Hainan Sect, The Banquet of Yingtian (5)

"Young eunuchs conspired to pin false charges on the common people?"

Zheng He and the eunuchs were a hair-trigger from detonating — one touch and the whole thing would blow. They looked ready to go to war with Hainan then and there.

"Hainan drove a blade into a palace eunuch's body. That is no different from driving a blade into this official and all ten thousand eunuchs."

Struck by that razor-edged killing intent, Geum Jong-mu judged Hainan's fate to be a candle in the wind, and stepped forward.

"Your Excellency! Hainan has never slighted the eunuchs, nor has it ever harbored even the faintest thought of doing so! To persecute us like this is an injustice!"

"Your Excellency? Are you calling this official 'Your Excellency'? That title belongs to the Commander-in-Chief over there. This official is merely a lowly castrate."

Zheng He's words had been honed to a killing edge, his temper twisted past all endurance. Even after hearing Gongsun Dajing's testimony, Geum Jong-mu and Hainan were still arguing that Jin Myeong and Jeong Go had conspired together — and Zheng He felt a violent fury at that. It was tantamount to accusing the eunuchs of banding together to oppress ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠innocent commoners.

"Gonggong!"

"Yi Gwak, Senior Superintendent Overseer!"

Zheng He ignored Geum Jong-mu's cry and called for Yi Gwak.

"Yes! Gonggong!"

"What is the punishment for attempting to murder an official?"

"He who plots murder is beheaded. He who participates and renders aid is hanged. He who participates but provides no ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠aid receives one hundred strokes of the cane! Gonggong!"

"Commander-in-Chief! Must we lowly castrates wait any longer?"

The moment Yi Gwak finished, Zheng He turned to Sa Hapji.

In official rank, Sa Hapji was a full second-grade and Zheng He a full fourth-grade — but in actual power, Zheng He stood far above him. Sa Hapji's authority was nothing to sneeze at, yet Zheng He had served the Yongle Emperor since his days as the Prince of Yan, a confidant among confidants. He had already crossed the seas five times, raising the nation's prestige, establishing tributary relationships, and receiving tribute — duties of the highest order. Moreover, he was the supreme head of the Twenty-Four Directorates, which managed everything the imperial family ate, slept, and excreted. There was no one who could stand against Zheng He's prestige.

"Gongsun Dajing, Qianhu of the Jinyiwei — receive your orders!"

"This subordinate obeys!"

Gongsun Dajing dropped to his knees at once. At his crisp, disciplined movement, the Jinyiwei guards around him squared their shoulders.

"Imprison Nam Geonhu and Geum Hwayeong. We shall report to His Imperial Majesty and choose a day for their beheading."

"Loyalty!"

The moment he received the order, Gongsun Dajing was ready to drag Nam Geonhu and Geum Hwayeong away. A true military officer raised in the Jinyiwei, Gongsun Dajing neither questioned nor hesitated at a superior's command. Even if ordered to take his own life on the spot, he was the kind of man who would do it gladly.

At that moment—

"Your Excellency! Gonggong! Do you truly mean to do this?!"

Geum Jong-mu, unable to hold back any longer, exploded. And why wouldn't he? His granddaughter's life hung by a thread.

"I must seek another audience with His Majesty. All under heaven know that Hainan has served with loyalty since the days when the Hongwu Emperor founded this dynasty — how can this be happening?! Do you know that Geum Hwayeong is my own granddaughter, and Nam Geonhu the son of my chief disciple — and still you do this?!"

With nowhere left to retreat, Geum Jong-mu had burned his bridges. He would go to the Yongle Emperor.

When the Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang reclaimed Guangxi and Guangdong from the Yuan — and especially in the fourteenth year of Hongwu, when only Liaodong in the northeast and Yunnan in the southwest remained — Hainan had joined the three-hundred-thousand-strong army of General Fu Youde, the Pacifier of the South, and thrown everything into the fight, earning illustrious merit in the fall of Kunming, Yunnan's great capital. For more than sixty years since, they had guarded the seas and people of Hainan Island and aided the navy. And now, on the strength of a few officials' words, flesh and blood more precious than gold had been saddled with the crime of plotting to murder an official. How could he not feel wronged?

Do these people even know how much blood Hainan has shed over eighty years?

And was it not only natural that an expelled disciple would harbor a grudge against Hainan? Moreover — though he could not say it outright — who knew what those young eunuchs had cooked up among themselves? How was he supposed to believe the words of Go Jeong-un, who had committed a crime, been expelled, and nursed a grudge — let alone those of the eunuch close to him?

"Does this sect not know how much blood it has shed for the dynasty and the imperial house, from the Hongwu Emperor down to the Yongle Emperor — and still you do this?!"

