novelraw Chapter 156 : The First Day of Unit Assignment
Chapter 156 : The First Day of Unit Assignment
Chapter 156: The First Day of Unit Assignment
“That brat... I wonder if he's doing well.”
In a certain government office where secret conversations were exchanged, Cheonsugong, standing by the window, muttered while looking in the direction of the Princess’s Palace.
“It’s just his first day. What could possibly go wrong?”
Wisu tilted his head, confused by the comment. His expression seemed to ask if it wasn’t excessive to worry about someone he personally selected and brought in.
“That brat is perfectly capable of causing trouble on his very first day.”
There was an odd certainty in Cheonsugong’s tone.
And understandably so—wasn’t the boy always caught up in something out of the ordinary every time he saw him?
He had pushed such a fellow into the palace itself. Naturally, worry took the lead.
“Then why… would you place someone like that in the Princess’s Palace?”
Wisu asked again, clearly baffled after hearing the circumstances.
“He’s exceptionally competent.”
“Competent… you say?”
“Yes, competent. Have you ever seen a kid talk circles around Wang Jinggong’s cronies?”
By Wang Jinggong’s cronies, he meant the eunuchs from the Sanguigam who sided with the Second Prince.
Eunuchs of the inner palace, serving close to the Son of Heaven, skilled in manipulation and rhetoric.
“That’s even possible?”
“It is. I saw it with my own eyes.”
Underestimating him for being a kid, they ended up flustered and floundering, unable to refute his calm and logical arguments—resorting to yelling and nonsense.
“Then, by coincidence, I ran into him again. That time, he recognized an assassin from Deathshroud before I did.”
Those assassins trained their whole lives to conceal their killing intent, yet that brat had picked them out naturally.
“And the next time I saw him, he single-handedly took down three masters from the Royal Guards. Sounds unbelievable, doesn’t it?”
“…”
日就月將—steadily improving by the day. Though he’d only encountered him three times, each time the bizarre troubleshooter had faced dreadful enemies, and his skills had grown visibly sharper.
“Indeed… he’s quite capable, as you say.”
Even if the boy was cursed with constant misfortune and chaos, his competence was undeniable.
“But it’s his character that’s the problem.”
Whether it was a eunuch dispatched from the palace or someone as fearsome as an agent from the Eastern Depot—he would speak his mind without hesitation.
Wisu, having witnessed the boy’s behavior in their last encounter, nodded in understanding.
“That’s why he’s ill-suited to stay near Princess Peach Blossom. Who knows what trouble he’ll stir up.”
It didn’t seem like he would betray them without cause, but in this palace—where each step felt like treading on thin ice—his unpredictability was too dangerous.
That’s why Cheonsugong had planned to use him solely to catch the poisoner, pay him off, and send him away from the Princess’s Palace as soon as possible.
“But really, what could happen? The Head Maid took him in. He’s probably just unpacking in his quarters right now. Cheonsugong, you worry too much.”
Wisu chuckled, brushing it off. Even if trouble followed him like a shadow, could it really start on day one?
“…Yes, you’re right…”
Cheonsugong murmured, nodding slightly.
Yet the unease rising in his heart wouldn’t subside.
“I just hope he doesn’t catch Princess Peach Blossom’s eye…”
If he did, and she took a liking to his talents, he’d be stuck seeing that brat’s face around the palace every day.
That was one outcome he desperately wanted to avoid.
As a newly appointed eunuch, all he hoped was that the boy would quietly catch the poisoner and leave.
With that hope, Cheonsugong silently gazed toward the Princess’s Palace beyond the window.
Through the drifting cherry blossom petals, a graceful woman asked me who I was.
From her poised attire to her manner of speech and movements, she exuded an aura far removed from commoners.
Her curious eyes silently studied my face.
“Uh… I’m Muhong, a newly appointed eunuch,” I replied, after being momentarily spellbound.
I didn’t have much information on palace attire to determine her exact rank, but one thing was clear—she was someone of remarkable status.
