The Cold Emperor

Chapter 23

As Yoon was lost in thought, haunted by the uncountable scenarios in which you could have gotten hurt, he was suddenly pulled from his thought when he saw a familiar messenger bird flying towards him. The bird was stark white, with a single black dot on its head. It was your bird; the bird you had gotten from Yoon. Yoon felt his heart race in anticipation, what had happened to you? Yoon immediately gave his army the signal to halt and rushed to the message, desperately trying to find some hope that you were alright. He could have recognised that handwriting from anywhere and his heart broke in a million pieces when he saw the message. Zhao is dead, Woojin has imprisoned us, farewell my love. For a few seconds, Yoon's mind went blank; not being able to believe the words he just read.

It could have been any other prince, any other would have been fine, but it had to be Woojin. Woojin was renowned to be as cruel and vile as his father; blinded by greed and no care for his people. Yoon looked down at the piece of paper in his hand and thought of you. Of all the lovely memories that he had shared with you and all the dreams that he had for your future together. All these happy thoughts drove away the piercing sorrow that he was feeling and replaced it with rage. White, blinding rage. Yoon waved at Captain Kim and Agust to come over and showed the message. "Plans have changed, we need to split up in two groups." Yoon announced with a clipped voice. "Agust, I need you and the Silver Tongues to enter the palace unnoticed and poison their guards. Captain Kim, I need you and your Hwarang warriors to join Agust's group as well and make sure that you infiltrate inside."

Yoon looked at both men with a fierce gaze, "Can I trust you both to keep your private life private and fully focus on this operation?" Captain Kim instantly straightened and gave a deep bow, "Of course Your Highness, nothing is more important than this mission." Yoon looked at Agust and he gave a firm nod as well, "There is nothing significant between us anyway," Agust said with a indifferent shrug. Yoon could swear that he saw Taehyung stiffen at Agust's words, but he did not stay long enough to check. He immediately turned around and gathered his portion of the army that would go for a direct attack on the palace. "Let's move as fast as possible! I will personally slit Woojin's throat he hurts Y/N," he growled. Taehyung and Agust both turned around and took a slightly different route, one that would make sure that they could infiltrate the palace without being seen

You inhaled sharply when yet again the sharp spikes surrounding your handcuffs pierced your skin. The dungeon that you were thrown into was dark and damp; only the light of a faraway torch gave you a faint idea of how your cell looked like. Luckily, the guards had not tied your feet together. You bitt your bottom lip to mask the excruciating pain of the piercing spikes. When you finally stood up, you limped to the front of the cell and tried to analyse your surroundings. It seemed like you were the only one in this section of the dungeon; Woojin must have kept you and Jungkook purposely apart. The metal bars of your cell were firmly stuck in the ground, it was going to be impossible to break free. In the corridor in front of you, there was only one exit. If you somehow made it out of your cell, you were sure that the other side of the door was going to be heavily guarded. You felt panic starting to rise when you realized that there was only one way out; when someone got you out. Slowly, reality started to sink in when you realized that this person might not be Yoon after all.

Jimin's eyes darted left to right when he scanned the corridor in front of the guest quarters. He pulled the hood of this cape further down and silently walked across the corridor; looking for a familiar face. He entered one of the rooms that was assigned to the supposed caretakers of Y/N, and found the faces that he was looking for. "Master, Park!," they greeted as they immediately stood up. "What is happening? We heard-" "There is no time to explain", Jimin interrupted immediately, "I need you to listen carefully and then start Mission Lotus, do you understand me?" Jimin ordered. A visible wave of understanding washed over their faces, and the soldiers immediately listened with great attention. "Woojin has captured Lady Y/N and Captain Jeon, so we need to take-out his army in the darkness. I have already alerted Emperor Min, so he will be here as soon as possible. In the meantime, it is our responsibility to keep them safe," Jimin explained. As all the soldiers hurried to get ready and start Mission Lotus, Jimin gave a final order; "Bring me Sujin."

You were woken up by the deafening sound of the cell door slamming open, shaking you up from your restless slumber. "W-what is happening?" You stammered trying to calm your raging heartbeat. The three soldiers didn't even bother to answer and yanked you up by your hair. You desperately tried to muffle your scream, not wanting to give them the satisfaction of hearing your agony. All the spikes of your handcuffs were now thoroughly pierced in your arms and you felt your mind becoming hazy by all the pain. Two guards dragged you across the corridor, whereas one walked behind you. Even through the excruciating pain, you tried to scan your surroundings and tried to find a way to escape. Before you could fully form a plan, you suddenly saw a familiar gate open in front of you. It was the very same gate that you came through yesterday. You felt a wave of dread engulf your senses; you already knew what was going to happen to you. As the mighty gate doors opened, you felt bile rise in your throat looking at the sight in front of you. In front of you, you saw Zhao Woojin sitting on the Imperial throne. Not dressed in his usual attire; but dressed in the Imperial robes and jewels that his dead father was wearing not a day ago.

Woojin looked at you with a cruel grin, eyes stone-cold and calculating. You tore away from his gaze, trying to stop the panic rising in your body. You looked around and saw to no surprise that all the ministers and government officials of the empire where present. The guards dragging you across the great hall suddenly stopped and threw you on the floor, making you drop near Woojin's feet. "All behold! The wretched whore that took our precious Emperor from us, far too soon!" Woojin bellowed across the hall. You spat and the floor and stood up, ignored the soul-searing pain that shot through your body. "And see here, Min's lapdog who conspired against our mighty empire!" You immediately turned around and saw Jungkook being dragged in as well from the southern wing. You felt your heart visibly break when you looked at Jungkook; his entire face was swollen and blue. You tried to hold back your tears when you saw that one of his eyes was so bruised that it was completely swollen shut. "There is only one way to take revenge for what Min has done to our beloved Emperor;" Woojin spat.

"Captain Jeon and Concubine Kim will be sentenced to death by sunrise on the charge of murder of our late Emperor"