A Marriage Proposal Arrives at Anchiunbugu
"Look over there. What a dazzling procession."
"Indeed, they'd catch the eye from miles away..."
At Hong-wi's remark, Kusinu narrowed his eyes and fell deep into thought. Meanwhile, Hong-wi studied the rider at the head of the column. Somehow the man's face looked familiar...
The next instant, he realized who it was.
"Wait a moment—is that not Igonahap?"
"You're right, that's the Kunaha himself!"
The two men looked at each other. Igonahap had come in person?
"Goodness, why would he not send word ahead? Lord Temusi-i, I must hurry and report this to the Elder."
"Let us go together."
Kusinu bustled down from the watchtower, and Hong-wi followed after him.
Even from a distance, Igonahap's procession was more resplendent than anything they had ever seen. Not even a middling Joseon commandant could afford such extravagance.
Before long, Igonahap stood before Onyan Isiha. Hong-wi recognized Pushan Hadar among those trailing behind him. While everyone else was dressed in what looked like brand-new silk garments, the old merchant alone seemed oddly shabby.
So the man caught Igonahap's eye. He must have bled considerably for this.
Hong-wi surmised as much. However great a figure Igonahap might be as Dudu of the Jianzhou Guard, real power lay with his father, Lee Man-ju—and even Lee Man-ju lacked the wealth to dress all his retainers in silk like this. It had all come out of Pushan Hadar's purse, most likely.
Hong-wi mentally tallied what such an outlay must have cost him, recalling what Wumubin had said the other day. Then he shrugged. It wasn't any of his concern.
"Welcome, Lord Kunaha."
"I pay my respects to Grand Chieftain Onyan Isiha."
Igonahap clasped his hands together and bowed—though not in the old manner of the Jin Dynasty. Onyan Isiha gave a nod.
"You've grown into quite the splendid peacock, I see."
"How could I dare appear before the Elder in anything less than my finest, on my way to pay him homage?"
Igonahap declared with perfect confidence. Fine feathers made fine birds, as the saying went. Clad in gleaming silk, he could now meet the gaze of even Onyan Isiha—the very man before whom all the world's Lee Man-jus had stumbled.
"Indeed. Though I trust you understand the need for caution, lest the Ming Liaodong Regional Military Commission or the Joseon commandants seize upon it. They would love any excuse to reproach you for dressing above your rank and station. And golden silk, of all things—they would take it as an affront to the Emperor himself."
Onyan Isiha spoke in the gentlest of tones. At that, Igonahap visibly faltered. It was something he had never even considered.
"In any case, that is your affair to manage, Lord Kunaha... Ah, Ichige. You've come."
"Yes, Elder Brother. Here I am."
Ichige replied. Though half-brothers, the two men looked alike and yet not alike. Onyan Isiha was certainly the taller, but Ichige showed no trace of being cowed; he carried himself with assurance, and while his dress yielded to Igonahap's, it was still lavish and finely wrought.
Their eyes, too, were unmistakably different. Where Isiha's gaze was calm and gentle, Ichige's two pupils never stopped moving, sizing up his surroundings this way and that. Charitably, it gave the impression of a man without openings; less charitably, of a cunning one.
Their voices differed just as sharply. Isiha's voice was deep and low, carrying an air of trustworthiness, while Ichige's was pitched a little higher and sounded unsteady. Perhaps he sensed it himself, for Ichige had a habit of clearing his throat—hm, hm—whenever he began to speak.
"I didn't expect you to arrive with Lord Kunaha... Have you been well, all this while?"
"Hm, hm."
Ichige cleared his throat and spoke.
"It has been long since I last saw you, Seongnime, but alas, I have not been well."
He showed little sign of courtesy.
"You look to be in fine color, at least."
"Are you mocking me?"
Onyan Isiha fixed Ichige with a silent stare. Under that gaze, Ichige's surly manner softened somewhat, and he mumbled grudgingly.
"Forgive me, Seongnime. I spoke out of turn."
"That is enough, then."
Onyan Isiha turned his gaze back to Igonahap.
"Now then—what brings you to such a remote corner of the world?"
"With the coming festival... ahem! With the coming festival, my father has sent me to inquire after the Grand Chieftain's health on his behalf."
Lee Man-ju, inquiring after his health...
No particular expression rose to Onyan Isiha's face.
