Chapter 107: A Secret Tryst at Night

I dropped my jaw wide open at the identity of the revealed secret lover.

“What kind of trashy plot twist is this….”

The husband sneaking out behind his wife’s back in the middle of the night… to meet a eunuch?

Ilhong, who stood beside me, also seemed so shocked she couldn’t close her mouth for a while.

“Ilhong, when someone becomes a eunuch, does their… sexual preference change?”

“Well, I… I’m not sure?”

Even Ilhong, who usually knew everything under the sun, didn’t seem to have knowledge that far.

“Ohohoh.”

That peculiar lilting voice, unique to eunuchs, which I’d once heard at the sericulture chamber, pricked my ears.

The two leaned close together, whispering softly.

“What should we do, Boss?”

Flustered at the unexpected situation, Ilhong turned to me for guidance.

“We should report it to the client, right?”

“Hell, how do I even tell Madam Yang about this?”

‘Your husband’s actually having an affair with a eunuch’—how was I supposed to phrase that?

People of this era might faint dead away upon hearing such a thing. Would she even believe me in the first place?

“W-we must wait for the right… time… to choose…”

The two whispered earnestly into each other’s ears for some time, then nodded and pulled apart.

Both of their faces looked faintly flushed. For a moment, I thought something strange might happen, but in the end they simply exchanged words and parted.

“Well damn, that’s… platonic.”

“Pla… what?”

“I mean, wholesome. More wholesome than I expected.”

The adulteries I’d tracked so far had always been sleazy to the extreme.

This, though shocking, was oddly refreshing—two people simply talking earnestly.

“Well, with two men, what else would they even do? That’s wholesome enough.”

This girl was surprisingly innocent in such matters. Like a model student who’d only ever studied her books.

“Yeah, just like the two of us.”

“……”

She pouted her lips and glared at me, clearly displeased.

“What? What is it now.”

“If you saw me dressed as a woman again, you’d be shocked….”

“Oh, is that so?”

She was so young that it only amused me.

When I chuckled, treating her like a kid, Ilhong fumed indignantly.

“Don’t treat me like that! We’re only one year apart!”

“Yeah, yeah.”

From her point of view, it must have been strange—I acted like an older peer even though she saw me as her equal.

But from my point of view, she was younger, and since I’d seen her disguised as a boy far more often, she only felt like a close kid brother to me.

“…Then, until… then… a decision…”

Meanwhile, the tryst ended, and after whispering their final secrets, the two parted ways.

Munching on dried rice cakes instead of popcorn, I watched their backs fade away.

“So, Boss, how do we tell the client about this?”

“How else? Just as it happened.”

We would report exactly what we had seen and heard.

That was the selling point of our Troubleshooter office.

“This is nonsense! Impossible!”

And immediately, I regretted that decision.

Madam Yang slammed the office desk, violently denying what she’d just heard.

“I saw it with my own eyes. The two men were… well, maybe one wasn’t exactly a man? Anyway, I saw them whispering secretly together.”

“Stop, stop!”

She slammed the desk again at my words.

Thanks to that, the tea Ilhong had carefully brewed splashed everywhere.

“It’s true, Madam Yang.”

“I was there too, right beside the Boss. We both saw it clearly.”

We both wore expressions like loyal retainers in a drama, firmly testifying what we had witnessed.

Perhaps convinced by our unwavering faces, Madam Yang finally lowered her head.

“I never dreamed he would have such… preferences. Then why did he ever say he loved me…? That wretched man…!”

After denial came anger.

The five stages of coping with shocking news.

“If you wish, we can end the commission here.”

“No… There must be something more. You said he was a eunuch of high rank, didn’t you? Maybe my husband was being blackmailed for the sake of our clan….”

She was already entering the negotiation stage—accepting the adultery, but insisting there had to be a reason behind it.

I waited calmly for her to reach the stage of acceptance.

For a while, she sat silent, gloomy. Then, as if she’d reached a decision, she suddenly lifted her head.

“We must confirm this again, properly.”

She set down a pouch of coins as additional payment and changed the terms of the commission.

In this era, one couldn’t easily obtain solid proof of adultery anyway.

“This time, I will go there myself.”

She was determined to catch them red-handed.

If the two met again, she swore she’d run out and confront them directly.

“Stakeouts aren’t easy, you know.”

“My husband will soon be busy with imperial duties, so if they meet again, it’ll be soon. And I know the exact days he’s free.”

She’d even kept track of the schedule.

With her this determined, I had no choice but to agree.

“But no rash actions, you hear?”

At my warning, she nodded.

Still, the atmosphere was starting to feel as serious as the time I’d been stabbed before.

‘Well, it’ll work out somehow.’

After all, this body wouldn’t die no matter what stabbed through it.

Some might grumble that the Heaven-Slaying Star’s body was being wasted on such petty work, but—

‘Mockery (嘲笑).’

Better this, than being consumed by that bastard’s influence, killing blindly without end.

In fact, just doing what that bastard hated was reason enough.

With that thought, I rose energetically alongside Ilhong.

On a brisk day, spring winds still cool in the air—

Once again, we took our positions, watching the secret exit of the Seomok Clan.

And sure enough, as expected, out slipped Clan Head Seomok Jinwon, heading secretly somewhere.

Watching from a distance, Ilhong shook her head and opened her mouth.

