I Prayed for a Murim Reincarnation, But I Was Born as the Youngest Imperial Prince - Chapter 96

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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 96
After the banquet concluded, the Wolyeop Sect presented Seonwu with three Tokens of Gratitude.
“The debt our sect owes you is immeasurably vast, so we have prepared three.”
Tokens of Gratitude typically had distinct gradations.
They served to indicate the magnitude of the favor received.
Furthermore, the record would explicitly detail to whom and for what reason it had been granted.
In short, forging one with intricate craftsmanship was utterly meaningless.
Could anyone play the role of the Emperor simply by counterfeiting the Imperial Seal?
Ultimately, a Token of Gratitude was merely a tangible symbol handed over to represent that bond.
Though what truly mattered was the person behind it, rather than the object itself.
“You shouldn’t have…”
Seonwu politely declined once, purely for the sake of courtesy.
“No, if we failed to acknowledge this debt, the entire Jianghu would mock our sect. Please, you must accept them.”
“If you insist, then very well. The three of us shall divide them among ourselves.”
“Should our sect ever be needed in the future, call upon us at any time. Even if it requires my very life, I shall give it to you.”
“Your words carry too much weight.”
“They do not. Our sect was truly on the brink of ruin, and my son was nearly framed and killed. This is my absolute sincerity.”
Seonwu accepted them with a smile.
“While it won’t come to your life, if a situation arises where I require assistance in the future, I shall make my request then.”
“You must.”
Whether a day would come when he actually needed the Wolyeop Sect remained uncertain, but Seonwu decided to accept the promise for now.
‘Isn’t expanding your network like this the fundamental bread and butter of a chivalrous xia?’
Having friends scattered across the entire Jianghu and leaving a trail of favors in your wake!
That way, a single word from him would fill the Jianghu with people willing to stand up and gladly join a perilous battle.
‘Ah, this is the true essence of a great hero.’
Amidst the joyful atmosphere of the banquet, the Young Master of Wolyeop Sect was busy receiving a harsh scolding.
“You wretched boy, you brought this disaster upon yourself because you failed to conduct yourself with caution.”
Faced with the Sect Leader’s rebuke, the Young Master could only lower his head like a criminal who had stirred up a massive storm.
“I am terribly sorry, Father.”
“I will not fault you for enjoying the finer things in life! But how could you put your trust in a courtesan and act so recklessly!”
“I have no excuse, Father.”
Seonwu kept his thoughts to himself.
‘Honestly, the conspiracy was so meticulously crafted that even if he hadn’t fallen for a woman, they would have ensnared him some other way.’
Only the minor details would have differed.
In fact, the plot might have unfolded by simply murdering him right on the spot.
Still, if this experience caused the Young Master to wake up, dedicate himself to martial arts training, and properly learn how to manage the sect, wouldn’t it all turn out for the best?
Even so, it felt pitiful to watch him get endlessly berated while still recovering from his wounds, so Seonwu decided to change the subject.
“Ahem, Sect Leader. Please leave it at that. Your son must have reflected deeply on his actions by now.”
“I lost my composure in front of our benefactor. My apologies.”
“More importantly, have you given any thought to what kind of compensation you will demand from the Huangbo Clan?”
“Mmm, they did request negotiations, but I postponed the matter, telling them we would speak after the banquet.”
“I have no right to meddle, but wouldn’t it be wiser to demand things you can actually defend?”
Hearing Seonwu’s advice, the Sect Leader of Wolyeop nodded to show his understanding.
“Indeed, possessing treasures that exceed one’s own strength only invites calamity.”
Suppose the Wolyeop Sect extracted a massive fortune from the Huangbo Clan right now as an apology.
To other factions, they would instantly look like an incredibly delicious prey.
The inherent strength of the Wolyeop Sect would remain exactly the same, yet their wealth would skyrocket.
Of course, because justification and the law existed, other sects couldn’t just strike them without reason.
Wasn’t the Huangbo Clan’s current ruin the direct result of their botched attempt to manufacture a justification?
However, the Jianghu was ultimately governed by power.
The law had a habit of turning a blind eye after the deed was already done.
They had simply been fortunate this time.
The same applied to justification.
‘Without the three of us benefactors, their plot to create a justification would have succeeded perfectly.’
Even if things didn’t go that far, other sects might pick a fight over minor disputes to strip them of wealth through a martial sparring match.
