The Five-Year-Old Baby Princess Rules the Palace - Chapter 73

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#73. The Heroic Deeds of Ghost of Master Choi the Herbalist

Park Jeong-bin ran toward the fourth apothecary in the alley that Eunhye had mentioned earlier, like a madman.

Jihoo, seeing this, also wore a surprised expression and began chasing after Park Jeong-bin.

Princess Eunhye!

Where had Princess Eunhye, who had been standing right there with Lady Han just moments ago, suddenly disappeared to!

Crash!

When Jihoo rushed into the apothecary where something solid was being knocked over, Park Jeong-bin was just lifting up the goat-bearded apothecary owner by the collar.

“Why, why are you doing this!”

The terrified apothecary owner dangled in the air, his scrawny legs trembling as he looked at Park Jeong-bin.

Suddenly, Park Jeong-bin cooled his head and looked around the apothecary before taking out a gold badge from inside his chest and showing it.

“I came from the Palace.”

Then the apothecary owner’s eyes, which had been trembling like aspen leaves, widened in surprise.

“But, that… someone from the Palace just came…”

Jihoo, who was watching this scene from in front of the apothecary, also opened his eyes wide in confusion.

What is he doing? Didn’t he come in to look for Princess Eunhye? He came from the Palace?

Then where is the Princess?

Park Jeong-bin glanced at Jihoo, who had entered the apothecary and was frantically looking around, then lowered his hand that had been holding up the apothecary owner’s collar and asked with furrowed brows.

“Was there someone else from the Palace besides me?”

Then the apothecary owner’s head nodded mercilessly.

“Yes, just now some soldier came saying he was from the Palace and showed a badge similar to yours…”

At the apothecary owner’s words, Park Jeong-bin made an expression of dismay, still not letting go of the collar as he asked again.

“By any chance, didn’t a girl in colorful clothes and a maidservant just enter here?”

Then the apothecary owner shook his head as if hearing this for the first time.

“No, not a single woman has entered all day today.”

Park Jeong-bin glanced at Jihoo’s pale face and clenched his molars tightly.

Things were taking an urgent turn.

Princess Eunhye’s departure from the Palace was supposed to be top secret known only to him, but now some unknown young lord knew about it and the Princess had disappeared as well.

Moreover, to prevent the scheme plotted by the Prime Minister and Lady Gyeongbin, he should have first stolen away the Cheongmyeong Cloud Mushroom from this apothecary!

Park Jeong-bin coldly calmed his wildly pounding heart over Eunhye’s disappearance and looked sternly at the apothecary owner whose collar he held.

“Then, did you definitely give what the herbalist who frequents the Palace entrusted to you to that fellow who came earlier?”

Then the apothecary owner trembled again and opened his mouth.

“Yes, he showed a gold badge saying he came from the Palace… Oh my lord, I know nothing. I only ran errands for the herbalist!”

What a disaster!

Park Jeong-bin bit his lower lip until it bled and unconsciously put strength into his hand gripping the collar as he asked.

“Where did he go!”

“Gack! Gack gack! That, that way, that way…”

The apothecary owner raised his trembling hand and pointed to the right outside the shop.

Park Jeong-bin immediately released his grip on the apothecary owner’s collar and rushed outside.

Then the apothecary owner rolled on the floor as if thrown down and sat down making dying sounds.

“Oh my, oh my, oh my, I’m dying!”

Then, Jihoo grabbed Park Jeong-bin’s bundle as he was rushing out of the apothecary like flying.

“Where are you going! I, no, I will go with you too!”

Then Park Jeong-bin stopped his urgent steps as if remembering something and looked at Jihoo with a demon-like face.

“Listen well. You must go right now to the last shop among the paper stores in Yukeuijeon and deliver this. Then tell them Princess Eunhye has disappeared and forget everything you saw here today. Do you understand? The situation is very urgent, so there must be absolutely no mistakes.”

Park Jeong-bin untied the red knot hanging from his dagger’s sheath and placed it in Jihoo’s hand, speaking sternly.

“The Princess’s safety depends on you. Do you understand!”

Park Jeong-bin gripped Jihoo’s shoulders tightly then released them as Jihoo nodded in bewilderment, then began running like the wind toward where the apothecary owner had pointed.

Jihoo gripped the red knot in his hand with all his might and clenched his teeth.

Surely, that man who had called the Princess his niece seemed to be a guard from Ikwisa or a military officer from the Royal Guard who was disguised to hide his identity. That’s why he was following and protecting Princess Eunhye.

But what was all that talk to the apothecary owner about? Who was looking for what?

Jihoo shook his confused head hard to clear it and began running with all his might, thinking this was no time for such thoughts.

The last shop in the paper store alley of Yuk-eui-jeon Street, was it?

Now that Princess Eunhye had disappeared somewhere unknown, rather than me trying to find her, it would be better to first go to that place connected to the government forces as that man instructed and report this fact.

As Jihoo ran desperately with clenched teeth, the cute face of Eunhye in her colorful jacket came to mind.

Princess Eunhye, please be safe!

* * *

Meanwhile at that time, Lady Han carrying Eunhye on her back was running until her mouth tasted sweet.

“Han, no, Song-i, we absolutely cannot let that bastard get away. You know? Master Choi says what we’re looking for is inside the bundle slung over that bastard’s shoulder.”

But Lady Han, who was running until she was out of breath, couldn’t answer. How on earth could she catch up with someone riding a horse?

“Ah, he’s already gotten that far away, we’re going to lose him at this rate. What should we do? Should I get down and you try running?”

Eunhye stamped her feet anxiously at the sight of the man who had already become a dot in the distance with his horse.

