Pay‑to‑Win King of Martial Arts (Novel) - Chapter 174 - Embroidered Uniform Guard (1)
Chapter 174 – Embroidered Uniform Guard (1)
“You don’t need to say goodbye?”
“No.”
Peng Chae-hyang left the house briskly. Black Elder and White Elder had naturally intended to accompany us, and I too had assumed they would be coming, but for some reason Peng Chae-hyang refused.
Even when Black Elder and White Elder cried out that it was still dangerous for her to go out alone, Peng Chae-hyang firmly said that was something she had to bear herself.
“Are you sure this is all right? It could be dangerous without escorts. I have quite a lot of enemies, you know.”
“Yes. Honestly, if they’re only ordinary assassins, Young Master Muk and I can handle them well enough on our own. And the Hebei Peng Clan has plenty of enemies too.”
“The Hebei Peng Clan has a lot of enemies?”
“The rich always have a lot of enemies.”
“I agree with that.”
Peng Chae-hyang still did not look at me. Because I am a merchant by trade, I usually talk while looking directly into a person’s eyes. I can tell most lies just by the way their pupils shake.
But whenever she spoke to me, Peng Chae-hyang somehow even hid her eyes behind her hair. It felt as though it had gotten worse than when we first met, but I had the sense that if I made it obvious, it would only get worse, so I forced myself to dismiss it as my imagination.
“So where are we going right now?”
“The Imperial Palace.”
“Do you know someone there?”
“I do know someone, but I’m not going to see that person. Ah, but Young Lady Peng really doesn’t need to come along.”
To be more precise, she must not come. The Commander-in-Chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was a secret by his very existence. It was unclear whether he would even allow me in, so if I dragged an outsider along, there was no way it would be permitted.
I expected Peng Chae-hyang to nod as though it were obvious. We were indeed setting out together on a journey through the martial world, but that did not mean we shared the same purpose.
If each of us had separate business, we would see to it separately and only meet up again when it was time to travel. That sort of companionship was fairly common in the Central Plains. It was the kind of arrangement I had originally imagined as well.
“…Really?”
But Peng Chae-hyang pushed her lips out as though dissatisfied.
“Why? Do you want to come with me?”
“Yes.”
Unexpectedly, Peng Chae-hyang answered at once. Given her personality, I had thought she would wave her hands and deny it, so perhaps there was a side to Peng Chae-hyang that I had misunderstood.
Showing an awkward expression, I said,
“But as you know, Young Lady Peng, the Imperial Palace isn’t a place just anyone can enter, and there are many areas there that involve confidential matters….” “That part is fine. I’m one of the people with standing entry privileges to the Imperial Palace.”
Standing entry privileges to the Imperial Palace. There were people like me, who entered on a one-time basis, and there were people who could enter the Imperial Palace without going through any special procedures.
That privilege was usually granted to palace officials, eunuchs, and attendants, though occasionally ordinary people had it too. But as far as I knew, that was only possible for someone who had rendered great service to the Imperial Palace, so I could only ask again.
“Standing entry privileges?”
“Yes. I hold an official post.”
“…Ah?”
That was unexpected again. As if it were obvious that I would not know, Peng Chae-hyang continued her explanation.
“The direct line of the Peng Clan has the authority to command troops in order to defend Beijing in times of emergency. It is an official post the Emperor graciously bestowed upon our family.”
“If it gives you authority to command the troops of Beijing, then….”
“Yes. I’m a Small Banner Officer of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. My father is a Regular Thousand-Household. Of course, it’s only a wartime organization. In peacetime it’s basically nothing at all. Even so, it still makes me a standing entrant.”
That was something I had never known. I had naturally known that the Hebei Peng Clan was close to the Imperial Palace, but I had never imagined the palace had granted official posts to the Hebei Peng Clan as well.
Then again, considering the influence the Hebei Peng Clan wielded in Beijing, it did make sense to bind them that way.
And a Small Banner Officer at that. A Small Banner Officer in the Embroidered Uniform Guard was a junior seventh-rank officer who handled the command and leadership of lower guard troops. Since I was regular seventh rank, we were only one rank apart.
“I didn’t realize you were with the Embroidered Uniform Guard.”
“Even if I’m with the Embroidered Uniform Guard, I don’t do things like intelligence work. It’s just a post needed in emergencies.”
A Small Banner Officer of the Embroidered Uniform Guard qualified as a standing entrant. If I wanted to be technical, I could also show my Censor’s Token and become one, but I disliked going around exposing my secret identity. So even today I had sent Wang Song a letter beforehand, asking him to arrange permission for me to enter.
“Understood. Then let’s go together.”
“It’s not inconvenient for you, is it?”
“Of course not.”
“Then that’s a relief.”
Peng Chae-hyang walked up to the Imperial Guards standing watch at the palace gate.
“Ah, I’m not entering through that side.”
“I know.”
The gates used by standing entrants and temporary entrants were different. Looking at the Imperial Guard, it happened to be the exact same soldier who had let me in last time.
That soldier had been terribly rude. I worried Peng Chae-hyang might end up embarrassed for no reason, so I moved closer.
