“What did you say?”

Bang!

Cho Byung Doo violently struck the desk in front of him.

The teacup on the desk scattered in all directions.

Ignoring it, he glared at the man sitting across from him.

The man’s appearance was in terrible shape, as if he had returned from a long journey.

His unkempt hair, messy beard, and face deeply shadowed with fatigue.

But Cho Byung Doo had no concern for the man’s circumstances.

His only interest was in Heo Yoo Jung, the official who disappeared 8 years ago.

8 years ago he was an official of the State Tribunal, but now he was the only living witness related to the death of the State Tribunal officials.

That witness had vanished without a trace.

According to the original plan, Heo Yoo Jung should have died 8 years ago.

But human life is tough and tenacious, they say.

The man who was imprisoned and interrogated disappeared in an instant.

It had been 8 years of searching everywhere he might have gone, but always ending in failure.

“Damn it all!”

A harsh curse finally burst from Cho Byung Doo’s mouth.

That man must not live.

Regarding the deaths of the State Tribunal officials 8 years ago, not even a tiny ant should be left alive.

Only then could they cover up what they had done.

If by chance that man lived and opened his mouth about it.

Cho Byung Doo feared nothing under heaven with the protection of the Queen Dowager.

But if what he had schemed 8 years ago to push out the Andong Kim clan, the Queen Dowager’s family, from the court was discovered…

He didn’t need to experience it to clearly see how his current situation would change.

Perhaps the power in the court that had tilted towards him could tilt back to the king.

That’s why he had to catch that man.

He had to see him die before his very eyes, no matter what.

“Get out of my sight, you’re disgusting to look at.”

Cho Byung Doo issued a cold order of expulsion to his subordinate who had returned empty-handed once again.

Useless rice-wasters.

Watching the man withdraw, Cho Byung Doo ground his molars.

There wasn’t a single useful person around him.

The assassin sent to kill the king had only left a single scratch on the king’s palm, and those sent to find the witness kept returning empty-handed.

Moreover, information was constantly coming in that the king’s recent movements were not normal.

The king’s secret outings had become frequent.

And that wasn’t all.

Deep in the Western Palace, he was pitting secret royal inspectors against each other.

How could that naive king have thought of such a thing?

There must be someone behind the king.

Who could it be?

Cho Byung Doo recalled the king’s bright smile.

The king’s beautiful smile that disarmed his opponents.

He couldn’t know what poison was hidden behind that smile.

That’s why he wanted to cut it off at the root.

Before the king’s head grew any bigger.

Before he dared to reign over him and act like a real king.

He would nip it in the bud.

For that, there must be no one by the king’s side. Only Cho Byung Doo should be able to move the king.

Cho Byung Doo clenched his fist as if strengthening his resolve.

As if on cue.

Rumble rumble boom boom.

With the sound of thunder, raindrops finally began to pour from the sky that had been dark all along.

Whoosh.

The rain fell refreshingly, as if washing away the stuffy feeling in his chest. Watching the falling rain, Cho Byung Doo bit his lip.

“Where are you? Where are you hiding so well?”

[This is the timeline separator]

“Hurry up and come out!”

An angry voice erupted from Park’s grain shop in Jecheon market.

Then a young man in shabby clothes came limping out of the store.

“Dal Bong, you rascal, did you hear me tell you to move that bean sack or not?”

“I heard you.”

“You heard and? You heard and! You’re just going to leave it outside to get rained on all night?”

Old man Park beat Dal Bong’s shoulder with the pipe he was holding.

“Ouch, master. I was wrong. I won’t do it again.”

Dal Bong writhed his whole body, pretending to be in pain.

But old man Park showed no mercy.

“How many times have you asked me to let you off just this once? Why? Should we change your name from Dal Bong to ‘Just This Once’?”

“I really mean it this time. If you forgive me this once, I absolutely won’t do it again next time. And since we’re on the topic, you could have moved it yourself, couldn’t you? Then the bean sack wouldn’t have gotten rained on.”

“This brat is talking back again.”

“…”

“What? Why are you quiet now? Do you think I’m a joke?”

“If I talk, you hit me for talking, and if I don’t talk, you hit me for not talking. Which tune am I supposed to dance to?”

“You foolish idiot. Even eating a whole cow wouldn’t cure your stupidity. Fine. It seems you’ve made up your mind today. Alright. Today, it’s you or me.”

Ptui ptui.

Old man Park spat on both hands and gripped his long pipe.

Seeing this, Dal Bong jumped up in fright.

“Oh no, I’m dead. Dal Bong is dead.”

The quick-witted young man started running across the market, limping.

Old man Park quickly chased after him.

“Tsk tsk, that dimwit and the master who plays along with him, they’re two peas in a pod.”

The old woman selling vegetables in front of Park’s grain shop clicked her tongue and shook her head.

Just then, two men wearing bamboo hats approached the old woman.

“Excuse me.”

“Oh my, are you here to buy vegetables?”

“No, that’s not it…”

“Then go somewhere else.”

The old woman’s expression, which had brightened briefly, immediately turned indifferent.

