🌹 The Silent Oath
Jinji had sent word to Seo Ju—news of the first raided home tied to the long-buried pact between a corrupted Ming official and the tyrant king, Hyun Yeol… Seo Ju's own grandfather.
As he read the letter, Seo Ju's eyes lifted slowly, landing on Yun Yuhua across the inn. She was laughing softly, her smile warm as she handed a bowl to a customer. But Seo Ju couldn't smile.
"A raided home… Li Zhiyong. A disgraced Ming official and my bloodline's shame," he murmured under his breath. "What else are you hiding from me?"
Yun Yuhua looked up just then and met his gaze—his eyes, shadowed and unblinking. Her smile faltered. The warmth vanished from her face.
Seo Ju blinked, then forced a smile and raised a hand in casual greeting, as if nothing was amiss. Yun Yuhua turned away sharply, vanishing into the back without a word. A quiet chuckle slipped from his lips—not out of amusement, but something closer to resignation. He turned and walked away.
Hidden behind the doorway, Yun Yuhua peeked out, her lips curling into a pout.
"Why was he here… just like that?" she murmured, then quietly returned to her work. Yun Yuhua kept busy alongside her brothers at the inn, carefully avoiding any place Seo Ju might appear.
Meanwhile, Seo Ju sent word to Jinji: the investigation had to go deeper.
Who exactly was Li Zhiyong? Was he still alive? What connection did he have to Yun Yuhua—and to Joseon's buried disgrace?
If Yun Yuhua refused to face him, then the truth would have to surface another way.
Once Jinji received word, he ventured into the forgotten homes scattered across the same village Li Zhiyong had once lived in. Abandoned and silent, the houses stood like ghosts. Jinji searched them one by one, moving through crumbling walls and faded memories, clinging to hope as the hours slipped away. It was growing fruitless—but he didn't stop.
He entered what appeared to be an old study, its air heavy with time. His fingers moved across the bookshelves, the cracked walls, even beneath the table—searching for anything that could give way to something hidden.
Dust coated everything like a second skin. Except one spot.
He stilled.
There—less dusty, as if touched more recently. A portrait. Jinji approached and examined it closely. A family of three. A boy, no older than three. A mother, ordinary in expression and dress. But the father—there was something different. He bore the look of a man hardened by war, the years etched into his face. A scar crossed his hand—and oddly, it had been painted in with deliberate detail. Why?
Jinji gently lifted the portrait from the wall.
Behind it—a hidden safe.
His heart jolted. With hurried fingers, he pried it open. Inside, folded and old, lay a cloak. He pulled it out carefully, his breath caught in his throat. Despite its age, the emblem was clear. Hand-stitched.
A serpent-eating crown.
"I've seen this before…" Jinji whispered, his voice barely audible. His heart pounded as he clutched the cloak and rushed out of the village, his steps frantic and uneven. The wind tore past him, but he didn't stop. He held the cloth like it was burning in his hands—yet he couldn't let it go.
His face was pale, eyes wide—not just with concern, but with a fear rooted deep in his bones.
Not fear of what he had found.
But fear of what it meant.
A week had passed by.
Jinji had traveled tirelessly back to Gaeseong, Joseon—driven by urgency, by the weight of the cloak in his hands, and by the shadow of truth that followed him. But he wasn't alone. The Ming Emperor, disguised and veiled in secrecy, had made the journey as well. His presence remained hidden—an unspoken warning of the stakes that had begun to rise.
From a safe distance, Seo Ju watched the inn, careful to keep himself unseen but close enough to observe Yun Yuhua and her brothers. His eyes never left them. Not when danger felt so near.
Then—a man entered. Unfamiliar. Armed. A sword at his side, and at his belt… a brooch.
A serpent-eating crown.
Seo Ju froze. That image—he knew it. Not from books, not from hearsay. But from memory. A dagger, old and hidden, once held by his royal grandmother at the temple.
He took a step forward, heart racing—then stopped. Jinji was running toward him.
"Jinji?" Seo Ju called out, startled. Jinji dropped to a bow, breath ragged, sweat lining his brow. Without lifting his head, he extended the cloak.
"A clue," Jinji said breathlessly. "A cloak. A symbol. We've seen it before—"
"—on the dagger my royal grandmother kept," Seo Ju finished, his voice low, shaken. And in that moment, the serpent's fangs felt closer than ever.
Jinji looked at him, startled. He hadn't expected Seo Ju to recognize it—let alone remember it so clearly. Silently, he placed the cloak into Seo Ju's hands.
Seo Ju's eyes drifted toward the inn, narrowing when he caught sight of Yun Yuhua. She had just approached a man—one bearing a brooch that matched the emblem haunting his memory—and followed him into one of the back rooms.
Moments later, her brothers slipped inside after her. The door shut. Within the quiet room, the man turned slowly. His hands reached up and removed his hood. Yun Yuhua and her brothers froze. Recognition sparked in their eyes. They dropped to their knees.
"Your Majesty," they said in unison. The man—the Emperor of Ming—raised a hand, stopping them.
"No. Not here," he said, his voice softer than any of them remembered. "I won't have my grandchildren kneeling before me when this is a reunion—not a royal audience."
A smile pulled at Tian Ke's lips. Qian'ai exhaled in relief. Yun Yuhua hesitated, then rose slowly, her eyes shining.
