Kang Sogun

Kang Sogun shook his head.

"Bang Yeonso will think that he has passed the burden onto Shaolin. We must let him think so."

Kang Sogun said a word and went into his residence.

The Cho siblings, who were left behind, looked at the departing Shaolin monks and recalled the recent fight.

Cho Haran muttered as if to herself.

"So Young Master Kang had such a side to him."

Kang Sogun had broken the limbs of the Shaolin monks without a change in his expression.

Although his martial prowess in easily subduing the Shaolin monks was surprising, his cruelty made even the Cho siblings, who had experienced the battlefield, sick.

It was different from killing a person while fighting. Since there was an overwhelming difference in martial arts, there was no need to injure the opponent, but he had made them disabled.

He had made a person's limbs useless as if breaking a tree branch with a calm face.

Cho Hagyeong also nodded with a grave face.

"I don't know what he's thinking. Since he has disabled the Shaolin monks, it won't be solved simply."

Kang Sogun, who had returned to his residence, was lost in deep thought.

After meeting the Cho siblings following Zhu Zhanji, he had gained conviction in the innocence of the Jang family.

Until then, while searching for Jang Seonbaek and Yeongyeong, there had also been a suspicion in a corner of his heart that General Jang Hong might have really plotted a rebellion.

A person's heart was an unknowable thing.

If they had truly plotted a rebellion and the previous emperor had punished them for it, then it was a matter that had flowed according to reason.

Since they had taken responsibility for their own actions, there was no reason for him to feel a debt of heart.

But just as Kang Sogun had believed in General Jang Hong's character, the circumstances of his being framed were being revealed.

Now, only a bloody revenge remained. A red light flashed in Kang Sogun's eyes.

***

Fine black powder came down from the ceiling. The black powder, which came down in a single stream, seeped into Jin Uncho's nose.

A moment later.

"Kuh!"

Jin Uncho suddenly felt a pain as if his chest were on fire, spat out blood, and stood up.

-Cough!

Jin Uncho spat out a clump of blood along with a cough.

"How can this be!"

Jin Uncho hastily sat on the bed and circulated his qi.

Although he drew out the internal energy of his dantian and wrapped his lungs, he could not drive out whatever had infiltrated, even with his internal energy.

Jin Uncho realized that he was on the verge of life and death.

The moment he realized this, his eyes flashed open. And then he pressed the vital points on his chest and blocked the flow of qi and blood in his lungs. Soon after, he took out a medicine pouch from his bosom and ate several pills.

Jin Uncho clutched his chest, staggered, and ran to his study, and then tore off the scroll hanging on the wall.

When he pulled the ring protruding from the wall, a secret safe appeared. In the safe were promissory notes, silver, and a booklet.

As Jin Uncho was about to grab the booklet, he felt a presence behind him. A light of despair appeared in Jin Uncho's eyes.

-Cough, cough!

Jin Uncho coughed again and collapsed from the burning pain in his chest.

The figure behind him approached without a word, took out the booklet from the secret safe, and examined it.

Then he gave a glance at the fallen Jin Uncho and then immediately disappeared out the window.

A moment later, Jin Uncho opened his eyes.

Jin Uncho staggered up and then struck the bottom of the secret safe. But the bottom opened, and another booklet appeared.

'Although I have been defeated by you bastards, I will not just die.'

Jin Uncho put the booklet in his bosom, took out the pills from the medicine pouch again, put them all in his mouth, and chewed.

Jin Uncho went to one side of the study again and then entered the secret passage on the floor.

A moment later, Jin Uncho was running through an alley away from his house. The place he went with all his might was the Kang Residence.

Jin Uncho went to the door on the back wall of the Kang Residence and pulled the rope that called a person.

Normally, he would have jumped over the wall, but now it was difficult to even stand without losing consciousness.

-Creak.

The door opened, and the chief steward of the Kang Residence, Mo Sang, appeared.

"Captain Jin!"

Mo Sang shouted in great surprise.

"That bastard has appeared. We were right!"

Jin Uncho gasped and fell forward.

