianlong Pill instead.
It was merely a part of the promise he made in his past life to repay it with interest if he succeeded later.
Therefore, Seonwu sincerely did not think of any quid pro quo for this gift.
Jun also lent the money in his past life with the intention of not getting it back.
Now that his friend was more successful than him, he felt he could take some of it back.
However, their thoughts were theirs alone.
As for the Zhuge Clan Head, no matter how much he was called Tian기신산, he could never imagine such a case.
‘This is absolutely not the price for my son alone. My son is merely a hostage and a communication channel. In reality, he intends to employ our main family.’
Of course, Zhuge Ganyun cherished Jun, who had outstanding talent among his sons.
He also predicted that Jun had the highest probability of succeeding him in the future.
However, no matter how much he was called Jiryong Prince, that was ultimately just being outstanding among the Rising Stars.
‘There is no way the value of that child serving by his side is equal to these fourteen grand spiritual pills.’
If he asked for fourteen grand spiritual pills of this level in exchange for employing Jiryong for another family’s request, everyone would look at him as if Tian기신산 had gone crazy from Qi Deviation.
Of course, naturally, it was a misunderstanding made by Zhuge Ganyun on his own.
Seonwu genuinely thought of it as a greeting gesture to take Jun with him.
Because the labor cost of Zhuge Jun seen by Zhuge Ganyun and the labor cost of Jun seen by Seonwu were completely different.
‘I know that what he lent me in my past life was actually just giving it to me… but I have to repay it now.’
The Jun Seonwu saw was an equal friend continued from his past life.
The Zhuge Jun Zhuge Ganyun saw was a proud son, but objectively, he was just a Rising Star who was a bit smart and had just reached the High-Ascending Realm.
Therefore, since the calculation of Tian기신산 was wrong from the start, no matter how precise his reasoning was afterward, it all ended up spinning its wheels.
‘Hah, this is definitely a rope.’
Not just any rope, but a golden rope.
At the same time, it wasn’t a rope that he could just grab from his end; the moment he grabbed it, it would tie him up tightly so that he couldn’t let go of it at will.
‘I have to choose.’
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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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