NOVEL NEXT WORLD chapter 15
15 – Boyhood ~Let’s reject the engagement~
The capital of the Imperial Empire, Xu Du.
On one side of Suzaku-daero centered on the imperial palace, there was a consulate where officials worked.
At the consulate, whose symbol was the blue hawk, talented people who were said to be among the best in the empire were working hard on internal affairs.
Those who were strictly selected through the past, which was held once every four years, were a group of particularly talented people in the Empire.
And the position that can be said to be the head of these consuls was Taiui, a high-ranking official in charge of politics and administration, holding the real power right next to the emperor.
Taeui (太意) in charge of political administration.
Untitled(武制) in charge of military affairs.
And even Jigun(地君) in charge of civil engineering.
These three positions were called Samgong, and Taeui was a position that received a higher reputation among them.
And the man performing these rituals was Li Shao, the head of the consulate.
Even in the imperial empire, he was called the emperor’s right-hand man. He was a benevolent man with a virtuous body, but apart from his lack of ability, he was the one who excelled at manipulating people.
However, contrary to popular opinion, Li Shao was a very greedy person, befitting his position as Taeyi with great aspirations.
He started as a low-level official and accidentally fell in the eyes of the emperor and rose to the highest position of Taeui, but his eyes were on a higher position.
Beyond Taeui and the Sangsang (承相) encompassing the Three Kingdoms!
Covetous for the position that was abolished due to the past dictatorship, he was troubled by the existence of Untitled, the biggest obstacle to his purpose.
In such a situation, the news of the emperor’s performance inspection!
When he heard the news for the first time, he was delighted and immediately started planning a terrorist attack.
As a man with a natural talent for managing people, he secured personnel by coaxing like-minded officials well, and conceived a plan to separate the Yeon family and the imperial family in order to reduce the power of the military.
‘If Emperor Wu, who is holding the military, gets away from the imperial family, this Li Shao will swallow the military!’
If Emperor Wu, the leader of the 10 Emperors, becomes distant from the imperial family, naturally, the 10 emperors, the axis of the military, will also distance themselves from the imperial family.
If that’s the case, there’s a chance he’ll absorb the military himself.
Yes, if the plan worked.
“I never thought the plan would fail…”
Li Shao, who was seated at the consulate’s residence, frowned for a moment at the report from one of his subordinates.
“The plan must have been perfect.”
It doesn’t matter if you failed to assassinate the emperor.
No, rather, the failure was as planned.
The problem was on the other side.
“Why did the abduction of the princess fail?”
The best hand to separate the Yeon family and the imperial family was the princess.
The descending succession to the throne, and unlike the crown prince, the princess did not stand out much.
With that in mind, the position of the princess was good, so could there be a better tool for her than this?
“It’s difficult. She was planning to kidnap the princess and sell her to the giants, but…”
As long as the plan failed, this side had to bear all the damage.
“It is said that it is okay to trample on insignificant bastards, but the problem is why it failed.”
Since the goal was to fail, the overall level of the Assassins was not that high.
The highest level is advanced, so the result is obvious. It was no wonder that the emperor easily repulsed them.
But the princess was different.
Even if the level of assassins remains the same, since there was an intriguing existence by her side, she would not have had an escort by her side.
“Since the captain of the escort of the princess, the greatest force, betrayed me, that must be certain…”
However, dozens of assassins were defeated against the princess with no fighting power?
Even in a diversionary operation, most of the manpower is concentrated on the Emperor’s side?
“Were there any helpers?”
Since the rebellion took place within the premises of the Yeon family, there must be a possibility.
“However, the subordinate said that some kid intervened.”
My expectations and reports from subordinates do not match.
Li Xiao stood up from her seat, touching her throbbing hair.
“I don’t know. Are the reports really true? Yan’s Sogaju has dealt with several skilled assassins?”
At her unbelievable conclusion, Li Shao looked out the window with her eyes filled with her complex gaze.
Li Shao, who looked at her in silence for a long time, immediately rang her bell and called her attendant.
“Bring Han Seo-ryeong.”
As the servant, who bowed his head silently, disappeared without a sound, an official wearing a military uniform entered the room one after another.
“Did you call, Taeui?”
“Welcome, Han Seo-ryeong.”