That was common sense. Yet Sa Hapji and Zheng He, as the saying went, had arms that bent inward — they trusted the young eunuchs absolutely, and were raging as if Hainan's guilt were already proven, ready to behead his granddaughter and grand-disciple. He could only regret that the sect's main mountain lay four thousand li away.

"Every disciple of Hainan will follow the Sect Leader."

Nam Yeonghak, equally on the verge of losing his son, flared his aura with the resolve to lay down his life here if it came to that. The confrontation between the eunuch brotherhood and Hainan had become a clash of unyielding force against unyielding force.

"Chief Disciple Nam Yeonghak — return to the arena at once, lead every disciple, and assemble before Xi'an Gate. Lay down your swords and bind white cloths across your brows! I shall submit a memorial to His Imperial Majesty!"

"Disciple Nam Yeonghak receives the Sect Leader's command."

Geum Jong-mu, resolved that they could be pushed no further, drove in the wedge. By ordering them to lay down their swords and bind white headbands, he preemptively cut off any chance ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of being branded rebels or conspirators. It was, indeed, a move worthy of a sect leader.

But it was nowhere near enough for eunuchs who had already set their minds on seeing blood.

Zheng He stepped forward with a look of utter contempt.

The eunuchs in the hall answered as one. And in the same breath, they straightened the waists and shoulders they had always kept bent. For an instant, the hall felt packed to bursting.

Then they revealed the two hands they had kept neatly clasped inside their sleeves, ten fingers each aimed at the Hainan disciples.

"The eunuch brotherhood has been reduced to a tribe of thugs who do nothing but conspire. If we do not set this right today, there is no reason to go on living!"

"Those who scorn our brotherhood — kill them all! Kill them, and kill them again!"

Yi Gwak, the Senior Superintendent Overseer, alone was a castrate who could go toe-to-toe with Geum Jong-mu — and now the rest of the Grand Eunuchs had come swarming in as well. Unless Geum Jong-mu achieved a sudden enlightenment and reached the Transformation Realm this very instant, Hainan's defeat was certain. They would not leave with their lives. The situation stood, quite literally, a single step from catastrophe.

At that very moment—

"Jang Jinmyeong, Jeonbu of the Directorate of Ceremonial, has a request for the Grand Director."

Jin Myeong stepped forward without warning. Everyone who had been gathering their true qi as if they were about to collide turned as one. Every face wore a look of puzzlement.

"Speak."

"The guilty of Hainan carry themselves with such towering arrogance. As the Grand Director has said, today we must establish the law of the dynasty and the government. Therefore—"

"Therefore?"

"Let us make a wager. If we are going to see blood anyway, why not wager on it? Hainan has challenged the stronghold of our brotherhood — let us crush them."

Bewilderment spread across people's faces, as if to ask what kind of nonsense this was, all of a sudden. A wager? A wager, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of all things?

But the eunuchs were different. Those who roughly grasped what Jin Myeong was driving at found smiles spreading across their faces.

"A wager, you say?"

"Yes, Gonggong! From the look of it, Hainan is staking the very survival of their sect as the pot. I say we see blood in their fashion. What kind of life is it without a wager?"

"Oho... And so? What are the stakes on each side?"

Zheng He's sudden interest made it plain: the castrates of the palace were demons of betting and gambling. The words Jin Myeong had tacked on at the end compressed the eunuchs' entire psychology regarding wagers.

What kind of life was it without a wager?

From fourth-grade Grand Eunuchs down to ninth-grade clerks, the eunuchs spent every spare hour gambling. With lust that could not be properly satisfied, pleasures like betting and gambling had filled the vacancy. The eunuchs who had been pouring Sun Moon True Qi into both hands now swarmed in front of Jin Myeong as if none of that had ever happened.

Just imagining it was thrilling. This would be a wager with the other side's lives on the line. Most things in the world grew tedious with time — but never a wager. A wager was always new, always electric.

The two Grand Eunuchs seeing Jin Myeong for the first time today were wholly absorbed in their sound transmissions.

"It should be all or nothing. If our brotherhood loses, we treat it as if it never happened."

"And if they lose?"

"Nam Geonhu, who stabbed a palace eunuch, is to be castrated, and together with Geum Hwayeong he becomes a government slave."

From Hainan's standpoint, it was a humiliation worse than beheading. Castration and slavery.

"If we simply behead them, wouldn't that actually be a lenient sentence? They ought to be put to work for the state."

In truth, Jin Myeong had expected the situation to unfold this way from the start. Put bluntly, how many people would sit still when their own flesh and blood were about to take a long journey at the executioner's blade? Moreover, the Hainan Sect had been rooted in the mid-slopes of Wuzhi Mountain on Hainan Island for centuries. The livelihoods bound up with them, directly and indirectly, were hardly one or two. Wipe the Hainan Sect from the map, and that vacuum would fall squarely on the state and the common people. Geum Jong-mu and Hainan were coming out like this because they were counting on exactly that.

