The Nation Shall Guarantee the Rites of Passage - 2: The First Qilin Sighted in Gyerim
The first qilin ever sighted in Gyerim. Though there had been a minor commotion when Grandfather kidnapped it and dragged it all the way to this imperial palace, objectively speaking, my relationship with the qilin wasn't bad at all.
I'd saved it from getting utterly fleeced by Do-cheol, nursed it back from the brink of death with spirit pills, and it had received devoted care from Kki-ing-i and Kki-ong-i, who followed me everywhere. It was filled with far more good memories than bad. As a token of its gratitude, it had even gifted me one of its horns, so it wasn't strange at all that the qilin came rushing over the moment it saw me.
"Been well?"
Qiring!
The qilin rubbed its face against my leg, expressing its joy. It looked like it had been eating well and living comfortably in the palace—its horn had even grown a bit longer. Well, where in the Central Plains could be safer or more peaceful than the imperial palace?
"They say qilins favor the virtuous. From the looks of it, even this qilin seems to think the Deputy Censorate Inspector possesses an exemplary character."
"Deputy Censorate Inspector Han Un pays his respects to His Imperial Majesty!"
I was in the middle of petting the qilin's head and returning its affection when the Emperor's voice rang out. I immediately flung myself flat on the ground.
"Rise. The Deputy Censorate Inspector must be weary from his travels—how can you prostrate yourself on such cold stone?"
Qiring!
At the Emperor's words and the qilin's cry, I cautiously rose to my feet. It was true that fatigue had built up from the wedding ceremony, the wedding night, and the dawn audience. Of course, it wasn't so bad that I couldn't prostrate before the Emperor, but lingering on the ground after he told me to rise would have been rude.
No fatigue or anything. You look perfectly fine.
As I carefully stood, I noticed Do-cheol standing beside the Emperor. I'd thrown myself down the instant I heard the Emperor's voice and hadn't seen him until now.
'Looks like he's doing well too.'
Unlike the qilin, Do-cheol put on a surly face toward me, but he had that dizzying memory of getting a group beating from me and Grandfather. It would be weirder if he were friendly with me. For one of the Four Evils to just grumble after taking a thrashing like that was downright mild.
I wondered if the palace's grand and noble atmosphere had even tamed one of the Four Evils.
"Do-cheol. Is that how you speak to someone you haven't seen in ages?"
Long time? For a Four Evil like me, this much time is but a fleeting moment!
Watching Do-cheol throw a tantrum filled me with complicated feelings. That wasn't tamed—that was fully subjugated.
'The Son of Heaven is on another level altogether.'
It was awe-inspiring. I'd vaguely assumed the qilin and Do-cheol were living quietly in the palace as the Emperor's pets. But this went beyond pets. Even mythical beings had fallen into the Emperor's grasp, becoming part of Great Song—his subordinates.
"Forgive him so that the Deputy Censorate Inspector understands. Do-cheol's words are rough, but he's a soft-hearted child at core. This is simply how he shows his joy at seeing you."
"Ah, yes. Truly an honor, Your Majesty."
Do-cheol looked ready to foam at the mouth at being called soft-hearted. But I deliberately ignored him and bowed to the Emperor. If the Emperor had him perfectly under control, pleasing the Emperor was all that mattered.
Qiring.
In the midst of it all came a cry that sounded like the qilin mocking Do-cheol. So your bad blood's still going strong, huh.
The palace's layout resembled the Forbidden City from history. The Forbidden City wasn't some ancient relic brimming with history and tradition—it was built by the Yongle Emperor in the Ming Dynasty. In this world, Great Song had risen in place of the Ming, so it made sense for the Forbidden City to exist in Kaepyeong instead of Beijing. And the rear garden was part of that.
As one of the finest palace complexes in Central Plains history, the rear garden's scenery struck even me—someone lacking an eye for beauty—as harmonious and breathtaking.
"What do you think, Deputy Censorate Inspector? When Taizu had the palace built, this rear garden received the most care and attention."
"It is so beautiful that my poor words cannot do it justice."
"Is that so? Taizu would have been greatly pleased to hear it."
The Emperor gave a faint smile and gazed at the lake beneath the pavilion.
"Taizu said that wherever he was became the center of the world. That is why he paid little heed to the places where affairs of state were handled, unlike this rear garden. With eyes to see documents and a mind to judge them, one could conduct business even in the gutters—that was his philosophy."
The words were so radical I couldn't even open my mouth. Eyes to review records, a mind to make decisions. As Taizu said, with those two things, one could govern anywhere. But for the founding emperor to say that—what was he thinking? Instead of upholding utmost dignity, he'd shown something bordering on eccentricity. Yet since the palace had been built anyway, it seemed the merit subjects below him had gritted their teeth and made it happen.
True loyalty knows no equal.
