Chapter 60: If Cheon Yoo-rang were to feign madness and confess to being a spy sent to Wang Ya, it would be Hao Mun that burns.
For Hao Mun to survive, they would have to concoct some scheme to silence Cheon Yoo-rang's mouth.
However, Cheon Yoo-rang survived with a leg injury.
"I just want to treat him. The patient's life is his own to live..."
The complicated situation of the martial world gave Jin Cheon-hee a headache.
The horse groom asked, "Do you trust me?" "Yes."
"Even if I were to vomit a Gu from my stomach, no one would believe anything I say. Why do you, Doctor, trust me?" He smiled bitterly.
The horse groom told everything he could.
It was like the last words of a dead man.
Since no one would believe him anyway, he just spat out the resentment that had been building up in his chest.
The young boy in front of him listened calmly from beginning to end without interrupting.
At first, he thought the boy was pretending to believe him to interrogate him.
It was a method often used in Hao Mun.
But the boy was sincere.
"Let's talk to the King together. He might forgive you." "..."
The King was his savior.
She was the one who had pulled him out of the deep mire where no one else could reach with just a gesture.
To deceive her and now seek forgiveness? He smiled bitterly.
"Doctor, you may not know this, but nothing cools as quickly as love."
If he were to take his own life here, what would become of her? His heart, with nowhere to go, circled his chest.
It felt like a hole had been punched through it.
Jin Cheon-hee was watching to see if the horse groom would attempt suicide again.
If he made a move, Jin Cheon-hee was ready to press his acupoints again.
"I won't kill myself. Sadly, I no longer have the strength for that..."
The horse groom wiped his eyes forcefully with his palm.
After wiping away his tears, the horse groom's eyes were completely different from before.
They were eyes filled with determination.
"I understand. Please, help me."
Jin Cheon-hee nodded.
He was the only one who believed in him.
Whether it was naivety or some kind of mind-reading ability, the horse groom couldn't tell. 'I want to repay the doctor's kindness, but I don't think that day will come.' It was probably impossible.
If so, then after death, even as a soul, he would bless this boy, the horse groom thought.
Jin Cheon-hee announced that the patient had woken up.
Everyone, including Wang Ya, entered the recovery room.
As Wang Ya took her seat, the guards immediately positioned themselves on either side of her.
They also took positions on either side of the horse groom lying down. 'It looks like they're interrogating a criminal.' Jin Cheon-hee thought this and let out a small sigh.
Since the Gu had been discovered, there was no helping it.
The situation was very bad.
Even if the misunderstanding was cleared up, the fact that he had deceived her wouldn't change.
Although he had no free will in the matter, this wasn't an era that respected such things.
So, would he run away from here? With those legs, where could he run? Even if it were possible, he would be chased by the imperial army during the day and Hao Mun at night.
In the end, there was nothing he could do but face it head-on.
The King placed a glass bottle on the table.
Inside the bottle, the Gu that had been inside his body wriggled.
Having lost its host, it seemed like it would soon die, lacking energy.
The King spoke in a weary voice, "Now, speak."
The suffocating air pressed down on the entire recovery room.
Even in this situation, Jin Cheon-hee maintained a calm expression.
"Before the horse groom speaks, may I offer my counsel first?" "Oh, the attending physician's counsel."
Her lips twisted downward.
"Fine. Let's hear it."
She allowed it, but she didn't seem pleased.
Jin Cheon-hee bowed deeply and quickly thought. 'The situation is simple.
His life is in the King's hands, and she prioritizes intuition over imperial law.' That's why she didn't declare herself Emperor.
She chose someone suitable based on intuition. 'And no matter what others say, she pushes forward like an ox with what she believes is right.' Once she made a decision, she didn't care about others' opinions.
She wasn't fit to be a virtuous emperor in peaceful times, but she had the makings of a tyrant in chaotic times. 'And yet, she can't make a decision now.
She's hiding it with a relaxed expression, but she hasn't decided what to do with him.' He was someone she had loved like her own life.
No one could immediately accept betrayal from such a person.
Though she treated him like a criminal, she was actually giving him a chance. 'She's... looking for a reason not to kill him.' She was searching for a reason, thinking that their shared feelings weren't false, that there must have been some unavoidable circumstances. 'As evidence, she's even allowing my counsel as the attending physician, using it as an excuse to listen.' It might look a bit off, but she wanted to find a reason.
Jin Cheon-hee took a deep breath.
Then, as concisely and deeply as possible, he explained the horse groom's situation.
How Hao Mun bought young orphans and raised them as spies.
How some branches forcibly fed Gu to children, giving Hao Mun control over their life and death.
