IMMORTAL KING

LADY MIN - MINISTER OF TAXES

*EPISODE 5: "LADY MIN - MINISTER OF TAXES"*

_∼2060 words_

_2/12. The one who taxed the dead._

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*1. THE WIDOW'S COW*

Lady Min's house was different from Lord Jae's.

No gold doors.

Iron gates. 10 guards. Dogs.

Because she was scared.

Good.

Min-ho and I watched from the roof across the street for 2 days.

"She doesn't sleep," Min-ho said. "After Jae died."

"Guilty people don't," I said.

Her crime was on the list:

_Lady Min - Minister of Taxes_

_Crime: Took the last cow from Widow Seo. 3 months later, Widow Seo hanged herself. 2 kids starved._

I still remembered Widow Seo.

She used to give us leftover rice in the palace kitchen.

When we were 5.

"Tonight," I said.

*2. THE TAX COLLECTORS*

We didn't go in as servants.

We went in as what she feared most:

Tax collectors.

Fake uniforms. Fake seals. Fake arrogance.

The guard at the gate looked us up and down.

"Another inspection?"

"New orders from the Emperor," I said. Put on my best snobby voice. "After the... incident with Lord Jae. She needs to be audited. Tonight."

The guard hesitated.

Then opened the gate.

Fear makes people stupid.

Inside, the house was cold.

No warmth. No laughter.

Just ledgers. Stacks and stacks of ledgers.

*3. LADY MIN*

We found her in her study.

Counting coins.

At 2am.

She was thin. Sharp eyes. Hair pulled back tight.

She looked up the second we entered.

"Who are you?"

"Imperial Audit," Min-ho said. Deep voice. "Minister Min. You’re being investigated."

She laughed. "The Emperor sent boys? After Jae?"

She stood. Reached for a bell on her desk.

Min-ho was faster.

He pinned her hand to the desk with a dagger.

Not in her.

Next to her.

The message was clear.

She went pale.

"Y-you... the scars."

She saw them. On our hands.

"Glass Boys," she whispered.

"Smart girl," I said.

*4. THE LEDGERS*

I walked to her desk.

Opened the top ledger.

Names. Hundreds of names.

Debts. Taxes. Fines.

And there. Page 47.

_Seo, Widow. 1 cow. Unpaid. Property seized._

Date: 14 years ago. Winter.

My hands shook.

Not from fear. From rage.

"You took her last cow," I said.

"She owed the empire," Lady Min spat. "Rules are rules."

"She had 2 kids," I said.

"Not my problem."

"She hanged herself 3 months later," I said.

"Again. Not. My. Problem."

Min-ho stepped closer.

"How much was the cow worth?"

"What?"

"How much?"

"3 silver," she said. Proud. "A bargain."

Min-ho pulled out 3 silver coins.

Put them on her ledger.

"Here," he said. "Paid."

She stared at them.

"What... what is this?"

"Justice," I said. "14 years late."

*5. THE CHOICE*

Outside, we heard shouting.

Guards figured it out.

Footsteps on the stairs.

Lady Min looked at the door. Then at us.

"You won't get out," she said. "Not this time."

"Maybe," Min-ho said. "But you won't either."

He drew his sword.

She didn't beg.

She stood up straight.

"Do it then. I'm not afraid to die."

"Good," I said. "Because Widow Seo was."

The sword moved.

*6. THE MESSAGE*

We didn't have time for speeches.

Guards were at the door.

So we made it fast.

On the wall, in ink from her own pen:

_“2/12. For Widow Seo and her children.”_

On the desk: 3 silver coins.

And the ledger. Open to page 47.

On her body: a cowbell.

We went out the window.

Down a rope.

Into the alley.

Gone before the guards broke the door.

*7. THE CITY REACTS*

By dawn, 2 ministers were dead.

The capital was in lockdown.

Soldiers on every street.

But something else was happening.

In the market, someone left 3 silver coins on a poor woman's stall.

With a note: _“For your cow.”_

In the south district, someone opened a granary at night.

Left the doors open.

In chalk on a wall: _“3/12 soon.”_

The Radiant Emperor was screaming.

_"Find them! Triple the bounty! 10,000 gold!"_

In the streets, kids started drawing peaches on walls.

In the palace, ministers started sleeping with daggers.

And in the garden, under the peach tree:

Min-ho crossed off #2.

10 names left.

He looked at me.

"You okay?"

I looked at my hands. They weren't shaking.

"Yeah," I said. "For the first time, yeah."

He held out his hand.

I held out mine.

“Blood oath?”

“Blood oath.”

The empire was bleeding now.

One minister at a time.

And we were just getting started.

*END OF EPISODE 5*

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