Rebirth of the Thunder God

"Your Highness the Princess. What is your relationship with the Hoicheon Association?"

"...I didn't know you would ask so directly."

Who would dare to mention the Hoicheon Association in front of the princess?

Of course, it was possible because he was an inspector general, and the emperor must have given him the nameplate for that reason.

"Alright. There's nothing I can't say. I did receive an offer to join the Hoicheon Association, but I didn't join. Is that enough?"

Namgung Hui couldn't gauge whether her words were true or not.

Perhaps because she had just finished training, her heart was still beating wildly.

And perhaps because she had just bathed, a faint blush had risen on her face.

‘I can't just ask to search her bosom.’

The most certain way was to check if she had the jade plaque of the Hoicheon Association.

But he couldn't just search a woman's body.

Moreover, in the presence of a princess, how could that be possible?

But it wasn't that there was no way.

Namgung Hui woke up Chichi, who was taking a nap in his bosom.

-Chichi. Do you feel a jade plaque like mine on that princess?

[Haam... I don't think so.]

-Really? Then what about other things?

[Hmm... It seems there's something very precious in her stomach. And in her chest area too.]

What he called her stomach was probably the energy of the spirit medicine that filled her dantian.

She would also have a manual or a spirit medicine in her chest area.

Because usually, gold and silver treasures would be carried at the waist.

‘Still, since there's nothing particularly suspicious, I'll have to go and meet the Empress.’

It wasn't that Namgung Hui had simply had an interview with the young court lady.

As the saying goes, if the upper water is clear, the lower water will be clear.

He had also checked if there was anything suspicious about the court lady.

Because she might have been a person dispatched from the Hoicheon Association.

The person who had been with her for the longest time would also be perfect for the role of a monitor.

But from what he had observed with Chichi, there was nothing suspicious about even the young court lady.

Except for the fact that her bold appearance was a bit excessive for a court lady.

"Since Your Highness says no, I will believe you."

"Huh? This easily?"

"Then shall I search your body?"

"Wh-What! What a terrible thing to say. Of course, that's not allowed!"

"In that regard, I will end the interrogation here. And please keep my visit a secret. If the Hoicheon Association finds out about this, I will know that there is a spy in Yongsu Palace."

"Don't worry about keeping it a secret. None of my children are like that."

"Then this subject will take his leave. Thank you for your cooperation."

Namgung Hui carefully opened the door of the guest hall and came out.

Although it might have been a rather bland meeting.

He had also gone through the confirmation process through Chichi.

And more than anything, the Sword Spirit, who had regained his memory, also.

[That woman doesn't have the jade plaque of the Hoicheon Association. I'm sure.]

While Namgung Hui was talking with her.

The Sword Spirit, who had come out of the Thunder God Sword, had personally searched her body.

Since he was a spirit body, he couldn't rummage through things, but he could confirm the presence or absence of the jade plaque.

[But how can a person have so much internal energy? I think she has more than you, Namgung Hui.]

Currently, Namgung Hui's internal energy had surpassed 6 Jiazi and had reached 7 Jiazi.

The internal energy of 420 years was an immense energy, so much so that he wondered if a human body could contain it.

Even in his past life, he had not achieved 6 Jiazi, let alone 7 Jiazi.

But the princess's internal energy was said to be more than that of 7 Jiazi.

-How much internal energy did she have?

[I think it was about 10 Jiazi. I don't know for sure either. I think there was still some undigested energy here and there.]

At least 10 Jiazi.

It seemed that even the Shaolin Temple's abbot, the Divine Monk, would definitely not have that much internal energy.

Unless one ate several Great Reversion Pills, 10 Jiazi would be in the realm of impossibility.

Namgung Hui also wondered if he could reach 10 Jiazi even if he ate all the inner cores of the spirit beasts he had.

It wasn't that internal energy simply increased by arithmetically eating spirit medicines or inner cores.

The dantian that supported it also had to have its capacity secured.

And the higher one went, the more important the purity of the internal energy became.

It wasn't for nothing that the orthodox arts, which were of the great-instrument-matures-late type, shone in the latter half.

As one slowly accumulated pure energy, one would exert a strong finishing kick in the future.

