Three Years Until the Storm
"Good heavens, man, you have nerve! How on earth did you come to be in such a savage place?"
Park Paeng-nyeon and Seong Sam-mun were dumbfounded, and even Ha Wi-ji — a man who was never easily startled — could not hide the shock written across his face.
"I can understand Liaodong, where the Ming Regional Military Commission holds court. But the Yeoin and the Yain are uncivilized, lawless barbarians, are they not? However did you come to live among such people?"
"Yes, this fellow! I never took you for such a daredevil, but it seems your gallbladder has burst clean out of its sheath! How in the world did you survive in the midst of heathen savages? Was your life worth nothing to you?"
The three men clicked their tongues in disbelief.
Jeong Ho-chan merely smiled.
"That is what you all say. True, there are among them those who, having never attained enlightenment, remain less than civilized. But it is not so simple as that. You gentlemen have mastered the histories of antiquity and the present age, have you not? They may have fallen into decline since the days of the Yuan, but they are the descendants of heroes who once built a great empire. They are a people of fierce pride and profound self-regard."
"Well, there is that, I suppose."
Park Paeng-nyeon and his companions looked somewhat mollified.
Jeong Ho-chan's expression drifted into thought.
"That land, you know… it seems to possess something that forges strong, hardy souls. They may never have studied the teachings of the sages, but their spirit — that, I believe, holds lessons even for us."
"Hoho, my friend."
"Though I suppose even the sages themselves said there is something to be learned even from little children."
Ha Wi-ji and Seong Sam-mun shook their heads, laughing.
Seong Sam-mun spoke up.
"Hoho… well then. Wandering about as you have, did you find anything that opened your eyes?"
"I studied the Confucian classics thoroughly alongside you gentlemen, but I was ever hungry for the truth. After I left your company, I turned my gaze to the thought of the Buddhists and the Daoists as well. And more than that — I dabbled in the mystical arts."
"I beg your pardon — mystical arts?"
"Indeed. The very thing we Confucians dismiss as preternatural sorcery. Why, Insu, if your honored mother heard of it, she would strike me with lightning for forgetting the sages' command to shun the uncanny. Pray keep this strictly between us."
Gwiryŏngnansin — the unexplainable, the supernally strange. Confucian learning held such things to be utter nonsense.
Park Paeng-nyeon and the others were secretly astonished at how their old friend had changed after so long an absence.
"Hoho… well, well."
Park Paeng-nyeon studied his old friend's face for a long moment.
Come to think of it, there was something about his bearing now — something like a transcendent immortal who had risen above all worldly things.
After a considerable silence, Park Paeng-nyeon spoke again.
"The elders of your clan… do they know of all this?"
Jeong Ho-chan shook his head with a bitter smile.
"I imagine they have written me off as a lost son by now. I hear my cousin Mun-hyeong is the family's great hope these days."
"Yes — I know that your cousin Jeong Mun-hyeong passed the special civil examination this time."
At Seong Sam-mun's reply, Jeong Ho-chan nodded.
"Did he, now? Well, the boy does have talent worth using. He will make a fine pillar for the family, no doubt."
"Still, who could ever take your place? When a man like you stands apart from office, and the likes of us occupy the posts instead — it is rather an embarrassment, is it not?"
At Park Paeng-nyeon's words, Jeong Ho-chan smiled faintly and waved a hand in protest.
"Ah, you flatter me too much. Men like you, Geunbo, and Cheonjang are the true pillars of the state. How could a blockhead like myself dare to rank among them and hold office?"
At that, Ha Wi-ji laughed heartily.
"Now, now, enough of that. Excessive modesty is poison, my friend. Among the four of us, you were always the most brilliant. I know it, and every one of us knows it. Am I wrong?"
"He is quite right."
At the words of Ha Wi-ji, eldest among the four, Seong Sam-mun and Park Paeng-nyeon chorused their agreement.
