The Youngest Son of the Nanyang Jin Family - Chapter 24

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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 Youngest Son of the Nakhyang Jin Family – Chapter 85

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“Did he truly escape through here?”
The Crown Prince asked, surveying his surroundings.
It was the largest and most magnificent building in all of Dowon Village.
Those who had desperately tried to defend this place lay slain, and we had pressed inside.
Finding the secret passage had not been difficult.
The Emperor’s hasty flight had left abundant traces—we merely needed to follow them.
The secret passage was dark and narrow.
Without torches, visibility was nearly nonexistent, yet with only one path forward, there was no risk of losing our way.
Thump, thump—
Chungho, leading ahead, began searching for traces of the Emperor while surveying the passage.
“We have little time. Hurry.”
At the Crown Prince’s urging from behind, Chungho nodded. Capturing the fleeing Emperor was most urgent, yet battle now raged across all of Dowon Village.
If we did not quickly seize the Emperor and depart to assist, we risked losing the talented individuals we had so carefully cultivated.
“Rebellion here, rebellion there… how amusing.”
The Crown Prince chuckled softly and quickened his pace.
Chungho, who had initially worried about traps, now accelerated his speed upon confirming their absence.
Then, at a certain moment.
Chungho, who had been leading, extended his hand and stopped.
Unlike before, the surroundings were illuminated by luminous stones.
And there lay….
“Corpses, Your Highness.”
“….”
Six bodies lay before us.
Wounds from swords and hidden weapons were immediately apparent.
Chungho crouched and examined the bodies, and upon confirming the final corpse, his voice grew heavy.
“It is Ga Inhoo, Your Highness.”
“What?”
Ga Inhoo.
The Crown Prince, who could not fail to recognize that name, rushed forward. After slowly examining the body, he furrowed his brow.
It was unmistakably the Grand Chamberlain Ga Inhoo.
Sensing that something was amiss, the Crown Prince moved toward a dimly lit space that the luminous stones could not fully illuminate.
Narrowing his eyes to examine it, countless sword marks were visible on the passage walls.
A fierce battle had taken place here.
As we proceeded deeper while observing these marks.
“Hah, hah, hah….”
At the faint sound of breathing, I turned my head.
In that instant, everyone froze, unable to move.
Not knowing what to say,
with rigid expressions and trembling gazes, we beheld an elderly man leaning against the wall.
“Your Majesty…”
“Haah, haah…”
It was unmistakably the Emperor.
Yet his condition was strange.
The robust frame that had stood before us mere moments ago had withered with terrifying speed, as if witnessing the decline of Mount Tai itself. His face was devoid of all color, pale as death, and his eyes gazing upon the Crown Prince held not a glimmer of vitality.
His breathing was shallow and weak.
Had one not been acutely attuned, one might have believed he was not breathing at all.
“Ha…”
The Crown Prince stared at this sight and let out a hollow laugh.
His father—the Emperor—who could not be broken no matter how hard one tried, who could not be destroyed no matter how one attempted.
Like Mount Tai itself, blocking his path forward, seemingly immovable in the face of any calamity, his father was now dying, unable to move even a single finger properly.
He had entered this place with blade drawn to slay the Emperor and ascend the throne, yet this was not the form of his father that the Crown Prince had envisioned.
Thud—
The Crown Prince removed his mask and gazed intently at his father.
His father met his son’s eyes weakly in return.
Then his father’s hand rose feebly, grasping his son’s shoulder.
In that moment.
KWAAAAAGH!
As if squeezing out every last ounce of remaining strength, he seized his son’s shoulder as though to crush it, and with eyes and expression bloodshot like a demon, he screamed.
“…I—! I am the Emperor of this realm—! You wretched—!”
CLANG—!
The cry pierced through everyone’s ears.
Yet even as his voice echoed and faded, the light in the Emperor’s eyes extinguished rapidly.
It became clear at once that this was not merely from the cry itself.
Drip—
Chungho saw blood flowing from the Emperor’s chest.
