Pay‑to‑Win King of Martial Arts (Novel) - Chapter 157 - Reunion from Memories (3)
Chapter 157 – Reunion from Memories (3)
The main gate of the Imperial Palace is not a gate just anyone may use.
That immense palace gate opens only when members of the imperial family are making their passage. Which meant that a commoner like me could only go through one of the small side gates tucked away to the side.
Of course, that did not mean the smaller gate was lightly guarded.
“Where are you coming from?” The moment he saw me, a soldier in golden armor asked in a rigid voice.
The men standing with long spears planted against the ground, weapons not permitted in the martial world, had to be members of the Imperial Guard.
The Imperial Guard that protects the Son of Heaven’s palace is different from the Jinyiwei. If the Jinyiwei handle surveillance, arrest, interrogation, and other intelligence operations beyond the palace, then the Imperial Guard is the unit that protects the Emperor directly.
Unlike the Jinyiwei, they are soldiers in immediate contact with the Emperor himself, so they are selected not only for a high level of martial skill, but for fierce loyalty as well.
“For your information, if you’re a merchant or laborer here for work, then you should be entering through the side gate at the north gate.” The Imperial Guard man’s tone wasn’t just cold.
It was cold enough to make one feel aggrieved.
It wasn’t my imagination.
He really was speaking as if to say, why should creatures like you even be talking to us? At the moment, I looked like a typical merchant carrying a bundle.
It was hardly anything new that the Imperial Palace revered agriculture and looked down on commerce, but seeing such open discrimination still stung.
Then again, if the Emperor himself thought that way, his personal guards would naturally be even worse. “No. I’ve come because there’s someone I need to see.”
“Do you have an appointment? What’s your name?”
The Imperial Guard soldier pulled out a sheet of paper and scanned it. Naturally, the Imperial Palace was not a place one could come and go freely just because one was acquainted with some official.
An appointment had to be made in advance, and the rules were strict enough that if the visitor caused any trouble, the official who had brought them in was held personally responsible.
I knew that much from having entered the Imperial Palace a few times in the past. “The name is Muk Hui-yeong. I don’t think I’d be on the list, but…”
As I said that, I reached into my robe to take out my censor token.
At the very least, with a Jinyiwei censor token, I could enter on my own authority. But the moment the Imperial Guard heard my name, he cut me off.
“You are. Next time, say your name first. It saves time. I’ll call the official who made the appointment. Wait here a moment.”
“What? Ah, yes…”
I tilted my head at the suddenly accelerating conversation. Who exactly had made an appointment to see me?
Appointments had to be reported directly to the Imperial Guard by the official concerned.
Who could possibly have known that I would come today? I was curious, but the answer came soon enough, so I simply waited.
Not long after, a man in blue palace attire hurried over to me and bowed deeply.
“Greetings. I am Bae Byeong-hyo, Recording Clerk of the Censorate.” “Ah. Yes. I’m Muk Hui-yeong.”
Bae Byeong-hyo immediately led me to the hall where the Censorate worked.
That was answer enough. There was only one person in the Censorate who would be interested enough in me to track my position and keep watch on me.
Standing in front of the hall was exactly the person I had expected.
“It’s been a while.”
“It has, Right Vice Censor-in-Chief.” I bowed my head.
Wang Song, Right Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate.
He was the one who had arranged an appointment with me. Wang Song pointed with a finger toward the pavilion opposite the hall.
“Talking inside the building feels a bit stuffy, so let’s talk out in the pavilion.”
“That’s fine with me.” The Recording Clerk of the Censorate folded himself at the waist in greeting to Wang Song and went back into the hall.
I would have preferred it that way too.
I had no desire to go into a building that so obviously looked like it had strict security. If we were going to speak about anything remotely personal, the pavilion was clearly the better choice.
“So? Been well?”
“Yes. Thanks to you.” “What do you mean, thanks to me? It’s not as though I did anything.”
“The censor token you gave me has been a tremendous help.”