The bamboo hat men exchanged glances for a moment, then pointed to the vegetables the old woman had laid out.

“If we buy all of this, can you tell us what we want to know?”

“All of this?”

“That’s right.”

The old woman’s mouth opened as wide as a basin.

“Of course, of course. If the price is right, I could even tell you how many pairs of underwear my dead mother had.”

“We don’t need to know about a dead old woman’s underwear… How about 50 jeon for all the vegetables?”

The bright smile disappeared from the old woman’s face.

“Forget it. I’d rather feed them to the cows.”

Meaning the amount was far too low for the vegetables.

The flustered bamboo hat man made another offer.

“Ahem. Then one nyang… no, two nyang.”

The old woman’s mouth, which had twitched at one nyang, blossomed like a fully bloomed flower at two nyang.

Excited, the old woman filled a bamboo leaf basket to the brim with vegetables and handed it over, lest the bamboo hat man change his mind.

Soon, two nyang of coins dropped into the old woman’s hand.

Rolling the pleasant jingling sound in her hand, the old woman looked around at the bamboo hat men.

“What? What do you want to know?”

No sooner had she finished speaking than the larger of the bamboo hat men pulled out a portrait from his clothing.

“Have you perhaps seen someone like this around here?”

It was a portrait of a man with clear features and a neat impression.

The old woman glanced at the portrait with the corner of her eye and shook her head.

“Why would someone like that be in this backwater?”

“You really haven’t seen him?”

“Why? Will you give me another nyang if I say I have?”

“…”

The bamboo hat men, who had been staring at the old woman, handed her the portrait.

“If you happen to see him, send word to the tavern in the upper village. We’ll give you ten times what you received now.”

“Really?”

The old woman smiled, revealing her toothless gums.

It was an expression that made her want to find the man even if he didn’t exist.

“Then I’ll keep my eyes wide open and look for him.”

The old woman vowed as she watched the bamboo hat men disappear.

The men left without even glancing at the old woman.

How much time had passed?

Just then, Dal Bong, who had fled to the end of the market, came back screaming “Aaaah!” Old man Park followed, breathing heavily.

“Oh my, oh my.”

The old woman, who had been watching the two with a look of exasperation, got up and packed away her stall.

She had sold all the vegetables she needed to sell today to the bamboo hat men.

“Come on, take it easy, you two.”

The old woman scolded Park and Dal Bong, who were still bickering.

Then she leisurely walked away.

“By the way, what’s that?”

Even while being chased, Dal Bong showed interest in the portrait the old woman was holding.

“Some rich fellows left it. They said they’d give money if we find and report this man.”

“Really?”

“Do you want to try looking for him too?”

The old woman handed the portrait to Dal Bong.

For a very brief moment, a strange light flashed in Dal Bong’s eyes and then disappeared.

The old woman watched curiously as Dal Bong stared intently at the portrait.

“What? Do you know him?”

“I feel like I might know him, but also like I might not…”

“What? Do you know him or not?”

Just then, old man Park cut in.

“Ask someone who would know. What would this idiot know?”

“Who are you calling an idiot?”

When Dal Bong flared up in anger, old man Park waved his pipe around.

“This brat, at least he knows he’s an idiot.”

“If I’m an idiot, then you’re an idiot grandpa.”

“You rotten scoundrel.”

The chase between the two, which had been quiet for a moment, started again.

The old woman, who had been watching them, clicked her tongue.

The portrait that the bamboo hat man had handed over rolled around at the old woman’s feet and was blown away by the wind, disappearing into the far side of the market.

[This is the timeline separator]

The evening sunlight seeped into the left and right chambers.

A full day had already passed since they kidnapped Lee Gyo Young.

Kwon Jwa Woo and Hong Woo Geon sat side by side in front of Lee Gyo Young, who was tied up with ropes.

“How long are we going to stay like this?”

Hong Woo Geon asked about Lee Gyo Young’s situation.

“Until he promises not to reveal my secret.”

Kwon Jwa Woo answered confidently.

“Is mere persuasion the best method you could come up with?”

Hong Woo Geon’s voice carried a reproachful tone.

“We can’t cut out a living person’s tongue or chop off their arm, can we?”

“And you’re confident you can persuade him?”

“If I persuade him sincerely, I’m sure he’ll believe me.”

“There’s no one to trust in this world. Even between brothers, they’ll stab each other in the back if it’s to their advantage. That’s how the world works. Besides, sincerity… don’t you think it’s too cliché and old-fashioned?”

“Sometimes the classic method is the best.”

“What if there’s a faster and easier way?”

“Is there such a way?”

“In times like these, it’s best to just use rank and power to overwhelm them.”

“I don’t want to use such underhanded and despicable methods.”

“Don’t ruin everything with your misplaced sense of justice. First, find out who recommended him to come here. We need to know who the recommender is before we can suppress him with power or subdue him by force.”

“What recommender?”

Kwon Jwa Woo blinked her eyes as if she didn’t understand.

“What? You really don’t know anything?”

“Stop that and tell me everything you know.”

Kwon Jwa Woo, her curiosity piqued, moved closer to Hong Woo Geon.