Reunion

Ji An ate his breakfast, unable to withstand his eldest brother’s persistent urging. It seemed Ji Hyuk viewed Ji An not as a twenty-three-year-old man, but as a three-year-old child, even personally checking on his bedding. “I will not leave this room until you fall asleep.” His brother’s declaration was absolute and unyielding. Ultimately, Ji An had no choice but to close his eyes.

When he opened them after sleeping for about two hours, a low-grade ghost was sitting on top of his chest. It had taken the form of a young girl. Her hair was neatly gathered into two braided buns secured with a traditional ribbon, and she wore a multi-colored silk jacket paired with a vibrant red skirt. Seeing it masquerading as a young lady from a noble household, Ji An furrowed his brows.

“Cut the act.”

The moment Ji An’s hand swept out and struck the girl’s form, a shrill, cackling laugh erupted, leaving behind nothing but a murky, dark mass. With crimson eyes and sharp teeth exposed when it grinned, it was the epitome of a common ghost.

“Show me.”

At Ji An’s command, the dark mass began to writhe and shift until it took on the precise appearance of Chil Seong. Bleeding profusely from his mouth, his face entirely drenched in tears and mucus, the apparition of Chil Seong began to open and close its mouth, mimicking his speech.

– The way it happened was, it was the year before last… On my way back after accompanying the young master to the South Gate when he was heading down to the eastern provinces… It was summer, right in the middle of a hot June day, and I stopped by a tavern to have a bowl of unrefined rice wine because my throat was parched. There was an old man sitting at the next table.

An old man? Ji An recalled the elder who had constantly loitered around Hae Won. He was an old man who assisted Hae Won and served as the leader of the Salban Association—a violent faction whose sole purpose was to slaughter the nobility. Hae Won, who was of vulgar birth himself, had lured the old man in with the utterly absurd rhetoric of ‘let us build a world devoid of kings and nobles.’ By the time Ji An had entered into a marriage alliance with Hae Won in his past life, that elder had already become Hae Won’s faithful right hand, meaning he must have been working diligently for him around this exact timeline as well. The only detail Ji An had remained oblivious to was that the man was already working as Hae Won’s agent back when Ji An first encountered Hae Won at the age of twenty-one.

– If you ask what kind of old man he was… He appeared to be just an ordinary elder. He looked like a butcher. He possessed a sword typically utilized by the Tartars and was exceptionally skilled at riding horses. For a commoner to ride a horse that skillfully, he must have been a Tartar himself, or at the very least, born to parents from that region. I didn’t think much of it at the time. He bought me a drink, so I had a cup, and then he inquired if I was in a massive rush to head back. The third young master had already passed through the South Gate and I had no urgent duties, so I was merely idling about when he suggested we share a drink… As we drank and conversed, we eventually exchanged names, but I realized much later on that the old man hadn’t revealed anything to me aside from a surname. I was the only one babbling away until the sun went down, and as we parted, the old man handed me some silver coins, telling me to use it for spending money. It felt rather uncomfortable to receive such a thing after enjoying free drinks, so I attempted to return it, but the old man stubbornly insisted I keep it, claiming it was the price for his entertainment… After parting ways that day, I completely forgot about the encounter. But not long after, during the Chuseok festival, did the Madam of the house not generously distribute food to the surrounding neighborhoods?

It was a common practice. Ji An recalled the Chuseok festival from two years ago. At that time, his father held the position of Vice Minister and was heavily favored to ascend to the rank of Minister. During such critical times, a noble could easily slide from grace if rumors circulated that they were stingy or lacking in virtue, so his mother had gone to great lengths to distribute food to the impoverished residents nearby. Of course, she engaged in such charity during every major holiday, but on that specific occasion, she bestowed a massive amount of bounty to ensure highly favorable rumors would spread.

Ji An remembered that particular Chuseok vividly. It was the very first Chuseok he experienced after realizing he had undergone a regression. Completely paralyzed by sheer tension, he had locked himself away in his quarters and refused to step outside. He had been consumed by the terrifying fear that he might inadvertently entangle himself with the wrong person and bring ruin upon his family. Even while confined to his room, the heavy scent of frying oil had reached his chambers for an entire week, proving the immense scale of the distribution.