The Emperor looked at her for a long moment. "What brings me here?" he echoed her question. A sigh escaped him, deep and weary. "You. Hasty girl. Always charging ahead like my brother once did…"
His voice cracked with a note of fondness, though his expression twisted in worry.
"When danger came, you should've hidden. Instead, you threw yourself into its path. You were injured." His words came sharper now. "Do you think my heart can take news like that?"
Yun Yuhua blinked in surprise. She hadn't expected warmth. Or scolding. She smiled softly. "I'm sorry," she said, bowing her head. "I'll be more careful."
But the Emperor wasn't satisfied. "No," he snapped, though his voice trembled. "You'll stay careful. Stay here, where I know you're safe. If going out means getting hurt, then you don't go at all."
Tian Ke stifled a chuckle. Qian'ai didn't even try.
The Emperor's gaze darted toward them. "And you two!"
Qian'ai blinked. "Us?"
"Where were you when your sister ran off into danger? Why did she face it alone in a foreign land?"
Tian Ke and Qian'ai bowed their heads sheepishly. Yun Yuhua giggled softly behind her hand.
For the first time in a long while, the air between them wasn't thick with secrets—but filled with the quiet warmth of a family slowly finding its way back to each other. The Emperor lingered to chat with the trio, a rare ease softening his features, before finally making his move to leave.
"Wait," Tian Ke said gently. The Emperor paused. Yun Yuhua stepped in to help Tian Ke with packing the meal.
"Your Majesty… urgent news. Someone has entered the abandoned village where Li Zhiyong once lived," a eunuch whispered as he approached swiftly. The Emperor's gaze sharpened.
"We leave at once," he said. The eunuch bowed and hurried out. The Emperor followed, flanked by his guards.
Seo Ju had been waiting for this. Silent as a shadow, he slipped out behind them.
Inside, Yun Yuhua cheerfully said, "Here, make sure this stays warm."
She boxed up the food Tian Ke had prepared—meals and snacks carefully wrapped for the road. When she returned to the main hall, she noticed that the Emperor was gone.
"Huh?"
Frowning slightly, she stepped outside to catch him before he got too far.
"Name yourself. How dare you sneak up on us?" the guard barked in Ming. His sword was drawn, pointed directly at Seo Ju's chest. The Emperor turned, his expression unreadable as his eyes met Seo Ju's.
"Oh, me? Sneak? Not at all," Seo Ju said smoothly. "Just happened to be heading the same way."
His gaze flicked to the ornate brooch glinting on the Emperor's belt—the serpent-eating crown. His expression darkened. Then, slowly, deliberately, he shifted it into a smile.
"What do you want?" the Emperor asked, switching to Joseon. He didn't move.
"That brooch caught my eye. It's beautiful. I got… distracted," Seo Ju replied with a casual shrug, lips curling into a grin.
"This?" the Emperor said, tapping the brooch. "Just a small token… from my brother."
He didn't believe a word of it. But he smiled nonetheless. Seo Ju leaned in slightly, interest piqued, ready to probe further—
"Mm!"
Before he could utter a word, a warm piece of bread was shoved into his mouth.
"You forgot your food," Yun Yuhua said, her voice edged with awkwardness.
She stood there, flustered, her hand still suspended mid-air from the impulsive act. Then she quickly pushed the carefully wrapped bundle toward the Emperor. He looked at her, then down at the bag—neatly tied, still warm from the kitchen. A faint smile tugged at his lips.
"Thank you. Return safely," he said.
Despite the position of her stance, Yun Yuhua nodded, forcing a bright smile. "Have a safe journey."
The Emperor turned, walking a few paces away with the bundle in hand. Believing he had left, Yun Yuhua's smile faded. Her body eased, and her focus shifted—right to the man behind her.
She yanked her hand away from Seo Ju.
He stood there, bread clamped between his teeth, eyes dancing with amusement. He took a bite slowly, then pulled the rest from his mouth, chewing with a grin that bordered on arrogant.
"You finally came out," he said. "I've been waiting."
Yun Yuhua's gaze narrowed. "I'm busy."
She turned to leave, but he caught her hand. This time, she slapped it away without hesitation.
"You have a nasty habit of grabbing a woman's hand," she snapped.
"Only yours," he replied, unfazed.
She swallowed down her frustration with a sharp breath. "I'm returning to work."
But behind them—unseen, unheard—the Emperor had not truly left. He stood still in the shadows just beyond the street's bend, his gaze lingering on the two of them. Watching. Listening. Studying the look in her eyes… and the one in his. Trying to decide if this was coincidence—or something more.
"Eunuch… Look into that young man. How dare he flirt with my granddaughter…" the Ming Emperor ordered before he departed.
Seo Ju smiled brightly at Yun Yuhua, following behind her to the inn. She tried to shoo him away, but Seo Ju refused to leave. Before she turned to enter the inn, he stopped at the doorstep.
"When can I see you again?" Seo Ju asked.
Yun Yuhua paused awkwardly then looked at him frantically.
"Never!" she replied then stormed inside.
Seo Ju smiled and chuckled, looking amused by her reaction. He lingered at the door a moment longer, his expression slowly shifting. The playful glint in his eyes dulled—replaced by a flicker of unease, just beneath the surface.
"So. Is he Li Zhiyong?" Seo Ju asked himself quietly before returning to his lodging.