The Unpredictable (1)
A few days earlier, at the meeting.
Yeon So-hyeon opened his mouth.
"Yeon Ha-eung."
Yeon Ha-eung answered at once.
"Your invitation to Daseonrang has been formally approved through the Outer Court, following proper procedure."
"And the request for escort forces—to prevent any 'unforeseen incident' before it can arise?"
"As ordered, I submitted a formal request through proper channels to Elder Yeom, one of the heads of our family's martial forces."
At the mention of her father, Yeom Baek-ha took up the report.
"Having received the formal request from the Outer Court, Elder Yeom petitioned the War Department for support of varied troop types, so that we might respond flexibly to any 'unforeseen incident.'"
It was an official council; Yeom Baek-ha referred to her own father as Elder Yeom.
"The escort request as far as the outskirts of Luoyang?"
"The Xi'an Branch Master has accepted the request for cooperation."
"Good. Not the slightest flaw can be allowed in any official petition. We will give the enemy no pretext whatsoever."
"Understood."
Yeon Ha-eung and Yeom Baek-ha answered in unison.
"Cheong-su."
Cheong-su, who until then had merely watched the exchange with a blank expression, answered at once.
"Yes, my lord."
"If the enemy concentrates on a single target, that target will be Daseonrang. Their protection I leave entirely to you."
"I obey."
Cheong-su had once been a commanding martial officer of the Agency, charged with guarding the Family Head at closest range. No further words were required.
"The Emei Sect is a minor school compared to the Luoyang Sword Family," Yeon So-hyeon told them all. "And the Emei members traveling with the investment delegation are weak even relative to our own camp."
Luoyang was foreign soil to them, and those accompanying the investors were only a fraction of Emei's total strength.
"They know this perfectly well. Therefore, when we deal with Emei, the matter we must watch is not open force."
Yeon So-hyeon spoke with finality.
"They will fight the fight of the weak—thoroughly."
Luoyang Sword Family, Inner City District.
As the sun gradually sank, lanterns began to light one by one along the well-ordered streets and the high pavilions that lined them. The investment procession, still marveling at the beautiful multi-storied halls so rare in Chengdu because of the terrain, was received by Elder Yu of the Fourth Young Master's faction.
"You have traveled a long road. You must be weary."
At the sight of her, Tang Go-gyu vaulted down from the roof of the carriage.
"E-Elder Yu—!"
He sprinted toward her in a single breath, but Elder Yu did not even glance at his face.
"Guh-hurk!"
With an elegant step she simply avoided the charging Tang Go-gyu, and he went sprawling across the ground.
"This way, if you please."
Whether he rolled or not, Elder Yu addressed the members of the investment party peering from their windows, a dignified smile on her lips.
"A banquet is being prepared in the Reception Hall to ease the fatigue of your journey."
The investors broke into applause and cheers. There was a saying, after all: if a man from Sichuan dislikes a banquet, he is no Sichuanese.
Of course, there were always exceptions.
"We would prefer to be shown to our lodgings first."
It was the Emei Sect. Refusing a banquet invitation could be considered a breach of etiquette, yet given what they had endured that day, it could not be called pure rudeness either.
"Of course. We have prepared the finest quarters in the Reception Hall."
At that moment the door of the Emei carriage opened and the Emei Abbess appeared.
"It has been a long time, Elder Yu."
Elder Yu was older than Elder Yeom, yet still ranked far below the Grand Abbess of Emei.
"Ah, Grand Abbess. It has been long indeed."
Even at the Abbess's appearance, Elder Yu's expression did not change. She had already learned, via Yeon Ha-eung's messenger hawk, that the Emei contingent's true leader was the Abbess herself.
"Elder Yu…"
"A moment."
Elder Yu raised a hand in a courteous but firm gesture, cutting the Abbess off. She had no intention of locking auras with the White-Haired Poisonous Old Ghost in the middle of the Luoyang Sword Family's main thoroughfare.
"Blocking the road violates our family's etiquette. Let us first proceed to the Reception Hall."
"…"
A brief silence fell.
"Very well."
To everyone's surprise, the Emei Abbess nodded and climbed back into her carriage.
"Since we have come to the Sword Family, we ought to follow the Sword Family's laws."
What is she scheming? Elder Yu's brow twitched at the unexpected compliance. Still, if the Abbess was willing to submit to control, it was no bad thing.
"Then please follow me—"
"Ah, and one more thing…"
The Abbess's words were not finished.
"This humble nun has a prior engagement and must go that way instead."
Her voice continued from the darkness of the carriage.
"I trust keeping a prior engagement does not violate the Sword Family's sense of propriety?"
Of course it would not be so simple.
"Certainly not. Only…"
Elder Yu swallowed a sigh and asked,
"I understand this is the Grand Abbess's first visit to our house. If guidance is required…"
Softly trying to learn the destination, Elder Yu received only a snort of laughter.
"They have already arranged to meet me, so you need not worry on my account. Look after my children well."
"As you wish."
It would take a little time, but the Abbess's destination inside the Luoyang Sword Family would eventually fall into Elder Yu's hands regardless.
"Then if the investment party would kindly follow my lead."
After a brief tussle, the procession began to move without major incident.
Yeon So-hyeon had said to Elder Yu,
"Elder Yu, guide the investment party to the Reception Hall by any means necessary."
"By any means?"
"By any means."
Yeon So-hyeon had smiled.
"If you succeed…"
The line of Emei carriages and mounted martial nuns that had begun to follow the investors fell into disorder. The carriage carrying the senior members, which had already turned another way under the Emei Abbess, also halted.
