The Red Dragon Martial Emperor - Chapter 37

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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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The Red Dragon, No Emperor — Chapter 37

Chapter 37 — Buy Time

Yi Hwan’s quarters had been completed.
Though it consisted of nothing more than a bed and a table woven from bamboo and draped with thick cloth, Yi Hwan was satisfied.
Go Mi came to find him.
“They’ve left the city.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yes. We confirmed clearly that the warriors departed northward.”
“With General Hwang dead, they evidently saw no reason to join forces.”
“That appears to be the case.”
Yi Hwan took a sip of tea and raised another matter.
“Do you have any information about the Emperor?”
“That falls outside our purview.”
“Even so, you likely know more than most, don’t you?”
“Nothing at all. I apologize.”
Yi Hwan didn’t press further in the face of Go Mi’s firm refusal.
A brief silence fell before Go Mi spoke first.
“What would you have us do here?”
“Hasn’t the Crown Prince’s Palace issued orders?”
“We were instructed to obstruct the Geumui Guard’s intelligence operations, and also to aid General Hwang through information gathering. But I find myself curious what you yourself desire of me.”
“What I desire……”
Yi Hwan trailed off. But soon he smiled faintly and continued.
“Just keep doing what you’ve been doing. You’re already more than sufficient at it.”
“Understood.”
Go Mi rose to her feet.
Yi Hwan studied her half-empty cup and asked.
“Am I a burden to you?”
“You are not.”
“Then finish your tea before you go. It came from the Crown Prince’s Palace, to whom you’re so devoted.”
“……Yes.”
Go Mi sat down again.
At that moment Song Cheon-mu entered. Dried mud caked his entire body—whatever he’d been doing, it had left him in a sorry state.
“The Vice-Commander of the Geumui Guard requests an audience.”
“Tell him to come back another time. We have a guest.”
“Yes!”
Once Song Cheon-mu had gone, Go Mi asked carefully.
“Earlier you said you were waiting for him to bare his claws. Might I ask what you meant by that?”
“I was waiting to see if he’d reveal his talons. But with General Hwang dead, it seems unlikely he will. He’ll probably think there’s no need to anymore.”
“And if he had revealed them—what did you intend to do?”
“Kill him.”
“……!”
Yi Hwan continued with a smile.
“There’d be no other justification for it otherwise.”
“Vice-Commander Mo Jae-hwang is no simple man. According to our intelligence, he comes from the Jianghu and possesses martial ability rivaling that of a high-ranking general. Moreover, he is skilled in stratagems.”
“All the more reason he should die.”
“……!”
“A man like that removed would strike a considerable blow against Yi Hwang-ja.”
Go Mi was inwardly startled.
‘This is no mere bravado.’
Yet at the same time she felt uneasy.
‘A careless move could backfire. And if it does, only the Crown Prince will suffer.’
Go Mi believed Yi Hwan no match for Mo Jae-hwang. Setting aside raw strength, in every other regard Mo Jae-hwang seemed a far superior opponent.
But alongside the anxiety came a thread of anticipation.
Go Mi recalled Yi Hwan as he’d been when they’d captured the Jona Kingdom’s assassin who’d killed Hwang Ho.
His cold command to sever the heads and limbs of the dead had sent a chill through not just her, but everyone who had witnessed it.
“You seem worried I might do something foolish.”
“Ah, no. My mind wandered for a moment.”
Go Mi drained the last of her tea and rose to her feet.
“I’ll take my leave now.”
“Have you lived like this before?”
“Don’t worry. I’ve weathered far worse than this. Believe me.”
Yi Hwan watched Go Mi’s retreating figure slip past the tent flap, then narrowed his eyes slightly.
‘Mo Jae-hwang, was it? It seems they have some grudge between them.’
When the name of Mo Jae-hwang, vice-commander of the Geumui Guard, had been mentioned, Yi Hwan saw her gaze shift. If he wasn’t mistaken, it was a look of animosity.
Yi Hwan watched Mo Jae-hwang’s receding form through the open tent flap, his expression empty and distant.
Mo Jae-hwang turned back and smiled. To Yi Hwan’s eye, it looked like a sneer.
A ripple.
‘Do I even need a pretext?’
It would be simple enough to kill him when the moment came. But Yi Hwan shook his head.
‘This is not my era. For now, it’s best to follow the laws and customs of this age, at least to some degree. After all, I am a prince.’
It was the moment Mo Jae-hwang’s life was granted another day.

