Return and Reunion
The road back to Changseong. I stepped out onto the deck and gazed at the breaking waves and the straight horizon where sky met sea. As I stood alone, admiring the beautiful natural scenery, someone approached me.
"Do you still think of Liaodong?"
"Hmm… a little?"
Just as Han So said, I stared blankly at the sea, reflecting on the events in Liaodong.
"You achieved everything you desired, did you not?"
"Yes. I obtained it all. Even an unexpected connection."
I let out a soft chuckle. Ever since Bia learned my true identity as the Crown Prince of Yan, she grew restless whenever we met, like a thief whose feet were on fire. No—more accurately, she really was a thieving cat. After all, she had tried to lure Jin Gai, Yan's greatest general, into a plot to reclaim Liaodong. Though Jin Gai refused, the fact that I caught her red-handed scheming to upend Yan from the shadows was enough to leave her uneasy. It was fortunate neither Jin Gai nor I intended to press the matter; otherwise, Yan could have used it as pretext for a full-scale invasion of Joseon, leaving them without even an excuse.
Yet when I told the Joseon envoys they could use the si tree instead of the osu tree upon their return and shared various manufacturing methods, Bia had stared wide-eyed in flustered panic. Hyul, who served at her side, only learned of my identity then and belatedly offered his apologies. Though it felt absurd to receive apologies for something I had concealed, there was no reason to stop him if he insisted. Before departing, Bia, having heard my goals, left me with a promise: should Qin's great war of unification ever come, they would repay today's kindness.
Honestly, it was like repaying silver with silver—something that would move any person. Still, national policy does not run on private sentiment alone. Even if Bia, who would one day inherit the throne, felt gratitude and wished to repay it, I could not be certain events would unfold as she hoped.
'At least it is better than becoming enemies.'
Yan would soon have little room to spare for Joseon in the east. If relations remained hostile, Joseon would seize the chance to eye Liaodong once more. Maintaining a bond of gratitude seemed the surer path to stable management of the eastern frontier. If Jin Gai remained in Liaodong, neither Joseon nor Donghu would dare act rashly—though that was unlikely. From the envoys' demeanor, they did not seem the sort to take the favor and wash their hands of it either.
"Come to think of it, I paid no attention to the merchant guild. How did it go? Did this trip to Liaodong benefit the guild as well?"
"Yes. Since the Donghu followed General Jin Gai, trade flourished. We acquired a great deal of furs. Selling them in Zhao and Wei should yield considerable profit."
"Perfect."
Could there be a better outcome? Having secured both the recruitment of Jin Gai—my original goal—and the merchant guild's gains that served as my public justification, I looked up at the clear sky, savoring the satisfaction. I hoped the days ahead would remain as bright as that sky.
"You have arrived."
"Ah, Chief Manager. I trust you have been well?"
"Haha, still in good health. Did everything go smoothly in Liaodong?"
"We can discuss that later. Summon Yeo Hong-seong and Sima Shang as well. Would you call them for me?"
After sending Jeon Gwang off, I returned to my office after so long and began examining the documents that had piled up in my absence. Most matters had already been handled at Jeon Gwang's level, arriving mostly as reports of completed actions, but a few required my personal attention. There was a reply to the letter from Grand Tutor Guo Wu asking how life in Changseong suited me. There was the need to review and issue further instructions regarding the regular settlement report secretly sent from the main branch of the Mubang Merchant Guild in Zhao, handled by No Gu-cheon. And then…
"You have come."
"Master Mao Sui, you have traveled far to reach this place. I am grateful."
Reports such as Mao Sui's plan to root out all spies within Changseong.
"It seems things went well in Liaodong. Your expression is bright."
"Yes. They went well. How fares Changseong?"
"Naturally. You will feel it clearly if you walk outside the city."
At Mao Sui's confident reply, I recalled the sharp gazes I often sensed when strolling through Changseong. Growing more sensitive to others' stares and sounds was a good thing, yet it remained quite irritating.
"As expected of Master Mao Sui. Your skill remains undiminished."
