I found the answer.
To know if my answer was correct, I needed to slowly check the problem again.
“Youngest! Come here!”
“It’s been a while. I heard there was an incident at Man Geum Battlefield.”
“Are you alright?”
“I didn’t expect all the Hyang-ju to be gathered here.”
I came to check the information at the inn run by Si-mun Hyang-joo. I never imagined they would be dining together.
As I greeted the Hyang-jus, Gi-mun Hyang-ju slyly pulled out a chair next to him for me.
“Our youngest is about to conquer Man Geum Battlefield; you should help him out.”
“Can I know what happened to the information I inquired about?”
“Well, you see…”
Si-mun Hyang-joo’s gaze shifted to Gi-mun Hyang-ju. Did the information I inquired about get passed on to the Hyang-jus?
“This is a tea with herbs good for detoxification. Drink up.”
Gi-mun Hyang-ju poured tea into my cup as if to say, ‘Don’t be in such a hurry.’
“Thank you. Ouch!”
I was in such a hurry that I blew on the tea before drinking, but Gi-mun Hyang-ju merely smiled at my antics.
“I investigated the information you requested thoroughly. Yep, your assumption was correct.”
Just as I thought.
Now that I’ve finished solving the riddle, who was the one who randomly placed the black stone? There was no way to come up with answers when wrestling with the question and answer.
I hadn’t checked the example sentence. No, I had checked it but forgot about it.
The information I requested was that forgotten example sentence.
“Is the death of Heo Song, the grandson of Man Geum-jeon, related to the Hawoons?”
The first incident where I met Miss Zhuge.
Heo Song, the main perpetrator of the Ho Pil impersonation incident and the grandson of Man Geum-jeon, was found dead one day. That should have been the first example I remembered.
“I heard Do-mun Hyang-joo Dan-wan-gwi ordered the disposal of the body.”
“They threw the corpse right in the middle of the pleasure district and silenced the witnesses. Since he was notoriously infamous and there were no witnesses, they concluded it was just a simple revenge killing.”
“Just as I thought.”
This part was what I expected.
“How did you know that the death of Man Geum-jeon’s grandson was related to Do-mun?”
Mar-mun Hyang-joo asked me while lifting his cup. I hope this isn’t going to lead straight to the carriage after a toast. Even so, one must be careful about drunk driving.
“Do you remember the elixir that Dan-wan-gwi consumed with his subordinates during the last battle against Do-mun?”
“Are you referring to the Hweon-hwan?”
I nodded as I handed over the materials to the Hyang-jus.
“A few months ago, one of the maternal families purchased a large quantity of the elixir and handed it over to someone. When I asked them to check in detail, it turned out to be Hweon-hwan.”
The elixir purchased from the Eun Family was the secret weapon that Do-mun had used, the damned elixir that Dan-wan-gwi used to give me a splash dive into the Yangtze River.
“Did they kill Heo Song, the heir candidate, and give the elixir to Do-mun as payment?”
“If what you said is true, that’s strange.”
Are they worried about my condition? Gi-mun Hyang-ju continued speaking without taking their eyes off me.
“What is?”
“Hweon-hwan is not an easily made elixir. While small quantities occasionally hit the market, it’s not something you can obtain in bulk at once. For a simple rich family, to hand over a large quantity of elixirs to Do-mun is odd, isn’t it?”
“Transaction records are also suspicious. Hweon-hwan is an elixir, but an immense amount of money moved concerning its value. They handed over the entire stock to Do-mun. That’s a wasteful amount for disposing of a mere rookie.”
Mar-mun Hyang-joo added, glancing at the materials I presented.
“True. After taking it once, it turns one into a fool, so they likely didn’t sell it in large quantities. Where did they acquire all this?”
No matter how I looked at it, the records seem suspicious.
They made a large purchase of an elixir that couldn’t be sold or acquired in large quantities. The source is unclear. The user seems to have made a hefty purchase with Do-mun. And the payment was the disposal of Heo Song’s body.
It’s suspicious on so many fronts.
Where on earth did they get it, and why? The purpose is unclear, but one thing is certain.
“There are times when similar situations arise in business.”
“What kind of situations?”
“When one deliberately favors another’s business by absorbing the loss.”
Where they acquired it remains unknown. What transactions transpired is also uncertain. But through the transaction details, something can be distinctly identified.
“Did they deliberately pay a large sum to a supplier, trying to support Do-mun?”
“That’s likely the case.”
A tremendous amount of money flowed to the supplier, and an enormous amount of power went to Do-mun. The supplier, the user, and the trader are likely all in on it.