Somewhere in that moment, the Crown Prince’s dagger had pierced through the Emperor’s heart.
Soon Chungho’s eyes captured the face of the Crown Prince, smiling.
“This is why it has come to this, Your Majesty.”
Warm blood began to soak the now-cold corpse.

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Chaos and skirmishes continued to unfold throughout Dowon Village.
Those attempting to escape or targeting the noble consort with their lives on the line, warriors executing the Crown Prince’s orders, and the consort herself driving the Imperial Guards to action for survival—all clashed in desperate struggle.
With flames consuming every corner, Dowon Village had transformed from a paradise into a living hell.
Under normal circumstances, the Crown Prince’s warriors would have slaughtered the consorts and swiftly seized control of Dowon Village.
But with the residents stirred to take up arms, the task proved far more difficult.
Even if the Crown Prince returned and joined forces with Chungho, they would not be able to quickly suppress this chaos.
For us, it was fortunate.
We were able to slip away unnoticed because of it.
Those fleeing rushed toward the exits in a torrent, and we easily mixed into that crowd and escaped with them.
But the outside was no better.
The once-beautiful gardens of Dowon Village were stained crimson with blood.
When the Crown Prince arrived, he had slaughtered all the Haomu guards protecting this place. Corpses lay scattered everywhere, creating a mountain of bodies and sea of blood.
Because of this, there was nothing to ride.
We hurried down the road toward the inn.
The sun was already beginning to rise, so we needed to return as quickly as possible, considering the eyes of the people.
“Ahahaha! This is fun! So much fun!”
Gu Gunbaek, following at the very rear, burst into laughter at something, and blew on a flask of wine he’d obtained from who knows where.
From his laughter alone, I could tell that this trip to Beijing had been quite entertaining for him.
I carefully removed my mask and turned to look at Gu Gunbaek.
“Did you enjoy yourself?”
“Of course, of course! I had a great time. Gambled, won some money! Beat up some people! Ahahaha! But what’s all that commotion? Hehehehe!”
“A rebellion.”
“A rebellion?!”
Jang Chuchyeong was startled at the word rebellion.
He had only thought that some noisy disturbance was happening elsewhere, but he clearly hadn’t imagined it could be a rebellion.
I let out a small laugh.
“Yes, the times are about to change.”
“Cough… I was… at the scene of it?”
As I nodded in confirmation, Jang Chuchyeong swallowed hard with an anxious expression.
The most formidable emperor in imperial history, one who had witnessed the most bloodshed.
The Iron-Blooded Emperor, who had reigned the longest and still possessed tremendous power and influence, was disappearing as merely a fragment of history.
No one could help but be astonished.
I let out a small laugh.
“Don’t go boasting about this anywhere.”
“Huh? I shouldn’t?”
“Starting tomorrow, a storm of blood will sweep through. Do you want to be caught up in it?”
“No. I’ll stay quiet as a mouse.”
Jang Chuchyeong, who had been eager to brag to someone immediately, quickly sealed his lips.
It was none other than the Crown Prince’s rebellion.
Simply having been present at that scene could have put his life in danger.
They would undoubtedly conceal the truth and present it in the most favorable light possible.
How painful would it be for someone who knew the real truth?
Then.
I heard Chaeseoha’s voice as she followed slowly behind me.
“Perhaps that Emperor actually wanted this?”
Turning my gaze toward the voice, I saw her still wearing the white mask that covered her entire face.
I asked with a somewhat puzzled expression.
“Wanted it?”
“Yes, the Crown Prince pushed things to this point because he wanted to become stronger. By doing so, he gained the power to make his subjects kneel and keep their heads bowed.”
Chaeseoha’s words certainly made sense.
The Iron-Blooded Emperor used the rebellion to uproot the previous Emperor’s foundation.
He then filled that void with those who followed him, solidifying his position, and that was the reason the Iron-Blooded Emperor could wield such overwhelming power and influence.
“He would certainly think that way.”
If Chaeseoha’s speculation was true, the Iron-Blooded Emperor would not show weakness to his son even in his final moment of death.
