The Sixteen Imperial Capital Families (5)
Present day.
Luoyang, Mount Beimang, the Gongsun Family estate.
The former family heads took turns reviewing the documents Yeon So-hyeon had handed them, and one by one they nodded.
"…Thus, as set forth below, the authority to select the operators for the two aforementioned enterprises is hereby granted to Yeon So-hyeon, First Young Master of the Luoyang Sword Family."
"Hmm."
"Judging by the papers alone, it appears solid enough."
Yeon So-hyeon smiled faintly.
"Would I dare present forged documents before lords of your stature?"
As they returned the papers to him, the former family heads spoke.
"Very well. But, First Young Master."
"This alone is not enough."
"Mere documents bearing seals are not nearly enough."
Gongsun Na-gang stroked his chin and fixed Yeon So-hyeon with a sharp look.
"First Young Master. Tell us the entire chain of events by which these came into your hands."
Only by knowing the full process could they complete every review and render a judgment.
Ordinary men would have leapt straight into negotiation to seize the business rights. But these old foxes were different. Even if they were starving to death that very day, they were the sort who would first suspect and verify before putting another man's food into their mouths.
The former head of the Noh Family absently wet his lips.
"I heard it was connected to the First Young Master's protection of Daseonrang."
Yeon So-hyeon gave a light clap of his hands.
"Precisely so. Then let us begin the account of how the business rights were obtained—starting with Daseonrang."
Roughly two months earlier.
As winter drew toward its end.
The Emei Sect's persecution of Daseonrang grew worse by the day. The Governor of Chengdu—Sang-gwan Nan-hwa's father—shuddered with the agony of being unable to help the girls himself.
Then a single letter arrived for him.
"I can protect Daseonrang for you."
At the first line he took it for some cruel prank. But the next line changed his mind.
"Proof will arrive in due course.
Yeon So-hyeon, First Young Master of the Luoyang Sword Family."
"Hold on…!"
The former head of the Yang Family waved a hand. Recalling what he already knew, he questioned Yeon So-hyeon.
"At that point those Daseonrang girls had not even left Sichuan yet, had they? You mean to say you had already begun intervening in their affairs from then?"
Yeon So-hyeon looked at him with mild puzzlement.
"What do you mean by that? Of course, if one means to accomplish something, one must lay the groundwork in advance."
In other words, the plan had already existed and been underway for some time.
"…True enough. Continue, if you would."
Another former family head cut in.
"Then how was the letter delivered?"
Yeon So-hyeon's clear voice carried through the garden.
"The matter absolutely could not leak outside, and the letter could not be sent through any member of the Sword Family. No one knows how far the reach of the Sword Family's intelligence bureau truly extends."
Well acquainted with that bureau's fearsome reputation, the former family heads nodded.
"Therefore, at the time I had the letter delivered through an information broker I had only just recruited."
Immediately after the Black Bone Sect's disappearance.
Se-a, who had offered her sword to Yeon So-hyeon, smiled.
"I am the first to see the Swordless One take up a blade."
Yeon So-hyeon snorted.
"Your younger sister was first in that ceremony."
"…What?!"
Smiling at her reaction, Yeon So-hyeon drew from his robes a single letter, rigorously sealed.
"See to it that the Governor of Chengdu receives this letter without anyone's knowledge."
Winter passed into spring, yet the "proof" mentioned by the man who had claimed in his letter to be First Young Master of the Luoyang Sword Family never arrived.
Daseonrang was preparing to set out for the Luoyang Sword Family with Sichuan's investment delegation. The Governor of Chengdu paced his office with restless steps.
"…Come to think of it."
He seemed to recall hearing that his old mentor had some connection to the First Young Master of the Luoyang Sword Family. Remembering that the same mentor, after retiring and wandering the rivers and lakes, had just returned to his residence in Chengdu, the Governor hurried to find him at once.
"That boy… the Sword Family's First Young Master sent this letter, you say?"
Scholar Ju—who had once held the rank of Dual-Gate Grand Scholar in the Imperial House before retiring—threw back his head and laughed, his long white brows nearly veiling his eyes.
"Then your troubles are as good as solved!"
He heard many stories of the Sword Family's First Young Master from his mentor, but so much of it sounded unreal that the Governor of Chengdu could not fully trust it. Still, to his daughter—who, with her friends, had resolved never to return to Sichuan soil—he wanted to say something, anything.
"I do not know if such a thing will come to pass, but…"
Facing Sang-gwan Nan-hwa's puzzled expression, the Governor continued.
"If you ever have the chance to meet the First Young Master of the Sword Family, you must do so."
"The First Young Master…?"
And not long after Daseonrang departed for Luoyang with the investment delegation, the "proof" sent by the First Young Master of the Luoyang Sword Family arrived.
Present day.
Thanks to Elder Ju, the trouble of guiding Daseonrang to Wongak Pavilion was greatly reduced.
Yeon So-hyeon continued.
"And so I escorted His Highness Prince Hyeon to Chengdu, and protected the families and staff of Daseonrang—who had been little better than hostages of the Emei Sect…"
"No—wait! Wait a moment!"
A former family head cried out, face stricken with alarm.
"Why on earth does His Highness Prince Hyeon suddenly appear in this story?!"
"Is he not His Majesty the Emperor's own uncle?"