Mo Sang quickly supported Jin Uncho and went to his residence.

"Get a hold of yourself."

Mo Sang laid Jin Uncho down and shook him, who was about to lose consciousness, to wake him up.

-Cough!

Jin Uncho spat out blood and regained a thread of consciousness.

"In my bosom is what I have investigated so far. The mistress was surely poisoned with the same poison that I have been. If you examine me, you will be able to know what kind of poison it is."

Jin Uncho said with all his might and then fainted.

"Captain Jin! Th-this!"

Mo Sang was flustered and put his fingers on Jin Uncho's neck. The swollen blood vessels were twitching rapidly.

Mo Sang found the booklet in Jin Uncho's bosom.

Just then.

"What is the matter?"

A calm voice was heard.

It was Kang Sogun.

Although Mo Sang and Jin Uncho had acted secretly, it was a very quiet Kang Residence. Even if other people did not know, they could not deceive Kang Sogun's eyes and ears.

Kang Sogun had been raising his senses since the Shaolin monks had visited. The moment Jin Uncho had entered through the door, he had known at once.

"Young Master! Captain Jin has been poisoned!"

"Poison?"

Kang Sogun approached and examined Jin Uncho. At a glance, it was clear that his life was on the line.

Kang Sogun sat Jin Uncho up and placed his palm on the Mingmen acupoint on his back.

A red qi spread from Kang Sogun's entire body. Although the Golden Elixir True Art was excellent and stable for healing internal injuries, if it was poison, it was better to burn it with the Blood Dragon Qi.

Although the Blood Dragon Qi was a dangerous energy, since Jin Uncho's condition was critical, it was not a situation to consider this and that.

The Blood Dragon Qi poured into Jin Uncho's body and then headed to one place.

'The lungs?'

The Blood Dragon Qi fiercely stirred Jin Uncho's lungs.

The corners of Kang Sogun's eyes trembled slightly.

'What kind of poison is this?'

Jin Uncho's lungs were already damaged. Since the lungs themselves had burst and had lost their function, there was no way to revive them.

Kang Sogun removed his hand. He looked at Mo Sang with a grave face and said.

"I don't know what kind of poison it is, but his lungs are damaged. How on earth did this happen?"

"Captain Jin! Kuh!"

Mo Sang was just grieving with a bewildered face.

-Cough!

As if the Blood Dragon Qi that Kang Sogun had infused had had an effect, Jin Uncho came to his senses. Looking at his eyes, it was a phenomenon of a final flare-up of life.

"Young Master Kang!"

Jin Uncho called Kang Sogun.

"I'm sorry. I was going to reveal the truth soon... Chief Steward Mo! A booklet identical to that one has fallen into the enemy's hands."

Jin Uncho coughed and spat out blood.

"But the booklet that the bastard took is missing the investigation on the Bang family. The bastards will be anxious because they don't know how much I have found out. They won't be able to sleep with their feet stretched out. Hehe."

Jin Uncho laughed loudly while speaking.

"I have lived a wonderful life!"

Jin Uncho coughed and spat out blood again, then collapsed and died.

"Captain Jin!"

Although Mo Sang called pitifully, he was already a dead person.

Mo Sang laid Jin Uncho on his bed, closed his eyes, and then covered him with a blanket.

"Captain Jin. Go well. The Kang Residence will not forget you."

Mo Sang looked at Jin Uncho's body for a moment with a sad face and then said to Kang Sogun.

"Young Master Kang! The time has come to reveal the truth."

Mo Sang guided Kang Sogun to his living room.

As the two sat opposite each other, Mo Sang opened his mouth with a grave face.

"Young Master Kang. The mistress did not pass away from an illness."

Kang Sogun suddenly felt as if his head had been hit with an iron hammer and was dazed. He could not understand Mo Sang's words.

He had heard that his mother had fallen ill and had passed away after grieving when he had gone missing.

"At that time, I could only say that. Because the enemy in the dark could have harmed you, Young Master, as well."

A thought flashed through Kang Sogun's dazed mind.

