Preliminary Schemes
While Hui-yeom was rushing to finish the construction of the State-run Ironworks, Hong Ilgon made for Kaifeng.
He intended to make advance arrangements regarding the mediator who would be dispatched from the Martial Alliance.
“Hong, my junior brother, if you go to the Martial Alliance, can you truly bring back a mediator who will give testimony favorable to our master?”
Baek Seon, a disciple of Songhak Jin-in who had come along as his escort, asked.
“Of course, senior brother. The Martial Alliance seeks to be the focal point and mediator of the orthodox martial world, does it not? They would never welcome a clash between the Sichuan Dang Family and the Qingcheng Sect escalating into open conflict.
And at the same time, the Martial Alliance has little interest in who the Sect Leader of Qingcheng may be.
As long as that person remains cooperative with the Alliance.”
“That also means, does it not, that even if someone other than our master takes the seat of Qingcheng’s Sect Leader, the Alliance would not care?”
“Precisely. Yet even if there were another who was cooperative with the Martial Alliance, from the Alliance’s perspective it is still more advantageous to keep our master in the Sect Leader’s seat.”
“And why is that?”
“Because it is an opportunity to place him in their debt. Between a man who owes the Martial Alliance nothing and a man who has received its aid—under otherwise equal circumstances, whom would they prefer?”
“I see. Understood.”
After that exchange, Baek Seon did not speak another word to Hong Ilgon.
He did not openly display contempt or resentment, yet the silence was thoroughly uncomfortable for Hong Ilgon all the same.
Damn it. This is what comes of sending only a single Crimson-Clad Sword Ghost…
By the time he had cursed Songhak Jin-in’s complacency a thousand times over in his heart, they finally arrived in Kaifeng.
And for the first time in nearly a month, Hong Ilgon heard Baek Seon’s voice again.
“Will you go straight to the Alliance? Whom do you mean to meet?”
“Protocol demands we first call upon the Qingcheng elder currently posted to the Alliance. We will share intelligence on the situation, and then, using both the elder’s connections and my own, we will begin winning over those involved in this affair.”
“Very well. It has been a long time since I last saw Baek Hyeon.”
“He was a disciple of the late Songhyeon Jin-in, was he not?”
“Indeed. That makes him your martial uncle.”
“I understand his relationship with our master is not a poor one.”
“Which is precisely why our master sent him to the Martial Alliance.”
The post existed to keep Qingcheng informed of the Alliance’s operational direction and to ensure that Qingcheng’s own views were properly advanced within it. Naturally, the man chosen would be someone the Sect Leader trusted completely.
Yet when Hong Ilgon met Daoist Baek Hyeon with that expectation, the elder’s words left him stunned.
“…I beg your pardon? What did you just say? That our master—no, that Songhak Jin-in—should step down?”
“Has he not already held the post long enough? Our martial great-uncle is one hundred and ten years old this year. He has already served as Qingcheng’s Sect Leader for thirty years.
The other seniors of the Song generation have either ascended or remain only to enjoy their remaining years in the Elder Council. How much longer must the Sect Leader alone endure such hardship?
It is time he yielded the seat for the sake of the younger generation and retired.”
Hong Ilgon swallowed dryly.
The man he had counted on as his strongest ally had flipped his palm and revealed this attitude? From the very outset, the entire affair already felt tangled beyond repair.
Baek Seon spoke.
“Baek Hyeon. You are not entertaining some foolish notion, are you?”
“A foolish notion?”
“You mean to use this incident as a pretext to force your way in and become Sect Leader of Qingcheng yourself?”
Hong Ilgon’s mind snapped into sharp focus.
This affair was an opportunity for the Martial Alliance to place Qingcheng deeply in its debt while simultaneously fastening a leash around the sect’s neck. That was why he had been confident he could negotiate with them.
Yet from the Alliance’s perspective, there was another way to fasten that leash—one that did not require protecting a compromised Songhak Jin-in.
