The Reclaimed Throne
Premium Dragon Well tea, brewed with fresh morning dew, was served in a pale green bamboo cup. Its vibrant color was worlds apart from the tea Yeongso had been drinking during her period of mourning. It was only this morning that she had been repeatedly steeping a few withered, leaf-like tea scraps until they lost all flavor.
"Now that you have quenched your thirst, would you like to change your clothes, my Lady?"
Guided by Chocho, Yeongso moved to another room, where the waiting maids bowed in unison. From a massive wardrobe, they pulled an endless stream of silk robes, each worth more than several tiled houses. When she rejected a pine-pollen-yellow court gown with a long, trailing hem embroidered with the ten symbols of longevity, they presented a sheer, snow-white silk robe layered to look like swirling river mist.
'Somehow, there seem to be even more varieties of clothing than there were three years ago...'
Yeongso chose a jade-colored court gown, the one most similar to what she had originally intended to wear. Chocho pouted in disappointment. "You could have chosen something much more lavish, my Lady."
Yeongso fell deep into thought. The woman who had been kicked out earlier had not been entirely wrong. Even if Banya had returned from the dead, he was technically only the former Alliance Leader; the current Alliance Leader of Cheonsaryeon was someone else. For a predecessor to reclaim the position of Renju, they had to go through established procedures. Yet, the maids, including Chocho, were already acting as if Banya were the undisputed Renju and Yeongso had fully restored her status as the Renju-buin.
Yeongso knew the reason why. In the entire Unorthodox Path, there was not a single soul who could defeat the Bloody Butterfly Fan, Hwa Banya. Her husband was simply that kind of man.
Banya leaned back lazily on a lavishly carved high seat as he received his guests. Below the dais lay the middle-aged man who, until just fifteen minutes ago, had been the Alliance Leader of Cheonsaryeon. Blood pooling from a gaping hole in his chest had splattered all the way to the entrance. The sect leaders, who had rushed here in a frantic hurry, hesitated to cross the threshold of the grand hall the moment they came face-to-face with Banya.
Seeing them frozen in place, Banya gestured with a wave of his hand. "Now that you are here, do come in. Why stand on ceremony?"
Noticing where the sect leaders' trembling gazes were fixed, Banya spoke as if it were of no consequence.
"Ah, the former Renju and I had a bit of a communication breakdown. He kept doubting me, insisting that a dead man couldn't possibly return to life. He babbled on about disguise techniques and human-skin masks... He kept pestering me to explain how I returned, which even I don't quite understand, and well..."
Banya let out a soft chuckle. "I lost my temper."
A fresh, metallic scent of blood wafted from the pool on the floor. The very man who had instantly demoted the perfectly healthy, active Renju into a "former" Renju kept wearing a bright, cheerful expression, which only served to make his guests feel profoundly uneasy.
"It seems you have all just returned from inspecting my grave," Banya continued. "If only you had shown such enthusiasm three years ago, how wonderful that would have been."
Mindful of the dirt on the soles of their shoes, the sect leaders began entering the hall one by one. In truth, when they had first passed through the gates of Cheonsaryeon, they had blustered about banding together to face him. They had whispered that if Hwa Banya had indeed crawled out of his grave only this morning, his vital energy might not be fully restored. When they were egging each other on, they genuinely believed they could do something. But reality was a different story.
"Renju, we congratulate you on your resurrection!"
"Congratulations, my Lord!"
"Why choose such dramatic words? To an outsider, it would sound as if the Heavenly Demon himself had descended."
"Have you... truly mastered some demonic art?"
"If I had, I would have founded the Demonic Cult instead of returning to Cheonsaryeon, which is crawling with traitors."
His words carried a sharp, underlying threat. The sect leaders remained standing, shifting uncomfortably. When Banya teased them with another chilling remark, asking if they were acting shy because it had been so long, the thickest-skinned man among them bowed his head.
"Not at all, Renju. We were merely..."
"I have already invited you to sit twice."
"We beg your forgiveness."
Instantly, everyone sat. The guests, ranging in age from their twenties to their sixties, scrambled to take their seats without another word. Banya narrowed his phoenix eyes into a thin curve.
"Do not make me repeat myself in the future."
"Yes, Renju!"
"Of course, since it has been three years, your memories of what kind of man I am might be a bit hazy. I understand. I see a few new faces here as well. You, young man..."
