Chapter 208: Chapter 81
It was right after the third shot was detoxified that he began to open his mouth.
In fact, he seemed to open his mouth at the second shot, but he didn’t.
Pyonsu now began to reveal everything he knew about his ties with Yorip Chung.
Hangbok Lee and Chul Chung, who hastily came to the scene, watched him confessing.
“Wow, this is great!”
“I agree, sir.”
“I hear this guy confessed even when he was not beaten up, burnt or fed at all.”
“Yeah, he was a very malicious guy.”
Hangbok was astonished at his unusual resistance.
He even called for the toughest tormentor from the relevant authorities to force Pyonsu to confess, but in vain.
As the last resort Hangbok turned to Kanghyok desperately.
“What’s your name?”
At Kanghyok’s question, he flinched at the syringe he was holding.
Kanghyok was waving it before his eyes.
And Makbong and Dolsok on both sides were frightening.
“My name is Uiyon.”
“Uiyon?”
It was unfamiliar to Kanghyok, but Hangbok instantly noticed it.
Hangbok approached Pyonsu and asked, “Did you say your name was Uiyon?”
“Yes.”
“As far as I know, Uiyon is a monk. You don’t look like him at all,” Hangbok said with a suspicious look.
“It looks like he is not yet ready to confess.”
Rolling up his sleeves, Kanghyok tried to feel his blood vessel.
Then Pyonsu shouted, “No, yes, yes, I’m Uiyon.”
Given his desperate tone, he seemed not to lie.
“How come your hair is long like that?”
“I started to wear my hair long after I met master Chung.”
“Master Chung… Are you talking about Yorip Chung?”
After turning it over in his mind for a while, he nodded.
His eyes were now full of fear and despair, though he resisted all the tortures up to now.
The pain of not breathing properly even with his consciousness was something he couldn’t stand any more.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Why did you act as the leader of the acrobatic team here?”
Uiyon couldn’t reply easily.
Though Hangbok felt frustrated at his slow reply, Kanghyok could understand.
A little later Pyonsu continued, “I tried to organize Taedonggye even in Hangyang.”
Taedonggye was an armed group doing activities in Hwanghae and Cholla provinces.
Even Kanghyok, who was not interested in worldly affairs, came to hear about it.
Hangbok’s face became gloomy instantly.
This time Kanghyok, with his eyes meeting his, continued to ask, “Taedonggye? Did you organize a group of martial arts men?”
“You bet.”
Kanghyok nodded silently.
When he thought of Makbong and Yoni, it was not difficult to disguise an armed group as an acrobatic team.
“How large is that armed group?”
“Not many. Less than 100.”
“What? Less than 100…”
Listening to him quietly, Hangbok shook his head from side to side.
Though it was a small group of 100, it was a big danger if the group was now staying inside Hanyang.
If they could find collaborators inside the palance, they could raise a coup any time.
And Yorip Chung, the main instigator of the coup, had a large following among the political faction of Tongin.
“Where are they now?”
Pretty impatient, Hangbok darted a question, but Pyonsu couldn’t answer quickly.
Instead he studied Kanghyok’s face, and that the syringe he was holding in his hand.
“I don’t know as I was taken here for a long time.”
“Don’t know?”
“No, I don’t. Seriously.”
In fact, it was a long time ago that he was taken by Hangbok.
Nodding his head, Kanghyok grabbed him on the shoulder.
“What were you trying to do with that armed group? Here in Hanyang?”
“We wanted to drive out the current king and open a new era.”
“In other words, you were plotting a revolt, right?”
Kanghyok was upset, asking him.
No matter how dull and incompetent King Sonjo was, he was still the legitimate king.
‘How can you plot a revolt when the Japanese invasion of Joseon is around the corner?’
Chul Chung, who was present at the scene, became enraged to the point of his beard trembling.
“Treason? Are you plotting treason?”
Chul Chung murmured, clenching his fist firmly.
Only then did Makbong and Dolsok’s faces turn very white.
They simply followed Kanghyok to help him with torturing somebody.
And they came to realize that Pyonsu was plotting treason.
When they were shivering, Kanghyok opened his mouth slowly.
“Milord, it’s obvious that Yorip is planning a revolt, based on his confession.”
“I know. All thanks to you, Kanghyok,” said Hangbok, at a loss what to do.
