The Name That Turned Faces Pale
"To be sure, Grand Chieftain Onyan Isiha is hardly a man to sit idle — but he has grown quite old these days, and illness has been wearing him down. There is also the matter of an heir. He has no son to succeed him. He had one, but the boy died young, and all that remains is a single daughter. Beyond her there is only a half-brother, a man called Ichigeo."
"You mean he is anguished over the question of succession?"
"Not exactly — though by our customs, a woman cannot inherit a chieftain's seat. And here is the trouble: Lee Man-ju has been demanding for years now that his eldest son, the Kunaha, be wed to the old man's daughter."
Chahar's face twisted with disgust.
"Why he wants it is obvious enough, isn't it? He means to graft the prestige of the Onyan clan onto his own house — and while he's at it, swallow the whole Onyan lineage into the Hurigai. The elder knows the scheme as well as anyone. The problem is that he is already well along in years, and that half-brother of his happens to be on friendly terms with Lee Man-ju. He's been saying openly that we must not make an enemy of Man-ju."
"Kunaha... you mean Lee Go-nap-hap."
Hong-wi recalled the reports he had once received on Lee Man-ju's family line, back in the days when he was King of Joseon.
The barbarians — and the forces of Lee Man-ju in particular — had always been a thorn in Joseon's side, and intelligence on the man had been compiled in detail all the way up to the king himself.
Go-nap-hap — Kunaha, in the Jurchen tongue — was Lee Man-ju's eldest son.
"That's the one. And since we're on the subject, I'll say this: setting aside Lee Man-ju's foul intentions, that Kunaha is no man an father with a daughter should take for a son-in-law. He's the most notorious libertine in all of Jianzhou — they call him a lust-mad stallion. Who could warm to that? The fellow is well past thirty, besides."
"A vile creature, then."
Hong-wi had to agree. The intelligence reports had contained nothing of the sort. No doubt the court had judged it too trivial, and too indecent, to put before the throne.
Chahar clicked his tongue and went on.
"The elder neither accepted nor refused the marriage proposal. To refuse would be to spit openly in Lee Man-ju's face, and he could hardly consent either. But because Man-ju's offer came first, not a single chieftain from Jianzhou, or even Moryeonwi or Haeshi Guard, has dared propose marriage to Grand Chieftain Onyan Isiha. Were he to secure a solid marriage alliance in such a climate, nothing could comfort the old man more. In truth, I suspect his health's decline of late stems from this very matter."
"Then there is no way to save Ban Village."
Hong-wi thought of the young man — no, hardly more than a boy — he had met earlier. Ban Da-hong. They might well have been the same age.
Chahar pressed his hands to his temples in evident anguish.
"I have treated that boy as my own flesh and blood since the day he was born. I have spent more years at his father's side than the boy has been alive, and I have passed through Ban Village countless times. They are good people. That such people should die so horribly — it cannot be. And yet..."
Chahar bit his lip.
"I have people of my own to think of. I have just lived to see a grandchild born. Still a little one."
"I understand, Elder. No one could reproach you."
"Ban Da-hong will see it differently, young as he is."
Chahar shut his mouth firmly.
Hong-wi found himself with nothing to say either. To ask for help against an enemy as formidable as Lee Man-ju was, in effect, to demand that Chahar join him in a shared suicide. It was only natural for Chahar to refuse Ban Da-hong's plea; the request itself had been an unreasonable one.
And yet Ban Da-hong's desperation was just as real. With his father and his entire clan facing slaughter, what else was there for him to see? Moreover, by Jurchen custom, to withhold aid from a friend in need — worse, from a sworn brother with his very life on the line — was a grave discourtesy, the kind of thing men reviled you for long after.
Neither man could help his position, but Chahar's heart was heavy beyond words.
"If you will forgive me, I must withdraw for now. I need to deliberate with the village elders over this affair."
"Of course."
The banquet thus dissolved amid an awkward atmosphere.
Once the meal had been cleared away, Hong-wi's party gathered outside.
Ho-in spoke first.
"So it's true what they say — the day you choose to travel turns out to be market day. We've poked our heads straight into a tiger's den."
"Thinking back on it, it did strike me as odd. Pushan Hadaru would never have handed over such a lucrative honey pot without a fight. Now I know why."