"Convey my thanks to Lord Man-ju. Tell him I, too, shall pray for his long life and prosperity."
"Yes, of course... I shall do so."
Igonahap seemed oddly stiff and formal for once.
"And he wishes to raise again the matter of a marriage—something he has long had in mind."
There it is.
Onyan Isiha and the elders finally understood why Igonahap had come.
"I have heard a great deal about Lord Man-ju's house. From as far as the Illan Hala all the way to Jianzhou here, tales of its power are on every tongue. If even this old man sequestered in Anchiunbugu has heard of it, that says enough, does it not?"
At that, Igonahap grinned guilelessly. But it was the reaction of a man who did not know the peculiar rhetoric of royalty. Hong-wi, well-versed in courtly language, caught it at once—though Ho-in beside him seemed entirely oblivious.
"Praising a man like Lee Man-ju to his face? Whoever heard what he did at Sahalcha surely knows better."
"My friend, that was an insult, properly wrapped."
Hong-wi's remark made Ho-in's eyes go round.
"An insult? How so?"
"Did you forget that the Onyan clan are descendants of the imperial house? Imperial people never hurl insults directly. 'Tales of its power from the Illan Hala all the way to Jianzhou, reaching even the ears of the old man of the Onyan'—put another way, it means Lee Man-ju is nothing but an Illan Hala ruffian drunk on brute force, and that his notoriety is so great it has reached the ears of a man who lounges about in Anchiunbugu. In other words, he's saying the man is a menace. And listen to this next part. He says... what was it again?"
"My father, too, holds the Grand Chieftain in deep respect."
"Ah, does he now? I have always despised empty titles that tower without substance, and I care nothing for flaunting power. In truth, I lack the strength to deserve it, so I am rather embarrassed that people look up to me so."
"So that means—he's saying, 'You lot love flaunting power and empty names, but I am not like that, and yet people still revere me'... something along those lines."
Cha Gyeong-yeon murmured under his breath, and Hong-wi merely smiled faintly.
"However, through my own shortcomings, the only child left to me is a single daughter. I taught her everything I could, yet there is not one thing about her I could put forward without shame—it is quite mortifying. I managed to teach her only her letters and proper etiquette, nothing more. So I hardly know whether she would make a fitting match for a fine, valiant man like yourself, my lord. I have never laid eyes on you before, Lord Kunaha, but your bearing is certainly striking. Don't they call you the finest-looking man in all of Jianzhou?"
"So people do say."
Igonahap laughed at Onyan Isiha's words.
"You caught that, right? He says he taught her himself, everything she knows. Meaning she's not of a grade to be married off to the likes of you."
"...Was that not a compliment to Igonahap?"
"My friend, how is that a compliment? He said, word for word, 'your bearing is certainly striking'—and nothing about substance. Look, even Onyan Ichige has figured it out."
The expression on Ichige's face, standing beside Igonahap, was exquisitely complicated. Igonahap, by contrast, was simply beaming, pleased as could be with the surface of the praise.
"Besides, my daughter is not yet of age, so—"
"Elder Brother."
Ichige cut in.
"It has been quite some time since I last saw my niece, but as I recall, she comes of age this very year, does she not?"
"Does she. What a memory you have."
Onyan Isiha said it flatly, without expression. Only his eyebrows twitched, so faintly it was barely perceptible.
Ichige answered just as blandly.
"You are hardly so old as to forget such things, Elder Brother."
"My age has long since passed sixty by a fair margin."
"Come to think of it, Elder Brother, are you sixty-five this year, or sixty-six? Ha, dear me. My own memory grows so hazy these days."
Ichige let out a hearty laugh, but his eyes were not laughing. Isiha gave a small shrug.
"What does it matter?"
"Quite right. What could it possibly matter?"
Thorns bristled in the exchange between the two men. Igonahap, unable to keep up with the back-and-forth, wore a bewildered look.
Just then, as though something had only now occurred to him, Onyan Isiha turned suddenly to Igonahap.
"Speaking of which—Sorobirada is quite a long way off, is it not? What a failing, that I cannot offer my weary guests even a moment's rest after such a journey! The roads into Anchiunbugu have grown treacherous indeed of late. It seems every bandit and lawless wretch across all of Jianzhou has been gathering here."
There was bone beneath the flesh of Onyan Isiha's words. By now even Igonahap could not fail to grasp it. Who, after all, had been the one to loose those bandits upon the land, if not Lee Man-ju?