While receiving greetings from the new faces, Banya noted the sole absentee. The only place that had failed to send a representative was Jeokhwa Palace—the very sub-sect of the Unorthodox Path he had crushed first. Today was the day marking the end of Hwa Banya's mourning period, a day when everyone was supposed to gather at Cheonsaryeon, yet Jeokhwa Palace alone had failed to show.
Had they refused to send anyone from the start, or had they arrived at Cheonsaryeon only to turn tail and run upon hearing the news of his resurrection? Whichever it was, he would have to pay a visit to Jeokhwa Palace soon and tear it apart. Even in his sleep, Banya ground his teeth at the mere thought of the people there who had cast out his younger self and his ailing mother. He thought he had thoroughly purged the place, yet of all people, they had appointed Hwa Mujin as the new Palace Master.
'This time, I will carve out the rotten flesh once and for all.'
Of of course, he would deal with Baekri Yeongso first. Whatever curse that noble lady of the Baekri Clan had placed on him, he had to resolve it before he could truly call this a perfect 'resurrection.' Baekri Yeongso, who had calmly worn hemp mourning clothes and offered incense before her husband's memorial tablet... He had never imagined that she, with her pure and innocent face, could harbor such a devious scheme. She was truly a cut above any wicked enchantress of the Demonic Cult. Banya was genuinely impressed. At the same time, it made his blood boil.
"Where is the Heavenly Killing Star?"
"The Heavenly Killing Star, Ma Ryun, is currently locked in the underground dungeon."
Banya let out a hollow laugh. It seemed everything had gone to ruin the moment he closed his eyes. "I suppose you threw my direct subordinate in there the second I died?"
"How could we ever dare... It was entirely the doing of the deceased."
Since the dead could not speak, the living had to shift the blame to them to survive. Such was the law of the Unorthodox Path, if nowhere else. The responsibility for imprisoning Banya's right-hand man naturally fell upon the former Renju rolling on the floor below the dais. Banya smirked. They had undoubtedly conspired together. You must feel quite wronged, taking the fall all by yourself down there. But what can you do? In this situation, the polite thing for me to do is pretend to believe them and move on.
"As of this moment, the Heavenly Killing Star is reinstated immediately."
"Of course, my Lord."
"And those women you've all stuffed into the inner quarters—remove them before I have to deal with them myself. I can't be bothered to kill things that do nothing but shriek."
"Yes, Renju."
"Is there anything else to discuss?"
The sect leaders bowed in unison and withdrew. Left alone in the vast hall, Banya looked down at the dead former Renju, whose eyes remained wide open in death. He had waited until the man made the first move, and he had killed him in a single blow to minimize the pain.
"...That should count as a pass, right?"
To think he had to be so anxious over killing a single man. It felt like a stain on his grand title of the Bloody Butterfly Fan. As he thought of his wife, who was likely relaxing comfortably in the inner quarters by now, his grip on the armrest tightened. Unable to withstand his immense strength, the wooden armrest snapped with a loud crack.
"Baekri Yeongso..."
This really should have been your cute little head.
Having changed into comfortable robes, Banya strolled slowly through the inner courtyard. Though the outside world was boisterous with a banquet celebrating the Renju's return, the sounds of drinking and revelry did not reach the inner quarters. Enclosed by high walls, the gentle murmur of the clear valley stream sounded much louder here, accompanied by the rustle of bamboo leaves in the wind and the chirping of insects.
Then, from somewhere, the clear, elegant sound of a pipa drifted through the air. It was Yeongso's playing. Naturally, it brought back the memory of the day he had first laid eyes on her. Banya remembered the exact date: the spring equinox, three and a half years ago.
He had happened to visit Hadongseong, and from the balcony of a tavern, he had spotted a woman. Her face was half-hidden by a veil, and she was distributing porridge and flatbreads to people dressed in rags. Though she wore a simple, light pink robe and her only ornament was a single silver hairpin, her graceful elegance was striking even from a distance. He had called over a waiter to ask what was happening, and the man had replied:
"The Baekri Clan provides meals to the poor from winter until around this time of year. The lady distributing the porridge right now is Lady Baekri Yeongso, the youngest daughter of the clan and the greatest beauty of Hadong."
As the food distribution drew to a close, a young girl had shouted that she wanted to hear her play the pipa, just like last time. Though it was a rather presumptuous request, the lady simply instructed her maid to fetch the instrument. As the maid handed the heavy pipa to her mistress, the lady's veil slipped off, revealing her pure, radiant face. In that instant, Banya thought that if a heavenly maiden truly existed in this world, she must look exactly like Baekri Yeongso.