Cha Gyeong-yeon agreed. It made sense, on reflection. With sable pelts worth that much at stake, merchants — men whose eyes blazed at the mere scent of profit, however long and treacherous the road — would never have simply kept their distance and watched. There had to be a reason they stayed away.
Hong-wi nodded.
"We had little choice in the matter."
"What will you do, Your Majesty? Ordinarily we would need to make the rounds of the entire Sahalcha region, but... the situation here seems far from favorable."
Cha Gyeong-yeon asked, and Ho-in chimed in.
"The gains we can secure here in Tumute Village alone should be ample reward. Let us turn back for now."
"If all I wanted was to collect profit and go home, yes. But I wish to understand the circumstances of this place more fully."
"We could be dragged into a fight that is none of ours," Ho-in said worriedly.
From everything they had heard, war between Ban Village and Lee Man-ju's forces was now unavoidable. It would be one village against the whole of the Jianzhou Guard — surely a one-sided affair — but there was no telling where the sparks might fly.
"That may be so... You know the ways of the Jurchens well. What can you tell me about this Onyan Isiha?"
"I can't claim to know him well. Only rumors. But the rumors say that all the Jurchens — here in Jianzhou, in Moryeonwi to the east, in Haeshi Guard to the north — look up to him without exception."
"Really? I've never heard of him."
Hong-wi tilted his head. Joseon had maintained a superb intelligence network on the Jurchen tribes of Jianzhou, and even as king he had received fairly detailed reports on them. Yet he had known nothing — not of Onyan Isiha, nor even of the Onyan clan.
"That's precisely how cautious he has been. Remember, his people survived even when the Mongols slaughtered the Jin imperial family down to the last seedling. And the Jurchens themselves hold the Onyan clan in the highest reverence."
Then it made sense.
"The rumors also say he is not on good terms with Lee Man-ju."
"So Chahar said. I can see why. A rolling stone set against a bedded stone — and a bedded stone that is an imperial scion with authority and legitimacy."
"It is not only Man-ju. Tungshan and Panchya, too, fear him in their hearts. If fortune favored him, they believe he might be the one to unify Jianzhou and rebuild a nation for the Jurchen people."
Ho-in cleared his throat awkwardly. To him, Hong-wi was the one and only king.
"Yes, well... go on. Tell me everything you know."
"From what I have heard, Onyan Isiha himself was renowned as a hero in his youth. Even Mengga-jeopmoka of the distant north — Mengtemu, that is — rated him very highly. He never studied letters formally, yet he is versed in the histories old and new, deep in knowledge and impartial toward every faction. When the various chieftains of Jianzhou meet with some difficult matter, they invariably go to him for counsel. That is why neither Lee Man-ju nor Tungshan can treat him lightly."
"I see it clearly."
Hong-wi wore a thoughtful look.
"I find I would like to meet this man myself."
"You will have the chance, I'm sure."
Cha Gyeong-yeon smiled faintly.
"Anchunbugu, was it called? Do you know where it lies?"
"I do not. I imagine the whereabouts of Anchunbugu is the one secret the Jurchens will never reveal to outsiders, clan or no."
"Hmm. Perhaps—"
Hong-wi was about to say more when a sudden commotion broke out.
Turning, his party saw Ban Da-hong being held back by the villagers in front of the chieftain's house. His face was flushed scarlet.
"Isn't that the young man from before?" Ho-in said.
"Yes — Ban Da-hong. What on earth has happened now?"
Hong-wi could not make sense of it either. As they watched, Chieftain Chahar emerged from the house.
"What is this, Ban Da-hong? I told you to wait for me."
"Uncle!"
Ban Da-hong cried out, fists clenched.
"Lee Man-ju has sent an army — with Biriherimdon leading it in person!"
"What did you say?"
At those words, the color drained from every face around them.
"Biriherimdon..."
Hong-wi looked around. The people seemed more stunned by that name than by the news that Lee Man-ju had sent troops at all. Even Chieftain Chahar himself looked shaken.
"Is that true?" Chahar murmured, hollow-voiced. "They sent Biriherimdon — the Zhihui of the Jianzhou Guard?"
"Uncle!"
Ban Da-hong shouted as though coughing up blood.
"If Lee Man-ju has sent Biriherimdon, then my village is finished, there and then! You know this! I beg you — do not betray the sworn bond you made with my father! If you rise, all of Sahalcha will rise with you. And then—"
"Ban Da-hong..."
