Homecoming to Kaepyeong - 2
I was back in Kaepyeong. My hometown, my home, my soul, my body, my light—me. I'd yearned for this city so desperately, more than anyone, and now I was finally returning.
'Zhongjing Kaepyeong Commandery.' I murmured the full name to myself in my mind, gently closing my eyes. After the fall of the Tang Dynasty, it had reigned as the capital of the Northern Song amid the five hegemony states known as the Five Dynasties. Following High Ancestor's founding of Great Song, it had transformed once more into the heart of the Central Plains—the Son of Heaven's city. One of the five capitals leading Great Song alongside Dongjing Yongcheon Commandery, Seogyeong Hanam Commandery, Nanjing Geumneung Commandery, and Beogyeong Geoncheon Commandery, it was the undisputed political center, a city of light and glory.
'I'm really back here.' Tears threatened to spill. Not rolling through the Central Plains like a dog on official business, not dragged here by some high-up at the last minute—no, I'd completed that horrific, ugly pilgrimage through the heartland and returned officially. No more worries about heading back to the provinces. I could stay right here in Kaepyeong, fully and completely. How joyful was that? I wasn't one for tears, but today? I figured I could let them flow.
"Wi-cheo."
"Yes, my lord."
"You've been through a lot."
"Thank you, sir."
He knew my words were more celebration than consolation or encouragement—Jo Wi-cheo replied in a voice brimming with affection. Yeah, we'd been through hell. A ton of it. We'd visited everywhere in vast Great Song except Qinghai. Even the generals from the founding wars probably hadn't crisscrossed the realm like we did. Hell, not even High Ancestor himself had poked into every nook and cranny like this. So we had every right to rejoice and be moved. Our names—mine and Jo Wi-cheo's—would echo eternally in the annals of bureaucracy, right up until Great Song's final moments.
Yi Yeon-i's been through it too. We planned just a quick spin through the south, but incidents popped up everywhere we went, huh? I shared the sentiment with Ak I-yeon, who'd joined us midway. She hadn't been with us from the start like Jo Wi-cheo, but she'd spent a long stretch by our side. From Jiangnan with Suzhou, through Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hunan. We'd covered an expanse vast enough for any single faction to declare itself an empire. Even joining mid-tour, she deserved the celebration.
"Trouble? Quite the opposite—I was glad to see what was happening across the realm firsthand. And even happier to share a bit of your burden, young master."
"Good to hear."
Ak I-yeon's words brought a smile to my face unbidden. Her already beautiful voice sounded even clearer, more crystalline. Was this the power of Kaepyeong? The magic that made beauty even more beautiful?
"...Let's head to Giwangjeo first. Grandfather's probably waiting."
I tamped down the swelling emotions and continued matter-of-factly. Giwangjeo. Whenever we visited Kaepyeong, we'd hit Akwangjeo first since Ak I-yeon was there, so going straight to Giwangjeo felt like it had been ages. Or maybe it was the first time ever. Thinking that way made me feel like the world's worst ungrateful grandson.
"No need to book separate lodgings, all of you—come to Giwangjeo. We'll treat you royally, so don't worry."
"W-We'd be honored, my lord!"
Not just paying for inns—opening up Giwangjeo itself. Pung-seung bowed swiftly at the words. Process aside, these were my guests, brought all the way to Kaepyeong, with promises of convenience and safety. Keeping them under Giwangjeo's roof was safer than fancy lodgings. Just as I'd demanded solid arguments from these mad scholars, I owed them solid rewards in return. Of course.
"A Hunan bumpkin like me coming to Kaepyeong—feels like a promotion already."
"You'll get to make your case before the throne. Most officials couldn't dream of such glory—isn't that a promotion?"
"Hm. Fair point."
These scholars seemed to count just arriving in Kaepyeong as reward enough. Madmen, sure, but refreshingly free of greed. If only their lunacy dialed back a notch, they'd make fine bureaucratic reserves.
'Maybe the court debate will change them a bit?' If they poured it all out before the Emperor, merit subjects, and ministers, some of that venom and madness might drain away. Then they'd be prime for immediate appointment. Eloquent, bold, knowledgeable, wise—and reclaiming human sanity? No reason not to snap them up.
'Please, turn human.' There's a legend in the east of a bear eating mugwort and garlic to become human. Wouldn't hurt the Central Plains to birth a tale of mad scholars turning human with just their tongues.
As the gates of Giwangjeo swung open, Grandfather greeted us first.
"Well, well—if it isn't my eldest grandson!"
A Hwagyeong master with senses sharp as ever. He'd probably known the moment we entered Kaepyeong. Still, for the kingly patriarch to personally welcome his grandson's—no, crown prince's—return? It moved me deeply. Never thought Grandfather would beat Father to the door.
"It's been too long, Grandfather."