“Ah, so that’s what you meant. Even so, don’t wave it around too freely. There’s nothing to be gained by publicizing it unnecessarily.”
Wang Song laughed heartily. Naturally, I had no intention of using it too broadly.
Now that I knew the Jinyiwei and Eastern Depot were hostile rivals, there was no reason for me to spread that fact around.
So I was only using it when truly necessary. “You met the Northern Pacification Commissioner outside, didn’t you?”
“Ah, the Northern Pacification Commissioner. Yes. I met him in Shaanxi.”
By Northern Pacification Commissioner, he meant Baek Yu-gyeom, whom I had met in Shaanxi. Apparently the story had already spread.
Then again, the Imperial Palace was a small society of its own, and one known for the speed with which gossip traveled.
“The Northern Pacification Commissioner praised you quite a bit.” “Really? I can’t think of anything I did to deserve praise.”
“Does praise only count if someone is blowing smoke up your rear? If they like your methods and your ability, then they praise you. That’s all.”
“I see.”
Though Wang Song didn’t say it outright, it seemed clear that the Censorate and Jinyiwei were on rather close terms. After all, it had been Wang Song who introduced me to the Jinyiwei in the first place.
Both the Censorate and the Jinyiwei were organizations sensitive about who got introduced to whom.
The fact that he had planted me there at one stroke, even when my identity was still unclear, meant Wang Song had no small amount of influence inside the Jinyiwei as well. “By the way, how did you know I was coming today well enough to make an appointment?”
I asked the thing I was actually curious about.
Wang Song laughed heartily. “Once I heard you’d entered Beijing, I filed an appointment request every day. Figuring that sooner or later you’d come. And here you are, after all.”
“Ah. Right. Of course.”
I agreed along with him while inwardly wincing. The truth was that while I’d had some vague intention of greeting people like Wang Song and Hyeong Tae-seong now that I was in Beijing, I hadn’t actually intended to meet Wang Song in such a formal fashion.
I simply hadn’t had anything particular to say to him.
Suddenly a fearful thought took hold of me. If he’d looked this hard for me, didn’t that mean he must want something?
If the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate asked me for a favor, it was sure to be a troublesome one.
What if he asked me to investigate the internal affairs of the Jinyiwei or something like that…
“Hey. What are you thinking about?” Wang Song, being the wily official he was, easily saw through the fact that my mind had wandered.
I shook my head.
“Nothing. I just figured, now that I’m meeting you, I ought to be focusing on you.” “Brazen fellow. Weren’t you just thinking about something else a moment ago?”
“To be honest, yes.”
“What were you thinking about?” “I was wondering if there was something you intended to make me do.”
Wang Song blinked, then burst into hearty laughter.
The palace attendants moving through the Imperial Palace even cast a glance toward the pavilion where we sat. “How hurtful. Do I seem like the sort of man who only calls someone when I have some task for them? It’s been a while, so I only meant that we might exchange greetings and catch up.”
“Ah, my apologies.”
I apologized sincerely. Then again, officials were people too.
Among all people, they were likely the ones most starved for relationships untainted by ulterior motive.
What he must have wanted was simply to speak with me of old times.
If Gwan Seo-ye existed only inside my own memories, then Wang Song was someone with whom I truly shared those memories. Perhaps I had simply become too stained by the world.
“But this time, your apology isn’t needed. What you said was right.”
“…Ahem.” I retract the above.
Human relationships in this world are, after all, nothing but purpose and desire.
What a damned world. “So what is it?”
“I heard from the Northern Pacification Commissioner that your martial arts are rather formidable.”
“I wouldn’t go so far as to call them formidable.” “Come now. If you can exchange blows with Two Exalts, doesn’t that say everything already?”
So Baek Yu-gyeom had a looser tongue than I’d thought.
Or perhaps not.
Now that I considered it, it may simply have been part of an official report. “Is there some matter that requires my martial arts?”
“Nothing too serious.”