Seong Sam-mun asked, "In any case — do you intend never to enter public service, then?"
"For now… I am occupied with other things. Not small ones, in their own way."
At Jeong Ho-chan's evasive answer, the three men tilted their heads in puzzlement.
"What could be greater than the path of officialdom?"
Jeong Ho-chan only smiled and said nothing more.
The other three found themselves at a loss, the conversation gone flat.
Seizing the pause, Park Paeng-nyeon turned the topic.
"Well, in any case, the nation will surely know peace and prosperity. His Majesty is a wise sovereign, and the Crown Prince, too, is a man of great virtue."
"Ah — that is precisely what I came to tell you about today."
Seong Sam-mun struck his knee.
Park Paeng-nyeon and Ha Wi-ji tilted their heads, uncomprehending, but Jeong Ho-chan alone had already guessed what was coming, and smiled.
"Brace yourselves, for it may astonish you. Today, you see…"
Seong Sam-mun's story was the very thing Jeong Ho-chan had witnessed with his own eyes that day — yet to the other two, it was truly staggering news.
Even after Seong Sam-mun had finished, Park Paeng-nyeon and Ha Wi-ji remained silent for a long while.
At last, Park Paeng-nyeon spoke.
"It is difficult to believe."
"I think so as well, Geunbo. Rumors are wild things by nature. Get three mouths telling the same tale, and they will conjure a tiger that never existed — or so they say."
"That may be, but—"
Just as Seong Sam-mun began to grow uneasy, Jeong Ho-chan, who had been listening quietly all the while, finally spoke.
"It is certainly hard to credit — but I saw that very scene with my own eyes, before I came to call on you all today."
"What? Ho-chan, you did?"
The three men cried out as one in astonishment.
Jeong Ho-chan nodded.
"There is a touch of exaggeration in it, but Geunbo is right — I saw it myself. Though I grant you, the part about the tiger fleeing the moment the Crown Prince struck him is pure embellishment. Still — that spirit, refusing to yield before a tiger. Where else in the world will you find that in a boy of eleven?"
"Yes, that is true enough."
Park Paeng-nyeon nodded again and again.
"I have long heard from Yi Cheong-bo the Uigyo that the Crown Prince is remarkably gifted. And since both I and old Beomong hold posts at the Gangseowon, we could hardly fail to know it."
Yi Cheong-bo was the courtesy name of Yi Gae, who served as tutor to Crown Prince Hong-wi; Beomong was none other than Sin Suk-ju.
In Joseon, once a crown prince or royal grandson had performed his admission rite at the Seonggyungwan, his education passed into the hands of the scholars of the Sigangwon and the Gangseowon.
Park Paeng-nyeon and Sin Suk-ju both held positions at the Gangseowon.
"We knew him to be brilliant — but to think he also possesses the courage to stand unflinching before a tiger. The future of this realm is truly bright. Would you not say so?"
"Indeed, it seems so."
At Seong Sam-mun's words, Park Paeng-nyeon and Ha Wi-ji nodded in agreement.
Only Jeong Ho-chan said nothing, quietly turning his wine cup in his hands.
Something about that sight troubled Park Paeng-nyeon.
"Is something weighing on your mind?"
"Hmm? No — no, not at all."
Jeong Ho-chan's answer was evasive.
The three men stared at him, unable to make sense of it.
"To tell the truth, the reason I have returned this time… is partly because I longed to see my old friends. But that is not all of it. I came bearing a message I had to deliver."
"A message?"
"I mentioned earlier that I had learned the mystical arts."
The three men exchanged glances, then nodded.
"I am a poor practitioner, but I have divined what the future holds — and within three years, a great calamity will strike the royal house. You gentlemen draw the state's stipend and your consciences are unbending; when that storm comes, you will not be able to evade it. I came because I fear for you."
"What on earth are you saying!"
Park Paeng-nyeon burst out, startled.
