The Royal Debt

~ 12 ~ The Fall of the Min Family

Tears rolled down from Dong-Min's eyes as Jeongguk gave him a weak smile and shook his head.

"Every single one of them deserves to die", his hand tightened on Jeon Jeongguk's wrist.

Jeon Jeongguk's body shook as he fell unto shook due to blood loss, "Yes they do ... but not yet. The... time.... has... to right. Give them the seal to get them off your trails, then get out of here. Just lie low.... and when the time is right..... a-attack them", he eyes grew heavier as he spoke until he could no longer hold on. He spat out more blood before everything went dark for him.

Lee Dong-Min held him tight until he died, he wiped his tears away with a blood-stained hand and gently shut Jeon Jeongguk's eyes after he stopped breathing.

He balled up his fist and hit the ground hard, "Ahh! They must pay for this", he carefully laid Jeon Jeongguk's lifeless body gently on the ground and stood.

He took a few steps back and facing Jeon Jeongguk knelt with a solemn expression, held out his hands, placed them over his forehead, and fell forward until his forehead hit the ground. After that, he left the prison.

Just outside the minister of health's residence, streets away from the Imperial Palace.

Lee Dong-Min looked out from behind the empty wooden kiosk in front of a slim alleyway opposite Minister Min's residence. It was already passed curfew and the city guards had begun to patrol the streets.

He waited patiently for the group of city guards stationed in front of the Minister of Health's residence to walk past his hiding spot. He ran out of his hiding spots once they were out of sight and jumped over the stone wall and entered the minister's residence.

He was familiar with the residence since he had visited the residence a few times with the Emperor. Although security was tight there were a few blind spots, he stealthy made his way to Minister Min's study.

it was fully lit indicating that it was in use. He ran to the open window at the back of the study and jumped in. He wasn't aware that Minister Min who had stepped out minutes earlier had seen him jump into the residence.

As soon as he turned around he heard the low 'wiss' sound of a sword being unsheathed. He stilled as the ice-cold blade appeared inches away from his heart. His hand immediately went to his own blade at his side.

"Not so fast", a coarse male voice said from behind him. The owner of the voice, a middle-aged man jabbed his elbow sharply.

"Ah!" Lee Dong-Min gasped and immediately let go of his sword as his hand grew numb. He looked down at his arm, the sudden movement resulted in the sword lightly piercing his neck.

"Master Min Yoongi, please stand down. it is Dong-Min", he said standing still.

Minister Min's eyes widened, he quickly pulled the sword away, "Dong-Min! what are you doing here?"

Lee Dong-Min quickly turned around, clutching his paralyzed arm to his chest, "All of them succeeded in killing his majesty".

"What!" He rushed inside the room and opened the wooden cupboard and took out the emperor's military tally. He sat by his table and began to pen urgent letters to a few loyal commanders of the late emperor.

Lee Dong-Min followed him closely, he rushed to look out the window and looked out, "Can the people of your house be trusted, the fact that there was no response from the palace is strange. His majesty suspected that someone from the Imperial family was behind the attack"

Minister Min paused his writing, "Someone like... General Hong, his Majesty instructed me to investigate this general and the current empress's family. I haven't found any concrete evidence pointing towards them committing treason but I found evidence of embezzlement".