The Youngest Son of the Nanyang Jin Family - Chapter 86

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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 86

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“…Is that really true?”
“I’m telling you, the palace is in complete chaos right now!”
“All the high officials and nobles have entered the palace!”
From early morning, the atmosphere in Beijing felt distinctly ominous.
The sudden news of the Emperor’s passing left everyone in a state of shock.
Despite reaching the age of a hundred, the Emperor had continued to display vigor and vitality.
For those who knew this, the news was incomprehensible.
Yet, from the whispers spreading throughout the city, it seemed undeniable that the vigorous Emperor had indeed passed away.
“…Could it be….”
“Shh!”
Someone attempted to voice the thought, but the person beside them quickly clamped a hand over their mouth.
The Rebellion of the Crown Prince.
That was the first scenario that came to mind.
But it was a truth that could not be spoken aloud.
If the Emperor’s death was truly the result of a rebellion, then the coming storm of blades would sweep through everything in its path.
As a result, unlike before, the once-chaotic atmosphere of Beijing grew eerily quiet.
Especially those who remembered the blade dance wielded by the Iron-Blooded Emperor long ago held their breath, gripped by dread of what was to come.
Tension rippled across all of Beijing.
After half a day, the tightly sealed gates of the Imperial Palace swung wide open.
Then, mounted soldiers poured out in a thunderous rush.
Those who witnessed it gasped and covered their mouths in horror.
It had begun.
Just as in the past, without even holding the Emperor’s funeral rites, they had already drawn their blades.
The Golden Armored Guards poured from the palace, splitting apart and scattering in all directions.
The fact that they dispersed meant their target was not a single person.
Among all the locations, one stood out particularly.
The Unryong Inn.
Crash—!
The Golden Armored Guards smashed through the doors of the Unryong Inn and stormed inside.
Startled by the sudden assault, Jin Baek-ryong cried out, his face drained of all color.
“What is the meaning of this—!”
“Jin Baek-ryong! This is by order of the Crown Prince! Will you come willingly, or do you require force?”
At that fierce declaration, Jin Baek-ryong felt his breath catch. The momentum of the Golden Armored Guards who had burst through the inn’s doors was unmistakably ominous.
From their bearing alone, it was clear they had not come with good intentions.
Should I resist?
I entertained such thoughts, but quickly dismissed them.
If the Emperor’s death was true as the rumors suggested, then the one ascending to the throne would be the Crown Prince himself.
To resist the Golden Armored Guards sent by such a person?
How was that any different from staging a rebellion?
Yet if I allowed myself to be dragged away, a grim fate awaited—that was the harsh reality.
To the Crown Prince, Jin Baek-ryong would be a thorn in his side.
After all, I had been one of the Emperor’s closest confidants.
If I was taken away, death was certain.
Jin Baek-ryong, who understood this better than anyone, had to think quickly and devise a way to escape this predicament.
Then, a thought occurred to me.
I could claim all of this was done under Jin Ga-muk’s orders.
If I did so, Jin Ga-muk and his blood relatives would lose their heads, and the Jin Family would suffer a tremendous blow—but my own life could be spared.
With that thought, I relaxed my body.
Did they interpret this as surrender?
Someone shouted.
“Seize them all!”
Military personnel moved swiftly, capturing not only Jin Baek-ryong but everyone working at the inn without exception.
Jin Baek-ryong accepted the order with a smile.
I would not crumble so easily.
As I thought this and lifted my head.
My eyes trembled visibly.
“…You… why are you…?”
“What is the meaning of this, Uncle?”
Someone who should not be here was walking through the shattered main gate of the inn with measured steps.

