Deception (3)
It didn't take long for word from Chang'an to arrive. The message was simple. Embroidered Uniform Guard Commander Je Gang had gone missing, and they requested our cooperation in tracking his whereabouts. We were allies, and Chang'an wasn't far. Yet for some reason, I had a feeling this journey would stretch on.
"When will you come back this time?"
Seon-ah grasped my sleeve, her face full of regret. Seon-go, looking as if she understood Seon-ah's heart, was stroking her hair. Even as Seon-go stroked her hair, flattening it like one pets a small animal, Seon-ah wouldn't let go of my sleeve.
"I can't promise exactly when. But I will definitely return."
In turbulent times, no words ring more hollow than promising when you'll return. The same goes for saying you'll definitely come back. Seon-ah already knew those words could prove empty, so even with my pledge, her anxious expression didn't fade.
"Can't you trust me?"
"...But still...."
"Don't worry, Seon-ah. He'll definitely come back."
Seon-go said, holding Seon-ah tightly from behind. Her soothing tone made the hand that had been clutching my sleeve slip away softly, as if drifting off to sleep. Still wearing a gloomy face, she glanced at me again and again and asked.
"...You'll really come back, right? Mister?"
"I will definitely return."
In the distance stood Sannyeo. She leaned against a pillar like a ghost, waving her manacled hand in farewell. I looked at the dejected Seon-ah and said.
"Look over there. My master—she's shy, so she's hiding like that. She's a very timid person, so treat her well."
Seon-ah looked over at where Sannyeo was with a puzzled expression. Sannyeo let out a baffled laugh, then picked up a pine cone from the ground and threw it at me. The pine cone, flying sharply, struck the wall with a tak and shattered.
"Oh dear. I'll be off, then."
Laughing playfully, I turned around. Only then did I see Seon-ah give a slight smile and wave her hand at me. There's no law that says I have to leave my woman in tears.
*****
While Docheol headed for Chang'an, fierce discussions were underway within Chang'an. Zhuge Yeong-yu was frowning, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard investigators sat together with the household of the Zhuge family, speaking with grave expressions.
Although the emergency meeting had been convened due to the death of Embroidered Uniform Guard Commander Je Gang, the topic they were prioritizing wasn't Je Gang's whereabouts. It was the problem of Docheol, who was currently speeding toward Chang'an.
One of the investigators produced a document and spoke.
"Young master, this is something we have not reported to you. During the last pursuit of the Hao Sect, we found indications that Crimson Ring Sect's chieftain Docheol had covertly contacted the Hao chieftain. The Embroidered Uniform Guard uncovered this, but the Commander ordered us to keep it from the Zhuge family and the Imperial Household, so we refrained from reporting it until now."
Zhuge Yeong-yu wordlessly scanned the documents the Embroidered Uniform Guard handed over. The densely written letters and attached map detailed the routes Docheol had taken and whom he had contacted while they were searching for the Heavenly Demon's treasure.
There was no clear evidence that Docheol had met with the Hao chieftain, but the last person to contact the individual presumed to be the Hao chieftain was very likely Docheol. Zhuge Yeong-yu set the documents down without a word.
Another Embroidered Uniform Guard investigator pulled out a bundle of documents and spoke up.
"Our investigation into the series of incidents in Sichuan has turned up witness accounts of a martial artist wielding an axe at the time the Tang Clan collapsed due to internal strife. At that time, Crimson Ring Sect's chieftain Docheol was staying at the Taiji Sect in Sichuan. There is no doubt that Docheol was involved in the collapse of the Sichuan Tang Clan."
Zhuge Yeong-yu bit his fingernails. He was so deeply lost in thought, his furrowed brow looked pitiful. Another Embroidered Uniform Guard member rose from his seat and spoke.
"Crimson Ring Sect's chieftain Docheol has been implicated in contact with the Hao Sect, and there are also indications that he involved himself in the Tang Clan incident, breaching his agreement with you, young master. Given this evidence, Docheol is by no means a trustworthy figure and appears to have no intention of pledging loyalty to the Imperial Household. He is, in truth, a honey-tongued, sword-bellied man, and he is without doubt connected to the Commander's death."
The Embroidered Uniform Guard members buzzed.
"The Commander, even before the incident, always told us to be wary of Docheol. If the man who distrusted Docheol the most met a mysterious death, then who else could have done it?"
"Why would someone who went to Sichuan to investigate suddenly take the long road all the way to Hebei Province? There is a possibility that Docheol, connected to the Hao Sect, colluded with them to fake the Commander's death."
