As I came out of the empty room, leaving my disciple behind, fortunately it seemed that Yu Dongbaek had not visited Yu Gaju in the meantime. He was sitting at a gambling table, holding cards.

He glanced at me, smiled, and nodded slightly, not looking like an inferior elder brother jealous of his outwardly perfect younger sibling.

‘But you can’t judge a person by their appearance. Don’t I look like a womanizer on the outside, but inside I’m filled with pure love?’

Anyway, I finally got past my disciple’s interference. Relieved, I moved very quickly this time, and thanks to that, I was able to reach the vicinity of Yu Gaju’s room without being caught by the attendant again.

“Stop.”

I was caught in the hallway, but in this case, I had a pass I received from Sun An, so I wasn’t worried.

“Here. I’ve come to see Yu Gaju.”

I showed the pass Sun An had lent me to Yu Gaju’s guards standing in the corridor.

The guards’ expressions relaxed after checking the pass. But that was all. They didn’t let me in.

“I’m sorry, young master. The family head is currently away on other business.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Please come back tomorrow. If you let us know in advance when you’ll visit, we’ll inform the family head.”

To think Yu Gaju would be away at such a crucial time! Given his position, it wouldn’t be strange for him to be away every day, but the timing is unfortunate.

I need to clear up Sun An’s misunderstanding as soon as possible.

“Then I’ll visit at the beginning of the snake hour tomorrow.”

The next day. I went alone to Cheongeumsuhwa a bit earlier than the beginning of the snake hour. Yesterday I dressed too plainly and stood out, so today I was dressed appropriately to blend in with the place.

After waiting for about an hour at the meeting place, Yu Gaju finally came in.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t meet you yesterday, Young Master Yo.”

Yu Gaju called me familiarly as soon as he entered, and after his maid set down the tea and left, he asked.

“So. What brings you here?”

“It’s about Sun An, sir.”

“Sun An?”

“Yes. What happened was…”

I explained as quickly as possible about Sun An and the 9th princess, the woman who appeared out of nowhere, the suspicious points, the emperor’s anger, and the second chance the emperor gave.

After I finished speaking. Yu Gaju’s expression became the darkest I’d ever seen since meeting him. Understandably so.

To think his beloved grandson might have been wronged by his own relative. If he remained calm, he’d truly be a cold and heartless person.

I waited for Yu Gaju to calm down a bit before carefully suggesting to him.

“Fortunately, His Majesty instructed me to investigate this matter secretly. Because it’s a matter that requires discretion, even though my abilities are lacking in that area. So I’ve come to you, despite my impudence. Could you possibly help me clear Sun An’s name?”

I thought Yu Gaju would naturally agree to help. However, instead of giving a clear answer of whether he would help or not, Yu Gaju started muttering.

“The woman who came with a baby is likely either bound to someone, or did so because she was driven into a corner. It’s not easy for parents to do such a thing with a newborn child.”

I felt a bit uneasy when Yu Gaju didn’t give a definite answer, but I nodded in agreement for now.

“That’s right. I also think there must be a story behind it.”

“If we dig into the woman’s side, information will come out, Foreign Envoy Yo.”

“Yes…”

Is that it? Is this the end? Isn’t he going to say he’ll help personally? After being momentarily puzzled, I finally asked directly.

“You’ll help, won’t you?”

Yu Gaju looked surprised for a moment, then smiled bitterly and said.

“If this old man steps in, it would be easy to find the culprit. But my voice won’t reach His Majesty. I’ll only be left lamenting that I couldn’t protect my grandson. With luck, it might reach him, but we can’t rely on luck alone.”

“I see…”

I don’t understand what Yu Gaju is saying. No, did I ask him to investigate and report to His Majesty directly?

I didn’t. I said if he helps me, I would report to the emperor, so why does it seem like he’s saying something else?

But Yu Gaju seemed to have no intention of actively stepping in, so I couldn’t say anything more. I just nodded, even though I didn’t agree at all.

Yu Gaju looked at me and belatedly added with a smile.

“But I’ll introduce you to someone who can help you in my stead. Don’t be too disappointed.”

I guess my disappointment was visible.

“Thank you.”

Although I felt embarrassed, I just expressed my gratitude, pretending not to notice.

However, two hours later. As soon as I met the person Yu Gaju was going to introduce, I began to suspect that Yu Gaju disliked me.

“This is the person, Foreign Envoy Yo.”

The person Yu Gaju introduced to help clear Sun An’s name was a face I already knew. Very well, in fact.

“We meet often, master.”

As soon as I saw the handsome face slowly walking out, lifting the thin veil with one hand, I screamed internally. Damn it, why does this disciple appear here again!

When I looked at him with wronged eyes, the corners of Yu Gaju’s mouth lifted playfully.

“Oh my. It seems Foreign Envoy Yo doesn’t like receiving His Highness’s help.”

“That’s not it. I’m just a bit surprised.”

“I’m sorry, Foreign Envoy. But didn’t His Majesty deliberately assign this task to you out of concern for leaks? When I heard that, this old man also felt a bit reluctant to entrust this matter to someone else.”

Yu Gaju added, looking at his disciple with trusting eyes.

“But since the 9th princess is the 13th prince’s sister, he will help you well to ensure nothing leaks out.”

Will he really? That bastard?

To be honest, I can’t trust the disciple at all.

I couldn’t refuse in front of Yu Gaju, so I got in the carriage with the disciple, but as soon as we were alone inside, I quickly moved as far away from him as possible and demanded.