"What is happening?!"
At the Abbess's roar, the Steward Nun responsible for Daseonrang's escort answered hastily.
"Daseonrang's carriage…!"
Daseonrang's carriage was already moving in the opposite direction from their own column.
"Pursue them at once!"
Just as the Abbess prepared to turn her own carriage, the person who had come to meet her arrived.
"What is the meaning of this?"
His level was hard to gauge—at the very least he had clearly stepped beyond the wall. The Emei Abbess said,
"Wait a moment, if you would."
The master frowned but stepped back without protest. Still, he could not resist adding a word.
"Grand Abbess. I do not know how urgent your business may be, but those waiting on our side are not people of leisure either."
The Abbess ignored him and focused on sending a sound transmission to the Steward Nun.
I cannot miss this appointment. From this moment I will give you instructions. You will follow them without fail.
"The person in charge on Emei's side is the white-haired White-Haired Poisonous Old Ghost," Yeon So-hyeon said after reading Yeon Ha-eung's letter. Elder Yu sighed.
"If that old hag sticks to Daseonrang, peeling her off will not be easy."
Having once served in Sichuan, Elder Yu knew the crone well.
"Therefore, Elder Yu, do exactly as this First Young Master has told you."
"Simply guide the investors to the Reception Hall by any means—that was the order, was it not?"
Yeon So-hyeon smiled.
"That old woman moves only within thorough plans. Without fail she will have arranged meetings with influential people even before arriving at our house."
Wheeling their column about in haste, the Emei party finally caught up with Daseonrang's carriage, which had been gliding ahead at a leisurely pace.
"Advisor Yeon! What on earth is the meaning of this?!"
"The meaning of what, exactly?"
Perched on the roof of Daseonrang's carriage, Yeon Ha-eung played the innocent at the Steward Nun's shout.
"Daseonrang are guests invited by the First Young Master of our house. Naturally they are proceeding to the First Young Master's residence."
The Steward Nun flared up.
"Men and women are to be kept apart! How can you house men and women in the same quarters?!"
Yeon Ha-eung made an exaggerated show of incomprehension with his whole body.
"The same quarters? The First Young Master's Wongak Pavilion is the equal of a modest manor in scale. It is hardly a single hall."
"…"
For a moment the Steward Nun was speechless. Not even the Family Head's residence—how could a mere Young Master's dwelling match a small manor?
Seizing the opening, Yeon Ha-eung began to chatter whatever came to mind.
"Wongak Pavilion is fully equipped and prepared to receive honored guests. It has the highest-caliber maids and servants in our house, and it is at the same time one of the safest districts we possess, second to none…"
"Enough—hold your tongue!"
"And the scenery of Wongak Pavilion—how beautiful it is. Those in Luoyang's social circles who long to see it number beyond counting…"
The Steward Nun spurred her horse and bellowed,
"Daseonrang falls under the protection of our Emei Sect!"
Yeon Ha-eung merely shrugged.
"I believe I mentioned this before, but allow me to say it again…"
Grinning while looking straight ahead, he continued,
"I am merely an Outer Court advisor. I move only as requested."
"You—!"
The Steward Nun's face flushed as though it might burst.
While the two of them traded words that were not quite an argument, Daseonrang's carriage raced on toward Wongak Pavilion. The mounted martial nuns and carriages of Emei chased after it as though in pursuit.
"No."
At the main gate of Wongak Pavilion, the maid who introduced herself as Il-ryeong was unyieldingly firm.
The Steward Nun insisted once more that, as escorts, they must remain with Daseonrang inside Wongak Pavilion.
"What is not permitted is not permitted."
"…!"
Even the Steward Nun, whose face was thick enough to hold its own within Emei, found her words momentarily stuck in her throat. How could a mere maid stand so boldly before a disciple of the great Emei Sect?
Rage surged to the crown of her head—
"…"
—yet the instant she met the arrogantly cold eyes of the maid named Il-ryeong, who stood with her attendants at her back, her mind cooled. Where was she? The residence of the First Young Master of the Luoyang Sword Family.
With her head cleared, she recalled the instructions the Emei Abbess had sent by sound transmission.
We are the weak, yet the moral high ground is ours as well.
You must seize that point and never let it go.
The Steward Nun raised her voice so that those waiting before Wongak Pavilion to catch a glimpse of Daseonrang could hear, appealing to the crowd.
"Please, we beg your cooperation so that the teachers of our Emei Sect may remain at the side of the young ladies of Daseonrang and assist them!"
A stir ran through the onlookers. The Steward Nun drew a document from her robes and held it high, continuing her plea.
"This document was given to us by the parents of Daseonrang themselves! It contains their earnest request that our teachers care for Daseonrang at their side without fail! And further…"
As her appeal went on, more and more heads among the crowd began to incline in her direction. Seeing this, the Steward Nun cried out even louder.
"…Therefore, though we ourselves have not received the First Young Master's invitation, we ask that you accept this with generous forbearance and permit us to remain together with Daseonrang!"
It was an appeal to a fairly persuasive justification. As the crowd nodded and showed signs of agreement with her cry, a look of difficulty crossed the face of the Wongak Pavilion maid.
Good. If I keep pushing like this…!
Concealing a smile of triumph, the Steward Nun was about to press her appeal further.
"…And so I beseech the First Young Master—!"
A voice cut her off.
It rang through the clamor with crystalline clarity.
"Who makes such a racket in front of another man's house?"