"Perhaps you should rest for the day and call upon us tomorrow."
"Well, if you insist..."
"Elder Brother... this concerns the future of our whole clan. How could I be swayed by such a trifle as fatigue?"
Just as Igonahap brightened and made to eagerly accept the offer, Ichige held him back. A flicker of displeasure passed through Onyan Isiha's eyes, though his bearing remained as graceful as ever.
"How reassuring it is, that you concern yourself so devotedly with the future of the Onyan clan."
"Since I may yet be the one to stand beside my niece and guide her in the days to come."
At Ichige's reply, the gathering went silent, as if cold water had been poured over the entire assembly. Even the oblivious Igonahap looked taken aback. However estranged the half-brothers might be, Ichige's words could only be taken to mean that Elder Brother Isiha had not many days left to live.
Ichige, too, seemed to realize only belatedly how far he had overstepped.
"Forgive me. I said too much."
"...You must indeed be exhausted, Ichige. Go in and rest, and we shall speak tomorrow. How does that sound?"
Onyan Isiha's voice was low, but it carried a force that brooked no disobedience. Ichige silently nodded.
Onyan Isiha turned to Elder Kusinu.
"Kusinu—see to Lord Kunaha and his party."
"At once."
Kusinu stepped forward. Once Igonahap's party had been escorted to their lodgings, the crowd dispersed one by one, and Hong-wi's group made their way back as well.
Ho-in scratched his ear and offered his impressions.
"That was something, wasn't it? Old Onyan Isiha may be a mountain wildman, but he has the presence of a true great man. His brother, on the other hand—well, he's not half the man, and something about him just seems... eaten up with inferiority, if you ask me."
"So it seems. He's the son of a different mother, after all."
"From what I've heard, Onyan Isiha was apparently quite remarkable even in his youth. Poor man must have lived his whole life in that shadow."
"Still, I have to say—when that Ichige fellow started going on about 'guiding his niece,' I was astonished the Elder let it pass. And that on top of being pressured to marry his only daughter off to a piece of work like Igonahap."
Hong-wi and Cha Gyeong-yeon both nodded at Ho-in's words. Hong-wi in particular felt a keen sympathy for Wolyeong's situation.
Grand Chieftain Onyan Isiha might be wise and vigorous, but sixty-five or sixty-six was an age at which misfortune could strike at any moment without seeming strange. The currents of Jianzhou were far too violent for a girl who had only just come of age to steer her clan through alone.
Hong-wi saw in her a reflection of himself from several years past.
"Come to think of it—when Onyan Isiha passes on, to whom does Anchiunbugu fall? From what I understand, the wild tribes always pass the chieftain's seat to a man."
"Whoever marries that only daughter, Wolyeong, would effectively become the chieftain."
Cha Gyeong-yeon considered for a moment before answering without hesitation.
"That's what Lee Man-ju is after. But the way he turned and left just now—didn't it look to you like there's some secret understanding between that Ichige fellow and Lee Man-ju?"
"Hand Wolyeong over to Igonahap, and Ichige takes the chieftain's seat—something like that, I'd wager."
"That's certainly possible. Ichige has had his eye on that seat all along."
The three men fell silent for a moment. Ho-in shook his head.
"Me... I only saw that Ichige fellow for a moment—truth be told, I only glimpsed Onyan Isiha too—but I simply cannot picture that man sitting in the Elder's seat. Not for anything."
"Nor can I. It would be quite the sight, wouldn't it."
Hong-wi agreed, and Cha Gyeong-yeon went on.
"Still, with Lee Man-ju sending Igonahap in person like this, the pressure must be considerable. It's a worrying situation. The daughter truly is on the verge of womanhood, so the Elder can't keep refusing on the pretext of her age forever."
"Another refusal now, and it would become an outright insult to Lee Man-ju."
"Exactly."
Cha Gyeong-yeon conceded Hong-wi's point. Then, casting a sidelong glance at him, he continued.
"The Elder must be caught in a terrible tangle of thoughts. If some strong, capable man—someone who could stand against Lee Man-ju—were to take his daughter's hand, nothing could please him more."
Hong-wi did not answer.
Hoin shrugged his shoulders.
"And where would you find a man like that? Everyone we've met here trembles at the very name of Lee Man-ju."
Cha Gyeong-yeon grinned.
"True enough. They're not exactly common."