Now, the atmosphere of the room was somewhat strange.

With a perplexed look Kanghyok took turns looking at Sungbok and Yoju.

His soaring rage melted away.

What? Do you know him?”

Yoju shook her head from side to side.

“No, I don't know him.”

“Hearing your voice, I now know you must be Yoju!” said Sungbok in a confident voice.

He already released his grip on her white and slim neck.

Though she was holding a syringe, Sungbok didn't care.

“Who are you?”

“Oh, it is no wonder you don't recognize me.”

Sungbok made a wistful look, saying

“By the way, why are you sticking around here? Where is brother Changkwon?”

“Do you know my father?”

She heard someone mentioning his late father's name in a long time, though she murmured it every day.

“How can you not recognize me? I've been to your house several times with the lord.”

“With the lord…?'

Apparently Sungbok didn't want to tell her about the lord because he quickly changed the topic.

“Anyway, where is your father Changkwon? Does he happen to be in Hanyang?”

“Oh my…”

She bit her mouth as if she couldn't bear to tell him.

Sungbok couldn't approach her after he noticed her overwhelming sorrow.

Yoni quickly pulled her to the side and asked, “Are you alright?”

“Oh, I'm fine.”

Yoju caressed the red spot on the back of her neck.

Sungbok lowered his head as if he was sorry.

“Sorry. I grabbed it against my will.”

“That's alright.”

“By the way, what happened to brother Changkwon?”

“Well…”

She bite her lip once more and said, “He was killed in a recent raid by the j.a.panese invaders.”

“Oh my G.o.d, I didn't know that…”

Given the way he lamented a lot, it was obvious that both were on close terms.

“What a big loss! How come you are here, dressed like that?”

Looking at her own clothing, she answered,

“Well, I just get by, drawing pictures and learning medical skills.”

“Hummm..I thought you were extraordinary from your childhood.”

“By the way, you said you studied with my late father at the same school. Why are you hanging around with this group?”

Sungbok burst into laughter at her asking.

“How can a woman like you figure out a man's big ambition?”

And then Sungbok laughed for a while.

It was when he saw patrollers in the distance that he stopped laughing.

Given the stream of torches, there were a number of patrollers, not one or two.

“It was so great to see you here like this. Let me leave now.”

And then he quickly disappeared into the dark.

Obviously he must know the ins and outs of this place.

“Let's get out of here, guys.”

“Yes, master.”

Running into the patrollers wouldn't be any good for Kanghyok's party.

And this was not Suwon, Kanghyok's playground.

“Please get on my back,” said Makbong, looking at Yoju.

As she could hardly walk, she didn't want to refuse his offer.

When the patrollers got there, they couldn't find anyone.

“What the heck is this?”

“Hummm…it looks very strange.”

They were talking about a syringe with the poison of fugu, which one of Kanghyok's party dropped while fighting with the acrobatic guys a while ago.

“Let's pick it up, just incase.”

“Be careful. Its tip is pretty sharp. So, be careful.”

“I'm not a fool, man.

By the time the patrollers returned with the syringe, Kanghyok already arrived at his lodging.

Yoju, who was on Makbong's back, was short of breath, as he tried to catch up with Kanghyok who was racing to his place.

After catching his breath for a while, Kanghyok murmured,

“Looks like we didn't have to run away like this. We didn't do anything wrong, right?”

Come to think of it, he treated Hangbok's wife until late at night and then he was on his way back to fry chickens at home.

Even if he was caught by the patrollers, he had a myriad of good excuses.

But Dorikke disagreed.

“No, sir. It was the best policy to run away.”

“It's because you're a thief.”

“Not me, sir. I've washed my hands off from it.”

“Did you? It's me who made you turn over a new leaf in your life.”

“You're right…anyway, I don't want to be entangled with those hooligans. Even if I'm innocent, they will punish me once they lead me away.”

“Hummm..”

That was true.

In Joseon the guilt-by-a.s.sociation system was widely established.

In particular, it was cruel to powerless commoners like Dorikke.

'Yes, as I am a n.o.bleman, it doesn't matter.'

Kanghyok was an extraordinary n.o.bleman now, whose father was formerly a high-ranking official. Many of the powerful men in the central government were his disciples. And Kanghyok himself maintained good relations.h.i.+p with powerful n.o.ble men such as Sungryong nd Hangbok.

'Ah, come to think of it…'

Kanghyok looked at Yoju, who was catching her breath at a distance.

She seemed to hide something the moment somebody mentioned the name 'Yorip Chung.'