Who speaks such words with a sober mind?
Even the taciturn Ha Wi-ji set his face and added a word.
"That is going too far. Calamity, in this age of peace and plenty? Absurd."
"Yes, I too pray such a thing never comes to pass. And yet…"
Calm and unmoved by his friends' heated reactions, Jeong Ho-chan continued.
"But suppose, by some mischance, the worst should come… are you prepared to lay down your lives for the state — for the Crown Prince?"
"Of course. Why even ask?"
Park Paeng-nyeon's voice was resolute.
Seong Sam-mun and Ha Wi-ji nodded in turn.
Jeong Ho-chan let his gaze sweep slowly over the three of them, then closed his eyes.
It was as if he had known all along that this was exactly what they would say. And upon his face there lingered a sorrow that none of them could name.
"I thought as much."
And with that, Jeong Ho-chan fell silent.
The atmosphere grew awkward.
It was Park Paeng-nyeon, as host, who first broke the stillness.
"Then… well, say you are right, and calamity does come. What will you do? If we find ourselves cast into a pit of fire, will you simply stand by and watch?"
"I will not."
Jeong Ho-chan shook his head.
"I could never shoulder the state itself as you gentlemen do, as its great pillars. But in my own way… I intend to consider what I can do — not merely for this dynasty's altar of state, but for this country itself."
What in the world is he talking about now…
Park Paeng-nyeon and the others could not fathom him at all.
After a long pause, it was Seong Sam-mun who spoke this time.
"Even in our days as fellow students, no one could ever tell what you were thinking."
"Was I so opaque?"
Jeong Ho-chan smiled thinly and raised his cup to his lips.
Seong Sam-mun went on.
"But I know this much. Whatever we fail to grasp, your thoughts have never been ordinary. You were always the friend who saw through things before the rest of us could even glimpse them. Whatever it is you see — of one thing I am certain: it is no small matter."
"I think so as well."
"As do I."
At Seong Sam-mun's words, Park Paeng-nyeon and Ha Wi-ji agreed.
Jeong Ho-chan set down his cup and looked slowly from face to face.
As though he meant to carve each of those faces into his memory forever, he gazed at them for a long, long moment.
"Thank you. Your names, too, will surely be remembered for all the ages. Yes — surely."
There was something in Jeong Ho-chan's voice that rang strangely deep.
Sensing the mood turning heavy, Park Paeng-nyeon deliberately brightened his tone.
"Will you be staying in Hanyang for a while, then?"
"No… I leave tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?"
Seong Sam-mun cried out. Park Paeng-nyeon shook his head, and Ha Wi-ji furrowed his brow.
"Nearly twenty years apart, and this is all the heart you can muster?"
"There are things that demand it."
"Back to the barbarian lands, then?"
"That is part of it."
"Surely you don't intend to become another Gija in that land?"
Park Paeng-nyeon asked in a teasing tone.
Gija was the sage whom the scholars of Joseon believed had carried China's advanced civilization to the ancient Korean peninsula.
Jeong Ho-chan grinned and waved both hands in denial.
"Could a man like me attempt such a thing? If Heaven wills it, Heaven will raise up someone else for the task. It would take a born hero, riding the very Mandate of Heaven."
"Hoho, a born hero, you say."
Jeong Ho-chan wore a look of deep, unspoken meaning, and said no more.
Park Paeng-nyeon clapped his hands.
"We have strayed far afield. Come — for tonight, let us drink as though we had stepped back into the old days."
"By all means."
And the four men passed the wine cups round in high spirits.
Yet even amid the laughter, Park Paeng-nyeon kept watching Jeong Ho-chan. For all the merriment, Jeong Ho-chan's gaze seemed fixed somewhere far away, on something none of them could see.
Curiosity stirred in Park Paeng-nyeon's breast.
What on earth is this friend of mine foreseeing? Will the day come when we learn?
