Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Episode 21.
A few days before the sword convention.
The day I was caught by the Grand Duke on a ridiculous mission with an imperial sword.
The Grand Duke was furious and demanded that I pay for my crimes.
“Pay the price, not run away.”
You don’t realize the weight of those words.
If you pay for what you’ve done to the Southern Palace, you’ll probably have to suffer for the rest of your life. This was done against the enemies of the Southern Palace and the Confuciuses.
It is a great sin that cannot be avoided by any excuse.
And the punishment should be sweet.
No one is willing to pay the penalty, and no one is willing to accept it.
I would rather die or flee.
One.
The Grand Duke refused.
Nor did he say anything else.
Nor did he offer any sweet nothings that he would do something for her in exchange for her punishment. He simply waited for her to make her own choice.
A wave of shame washed over me.
I didn’t realize how shameful and disgusting what I had done was, and I thought I would just go into hiding. I thought that would be enough.
But it wasn’t.
I had to apologize for what I had done, for what I had done in the name of Mr. Pang and the Four Confuciuses. It was something to be regretted, and it was something that Black Ho had to accept as his own.
It’s been more than a year since the Grand Duke opened his eyes and apologized for his deception and behavior. Even a boy like him was reflecting on what he had done, and what he was trying to do.
Black Ho turned on his heel.
“You didn’t run away, did you?”
The Grand Duke opened his mouth as if he had been waiting.
“You didn’t think that ……I could run away, did you? After hearing what you said, you didn’t force or oppress me in any way.”
“Why should I. You’re the one who has to pay the price.”
“I will not do ……what might be wrong to the Grand Duke.”
“If you’re going to be a fool, go away. Come to me and confess, or something.”
“…….”
“But if you’re willing to pay the price, I can point you in the right direction.”
“Whatever.”
“You choose. It’s going to be hard. It’s going to be hard. You’ll hit the ground and regret that you didn’t choose to die or run away.”
Black Ho swallowed hard.
“But I’ll make sure you get what you deserve.”
The words were hollow. It didn’t even have a proper object.
He didn’t know what he meant, or how.
The Grand Duke simply said that paying the price was a very hard and arduous task. Even worse than dying or running away.
However, the Grand Duke’s eyes were focused solely on Black Ho. They had only crossed swords for a brief moment and exchanged a few words of conversation, but the depth of the Grand Duke’s feelings for Black Ho was something that Black Ho could never know.
As he stared into the Grand Duke’s gaze, Black Lake’s mouth opened.
* * *
“I am here to receive my punishment, Black Tiger, and I am here thanks to Mrs. Peng’s accidental saving grace, and I am here at Mrs. Peng’s personal command, in addition to my duties of teaching martial arts to the Four Dukes.”
Black Ho cleared his throat, stopped looking around, and stared into the stone-like eyes of Mr. Lim as he began to speak.
“I have accompanied the Fourth Duke and Mrs. Pang on over twenty missions, including a half-dozen missions to threaten the Dukes of the Southern Palace. One of Mrs. Pang’s orders was to deliver to the Fifth Duke of the Southern Palace the secret of the Great Yan Duke’s secret of twisting the flow of internal power. There was also an order to deliver a modified Emperor Sword Technique to the Second and Third Dukes, including the Grand Duke, so that they could annihilate themselves.”
Every word Black Ho uttered was shocking. At the scene of the sword ceremony, everyone was silent and focused on his words, as if they had made a promise.
“Also, at the moment of the sword ceremony, I was told to look for a place to prepare refreshments and tea in advance. Perhaps the people here will be able to tell me what was involved.”
With that, Black Lake stepped aside, and as the shivering shibis struggled to regain their composure in the midst of all the attention, the Grand Duke spoke up.
“Speak what you see, hear, and feel. If you do, you will not be harmed. I swear it in the name of the Grand Duke.”
The eunuchs’ gazes turned to the Archduke, who stared steadily at them and shook his head. He was only a boy, but his unwavering gaze made the siblings tighten their grip on their robes.
It reminded her of a nanny following a wretch.
“If we don’t believe, who will? The Grand Duke is clearly changing. I have no doubt that his transformation will soon be ours as we face our enemies in the Southern Palace. ”
Shibi hesitated, but Najik spoke first.
“I’m afraid, Mrs. Ping has found some refreshments and tea in the annex, and I’ve not been able to ask her what it is, but she keeps telling me not to reveal it, so I don’t know if it’s a felony like this…… dark.”
When one of the shibi mustered up the courage to speak, the others opened their mouths as if they had been waiting for a long time.
“I’m guilty of a capital offense, I’m so sorry, I was only asked to inform you of the location of the other Confuciuses, and I didn’t…… expect this to happen.”
“The messenger was ignorant,” said the old man, ”and this paper was left where Mrs. Peng had passed, and there was a trace of powder, but the messenger could not make out…….”
The servants all spoke in unison about Mrs. Peng, and the paper she had brought with her had white powder on it.
“……10Elder.”
“…….”
“Elder Ten!”
The Grand Duke’s voice was sharp. The Grand Duke, An Bai, and all but a few of the Black Tiger and Shibi were already overwhelmed by the situation, and the Tenth Elder was no exception.
After regaining his composure, he looked at the Grand Duke.
“Tell me what you heard during the sword council.”
Namgung Ho opened and closed his mouth, wondering what that meant. Then he looked directly at the Grand Duke. The moment his eyes met the bone-chilling gaze, Namgung Ho closed his eyes tightly.
You’ve made up your mind.
To cut out the rot.
Namgung Ho knew what the Grand Duke wanted from him.
And at the same time, he was asking himself.
For the sake of the Namgung family.
For the betterment of the family.
He was asking if he could help.