“Huff huff! Princess, how can I put you down and go? Huff huff! That’s… impossible… huff huff.”

That’s when it happened. Eunhye, who had been carried on Lady Han’s back seemingly talking to someone, suddenly exclaimed with joy.

“Ah, that would work! Thank you, Master Choi. I will definitely find Master Choi’s body and give you a proper burial.”

Then Eunhye gripped the shoulders of Lady Han, who was running desperately, and said loudly.

“Stop, Song-i! Master Choi says he’ll help. So you can put me down now.”

“What?”

Despite Eunhye’s words to stop, Lady Han was still driven by urgency and continued running as she asked back.

“Master Choi says he’ll call the spirits he knows to chase that guy and startle his horse.”

“Is that possible?”

“He says it is. Just earlier, if it weren’t for Master Choi, wouldn’t we have almost lost that guy right before our eyes? You can trust him.”

About fifteen minutes earlier, Eunhye and Lady Han, who had been distracted by Man-bok Store and entered the apothecary alley a bit late, saw a soldier rushing out of the fourth apothecary that Gwangjo had told them about.

And then, the ghost of Master Choi the herbalist who was beside Eunhye pointed to the bundle slung behind the soldier’s back and said this.

[This is very strange, Princess Eunhye. I can feel tremendous evil energy from that man’s bundle. In my 50 years as an herbalist until my death, I have never felt such wicked energy from any herb on this earth.]

As soon as Eunhye heard Master Choi’s words, she opened her eyes wide.

That’s him! The one who came to the apothecary to get the poisonous mushroom sent from Miseondo!

“Lady Han! That bastard is the spy sent by Lord Jeongbin and Lady Gyeongbin! We must follow him quickly!”

The matter was too urgent to wait for Park Jeong-bin, so Eunhye urged the bewildered Lady Han to quickly chase after that soldier.

Lady Han, who had been running while holding hands tightly so they wouldn’t lose each other, had no choice but to carry Eunhye on her back and run as the spy got farther away.

She was just about to die from her chest bursting, but when Eunhye said Master Choi’s ghost would help so they could stop now, Lady Han breathed a sigh of relief and stopped running.

“Huff huff huff, then I’ll rest just for a moment.”

Lady Han put Eunhye down on the ground and collapsed sitting on the floor.

“Oh my! Song-i is dying. Huff huff.”

Then small hands patted Lady Han’s shoulders as if to say she had worked hard.

“You worked hard. Let’s rest a bit and then go. Now we can know where that bastard is going.”

Lady Han swept back the fine hair strands stuck to the sweat on her forehead and face with her hand and looked up at Eunhye.

“Can we trust this?”

Then Eunhye nodded as if certain.

“Of course! Naturally. Master Choi is a spirit, so he can go much faster than us without difficulty, right? So he’ll follow first and together with the spirits he knows, they’ll startle the horse that bastard is riding.”

Lady Han looked up at Eunhye with an amazed expression, then after a moment got up dusting off her bottom.

“Wow, since our Princess can communicate with kind spirits, there are such good benefits too, haha.”

“Right? Hehe.”

“However Princess, even if that guy falls off his horse, wouldn’t it be terrible if he walks and enters the Palace first?”

Then, Eunhye looked ahead where the soldier had disappeared with an extremely mischievous expression and waved her short index finger from side to side.

“Hehehe, as if. He’s a bad guy, so would they drop him gently? He’ll probably fall from very high up.”

At Eunhye’s expression that looked not just mischievous but even wicked(?), Lady Han nodded with her mouth half open.

“But Princess, I understand that all ghosts can communicate with each other, but how do they startle running horses?”

Eunhye smiled sweetly at Lady Han’s curious question.

“You know what? Most animals can see spirits, right?”

Lady Han’s eyes widened in genuine surprise.

“What? Is that really true?”

“Yes! I don’t know if all animals can see spirits, but Crown Prince’s Hwanggu could see them too.”

“Really? Oh my! That’s truly amazing.”

“Right? I was surprised at first too. And um, I haven’t told anyone about this yet…”

“About what?”

Eunhye began to whisper softly to Lady Han, who leaned in with sparkling eyes full of curiosity.

“All the puppies that our Hwanggu gave birth to died, didn’t they?”

“Yes, I heard they were stillborn.”

“But those puppies are now beside Hwanggu.”

“What?”

Lady Han jumped up in genuine shock as she asked again.

How could she not be surprised, when the spirits of puppies were beside Hwanggu, whom she saw at most every two or three days, or at least once a week!

Lady Han swallowed her dry saliva, moistened her lips with her tongue, and asked Eunhye again.

“Then, you’re saying Hwanggu can see her own puppies?”

“Yes.”

“How did you know this? Don’t tell me you can hear what Hwanggu says too?”

Eunhye laughed merrily as if amused.

“Hahahaha! No, no, I can’t hear animals’ words either.”

“Then how can you say Hwanggu is looking at her puppies?”

Eunhye raised the corners of her mouth high and closed her eyes prettily.

“Hwanggu was nursing her puppies who became ghosts. She lay quietly on her side, very gently. That’s how I knew.”

“Ah… that’s truly amazing.”

As Lady Han spoke with her mouth agape, Eunhye nodded, then stretched her neck as if looking ahead in the distance, glanced at the empty space beside her, and smiled brightly.

“Oh, Princess?”

Eunhye turned her head toward Lady Han who called her cautiously, smiled cutely, and extended her small hand.

“Now get up. Master Choi just went to fetch Uncle. And The Soldier has fallen from his horse up ahead and is unconscious with his nose buried in the ground.”

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