But… no, surely not…!
Under Hong Ilgon’s incredulous stare, Baek Seon spoke in his characteristic flat tone and expressionless voice.
“Installing a Qingcheng elder who has long worked within the Martial Alliance—and who is thoroughly pro-Alliance in inclination—as Sect Leader would produce a far more obedient Qingcheng than simply keeping our master in the seat.
So. Do you intend to become Sect Leader?”
“Heh… well now.”
Baek Hyeon let out a dry laugh, then hardened his expression and asked,
“And if I do, senior brother? What then?”
“I will help you.”
“What?!”
“Oh-ho…”
While Hong Ilgon reeled in shock, Baek Hyeon narrowed his eyes as though he had half expected this all along.
“I half-suspected as much. After all, there was little chance you would deliberately come all this way merely to prop up a martial great-uncle who is already a kite with a broken string.
Even so, I did not think you would actually go this far.”
“Thirty years is far too long to remain crushed beneath another man’s shadow.”
Baek Seon spoke with flat calm.
“How many of the Baek generation, and how many of the Il generation, have grown old as ordinary disciples without ever seeing the light of day?
Our master is like a pine tree.
From a distance, the prosperity he brought Qingcheng stands as majestic as an ancient pine.
Yet the reason the pine is never counted among the Four Gentlemen is that it poisons the soil at its roots so that no other tree may grow in its shade.
I am simply tired of living beneath that pine’s shadow.”
“….”
“You yourself applied for the Martial Alliance posting with the same thought in mind, did you not?”
“…I did. Had I remained at Qingcheng, I would likely have become nothing more than a hollow elder with no real authority.”
Daoist Baek Hyeon’s gaze deepened.
“So. Hearing you speak of betraying our master to my face, I can only conclude you arrived with a plan already formed.
Senior brother—what do you intend to do?”
“And you, making no effort to hide your ambition, must already have a plan of your own—or rather, one already partially underway.”
“And if I do?”
“I will support your design. Six of Qingcheng’s elders stand with me. Using them, I will lock down the interior of the sect so that you may take the Sect Leader’s seat.”
“That is a most tempting proposal. Thanks to our martial great-uncle, I have spent my life outside the sect, and my internal foundation is weak… What are your terms?”
“Give me the post of Finance Pavilion Master.”
“Hmm. The Finance Pavilion…”
Baek Hyeon gave a short laugh.
“It seems we shall have to rely on each other a great deal from now on, senior brother.”
“Is it not ideal for the Finance Pavilion Master and the Sect Leader to be on close terms?”
In an instant the two aged Taoists had reached an accord, and their gazes flowed as naturally as water toward Hong Ilgon.
“Junior brother Hong. You have heard everything. What will you do?”
Hong Ilgon felt as though his breath had been cut off.
I underestimated them.
He had been an elder of the Sichuan Dang Family, yet he was a merchant more than a martial artist. Having survived the cutthroat struggles for profit among merchants, he had believed he could roll a few stiff-minded Taoists around on his palm as he pleased.
Yet the Taoists of Qingcheng were far more terrifying than he had imagined.
To conceal their lust for power for decades while supporting their master, only to betray him without a moment’s hesitation the instant opportunity appears… What depths of calculation are these?
Songhak Jin-in would never dream that his loyal Baek Seon would turn against him. And Baek Seon had volunteered as Hong Ilgon’s escort from the very beginning with precisely this end in mind.
In those clear eyes fixed upon him, Hong Ilgon for the first time read the fierce, burning hunger that lay beneath.
Ah—this is no time to stand idle.
He rapidly ordered his thoughts. The conclusion came at once.
“If there is no longer any need to protect our master, the matter becomes far simpler. I believe I can be of use.”
“I like a man who grasps the situation quickly.”
Baek Hyeon grinned.
“You must have something you want in return?”
“…I can no longer return to the Sichuan Dang Family. And it would be absurd for someone never known as a Qingcheng disciple to demand a seat within the sect itself.”