At that moment Chul Chung cut in, like a veteran politician.
“This is not the time for this. Let me take him to the Justice Ministry right away and then report to the king.”
“Yes, milord.”
“Thanks, Kanghyok. I won’t forget your credit. Let me repay you dearly later.”
“Oh, I just did what I had to do on my part.”
Chul gathered all the servants in the yard.
Looking at Pyonsu who was raising his resigned face, Kanghyok asked, “My lord, it won’t do any harm to Lord Sungryong Yu, right?”
“Of course not. I am a man of my word. So, don’t worry.”
“Thank you.”
Who knows?
Looking at Chul Chung who gave him such reassurances, Kanghyok gave a sigh of relief furtively.
If something bad happened to Sungryong because of this, it could bring about a bigger danger.
‘Joseon could go to ruin.’
Pyonsu was taken out of the remote warehouse in a few minutes.
Left behind in the place were Kanghyok, Dolsok and Makbong.
Dolsok’s face was still white, compared with Makbong who was calm as ever.
“Master, this is really dangerous.”
“You bet.”
Kanghyok was also aware of it.
Dolsok added, “It’s treason, master. I think you had better refrain from visiting Lord Sungryong’s house for the time being.”
“Yeah, that sounds good.”
Kanghyok felt Dolsok was a smart guy in some respect.
‘Yes, this is a rivalry between Tongin and Soin. I don’t have to be the talk of the town by being sandwiched between them. Nobody knows about Yoju, but I think I had better make sure…’
“Yes, you’re right. Dolsok.”
“Let’s get out of here first, master.”
“Good. Let’s go.”
The three of them quickly returned back home.
Yoni, Yoju and Dorikke were just absorbed in their own activities as usual.
“Oh, you’re back, master!”
Yoni and Yoju welcomed Kanghyok with a happy look.
But Kanghyok didn’t feel comfortable while looking at Yoju.
Come to think of it, Yoju was now put in a perilous situation.
“Let me see both of you for a moment.”
“Yes, master.”
Wiping off sweat on her forehead, Yoni followed his direction.
“Let me go with you now,” said Yoju without any objection.
“What shall we do, master?” said Dolsok, rubbing his hands.
Though he didn’t eat anything for the day, he was not so hungry.
But he felt chicken might be a good choice for dinner at that moment.
‘Oh, we have flour.’
Though he obtained it hard, he had no chance to use it for food.
“Why don’t you fry chickens?”
“Oh, that’s good!”
Dolsok and Makbong were quite accustomed to the taste of fried chicken.
Shouting for joy, they ran out to the backyard to catch hens.
Yoju and Yoni sat quietly in the room when Kanghyok went in.
“What’s the matter?” Yoju asked first, as if she saw something strange in his eyes.
After hesitating for a moment, he eventually opened his mouth and said, “I met a guy today.”
“Who was he, master?”
“Uiyon. The guy you mentioned to me before.”
Yoju stopped for a moment to register that.
There were many other Uiyons in Joseon, but there was only one Uiyon that Kanghyok and Yoju knew.
He was one of the eccentric men who joined Taedonggye and served as an advisor to Yorip Chung.
“Oh, I see,” replied Yoju, trying to calm down.
“He confessed everything.”
“About what?”
“Your uncle… He said he planned a revolt with Yorip Chung.”
“Really?”
“Shush! Be quiet! Yoni, you and me alone know you’re Yorip’s cousin.”
“Oh, I see.”
Yoju lowered her head deep down.
Never did she think his uncle was plotting treason.
“So, you should be careful from now on. Yoju, you should be disguised as a man all the time. Even inside the house.”
“Yes, master.”
“Yoni, try to find any hiding place just in case.”
“Yes, master.”
Kanghyok looked around the room with regrets.
As the house was given by the mayor of Suwon, a corrupt official, it was quite big and luxurious.
‘I have to get out of here if a war breaks out anyway.’
While Kanghyok was agonizing over the matter, the political faction of Soin was quite busy to take back power from its rival Tongin.
Chul Chung, the leader of Soin, issued an order,
“Tell Joon Han, the governor of Hwanghae Province, Cuk Lee, the governor of Anak, Choonggan Park, the mayor of Jaeryong, and Ungin Han, the governor of Sinchon to investigate about Yorip Chung and his gang and report back!”