Power
Tang Eun-rang, Young Mistress of the Sichuan Tang Family, declined the tea and poured herself wine from the jar on the table with her own hand.
"It is true that the Sichuan Tang Family can withdraw from this deal whenever we please. However..."
She drained the cup in one long pull, set it down with a sharp clack, and fixed her gaze on Yeon So-hyeon.
"It is equally true that I myself—no, that the Sichuan Tang Family sincerely hopes for the First Young Master's success."
She laid the Tang Family's true intentions bare without reservation, while Vice Head Tang Gwi-ho merely sat beside her wearing his usual smile, saying nothing.
In seniority, rank, and experience he stood ahead of the Young Mistress, yet for now he was only an advisor.
The decision belonged to the one who held the authority to make it.
"Though the Sichuan Tang Family cannot project direct force here in Luoyang, should you require anything, do not hesitate to ask it of me."
"I am grateful for so clear a statement of your position."
Yeon So-hyeon inclined his head.
Both the Sichuan Tang Family and Yeon So-hyeon wished the plan to succeed.
There was no disagreement.
Young Mistress Tang Eun-rang's clean, decisive manner shortened the talks dramatically, sparing them any waste of time.
Sharp judgment and bold execution.
She was still of tender years, yet she was every bit the figure the Sichuan Tang Family could entrust with the power of decision.
"Then look upon this."
Yeon So-hyeon drew a single sheet of paper from his robes and held it out to her.
"This is...!"
The moment Tang Eun-rang confirmed the contents, her deep green eyes flew wide.
Tang Gwi-ho's brows twitched; he stroked his chin with that characteristic smile of his.
"Oh-ho. A joint petition resolved upon by the former heads of the families of Mount Beimang. First Young Master—might I...?"
Yeon So-hyeon raised a hand in easy permission.
Taking the petition from Tang Eun-rang, Tang Gwi-ho produced a sheaf of documents he had prepared in advance and spread them open.
They were specimen writings for comparing and analyzing the former family heads' calligraphy.
"The hands match exactly. Yet..."
He pointed to one empty space on the petition.
"What of the former head of the Yang Family?"
Yeon So-hyeon smiled faintly.
"Regrettably, he was unable to attend."
That smile reeked of blood; inwardly Tang Gwi-ho gave a dry laugh. Just how can a boy barely into his teens...
Tang Eun-rang, who had been lost in thought, suddenly struck her own knee.
"Hm. Fifteen names are more than enough—overflowing, even. One absence makes no difference."
She looked to Tang Gwi-ho.
"What is Uncle's judgment?"
"I share the Young Mistress's view. Therefore..."
His gaze lingered on the petition before shifting to Yeon So-hyeon.
"If we watch a few more days and observe the movements of the former family heads, we can confirm the petition's authenticity beyond any doubt."
True to his station as head of an intelligence network, he remained cautious to the last.
"Hm."
Tang Eun-rang shook her head.
"There is no need."
"Young Mistress?"
She lifted her eyes and met Yeon So-hyeon's gaze straight on.
"Until now the Sichuan Tang Family has always demanded clear proof from the First Young Master first. But that makes the relationship one-sided."
She had decided.
Tang Gwi-ho closed his mouth.
"This time the Sichuan Tang Family will show the First Young Master our trust first."
From her robes she produced a small silver ornament and set it upon the table.
"First Young Master. Show this token to Tang Go-gyu."
Tang Go-gyu.
The man called the Sage of the Tang Family.
He was none other than the representative of the investment delegation that had come to Luoyang leading figures from various Sichuan houses.
"You mean..."
Sensing something, Yeon So-hyeon looked to her; Tang Eun-rang nodded.
"Precisely. Every house belonging to the investment group led by Tang Go-gyu is, in truth, a house the Sichuan Tang Family has secretly nurtured."
She grinned.
"The moment you present this token, those houses will, under the form of investment, immediately transfer the Sichuan Tang Family's capital into the First Young Master's hands."
Yeon So-hyeon felt a quiet surge of admiration. Even the component houses of the investment group were the Tang Family's limbs, prepared in advance.
When he had first confirmed that Young Mistress Tang Eun-rang and Vice Head Tang Gwi-ho themselves had entered Luoyang with their shadows, he had hardly dared believe it.
There truly was no other way to describe the Sichuan Tang Family—masters who had ruled that fertile, vast land for so many long years.
"...Khh."
Tang Eun-rang filled a cup to the brim, drained it, and spoke again.
"Originally that sum was to be delivered only after the First Young Master had completely seized the Valley of Sin."
"Then it must be a considerable amount."
She gave him a meaningful smile.
"To call it merely a show of trust given in advance would be an understatement—it is far too large a sum for that alone."
She laughed, "Hahat!"
Her green-streaked hair swayed handsomely with the motion.
"I believe an amount of that magnitude should allow us to maintain a fine relationship with the First Young Master going forward, don't you?"
Without a word Yeon So-hyeon lifted the small wine jar, filled her cup, then filled his own empty one.
"Oh-ho?"
She quickly raised her cup and looked at him.
Yeon So-hyeon lifted his own toward her and smiled.
"May the plan conclude successfully, and may we remain in a relationship where trust continues to pass between us."
"Hahat!"
She clashed her cup against his and drained it in a single draught.
Yeon So-hyeon emptied his as cleanly.
He could see clearly enough that they had planned the roles in advance—Tang Gwi-ho first applying pressure as the villain, Tang Eun-rang arriving later to lead the atmosphere in a warmer direction.
This time, however, he chose to overlook it.
At the very least, the heart behind her words and manner—that she wished to keep a good relationship—struck him as genuine.