– He showed up to receive food at that time. I found it quite curious why a man who had previously handed me silver would come to beg for food… When I went over and acknowledged him, he greeted me warmly and abruptly inquired if I had any desire to earn some extra spending money.

Chil Seong was already serving as Ji An’s personal servant at the time, but the old man had adamantly emphasized that he needed to become Ji Un’s servant instead. He promised to reward him with a full tael of silver if he successfully managed to do so. Consequently, Chil Seong begged the head servant for several days until he finally secured the position as Ji Un’s personal manservant. Once that was accomplished, the old man instructed him to drug Ji Un’s horse right around the time the second master was scheduled to leave the palace. Though he hesitated briefly, his intense greed for the ‘spending money’ overwhelmed his caution, and he fed the drug to the beast. The horse suddenly collapsed right in front of the palace gates and proved entirely unable to stand back up. Immediately following that incident, Prince Hae Won conveniently appeared, babbling about his profound gratitude for Ji Un’s past assistance and offering to help him. Only then did Chil Seong discern in his heart that the old man providing him with funds was an agent belonging to Prince Hae Won.

The irregular payments continued alongside various covert requests. Whenever a task appeared somewhat hazardous, the amount of money increased significantly. Step by step, Chil Seong stepped deeper into dangerous territory, and the boundaries of what he considered ‘acceptable’ in his mind expanded further and further. Then, one day, the old man approached him with a massive sum, presenting him not with common silver coins, but with a formal silver ingot, asking if he wished to earn real wealth. Before meeting the old man, Chil Seong had never once laid his hands on a single tael of silver. Yet now, he found himself staring directly at a silver shoe ingot utilized in the great empire—a chunk of silver shaped like a horse’s hoof that usually weighed roughly fifty taels.

– The old man, Old Man Gu, informed me that fifty individual silver coins were contained within this single ingot… He claimed my entire worth as a s*ave could be bought with this single piece. He told me I could finally become a free man. Staring at that kind of wealth right in front of my eyes, knowing the blood flowing through my veins could transform from vulgar to noble! What on earth was I supposed to do?

Chil Seong’s phantom form was staring intently at someone. Eventually, with a thoroughly distorted face, unable to bring himself to laugh or cry, he asked:

– It wasn’t as if the Young Master was going to die, was it? He merely consumed a bit of medicine, that is all—

Suddenly, someone violently struck Chil Seong’s face with a heavy club. The illusion instantly collapsed back into a black, formless mass. The ghost grinned wickedly, its crimson eyes flashing in the dark.

He fed him medicine, did he?

Only now did Ji An finally comprehend why he had so fiercely and stubbornly desired and advocated for the marriage alliance with Hae Won in his past life. Whatever medicine had been utilized, it was undoubtedly a concoction crafted by the demonic clan. They had administered the drug to cloud and bewilder a person’s consciousness.

‘No, wait.’

While that sinister method might have easily worked against his brother, could it truly have succeeded against him?

Ji An extended his right hand. The vibrant energy of water swirled and rippled across his open palm. He had maintained his magical prowess up until the very moment he was forced to don shackles before his execution. No matter how thoroughly he had broken down, and no matter how completely his mana had been depleted back then, he remained an accomplished mage. Precisely because of that strength, Hae Won had chosen to launch a sudden ambush to capture him. The Magistrate of the State Tribunal had marched into Ji An’s chambers with a force twice the ordinary size, stepping over his floors with muddy boots, solely to clamp him in mana-sealing shackles before dragging him away.

Back then, his mind had been vastly more hazy and lethargic than usual, leaving him entirely incapable of mounting a proper defense. Thinking back on it now.

‘They were administering the drug to me on a constant, daily basis.’

Until the very moment of his death, Ji An had remained entirely oblivious to the fact that he was being drugged. He had never once realized he was being systematically controlled. He had simply believed that every single catastrophic outcome had been born of his own choices.

Crash!

Ji An struck the wall with immense force, causing the startled ghost to frantically cling to his fist. Even though it knew it possessed no physical power to stop him, the semi-transparent entity gently swayed half of its body against him, as if softly shaking its head to urge him to calm down.

Their eldest brother chose not to reveal a single detail of the confession to Ji An. Furthermore, Ji Un—who had undoubtedly heard the full account from Ji Hyuk—showed absolutely no outward sign of disturbance in front of Ji An. Their father, who had received the formal report, spoke to Ji An using only the briefest terms.