Li Xiao, who was greeted with the Han Seo-ryeong, looked down at the innocently playing commoners and continued.
“The plan failed. Next time.”
“…! Is that true?”
“An unexpected variable appeared.”
“However, it’s too early to revise the plan…”
“The plan that failed from the beginning is something I couldn’t do again. Don’t have regrets and throw it away.”
“…Wouldn’t it be nice to at least stare at the Yellow Dragon Emperor?”
“No, withdraw. As long as the plan fails, Emperor Wu will not remain silent.”
“If we give up like this, the influence of the military will only grow.”
“No, that’s not the case. Whether the plan succeeded or failed, it’s true that the incident happened once, so the Yeon family will be greatly diminished.”
Of course, the power won’t diminish as much as you and I expected.
At Li Xiao’s words, Han Seo-ryeong chewed her lips in resentment.
“The plan needs a revision. A major revision.”
Li Xiao, who was looking out the window with emotionless eyes, immediately ordered Han Seo-ryeong.
“Get information about the flame retardant. Everything, not even the smallest detail.”
“Okay.”
“Don’t be so impatient. Time is on our side, so take it easy.”
Work is already underway.
The power of the military will weaken as time goes on, and the vacancy will be filled by civil servants.
And when a decisive incident occurs, the weight is lifted at once.
Is it flame retardant? After all, a tiger cub is a tiger.’
Originally, it takes patience to catch a tiger.
Li Xiao repeated the name of Yeon Je-seong and slowly closed her eyes.
───
On the other hand, Taeheodang of the Yeon family.
A rare sight was unfolding in a place where only direct descendants lived.
“Are you serious?”
The emperor, who was drinking tea across the street, answered when the family head Yeon, who had a solemn expression on his face, asked that question.
“Of course.”
“Hmm.”
A silence lingers in the audience at the emperor’s prompt reply.
That must be why the matter is so prudent.
However, the gazes contained within them were all different.
The emperor, who fixed his gaze on Yeon Je-seong while talking to the householder, had endless greed.
Looking at the emperor like that, Yeon’s wife showed a lot of worries.
Watching those two, the princess held her interest and expectations.
How long has it passed without being able to open your mouth easily?
The princess, who was looking at the emperor with her sparkling eyes, smiled across her face as she felt the gaze from the other side.
“The original daughter agrees!”
“I’m against it! I’m against it!”
At the same time, Yeon Je-seong vomits a desperate voice.
The two, who had conflicting opinions, soon began to raise their voices and quarrel.
“How come! You don’t like the original girl!”
“That’s a different story than this one! Who wants to make a fiancé already!”
“She thinks her fiancé is okay too!”
“Do you know what a fiance is?”
“Of course! I heard from Obama! She heard that if she gets engaged to you, she can come to you for no reason!”
Oh my God.
At the words of the princess, Yeonjeseong held her head.
She’s still a princess who comes to visit whenever she’s bored, and it’s dizzying just to imagine that she even got engaged.
‘Even the emperor didn’t tell me the exact meaning!’
The only thing the princess is aware of is her permission to visit.
It’s actually a risky contract that could entrust you with your entire life.
However, the princess looked this way with an innocent expression as if she didn’t even know that.
‘No, is it rather good for me?’
I don’t know why the emperor is hiding it, but if he doesn’t even know the exact meaning of engagement, there might be a way to appease him.
It was just then that she thought so.
Seeing how she was arguing with her princess, the emperor suddenly burst into laughter at her.
“Ha ha ha! They seem to be getting along already, so Jim feels at ease too!”
“…Yes?”
“Hmm. They sure seem to get along well.”
“Yes?”
This is a good relationship no matter where you look!
“Um um! Excellent discernment, kite gaju!”
“Heh heh! Princess, at times like this, it’s called father.”
“You mean father?”
It was luck that the princess was still young and didn’t understand.
“Haha, what are you talking about…!”
“Why is that? He’s the future princess’ father-in-law. Wouldn’t it be right to call her father from an early age?”
“…Hmm. I’m fine either way.”
Wait a minute, what do you like, father?
Isn’t it?
You really don’t want to sell me, do you?
After coughing several times, my father looked at Se-hee and me alternately, then nodded heavily.
“Okay. They don’t seem to be on bad terms with each other, so let’s review it positively.”