* * *

While the Golden Armored Guards, acting on the Crown Prince’s orders, moved with urgency to carry out their commands, the Imperial Palace was suffused with a silence and tension far more oppressive than the streets of Beijing.
Though people moved about conducting the funeral rites for the deceased Emperor, nearly all of them kept their expressions rigid and could barely speak.
One careless slip of the tongue meant death.
Knowing full well the gravity of the situation, they understood that wisdom lay in speaking only when necessary.
Within the Imperial Palace, where such an atmosphere hung heavy, the Crown Prince gazed at the deceased Emperor with an expressionless face.
Even looking upon my father’s corpse, I felt nothing.
It was as though that part of me had been carved away.
“Your Highness, it is Chungho.”
At the sound of the voice, I turned my gaze.
I granted permission with a slight raising of my hand, and the door opened as Chungho entered.
“Well, how does it proceed?”
“We are apprehending them steadily.”
“It seems the Golden Armored Guards follow orders well.”
“They are the commands of Your Highness, who shall soon ascend to the throne. They have no choice but to obey.”
“Fortunate indeed. I had considered slaughtering them all if necessary.”
The Crown Prince nodded with a faint smile.
Having cut down many in Dowon Village, half of those at the center of power had been eliminated. No matter how formidable the Golden Armored Guards, without a leader, they had no means to resist my commands.
The same applied to the Eastern Camp.
Ga Inhoo, who could be called their chief, was dead.
Without someone to lead them, they would have no choice but to obey in the present circumstances, and when order was restored, it would be too late for them to reverse course even if they wished to.
“Have you also apprehended that insufferable wretch?”
“Do you speak of Jin Baek-ryong? Indeed, it is precisely because of him that I hastened to request this audience.”
“It seems something has occurred.”
“Yes, Your Highness. We have apprehended all the household members of the Nakhyang Jin Family in Beijing, but an unexpected person was among them.”
“An unexpected person?”
“Yes, Your Highness. The Young Master So of the Nakhyang Jin Family.”
“The Young Master So? He was present as well?”
“He arrived during the apprehension of Jin Baek-ryong. According to those who bound him, Jin Baek-ryong was quite startled—it appears he had no knowledge whatsoever that the Young Master So was coming.”
The Crown Prince nodded and offered a small smile.
Jin Baek-ryong was undoubtedly one of the Emperor’s closest confidants.
To restrain him meant the same as holding the Nakhyang Jin Family accountable.
Or perhaps the entire Nakhyang Jin Family shared his intentions.
Knowing this, I had arrived at a situation where I could discern the full picture.
“Keep them confined until the funeral rites are concluded.”
“Yes, understood.”