"Thanks to that, the rear garden became the grandest part of the palace."
"Is a mere subject like me worthy to hear of the palace's great history...?"
"History has value only when all know it. If I alone know it, it's merely a secret. But when loyal subjects like the Deputy Censorate Inspector know it too, then it becomes true history."
With those words, the Emperor stared at the lake for a long while.
'Raising koi or something?'
I followed his gaze to the lake and spotted something moving beneath the surface. A hazy shadow and faint ripples confirmed it. Well, it'd be weirder if a lake this vast had no koi at all. Though the shadow seemed a bit large for koi.
"Deputy Censorate Inspector."
"Yes, Your Majesty. Command me."
"Having faced Huoguo Chepmoka at Jiayu Pass, you know better than anyone that the Mongols' movements are far from ordinary."
I flinched instinctively at the name Huoguo Chepmoka. I'd nearly died back then, after all.
"This sweeping investigation of murim is to bring it under firmer control and to secure our internals ahead of war with the Mongols."
"I shall uphold Your Majesty's noble will."
It was perfectly understandable, so I bowed my head again. A clash with the Mongols wouldn't be some minor skirmish. We'd need to efficiently manage manpower and resources for the front lines and maintain internal control with minimal force. To pinpoint that minimal threshold, we needed a clear grasp of murim. Only by knowing their scale and quality could we estimate resource needs.
'In the worst case, some might side with the Mongols.'
Even during the founding wars, factions had allied with the Mongols. Of course, we couldn't equate the past when Mongols held the Central Plains with the present where they'd been driven beyond the Great Wall—but what if? With war looming, we had to consider the worst.
"It weighs on my heart to burden the Deputy Censorate Inspector, who should be enjoying newlywed bliss. However, reports from each region will take at least a fortnight to arrive. It's a relief that I can grant you freedom in the meantime."
The Emperor, silent for a moment, patted my still-lowered shoulder. The touch of one as lofty as heaven. In this era, it was the highest honor, so I bowed even deeper.
"I hold great expectations for the Deputy Censorate Inspector. Just as Taizu achieved great deeds with the aid of his merit subjects, I shall lead a new world alongside ministers like you."
"My abilities are meager, but for the world Your Majesty shall forge, I will shatter my bones and scatter my ashes."
"Raise your head. If the Deputy Censorate Inspector is meager, who then can be called great?"
The Emperor chuckled and approached the table in the pavilion. He picked up the bottles of liquor on it and handed them to me.
"A gift from me. To celebrate the union of Giwangga and Akwangga, and to wish the Deputy Censorate Inspector eternal happiness."
"I am deeply grateful, Your Majesty."
I bowed my head again to receive the bottles. He called it a congratulatory gift, but my instincts screamed that accepting this liquor would have me rolling like a dog once more.
But what could I do? He'd shared palace anecdotes to build rapport, mentioned the Mongols to instill urgency, and positioned me as a merit subject of a new era to foster trust. After that buildup, responding with "I'd rather not work" would take considerable courage.
'This is what makes him the Son of Heaven...'
His status alone made refusal impossible, but he'd cornered me psychologically too. The Emperor's eloquence nearly brought tears to my eyes.
Wooooow.
'Hm?'
As I desperately composed my heavy heart, a bizarre cry echoed from the lake.
"Ho. It's the first time that one's cried with others present."
The Emperor seemed unfazed, so it must be some aquatic creature he kept. I had no idea what it could be to make such a sound. From the context, probably a spirit beast.
'The palace would have a few spirit beasts, right?'
A mere crown prince like me kept six. For the Emperor, sixty wouldn't be surprising.
Back at Giwangjeo, Grandfather burst into laughter the moment he saw me. More precisely, the instant he spotted the liquor bottles I carried.
"His Majesty has bestowed something truly precious!"
"Pardon?"
I blankly stared at the bottles. They weren't ordinary, coming from the Emperor, but for a king like Grandfather to call them precious?
"It's the liquor Taizu brewed with his merit subjects after driving out the northern Mongol bandits and righting the Mandate of Heaven. It was buried deep beneath the palace floors to age fully, and only recently unearthed."
What.
I gasped at the insane backstory infused in the liquor. Liquor made by the Emperor and founding merit subjects. Brewed to commemorate unifying the world, buried for decades under the palace.
'It's a treasure.'
If I didn't drink it and kept it preserved, it could be designated a national treasure for posterity. The kind with an astronomical price tag per bottle.
"C-Can I really drink this?"
"Liquor's meant to be drunk, isn't it? Let's have a glass this evening."
I nodded dazedly at Grandfather's firm suggestion.
'Cruel man.'
For a moment, I felt a twinge of resentment toward the Emperor still in the palace. After the status gap and psychological pressure, now even Taizu's legacy. Just how thoroughly did he plan to wring me dry? It was too frightening to imagine.