Genius Martial Arts Trainer

After Baek Garyeong returned to the Zhengmu League from her visit to Shaolin, the League's Strategy Department was forced to spend each day busier than ever.

“To take leave at such a busy time. The League Leader is truly too much for approving it as well.”

To be precise, their busy days had already been scheduled even before she left.

The Strategy Department was busy every day to begin with, but it was also because of the recent order issued by Mujin, the League Leader.

They had to work on the imperial court in order to introduce a special unit composed entirely of martial artists into the military.

At Zhuge Muhuan's grumbling, Mujin merely shrugged once.

“How can a person live doing nothing but work? Strategist Baek's complexion had been rather dark lately anyway, so did she not need a little rest?”

“......Then I also need some rest, so may I go sightseeing for a while?”

“I refuse.”

“.......”

“.......”

An awkward silence lingered for a moment between the League Leader and the Chief Strategist inside the Leader's Hall.

“Tsk. I do not know what you said to Strategist Baek, but I will let it pass for now. As you said, League Leader, Strategist Baek's expression has improved considerably, so I can simply work her even harder from now on.”

In truth, as her superior, Zhuge Muhuan had been aware to some extent that her condition had been worsening by the day.

By Zhuge Muhuan's standards, Baek Garyeong was the only useful talent among the strategists of the Strategy Department who could perform the work of a single competent person.

The rest were merely half-wits who thought themselves clever, and it was uncertain whether they could even properly handle the tasks assigned to them.

Since the condition of a subordinate who might one day become his successor had improved, Zhuge Muhuan had no intention of arguing any further.

He had merely grumbled a little because there had been so much work lately.

Looking at Zhuge Muhuan, Mujin had to make an effort to control his expression.

'As expected, it was a good decision not to tell the Chief Strategist.'

If matters proceeded according to the plan he had proposed to Baek Garyeong, it would not end merely with Mugung leaving Shaolin.

She, too, was scheduled to be expelled from the Zhengmu League's Strategy Department.

When that time came, would that Chief Strategist not lose his mind and charge at him?

It was a peculiar thought.

Zhuge Muhuan always pretended to be cold and rational and regarded people as nothing more than pieces on a board, so imagining him losing his mind was quite something.

'It might be rather entertaining?'

***

Having served as the magpie bridge that connected Mugung and Baek Garyeong, Mujin spent another fulfilling day and headed home.

“Daddyyyyy~!!”

A broad smile spread across Mujin's lips at the sight of his daughter welcoming him as always.

He never grew tired of seeing her every day, and Mujin thought that perhaps this was the joy of living.

Soon afterward, the door to the room opened, and his beautiful wife, who looked exactly like their daughter, came out to welcome him.

“Up you go.”

Mujin lifted his daughter with one arm as though raising a dumbbell and approached Liu Xuehua.

And as usual, he tried to embrace his wife as a greeting upon returning home, but for some reason, she carefully pushed him away.

“!!!”

When Mujin wore a shocked expression, Liu Xuehua smiled faintly and opened her mouth.

“The physician said that I must be careful with my stomach.”

“Do you have an upset stomach? Hmm. It seems I arranged our diet with too much focus on protein.”

At Mujin's thoroughly exercise-addicted response, Liu Xuehua decided to express herself a little more directly.

“It seems I will have to be careful with my diet for a while. Now, I am no longer eating only for myself.”

For a moment, Mujin failed to understand what she meant and wore a puzzled expression, but it soon changed into one of surprise, and then, in an instant, into an expression filled with joy.

“Y-you mean you are carrying our second child?”

Watching Mujin's intense changes of expression, Liu Xuehua finally laughed brightly and answered.

“Yes. My dear.”

For a while, Mujin merely smiled without saying anything.

Considering how many days filled with love they had spent together, it would have been stranger if they had not conceived a second child.

After smiling for quite some time, Mujin finally noticed the expression of the daughter held in his arm.

“Hahahaha. Seonhui. It seems you are going to have a younger sibling.”

“A younger sibling~?”

Still too young to understand what was happening, his daughter merely tilted her head at the explanation and blinked her bright, round eyes.

Finding the sight adorable, Mujin rubbed his cheek all over his daughter's face, causing her to scream.