“It means there were some who were in league with Dan-wan-gwi…”
“Hoo. Do-mun definitely took care of it. If it’s related to the Man Geum Battlefield and the previous incident, then the supplier is the main suspect.”
Just as I expected, Gi-mun Hyang-ju is focusing on the issues at hand, rather than the unanswered questions.
“Yes, I think so too. If they have animosity against me, it’s bound to be from that side. However, there’s something else we must clarify.”
“What is it?”
“Why did Heo Song die?”
If someone is plotting a big picture, then what exactly was Heo Song? What piece of the puzzle was he?
I need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture.
“Hoo. It seems you have some suspicions brewing.”
“I’ll dig a little deeper.”
Putting down my teacup, I got up from my seat.
“The situation seems to be getting trickier. Take care of yourself.”
I bowed my head at Gi-mun Hyang-joo’s concerned voice.
“I’ll always be cautious. Thank you.”
—
If the Heo Song incident was part of someone’s planned picture, then there must surely be more incidents to check.
“What brings you here, Ho Pil?”
The next place I headed was the Government Office.
“I’m speaking of the Ojak, who killed Ma Yang-baek. Is there any additional information that has come up from the investigation?”
The murder of Heo Song wasn’t the only incident; there was the recent Ma Yang-baek case.
The identity of the criminal was solved through my deductions and the Ojak’s confession, but they’d promised to conduct further investigation afterward. I wondered if there was any other information. I asked the Head of the Right Guards.
“Ah, that…?”
“Anything minor is fine too.”
He looked burdened, as if there was something.
“If it’s minor, it is minor, and if it’s not, then it’s not. Ugh… Well, it’s about that. There was an accomplice.”
“An accomplice?”
“There was a person who, having their own grievances against Ma Yang-baek, showed up to help. I searched for them after hearing that, but I couldn’t find anything. The killer is known, and the deceased is buried, so the investigation is closed.”
Whether the accomplice is real is unclear, and even if there was one, they’d likely have fled. Since the actual perpetrator was caught, it could be seen as a wise choice.
However, what I wanted to find out was something else.
“By the way, did the accomplice have blue hair and brown eyes?”
“Huh?! How did you know? Did you hear it somewhere?”
“That matches the description of the Blue Robe Swordsman who tried to assassinate me.”
“…!”
“Can I ask one more question?”
To the now stern-faced Head of the Right Guards, I asked again.
“What is it?”
Could it really be true?
“Did the accomplice say they put Ma Yang-baek to sleep and brought him?”
“How did you know that? Only a few people aside from me know about that.”
“Ugh… Damn it.”
It’s right.
I had my doubts, but it really was true.
“Do you have any matters at hand?”
“Sorry. I need to take my leave.”
“Huh? Hey! Ho Pil! If you need help, just let me know!”
—
“What on earth is going on?”
“Kang Yoon-ho?”
I began reporting the progress thus far to the belatedly joined Miss Zhuge and Gil-san.
“The Hweon incident was covered up by Do-mun. But the second case was impossible. Do-mun was destroyed, after all. That’s why they employed the Ojak.”
“Are you saying that the Heo Song incident and the Ma Yang-baek case are from the same perpetrator?”
Indeed, I nodded at Gil-san’s words.
“It’s troublesome to have a missing person. The case will take longer. A smooth death was necessary, but with Do-mun gone, naturally, they needed someone else to clean up the body.”
“Was it really only you they were targeting?!”
“Yes. By only focusing on my own problem, I narrowed my vision and couldn’t come up with an answer.”
Having my life threatened three times made me unconsciously narrow my field of view. I hadn’t realized how angry I had been.
“So, Heo Song and Ma Yang-baek were eliminated because they were in the way of the succession issue. Next in line was you, right?”
“It’s a plausible theory as to why those two died, but it’s not the answer.”
“It’s not the answer?”
Gil-san’s reasoning had a significant flaw.
“When did Ma Yang-baek die?”
“When? Uh…”
“Right after the first exam failure.”
As expected of Miss Zhuge. Her memory is sharp.
“Oh! Right! Um…?!”
Gil-san’s eyes widened in surprise as he looked at me.
Right. That’s it.
“Strange. He died without being relevant to the heir exam.”
Ma Yang-baek’s death had occurred shortly after failing the first exam. He wasn’t someone who could hinder the heir fight, therefore, there shouldn’t have been any reason to kill him.
“Then why on earth?!”
“If you have doubts, let’s go.”
I hopped into the prepared carriage.
“Where to?”
“To confirm whether it’s the right answer.”
