Chapter 120: What Is This Feeling?

As Gangcheon stared intently, cold sweat began to bead on Iryeon’s neck.

“I shall not rush you, so focus only on dissolving it properly; there is no need for haste.”

In truth, Gangcheon was of an impatient nature.

Even now, his hands twitched with the urge to snatch away the silver spoon Iryeon was holding.

However, he suppressed his impulse, fearing that if he scolded the Head Court Lady of the Empress’s Palace in this situation, the Empress would be even more incensed upon waking.

Despite Gangcheon’s patience, Haeryeong could not swallow the medicine.

The liquid Iryeon managed to feed him flowed right back out of the corners of his mouth.

In the process, Haeryeong began to cough as if it had gone down the wrong way.

Gangcheon approached Iryeon, who wore a face full of worry.

“Enough. I shall do it.”

Gangcheon signaled for her to move aside from where she was supporting Haeryeong.

Sitting on the bed and gathering Haeryeong’s body into his arms, he whispered softly.

“I am not ignoring the Empress’s words on purpose.”

In his own way, Gangcheon wanted to respect the request not to touch him.

However, since he had to feed him the medicine, he felt he had no choice.

Gangcheon murmured to the man and held out his hand to Iryeon.

Iryeon placed the Cheongsimhwan, which had a corner broken off, into Gangcheon’s palm while gauging the Empress’s reaction.

Gangcheon noticed her gaze but feigned ignorance.

As he put the pill in his mouth and began to chew, a memory surfaced.

The memory of the very first time he had fed him medicine.

Chewing the bitter pill, Gangcheon let out an involuntary chuckle.

But a sigh followed shortly after.

‘I did not know back then that things would end up like this.’

At that time, he had felt nothing but annoyance and irritation, thinking only of how to force the medicine down and leave as quickly as possible.

He had assumed the man was only acting troublesome because he was heartsick for the Emperor’s attention.

Gangcheon stopped his jaw from moving as he dissolved the medicine in his mouth with his saliva.

‘I found the very sight of him repulsive back then, so when did his pained state start looking so piteous?’

It was truly a mystery.

The same applied to the man’s scent, which was currently drifting faintly through the air.

A scent he had once deemed plain now felt increasingly refreshing and perfectly suited to him the more he inhaled it.

The human heart was truly a treacherous thing.

The way he had once loathed the sight of him, yet now felt anxious if he could not see him, was no different.

Gangcheon leaned down over Haeryeong’s tilted face and scrutinized his features.

Even after being openly pushed away, the flushed face looked beautiful to him.

Every time the finely closed long eyelashes quivered, he felt a ticklish sensation in a corner of his chest.

Looking at the parted lips breathing hot, rhythmic gasps, his own mouth felt dry.

This was despite the fact that his mouth was currently overflowing with saliva from chewing the pill.

‘Just what has this man done to me?’

‘What did he do to make my heart pound so relentlessly every time I look at him?’

It was a truly bizarre phenomenon.

After the ordeal of feeding him the medicine, Haeryeong’s breathing grew noticeably more relaxed as time passed.

Though he still wheezed slightly from the remaining fever, he looked much better than before.

In truth, Gangcheon wanted to ask Haeryeong why he hadn’t taken his hand earlier.

Had he simply grasped his hand, or not retreated upon seeing him, perhaps he wouldn’t have been injured this way.

He wanted to ask why he had hesitated and merely stared blankly.

Had he only reached out, Gangcheon would have pulled him into his arms and protected him.

Thus, he wanted to ask why the man acted as he did, and explain why he had failed to protect him.

‘The Empress is gentle and reasonable, so he would surely understand my heart if I explained.’

He had believed this until the moment he arrived at the Empress’s Palace.

Now, his thoughts had changed slightly.

Gangcheon had seen him truly enraged for the first time.

Until now, even when the Empress expressed dislike or dissatisfaction, he had never acted so roughly.

Moreover, judging by the Empress’s recent expression and tone, it felt as though something inside him had broken.

Gangcheon did not know exactly what it was, but he sensed it was nothing good for him.

Suddenly, a chill ran through his chest.

What was this sensation he was experiencing for the first time in his life?

What should he call this emotion that no one had ever taught him?

Gangcheon stared at him as if Haeryeong might provide an explanation if he looked hard enough.

However, Haeryeong seemed to have no strength to grant his wish, busy as he was gasping for air in his feverish state.

After watching him for a long while, Gangcheon caressed Haeryeong’s cheek with the back of his hand.

A sigh escaped him at the touch of the burning heat.

‘This is not the time to be here.’

‘My priority is to interrogate the captured assassins and identify the culprit who harmed Haeryeong.’

He had entrusted Sang-hyo with the book recovered from the Minister of Rites’ house this morning, so he had to wait for his report as well.

It was also urgent to summon Sirak’s foster father and find out the truth about the black bamboo.

His head knew that he should not be killing time like this.

Yet, he felt not the slightest desire to leave.

Seeing him in such pain made his own stomach feel bloated and sour; he simply wanted to stay until the Empress regained his senses.

[Your Majesty.]

Even the usually silent Seok-hwan was now badgering Gangcheon with repeated telepathic messages.

However, Gangcheon ignored them, pretending not to hear.

‘This is a disaster.’

‘What am I to do when my head is empty of everything but worry for the Empress?’

[Your Majesty, Seong I-chan is heading toward the side hall.]

Gangcheon let out a deep sigh.