* * *

Thud-thud-thud!
Three mounted messengers raced toward the Southern Legion’s new encampment like wind-driven clouds. All wore armor and were armed with long swords—imperial couriers of the highest order.
They paused to rest as they entered the mouth of the Gorge.
“Does anyone have some wine?”
“Hold on, we’ll be entering the camp soon. We shouldn’t drink now. Wait until after we deliver the Appointment Decree.”
“What does it matter? Once we deliver the decree, the Southern Legion will be ours anyway.”
“That’s true enough. Shall we have a drink then?”
One courier pulled a wine flask from his robes and grinned. The other two licked their lips in anticipation.
But the cork never left the flask.
Instead, a thin line of blood appeared across the courier’s neck, and his body crumpled sideways.
“Gasp!”
“Choke!”
The two remaining couriers cried out in horror and fell backward. From behind them emerged a figure like a phantom, and their necks too fell to the earth.
Thump! Drop!
The figure was wrapped head to toe in cloth black as pitch. He reached into the corpse’s robes, withdrew a message tube, and opened its cap.
He unrolled the paper inside—an Appointment Decree naming Peng Mu-wi as Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Legion.
Moments later, the decree crumbled to ash in the masked man’s hands and scattered on the wind.
Snap!
At the sound of his fingers, two more masked figures emerged from the forest, each dragging two corpses behind them.
The bodies wore the uniforms of Jona Kingdom soldiers.
The masked figures drew the couriers’ swords and slashed and stabbed the corpses, then vanished together into the trees.

* * *

But eyes had watched them throughout.
Chul Mu-ok and Gong-son Tae.
“Staged like that, anyone would think it was the work of Jona soldiers. Those messengers came from the Crown Prince’s Palace, didn’t they?”
“The Crown Prince shares the same thinking as our lord.”
“Indeed. Thanks to that, we’ve been saved considerable trouble.”
Snap!
“Ow!”
“You’ve grown lazy lately, haven’t you?”
“Not lazy—just relieved. Now that I’ve found my lord, the weight of a heavy fate has lifted somewhat. That’s all it is.”
“Your tongue seems smoother too.”
“It’s always been this way.”
Snap!
“Ugh!”
“Let’s head back.”
“Yes.”

* * *

“The messengers heading to the Southern Legion were killed by someone. They appear to be agents sent from the Crown Prince’s Palace.”
Yi Hwan listened to Chul Mu-ok’s report and thought of Crown Prince Yi So.
‘If the Crown Prince can only resort to this, the situation may become even more difficult.’
In truth, Yi Hwan had been buying time until Yi So could find a way to break through the impasse. That was why he had devised the plan to kill the messenger bearing Yi Hwang-ja’s Appointment Decree somewhere along the road.
This was why he had stationed Chul Mu-ok and Gong-son Tae at the crossroads.
“They were quite formidable masters. If they’re holding the pass, we should hardly need to intervene at all.”
“Find an opportunity and bring one to me alive.”
“Understood.”
“Has a reply come from the Crown Prince’s Palace?”
“Not yet, as far as I know.”
Gong-son Tae rose to his feet.
“I’ll go confirm with General Jeong Cheon.”
Once Gong-son Tae had left, Chul Mu-ok ventured a careful question.
“What if we stage it as the work of Jona Kingdom assassins and eliminate Peng Mu-wi? No matter how I think about it, that seems most certain.”
“If I kill Peng Mu-wi, he’ll just send someone stronger. Either way, I’m saving that as a last resort.”
“Yes.”