“Your beard hurts~!”

“Hahahahaha.”

Bursting into happy laughter, Mujin thought.

He hoped they could remain as happy as they were now.

And that he could protect this happiness.

After all, he was the head of a household and, at the same time, the Leader of the Zhengmu League who watched over the safety of the martial world.

***

Several months passed.

During that time, the project into which the Zhengmu League's Strategy Department had poured all its strength succeeded in producing results.

During the conscription of martial artists, they had arranged for a special unit to be formed instead of having them dragged into ordinary military units.

If the conscription of martial artists was a great change throughout the Central Plains, then there was also a great change for Mujin personally.

To be precise, it was a change within his family.

At first, his wife's stomach had shown almost no signs at all, but it gradually began to swell, and now anyone could tell that she was pregnant.

However, aside from her growing stomach, her daily life had not changed greatly.

That was, except for the fact that she had considerably relaxed her diet for the sake of the child in her womb, and that she had greatly reduced the intensity of her exercise compared to usual.

Even after becoming pregnant, she continued her work at the Muscle and Bone Treatment Clinic.

As for exercise, it was not so much because she stubbornly refused to gain weight as because Mujin had advised her to continue.

It was not particularly good for a pregnant woman to shut herself away and do nothing but rest.

The process of childbirth placed a horrifying degree of strain on the body.

For that reason, moderate exercise during pregnancy could actually help build the stamina and muscle strength needed for childbirth. Though, naturally, she had to avoid exercises that strained her abdomen for the sake of the child in her womb.

In any case, after completing his work at the Zhengmu League and returning home, Mujin realized that his wife's reaction was somehow different from usual.

“Is something troubling you?”

At Mujin's question, she hesitated for a moment before opening her mouth.

“In truth, I have been somewhat troubled over the matter of His Highness Prince Ying.”

Mujin also knew who Prince Ying was.

Aside from Emperor Taiping, the current emperor, he was the only surviving child of the previous emperor and Emperor Taiping's younger half brother.

Conversely, that meant all of Emperor Taiping's brothers except Prince Ying had died during the civil war that led to Emperor Taiping's ascension.

And Prince Ying, the only one who had survived, had been a customer of the Muscle and Bone Treatment Clinic for several months.

To be precise, he was one of the clinic's most important customers, personally treated by Mujin's wife, Liu Xuehua, who headed the Muscle and Bone Treatment Clinic.

“Has some problem arisen with His Highness?”

“There are two major problems.”

When she began speaking with a sigh, Mujin nodded firmly to show that he was ready to listen.

“First, the treatment has shown little improvement. It seems difficult for me to cure His Highness completely with my skills. And second, my stomach has grown too large for me to continue treating him personally.”

After hearing her explanation, Mujin nodded once more.

If they stopped treatment before completing it, it could not help but cause serious problems for the business of the Muscle and Bone Treatment Clinic.

After pondering his wife's explanation for a moment, Mujin reached a decision and opened his mouth.

“Then, would it be all right if I examined His Highness?”

“You, my dear? You must already be busy with the League's affairs, so how could you.......”

“Hahahaha. Prince Ying does not visit you every day, does he? If I merely need to set aside time two or three times a month, that will be fine. It is for no one else but you, my wife.”

“My dear.......”

When the moved Liu Xuehua sent him a heated gaze, flames also sprang up in Mujin's eyes.

Had Liu Xuehua's stomach not already grown so large, another round of the couple's passionate fire play might have begun.

***

Several days later.

“Hmm.”

Mujin was together with Liu Xuehua inside a massive hall built near Dongting Lake.

If one had to give this place a name, it could be called the main branch of the [Tianliu Muscle and Bone Treatment Clinic].

Before long, the day's guest arrived.

A young man approached while limping on one leg and being supported by a man who appeared to be a servant.

The limping young man, who looked barely twenty years old, was Prince Ying.

“We greet His Highness Prince Ying.”

Mujin and Liu Xuehua paid their respects to the young man at the same time.

“Your Highness. As my stomach has grown too large for me to treat you personally, from today onward, my husband will be responsible for your treatment.”

“My name is Choi Kanghyuk.”

At their explanation, surprise appeared on the young Prince Ying's face.

