Returning To Simplicity And Truth (2)

While Je So-yeon’s group followed the rumors and approached Cheonghae Province, war finally broke out.

The situation was serious. The Central Plains’ operation to push into Cheonghae Province from three directions was shaken. The remnants of the Northern Yuan had seized the opportunity and struck down toward Liaoning Province, whose military forces had been reduced. If Liaoning Province were taken, Beijing would truly be right before them.

Princess Jang-ok hurriedly sent the Ming Empire’s army back to its original positions in Liaodong and Liaoning.

In the end, with one of the three Central Plains attack routes removed, the Necromancer Cult only had to block two places. The Martial Alliance’s advance route from Gansu was defended at Seon-yeong, while the Black Alliance’s advance from Sichuan was blocked at U-gak Hobong and Xingxiu Sea.

The war soon fell into a stalemate. The warriors of the Central Plains had trained in martial arts, but they could not help but be daunted by the Necromancer Cult’s endless-looking forces. And those countless enemies, whose end could not be seen, did not fear death.

“Phew! What should I do?”

Princess Jang-ok had nothing to do. Since the Liaodong army had returned, the troops she commanded consisted only of the forces of the Gansu Province Regional Military Commission.

Even those numbered barely more than thirty thousand, because the troops guarding the Great Wall at Jade Gate Pass and Jiayu Pass could not be withdrawn. Even after summoning troops from each prefecture’s Guard Command Office and each county’s Thousand-Household Office, that was all they had.

Still, she had led those troops to Datong, north of Seon-yeong, and was carrying out operations together with the Martial Alliance. But there was no particular practical effect.

She had also gathered the Eastern Depot’s forces. But while they might be useful for covert operations or obtaining information, they were of little use in this kind of large-scale war. And in the current standoff, obtaining information was not easy either.

“Whenever we send someone to gather information, contact is cut off, and there is no way to resolve the current situation……. Phew! What kind of suffering is this, just because I said I would become the Eastern Depot’s Admiral?”

She did not know that the Necromancer Cult had a group called the Soul Hunters, and that they were thoroughly filtering out the Eastern Depot’s spies.

She herself had not known that the thing she did out of admiration for the martial world would make her suffer this much. Even so, she could not say she would return to the imperial palace now. Would that not be truly irresponsible behavior?

Since Princess Jang-ok had involved herself, she wanted to resolve the Necromancer Cult matter with her own hands.

“Your Highness!”

While she was agonizing, the court lady who had followed her called from outside.

“What is it?”

Since nothing was going her way, her answer was not gentle. Well, who else could she vent her anger on except the court lady in charge? If rumors spread that she had a foul temper, getting married would not be easy.

“A man named Cheong Yeon has come from the Eastern Depot.”

“Cheong Yeon?”

Princess Jang-ok forgot that name again.

“Ah, Cheong Yeon! Tell him to come in at once.”

She remembered it belatedly. When she had no interest, she was lazy about memorizing names.

“Yes.”

A moment later, Cheong Yeon entered. Behind him, Je So-yeon and Ma-jil entered awkwardly and bowed flat. Ma-jil goes without saying, but even Je So-yeon could hardly breathe at the thought that she was before a princess.

“We pay our respects to Your Highness the Princess.”

“I am not a princess right now. I am the Eastern Depot’s Admiral. It has been a long time. But by any chance, was there any news of the Deputy Commissioner?”

She asked in case she could hear news of Neung Je-gang.

“We came running after hearing that he had gone missing in Kunlun.”

“Phew! I see. But who are they?”

She looked at Ma-jil and Je So-yeon and asked as if curious.

“They are the Deputy Commissioner’s close associates. This young lady is Je So-yeon, the Deputy Commissioner’s junior martial sister, and this fellow is Ma-jil, the Deputy Commissioner’s subordinate.”

“Oh! It is nice to meet you. You are his junior martial sister?”

Princess Jang-ok was truly pleased. In any case, they were people connected to Neung Je-gang.

“And you said his name was Ma-jil?”

“Y-yes, that is correct.”

Seeing Ma-jil flustered, Cheong Yeon smiled in satisfaction. It had been worth deliberately dragging him along to meet Princess Jang-ok. In truth, Ma-jil had caused Cheong Yeon no end of trouble on the way here.

“He is practically the Deputy Commissioner’s family.”

Cheong Yeon added a word.

“Oh! Is that so?”

The more the princess showed interest, the more cold sweat streamed from Ma-jil.

“But what should we do? We do not know about the Deputy Commissioner’s news either. We cannot even confirm whether he is alive or dead.”