“How could he do such a thing? Abandoning his rightful wife who endured hardship with him since youth, only to lose his mind over someone else.”

She lamented with a sigh, asking how love could change like that.

“Why are you staring right at my face while saying that?”

“No reason. Just reminded me of old times.”

Since I was dressed like a beggar, she said it brought back memories of back-alley days, smoothly changing the subject.

“Oh, but this time he’s meeting someone different.”

Last time, it had been a slender figure who, at first glance, could be mistaken for a woman.

But this time, he was meeting someone with clear traces of martial training, in a deserted place.

“So, it wasn’t just one person? Still, that back looks familiar somehow….”

“My, his tastes are so diverse. How impressive.”

As we traded comments, the client let out a voice filled with emotion.

“Please stop….”

We had grown used to staking out alone, so we muttered without much thought.

We both quickly shut our mouths.

Then, under the moonlight and starlight spilling into the alley, the sturdy man’s face became visible.

First, there was the white beard that didn’t suit his body, and eyes gleaming with divine light.

“What the—Uncle Eunuch…?”

That man, who should have been at Princess Peach Blossom’s side, suddenly appeared here instead.

I nearly choked in shock at the unexpected figure.

He was gesturing as he spoke in earnest with Seomok Jinwon.

What in the world were they talking about?

“…loyalty… the Palace… has chosen you….”

Since he was someone whose senses could detect any approach, I had to pour my qi into my hearing from afar, catching fragments only.

It sounded… different from what I’d assumed.

Could it be that, trusting only the client’s words, we had completely misunderstood?

“Come to think of it, that man is also a eunuch, technically.”

“Well, yes, but….”

“So our Clan Head’s taste is quite consistent after all.”

“Hey, remember we’re not alone here.”

Flustered by the shocking scene, Ilhong muttered to herself again, forgetting the client was present.

“Eek…!”

Unable to bear it anymore, Madam Yang burst into the midnight alley.

“Seomok Jinwon, you…! What on earth are you doing?!”

The sharp cry shook the alley, startling both the Clan Head and Uncle Eunuch.

“M-Madam? What are you doing here…?”

With my long experience as a troubleshooter, I instantly realized—

That was not the face of a man caught in wrongdoing, but of a man who truly had no idea why his wife suddenly appeared there.

Which meant her suspicion of nightly secret trysts had been a mere misunderstanding.

“First, explain yourself…! You have me, your wife, yet why are you meeting with another man, and a eunuch no less! Was I not enough for you?!”

“Madam! What nonsense are you spouting?!”

Lacking the hearing of a martial expert, Madam Yang had the same misunderstanding as Ilhong, and her accusations made Seomok Jinwon leap up in outrage.

“……”

Meanwhile, the middle-aged man chuckled dryly at the bizarre scene.

Then, in the darkness, our eyes met.

His gaze instantly narrowed, sharp as a blade.

“Boss, how do we fix this?”

“We don’t.”

Things had gotten far too tangled. And in such times, the true duty of a troubleshooter was to slip away.

“You took the advance payment, right, Ilhong?”

“Of course.”

“Good. Then we pull out.”

As we quietly tried to withdraw, Uncle Eunuch’s eyes narrowed even further.

But just then, from the opposite end of the alley, a group approached with steady, heavy steps.

They carried long swords, dressed in yellow silk—the mark of the Imperial Household—with red leather boots.

“Ohohoh. So, Seomok Jinwon Clan Head, you really were two-timing.”

At the front, Wang Jinggong let out his signature laugh, though his face was filled with disappointment.

“…Boss, those uniforms and ornaments—they’re the Royal Guards (금의위, Jinyiwei).”

Unlike me, Ilhong immediately recognized them, speaking tensely.

The Royal Guards were the Imperial force tasked with suppressing rebels and traitors.

Of course, in this era, “traitor” was just a matter of perspective—more often, they were used as the blade of the powerful to purge rivals.

They also gave the same impression as the Eastern Depot, the secret police and intelligence bureau of the palace.

“We’ve clashed with them many times before. Now we’re outright enemies. Meeting them out here could easily end in bloodshed.”

Indeed, they now stood facing Uncle Eunuch, high in rank and servant of Princess Peach Blossom, with dangerous fighting intent rising between them.

“What the hell’s going on here.”

With Seomok Jinwon and Madam Yang in the middle, both ends of the alley were blocked—one side by the Eastern Depot, the other by the Royal Guards.

“We’re the shrimp caught between two whales.”

Smart Ilhong neatly summarized the situation.

“Then let’s quietly slip toward Uncle Eunuch’s side.”

At least they wouldn’t attack us right away.

“Who goes there!”

Suddenly, a throwing knife flashed through the air and buried itself in the ground right before our toes.

“Holy shit!”

We instantly bolted back to where the client stood.

“…Madam, who are these people? Do you know them?”

“Well… it’s a long story.”

The two were flustered, while a burning gaze scorched the back of my head.

It had to be his.

“Haha, Lord Cheonsugyeong, fancy meeting you again.”

The middle-aged man’s expression soured deeply.

“It’s Cheonsugong, you fish-brained brat.”

Ah, right. That was his name.

After everything that had happened, I’d completely forgotten.

“This damned little pest, I should just….”

Clenching and unclenching his fist as if ready to beat me up, Cheonsugong seemed very glad to see me again.

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