He had held out as long as he could, but it was finally time to return.

Finding it difficult to move immediately, he caressed Haeryeong’s cheek once more before rising.

“Look after the Empress well.”

Gangcheon gave the strict command to the bowing Iryeon and finally managed to move his feet.

Just before crossing the threshold of the inner chamber, a weak groan drifted from the bed.

His feet stopped as if his ankles had been grabbed.

However, he felt that if he turned back now, he wouldn’t be able to leave even if it meant his death.

Therefore, instead of looking back, Gangcheon forced his heavy legs to move.

It felt like walking through thick mud, much like the time he had been caught in a swamp during the war.

Each step was an exhausting struggle.

****

Arriving at the side hall in a somber mood, he found Sang-hyo already waiting for him.

The man, who had been prostrate, lifted a face flushed with excitement before Gangcheon even took his seat.

“Your Majesty.”

Gangcheon, who was gathering the hem of his dragon robe to sit, furrowed his brow.

“What is the great hurry?”

Seeing him this excited, it was easy to guess he had discovered something.

However, his heart was still heavy from leaving the Empress, and the man’s urgent attitude was beginning to irritate him.

Sang-hyo paid no mind to Gangcheon’s scowl and began to pour out his words.

His eyes shone with a strange light as he placed an armful of papers onto Gangcheon’s desk.

“Is it not urgent? I assumed Your Majesty would consider this a matter of the highest priority…”

Sang-hyo, indirectly pointing out that Gangcheon had sent the Black Shadows to rush him after Haeryeong was injured, continued while shuffling through the disorganized papers.

“The Minister of Rites was quite clever. I own several hand-copied versions of this book myself, so at first, I wondered what could possibly be special about it since it matched the calligraphy I knew.”

He grimaced, explaining that he hadn’t noticed anything unusual at first glance.

Finally finding what he was looking for among the papers, he sent Gangcheon a look urging him to see.

“What is this?”

Gangcheon scowled even deeper at Sang-hyo’s expression, which seemed to ask why he couldn’t see it for himself.

“Use your words; speak.”

Sang-hyo let out a regretful sigh.

Before Gangcheon could grow more incensed, he quickly began to explain, pointing to the top of the paper.

“It is a double-coded cipher. The last character of the first page and the first character of the second page differed from the original text.”

“Therefore, I read them one by one and found that the characters from the first and fifth pages connected, as did the characters from the second and sixth pages.”

By skipping five pages at a time in that manner, two ciphers were completed, though one was a meaningless distraction.

Once he discarded the first cipher—which was disguised as a back-alley thug’s deal for dangerous goods—what remained was a short letter concerning this very incident.

The sender remained unidentified, but the recipient was clearly the Minister of Rites, which was perfect for implicating him.

The sender would likely be easily identified once the captured assassins were put to the torture.

The contents of the cipher Sang-hyo discovered were as follows:

[The uprising is scheduled for that day.]

[Thirty-two are on standby to respond in the event the archer fails.]

[Note that the Sun may fall. We shall not be held responsible for the aftermath.]

Gangcheon bared his teeth in a grin as he read the completed sentences written on another sheet Sang-hyo had provided.

The “Sun” in those sentences clearly referred to himself, the Emperor.

This meant the Minister of Rites had proceeded with the plan even while knowing the Emperor would be attacked, which was unmistakably treason.

“Seok-hwan.”

At Gangcheon’s heavy call, the hidden Seok-hwan revealed himself.

“Your servant, Yoon Seok-hwan, is here. Command me, Your Majesty.”

“Take the Imperial Guard and the Black Shadow Unit and arrest the Minister of Rites, Yun Hyeon-pyeong. He is a traitor, so accord him the proper treatment.”

“Furthermore, arrest Jeong Yak-hong, the Vice-Chief of the Ministry of War, in secret. I must know the extent of his involvement in this matter.”

“I shall bring every single one of them in, Your Majesty.”

After Seok-hwan departed, Gangcheon felt Sang-hyo’s intense gaze and let out a sigh.

Looking into those eyes full of vitality, he felt another surge of irritation, but good work deserved a proper reward.

Gangcheon signaled to Manchul, who was standing by.

Manchul brought over a lacquered paulownia box and set it before Gangcheon.

Gangcheon gestured indifferently toward the box as Sang-hyo stared at it, unable to look away.

“These are the water dropper and inkstone presented as tribute from Changryeo last autumn.”

As expected of Changryeo, famous for its jade, it was a water dropper carved from jade and a high-quality Nampo-seok inkstone set into a large jade plate.

The Emperor’s symbol, the dragon, was engraved onto these items, which had reportedly taken a master artisan from Changryeo several months to craft.

The dropper was shaped like a dragon coiling around mountain peaks, while the inkstone featured two dragons encircling the four corners of the jade plate as if guarding them.

These priceless tributes were items Sang-hyo had been coveting since last year.

At first, Gangcheon had promised them if he could get the Noble Consort to finish the Thousand Character Classic, but as that task dragged on indefinitely, Sang-hyo’s distress had grown.

Therefore, Gangcheon had promised to bestow these upon him if he succeeded in this current task, securing his cooperation.

As a result, Sang-hyo had fulfilled his duty magnificently.

Gangcheon clicked his tongue as he saw Sang-hyo’s hand twitch in the air, wanting to stroke the inkstone.

“Sang-hyo. Since I am looking at your face, I shall tell you now. You no longer need to visit the Consort’s Palace.”

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