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Chapter 76: Daedonggye [2]

The situation went a little strange.

Ganghyuk looked at Byon Sungbok and Yeoju with embarrassment.

The anger melted down.

They were just embarrassed with the situation.

“What is it? Do you know him?”

Yeoju shook her head.

“No, I don’t know him.”

“Yes, you are definitely Yeoju. I recognize your voice.”

Byon Sungbok said with assurance.

He had already released Yeoju from his fist.

He noticed that she held a syringe during the fuss, but he did not care.

“Who are you?”

“Ah, you may not remember me.”

Byon Sungbok seemed to remember something with longing.

“Why are you here anyway? Where is Sir Changgweon?”

“Do you know my father?”

It had been long time since she heard her father’s name from somebody.

Although she had called his name everyday by herself…

It was strange to hear the name from somebody that she had never known.

“How can I forget him. Your father is the brother of my master. I have visited your house with the master many times”

“Master?”

Byon Sungbok seemed not to talk about the master.

He changed the subject quickly.

“Anyway, where is Brother Changgweon? Is he in Hanyang?”

“Eum”

Yeoju bit her lips because of the painful memory.

Byon Sungbok could not ask further because of the sorrow that he could feel from her face.

Yeoni went behind stealthily during the fuss and pulled her back.

“Are you okay, Miss Yeoju?”

“Yes, I am okay.”

She rubbed her neck which had a red mark because of the tough hand of Byon Sungbok.

Byon Sungbok bent his body as he felt sorry for her.

“I am sorry, I did not intend to…”

“No, not at all.”

“By the way, is there something wrong with Brother Changgweon?”

“Eum”

Yeoju bit her lips again.

Yeoju did not say anything for a while biting her lips.

And then she opened her mouth.

“He passed away in the combat in Eotanmyeon.”

“Oh my God. That happened.”

It seemed they were quite close, considering his face full of sorrow.

In his sigh, there was a deep sorrow.

“A great man has gone. By the way, why are you dressed like that?”

Byon Sungbok asked Yeoju.

It was a question that anyone could ask if he knew her status.

She did not look like a noblewoman at all.

Yeoju answered looking at her costume.

“I am learning medicine and drawing pictures.”

“Heum, I was told that you had been something different from ordinary girls from the neighborhood, but…”

“Why are you hanging out with such fellows, if you study with my father.”

Byon Sungbok laughed.

The laugh was not the kind to hide his shame.

Rather, it was full of reproach and sneer.

“How does a sparrow know the phoenix’s will?”

He laughed after making a rude statement.

Suddenly he stopped laughing, as he saw some patrol running to the scene.

As many torches were seen, they could be some numbers.

“It was nice seeing you here, Yeoju. I am going.”

Byon Sungbok disappeared in the darkness.

He was not as agile as Yeoni, but it seemed that he knew the geography of the area very well.

He completely disappeared from the scene very quickly.

“Let’s leave this scene.”

“Yes, sir.”

It is not good to meet the patrol here.

It is not Suwon.

It is better not to make any trouble.

“Miss, ride my back.”

Makbong offered her back to Yeoju.

Because of the urgency, she did not reject the offer.

She lost the strength to run because of the sudden surprise.

She might feel difficulties in walking, not to mention of running.

“Thank you.”

“Let’s run.”

Ganghyuk ran with his long legs.

Thanks to the Taekyeon training, he was swifter than before.

Yeoni was flying.

Dolseok could catch up with Makbong with Yeoju on his back.

The problem was the Flail. He did his best not to be left behind.

“They were all gone.”

When the patrol came there, they couldn’t see anybody.

“What is this?”

“It looks strange.”

There was a syringe. It was full of the blowfish poison.

It might be slipped during the fighting, but nobody noticed it and left.

“Let’s take it. It may be an evidence.”

“Take care. It is very sharp.”

“I am not dumb. I know what I should do.”

“You fell at the stream yesterday, do you remember? That is why I am telling you to be careful.”

“Ok, I see.”

When the patrol went back to their office with the syringe, Ganghyuk arrived at his house.

They ran very fast and all of them were breathless including Yeoju who was on Makbong’s back.

The Flail who were slow by his nature was almost dead.

Ganghyuk said after getting his breath back.

“We ran away even though we did not do bad things.”

They were coming back home after treating a patient in the house of Lee Hangbok and they were attacked accidentally.

They could give excuses why they had to be there and had made such fuss.

But the Flail had a different opinion.

“No, sir. It is better to run away in such cases.”

“Yes, it is true for you, because you are a thief.”

“No, sir. I am not a thief anymore. I washed off.”

“You did not wash off. I made you wash off.”

“Yes, that is true. But anyway it is better not be meddled with the patrol. Even though we did not do anything wrong, they could find some.”

“Heum.”

Ganghyuk could imagine.

Even in the 21st century, that might happen.

In Joseon, such things could happen every day.

Especially to the people like the Flail who did not have power.

“I am ok because I am a nobleman, but they may be…”

He was not a simple nobleman.

His father was a famous man so there were many people who remembered his father’s name even in the marketplace in Hanyang.

Many students of his were working in the government.

To let alone Seungmun, Ganghyuk himself had good connections.

He had many acquaintances and their names might make common people tremble.

“By the way…”

Ganghyuk looked at Yeoju who took her breath.