“Senior Brother is not someone who would die that easily. He is definitely alive.”

When the topic of Neung Je-gang came up, Je So-yeon quickly spoke.

“I hope so too.”

“We came to fight against the Necromancer Cult. We intend to resolve the Necromancer Cult matter, go to Kunlun, and find the boss—no, the Deputy Commissioner. For that, this war must end quickly, so we came hoping our small strength might be of help.”

Cheong Yeon stated the purpose for which they had rushed over.

“Thank you. But somehow, I cannot see a way to resolve it quickly. There are far too many enemy bandits. Even now, we are only barely holding them back.”

Princess Jang-ok said with difficulty.

Cheong Yeon could not say anything. There was nothing he could say about the overall situation.

“If the boss were here, he would have handled everything on his own…….”

Ma-jil suddenly muttered. His voice was low, but everyone here was a martial arts expert. There was no one who did not hear it.

“Phew!”

Princess Jang-ok once again felt regret over Neung Je-gang’s disappearance and doubt about her own ability.

“How about bringing Master here? He fought the wokou for a long time, so would he not have some good plan at a time like this?”

Je So-yeon quickly said.

“The elder is advanced in age…….”

Cheong Yeon said as if troubled. If Nam Yeong had intended to come, he would have come with them. There had to be some reason he did not come.

“Still, try contacting him once.”

Je So-yeon was being unreasonable. Right now, she could see nothing except ending the war quickly and finding Neung Je-gang.

“Where is that place from here, and when do you think we could bring him here? It would be better to think of another method.”

Princess Jang-ok, frustrated, said a word. No matter how much Je So-yeon might be Je So-yeon, she could not stand firm in front of a princess.

“In any case, let us think a little more. I will assign you a place to stay, so go and rest. Or you may go to the Martial Alliance.”

“Then we will go to the Martial Alliance.”

Thinking that Je So-yeon and Ma-jil would be uncomfortable, Cheong Yeon answered that way.

“Very well.”

The group greeted her once more and came outside.

“Phewwwwww! I survived.”

Only then did Ma-jil let out a great sigh. Cheong Yeon smiled as he looked at Ma-jil. Since they had lived in the same place for a while, Ma-jil’s behavior no longer seemed completely hateful to him these days.

“Who should we look for in the Martial Alliance?”

“We can look for that Lady So-jeong, can’t we?”

At Cheong Yeon and Ma-jil’s exchange, Je So-yeon’s eyes flashed again. She was already burning up inside because it seemed the princess liked Neung Je-gang, so who was this Lady So-jeong now?

“Who is Lady So-jeong?”

At Je So-yeon’s question, Cheong Yeon thought, Oh no. He had already experienced being tormented over the princess.

“I do not know much. Ask this fellow.”

Cheong Yeon pointed at Ma-jil.

Je So-yeon’s eyes turned sharply toward Ma-jil.

“Who is she?”

“Ah! Well, that is…….”

Ma-jil panicked. He was the very person who had helped Je So-yeon from the side when Cheong Yeon had been tormented. So he remembered very well how Cheong Yeon had been harassed.

But then a good idea suddenly came to him. No matter how blinded by jealousy she was, surely she could not say anything bad about the person who had saved her life.

“Your lifesaver.”

“Pardon?”

“She is a very good person who obtained the Bingjeong to save you.”

At Ma-jil’s words, Je So-yeon was flustered. She had known nothing about someone who was supposedly her lifesaver.

“She obtained the Bingjeong for me? Knowing that it was for my treatment?”

“That’s right. When we said it was for treatment, she gave it to us without another word.”

In truth, they had stolen it, but there was no helping it. He could not say they had committed theft.

“What connection does she have to me, that she would just give away something so precious?”

“She said she had something to ask the boss back then, so we went all the way to the Black Alliance because of that. It was probably repayment for that.”

“So you mean it was a transaction?”

“T-that is probably it. Probably.”

“That is really all there is, right?”

“That is what I am saying.”

“If she gave it because of a transaction, then is it not wrong to say that woman is my lifesaver?”

Je So-yeon’s words made sense. But what could he do when the truth was not that? Since she had knowingly turned a blind eye to the theft, it was true that Go So-jeong was something close to her lifesaver.

“Still, if she had said she would not give the Bingjeong, that would have been the end of it.”

Ma-jil insisted however he could.

“Is that so?”

Je So-yeon felt something was a little suspicious, but she let it pass for the time being. If they continued talking, who knew when they would arrive at the Martial Alliance.