And so, as Namgung Hui leisurely left the guest hall, Ju Seoyeon, who was watching his back, opened her mouth.

"He ended up being rather bland, didn't he? I thought he was going to do a great interrogation."

"I know, right? Did that person also come to see the princess's face?"

"I don't think so. There wasn't a single trace of desire in the eyes that looked at me. You know, right? I have a good intuition."

"Ah~ You mean you can see something because your upper dantian is open?"

"Uh. The only person who has looked at me and whose eyes didn't waver was my father. Even my master's eyes wavered a little when he first saw me. This is a part where a man would react instinctively."

"Ah! I got it!"

"What?"

"That person. Could he be a woman disguised as a man? It's a public secret that the inspectors of the Censorate hide their faces, right?"

"Ah~ That's right. That could really be it. I thought his facial lines were pretty, but as expected. My Yuhwa!"

***

Namgung Hui, who had left Yongsu Palace, wandered around the Imperial Palace.

Since he was not an official inspector, he could not stay at the Censorate.

Moreover, if he were to visit the Censorate for no reason, this fact might reach the ears of the Hoicheon Association.

Anyway, what Namgung Hui had to do next was decided.

It was to meet the First Empress, whom the emperor had requested.

Since her residence was on the opposite side of Yongsu Palace, he had to walk diligently.

Although he wanted to perform a lightness skill if he could, since the place was what it was, he had no choice but to move with a gentlemanly stride.

Since the Imperial Palace was so large, he heard various stories on his way.

"They say that this time, the Zhenfu of Guo Hui has proposed marriage to Princess Jinghua. And by now, he must have arrived at the Imperial Palace himself."

"If it's the Zhenfu of Guo Hui, isn't he the youngest Zhenfu and famous for his outstanding martial arts? And his face is also handsome, right?"

"Yes. No matter how much Princess Jinghua is the first princess, since her opponent is who he is, it will be difficult for her to refuse. And the background of the Zhenfu of Guo is also by no means lacking as a prince consort."

Honestly, Namgung Hui was not very interested in who became a prince consort.

He just hoped that he was not a person of the Hoicheon Association.

‘If it's the Zhenfu of Guo Hui, he was an instructor at the Military Academy.’

It was a name that was also written in the information that On Yuha had handed over, so much so that Namgung Hui also remembered it.

Unlike a soldier of the military, it was said that he did not refuse the martial arts of the Daoist and Buddhist sects and had learned them all.

Learning such opposing martial arts was not even allowed entry unless one's talent supported it.

Moreover, since he would have learned various military strategies, it meant that his head was also brilliant.

‘But since he's a person who has nothing to do with me, let's not pay attention. The person I need to pay attention to right now is the First Empress.’

Even now, there were more than one or two people who came to mind.

General Yi, General Yi, the emperor, the First Empress, the First Princess...

Besides them, there were plenty of people who distracted Namgung Hui's attention, such as Adjutant Yang.

‘I've arrived in the meantime.’

As expected, there was nothing like miscellaneous thoughts to pass the time.

Hadn't it been quite a distance when he had left the First Princess's palace?

But he had only eavesdropped on the officials' stories and had just organized his thoughts for a moment, and he had already reached the First Empress's palace.

[Chang'an Palace.]

If Yongsu Palace, where the First Princess stayed, was one of the six palaces in the west.

The Chang'an Palace in front of him was one of the six palaces in the east.

Usually, Chang'an Palace was a place where the empress who had the emperor's trust stayed, so one could infer that the relationship with the First Empress was not so bad at first.

Perhaps because it was a palace where an empress stayed, the security was stricter than at the princess's palace.

The Ki of the gate guards was also certainly outstanding, and the number of them was double.

And more than anything, the difference from Yongsu Palace was.

‘There are an unusually large number of eunuchs.’

The reason Namgung Hui could quickly dismiss his suspicion of the First Princess was that there were no eunuchs who looked like they were from the Eastern Depot around her.

But the Chang'an Palace in front of him was full of eunuchs, and it was clear that some of them were from the Eastern Depot.