It’s rare to sense nobility from just tone and demeanor—but this beauty managed it effortlessly.
“With such a handsome face, and you’re a eunuch? I imagine the handmaids will be quite dismayed.”
She smiled softly, as if she could already see their reactions in her mind.
Unable to hold back my own curiosity, I asked her identity.
“Um, if it’s not rude to ask, may I know who you are?”
Her voice was strangely familiar—like I’d heard it before.
But it was so long ago, the memory was hazy.
“I am the third princess of this nation, known by the title Princess Peach Blossom.”
Placing a pale hand over her chest, she introduced herself with grace.
“Ah… Ah!”
That’s when I realized why her voice was familiar—I had heard it years ago, muffled behind a screen.
I hurriedly bowed low before her.
“What’s with that awkward posture…?”
She tilted her head, her gaze silently asking what I was doing.
“Well, I figured I should… bow or something?”
I wasn’t versed in royal etiquette, but Cheonsugong had said if I ever met someone important, I should slam my forehead to the ground without hesitation.
“This isn’t an official setting. You may relax.”
With a gentle smile, she gestured for me to rise, saying formality without sincerity was just empty.
Ah… what a gracious superior. I now understood why she was held in such high regard.
“But you said your name was Muhong. Your voice… it’s oddly familiar. Have we met before?”
“No, I don’t believe so. This is my first time seeing you.”
I quickly shook my head.
Cheonsugong had warned me that if I were caught being male in a forbidden zone, he’d really make me a eunuch.
I hoped it was just a joke—but better safe than sorry.
“Is that so… You reminded me of a little boy who once told me to call on him if I ever needed help. But I suppose not. That’s a shame.”
Come to think of it, I might’ve said something like that while peddling my services as a troubleshooter in the sericulture chambers back then.
I never imagined she’d still remember that bold claim I made as a kid.
“But Muhong.”
“Yes, Your Highness?”
“Are you aware that this beautifully adorned garden is a place only I and a select few may enter?”
“…”
Of course I wasn’t. I’d been tossed in here with barely any orientation.
Now that I thought about it, Cheonsugong had warned me never to meet the Princess alone—and yet, here we were, face-to-face.
“Have you perhaps lost your way?”
“……Yes. I was supposed to go to the eunuchs’ quarters, but I lost my way midway and ended up wandering all the way here.”
The Head Maid was really irresponsible. At this point, she must have thought I’d figure it out on my own and just ditched me halfway.
“That place should be quite far from here……. It seems you’ve taken quite a long journey.”
Princess Peach Blossom let out a soft chuckle, apparently amused by my situation.
Then, she smoothly folded the white parasol that had been catching the spring sunlight.
“The Imperial Palace is much like a maze to a first-time visitor. If you wish, this princess could guide you to your quarters.”
She said that even spring flower viewing had grown monotonous, and tried to extend me a kindness far beyond what I deserved.
“No, no, I couldn’t possibly trouble you like that……. I’m fine.”
This Imperial Palace was a closed-off place, strictly hierarchical and cut off from the outside world.
In short, it was basically the army.
Just imagine some new recruit using someone like a division commander as a guide to the barracks.
The eunuchs already in the quarters would probably flip out in shock. I’d be summoned by a senior right away and get chewed out for being out of my mind.
“Is that so. I had thought to tell you the way, since you so boldly praised this princess as beautiful, and I found that honesty admirable……. But if you don’t need it, there’s nothing to be done.”
It seemed she quite liked the compliment that had slipped out of me like an exclamation.
Well, who else would dare throw out such a straight-line comment right in front of royalty?
Probably only someone like me, with stars embedded in his head.
“But, Princess, which direction should I go to reach the eunuchs’ quarters?”
All the roads and buildings looked the same, making it impossible to distinguish anything.
The straight eaves and golden roof tiles were uniformly arranged, as if meant to ward off intruders.
“Hehe, at that rate, will you even find it before today ends?”