The performance was certainly reliable. Our conversation proceeded with Mao Sui using half-respectful speech and me using full formal address. Though there was a gap in status, to me Mao Sui was a foreigner from another state and a talent I wished to recruit, while to him I was merely someone he assisted out of loyalty to the late Lord Pingyuan. Even King Xiaoyang of Yan had personally performed menial tasks to treat Chu Yan as a teacher upon his first visit; I, with far less to boast of, could hardly speak casually. Not unless Mao Sui formally joined as a retainer.
"By the way, you have gathered quite the collection of talents around you. Jeon Gwang, Yeo Hong-seong, Sima Shang—all excellent individuals. Had they been retainers of Lord Pingyuan, they would easily have claimed their own separate residences."
"They are talents beyond my merit. However, Sima Shang is not mine—she belongs to Li Mu."
"Li Mu's…? Haha, Lord Pingyuan was right."
"What do you mean by that?"
Mao Sui laughed heartily before speaking, reminiscing about the past.
"When you first visited Lord Pingyuan, I hid behind a folding screen and overheard your conversation. Lord Pingyuan had instructed me to analyze you as well."
I had not known that. At the time, I lacked the senses to detect presences or gazes as I did now, and even with my current abilities, I doubted I could have found Mao Sui if he deliberately concealed himself.
"Back then, you said you understood Zhao's strength. So what was that strength? I thought it was Lord Xinping—Lian Po, the greatest general under heaven. But Lord Pingyuan thought of someone else."
"It was Li Mu."
"Indeed. Lord Pingyuan remarked that if you had recognized Li Mu's true worth and spoken of Zhao's strength, then you would surely become King of Yan. Now I see he was right."
While Mao Sui marveled at Lord Pingyuan's insight, I felt a different kind of longing for him.
'At our first meeting, he kept Mao Sui behind the screen. But at our final meeting before he departed, it was different.'
That day, Lord Pingyuan had left Mao Sui outside the door. He entrusted him only with guiding me, insisting on meeting me truly alone. Suspicion at the beginning, sincerity at the end. Even to Mao Sui, the retainer he trusted most, Lord Pingyuan had not revealed that he had chosen me as his successor. Whether to tell or not was my decision.
'He left me with such a heavy burden.'
As I unconsciously reached for the seal he had given me, Mao Sui's smile faded.
"Now I understand why Lord Pingyuan entrusted his seal to you despite having children of his own."
Mao Sui straightened his posture, which had carried a hint of arrogance. Sitting properly with formal respect, he spoke in a voice more solemn than ever before.
"The talents at your side are remarkable. Jeon Gwang the scholar could govern a nation, and the heroine Yeo Hong-seong could cross blades with even Lord Xinping. Though Sima Shang belongs to Li Mu, she now serves at your side—a talent fit to become a famed general like Lord Ma Mu. Yet there is something you lack."
"Please instruct me."
"Your information relies on the Mubang Merchant Guild. No Gu-cheon of Zhao, Jang Yi of Wei, Jing Ke of Yan—they each possess decent skill, but their talent for handling intelligence is crude. Jang Yi shows some promise, yet he remains unrefined. Compared to Lord Mao and Lord Xue who serve under Lord Xinling, they are hopelessly immature."
He was right. Though the guild provided abundant information, most of it was fragmented, and I often encountered distorted facts rather than hidden truths. Moreover, the guild were not professional spies; even with connections to officials in each state, extracting detailed internal information was beyond them. Thus, intelligence on Wei depended half on Lord Xinling, and on Zhao half on Pung Gi. Conversely, until Mao Sui arrived, there had been no one capable of blocking the spies sent to probe us.
"Even with much information, you cannot combine it to uncover hidden truths. Your intelligence network is far too superficial. For now, Pung Gi and Lord Xinling will assist you, but you cannot rely on their help forever."
Mao Sui spread his sleeves and clasped his hands with precise decorum, raising them above his head.
"I shall become Your Highness's hands. If you do not abandon Lord Pingyuan's will, this Mao Sui will not refuse to serve as your loyal hound."
"…I dare to promise. I, Ji Dan, shall engrave Lord Pingyuan's will upon my bones and never forget it."