“If you are Head Liu's husband, are you not the Leader of the Zhengmu League?”

“Yes. I am Mujin, Leader of the Zhengmu League.”

When Mujin answered, even deeper confusion appeared on his face.

“Ahem. I do not doubt the Leader of the Zhengmu League, but I understand that martial arts and treatment are separate matters?”

At Prince Ying's question, Liu Xuehua answered carefully.

“Your Highness is correct. However, from the very beginning, I learned the treatment methods used at this Muscle and Bone Treatment Clinic from my husband. Before he is my husband, it could be said that he is also my master.”

“Huh.......”

Prince Ying let out an exclamation that sounded old for his age, seemed to think for a moment, and then nodded.

“Then, I shall place my trust in you for now.”

Having succeeded in gaining his consent, the two of them began the treatment.

However, the main area being treated was not his leg.

Even though he had limped from the moment he entered and had been supported by his attendant.

It was only natural.

That leg was an area it was already too late to treat.

'The reason my wife said she could not cure him completely must have been because of that leg.'

Pretending not to care, Mujin glanced at the leg before looking away.

If he stared at the disabled area, Prince Ying might feel offended.

'......Did she say the injury was already more than ten years old?'

Prince Ying's leg had ended up like that because of a fall ten years earlier.

His leg had been badly broken at the time, and because it had not been treated properly, a disability had remained.

He had been injured around the age of ten, and because the bone had not been properly set during the height of his growth, it had grown while misaligned, resulting in the completely twisted leg he had now.

Yet, ironically, that leg was also the reason Prince Ying had become the only surviving member of the imperial family.

The emperor was a half-divine being chosen by heaven. As long as a visible disability existed, it was a position one could never ascend to.

Because of that leg, Prince Ying had been completely excluded from the line of succession from childhood, and thanks to that, he had survived.

'Turning misfortune into fortune.......'

It was impossible to know whether it had truly been a coincidence, or whether it had been the choice of Prince Ying's mother, a concubine who had foreseen the future.

In any case, Prince Ying had not come to the Muscle and Bone Treatment Clinic because of a leg that could no longer be cured.

The problem was that, because of his limping leg, his posture could not help but become distorted no matter what he did.

In other words, because he had lived with a crooked posture every day, the muscles throughout his body had become twisted, causing him to suffer pain not only in his leg but throughout his entire body.

For that reason, Mujin's treatment also focused on loosening the muscles throughout his body rather than treating the leg.

“This time, I will loosen the muscles around your lower back.”

He loosened the muscles through acupressure and used manual therapy and Pilates movements to lengthen the shortened muscles.

While carrying out various treatments, Mujin was adjusting Prince Ying's posture when he sensed something strange.

“Hmm......?”

“Is there some problem?”

Instead of immediately answering Prince Ying's question, Mujin asked him something.

“My apologies, Your Highness. Something is troubling me, so may I examine it for a moment?”

“Do so.”

Prince Ying, who was satisfied with skills equal to those of Liu Xuehua, who had treated him until now, readily nodded.

Mujin then drew in natural energy and carefully sent it toward Prince Ying's leg.

After touching the area where he had sensed something strange with his own hand and examining the inside through natural energy.

Mujin arrived at an unexpected conclusion.

'......The bone has healed in the correct position. The problem was actually the muscles.'

Not only were the muscles twisted strangely, but perhaps because the leg had been immobilized for a long time, they had completely stiffened as though they were bone.

'After immobilizing the leg until the bone healed, did the muscles become fixed in a twisted state because he received no proper rehabilitation treatment?'

A thought occurred to Mujin.

That somehow, this did not seem like a coincidence.

Perhaps Prince Ying's mother had truly anticipated such a future and deliberately left the child with a false disability.

'He would have to endure several months of horrific rehabilitation treatment to loosen and move muscles that have shortened and stiffened over ten years, but it can definitely be cured.'

Just as his thoughts reached that point, Prince Ying's voice entered Mujin's ears.

“......Is there some problem?”

Mujin, who had been examining Prince Ying's leg, finally turned his head and bowed toward him.

“No. It seems I was mistaken.”

Mujin decided to conceal what he had discovered for the time being.

The moment that leg was cured, Prince Ying would be placed in danger of being killed by Emperor Taiping.