"How could I stay silent after hearing such words? Shall I make it so this pig can never move his legs again?" As she drew her sword, Cheon Yu-rang urgently stopped her.
"I don't know where you come from, but please, just break his legs."
"Why?"
"Breaking his legs would be satisfying, but if you cut them off, I fear it would haunt my dreams."
"Fine."
With a swift motion, she cleanly broke both of the official's legs.
Even unconscious, the official cried out like a pig being slaughtered.
She then said, "You said you're Cheon Yu-rang from Namcheon Juru? I'll remember that."
The next day, she headed to Namcheon Juru.
She rented the largest room and ordered all sorts of rare delicacies.
The waiter, Jeom So-i, praised her for her generosity and boldness, fitting for a princess.
At Namcheon Juru, she was a guest like no other.
Then, she called only for Cheon Yu-rang.
In the massive room, there was a grand table filled with luxurious dishes.
Seeing the lavish spread, Cheon Yu-rang felt overwhelmed.
In the midst of it all sat the princess, dressed in a loose red silk robe.
"How about it? Do you feel like serving me tonight?"
Hearing her voice, Cheon Yu-rang prostrated himself in a deep bow.
"Please, spare my life!"
"Oh? No answer about serving me, and now you're begging for your life?"
"I was ignorant and didn't see what happened that night."
"How did you figure it out?"
"I noticed from your build and movements."
"I've traveled through many Juru and seen countless performers, but none as sharp-eyed as you. Is that all?"
"... It seemed strange that a high-ranking princess like you would seek out a lowly performer like me."
She burst into laughter at his words.
"You make me out to be some petty person who kills for fun. Let me ask you this: if it were me instead of that pig, would you serve me?"
At that time, the princess was a dream-like figure for all performers in Pungju.
Unlike other officials or royals, she never hit or forced herself on performers.
She simply drank and enjoyed the arts, and her generosity was well-known.
She was also skilled at composing poetry, and when her poems were hung beside the Juru's signboard, sales would soar the next day.
Many wished to spend a night with her.
Cheon Yu-rang bowed deeply again.
"Please, kill me."
"You refuse to serve me?"
"Though I am ignorant, I believe I can sell my dance, but not my body."
"Not sell your body?" She laughed for a long time.
"I've learned something from you. I won't make such jokes again. Then, will you dance for me?"
"I would, but without music... You would need to call for musicians."
"Musicians? Why call for them when I'm here?" She ordered for a geomungo to be brought in.
She rolled up her bright red silk sleeves and plucked the strings.
The sound of the geomungo echoed clearly through the night.
She recited poetry leisurely to the tune of her playing, and Cheon Yu-rang danced to the music.
Though he had heard countless melodies and danced to them throughout his life as a performer, this was the first time he felt his heart tremble at the sound.
Pungjuha said to Cheon Yu-rang, "I only want to watch your dance."
Their love began like that.
Less than a year into their relationship, she gave him the most expensive ruby ring in the imperial capital as a token of their love.
"Please, take it back..."
"Hahaha, if you return the ruby ring, next time I'll find a sapphire. And if you return that, I'll get a diamond."
Despite much opposition, the princess made Cheon Yu-rang her consort.
She had always found the throne stifling and had no interest in political marriages.
She couldn't bear the thought of a marriage of convenience.
'This was the story I knew from the novel.'
On the surface, it seemed like a fairy-tale romance.
But what if it had all been planned from the beginning? What if Cheon Yu-rang was a spy from Haomun, and his goal was to become the lover of one of the princesses, Pungjuha?
He wouldn't have aimed to become a consort.
Just being one of the performers who danced and sang at the Juru would have been a profitable deal for Haomun.
'Strangely, he didn't serve her that night.'
What kind of sect was Haomun? In martial arts novels, they always expanded their influence through Juru.
They bought homeless children, taught them dance and music, and had them sell wine.
As an underworld sect, they engaged in all sorts of illegal moneymaking schemes, but the most valuable thing they dealt in was information.
Just as there are beggars wherever there are people, there is wine wherever there are people.
One of the most honest moments for a person is when they're drunk.
The information gathered at such times was sold at a high price through Haomun.
The time when the princess was called Pungjuha was during a fierce struggle for the throne.
Pungjuha's information would have been extremely valuable.
If he had been ordered to serve her, he would have done so to extract information.
But he refused.
Jin Cheon-hee found it strange. 'In the novel, it was described that he was truly prepared to die.
If it wasn't fear of the princess's wrath, then was it fear of Haomun killing him?'
While cleaning up after the surgery, her master had told her something.
The Gu in the martial world varied in effect and nature, but they all had one thing in common.
All Gu enter their hosts as larvae and grow by feeding on the host's internal energy.
They build their bodies with the same internal energy as the host, making them difficult to detect through pulse diagnosis.
If they could be detected through pulse diagnosis, they wouldn't qualify as Gu.
'If that were the case, all the spies from the demon sect within the orthodox and unorthodox sects would have been rooted out.'