Or perhaps they would conceal their identities to launch a surprise night raid and plunder the sect.
The more enticing the prey, the higher the probability that someone would stretch the truth or even risk using underhanded tricks.
The Huangbo Clan would behave discreetly for the time being, but who knew who else might move, or how?
“What if we arrange to receive a share of spiritual medicine for about thirty years, and expand our influence by just a single county?”
“That sounds perfectly reasonable.”
Even that would instantly double their territory, meaning they would face some hardships trying to digest it, but it wasn’t an impossible task.
They would have to use the spiritual medicine received from the Huangbo Clan to rapidly bolster their military might.
It would be even better if they could recruit a few retainers from somewhere.
“I would deeply appreciate it if you could remain here until the final verdict is delivered.”
“Very well. I highly doubt the Huangbo Clan would resort to military force at this stage, but one can never be too sure.”
Aside from the Patriarch, the Great Elder—who was in the Transcendence Realm—remained, along with numerous masters.
Even excluding the Patriarch, the Huangbo Clan was still vastly more powerful than the Wolyeop Sect.
Since he had already intervened, Seonwu decided to invest a little more time to ensure a clean conclusion.
‘Besides, I need to urgently contact Father regarding the matter of serving in the army in white clothes to secure his permission.’
The Prefect was only acting on his orders, so the court officials would likely waste time spinning their wheels in endless debates without reaching a decision.
* * *
Once the banquet concluded, Seonwu immediately forwarded his opinion to the Emperor.
Sent directly through the authority of the youngest prince, the message traveled upward with incredible speed.
It arrived far faster than the Prefect’s official memorial, which had to slowly grind through the bureaucratic echelons.
“Ho, our youngest is truly diligent in looking after the welfare of the people.”
His Majesty smiled with deep satisfaction and nodded.
“Does the Admiral not agree that the youngest possesses an extraordinary diligence?”
“It is precisely as Your Majesty says.”
Since Admiral Lee Dae-yong of the Golden Dragon Guard was currently wrapping up matters regarding the Namgung Clan, only Admiral Sim Soryun of the Yuelongwei stood beside the Emperor.
And in Admiral Sim’s estimation, the temperament of the King Wuryong, the youngest prince, was indeed unique.
‘Neither Your Majesty nor the other four Kings possess a disposition to oversee state affairs with such meticulous care.’
Of course, merely repelling powerful demonic monsters and maintaining the Great Wall that blanketed the empire already demanded an immense amount of internal power.
Because they held the reins of such fundamental, monumental tasks, they left these detailed, low-level matters to be handled autonomously by subordinates, practicing a rule of true Wuwei Ziran.
The ministers praised it as the governance of Wuwei Ziran.
Meanwhile, Seonwu suspected, ‘Aren’t they just practicing laissez-faire because they find it bothersome?’
Fortunately, because it was still the early days of the empire’s founding, several dedicated ministers kept that abandonment from spiraling into a chaotic breakdown of state affairs…
Or perhaps, because the ministers were reasonably competent, the Emperor simply granted them a high degree of autonomy to manage things on their own.
At any rate, every single member of the Imperial Family had operated that way until now, making the youngest prince an anomaly in many respects.
‘It is not as if his incognito travel lasts for only a day or two…’
He did not hesitate to sleep in the rough while correcting abuses, inspecting the livelihoods of the commoners, and unearthing the conspiracies of demonic practitioners.
Was that all?
Whenever he submitted a memorial, he displayed brilliant wisdom capable of shifting national policies.
‘Why, even the recently introduced Interest Rate Restriction Law was a grand reform aimed at protecting the livelihood of the common people.’
Furthermore, to ensure its implementation caused no chaos and prevented the flow of currency from freezing up, did he not compel various martial arts clans to eagerly self-report their tax evasion to provide the initial funding?
By punishing the Namgung Clan alone, he had brilliantly executed the strategy of warning the many by punishing one, showcasing a truly astonishing art of governance.
‘While the current His Majesty founded the empire, he does not look into such minute details, making King Wuryong remarkably distinct.’
“Hmm, while the Patriarch of Huangbo deserves execution for his crimes, the boy suggests redirecting that death sentence toward defending the Great Wall instead.”
“Strictly enforcing the law while utilizing the man’s talents to save the lives of ordinary soldiers reflects a deeply benevolent heart. Possessing both majesty and benevolence is truly a grand blessing for the Imperial Family.”
