The Serpent's Counsel
Meanwhile, Lee Go-nap-hap and his company were making merry in their quarters.
True, they hadn't extracted a definitive answer as Lee Man-ju had commanded — but hadn't even that Onyan Isiha acknowledged their standing?
Pushan Hadaru, who had been biding his time for just such an opening, did not let the opportunity slip. He lavishly brought out the fine liquor he had carried from Hwangseongpyeong.
"Well now, where'd you get your hands on something like this?"
"A merchant's little secret," Pushan Hadaru said with a smile. "On a day of celebration like this, how could I possibly serve you common swill?"
"Ha, that's more like it."
Lee Go-nap-hap roared with laughter.
"Have a drink, Dudu. Even that Onyan Isiha has to admit your standing."
"That's right. How could that old man ever disrespect our family?"
Lee Go-nap-hap laughed heartily again.
"Still, I worry whether our old man will be pleased. We never got a firm promise that he'd hand over that daughter of his."
"But you did secure half a promise, did you not?"
asked Irongha, chewing on a piece of meat.
"Hm."
Lee Go-nap-hap gave no real reply. Instead, his gaze drifted toward Onyan Ichigeo, who sat in their midst quietly sipping at his cup.
While everyone else made merry, Ichigeo alone wore a sour expression.
"H-hey, Lord Ichigeo!"
"What is it?"
Lee Go-nap-hap called out to him. Ichigeo answered curtly.
"What was with that thoughtless remark of yours earlier? Fine, you don't get along with your brother, but still. You nearly ruined a perfectly good mood."
"Kunaha. Did you truly think the mood was a good one just now?"
"Well, it wasn't bad, was it?"
Lee Go-nap-hap shot back. Ichigeo let out a long sigh.
"Kunaha..."
"What? What is it now?"
"For all your lack of sense, I never dreamed you could be quite this hopeless."
"Excuse me?"
Lee Go-nap-hap bristled. Ichigeo shook his head slowly.
"You think Onyan Isiha acknowledged you? Truly?"
"Then what—"
Lee Go-nap-hap and his men, mid-drink, stared blankly at him. Ichigeo drew another deep breath.
"If you heard my elder brother's words today as praise, then by all means, believe it for the rest of your life. It will certainly be more comfortable for you. Some bride other than Wol-yeong will turn up sooner or later — one more suited to a man like you."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Lee Go-nap-hap's irritation flared. Are all the Onyan bastards like this?
The truth was, he too had felt an unshakable discomfort throughout that conversation with Onyan Isiha. It had sounded like praise, and yet somehow it hadn't. Whatever the case, it had left a foul aftertaste. And now this Ichigeo, supposedly on their side, kept circling around the point instead of saying anything outright — it was maddening.
At that moment, Olanggamokya spoke up in a measured tone.
"Perhaps you'd better explain what you mean."
"What our exalted elder brother said today — dressed up in a dozen rounds of fine words — was that he cannot give his daughter to your family, Kunaha. Or to a man like you."
"What?"
The atmosphere turned ice-cold in an instant. Only Pushan Hadaru kept nervously rolling his eyes this way and that.
Lee Go-nap-hap said in a low voice, "Is that true?"
"If you truly intend to become the Buma, you ought to learn a thing or two about that roundabout speech the imperial household uses... Very well. I'll untangle it for you."
Ichigeo laid out, step by measured step, the very same explanation that Cha Gyeong-yeon had given not long before. Throughout the telling, Lee Go-nap-hap and his confidants kept their mouths shut tight, and little by little, Lee Go-nap-hap's face hardened into stone.
When the explanation was finished, Ichigeo sighed once more and looked at him.
"Do you understand now?"
"...I can't bring myself to believe you."
Lee Go-nap-hap said at last. His eyes were wavering with fury. Ichigeo scoffed at the sight.
"Suit yourself. Then run back to Sorobirada this very moment. Tell your father, word for word, everything that happened today. Tell him that although our Lord Isiha gave no firm answer, he nevertheless spoke highly of you. Go on — tell him exactly that."
Lee Go-nap-hap fell silent.
Ichigeo was ruthlessly dragging out into the open the very possibility he feared most — the possibility he had spent the entire day denying.
"In my judgment, your father has never studied the imperial art of talking in circles either. But he is a far sharper man than you, so he'll see through it at once. Well then — go and deliver the message. I'll take my leave. I have no wish to be the messenger who carries bad tidings straight into a fire pit."
No one opened their mouth.
Lee Go-nap-hap sank quietly into thought. Though people called him rash, he was no fool. In an instant, his father's final command flickered through his mind.
— Do not disappoint me this time.
Lee Go-nap-hap felt a chill run through his whole body. Can I actually return to Sorobirada like this? He had no confidence. Ichigeo — the man is insufferable, but what he says holds up well enough.
That was the conclusion he reached. Certainly, Isiha's silver tongue today had carried a suspicious stench about it. And one thing was certain: as it stood, this would not satisfy Lee Man-ju.
"Then what am I supposed to do?"
"Given how things stand, there is only one way left. That is, if you have the guts for it."
Damned Onyan whelp! This one has a real talent for needling people under the table too!
Lee Go-nap-hap flared up yet again. Olanggamokya asked in his place, "And what would that be?"