“It appears Chil Seong brought a fair amount of trouble upon another household. I intend to pay a visit shortly to offer my official apologies.”

In his father’s eyes, Shim Ji An would likely remain forever frozen as a six-year-old child. The same was undoubtedly true for every single member of this family. Because they viewed him through that lens, they had proven entirely unable to abandon him even when he chose to commit nothing but utterly absurd acts, embracing him tightly until they were dragged down into total ruin alongside him.

Ji An offered a casual smile in front of his father, acting as though nothing was amiss.

“Shall I accompany you, Father?”

Witnessing the most eccentric son in the household inquire with such deep concern, Shim Mu Young burst into a hearty laugh. He lightly patted Ji An’s shoulders.

“Your father is still in his absolute prime. To think you are harboring such uncharacteristic worries for me, it is almost terrifying.”

Ji An was indeed deeply anxious. His father would undoubtedly seek out Hae Won.

The greatest weapon Prince Hae Won possessed was far from the fact that he was a son of the King. To the casual observer, he appeared entirely harmless. A pitiful demeanor, a resigned gaze, a sorrowful expression… the man was an absolute master of utilizing such traits.

Ji An worried immensely that Hae Won would attempt to fill the void left by Ji Un’s departure by targeting their father instead. Of course, he wouldn’t dare orchestrate a marriage alliance targeting a man of Shim Mu Young’s generation. However, Shim Mu Young still possessed young, unmarried daughters.

Furthermore, a profound desire welled up within Ji An to confront the man face-to-face once more, solely to shatter the lingering fear that resided deep within his own heart.

Even though his father shook his head in refusal, Ji An could not bring himself to back down. After a brief hesitation, he spoke up.

“I am a formal disciple of the Azure Dragon Sect. Therefore, Father, if I establish a defensive perimeter in advance, absolutely no one would dare to inflict harm upon you—such as an attempted poisoning, for instance. Of course, such an atrocious act would never occur under the current benevolent rule of His Majesty.”

Mu Young stared intently at his son’s face. He had strictly commanded his elder sons to keep their mouths shut, so he believed Ji An remained entirely in the dark, yet the expression on his son’s face clearly indicated he knew Ji Un had been drugged. Sighing softly, he realized there was no longer any need to put up a strong front if his son had already parsed the truth.

“Since you are already aware, I shall not bother to deny it. Very well, let us journey together. As I find myself utterly unable to comprehend what exactly is transviring, I did wish to take the strictest precautions.”

“Yes, Father.”

“You should also evaluate your brother’s condition. That scoundrel Chil Seong truly knew absolutely nothing of substance. A thoroughly ignorant commoner. Oblivious to the exact nature of the drug he was feeding to his own master, he committed such a heinous crime simply because his eyes were blinded by a single silver ingot. The physician stated Un appears to be perfectly fine, but how could an ordinary doctor’s evaluation ever compare to the discerning eyes of an Azure Dragon Sect disciple?”

“Please put your mind entirely at ease, Father. This son shall completely incinerate every single drop of malice lingering within my brother’s body.”

At those words, Shim Mu Young offered a warm smile. He had believed his third child was still the six-year-old boy who required constant protection, but before he knew it, the boy had grown into a twenty-three-year-old man. A young man possessing clear eyes and an unyielding will. Though the time to consider a proper marriage alliance for him would arrive shortly, Mu Young decided to push that matter aside for the time being. He had already grown thoroughly exhausted just from dealing with Ji Un’s failed engagement.

“We are scheduled to visit Yangmyeong Court this evening.”

It was the private estate Hae Won had received from the King upon celebrating his coming-of-age ceremony. As it was roughly the same size as the Shim family estate, it could be considered a moderately grand residence. However, Hae Won had frequently expressed immense resentment over the fact that he was entirely forbidden from residing within the palace walls, unlike his eldest brother who occupied the Eastern Palace, and his second brother who resided in the Susim Pavilion.

“Yes, Father. This son shall personally escort you at that time.”

“Very well, let us do so. You may witness some rather unpleasant sights, so will you be able to remain calm?”

Ji An silently deduced the true nature of that unpleasant sight in his mind. He bowed his head deeply.

“Do not worry, Father. After all, I am your son.”