“That child does indeed harbor various types of inner energy.”
At first glance, it sounded like an irrelevant tangent, but that was not the case.
The high-ascending inner energy known as a divine art was inextricably linked to one’s state of mind.
Seonwu himself had not pondered it deeply, but harboring all four divine arts was made possible not only by the special ability of the Cintamani, but also by the mindset gained through them.
The Diamond Indestructible Body tempered a person’s mind to be steadfast.
The Taiji allowed them to seek harmony.
Without such a mindset, how could anyone properly wield those divine arts?
“Since he is working so hard, I must let him have his way.”
As soon as the official proposal formally ascended to the court, the Emperor would graciously accept it.
Admiral Sim Soryun silently muttered to himself that the Patriarch of Huangbo had managed to save his life for the moment.
‘Of course, the Great Generals will run him ragged, and he will likely perish in the end. However, he will slightly cleanse his stained reputation through it, and his remaining family will face lighter punishment, so it is akin to receiving an immensely merciful opportunity.’
King Wuryong was diligent enough to uncover such matters personally, exceptionally brilliant.
And he was as merciful as he was majestic.
‘If his martial arts cultivation only grows stronger, he will truly possess the talent of a king.’
* * *
The memorial that ascended from Jiangxi Province sparked intense discussion even within the Imperial Court, which was already swamped with numerous vital matters.
No matter how many items filled the agenda of state governance, the fact that a prominent Wulin force like the Huangbo Clan had conspired with demonic practitioners to frame another sect was significant enough to reverberate across the land.
It was only because the Namgung Clan was currently being thoroughly stripped of its assets, and the Zhuge Clan had come frighteningly close to being erased from history right before this, that the spotlight had been divided.
Still, fresh news always had a way of pushing older events aside.
Just as the back waves of the Yangtze River drive the front waves forward, this particular incident now commanded everyone’s attention.
The ministers murmured among themselves.
“For some reason, the Wulin is exceptionally turbulent this year.”
“Indeed. To be frank, the past twenty years have been rather quiet without any major incidents, have they not? Yet this year alone, we have already witnessed three massive upheavals.”
The Namgung Clan was currently undergoing a total asset forfeiture for stealing others’ achievements and evading an extraordinary amount of taxes, compounded by the crime of Gwaessimjoe for heavily exploiting minor merchants and craftsmen—though that wasn’t explicitly codified as a crime.
Since they possessed martial arts and personnel, they wouldn’t shut down entirely, but they would certainly suffer quite a bit now that they had to literally sell their martial skills to survive.
The Zhuge Clan had ultimately emerged safe, but it had been an absolute crisis.
“If the Yuelongwei had not warned the Zhuge Clan, would they not have faced total annihilation?”
“Which is precisely why they are practically prostrating themselves before the Imperial Family’s grace, leading the charge to voluntarily pay their taxes.”
“At the very least, the current and subsequent generations of the Zhuge Clan can be viewed as forces fiercely loyal to the Imperial Family.”
If a faction received that level of grace and the party involved along with his children ignored it, they wouldn’t even be treated as human beings.
By the third generation, one could perhaps claim that a significant amount of time had passed.
Originally, even the emperors of previous dynasties could not easily alter what the preceding emperor had established.
Changes were only made when it reached the grandchildren’s generation.
“But the Huangbo Clan is truly…”
“It was the Patriarch’s arbitrary decision, but greed can blind any man.”
“Tsk tsk, but they didn’t just target a single individual; they engineered a malicious frame-up designed to shatter the entire reputation of a sect. The nature of the crime is exceedingly foul.”
“You speak the truth.”
The fact that the method was so intricate also deeply unsettled the ministers.
If they pinned crimes on others so flawlessly, who was to say it wouldn’t have been repeated here and there if it hadn’t been exposed?
They were incredibly lucky that it came to light this time and the demonic practitioners were apprehended.
“The Prefect is quite capable.”
“I heard he even secured the investigative cooperation of Wulin martial artists.”
“Mm, word has it that the two young masters from the Eunhak Sect are quite impressive.”
“Well, even so, are they not merely Wulin men? It is not as if they rank among the Top Ten Masters.”
“At any rate, we must come to a decision regarding the matter of serving in the army in white clothes.”
Should they permit it?
Or should they deny it?
That was the question.
Unaware that Seonwu had already settled the conclusion, the ministers weighed the matter, each guided by their own principles.

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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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