“Hahaha! Well thought out kite head!”
“Wait———!!”
“Hooray! My dear! With this I can visit you anytime!”
“Calm down, Sehee! Yes! It doesn’t matter if you come to visit me any time! Why don’t we say there is no engagement!”
“No!”
“Oh, why!”
“I don’t know! He just shouted that he didn’t like the original woman’s intuition!”
“Hey, hey, hey…!”
Uselessly good feeling… !
“Engagement! Engagement! Now the original woman is your fiancé!”
The princess, who began to dance on her shoulders with her breasts wide open, was so excited that she started performing her jokes in front of her elders.
“You must be in a good mood, Princess.”
“Of course! Yeon-ga-joo! It feels good to finally be engaged to So-ga-joo! Yeon-ga-joo… No, father! I’d like to thank you too!”
“This is an undeserved word.”
“Chuck! How can I not be happy that the kite and the imperial family have formed a good relationship! Instead of doing this, we should have a banquet right now! Hello—!”
I cautiously approached my father and whispered to my father, leaving behind the emperor who kept ordering something with his attendants behind.
{Father! What are you thinking!}
{What do you mean?}
{You’re not serious about accepting an engagement, are you?}
{I am always sincere}
{No, what am I supposed to do if I suddenly get engaged like this!}
{What. Isn’t it nice to have a pretty fiancée as well?}
At my father’s words, I looked at Sehee.
Se-hee, whose eyes sparkled with a flushed expression, flushed her cheeks and waved her arms as soon as our eyes met.
{Considering the emperor’s personality, this must be a leash.}
{Well, I guess.}
{They want me to belong to the imperial family in exchange for the princess. Besides, even the princess herself is not normal enough to resemble the emperor…….}
{No way. Aren’t you pure yet?}
{No. They obviously look alike.}
Even if I can say that I can get past the frequent visits, I can tell that it is absolutely not normal when I think of the way he hits me where I am just by intuition or the expression I sometimes show when I am with Seonhwa.
Although she wasn’t yet young enough to have developed a proper personality, the gaze that sometimes cooled the back of her neck was definitely the princess’s.
As she desperately protested while explaining the princess and her past, her father, who had been listening quietly, averted his gaze little by little.
{Uhm….}
{Are you going to sell me out like this!}
{…It’s okay. That kind of thing works surprisingly well when you get married.}
{No, how can you be sure of that?}
Who knows if things will go back to normal once they get married.
What should I do if the symptoms get worse?
However, my father dismissed my doubts with one word.
{Your mother did that.}
… ….
{…Really?}
{Really.}
{No, but I don’t look like that at all…….}
{That’s because my personality died a lot after getting married.}
{But, no matter how…….}
{It’s okay. I know it because I’ve experienced it, but it’s rather good if you don’t look at it differently.}
My father’s eyes were so serious when he said that, so I automatically nodded.
As if satisfied with my reaction, my father shook his head and then continued to tell me.
{And then. You don’t have a choice anyway.}
{What does that mean?}
{The problem is that it was His Majesty who brought up the words. What kind of servant could reject His Majesty’s words?}
{Your father is still possible.}
I wonder if you don’t know that you are the emperor’s favored emperor.
If such a father refuses, the emperor will surely not be able to strongly recommend it.
However, the father’s answer was unexpected.
{No, it’s impossible. Judging from Your Majesty’s appearance, even if you refuse now, it seems that he will surely take you by any means.}
{That’s…….}
{It’s better to give permission like this before approaching with a method that is difficult to deal with. Wouldn’t you like to be taken hostage by the imperial family out of the blue? And it’s not a bad story for me either, so there’s no reason to decline the offer.}
{… ….}
{Then why did you catch His Majesty’s eyes? I’ve served His Majesty for a long time, but I’ve never seen her so happy.}
For a moment, his father’s gaze contained compassion.
{Okay, son. You don’t have a choice from the beginning.}
My father’s words were the decisive blow.
“Hey!”
I knelt down with a sorrowful expression on my face.
“It’s a long-awaited event! Let’s hold the most wonderful banquet!”
“Whoops, sticks with you all day, doing this and that!”
“It would be better to schedule the engagement ceremony separately, Your Majesty.”
You can’t even see me like that.
They each left the room showing a heated expression.
And then four years passed.