They were convinced that Docheol had killed the Commander. The Zhuge family household couldn't say who was right and simply watched Zhuge Yeong-yu's reaction. Zhuge Yeong-yu was deep in thought, clasping and unclasping his hands.
The Embroidered Uniform Guard was conducting an independent investigation and asserting that Docheol was deeply involved in this case. From the Zhuge family's standpoint, it was a somewhat bewildering situation. Both Docheol's connection to the Hao Sect and his involvement in the Sichuan incident were information they were hearing for the first time.
The Embroidered Uniform Guard was using this first-time information as the basis to claim Docheol had betrayed them. Zhuge Yeong-yu blinked once and spoke in a calm tone. His voice, lower than usual, revealed his troubled heart.
"This is all news to me. Especially the story about Sect Leader Docheol contacting the Hao Sect—judging by the timing, it happened quite a while ago. Chronologically, it was before the Eight Trigrams Association and the Beggars' Sect collapsed. Why are you only now bringing up a matter you neither raised nor reported to me back then?"
One of the Embroidered Uniform Guard hesitated before speaking.
"...The Commander did so out of consideration for you, young master."
At the word 'consideration', Zhuge Yeong-yu's eyebrow twitched. Zhuge Yeong-yu understood what the Embroidered Uniform Guard meant by consideration. They had felt that since Zhuge Yeong-yu harbored goodwill toward Docheol, there was no need to disturb his mind with inconclusive circumstantial evidence.
So they must have tried to resolve the matter on their own. But Je Gang's efforts were in vain. Je Gang tried to handle something beyond what he could manage and disappeared, and the information he had tried to suppress was spreading in the way most likely to cause chaos internally.
Zhuge Yeong-yu let out a sigh. It was to clear his increasingly tangled head. He was no fool. He didn't believe that the man who had gone to Sichuan suddenly vanishing had nothing to do with Docheol.
But he didn't want to believe Docheol had killed him, either. There were no witnesses who had seen him kill, and no decisive evidence that he had done so.
So Zhuge Yeong-yu wanted to investigate the matter further.
"Couldn't the Commander have discovered a reason he had to go to Hebei Province? He might have gone to Sichuan to investigate the Tang Clan and then felt that he needed to go up to Hebei Province to learn something."
"What possible reason could there be to conceal such a critical matter from both the Embroidered Uniform Guard investigators and the Zhuge family? If the Commander felt the situation was serious, he would have taken investigators with him. The road to Hebei Province is long and perilous. Yet he made no contact with the investigators at all while traveling there. There are numerous witness accounts from inns and marketplaces of someone matching the Commander's description, so why wouldn't he contact us? Because he didn't know how to make contact! Because it wasn't the Commander himself! That's why he couldn't contact us."
It was a fairly persuasive statement. Docheol, who had ties with the Hao Sect, killed Je Gang in Sichuan. Then, using someone with a similar description, made it appear he had gone all the way to Hebei Province, and made him vanish there to erase his own suspicion.
It was a plausible story. But Zhuge Yeong-yu did not back down either.
"Why do you think Sect Leader Docheol killed the Commander?"
"Because his true intentions were exposed, of course! The Commander discovered proof that he wasn't loyal to the Imperial Household and harbored ulterior motives! So he had no choice but to kill him!"
This argument from the Embroidered Uniform Guard lacked persuasiveness. There were circumstances suggesting Docheol might harbor ulterior motives, but no one knew specifically how he had committed betrayal. He was said to be involved in the Tang Clan's destruction, but who could say whether that act was grounded in treason or loyalty?
Feeling his troubled heart settle somewhat, Zhuge Yeong-yu asked in return.
"Even if we assume so, why Hebei Province of all places? He could have sent him to Yunnan Province or Guangzhou Province, or to Tibet or Qinghai and disguised it as the Demonic Cult's doing, couldn't he? The road to Hebei Province is long, and Sect Leader Docheol also knows that the Commander is the head of the Embroidered Uniform Guard spread throughout the Central Plains. Once you go as far as Hebei Province, suspicion would be unavoidable, so why did Sect Leader Docheol choose such a route?"
The Embroidered Uniform Guard members fell silent. Docheol was no fool. If there was a close, easy road, he had no reason whatsoever to take a long detour. With the Demonic Cult—a convenient scapegoat—available, why would he drag the body all the way to Hebei Province?
The Embroidered Uniform Guard members exchanged glances. One of them carefully spoke up.
"...Perhaps, by cooperating with the Demonic Cult...."
"Watch your mouth."
Zhuge Yeong-yu firmly cut off the Embroidered Uniform Guard's hasty speculation.