“Even after so long, you’re as beautiful as ever.”
“Thank you. That’s not why….” “If it’s all right with you, would you like to share some tea with me after my shift ends? It would be my treat.”
“I have something I need to do.”
“What a shame.”
His attitude was so different from the way he had treated me that I almost rubbed my eyes and looked again. With a gentle smile, Peng Chae-hyang said,
“This is my friend, and he’s a truly reliable friend. Could you let him in with me? I’ll take responsibility.”
“Ah, ah. If he’s Miss Peng’s friend, then of course I should.”
What was this? Why was this country so lax? But looked at another way, it probably meant the recognition and trust Peng Chae-hyang had built up in Beijing were just that deep.
In fact, Peng Chae-hyang kept greeting people as they passed by. I felt as though I now understood a little better why she was so wary of men. Men really did constantly throw glances and overtures at her at every opportunity.
Because she lacked the personality to cut them off sharply and simply accepted it all, they kept pressing in endlessly like that Imperial Guard earlier.
“Please, go in.”
The Imperial Guard opened the gate for us first. To begin with, they did not even recognize that I had met them before. Then again, how could gatekeepers who saw so many people remember every face?
“That was simple.”
I had not expected to step over the threshold of the Imperial Palace so easily. Looking a little proud, Peng Chae-hyang put both hands on her waist and squared her shoulders.
“This much is easy.”
I looked at her because the sight amused me. Peng Chae-hyang held herself proudly, but the moment our eyes met, she wilted at once and shrank in on herself. I liked the sight of her standing open and proud much better, so it was a little disappointing.
“So where are we going?”
“To where Young Lady Peng’s colleagues are.”
“My colleagues?”
Peng Chae-hyang’s eyes widened.
Needless to say, I meant the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
Once she realized where I was headed, Peng Chae-hyang was startled.
“Why the Embroidered Uniform Guard?”
Peng Chae-hyang could not help asking. To ordinary people, the Embroidered Uniform Guard was an object of fear. I disliked them too. Even so, if I could receive guidance from one of the Three Great Masters of the Imperial Palace, a little aversion was nothing.
And I too, though not by a formal office, belonged to the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
There was no reason at all for me to feel inhibited.
That was what I thought. “Who… no, well if it isn’t…!”
The moment we reached the Embroidered Uniform Guard encampment, the guardsmen’s mouths all fell open in stupid grins.
“Good grief, how long has it been!”
“Show your face around here more often!”
The welcome from the crowd was heated. Naturally, it was not for me. Before I knew it, the guardsmen had pushed me to the outer edge, and Peng Chae-hyang was surrounded as though penned in by them.
“Officer! You didn’t come to the last training session either, and I had no spirit for training when I couldn’t see you!”
“That’s right! You’re one of the few flowers our Embroidered Uniform Guard has!”
From between the bodies, Peng Chae-hyang’s face looked awkwardness itself. After everything that had happened, I began to understand from the bottom of my heart that flustered trait she showed only around men. If every man came at her that aggressively, even I would end up doubting and guarding myself against all men.
This was only my first day seeing it, and I was already exhausted. Peng Chae-hyang had apparently endured this for years at minimum. She truly was beautiful, and on top of that from a famous family, yet in this area she was too soft-hearted to be firm, so it was not surprising the guards kept pestering her.
“J-just a moment. Everyone. Please calm down.”
The noisy Embroidered Uniform Guard encampment settled down at Peng Chae-hyang’s quiet words.
“I didn’t come today as an officer of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. I came as a companion to the person beside me…, huh. Where did he go?”
“Over here.”
I raised a hand, pushed my way through the crowd, and retook my rightful position beside Peng Chae-hyang.
“Yes. I came here as Young Master Muk’s companion.”
“Who is that man?”
One of the guardsmen spoke in a sullen voice. He seemed irritated because the person they thought of as a flower belonging only to them was apparently treating me with special familiarity.
“Hey, can you fight at all?”
“If you’re going to stand next to Young Lady Peng, you at least need the skill to protect her, don’t you?”
From what I could see, even if four or five of the guardsmen here joined forces, they would have trouble protecting Peng Chae-hyang. If anything, she would be the one protecting them.
Though Peng Chae-hyang hurriedly tried to stop them, the guardsmen had no intention of backing down.
“W-wait. Don’t start something.”
“It’s not starting something. It’s just that deep sort of thing between men. You know?”
Chuckling, the guardsmen pressed in on me. It was absurd. These men were truly rank-and-file among the rank-and-file guardsmen, mere soldiers.
And I was a seventh-rank censor. Even if it was not a formal post, I was still an officer of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. For them to treat me like this was insubordination. Of course, they were only acting this way because they did not know I was a censor. I considered simply laying everything out, but if I did that here, I felt I would get scolded by the Northern Pacification Commissioner even though we were both part of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
“Who has come to visit?”
From inside the encampment, a handsome man with gentle features emerged. He looked only a little past thirty. Naturally, the person who had come out recognized Peng Chae-hyang first and laughed broadly.