'Yes, that's right. My mother was a strong person. She was not a person who would pass away like that. Why did I not even doubt it?'

Kang Sogun's mother, Princess Yeongan, was a strong person. For such a mother to have passed away from a grief-related illness because her son had gone missing, not even died. He should have doubted it enough.

"The matter goes back a long time. When Duke Kang of the state suddenly passed away, the mistress had her suspicions."

'Father!'

Kang Sogun could not even breathe now.

His father had passed away when he was young. At that time, Kang Sogun had been staying at the empress dowager's palace in the imperial palace. The empress dowager, who had wanted to see her maternal grandson, had kept him in her arms. So he had only attended the funeral later.

"The Duke of the state had felt that there was a dark current in the court. He had told the mistress that he would have to take some measures, but a few days later, he suddenly passed away."

"..."

Kang Sogun was so shocked by the fact that he could not say anything and just listened.

"But the cause could not be known. It was ambiguous whether it was poison or a sudden illness."

Tears welled up in Mo Sang's eyes.

"After the Duke of the state passed away, the mistress secretly investigated. Then the incident where the Jang family was framed as traitors and died occurred. She had Captain Jin investigate this matter separately."

Kang Sogun had heard the latter part of the story from Jin Uncho.

"But for some reason, she stopped Captain Jin's investigation. And a little after that, she passed away."

"You mean it wasn't because of me?"

"A little after you, Young Master, went missing, the incident of the Jang family occurred. And even after that, the mistress was strong."

"But?"

"But she suddenly spat out blood and passed away. The Duke of the state also passed away like that."

"Spat out blood?"

"Since not one, but two people had passed away like that, I could not help but be suspicious. Today, Captain Jin also died with the same symptoms. Now it has become certain. It was a murder."

The chief steward, Mo Sang, and the captain of the guards, Jin Uncho, had become suspicious when Princess Yeongan had died with the same symptoms as her husband. So they had carefully examined her belongings and had found a booklet that Princess Yeongan had cleverly hidden.

That booklet was a record of what Duke Kang of the state had said before he died and what he had found out about it.

Mo Sang went to his secret study and brought Princess Yeongan's record. And he handed it to Kang Sogun along with the booklet that Jin Uncho had brought.

"This was the clue."

Mo Sang and Jin Uncho had realized that there was a black curtain after seeing Princess Yeongan's record. So they had tried to reveal it.

Mo Sang had sent away all the servants and had left only the truly loyal ones.

Jin Uncho had quit being the captain of the guards of the Kang Residence and had entered the Nanjing government office as a constable. And he had been secretly investigating the court.

"Why did you hide that from me?"

Kang Sogun's voice trembled. He did not feel grief or anger at the sudden discovery.

"I am sorry to say this, but when you, Young Master, returned, you were not in a good state. You seemed to be out of your mind somehow. Moreover, I could not have guessed that you would be a master who could even defeat the Shaolin monks."

Kang Sogun had come to Nanjing as soon as he had come out of the Martial Tomb. At that time, he had been half out of his mind due to the influence of the events that had occurred in the Martial Tomb. Moreover, it was a time when he had been busy suppressing the Blood Dragon Qi with the Golden Elixir True Art.

Kang Sogun could understand what Mo Sang was saying. At that time, he had not been in a state where he could calmly distinguish right from wrong. So he had not even questioned his mother's death.

Mo Sang continued with a mournful face.

"After knowing that you, Young Master, were a master who had brought Bang Ilok to his knees and had defeated the Shaolin monks, I consulted with Jin Uncho. So I was going to tell you the details of the investigation so far soon. But to think that the enemy in the dark would strike first."

Kang Sogun silently opened Princess Yeongan's record.

「My husband suddenly spat out blood and passed away. He was a person who was usually careful about his health, and it was not a time when an epidemic was spreading. The doctor who examined the body said that a sudden lung disease was suspected, but...」

The moment he saw his mother's handwriting, a red energy soared from Kang Sogun's entire body.

Mo Sang was shocked by the tremendous killing intent and spat out blood.

(End of Chapter)