Seeing my clumsy, rookie-eunuch 모습, Princess Peach Blossom gave me a gentle smile.
She shook her head as if it wouldn’t do, then took the lead and began walking, gesturing for me to follow.
“Ah— you really don’t have to.”
“It’s fine. This princess happened to have business in that direction as well.”
Princess Peach Blossom beckoned to me again with an elegant motion of her hand. At that point, refusing would only be rude.
If that was the case, there was nothing I could do.
I silently followed behind her.
As soon as she began walking, the people on the path parted like the Red Sea.
Poison of Venom Valley, Dang Yeo-hye.
A peak master who received respect and deference wherever she went, and the precious second daughter of the Tang Clan of Sichuan.
Yet now, she was squatting unsightly by a stream where water trickled gently.
She was pulling out laundry that had been soaked in lye water and pounding it with a washing paddle.
‘What exactly am I doing here…….’
A deep sense of doubt stabbed into her chest.
She was sure that when she first stormed out of the Tang Clan, she had some other goal in mind.
She had intended to question Dan Mujin about something she’d heard from Peng Hwayeop, but before she knew it, she’d been swept up in his schemes and, amid a flurry of “uh—uh,” ended up becoming a handmaid, pounding laundry with a paddle.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The sound of the short, blunt paddle striking the laundry.
The streamside was filled with that rhythmic noise.
And mixed within it was the endless chatter of the handmaids.
“Hey, did you see that new eunuch earlier?”
Their current topic was the well-built, handsome eunuch they’d seen on the way.
“He was pretty good-looking, and his body was quite solid too.”
“If I’d met him outside, I would’ve pretended to drop my handkerchief or something.”
“Ah, fate is so cruel.”
“Why did he have to be a eunuch?”
Listening to that conversation from the corner, Dang Yeo-hye let out a snort of laughter.
That brat—now he was even going around bewitching innocent handmaids in the forbidden zone.
Thinking about it again, as time passed, her sworn younger brother had grown more and more manly, naturally drawing women’s gazes.
It made her want to step forward and shout, ‘There’s already someone who claimed him first, so give it up.’
But well, since they thought he was a eunuch, maybe it didn’t matter.
Rather, this might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Here, there was neither Jo Harang nor Ilhong to keep an eye on him.
Paradoxically, it was the safest situation possible.
Moreover, this place was like a remote island, forcing people to rely on one another.
“Hehe.”
An enigmatic smile formed on Dang Yeo-hye’s lips. If things went well, this could turn into a chance.
Thud, thud.
While thinking such positive thoughts and diligently pounding the laundry—
Suddenly, the surrounding handmaids began to stir, pointing somewhere.
“Oh— isn’t that Princess Peach Blossom……?”
“But why is she walking alone with the new eunuch?”
Turning her head, Dang Yeo-hye saw Dan Mujin walking side by side with Princess Peach Blossom, matching her steps.
The paddle slipped soundlessly from Dang Yeo-hye’s hand.
“What is that idiot doing, seriously…….”
Late at night, with a round moon hanging in the sky.
People were gathering in a secluded alley of the Imperial Palace.
The new eunuch who had arrived first stepped out from the shadows, and soon after, a woman in handmaid attire appeared and immediately pressed him with questions.
“Hey. What was that earlier?”
“……What was?”
Dang Yeo-hye poked Dan Mujin in the side, as if asking whether he truly didn’t know.
What was supposed to be a discussion to exchange opinions on finding the poisoner was turning into a scene of interrogation.
“Why was a new eunuch walking alone with the Princess?”
He had intended to infiltrate quietly, leaving no impression, but instead, Dan Mujin had unintentionally made himself very noticeable.
“It just sort of happened…….”
Seeming at a loss for words, he scratched his cheek awkwardly.
But this line of questioning was nothing more than playful nagging.
From afar, a middle-aged man affiliated with the Eastern Depot was approaching heavily, radiating killing intent.
“Dan Mujiin!”