The Most Fearsome Warrior (3)
Luoyang.
Near the Mount Beimang checkpoint, in the bustling commercial district.
Elder Kang of the Second Young Master's faction could not even spare a thought for wiping the sweat streaming down his broad forehead.
"…So what exactly did you just say?"
A civil official of a branch bloodline of the Sixteen Imperial Capital Families shrugged.
"Exactly as I told you."
"You're saying the First Young Master is coming and going through the Sixteen Families as if they were his own home—without so much as an invitation?"
For the sake of appearances, the official pretended not to notice the way Elder Kang's eyelids fluttered, and simply nodded.
"That is correct. I have only just confirmed that the First Young Master of the Sword Family has departed from our household."
"…"
"Then I shall take my leave."
The official offered a polite farewell, glanced about, and left the teahouse.
"…"
Having already abandoned any attempt to reason this through on his own, Elder Kang handed a hastily scrawled note to a waiting martial artist.
Luoyang Sword Family.
The Second Young Master's camp, the Grand Council Chamber.
Information relayed by martial artists accumulated slowly but steadily. And as the reports piled up, the Grand Council Chamber grew steadily quieter.
"…So this is the eighth family he has visited."
"…Yes."
"And at the last household, he even shared a meal with the retired family head?"
"Yes."
"He walked in without any prior appointment and cadged a free meal?"
"…Yes."
"Does that even make sense?!"
Elder Xiahou patted the shoulder of the elder who had just exploded at the strategist.
"Let us set that part aside for now. We are still investigating the First Young Master's ties to the Sixteen Families, so it would be best if we focused on what demands our attention at this moment."
Elder Xiahou clapped his hands and drew every eye in the room.
"Right! The points we must analyze are as follows."
All gazes gathered on him. He pointed to the names of the families laid out in order on the large table.
"We must analyze the sequence in which the First Young Master is visiting these houses. If we can parse that order, we should be able to grasp what priorities are driving his movements."
Another elder nodded.
"Indeed. If we analyze the sequence, we might also guess how the First Young Master has managed, after the Gong Family, to come and go among the rest without an invitation."
Time passed.
"Word that the First Young Master has entered the tenth family."
The martial artist left only those words and hurriedly vanished from the Grand Council Chamber. The atmosphere there had grown far too heavy.
"…"
No one—not a single person—spoke. The Grand Council Chamber was filled only with the smoke of the tobacco the strategists and elders were puffing.
"Um…"
One strategist carefully raised his hand. He was a young man who had only recently joined the Second Young Master's Jiangnan advisory corps. When every gaze fixed on him, he flinched and shrank back for a moment.
"Ah—never mind."
Elder Xiahou shouted.
"It's fine! Say anything at all!"
At those words, the young strategist carefully opened his mouth again.
"We've all put our heads together and deliberated until now, but far from guessing the First Young Master's intentions, we've only been left with analyses that don't even make sense, haven't we?"
Elder Xiahou nodded.
"That's right. Before we even try to guess his intentions, the very idea of visiting houses of the Sixteen Families' caliber in this kind of order doesn't make any sense to begin with."
Complex power dynamics existed among the families. That was why the question of which house one visited first was a matter of considerable weight. The power-oriented great houses were the sort who would sometimes stake everything on face and prestige. Yet the First Young Master was currently ignoring those dynamics and barging in for visits as he pleased.
The young strategist scratched his head.
"Then perhaps… from the beginning, the order never had any meaning at all?"
"What…?"
"I mean… maybe the very attempt to find intention in the sequence is meaningless…"
What kind of absurd talk was this.
"You're saying someone of the First Young Master's caliber would ignore power dynamics and move around without any intention whatsoever…?"
When everyone's gazes turned on him with open pity, the young strategist hung his head low.
"…I apologize."
Just then, one of the chief strategists who had been sitting in the back, lost in thought, shot to his feet.
"Could it be…?!"
Ignoring whatever looks anyone gave him, he dashed to his office and returned holding a single tattered sheet of paper.
"Everyone, look at this!"
The paper he spread on the large table was none other than an old map.
"This is…?"
The chief strategist explained.
"This is the work of an unnamed painter depicting Mount Beimang from a hundred and fifty years ago."
"And why does that painting matter now…?"
"The reason this painting was in my office is precisely this."
He pointed to the ultra-luxury residential district of Mount Beimang.
"In the painting left by a painter who knew nothing of the law at the time, the locations of each family's estates are roughly marked."
At those words, everyone rushed to the large table and checked the First Young Master's visiting order against the painting.
"It may be from a hundred and fifty years ago, but the Sixteen Families haven't changed between then and now, so the structure shouldn't be all that different from the present."
Those who could not get close because of the crowd climbed onto others' shoulders or stood on tiptoe, straining to see.
"…This is?!"
The cigar clamped in Elder Xiahou's mouth dropped to the floor. The chief strategist who had brought the painting gave a hollow laugh.
"…The youngster was right."
Another elder raised both trembling hands and clutched his forehead.
"To think the order truly held no meaning whatsoever…"
Elder Xiahou staggered as he pushed through the throng and sank into the chair prepared on the dais.
"…"
His hand rose habitually to his lips in search of the cigar he had been smoking, but that cigar had fallen to the floor and been crushed under the feet of the gathered people.
Simply the order of proximity to the entrance…?
