Chapter 155 – Imperial Palace (6)

At the humiliating actions of the emperor, Ah Gong bit his lip.

‘To see the emperor succumb to him like this.’

The emperor is the nation itself. And he even had the title of the Son of Heaven.

Since the emperor was a being above all the people and ruled the vast land, even the warriors and martial sects never rejected or acted difficult with him.

It was also because he was someone with numerous people around him to carry out tasks which no sect would have.

However, the emperor right now had turned back into just a single individual. It was an event which had more of an effect and impact than the Four Great Warriors.

‘No, this might go down in history…’

He never thought that this would be a sight one could see. Like Ah Gong, the True King also felt ashamed upon seeing this.

In order to save his own skin, the emperor called himself the ruler of a great empire but now surrendered like this.

‘… The emperor’s choice is right.’

He thought he knew why the emperor threw his pride away.

However, the emperor who chose his own safety was no longer qualified to be emperor.

Shh!

At that time, Mumu nodded his head at the emperor and pointed to the True King.

“I-I get it!”

The emperor came ahead with a box engraved with a dragon pattern in gold.

The expression of the eunuch changed, realizing what this was. Was there anyone who didn’t know what it was?

‘The seal!’

The box here was none other than the box which held the seal. The shocked people rushed for the emperor to try and dissuade him.

“Y-your Majesty!”

“Your Majesty!!!”

And—

Thud!

Mumu lightly stomped his foot on the floor.

Rumble!

“Huk!”

“T-the throne room!”

As if an earthquake had occurred, the entire hall shook and the floor was split around Mumu, causing everyone to stop.

Gulp

The emperor, also scared now, wasn’t listening to the officials any longer, as the trembling of the hall made every bit of courage disappear, and any thought of trying to get out of this had completely disappeared.

If he didn’t do this, then his life wouldn’t be saved.

‘… He isn’t human.’

He was a walking disaster.

The emperor walked to the True King and knelt down. Seeing this, the people around all held despair in their eyes.

Click!

The emperor was kneeling down with the lid of the box opened, and he raised his voice and said to the True King,

“Listen! I am not good at managing the state’s affairs because I am no good, so I want to give this over to the virtuous True King!”

‘!!!!’

At those words the eyes of Hong Nayeon and the True King were shocked. They didn’t know that the emperor would actually bring them the royal seal.

Hong Nayeon looked at Mumu with shocked eyes.

‘What the hell did he do?’

It made them question what had been done to the emperor for him to kneel and endure this humiliation when he had such a strong desire for power.

The emperor was the highest position in the nation.

And as a result, the inside of the palace turned upside down right then. Due to the return of the True King to the palace, which was no different from a regular visit, the entire palace was on alert.

But this was more shocking than anyone thought possible. The officials who followed the emperor had to stop him, but they were unable to.

“From now, the Imperial Palace is under the control of the uniformed guards!”

It was because the True King was given power too quickly. And the uniformed guards were divided into two parts, internal and external.

Although there were many skilled warriors which protected the family and its internal affairs, they numbered significantly less than those of the outer palace which protected the imperial castle.

‘Did they hold onto the outer palace?’

It wasn’t a position just to hold power. Before entering the palace, the True King had summoned the officials who still supported him to the hall of the empress dowager.

However, as the emperor took the throne, the officials had moved in directions to quickly seize the place and calm the palace issues.

“Spread the news of Emperor Hong Inse’s attempt to assassinate his brother outside the palace.”

Rumors quickly moved from the palace.

As a result, the powers of the palace fell into confusion, and the powers of the imperial faction had no choice but to lie flat on their faces because they couldn’t find any words to say. Everything was going the True King’s way.

“Your Majesty. The princess is here.”

“Come in.”

Drrr!

The door to the Emperor’s room opened, and Hong Nayeon came in.

Seeing the piles of papers, appeals, and other documents piled up like a mountain, Hong Nayeon just exclaimed,

“Ah!”

“You are here?”

“Yes. Father.”

Emperor Hyung Myung-in, who was handling the piled up work, rose from his seat. Seeing this, the princess was puzzled.

Since the previous emperor had been here before, and the transfer of power was too swift, he had a lot of things to do to take control of the palace in order to hold a formal ceremony, so he decided to get the work done by himself.

“Sit down.”

“Yes.”

As she approached the desk and waited, the emperor also sat across from her. As it was customary for the emperor to sit first, she waited, and the emperor sat down, looking tired from the work.

“Phew.”

“Are you okay?”

