Chapter 84: Unsettled Hearts

Gangcheon had been truly enraged yesterday.

It was a time when his heart was already heavy, having just informed the Noble Consort that he would not grant him the position of Empress.

He had barely managed to soothe the man who clung to him with eyes brimming with tears, vowing to work harder, but the Consort had not ceased his weeping even when Gangcheon departed for his afternoon duties.

Having received word that Sirak was bedridden that evening, he sought out the Empress to ease his heavy heart, only to end up with another massive boulder added to his burden.

Things had certainly taken a ridiculous turn.

Recalling the tears shed by both the Consort and the Empress throughout the day, Gangcheon smacked his bitter-tasting lips.

He had spent the previous night entirely without sleep, struggling to master the urge to rush back to the Empress and demand an explanation.

Having pulled another all-nighter during a period when he hadn’t even fully recovered from the fatigue of the heat cycle, his body felt heavy and weary, no matter how robust his constitution.

Perhaps that was why.

The rage that had been seething all night over the Empress’s words and actions seemed to suddenly vanish without a trace at some point.

In its place, something else seemed to be sprouting near his heart.

Gangcheon let out another long sigh and called for Manchul with an indifferent air.

“Manchul, I shall skip breakfast and have a midday drink instead.”

“You mean to drink so early in the morning, Your Majesty?”

“Yes. Ah, while we are at it, let us hold a banquet. Inform the officials who attended the assembly to be present. Order the Bureau of Food Service to prepare a luncheon; we shall play boisterously all day long.”

“But… Your Majesty.”

Manchul started to speak as if to dissuade him from the sudden banquet, but Gangcheon quickly cut him off.

“My body is weary, so I shall not attend to state affairs today or tomorrow. Have I not labored for over three years? Is it not time I had a rest? Tell the Empress and the Noble Consort to attend today’s banquet as well. This is an Imperial command, so let no one be absent.”

As his bored voice grew increasingly cold, Manchul replied with a sigh.

“I shall deliver the order to prepare.”

As soon as he arrived at the Great Hall, Gangcheon dismissed everyone and removed his dragon robe himself.

After letting his clothes fall to the floor and sitting upon the bed, Seok-hwan appeared.

“Your Majesty, Seon and Hyo have returned.”

“Bring them in.”

Soon, the two rugged-looking brothers appeared before the Emperor without a sound.

They knelt on one knee before the bed and bowed their heads.

“Ju Seon and Ju Hyo reporting. we have returned from our mission.”

“Report what you have discovered.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. There were not as many people who remembered those events as we expected. we eventually found the retired gisaeng who had instructed the Consort’s mother, but she passed away long ago. we sought out those close to her who might know of the past, but not a single one remained.”

Gangcheon furrowed his brow and glared at the two of them.

“So you mean to say you have returned empty-handed?”

Hyo wore a slick grin and puffed out his chest with an air of importance.

“Surely Your Majesty does not hold us in such low regard? If we were to return empty-handed, we would have bitten off our own tongues in the middle of the marketplace.”

Seon nudged his younger brother in the side and bowed his head.

As the elder, he seemed more sensitive to Gangcheon’s mood than his brother.

“The gisaeng house where the proprietress stayed as a child disappeared long ago, so we searched for any remaining associates. we found one old gatekeeper who is still alive, living outside the capital; he owns farmland and employs servants. It was impossible not to find it suspicious that a man who was once a s*ave now owns a house with over ten rooms.”

Gangcheon slowly tapped his foot, wanting to hear only the conclusion of the long-winded story.

He wanted to tell them to get to the point, but if they were setting the stage like this, the point was likely weightier than expected.

Sure enough, after his long explanation, Seon looked up at Gangcheon with a grin.

“It took some effort to coax the old man, but we have returned with a story we never anticipated.”

“Speak.”

As Gangcheon urged them, Hyo took the lead this time.

“There was an incident where the Consort’s mother entered the household of the former Grand Preceptor as a concubine, only to vanish before his funeral rites were even finished. It seems that gatekeeper was tasked with luring the Consort’s mother, with whom he was acquainted. In exchange for the deed, Yun Se-chang reportedly purchased and destroyed the man’s s*ave documents. He was also given a significant sum of money.”

Seon took over the narrative.

“The man who took the Consort’s mother is said to be Yun Se-chang, the son of the current Minister of Rites, Yun Hyeon-pyeong.”

Hyo finished as if delivering a final verdict.