“Ah, Miss Peng has come! How long has it been?”
“I pay my respects to the Southern Pacification Commissioner.”
Peng Chae-hyang at once cupped her fists and showed him proper courtesy. So that was the Southern Pacification Commissioner. I only knew Baek Yu-gyeom, the Northern Pacification Commissioner who was my direct superior. This was my first time seeing the Southern Pacification Commissioner, and he looked a little younger than Baek Yu-gyeom.
“Haha. Are we really people who need such formality between us? Whatever the matter is, come in first.”
The Southern Pacification Commissioner laughed heartily. Just then, the guardsmen who had been quietly watching seemed to have joined forces among themselves and raised their voices.
“The officer says she didn’t come because she has business with this unit.”
“Then why?”
“She says she came as the companion of the man standing next to her.”
“A man?”
The Southern Pacification Commissioner looked around, and only then did he notice me. It seemed his eyes had been so fixed on Peng Chae-hyang that he had not even realized I was there.
“And who might you be?”
the Southern Pacification Commissioner asked.
I cupped my fists in greeting as I replied.
“I am Muk Hui-yeong, Company Lord of the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company.”
“Hm? Muk Hui-yeong? I’ve heard that name somewhere before.”
The Southern Pacification Commissioner tilted his head. Judging by the way his eyes rolled upward, he seemed to be thinking.
“Ah, ah. Right. So you’re Muk Hui-yeong. I heard about you from the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief.”
Fortunately, the Southern Pacification Commissioner knew my name.
When the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief’s name came up, the expressions of the guardsmen who had been pressuring me changed.
“He is a guest of Lord Wang, the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate. He is someone who must be treated with respect.”
The Southern Pacification Commissioner even proclaimed that much to the guardsmen. They wore expressions as if they had bitten into dung, but even those expressions did not last long, because the Southern Pacification Commissioner swept them once with hawk-like eyes.
“Come inside.”
The Southern Pacification Commissioner led us into the Embroidered Uniform Guard barracks. The barracks themselves were naturally a confidential area, but Wang Song had already requested it for my sake, and Peng Chae-hyang was a Small Banner Officer of the Embroidered Uniform Guard to begin with, so there was no issue there.
The moment we entered a quiet corridor, the Southern Pacification Commissioner turned to me and smiled faintly.
“So you’re that Muk Hui-yeong.”
“Did Lord Wang say something about me?” “No. I heard from the Northern Pacification Commissioner. Didn’t you help our people in Gansu?”
“Ah, so you know about that.”
I had heard that the missing censors of the Embroidered Uniform Guard in Gansu had all been under the Southern Pacification Commissioner’s command. In Gansu I had told them that the mastermind behind the disappearance of the Embroidered Uniform Guard personnel was the Superintendent of the Eastern Depot in Gansu. I really had helped the Southern Pacification Commissioner.
“Thank you. We found and dealt with the spy as well. Just as there are mongrels among the Embroidered Uniform Guard who mix with eunuchs, there are also people on the Eastern Depot side who mix with us. If we hadn’t known it was the Eastern Depot, we never would have found him.”
“That’s good.”
It seemed they had also handled the spy the Northern Pacification Commissioner had mentioned. Still, something about it made me slightly curious, so I asked,
“But aren’t the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot people who can only be hostile to each other?”
“Oh, you know even that? That’s true enough. But people, you see, there are those possessed of superhuman will. Usually, those are the ones who change the world.”
The Southern Pacification Commissioner laughed loudly. Hearing me speak naturally with him, Peng Chae-hyang looked dazed. She likely did not even understand what we were talking about.
By the time we had exchanged this and that while talking with the Southern Pacification Commissioner, we had stopped in front of a large door before we knew it. One glance was enough to tell it was the office of the Commander-in-Chief.
“Only Company Lord Muk goes in to see the Commander-in-Chief. Lord Wang requested only Company Lord Muk. Officer, wait outside first.”
“Yes.”
Peng Chae-hyang gave me a small nod, then disappeared into the dark corridor.
The Southern Pacification Commissioner drew in a deep breath and knocked on the door.
“Who is it?”
A voice came from inside as though it had been waiting. The voice was very gentle and unhurried.
“It is the Southern Pacification Commissioner. The censor Muk Hui-yeong whom Lord Wang requested has arrived.”
“Ah, he’s here. Send him in.”
The Southern Pacification Commissioner yielded the door to me. It seemed to mean that I should open it and go in. I took hold of the doorknob and opened the door.
And the instant I opened it, I saw a golden intent shooting toward my forehead. Startled, I ducked my head. A finger wind brushed past my hair at nearly the same speed as the intent.
“Oh? You dodged that?”
“…What was that?”
I raised my head and looked toward the place the finger wind had come from. There sat a middle-aged man with half his hair gone white, his chin propped on one hand, wearing an expression of listless boredom.
“What else would it be, you hoodlum? The Commander-in-Chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.”
The Commander-in-Chief crooked a finger at me.
It looked like an invitation to come forward. Somehow, this did not seem as though it would be an easy meeting.