“Of course. It is fine. No, actually, can I be okay?”

“You are tired right?”

“I saw the affairs of working during the time of my father, but this is too hard.”

“It will be fine when the palace stabilizes.”

“It will.”

“Don’t push yourself too hard. Now, if father is shaken, the empire will be shaken too.”

At those words, Emperor Hong Myung-in smiled at his only child.

The princess who had been smiling at him said,

“But father, you must be busy right now, so why?”

“I called you because I wanted to ask you for something and hear your thoughts too.”

“Thoughts?”

To her confused face, he said,

“It is about the Warrior of Super Strength.”

“Uh?”

When the name of Mumu came up, her eyes shone.

If it weren’t for Mumu, they could have lost their lives several times over in the past few days.

Could it be that she was summoned here to discuss how to repay him? She thought it had to be.

“What about Mumu?”

“I want to know what kind of person young lord Mumu is.”

“Uh? What kind of person?”

At her confused response, he said like a whisper,

“If you know what kind of person he is, then recruit him as an ally.”

“Ah….”

At the words of the emperor, Hong Nayeon exhaled.

But she never thought that the emperor would be interested in Mumu.

‘He wants Mumu?’

Actually, this wasn’t so odd. Thanks to Mumu, they managed to escape death, and Mumu’s power was so strong that even the captains and great warriors were all shocked.

If such a person becomes part of their strength, was there anyone who wouldn’t be reassured?

‘Want Mumu?’

Hong Nayeon also didn’t know much about Mumu. But she knew Mumu was a free-spirited person.

Being free-spirited meant that one didn’t like being dragged around in the name of an oath or honor.

‘This is why he wasn’t afraid of the emperor.’

Sure, he was like a walking disaster. He was absolutely strong enough to make anyone lose everything.

After thinking a moment, she said,

“Father… I want you to take Mumu, but…”

Before she could continue speaking, the emperor spoke first,

“Right. It must not be easy for a person with so much power to be held. However, this incident showed me two things.”

“Two?”

“Yes.”

“May I ask what those two are?”

“First of all, I am quite grateful to young lord Mumu, I even thought that he was someone sent by the heavens.”

Hong Nayeon agreed with it. The power the former emperor had was too much for her and her father to even fight back.

However, Mumu changed everything like it was a dream. And thanks to this, she had another thought.

Hong Nayeon asked,

“… So this means you are afraid of Mumu.”

At that question, Emperor Hong Myung-in nodded with a bitter smile.

After noticing the strength of Mumu, the emperor felt both gratitude and fear. Mumu’s power wasn’t at a level which any human could handle.

A walking disaster—just as humans could not defend themselves against a natural disaster. Mumu seemed that scary to the emperor and the enemies.

“Speak honestly. I am ashamed to be in a place of still taking help, but I am afraid of him.”

“… Is this why you asked for me?”

“Yes.”

At this, Nayeon exhaled.

“Do not worry. I often did it too. The kid who is a disaster walking around and splitting open a raging river into two…”

“What?”

The emperor’s eyes widened.

He couldn’t believe what she just said. The days were cloudy now, but there was a time when it was raining.

Hong Nayeon felt a bit sorry but considered that not hiding anything would do more good.

Rather, to let him truly know the extent of his power would be right when deciding anything about Mumu.

“It is as I said.”

“A human made a river flow backwards with one hit?”

“Yes”

It was a sight one wouldn’t believe unless they saw it for themselves.

“Ha…”

At Hong Nayeon’s words, the emperor clenched his hands. Like looking at someone fighting, someone close to a disaster level turned to someone worse than a natural disaster.

Gulp!

The emperor gulped not realizing it.

What would happen if one was blinded with a false thought against such a being? Then he would be no different from the former emperor who was currently imprisoned.

‘Haaa… disaster…’

No matter how positively he wanted to view it, the anxiety and nervousness weren’t going away ever since he took the position of the emperor.

If this kind of person wasn’t kept close…

‘Ah!’

It was the moment when he thought of something good. He was confused because of the human skin mask being used, but he heard that Mumu was actually only 17 years old.

He looked at his beautiful daughter who was just 19.

“Father?”

Hong Nayeon looked puzzled at her father who was staring at her and called for him, making him clear his throat.

“Hmm… princess.”

“Yes, father…”

“What do you think of Mumu as a man?”

‘!?’

Hong Nayeon’s face turned in an instant, knowing the intention behind this. Seeing this, the emperor smiled.

‘Son-in-law.’

The solution was surprisingly close.