The young man fell silent.
Chahar let out a long, heavy groan.
"I know the situation well enough. But I have people I must protect too."
"Uncle!"
Ban Da-hong cried out.
"If we fall today, who will it be tomorrow?"
Chahar lowered his head, stricken. The village elders who had come out with him also averted their eyes from Ban Da-hong's gaze.
Ban Da-hong swept his eyes slowly over them all. For a moment his gaze met Hong-wi's, but he quickly looked away.
"...I understand. Forgive me for asking the impossible. I will go back."
"What will you do, Ban Da-hong?" Chahar asked, his voice dried out and harsh.
"Even now, you could flee to Anchunbugu—"
"Even if I set out for Anchunbugu now, it would already be too late. I will return to my village and protect my mother and my siblings. I have imposed on you greatly, Uncle."
Ban Da-hong bowed, then turned on his heel and walked out. The villagers shuffled aside to clear a path for him.
Chahar seemed about to call after him, but the words died in his mouth. Hong-wi watched the young man's retreating back for a long while.
"Let us go inside."
"Mm."
At Ho-in's prompting, Hong-wi nodded. Tumute Village greeted that night under a heavy pall.
The next day, Chieftain Chahar had just called Hong-wi's party together to discuss the sable harvest when a man approached.
"A messenger has come from the Jianzhou Guard."
"From the Jianzhou Guard?"
Chahar flinched, but answered quickly. "Show him in."
"That is... he says he will wait at the village entrance."
"What?"
At those words, not only Chahar but the elders stirred with indignation. For a mere messenger to demand that the chieftain come out to him was the height of insolence.
Chahar's mood turned very sour indeed, but in the end he nodded. "I will come shortly."
By the time they arrived, the people of Tumute Village had already gathered like rolling clouds. Hong-wi's party slipped in among them.
"What brings you? The tribute the Dudu demanded of us this season was paid without fail."
Chahar, already beset by worry, kept his voice low and level.
"Indeed, and the Dudu is most grateful. So long as you continue to follow the Dudu's will, nothing ill will befall this village."
The messenger's tone dripped with arrogance.
"The matter I have come to deliver is this: you are to come to Ban Village by the day after tomorrow."
"To Ban Village? For what reason?"
The messenger answered with the bored air of a man asked a question too foolish to merit response.
"To show you what end awaits those who defy the Dudu."
"Defiance, is it."
That was all Chahar said. Rebuttals lay thick upon his tongue, but what use was arguing with one of Lee Man-ju's errand boys? It would only hand them a pretext. At length Chahar drew a long, slow breath.
"Must we come? We have guests in the village at present—"
"The Dudu's will is that you come without fail," the messenger said coldly. He fixed Chahar with expressionless eyes. "You would not think of crossing his will, I trust."
An awkward silence stretched between them. In the end, Chahar yielded.
"Our Tumute clan has no intention of defying the Dudu's will — and so long as the Dudu treats our clan generously, we never shall."
Chahar put particular weight on the word generously.
"Well spoken."
The messenger nodded, then turned to go.
"Wait... and what of them?"
"Them? To whom do you refer?"
Though he surely knew the answer full well, the messenger made a show of asking again.
"The people of Ban Village. They—"
"They will receive the punishment due to those who defy the Dudu. You will see it for yourself soon enough."
With that parting shot, the messenger swung up onto his horse and rejoined his companions. Under the watching eyes of the people of Tumute Village, they vanished down the road like the wind.
Chahar gazed after their receding backs for a long moment, then turned to the elders. Not one of them could hide their grief-stricken faces.
"Two days, then... we must hurry and make preparations."
"The man's purpose is to send a warning across all of Sahalcha," one elder said.
"That will be it."
Chahar nodded his agreement, and his gaze came to rest on Hong-wi.
"Lord Temusi'i, with matters standing as they do, Nikari here will go on the sable hunt in my place."
"Elder — if it is no intrusion, might I go to Ban Village as well?"
"Heh?"
Chahar's eyebrows shot up at Hong-wi's reply.
"It is not a sight one shows to an outsider."
"I know. But I wish to see it for myself. I will leave my men behind for the sable hunt."
Chahar studied Hong-wi in silence for a long while. At last, he nodded.
"Do as you will."
He hurried away with the elders in tow.
Ho-in spoke up.
"Your Majesty."
His voice was grave and low.