Now, it was clear that she was very closely a.s.sociated with Yorip.

Sungbok Byon must have been a powerful n.o.bleman, given that he knew Yoju.

“By the way, Yoju, who was that man? He knows your late father Changkwon, right?”

“I don't know him well, but…”

Kanghyok and others waited for her to continue.

“When Sungbok was mentioning something like the lord, he must be Yorip Chung…”

The she suddenly closed her lips again.

Swallowing saliva in her dry mouth again, she went on, “It looks like Sungbok is under the guidance of the elder brother of my father.”

“Is Yorip the elder brother of your father?”

“Shus.h.!.+ What if someone overhears you?”

“Oh, I see. Have you heard something about him?”

With a serious look Kanghyok repeated his name.

'Yorip Chung, Yorip Chung…'

It was none other than the elder brother of the late Changkwon, who was soon to be executed on charges of treason.

He was the uncle of Yoju that Kanghyok had been taking around.

Kanghyok felt his hair stood on end.

“I don't know much about him because my late father didn't tell me much either.”

“I see.”

Yoju was constantly wary while she was talking.

With a hardened face she even looked around.

“My father used to tell me his elder brother was a dangerous figure. He said Yorip was a great figure, but found it hard to maintain a close relations.h.i.+p with him. So, I felt I had better be careful, too.”

Looking at Kanghyok's party, especially Dorikke who only recently joined, Yoju seemed to fear that they might leak what she just said.

In Kanghyok's mind Yoju's concern was groundless.

'They are just illiterate guys..And Dorikke was formerly a thief.'

But Kanghyok couldn't ignore her concern.

“Got it. Let's come into the room for further talk. Dolsok, just go out with Dorikke and hit the sack first.”

“Yes, master.”

Kanghyok and Yoju went into the room, followed by Yoni.

“Whew!”

Yoju's face, reflected by the lamplight, was full of concern.

Yoni also looked gloomy.

“Is your neck okay?”

“Oh, I feel alright. It just feels stiff.”

“Let me take a look.”

Yoni looked at her neck closely and left out a sigh of relief.

“Fortunately your neck looks fine. We should have caught that b.a.s.t.a.r.d…”

Kanghyok briefly praised Yoni's bravery, and then took up the main topic.

“Now, tell me about the elder brother of your father. Looking back, I feel Hangbok didn't overreact the other day when he heard of the name Yorip Chung…”

Though Kanghyok was not well versed in history, he was smart enough to judge Yorip was a troublemaker.

Given the various situations, Kichukoksa (the Purge of Yorip Chung) could come earlier.

'When something goes wrong, I could be in danger.'

Kanghyok was reminded that Joseon enforced the guilt-by-a.s.sociation system.

Yoju continued, looking at Kanghyok and Yoni alternately.

“Let me tell you everything that I know as I can count on you and Yoni.”

From her standpoint Kanghyok and Yoni were the only people she could rely on.

For they took care of Yoju all along from the moment she had her leg hurt until she found herself orphaned after her father was killed by a j.a.panese raider.

“Yorip Chung, the elder brother of my father, used to make the case for the theory of 'Hasabigunron' and 'Chonhagongmulsol' in this world.”

Fortunately Yoju was kind enough to elaborate in plain language, knowing that Kanghyok and Yoni were not well versed in the Chinese cla.s.sics.

“First of all, Hasabigunron means a va.s.sal can serve anyone as a king. Namely anybody can be a king.”

“Hummmm… it sounds dangerous, depending how you're feeling.”

“And Chonhagongmulsol means that Chonha, namely, the country is a public good given to everybody for free. So, how can anybody claim it as his own?”

“Oh, I see.”

Yorip's theory sounded like almost treason.

Kanghyok even felt that Yorip must have learned something about democracy by himself.

If that's the case, the elder brother of Yoju's later father was obviously Yorip Chung, who caused a great political upheaval in 1589, called Kichukoksa, which resulted in the ma.s.sacre of around 1,000 scholars a.s.sociated with him.

“Is Yorip propagating such a theory openly?”

“I don't think so. But I think he sees eye to eye with Sungbok that you saw a while ago. Taedonggye must be an a.s.sociation to achieve their goal, I think.”

“Hummmm…..”

Now that she mentioned it, it was quite understandable that Yoju watched her mouth up to now.

Talk of this kind was supposed to be in the closet as much as possible.

“Yes, I think you better be careful. I think you might as well get dressed like a man here from now on.”