“By the time Yun Hyeon-pyeong noticed what his son had done, several months had passed. It seems he summoned Yun Se-chang, scolded him severely, and then released the woman. However, before the Consort’s mother could escape Yun Se-chang’s hands, she was already pregnant. The Minister of Rites is the Consort’s biological grandfather, Your Majesty.”

The first thought that struck Gangcheon upon hearing Hyo’s words was whether Sirak knew of this.

And why had the Minister of Rites placed Sirak before him?

Seon added that Yun Se-chang, the eldest son of the Minister and Sirak’s biological father, had died in an accident several years ago.

‘Did the Minister seek out the Consort to find the shadow of his son?’

It was a plausible story.

‘Then, just what did that old raccoon hope for by pushing the Consort into the Imperial Palace?’

The answer to that did not come easily.

“Did you look into the Consort’s movements?”

Gangcheon pushed aside the question in his mind and addressed Seon and Hyo.

“It is certain he did not live in the capital… but because we lacked the time to trace his exact movements, we returned to report first, Your Majesty.”

Seon mentioned they could only confirm that the Consort’s mother left the capital immediately after escaping Yun Se-chang’s hands.

“Shall we continue the pursuit?”

Gangcheon pondered for a moment before addressing Seok-hwan.

“If they moved during the war, it will be even harder to track them, will it not?”

“It would take a long time, and there is no guarantee they could be found.”

“Then forget it. Instead, place more men at the Minister of Rites’ residence. Monitor the movements of the servants without fail.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

As Gangcheon was about to dismiss the Black Shadows, Seok-hwan hesitated and bowed his head.

“Su-yong is requesting an audience.”

The events of last night suddenly came to mind.

When Gangcheon furrowed his brow, Seok-hwan added cautiously.

“He says he has something to ask regarding the Empress.”

“I will not hear it. Tell him to return and guard his post properly.”

Gangcheon dismissed all the Black Shadows and sank into thought.

He sat with his hands on his knees, rubbing his thumb and index finger together in contemplation for a long while.

‘So, the Noble Consort and the Minister of Rites are related by blood.’

Thinking of everything that had transpired, he felt both a sense of unease and a lingering bitterness.

‘Just what were those two plotting together?’

‘Should I have settled the matter the moment I learned the Minister had recommended the Consort for the banquet?’

He did not regret the time he had spent with Sirak, but he truly lacked the confidence to treat him as he once had.

Ha. Gangcheon let out a sigh, his shoulders shaking.

A cackling laugh escaped his lips, though his expression remained frozen and cold.

‘What a truly ridiculous situation.’

His irritation soared, and he no longer wished to think about it.

‘What is this life?’

He had lost sleep to rage all night yesterday, yet today he didn’t even feel that much emotion.

He only felt hollow inside, and a bitter smile continued to slip out.

While Gangcheon idled away the time, word arrived that the banquet preparations were complete.

Unwelcome news came along with it.

“His Highness the Empress has conveyed that it is difficult for him to attend the banquet.”

Manchul delivered the news from the Empress’s Palace in a calm tone.

Gangcheon stopped preparing for the banquet and stared intently at the man, who was slightly bowed.

Manchul hesitated for a moment before bowing even deeper.

“It is said he has a slight fever.”

Gangcheon turned his head toward the eunuchs assisting with his clothes and twisted his lips.

“Tell him that even if he is dying, he is to come and die at the banquet.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I shall deliver the message.”

Just before Manchul could bow and back out of the chamber, Gangcheon changed his mind and called him to a halt.

“Leave it. I shall personally walk to the Empress’s Palace.”

‘Since you are playing so hard to get, I suppose I must go and fetch you myself.’

As Gangcheon’s aura grew ominous, the hands of the eunuchs assisting him moved faster.

Once he had finished adjusting his robes and crown, Gangcheon immediately left the Great Hall and boarded his palanquin.

“To the Empress’s Palace.”

At Gangcheon’s command, the palanquin headed straight for its destination.

Since he had sent word in advance, the usual Empress would have been out waiting for him.

However, among the gathered staff, his figure was nowhere to be seen.

Gangcheon sat in the palanquin even after it had been lowered to the ground, idly fiddling with his lips with a finger.

‘Why is this so unpleasant?’

‘It is possible he truly cannot come out because he is unwell.’

‘Since I received a report that the Empress also stayed awake all night, perhaps he is simply taking a nap.’

Gangcheon quelled his anger by imagining the reasons for the Empress’s absence.

However, that calm did not last long.

The moment he stepped off the palanquin, he noticed the court ladies of the Empress’s Palace bowing with tense expressions.

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