As questions poured in, Yeon So-hyeon laughed and gave a little shake to the imperial letter he held in his hand.
"That is precisely where this imperial letter enters the tale."
The very day seclusion ended and Wongak Pavilion began receiving guests once more.
"Ten thousand years! Ten thousand years! Ten thousand times ten thousand years!"
Having completed the rites, Yeon So-hyeon received the imperial letter with solemn care.
"There is someone who wishes to meet you."
The deputy grand eunuch of the Court of Ceremonial left only those words, then turned and rejoined the party that had accompanied him. As they were guided by the maids toward the reception hall, only one remained behind—a middle-aged man of fine bearing who had entered mixed among the others, dressed in the same official robes.
"How old are you now, and still no larger than that? Your mother would grieve to see you."
At the man's clicking tongue, Yeon So-hyeon broke into a broad smile.
"It has been far too long, Your Highness Prince Hyeon."
Present day.
Gongsun Na-gang—once the Emperor's right hand, who had held the reins of imperial intelligence—stroked his chin.
"Indeed… I had heard that His Highness Prince Hyeon once aided the Medicine Fairy in ways both known and unknown."
Another former family head asked Yeon So-hyeon,
"But His Highness is not a man one can simply meet on the strength of personal acquaintance alone…?"
Yeon So-hyeon conceded the point.
"True enough. Even had I dared to call upon him myself, I would never have been granted an audience."
After Yeon So-hyeon's seclusion was lifted.
A certain manor on the outskirts of Luoyang.
The Medicine King was setting needles into the back of a middle-aged man who lay face down.
"So-yu's boy, So-hyeon, will be moving soon."
At those words the middle-aged man's back visibly tensed, then eased again.
"…That is cause for celebration. To you, Elder, he is as a grandson, is he not?"
"And to you…?"
The middle-aged man gave a short laugh.
"What I serve all my life is Him. His son is merely His son."
Present day.
"…I see."
"Indeed, even the imperial kin long for an audience with the Medicine King."
"We ourselves made our reservation, but it will be years yet before our turn comes around."
Another former family head's gaze settled on Yeon So-hyeon.
"Then you moved His Highness the Prince, First Young Master? How?"
Yeon So-hyeon smiled.
"That is a secret."
Prince Hyeon, whose solid, massive frame called to mind a general on the battlefield. Even dressed in ordinary official robes, his dignity was not the least diminished.
"It has been far too long, Your Highness Prince Hyeon."
At Yeon So-hyeon's greeting, Prince Hyeon snorted.
"No need to act glad. I merely happened to be passing nearby, heard the news, and stopped in for a moment."
His curt manner, joined to that natural majesty, carried a peculiar pressure. Yet Yeon So-hyeon's smile never faltered.
"Tsk, tsk."
Prince Hyeon looked him up and down with open dissatisfaction.
"I never did like the way you picked at your meals as a child. And what is that pale face of yours? Even if you refuse to take up a sword, basic physical training is the least—"
Yeon So-hyeon cut him off.
"You have arrived at the perfect moment."
"Hm? What are you doing now?"
Startled by the force with which Yeon So-hyeon shoved him, Prince Hyeon cried out.
"Oi! You rascal, what strength! Wait—hold on—where do you think you are dragging me?!"
Pushing him into the study, Yeon So-hyeon laughed.
"Haha. Do not worry, Your Highness. I have a most important and splendid task for you—one fully worthy of a prince's dignity."
"W-what?! You little—!"
Prince Hyeon shouted,
"Boy! I am a prince, do you understand?! If I become entangled in some weighty affair, it will reflect poorly upon His Majesty the Emperor!"
Yeon So-hyeon shook his head, still smiling.
"I told you not to worry. All Your Highness need do is poke about here and there as you always do, sit still, and accept the hospitality."
"But—!"
Yeon So-hyeon's eyes gleamed.
"Besides, this is work to save suffering subjects of the realm."
At that, Prince Hyeon's mouth closed.
After Daseonrang had departed for Luoyang—at the Governor of Chengdu's residence.
A banquet was underway.
"Hmm."
Without meaning to, Prince Hyeon made a sound of vague discomfort. At once the "families of Daseonrang" gathered around him hurried over in alarm.
"Good heavens, Your Highness—are you unwell in some way?"
"His cup is empty! Pour His Highness more wine at once!"
"Here, Your Highness, please take this!"
Prince Hyeon drank the wine the people pressed on him from every side, chewed the food they put into his mouth, and muttered inwardly,
You little brat, Yeon So-hyeon! What in the world are you scheming?!
Prince Hyeon had come, he claimed, to commend Daseonrang in His Majesty the Emperor's place for their remarkable achievements at so young an age. But finding them absent, he was—under that "pretext"—commending their families instead, and thereby protecting them.
Watching him from a distance, the Governor of Chengdu clicked his tongue in awe.
To move a prince of the blood…!
The proof the First Young Master of the Luoyang Sword Family had promised when he said he could protect Daseonrang—that proof had been Prince Hyeon himself.
I do not know what art he employed, but for the time being the girls' families are safe.
The Governor wiped the sweat from his brow and unfolded the next letter from Yeon So-hyeon, which Prince Hyeon had handed him.
And next…
His eyes raced over the page as he read Yeon So-hyeon's instructions written there.