* * *

Cold, dark, and damp.
The straw scattered across the floor was so meager that one could hardly consider it a place for a person to lie down, and the chill permeating the dim prison seemed to psychologically torment those confined within.
The insects crawling across one’s body every time I tried to sleep were horrifying, and the food—something even a beggar would refuse—was truly abysmal.
The moment I let my guard down, rats would emerge from their hiding places and gnaw at what little remained, making it impossible to eat anything.
I leaned my back against the prison wall and quietly observed my surroundings.
This was a prison within the Imperial Palace.
The spacious cell held every member of the Beijing Jin Family.
There were others imprisoned here as well—those who were not family members—but they did not appear to be high-ranking officials who had followed the Previous Emperor.
There were two reasons why such people were absent from this place.
One was that they had already perished in Dowon Village, and the other was that the Emperor’s funeral rites were still ongoing.
The moment the funeral concludes and the Emperor is laid to rest.
A storm of blood will descend.
With such thoughts, I turned my head once more.
Through the thick prison bars, I could see my Uncle’s gaunt figure.
Having never experienced sleeping or eating in such a place, it would be impossible for him to rest or consume food properly.
As a result, in merely four days, he had become as emaciated as Mok Nae-i.
“It has already been four days, Uncle. Do you truly intend to say nothing?”
“Silence!”
Jin Baek-ryong glared at me and bellowed, still possessing some vigor.
His resolve not to speak further was unmistakably firm.
Indeed, even if he wished to speak, he could not.
The events in Dowon Village and his attempt to consume the Jin Family by manipulating the Emperor—such things could never leave his lips.
I let out a quiet laugh and averted my gaze.
I could see the Jin Family members groaning in distress.
But the moment our eyes met, they hastily turned away.
Seeing that no one would answer the questions of the Young Master So of the Jin Family, it became clear that most of the family members in Beijing belonged to Jin Baek-ryong.
At least now I knew what needed to be discarded, so these four days had not been entirely wasted.
I smiled and looked back at my Uncle.
“Now that I think about it, there seemed to be quite a bit of capital missing from the Beijing operations. Did you use that to assist the Emperor?”
“…What nonsense! How could that be!”
“It appears a rebellion has occurred, and I cannot think of any other reason why we would be imprisoned. You supported the Emperor with both resources and effort, so you must have been a thorn in the Crown Prince’s side.”
“…It was Father’s orders.”
“Ha, so you intend to evade responsibility in that manner.”
“I am not evading! It is the truth!”
At the harsh rebuke that reached my ears, I nodded.
No matter what I said, Jin Baek-ryong would not change his words.
He was well aware that this statement was his last lifeline.
Once Father’s head fell, he would gather everything remaining of the Jin Family and present it appropriately to the Crown Prince, living out his remaining days in comfort.
A transparent scheme.
I ignored the sharp gaze directed at me and lay down upon the straw.
Jin Baek-ryong gazed at me with peculiar eyes.
Throughout his life, he had kept his distance from places like this, and his expression betrayed confusion at how comfortably I seemed to settle in.
Well, at this level, it was paradise itself.
I had slept in snowfields without even straw to cushion me.
Recalling those past memories, I shuddered.
Then, Jin Baek-ryong’s voice reached my ears.
“You, on the other hand, have yet to tell me anything. Why did you come to Beijing?”
“Must a nephew have a reason to seek out his uncle?”
“Have you ever sought me out even once before?”
“I came primarily to see my uncle’s face, and took the opportunity to handle some other matters as well.”
“Took the opportunity?”
“Yes, because the ledgers coming into the Main Residence from the Beijing branch seemed somewhat irregular. Did I not mention it earlier? That funds are being depleted significantly.”
At my words, spoken with a faint smile, Jin Baek-ryong flinched.
From the start, there was no way to verify whether funds were being depleted through the ledgers coming into the Main Residence.
They had already been manipulated.
However, considering how freely I spent money in Dowon Village and the tributes offered to the Emperor, it would be impossible with the funds he possessed.
In other words, he must have touched the business operations’ funds.
It was speculation, but also certainty.
Sure enough, I could see Jin Baek-ryong’s pupils trembling.
He was likely wondering if there was a hole somewhere in the ledgers.
He must have been confident in the manipulated accounts.
As I withdrew my gaze from Jin Baek-ryong while thinking such thoughts, the locked prison door suddenly swung open and someone entered.
Thud, thud—
The footsteps of the approaching figure sounded unusually loud.
He scanned each person confined in the cell, then stopped before me and stared intently.
I recognized him as well.
The Crown Prince’s guard and the one who had led the rebellion.
Chungho, who had once been the foremost disciple of the Taoist Priests.
Upon seeing me lying casually on straw, he let out a hollow laugh as if astounded, then opened his mouth.
“Are you the Young Master So of the Jin Family?”
“I am.”
“By order of the Crown Prince, follow me.”
At Chungho’s words, I nodded and rose from my place.
Four days.
It seemed the Emperor’s funeral had concluded in just four days.
Considering the Former Emperor who had ruled for so long, it was an exceptionally brief period, but from the Crown Prince’s perspective—one who needed to find fault with his predecessor’s achievements—it was sufficiently long.
The fact that a funeral was held at all was remarkable.
And soon, the blade that would begin to swing might first draw blood from none other than the Nakhyang Jin Family.
The moment the Crown Prince’s order was mentioned, Jin Baek-ryong’s tension arose precisely for this reason.
As I confirmed his anxious gaze and approached the door, Chungho produced a key and unlocked it for me.
As I stepped out of the prison through the open door, Jin Baek-ryong’s eyes seemed to tremble with even greater intensity as he watched me.
Had he truly believed I would be the first one he’d find?
I curved my lips upward into a smile and followed Chungho’s back as we walked forward.
At last, the moment had come to face the new Iron-Blooded Emperor.

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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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