He had been an unfathomable friend from the very first days they had studied together.
In talent and learning alike, Jeong Ho-chan was the man whom even Park Paeng-nyeon himself — a prodigy who could have devoured this kingdom whole — and the likes of Seong Sam-mun and Ha Wi-ji had been compelled to concede a step to.
He might have risen to become the mightiest minister of a golden reign. Yet one day he had simply abandoned his studies and his prospects of office, and vanished without a word.
The next day, Jeong Ho-chan quietly packed his things.
Park Paeng-nyeon, who had drained a bowl of cold water the moment he rose, came out to see him off.
"Someday… we shall meet again. Will we not?"
"All things are but Heaven's decree."
Even Jeong Ho-chan, always so composed, wore an expression of quiet grief this once.
Park Paeng-nyeon nodded.
"No man can know the will of Heaven — but I pray we meet again. Until then, take good care of yourself."
"Thank you. Go back inside now."
Jeong Ho-chan bowed long and low, then turned and went down the road.
Park Paeng-nyeon watched the retreating figure of his old friend for a long while before at last turning away.
Waiting in the alley was Cha Gyeong-yeon.
"Did you get to exchange a few words with your old friends, my lord?"
"Yes. I did."
Jeong Ho-chan nodded, his face full of feeling.
"And how was it?"
"As I expected. If Suyang ever bares his fangs, those men are the very souls who will stand squarely in his path."
"I see."
Jeong Ho-chan bowed his head in silence.
"You know… if things had gone as originally intended — if the Cheosa had meant to hitch his fortune to Suyang and accomplish his purpose through him…"
"Then those friends of mine would have become my enemies. That is true enough."
Jeong Ho-chan smiled bitterly.
"Politics is that kind of business from the very start. Whether it is fortune or misfortune I cannot say, but Suyang seems to lack the vessel for such a task — while the Crown Prince, unexpectedly enough, turned out to be the genuine article…"
"Then does the Cheosa intend to shield the Crown Prince and accomplish his great design through him?"
"It is not that."
Jeong Ho-chan shook his head.
"The Crown Prince's countenance is indeed that of a hero — but it cannot happen as things stand. No: he must first be cast down into the abyss, and only then can he shake all the world."
"Then…"
"Yes. He must be dropped into the abyss — there is no other way. Argue it however you like, Suyang will see his will done in the end. And when that happens…"
Jeong Ho-chan's voice was sinking.
"…those friends of mine will be put to the sword. That is the men they are."
"Cheosa-nim."
Cha Gyeong-yeon gazed steadily at Jeong Ho-chan, his eyes distant with thought.
"Is there truly no way to spare them from becoming the sacrifice?"
"No matter what I do, those men will choose sacrifice of their own accord. Nothing can stop that. It is Heaven's decree, to be sure — but more than that, they have no intention of changing their own fate."
Cha Gyeong-yeon nodded slowly, as if he understood.
"In the end, those men are the kind who will choose to remain in history as righteous ministers… but in troubled times, the loyal and upright meet untimely deaths. Their deaths may yet become the foundation that opens the Crown Prince's eyes — and drives him to defy the Mandate of Heaven itself."
"…It has been some years now that I have served the Cheosa under orders from above, but this is the first time I have ever seen you so… sentimental."
"Is that so!"
Jeong Ho-chan, who had been murmuring half to himself, smiled wryly.
"Then I still have far to go. My teacher, Joeui Seonsa, taught me that a strategist who would move all the world must first harden his heart to ruthlessness — just as my great-grandfather cast off his own teacher and fellow disciples before him. Ahh! It must be so. I, too, must become so. But this pain — that I cannot help. And in time, this pain too, I shall grow accustomed to."
Jeong Ho-chan let out a long sigh.
The next instant, the light in his eyes had turned cold and clear once more.
"Let us go. There is much that must be prepared for what lies ahead."
"Yes, my lord."