"Onyan Wol-yeong will appear at tomorrow's grand hunt. As I recall, the girl has just come of age."
"What? A woman joining the hunt?"
Lee Go-nap-hap shrugged in disbelief. Among the wild tribes, the hunt was the exclusive province of men — and doubly so for the Hurigai.
"I've never told a soul, but our elder brother has long suffered from a chronic ailment. A legacy of the wild way he lived in his youth."
As if reminiscing about those days, a faint smile brushed across Ichigeo's lips. That was when the bond between the two men had been closer than blood. In the next instant, the smile was gone.
"From what I hear, my brother's condition is not good these days."
"How do you know that?"
"I may have been driven out of Anchuunbugu, but I am still a member of the Onyan clan. News of the village finds its way to me one way or another." Ichigeo answered Lee Go-nap-hap's question coldly. "Recently, I learned what medicine my brother is taking these days. In my estimation, he certainly won't be receiving a seventieth-birthday feast — if he holds out another year or two, that will be doing well."
Lee Go-nap-hap and his men could not utter a word. Even Pushan Hadaru sat with his eyes stretched wide.
After a long silence, Lee Go-nap-hap spoke. "Is that true?"
"Now do you understand why your father is so desperate for you to take Wol-yeong right now? When Onyan Isiha dies, Wol-yeong will have no choice but to succeed him — and whoever becomes her husband becomes the chieftain. Head of the Onyan clan itself. And that opportunity is not far off. In any case, that isn't what matters..."
Ichigeo fixed Lee Go-nap-hap with a piercing gaze.
"I did not wish to resort to such methods either. But I thought it might be something I must do."
"Would it kill you to just say it?"
Lee Go-nap-hap snapped. Instead of answering, Ichigeo glanced briefly at Pushan Hadaru.
"Before I speak of the plan, I want only trustworthy men left in this room."
Lee Go-nap-hap swept a look around the room and nodded. "Irongha, Olanggamokya — you two stay. Everyone else, clear out."
Pushan Hadaru and the other men filed out one by one. With only four remaining, Lee Go-nap-hap asked again, "So. What exactly is this plan of yours?"
"Tomorrow, when the chance comes — abduct Wol-yeong."
A heavy silence descended. After a long pause, Lee Go-nap-hap let out a scoffing laugh.
"Are you mad? Have you lost your mind?"
"Why? Are you afraid?" Ichigeo answered with perfect calm. "I heard that within Jianzhou there isn't a woman you, Kunaha, couldn't plunder. I suppose that was all just talk."
"What did you say?"
Lee Go-nap-hap wanted nothing more than to strangle him on the spot.
"In my view, you'd be far better off carrying that only daughter away tied up than strutting back to Sorobirada in that splendid silk of yours to deliver a hollow message — Lord Isiha's fine words with nothing whatsoever behind them."
"Grr!"
Lee Go-nap-hap ground his teeth. But at the same time, Ichigeo's words did seem to have a point.
"And what if we're caught?"
"What kind of thief worries about being caught? That much you'll have to manage yourself. In any case, you can't take part in tomorrow's ceremonial hunt. Simply setting foot in the Sacred Forest is already a breach of taboo — what does one more sin amount to?"
"Fine. Say we steal the girl away without being seen. What then? Who answers for what comes after?"
"You stay behind and send your men back. There are plenty of bandits in Jianzhou — if it comes to it, pin it on their doing."
Lee Go-nap-hap mulled it over. "Ichigeo, if you planned for things to come to this... then you must have something in mind. You were one of these Anchuunbugu people, after all."
"I was. Let me see..."
Ichigeo considered for a moment.
"First — you can't bring all of your men. You'll need to handpick only the truly nimble ones."
"All thirty of the men I brought are the finest of the fine, every last one."
"Good. Then here is what we'll do. Strip off that silk and dress as any common hunter. The people here all know one another's faces well enough, but with five hundred souls in the village, a handful might yet slip through. Take ten men at most."
"Ten is more than enough to steal one woman," Irongha said with a smirk. They had long since mastered that particular trade.
But Lee Go-nap-hap was in no mood for laughter. Even the cautious Olanggamokya did not smile.
"Then... how, exactly, do you propose we find this Wol-yeong woman?"
"Doesn't that depend on your skill — and your luck?"
Ichigeo replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"The hunt will last the whole day, so search at your leisure. Any woman found in the Sacred Forest will be my niece. There's no risk of mistaking someone else. I'll hold my elder brother's attention in the meantime — see to the rest yourselves."
"...Fine."
"Then I'll retire for the night."
Onyan Ichigeo rose to his feet.
Once the four were alone, Olanggamokya turned to Lee Go-nap-hap and slowly shook his head.
"Dudu, this is too dangerous. Lord Ichigeo's words are no mere ravings, but... still."
"There doesn't seem to be another way. Or would you have us go back to Sorobirada like this — with nothing but a few barbed remarks to show for it?"
Lee Go-nap-hap's mind was already made up. Damn it all — what is there I can't do? He clenched his jaw.
"If that woman takes the field tomorrow, watch for your moment and take her. Irongha — you carry her back to Hwangseongpyeong."
"Just leave it to me."
Irongha grinned.
Olanggamokya still wore an uneasy expression. Lee Go-nap-hap smiled coldly.
"And if it comes to that, we drag that Ichigeo bastard along with us."