* * *

Peng Mu-wi and Yeong Ho-chung sat facing each other.
Yeong Ho-chung spoke.
“The Appointment Decree seems to be taking far too long. By now the messenger should have arrived.”
“Let us wait a little longer.”
Peng Mu-wi deliberately affected an air of calm. But inside, he was a hundred times more anxious than Yeong Ho-chung.
“Have you selected the replacement commanders?”
“All positions filled with our people. But there is a problem.”
“What problem?”
“It’s not easy to decide what to do with the prince. I’d like to expel him, but he is still a prince—surely that could cause difficulties later?”
“I’ve already roughly discussed that with Mo Jae-hwang.”
“What? Why didn’t you tell me!”
Peng Mu-wi bristled immediately. Yeong Ho-chung answered calmly.
“Please be patient. I wanted to present this after perfecting the plan.”
“Perfecting it how, exactly?”
“The Jona Kingdom army will certainly attack. When they do, we seize the opportunity…”
“To eliminate him?”
“Is there another way?”
“No matter what, that seems excessive. Let’s find a way to simply expel him from the camp.”
Yeong Ho-chung shook his head firmly.
“Expulsion is harder. Generals like Jeong Cheon are protecting the prince—how could we possibly expel him? Even if you become Commander-in-Chief, it won’t be easy.”
“Hmm…”
Peng Mu-wi’s expression hardened.
Though he hated Yi Hwan more than anyone, he had never actually considered killing him. Or rather, he lacked the courage for it. After all, Yi Hwan was a prince—a member of the royal house.
A single misstep could bring upon him the punishment of treason.
‘If by any chance the Crown Prince takes the throne, I become a regicide—a crime of extraordinary magnitude. That would mean the complete destruction of the Peng Family of Hebei.’
This was Peng Mu-wi’s greatest fear.
Of course, seeing how events were turning, Yi Hwang-ja seemed to have the advantage—but who could predict the world’s course even an inch ahead?
“Is it not to your liking?”
“Let me think on it.”
Yeong Ho-chung’s eyes turned cold. When he spoke again, his voice was just as frigid.
“Do not forget the superiors’ purpose in making the Left General Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Legion. Remember too that anything obstructing the Great Cause must be overcome, no matter what it is.”
“Surely I know that. But I…—wait, are you threatening me?!”
Peng Mu-wi broke off mid-sentence, his eyes flashing with rage as his voice rose. Yeong Ho-chung’s attitude grated on him—and Peng Mu-wi was never one to hold his tongue when something rubbed him the wrong way, even with those he ordinarily got along with.
Just then, Mo Jae-hwang entered. But his expression was rigid as stone.
“Disaster.”
Yeong Ho-chung asked.
“What’s happened?”
“The messenger sent from the palace has been found dead. A Jona Kingdom warrior’s corpse was found nearby—it appears they fought and both fell.”
“This is…”
“Did you find the Appointment Decree?”
Mo Jae-hwang shook his head.
“We searched everywhere, but couldn’t find it. It seems the Jona Kingdom must have taken it.”
“How could this have happened……”
Mo Jae-hwang continued, his expression hardening.
“If the Jona forces have the Appointment Decree, they’ll know that General Hwang is dead. Then they’ll march their entire army up here at once.”
Bang!
Peng Mu-wi slammed his hand on the table.
“So what! Let them come if they dare!”
Then Yeong Ho-chung spoke, his expression laden with meaning.
“The delay in the appointment is unfortunate, but it doesn’t seem to be entirely a bad thing.”
“What do you mean?”
“Right now our forces haven’t properly established their encampment. If the Jona army comes under these conditions, we’d suffer catastrophic losses even if we managed to repel them.”
Yeong Ho-chung’s gaze shifted between Peng Mu-wi and Mo Jae-hwang as he continued.
“It was the Crown Prince who suggested relocating the camp. And General Hwang and General Jeong were the ones most actively supporting the Crown Prince’s wishes. So shouldn’t the Crown Prince and General Jeong bear all responsibility?”
“Ah!”
Understanding his meaning, Peng Mu-wi and Mo Jae-hwang’s expressions shifted at once.
“Then we need to force our army into a battle we absolutely cannot win. If this goes well, we can not only drive out Jeong Cheon, that thorn in our side, but perhaps even remove the Crown Prince as a bonus.”
“Precisely.”
Yeong Ho-chung turned to face Peng Mu-wi and spoke.
“Wouldn’t it be advantageous for you, General, to dispose of the Crown Prince without actually killing him?”
“That may be true, but I cannot deliberately lose to Jona. No matter how important the wishes of those above, the nation must come first.”
“General! Why do you show such weakness again?!”
Yeong Ho-chung’s voice rose sharply.
Mo Jae-hwang chimed in.
“For the sake of the Great Cause, you must steel your resolve. If you continue like this, I’ll have no choice but to report this to those above. You must think not only of yourself but of the safety of the Peng Family of Hebei as well.”
Tremble.
Peng Mu-wi’s eyes flickered.
The words were respectful, but the threat was unmistakable.

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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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