"Oho... That's still a loss for the brotherhood. Even if we win, we only break even."

Nam Geonhu and Geum Hwayeong were already dead men walking. To wager over lives already forfeit and come away with a castrate and a slave-girl was a losing trade.

"Quite so. Which is why there is one more thing."

"What is it? Out with it, quickly."

Zheng He was thoroughly worked up now. So were the rest of the Grand Eunuchs. They fidgeted with rising excitement.

And then Jin Myeong laid down a card that could rip out Hainan's very foundation.

"If Hainan loses, we also reclaim the Guangxi salt license — and hand it to the Guangdong Jin Clan. How does that sound?"

The Guangxi salt license. The monopoly rights over salt produced in Guangxi Province, which sat against the sea. Of all the interests the Hainan Sect held, this was the greatest. If they lost the Guangxi salt monopoly, Hainan would not merely fail to unseat one of the Nine Great Sects — the odds were nine in ten they would fall to a mid-sized or minor sect. And the Guangdong Jin Clan was a family competing with the Hainan Sect for hegemony across the entire southwest. There was no pot more valuable than this.

"What? O-hong-hong-hong!"

Zheng He's eyes flew wide, and then he burst into a thoroughly delighted laugh, clutching his belly and cackling as if nothing in the world could be more enjoyable. It was the peculiar temperament of eunuchs, who regarded face before pleasure as worth less than the dirt under a fingernail.

"This'll be fun — this'll be a good time! Hmm? Am I wrong? What do the Grand Eunuchs think?"

The eunuchs answered Zheng He as one, as if they had rehearsed it. A eunuch, after all — what kind of life was it without a wager?

Once word spread, all ten thousand castrates would throw themselves onto the betting floor. Who would represent the brotherhood, in how many exchanges the win would come, with what martial art, whether sword-qi would be used, whether blood would be drawn — the lot of it. Even Hyundo, currently disguised as a eunuch in the Imperial Stables, would get swept into the wagering against his will, and there was a ten-in-ten chance he would drop his horse-dung shovel to sit there calculating the odds.

"That's right — what kind of life is it without a wager! Sect Leader Geum, what do you say? Care to try a wager with us lowly castrates? Hainan's only path to survival is to win this bet. Even if you submit a memorial to His Imperial Majesty, Nam Geonhu and Geum Hwayeong are dead men. This castrate has at least that much ability. O-hong-hong-hong!"

Zheng He felt a deep pleasure as he mocked Geum Jong-mu and the Hainan disciples, who were trembling so hard they could not even speak. And he recognized that Jin Myeong, who had gifted him that pleasure, was a treasure the brotherhood would not see twice. Looking at today alone, was he not a hundred times, a thousand times better than some seasoned old eunuch? Sharp, with instinct and knack besides — and he even knew how to garnish his work with a little pleasure. Was there a greater eunuch under heaven than this? He was the best. Had there been a day this enjoyable in years?

Zheng He turned to Yi Gwak with a thoroughly satisfied expression.

"Senior Superintendent Overseer Yi Gwak."

"Yes! Gonggong!"

"Excluding those inner attendants currently serving the imperial family — summon every last eunuch designated as a Depot Guard. Not one is to be missed."

"Yes! I shall summon the Depot Guards. Gonggong!"

The Depot Guards Zheng He and Yi Gwak had named were the inaugural members of the Eastern Depot, to be founded next spring. The finest masters among the eunuchs of every age. The castrates who would, before long, hold the imperial palace and the Central Plains in their grip.

Nam Geonhu. Geum Hwayeong.

Didn't I tell you? If luck brings us together again, you'll wish you were dead.

You made Jeong Go a eunuch — so you get to be one too. An eye for an eye. A cut for a cut.

But don't worry too much. I happen to know a craftsman with a ninety-percent success rate. You Jiu of the Yu Family Manor. When it comes to castration, the Yu family and the Pi family have always stood as the twin peaks. You Jiu's a bit money-hungry, sure, but his technique is practically at the level of a Sword Saint.

Just so you know, though...

...it hurts. Quite a lot.

You'll probably pass out.

A short while later.

The moment word spread that a duel had been arranged, staking the pride of the eunuch brotherhood against the fate of the Hainan Sect, the disordered atmosphere of the martial contest transformed at a stroke.

Eunuchs versus Hainan. The Imperial House versus the Jianghu. A war of those who had nothing, against those who had, and those who were other — and it was about to begin.

The contest grounds filled with excitement and a searing heat.