“That is…”
“Instead, employ the kinsmen and merchants under my command within Qingcheng.”
Baek Hyeon’s eyes narrowed.
“You wish to seize Qingcheng’s commercial interests?”
“Yes.”
“There are already merchant houses working for Qingcheng. Why should I need yours?”
“I am not asking you to cast them out. That would only damage Qingcheng’s face and create chaos. I ask only that you accept me and my merchant houses.”
“Is that all?”
“No. After that, should ‘certain incidents’ occur among the merchant houses under Qingcheng’s banner, simply look the other way. Quietly replace a few heads, and the houses will fall into my hands of their own accord.”
“Ah. I understand perfectly.”
Baek Hyeon would install Baek Seon as Finance Pavilion Master; Baek Seon, in that capacity, would exert influence over the merchant houses under Qingcheng; and Hong Ilgon would enter beneath them.
It was not merely a merchant’s calculation of profit—it was a clear declaration that he would firmly take his place as their subordinate. Baek Hyeon grinned at the words.
Hong Ilgon was saying that once he was accepted into the merchant houses, he would use assassins to eliminate his rivals and seize control. And Baek Hyeon, hearing this, was smiling as if to say, “That much I can allow.”
The mere fact that these men were elders of the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Nine Great Noble Families—the very pinnacle of the orthodox martial world—was enough to send a chill down the spine.
“Well, it is difficult for Qingcheng to know everything that happens inside a merchant house, is it not? And once the Sect Leader has changed, there will be more than enough problems piled up already.”
With that, Baek Hyeon gave his assent.
“My thanks.”
“Still, that alone leaves a bit of change on the table, does it not?”
“…Is there something further you desire?”
“Twenty percent.”
“….”
“Hand over twenty percent of the merchant houses’ operating profits to myself and senior brother Baek Seon—ten percent each.”
They meant to keep a private purse.
At this escalating demand Hong Ilgon felt the urge to click his tongue. Laundering the funds and delivering them would not be difficult. Taoists did not live on dew alone, so their desire for a secret fund was understandable.
But twenty percent of the profits?
Highway robbers…
His teeth ground together of their own accord, yet he was already astride a tiger and could not dismount. All Hong Ilgon could do was bow deeply at the waist to hide his expression.
“It shall be so.”
“How fortunate that I have a junior brother who understands what is said to him. Haha!”
Only then did Baek Hyeon break into a broad smile.
“For senior brother and junior brother to come from so far and bring such glad tidings makes this a day of celebration.
On such a day, how can we not share a cup? Would you not agree, senior brother?”
“Indeed. Is there a fine wine house in Kaifeng?”
“Come now, senior brother—we are Taoists. What talk is this of a wine house? Let us go to a tea house that serves the finest grain liquor.
This junior brother will show you the best grain liquor Kaifeng has to offer.”
“Haha, very well. Let us drink to the bright future of Qingcheng.”
And so Songhak Jin-in’s fate was sealed—by the betrayal of the disciple he had trusted absolutely, and by the martial nephew he had placed in a key post as one of his own men.
Having caught the current, Hong Ilgon clicked the abacus of his mind at a furious pace, already busy redrawing the selection of the Martial Alliance’s mediator.
“We must still exert influence over the selection of the Martial Alliance’s mediator. I shall have to reconsider whom we meet.”
“As for that, I already have arrangements in place. Starting tomorrow, we shall make the rounds together, junior brother Hong.”
Of course. If the man had planned this far, he would naturally have prepared that side of things as well.
…Fine. This is not how I end, Dang Hui-yeom.
Hong Ilgon ground his teeth.
Just wait. I will return with the full weight of Qingcheng’s merchant houses behind me and face you head-on. I will bring the Sichuan Dang Family to utter ruin!
Thus Hong Ilgon swore in stubborn pride, still unable to acknowledge the gulf in ability between himself and Hui-yeom.
What fruit that oath would bear remained to be seen.