Judging by the size and color of the Gu in Cheon Yu-rang's body, it seemed to have been settled in him for a long time. 'It seems... it was likely fed to him from a very young age.'
Moreover, this Gu was said to have less lethality and cause less pain compared to those used by the demon sect.
But it did one fatal thing. 'If the host doesn't take the prescribed medicine within the set time, it causes anorexia.'
The host becomes unable to eat anything, and if they do eat, they vomit.
There's nothing more terrifying than starving to death.
Jin Cheon-hee quickly pieced things together. 'How did the consort die in the novel?'
Deeply saddened by the fact that he could never dance again... he starved to death.
Another piece of the puzzle fell into place.
Click.
"Ugh..."
As Jin Cheon-hee's thoughts settled, Wang Ya opened his eyes.
He groaned for a while before speaking.
"Ugh... where is this... Ah, no. Did the surgery go well?"
Even in this situation, he spoke politely to Jin Cheon-hee, as if he were unworthy of being a consort.
Jin Cheon-hee hesitated before speaking.
"A Gu was found."
At that moment, the consort fell silent.
A chilling premonition washed over her.
Jin Cheon-hee immediately stuck her finger into the consort's mouth.
Crunch! "Ugh!"
As expected, he had bitten his tongue, attempting to commit suicide.
If she hadn't infused her internal energy into her hand, it might have been severed.
'These martial arts people! Always ready to kill themselves over anything! What do they think their lives are worth, these fools!'
Jin Cheon-hee groaned in pain.
The consort, surprised, opened his mouth.
But Jin Cheon-hee had no intention of removing her finger.
Instead, she used her other hand to press a pressure point on the back of his neck.
"I'm on your side!"
"......"
He didn't believe her.
Of course, a man who had been trained as a Haomun spy from a young age instead of receiving elite education wouldn't easily trust people.
Even now, after the surgery, he was too weak to do more than bite his tongue.
Once he regained his strength, he would undoubtedly try to kill himself in various ways, just like in martial arts novels.
Jin Cheon-hee thought, 'I spent 10 hours without eating or drinking to save your life, you fool...'
The temporary external fixation on the consort's leg was truly Jin Cheon-hee's masterpiece.
If she hadn't intervened at all, it would have been one thing, but after 10 hours of grueling surgery to save him, she couldn't just let him kill himself!
"Do you know how many doctors are here? No matter how you try to kill yourself, we'll save you. But if you die, do you think Wang Ya will just sit still?"
He shook his head.
Jin Cheon-hee shouted, "If she falls ill from grief, what will you do?"
Of course, it was a lie.
In the novel, she was deeply saddened but didn't lose her strength.
Still, she became a recluse, abandoning all state affairs to live in a hut by his grave.
It seemed Jin Cheon-hee's words had an effect, as the strength drained from his eyes.
When Jin Cheon-hee loosened the pressure point slightly, he finally spoke.
"Wang Ya is not that weak."
"But she will suffer for the rest of her life whenever she thinks of you."
"......"
A single tear streamed down his face.
"After much hardship, I secretly obtained a medicine to kill the Gu. I thought it was dead... I thought I was free... but why..."
"Did you kill the Gu to cut ties with Haomun? That couldn't have been easy."
"Yes. It seems the medicine didn't fully take effect."
The Gu wasn't dead.
It had only entered a dormant state due to the medicine the consort had taken.
Of course, if it had remained in that state for long, it might have truly died.
But the Gu had awakened.
The reason was obvious.
'The White Phosphorus Divine Pill must have had some effect.
Since it's a Gu that feeds on energy, it must have had a unique effect.'
The Gu survives by feeding on part of its host's internal energy.
It wasn't so much the antibiotic effect of penicillin but rather the elixir-like effect of the martial world's medicine.
'In the novel, he went to Hwaju's Hall to have his leg amputated.
He must have taken elixirs to preserve his strength, so the Gu must have awakened after feeding on them.'
Whether at White Phosphorus Hall or Hwaju's Hall, the Gu awakening was inevitable.
Fortunately, this time it awakened during surgery at White Phosphorus Hall, allowing it to be immediately discovered and dealt with.
If it had been at Hwaju's Hall, they would have only amputated his leg and prescribed medicine, so only the patient would have known the Gu had awakened.
'As the hardest puzzle piece falls into place, the rest follow in a chain.
If someone poisoned by the Gu caused this incident, then surely...'
Jin Cheon-hee asked one last question.
"Did you really fall from your horse?"
"......"
He bit his lip and didn't answer.
According to the guards who witnessed it and the wounds, it did seem like injuries from a fall.
But it didn't make sense.
The horse the consort rode was well-trained.
For it to suddenly rear up and go mad during a hunt...
'As I thought.
This man knew why he fell.
The reason must be related to Haomun.'
But even so, he couldn't say that he was a Haomun spy and that cutting ties with them had caused this problem.
Jin Cheon-hee thought, 'That's just the nature of criminal organizations.'