One thing was certain. If he said what he saw and heard here, he would be a supporter of the Grand Duke, and if he didn’t, he would be an unscrupulous person who turned a blind eye to the rot in the Southern Palace.
After sighing briefly, Namgung Ho spoke up.
“I, Namgung Ho, who is in charge of the …… Sword Association, will speak to the members of the Jiang Clan under the star sign of the Zilpung Sword.”
He made a decision.
“It’s clear that someone has poisoned the Southern Palace masters who participated in the Sword Gathering. As far as we know, the Grand Duke and First Duke, Nan Gongban, and the Third Duke, Nan Gonggal, have collapsed. It is certain that they have been poisoned, most likely with a poison that scatters or immobilizes their power.”
The murmur deepened in Braille. The words of the Grand Duke of Ganmangnani carried more weight than the words of the fierce swordsman and party favorite.
As a result, someone had poisoned the Southern Palace’s scholars, and in front of everyone.
The stories of Black Lake and Shibi’s henchmen soon led directly to one person.
The mother of the fallen Four Dukes’ South Palace dog, a woman who stood firmly in the center of attention. Ms. Pang.
“……, if you have a mouth, say something.”
When Namgungho broke off, Ms. Lim bit her quivering lower lip and looked up.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I don’t know what I’m talking about. You said he used poison, and that he was a master, and that there’s no way I’m capable of that. Besides, you said he wasn’t poisoned.”
Her gaze naturally turned to the woman sitting next to her.
Red lips. A woman with seductive eyes that had a suction power that could suck a person in, and she turned to face Mr. Yan.
“……Isn’t that right, Mrs. Tang?”
Despite his trepidation, Mr. Lim thought that this was as good as it got.
Mrs. Tang.
The second wife of Namgung Mu Baek, the mother of the second duke Namgung Hyuk.
And she wore a robe with a flower made of green watermelon emblazoned across her chest.
She was Dangmiyeon, the poisonous flower.
She was the daughter of the previous head of the Sichuan Tang family and the sister of the current head.
She was so skilled in poison that she was once known as the Poison Flower, and Mr. Pang was sure that she would be able to deflect the conversation in a way that would make sense given that she was more poisonous than he was.
Tang Miyan stared at him, then slowly rose from her seat and stalked toward the Southern Palace, her heels clicking again, drawing attention to her.
What excuse would she make?
Or perhaps she would argue with Mr. Pang.
There was a strange sense of anticipation.
“I told you, this is why you shouldn’t take in a baseless bitch. She eats whatever she can get her hands on, and that’s why she’s like this. Go away.”
With a fierce glare, she walked away with shuffling steps and stood in front of Mr. Pang. At the same time, she lifted her hand and placed it on Mrs. Liang’s chest.
The slap made Mrs. Pang scream in surprise.
“Kaaaak! ……What!”
Embarrassed, Mr. Pang pulled back, his face flushed with insult, but Dang Miyan gave him a look of disbelief.
“There’s no way I don’t know the smell of cheap military equipment. It’s a vibrating smell.”
In Tang Miyan’s hand was a tightly folded piece of paper that she had taken out of Mr. Pang’s arms whenever she had taken it from him, and her delicate ami distorted.
“How dare you try to frame me. You’re crazy, but you’re definitely crazy.”
White powder scattered in the wind from the spread paper. It was the same as the military assets that had been burned in the teacup.
The people were stunned and could not help but gulp at the sight.
The evidence was indisputable, and her naked expression said it all.
It was a conspiracy in the Southern Palace Clan, the representative of the Six Great Clans, and the fact that the perpetrator was the wife of the current head of the clan.
No matter how fierce the competition was, it was a rare occurrence in the entire Zhongyuan Clan for someone to move to slander and kill a family member in such a way, so everyone was stunned.
Shaking his head.
“Oh, no……! Mo, it’s a frame-up…….”
As if she couldn’t find any more excuses, her legs went limp and she sank to the ground. Mr. Pang turned his gaze to Namgung Mu Bai with a shudder.
Now there was only one corner to believe.
“…… go, go!”
This was An Hui, the Changcheng Nan Gong family’s private chamber, and he was the master of the chamber. No matter what anyone said, all of this could be canceled out by the words of the Southern Palace Master.
“…… go, go!”
Looking at Mr. Bi, who was looking at him pleadingly, Namgung Mu Bai closed his eyes and sighed.
“Woohoo.”
Then he stood up and started walking. His every step drew An Hui’s attention, for his words would determine her treatment.
“Yun Gang.”
With a single word, the five men in front of the Southern Palace’s maharajah appeared as if they were there.
“Take her to the Black Window.”
“Chong!”
The men shouted, and at the same time, they disappeared like shadows, appearing next to Mr. Feng.
“…… go, Jia Zhou!”
With a stunned look on his face, Mr. Pang crawled over and grabbed Namgung Mubai’s crotch. She dropped her pride and everything else, and at the word “black spear,” she lost her nerve.
“Black window! What do you mean, black window!”
Black window.
It is a place of darkness that contrasts with the blue sky, a place of one hundred bees, a place that will never let you see the light of day again.
If you enter the place where the Southern Palace holds only those whom it has captured, whether they are black daoists or martial artists, and even then only those who must be strictly controlled, you will never see the light again.
“I was about to send them both away, but I changed my mind, and I hope you will too. Madam.”
Mrs. Pang’s complexion turned pale at the cold, cold words.
Two. He was referring to her and her child.
“If you think you’ll get away with what you’ve done, not only disgracing the name of the Southern Palace but also breaking the laws of the heavens, you’re mistaken.”
With that, he turned away, and his cold gaze landed on a boy on the blue-granite floor.
The Grand Duke was there, facing him with a calm gaze.