"Too long? It's only been how long since Gyeirim?!"
He burst into booming laughter, lightly patting my back. Light for him, anyway. A Hwagyeong touch wasn't something a peak-realm lightweight like me could just shrug off.
"Well, it might feel like ages to you. You've crammed a lifetime of chaos into a blink."
His follow-up hit body and soul alike with bitterness. Regrettably, he was right. We'd parted from Grandfather in Gyeirim just recently—a mere instant ago—and in that flash, spicy incidents had piled up nonstop.
'Damn these scholars.' I shouldn't, but I was starting to resent their very existence. Felt like razing every academy in the land. But I held back. In this peaceful era, not wartime, pulling that stunt would make me not the reckless fool who doomed a dynasty, but the wretch who wrecked the realm and morality—Un-something-or-other.
"...Grandfather."
"Yes?"
"Where are those two? The ones we found in Gyeirim."
I swallowed the bitterness and voiced the oddity nagging me since arrival. Do-cheol and Gi-rin, found in Gyeirim. Grandfather had surely snatched—er, adopted—them under his arms. Unless he'd eaten or sold them, they should be here at Giwangjeo. Yet Kki-ing-i and Kki-ong-i behind me kept up anxious cries, as if sensing no qilin aura in Giwangjeo.
"Oh, those two?"
Grandfather chuckled at my question. "Offered them to His Majesty. Can't exactly keep treasures like that myself."
'Ah.' A relief—right on expected lines. Makes sense. If Grandfather lived out in the sticks, fine, but sharing a city with the Emperor? Raising Do-cheol and Gi-rin openly would've been awkward. His Majesty might not know their true nature, but Grandfather wasn't one to hide it.
"No worries—they're doing great. I visited Gonghuwon recently at His Majesty's invitation, and they were fast asleep, tuckered out from scrapping."
"Glad to hear it."
I couldn't help a chuckle at the image of those savage fighters playing nice before the Emperor. Fiends and auspicious beasts of a bygone age, after all. In this era of men, not gods, even they bowed humbly before mankind's ruler.
"If you're curious, go see them. Looks like these two are worried sick."
- Kki-ing, kki-i-ing!
- Kki-o-ong!
Grandfather pointed at Kki-ing-i and Kki-ong-i; they nodded furiously.
"Gonghuwon isn't a place I can just—"
"You won't need to—His Majesty will summon you soon enough."
I bit my lip grimly. The words "Deputy Censor-in-Chief" flashed before my eyes.
"More importantly, I have a question."
"Yes, ask away."
"Those young fellows—are they the mad scholars from Akrok Academy?"
At Grandfather's words, Pung-seung and the others bowed sharply. At least they had baseline social sense and awareness. Problem was their overflowing madness.
"Yes. The most passionate and wise among Akrok Academy."
"And brave ones, too. Debating in court is enough to make ministers sweat."
Eyeing them with interest, Grandfather patted the still-bowing scholars' shoulders himself.
"If His Majesty summoned them and my grandson brought them— they're honored guests, no less. Treat this as your own home; make yourselves at ease."
"Our deepest thanks for such gracious hospitality, Your Highness!"
Pung-seung spoke for the group before the others could; it was wise, desperate, sobering.
"...Hmm."
"Something wrong?"
"No, just... this one's voice sounds like Pung Seung's."
I gaped at Grandfather deducing blood ties from one sentence.
"Un-a!"
But Father's voice from behind Grandfather swiftly shifted focus.
"Well, well. The young pup shows up after me? Getting lazy already?"
"No—you handed me your duties to greet your grandson first! How could I beat you here?!"
"Did I now?"
Father's desperate shout met Grandfather's nonchalant reply. Classic Giwang family scenery—I couldn't help laughing.
The moment I'd awaited had arrived.
"Left Vice Inspector General Han Un has returned to Kaepyeong. Giwangjeo is preparing a welcome banquet; Ak Wang and the Akwang household are en route as well."
"I see."
I paused stroking Gi-rin and Do-cheol at the Geum-ui-wi Ji-hwi-sa's report.
- Gi-riring.
- Keuhr-eung.
These two remembered the Left Vice Inspector General too, letting out soft cries with subtle reactions.
"Geum-ui-wi Commandant."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"How many in all the realm have roamed as thoroughly as the Left Vice Inspector General?"
"To speak boldly, even High Ancestor the Great Sovereign in the founding wars didn't inspect the land as he has."
I nodded at the obvious truth. The late Emperor had trusty generals handling fronts against the Mongols—no need for him to tour everywhere.
"Then he stands alone, unprecedented and unmatched."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
His unhesitating reply drew a faint smile. Unprecedented souls demand commensurate rewards. But family reunion came first—let him wait a bit. The Right Censor-in-Chief post wouldn't run away.