He might even welcome dying by his son’s hand.
That way, an even stronger Iron-Blooded Emperor would be born.
“The only regret is….”
I didn’t hear about the jade disc.
I couldn’t know about it in the past, but if his words were true, he certainly possessed the jade disc.
I couldn’t determine whether it was what I and those men were searching for, but considering the Emperor’s possession and its golden glow, the probability was quite high.
It was unfortunate that I didn’t hear more details about it.
If I had known from the beginning, I would have employed a different strategy.
Then, Chaeseoha, who had been following behind, quietly stepped to my side.
Whether she wasn’t frustrated, she still wore the mask covering her entire face and looked up at me with a smile in her eyes.
“What is it?”
“Is it the jade disc that you wish to know about, Young Master?”
“How did you know?”
“I was there at that moment.”
My counter-question seemed absurd to her, as Chaeseoha sent me a sharp look.
I then smiled and nodded.
“That’s right. But it no longer matters now.”
“Then I’ll tell you. As repayment for saving me.”
“You know about it?”
“Yes, I heard it. From the Imperial Guard who followed me there.”
Chaeseoha’s eyes curved into crescents.
It was clear she had either treated the guard’s illness or completely cured his family’s ailment in exchange for information.
For the guard, it would have been a trade with no downside.
Of course, he was likely no longer among the living.
I recalled a few of the guards who had died at the Emperor’s side, then dismissed the stray thoughts and looked at her.
“They say it was a keepsake from his mother. He carried it with him always and treasured it more than any other treasure. He never removed it from his body, even while sleeping or bathing.”
“He was that obsessed with it?”
“It seemed he believed everything he possessed came from the power of that curved jade. The fact that he began to waste away from the moment the object disappeared supports that.”
I nodded as I listened to Chaeseoha’s words.
I couldn’t say with certainty whether that curved jade was truly what we and those men were searching for, but if it was genuine, the Emperor’s obsession made sense.
Though he couldn’t absorb the jade’s power, it was undoubtedly an object that captivated and consumed one’s thoughts merely by gazing upon it.
And then it suddenly vanished.
“This is troubling.”
That meant those men had taken it.
No matter how heavily guarded the Imperial Palace was, men of their caliber would find sneaking in effortless.
Especially since they could plant someone inside, just as the Nakhyang Jin Family had done.
Therefore, it was reasonable to assume one of the jades had been stolen.
I exhaled softly and steadied my troubled heart.
What was lost couldn’t be helped.
I hadn’t known the Emperor possessed it in the first place, so this situation was unavoidable.
I mustn’t dwell on such things.
I composed myself and turned my gaze to Chaeseoha.
“Enough of that. How much longer do you intend to wear that mask?”
“Ah—”
“You didn’t know?”
“Get used to it. I can’t tell if I’m wearing it or not anymore. There’s a lock on the back—can you open it?”
When I looked at the back of her head at her words, I saw a lock made of what appeared to be steel fastened firmly in place.
The moment I began to draw my blade—
“Are you planning to slash a woman’s head with your sword?”
“Then what should I do?”
“Break it.”
Gu Gunbaek grasped the lock.
Crunch!
Though he didn’t seem to apply much force, the steel lock made a violent sound as it crumpled.
Jang Chuchyeong and I both stared at it in disbelief.
And so, finally freed, Chaeseoha removed the mask.
“Ahh—”
She exhaled softly and tidied her disheveled hair, then peeled away the cloth that had covered her face and whatever had clung to it.
The moment the moonlight illuminated her, revealing her face completely.
Jang Chuchyeong and Gu Gunbaek gasped in astonishment, and I too found myself unable to look away, my gaze fixed upon her.
“What is it? Why are you all staring?”
Shimmer—
She stood silhouetted against the luminous moonlight.
As if all the beauty in the world had been gathered into a single form, no one could speak, and no one could move.
We could only gaze and etch that beauty into our eyes.
A beauty that seemed as though it might vanish like a mirage.
Soon after, she turned to me with a gentle smile.

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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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