“What is it?” “I have a friend for whom I stand as a sponsor. That friend recently came to Beijing, you see. I’d like you to stay by their side for a little while as they tour around.”
“An escort assignment?”
“That’s right. It won’t be that long. About fifteen days, so I hear.” I clicked my tongue softly.
I too was scheduled to remain here only about fifteen days before setting out for Shanxi.
That would mean I had no time left to myself at all. Seeing my hesitation, Wang Song hurriedly added,
“Of course, I’m not asking you to act as an escort every hour of every day. I do possess a sense of shame. My friend is staying at my home, after all. Once they return there, you needn’t guard them.”
“Will they at least come back by evening?” “That much I couldn’t say.”
“That would be a bit difficult. I’ve got things I need to do.”
“Then come to some agreement between yourselves. You’re close in age, so you should get along.”
To think this shameless old fox could say that with a straight face. Even so, Wang Song’s request was not an easy one to refuse on a personal level.
It wasn’t so burdensome a favor that it crossed a line, and I couldn’t honestly swear that I would never need to ask a favor of Wang Song in the future.
But if I thought of the fact that I might encounter a high-ranking demon one month from now, I couldn’t exactly afford to neglect my martial training either. Then a decent idea occurred to me.
To tell the truth, I had already been planning to go to the Jinyiwei to ask for some martial guidance.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Jinyiwei was famous as one of the three great experts of the Imperial Palace. There was, however, a source of uncertainty.
I knew nothing about what sort of person the Commander-in-Chief was, what he thought of me, or even whether he knew I existed.
If the Commander-in-Chief didn’t care for me, he might simply refuse to look at my martial arts at all. More fundamentally, the gap between a seventh-rank Investigating Censor and a second-rank Commander-in-Chief was so immense that one couldn’t even casually address him.
Of course, I had prepared a few things to deal with that possibility.
Still, if Wang Song intervened in the middle, it would be a tremendous help.
“Then may I ask a favor in return?” “If it’s something easy, then as much as you like.”
Listen to that.
The way he immediately attached the condition that it be something easy. No wonder such a seasoned fox was valued by the Censorate.
“I want to receive some martial instruction from the Commander-in-Chief.”
“By Commander-in-Chief, you mean the Commander-in-Chief of the Jinyiwei.” Wang Song showed a troubled look.
Information on the palace’s top experts was a state secret.
Even people in the martial world knew no more than their names and ranks. Personal details like what martial arts they used, their appearance, age, or temperament were kept entirely hidden.
“Since you’re a censor too, it’s not difficult for me to build a bridge. In the first place, the Commander-in-Chief is the one who accepted you.”
“Then he at least knows who I am.” “Naturally. And depending on the circumstances, this may even go smoothly. There are times when the Commander-in-Chief offers instruction to censors who are training.”
“Oh. Then he sounds like a kind man.”
“Mm. You’ll understand what he’s like once you meet him yourself…”
Wang Song let the end of that sentence trail away. Given the difference in rank and influence between the Commander-in-Chief of the Jinyiwei and even the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, Wang Song would naturally be reluctant to speak too loosely.
Even so, the lukewarm reaction he showed to my describing the man as kind made me uneasy.
“In any case, arranging a meeting is something I can do. Unless something major has come up, the Commander-in-Chief usually remains stationed in the Imperial Palace. He’s probably there right now as well.” “Understood.”
That settled our agreement.
I immediately left the Imperial Palace to settle the other half of the arrangement. Specifically, I went to Wang Song’s house, where the person I was to escort was staying.
If I wanted to carve out time to receive martial guidance from the Commander-in-Chief, that person’s cooperation was more important than anything else.
And when I reached Wang Song’s residence and met that person, I couldn’t help but be startled. There stood Gwan Seo-ye, apparently preparing to go out, her eyes round with surprise.
“…Why are you here?”
“…That’s what I was going to ask.” The person who regarded Wang Song as a sponsor was none other than Gwan Seo-ye, heir to the Yunchang Merchant Company and the bosom friend of my previous life.