How the horse groom had taken medicine to escape Hao Mun, damaging the Gu but not completely killing it due to its long-term parasitism.
He also mentioned that it had put him in a coma, but he woke up during surgery.
Jin Cheon-hee explained in such detail that it might have been the most he had ever spoken in his life, combining both Earth and the martial world.
And at the end of the story, he subtly hinted at how much the horse groom must have suffered.
He didn't miss the slight relaxation in her lips. "... That's all. Wang Ya, I've said all I can."
"Hmm..."
She fell into thought, pondering how much she could trust.
And it was clear that she still wanted to believe in the horse groom.
"Even if all that is true, the fact that he deceived me remains unchanged."
Jin Cheon-hee nodded.
"That's true. But I heard that when Wang Ya roamed the battlefield, you took the horse groom with you. If he had ill intentions, wouldn't he have leaked information harmful to the battlefield to Hao Mun?" She stroked her chin, lost in thought.
"When I led surprise attacks on the battlefield, they always succeeded. Not once were my surprise attacks discovered."
Jin Cheon-hee quickly added, "Perhaps when dealing with Hao Mun, the horse groom answered that he couldn't find out about future plans because Wang Ya's security was so tight."
"Hahaha, I never hid anything from my partner. Keeping secrets from someone you love is the act of a petty person." "..."
Jin Cheon-hee was at a loss for words.
Not even once? He thought there might have been a slip or two, but it seemed she had always told him.
Even for an old married couple, that was difficult.
Her bitter smile showed pain.
The King asked, "Rang-rang, is what the doctor said true?" The horse groom, Cheon Yoo-rang, sat up straight.
Even though the anesthesia had worn off and the pain must have been severe, he didn't let out a single groan.
He took a deep breath and opened his eyes.
His face was resolute, but his expression was somehow eerie.
"It's not true."
A bomb exploded from the horse groom's mouth.
"What? It's not true?" Her voice froze coldly.
Cheon Yoo-rang answered, "I was a spy sent by Hao Mun. It's a pity I got caught, but I have no regrets. I've already sold a lot of information about the King's palace to Hao Mun."
"What?!" The room buzzed.
Everyone was shaken.
Jin Cheon-hee, the King, her warriors.
Only the master sat calmly like a doll.
"Wang Ya, the patient is in pain and not in his right mind..."
Jin Cheon-hee urgently tried to speak, but she stopped him.
"Enough! I allowed you one counsel. I know you didn't speak to insult me, but be silent for now."
Her expression turned fierce like a demon.
Jin Cheon-hee gritted his teeth. 'Damn it, what is the horse groom thinking?' Warriors naturally stood on either side of Jin Cheon-hee.
It was a firm warning.
"Rang-rang. Did you come here intending to deceive me from the beginning?" "Yes."
"That you were forced to take the Gu and had no choice?" "For Hao Mun's rise, I had no choice."
Cheon Yoo-rang, the horse groom, tore her heart apart with a calm face.
He mocked their time together, mocked the love they had shared.
He had told Jin Cheon-hee, "Doctor, you may not know this, but nothing cools as quickly as love."
He was a sinner. 'I'm sorry, Wang Ya.
I deceived you.
I deceived your heart.' All his life, he had only received.
Though he had no choice but to spy, not everything was a deception to Hao Mun.
On days he didn't receive medicine from Hao Mun, he had to groan in pain all night.
What was even more terrifying was the hunger.
What could he do? In the end, he had to sell information and receive medicine from Hao Mun to survive another ten days.
He didn't sell important things, but he had to give away minor details.
Only after receiving the medicine they gave could he finally eat something. 'I have to end this madness.' He thought.
This isn't love.
A life of betraying the one you love to survive is not love.
He had committed an unforgivable sin.
He had deceived her, deceived her love.
Only after everything was revealed did he finally find the courage.
The courage to pay for his sins. 'Ah, Wang Ya.
Please forget me quickly and find a good person.' Today, in this place, he smiled like a snake, ready to tear her heart apart.
It was the best performance he could give as a spy for her.
She asked, in a voice like a beast drinking poison, "Did you never love me, even once? Rang-rang. Not even once...?" A sound came from afar.
It was the sound of a heart breaking.
"Yes, Wang Ya. I hate people like you. Serving someone I despise was so painful."
It was like the sound of a sword breaking after piercing armor.
Though broken, the sword had fulfilled its mission.
From the cracks in the shattered armor, her heart bled like blood.
He spoke like an actor in an interlude, "It's a pity to end like this, so why don't we go together as companions on this last journey?" A silver light gleamed sharply in his hand.
He lunged at her.