“Why does Your Highness want to help me?”

“Yu Gaju asked.”

“But you asked if you should help before that, didn’t you? Your Highness could refuse Yu Gaju’s request if you didn’t want to.”

“It’s not a difficult task, so why would I refuse?”

Looking at me intently as I tried not to show too much wariness, the disciple spoke in a seemingly kind manner.

“As a disciple, I should naturally help my master. If I ignore my master’s predicament, this disciple’s heart would be more troubled. Don’t feel burdened.”

Are you the type to feel uncomfortable seeing my predicament? After personally feeding me poison? I’d be thankful if you didn’t dance with joy seeing me in trouble.

‘Could it be that something that didn’t happen before the regression has occurred, and I’m involved in it, so he’s suspicious and trying to follow me around?’

Right. That’s the most plausible. Damn it. If that’s the case, I need to be on high alert. I can’t show the disciple any suspicious aspects, even a little.

But in the end, Yu Gaju attaching the disciple to me was a good choice. The disciple was definitely helpful.

“Investigate the midwives, gynecologists, and pharmacists in the surrounding area to find out which mothers gave birth within the past two to three months. Find out who among them has suspicious movements.”

The disciple called Yu Dongbaek and gave those instructions, and that was it.

“Stay with me until the investigation results come back, master.”

“Together? How long will the investigation take?”

“They should be back by evening.”

I didn’t need to run around on two feet collecting information; I just had to spend time eating meals and drinking tea with the disciple. It was a trade of physical and mental comfort.

“Does Your Highness keep going to that gambling house to meet… that Yu Dongbaek person?”

“Sometimes to see Yu Gaju, sometimes to see Yu Dongbaek. About half and half.”

“I see.”

“What about you? Don’t lie and say you went to gamble.”

“I always go for matters related to Sun An.”

“…I know that’s not true.”

“Pardon? It’s true though?”

“You went for yourself, master.”

“What? No, I didn’t?”

It was rather absurd how the disciple kept arbitrarily guessing and concluding others’ intentions every time we talked, but it wasn’t unbearable.

And finally, when evening came. Yu Dongbaek returned.

Yu Dongbaek looked at me sitting across from the disciple with a strange gaze for a moment, but it was very brief. He greeted us and immediately reported the results.

“I found five women whose whereabouts disappeared after giving birth. One passed away, three were holed up at home due to poor health.”

“And one?”

“She disappeared. When we went to her house to investigate in detail, we learned that her husband couldn’t repay a borrowed debt, and they were about to be evicted from their home, so they were forced to lie. They were told if they could hold out for as short as half a month or as long as forty days, the borrowed money would be forgiven.”

This is why the disciple kept Yu Dongbaek around. That man’s information gathering ability is truly extraordinary. I clenched my fist and said to the disciple.

“That must be the one, Your Highness.”

The disciple nodded and after thinking for a moment, asked.

“What will you do now, master?”

“I’ll offer to pay off the debt in exchange for revealing the truth.”

At my words, Yu Dongbaek seemed about to say something, but the disciple raised his hand to stop him.

‘What’s this?’

Before I could feel suspicious about that action. The disciple nodded and said in a kind voice.

“Then do so.”

Yu Dongbaek looked alternately at me and the disciple with a strange smile, then said to me.

“I’ll escort you.”

I felt a bit uneasy due to that series of suspicious smiles and actions Yu Dongbaek showed, but I couldn’t spend time persuading the husband when time was of the essence.

It didn’t seem likely that appealing to the conscience or morality of someone who pushed his wife and child into such a dangerous situation would be effective either.

Afterwards, I went to find the man and urged him to confess about this matter, offering to pay off his debt.

“But my wife has already lied. If we suddenly change our story now, won’t the Sun family try to harm my family?”

“His Majesty is very angry about this matter. I intend to tell His Majesty everything about this. If you don’t come forward and confess first, His Majesty will likely punish you as an accomplice when punishing those who threatened you. But if you confess, he will consider your circumstances of being threatened.”

The man weighed whether the emperor or the Sun family was more frightening, and finally came forward to confess.

The next day. I entered the palace first and relayed this story to the emperor, and Song Gonggong, the emperor’s close eunuch, went out through the side gate to receive the man’s confession of his crimes.

The subsequent matters were well resolved quickly over two days.

As it turned out, the person who lent money to the man and then threatened him was Sun An’s uncle.

The emperor threw an inkstone to the floor, saying he would kill that uncle immediately, but he didn’t do so in order to maintain the face of the family the 9th princess was marrying into.

What Sun An’s uncle did was buried as is, and instead, the uncle became a fallen noble and had to leave for a remote place. He was demoted.

The marriage talks between Sun An and the 9th princess began to progress again, and Sun An became free.

And this incident brought unexpected benefits to me as well.

On the third day, as I was feeling relieved seeing the situation stabilizing, Yu Gaju sent someone to request my presence and said this.

“You stepped up for my grandson. I’m greatly indebted to you, Foreign Envoy.”

“Sun An is my friend. I only did what was natural.”

“Even with deep friendship, it’s difficult to step up and risk one’s life. This old man was very moved. You asked me for a hiding place before, didn’t you? I’ll find you a proper hiding place.”

“Really?”

“Foreign Envoy is a good person. You must not want a hiding place with bad intentions.”

Yu Gaju looked at me, moved, and smiled kindly, then added with a wink.

“I’ll keep this hiding place secret even from the 13th prince, so don’t worry.”

“!”