The First Young Master had ignored the power dynamics and was simply visiting in order of closest to the checkpoint. The Gong Family he had visited first was the family whose entrance stood nearest the checkpoint.
Another elder muttered, not even trying to hide the tremor in his voice.
"How…? How is something like this even possible for the First Young Master?"
The past. Yeon So-hyeon's childhood.
Young Yeon So-hyeon asked,
"I want to help more people—not just in Luoyang, but across the entire Central Kingdom."
His father, wearing an expression that said he found his son so adorable he did not know what to do with himself, stroked young Yeon So-hyeon's hair.
"Yes, yes. Once you're a little older, you'll be able to do as much as you like."
"Haah…"
Young Yeon So-hyeon shook his head firmly.
"No. Later is a matter for later, Father. What I am asking about is the method for this present moment. I need a methodology for more effective and efficient projection of influence."
Young Yeon So-hyeon shook his head as if to say, don't you even know that?
"Ah—r-right, of course…"
"The bureaucracy of the current Central Kingdom is excessively rigid, and under a vertical command structure that begins from an Imperial Court that is physically distant, the bureaucrats—bound by self-preservation and by blood and regional ties—grow ever more corrupt. Nevertheless, if one were to force oneself to name an advantage of that vertical and hierarchical command structure, it would be that once a decision is made at the highest level, the command can be executed uniformly and without exception across the entire Central Kingdom through that system. Therefore, I wish to borrow from Father, who stands at the apex of this vast vertical command structure known as the Sword Family, both your knowledge of the art of kingship and the wisdom derived from knowledge passed down through the generations…"
"W-wait! Wait. I understand. I get what you're saying."
His father, who for a moment had treated his eldest son like any ordinary child, stroked his short goatee.
"Mmm… mmm."
His eyes flickered without rest, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead. What answer could he give that would let him remain a wonderful father who did not disappoint this genius son of his?
"Mmm. Then wouldn't becoming close with those who hold the most power within the bureaucracy be the easiest way to convey your will?"
Young Yeon So-hyeon's eyes sparkled.
"The strongest bureaucrats, you mean?"
"Yes, that's right!"
His father hurriedly nodded.
"So for example… the family heads of the Sixteen Imperial Capital Families who guard the Imperial Court…?"
Luoyang, Mount Beimang.
The Sixteen Imperial Capital Families—the Gongsun Family.
The great gates opened, and the ironclad ox-cart bearing Yeon So-hyeon revealed itself with its imposing weight. Steel wheels rolled, throwing off fierce noise and sparks, and a pair of spirit beasts snorted roughly. Watching the ultra-expensive paving stones shatter in real time, the stewards' eyes shook violently.
"Oho. So that is the Ironclad Fortress of Fairy Yak I've only heard rumors of!"
Even so, the master of the estate—a gaunt man with a nervous, irritable cast to his features—showed not the slightest concern for such things.
At last the carriage came to a complete stop, and the door opened. An elegant beauty descended first and waited for her master with graceful bearing.
"I did not expect you would come out to the courtyard yourself to welcome me."
With a clear, ringing voice, Yeon So-hyeon, First Young Master of the Luoyang Sword Family, stepped down from the carriage. The sight of his black silk-thread outer robe fluttering elegantly in the spring breeze was striking.
"Young Master Yeon!"
The barren old man's face bloomed as if he were seeing his own beloved grandson.
"This is the first time we've met face to face, is it not?"
"Indeed. As you say, this is our first meeting in person."
The old man, unlike the people of the Imperial Capital who treated etiquette as a matter of life and death, approached Yeon So-hyeon first with an utterly casual air.
"…Even seeing it with my own two eyes, I still cannot believe it."
"Is that so?"
Yeon So-hyeon burst into loud laughter.
"…Truly, I cannot believe it."
The old man's eyes held half admiration and half doubt.
"That I, Gongsun Na-gang, who served two Emperors at the closest possible distance—that the correspondent with whom I exchanged so many letters from that time should have been such a young child…!"
The past. Yeon So-hyeon's childhood.
"Father!"
Young Yeon So-hyeon came running with quick little steps.
"Oh my, has our So-hyeon arrived?"
His father scooped his eldest son up into his arms with both hands.
"Haha, you rascal. What news have you brought today?"
Young Yeon So-hyeon asked his father with a bright, beaming smile.
"I've formed friendships with the family heads of the Sixteen Imperial Capital Families! So what is the next step?"
His father's broadly smiling face froze exactly as it was.
"…What did you just say?"
Yeon So-hyeon called out again.
"The step of becoming friends with the family heads succeeded! So the next step—"
"No, wait, wait."
His father shook his head.
"So-hyeon, you're saying you formed personal friendships with the family heads of the Sixteen Imperial Capital Families?"
"Yes. Not all of them yet, but…"
Young Yeon So-hyeon nodded with a puzzled expression.
"…"
At the sight of his father merely blinking like a cow, Yeon So-hyeon opened the silk pouch he had been carrying and showed him.
"Here are the invitations the family heads sent me."
Indeed, inside the silk pouch were invitations stamped with seals that at a glance looked extraordinary.
"Father…?"
"Those old monsters sent invitations…?"
His father asked young Yeon So-hyeon with the expression of a man who had seen something incomprehensible.
"Just how in the world did you manage this?"
Young Yeon So-hyeon beamed.
"It wasn't all that difficult!"