As Namgung Hui approached the inner castle gate, the gazes were all directed at Namgung Hui.

And the moment he took out the inspector's nameplate.

Tadak. Tadak. Tadak.

As if performing a battle formation, the eunuchs were even sending out hostility.

It was clear. They were from the Eastern Depot.

"What brings an inspector general all the way to Chang'an Palace? Don't tell me you've come to interrogate Her Majesty the Empress?"

The gate guard's attitude was bold in a different sense.

It seemed they were not puffing out their chests because they served the Empress, but because they trusted the Eastern Depot forces behind them.

‘At this point, it would be safe to say that the Empress has really joined hands with the Hoicheon Association. There's no need to even interrogate her.’

The part that Namgung Hui had been contemplating before returning to the Imperial Palace.

It was whether he had the right to assassinate the Empress.

But such a right or not.

Seeing the Eastern Depot forces in front of him, that was not very important anymore.

If they were controlling them and joining hands with them, they were Namgung Hui's enemies.

Originally, it was a principle not to interfere in the affairs of the Imperial Palace, like the relationship of non-aggression between the government and the martial world, but since they had interfered in the history of the martial world first, it was they who had broken that principle.

"The Inspector General is a direct agency of His Majesty the Emperor. Is a mere gate guard trying to defy His Majesty's command?"

"..."

As Namgung Hui came on stronger than expected, the gate guard glanced behind him.

It seemed he was hoping for an order from his superior.

Although his superior was not the Eastern Depot, it was a truly absurd scene.

"If you're going to continue to block the way, I'll have no choice but to exercise my authority as an inspector."

"Alright. Go in."

"Go in? I'm probably a higher-ranking official than you. How arrogant."

As Namgung Hui even put strength into his eyes and glared at the guard.

"...Please enter."

An answer was heard in a crawling voice.

Although Namgung Hui could have passed through the castle gate like this, he did not.

"I'll have to tell the Zhenfu of Guo to train his soldiers properly later."

As Namgung Hui sold the name of a Zhenfu whose face he didn't even know, the gate guard was startled and even bowed his head.

"I-I'm sorry! Please enter."

He was on the verge of even prostrating himself if there were no people around.

Namgung Hui, as if to show the eunuchs, took a bold step and patted the guard's shoulder.

"Yes. You've worked hard. Good work."

An act that seemed like a kind of provocation.

But the eunuchs did not move rashly.

For now, since they had no information about Namgung Hui, they were being cautious.

Rather, that cautious attitude further awakened the eunuchs' gloominess.

‘Just looking at them is unpleasant. I'll have to go and meet the Empress quickly.’

Perhaps because the news of an inspector's visit had been heard, the Empress's direct court lady came out and greeted Namgung Hui.

Unlike at the First Princess's, she was a court lady who looked quite experienced.

"You said you were from the Censorate."

"That's right. I've come to see Her Majesty the Empress. It's an important matter, so I'd like you to guide me quickly."

"Alright. Please follow me."

As if she had anticipated Namgung Hui's visit in advance, the series of processes of guiding Namgung Hui was excessively natural.

Namgung Hui, at that court lady's attitude, even felt the illusion that he had told her that he was visiting the First Empress.

And so, the place they arrived at was not a guest hall, but the Empress's bedchamber.

Namgung Hui had no choice but to look at the court lady with a reluctant expression.

"Are you trying to assassinate me? Why have you brought me to Her Majesty the Empress's bedchamber?"

It was a place where an outside man should not be brought in.

A place where the words 'sacred place forbidden to men' fit better than anywhere else.

In fact, the reason there were many eunuchs in the palace was that they were castrated and sexually disabled.

But the Censorate was strictly composed of normal men.

Therefore, the fact that Namgung Hui was entering the Empress's bedchamber meant that it would not be strange at all if his head were to fly off right now.

Since Namgung Hui was not in a hostile force right now, he would not be purged, but if it had been another inspector, it was a self-evident fact that his head would fly off on this pretext.

Because even if it were a direct agency of the emperor, the hostile force would somehow cling to it.

The one who answered Namgung Hui's question was not the court lady in front of him.

"I called you. So come in at once."

(End of Chapter)