When she heard of the name of Jeong Yeorip, she looked strange.

It seemed that she hid something from him and the suspicion became an assurance.

Byon Sungbok might be high-ranking in Daedonggye.

It was strange that such a person recognized Yeoju.

“Yeoju”

“Yes?”

“Who is he on earth? How could he know sir Changgweon?”

“I am not sure, but…”

Yeoju hesitated to talk.

All including Ganghyuk were waiting for her to continue.

Although there might be a difference in the extent, it was true that everybody was curious.

“His master may be Jeong Yeorip…”

Yeoju stopped again.

“If it were Dolseok or others, he might hit his head.”

Ganghyuk waited, suppressing the curiosity and anger.

Fortunately she did not make him wait for a long time.

Yeoju continued.

“I think he is working under my uncle.”

“Is Jeong Yeorip your uncle?”

“Hiss. Please do not say it loudly. Somebody might hear you.”

“Yes, you are right. Do you know something more about him?”

Ganghyuk murmured his name with a serious face.

“Jeong Yeorip, Jeong Yeorip.”

The man who would be killed as a traitor was the brother of Jeong Changgweon.

He was the uncle of Yeoju who Ganghyuk took care of.

Ganghyuk felt the end of his hair stand.

“I don’t know much. My father did not talk about his elder brother much.”

“I see.”

Yeoju did not let her guard down.

She looked around with a stern face.

Although it was midnight when they could not feel any indication of a person being around.

In the yard, there were rough breaths of some people.

“My father always told me that his brother was a dangerous man. He said that his elder brother might be a great man, but he could not follow him because his ideology was too dangerous. As he was not someone like that, I thought I had better follow his opinion.”

Yeoju tried to catch the facial expressions of the person while talking.

She looked at the Flail with anxiety, as she could not trust him.

She seemed to worry if the Flail might disclose it to somebody.

Ganghyuk thought that her worries might be groundless.

‘He is ten times more ignorant than me… And he was a thief.’

Ganghyuk thought that he was up to his ears in his own problems.

However, Ganghyuk could not ignore her anxiety.

“Ok. I see. We can talk in the room. Dolseok, you take the Flail and others and take a rest.”

“Ah, yes, sir.”

Because of the fuss, they forgot their plan and lost their appetite, too.

Nobody thought of fried chicken any more. They followed Ganghyuk’s order without complaints.

Ganghyuk went into the room with Yeoju. Yeoni followed them.

“Hugh.”

Her face under the lamp was full of anxiety.

Yeoni saw her face and sighed, too.

“Miss, is your neck ok?”

“Ah, yes. It is a little bit sore.”

“Let’s see.”

Yeoni examined Yeoju’s neck and gave a sigh of relief.

“It is not really bad, miss. I think it will be ok. The problem is we have caught him. We should not let him go.”

“Don’t blame yourself. If it had not been for you, we might have had a big problem.”

Ganghyuk praised Yeoni’s distinguished exploits and changed the mood.

“Yeoju. Tell me about your uncle. I think Lee Hangbok has a reason to be sensitive like that.”

Ganghyuk did not have a good knowledge in history, but he was a clever man to improvise.

Considering the situation, Jeong Yeorip might have a problem.

He did not know what kind of butterfly effect this incident might make.

It might make Gichukoksa happen earlier. (Gichuoksa; Purge in the year of Gichuk to prosecute Jeong Yeorib. He was falsely accused of treason.)

“I may be prosecuted together.”

Ganghyuk remembered there was the guilt-by-association system. (In Joseon, they prosecuted all the relatives of the traitor, no matter what they were involved in or not.)

“I trust you and Yeoni. I will tell you what I know in full.”

Yeoju started to talk looking at Ganghyuk and Yeoni in turn.

At that moment, there were no better people than Ganghyuk and Yeoni for Yeoju to trust and depend on.

They took care of her from the first time they met till now after she became an orphan.

“My uncle, Jeong Yeorip is a man who addresses Hasabigunron and Cheohagongmulseol.”

She confessed what she knew taking the plunge, but unfortunately Ganghyuk and Yeoni did not know what they meant. Fortunately, Yeoju knew that Ganghyuk did not have good knowledge in Chinese characters. Thus, she started to explain what Hasabigunron and Cheohagongmulseol meant.

Hasabigunron meant that anyone could be a king. He addressed that the statement “A faithful subject will not serve two kings.” would be applied temporarily when the king died. In other words, we could serve the king no matter who it was.”

“Yes, it sounds dangerous.”

“Cheohagongmulseol… It means that the world is for the public and not owned by a king or anybody. There is no owner of the world.”

“Oh.”

It seemed to be heard as a treason.

Ganghyuk doubted if Jeong Yeorip learned democracy somewhere. How could a person in Joseon think of that?

Now, it became clear to him that Jeong Yeorip was the one who was killed in Gichukoksa.

“Does he address his theories in public?”

“No, but perhaps Byon Sungbok whom we met on the way home might be the member of Daedonggye. Daedonggye must be the organization founded by my uncle.”

“Eum”

Ganghyuk could understand why Yeoju hesitated to talk.

His theories were too revolutionary to talk in public.

It was same to people who had a good background.

Even if just one thing goes wrong, the whole ship could be sunken.

“Yes, we had better be careful. It might be better for you to disguise like this.”