After the wine had gone around several more times, the atmosphere softened further.
"Hahat!"
Tang Gwi-ho, who had been the one to call for liquor in the first place, sat in silence, merely pouring tea into his own cup and drinking.
Watching him, one could almost believe he had asked for wine not for himself but for Tang Eun-rang all along.
"...Yet, First Young Master."
She spoke in a tone uncharacteristically careful.
"How do you intend to seize complete control of this Valley of Sin?"
"Hm. That, you will have to watch a little longer..."
"I am not asking about the plan."
She shook her head.
"I speak of the Sword Family's Second Young Master."
"...."
Yeon So-hyeon closed his mouth.
"Choosing Mount Beimang for the First Young Master's first official outing was an impeccable opening move. You left them no room for immediate response. But..."
Her gaze settled on him.
"Was it not that, from the very beginning, the First Young Master had no path open to him save that single move of the journey to Mount Beimang?"
Yeon So-hyeon drained the half that remained in his cup and set it cleanly upon the table.
"You are right. There was no path open save that single move."
He admitted it freely.
The disparity of power was known to all; there was no point in concealing it.
"The enemy's force is far too vast and powerful. Frontally, there is no chance of victory whatever. The moment I left them even a sliver of room for immediate response..."
He leaned back.
"...it would have been our side that was devoured."
Only today had he become certain of it: there was nowhere in Luoyang's vast underworld that the Second Young Master's hand did not reach.
Luoyang's underworld, boasting a population of millions.
How many heads did it number?
How vast the sums it raked in?
Yet even that underworld was nothing when set against the wellspring of the Second Young Master's power.
"Sapaecheon."
The word came from Tang Gwi-ho as he sipped his tea.
The alliance that exercised absolute dominion over the four coastal provinces of the southern Central Plains.
"The East-West Grand Canal and the North-South Grand Canal. Every scrap of goods bound for Luoyang and the Imperial Capital must pass through the territories Sapaecheon rules."
"You speak truly."
Yeon So-hyeon nodded at the man's words.
Every overseas merchant vessel that poured vast wealth into Luoyang.
Every one of them had to pass through harbors under Sapaecheon's control.
"Father's southern campaign succeeded, and so the Sword Family's southern branches still pass those vessels freely through Sapaecheon's domain... yet..."
Yeon So-hyeon gave a bitter smile.
"Since Father collapsed, the influence of the Sword Family's southern enterprises has been concentrating, little by little, into the hands of that Second Young Master."
His mother, Grand Matron Ouyang, was the daughter of Sapaecheon's Lianju.
Thus the Second Young Master might as well have held dual registry in both the Luoyang Sword Family and Sapaecheon, gathering to himself the power and influence that flowed from both.
And that power would only swell faster as he aged.
Since ending his seclusion, Yeon So-hyeon had merely managed—through ability that could only be called extraordinary—to keep the balance from tipping.
"But..."
Yeon So-hyeon smiled faintly.
"I too have now laid the foundation of a power base. If I grow that force from this foundation, the picture will look different hereafter."
At his words Young Mistress Tang Eun-rang clicked her tongue.
"...Having known nothing from birth but a prepared, smooth road, I can only be astonished. The First Young Master's boldness and confidence truly leave one breathless."
She lifted the jar and poured until his cup overflowed.
"If that is so, will the First Young Master's next move also be a single decisive stroke?"
"Who can say..."
Yeon So-hyeon raised the brimming cup toward her and smiled.
"A spectator's pleasure lies in trying to guess the next move while watching. For now, simply enjoy that pleasure."
In the small courtyard before the reception hall.
"I drank well at your expense."
Tang Eun-rang, her complexion unchanged, spoke to Yeon So-hyeon.
A poison person from the start, she was never one to grow drunk on mere alcohol.
Her gaze shifted past him to Tang Baek.
"Unit Leader Tang Baek. Have you no thought of returning to the main house?"
"None."
Tang Baek refused without the slightest opening; Tang Eun-rang nodded without lingering regret.
"When you followed your aunt to Luoyang, the rumor that your heart for the main house left with you was true, it seems. Very well."
The aunt of whom she spoke was Grand Matron Tang, mother of the Fourth Young Master.
While they conversed, Tang Gwi-ho—having received an updated report from a shadow operative—called to her.
"Young Mistress."
She asked Yeon So-hyeon's leave and received the report through Tang Gwi-ho's voice transmission.
"Mmm."
Her brows knitted; she turned back to Yeon So-hyeon.
"According to the report I have just received, the one who used influence over the ward chiefs of Tanlong and Jiaxiao Districts to delay the firefighting was, it seems, a figure from the Second Young Master's side."
Tang Gwi-ho sighed softly at the way she spilled every scrap of information at once.
Tang Eun-rang ignored him and added coolly,
"Your intelligence network looked busy, so we looked into a few things ourselves."
"...Is that all?"
Yeon So-hyeon gave Tang Eun-rang a wry smile.
"Even if they were behind this fire, I would not find it the least bit strange."
He shook his head.
"Moreover, even at this very moment they will be watching my forces respond to the blaze and analyzing our full strength down to the last detail."
A show of force conducted through fire and underworld organizations.
The underworld was expendable to them; Yeon So-hyeon judged it a move they would readily conceive.
"And this will be only the beginning."
Tang Eun-rang agreed.
"They were merely unable to respond at once because of the First Young Master's opening move; it does not mean follow-up measures are impossible."
"Those follow-up measures are no doubt already underway."
"And yet the First Young Master remains confident?"
"Of course."
Tang Eun-rang flipped up the hood of her outer robe and smiled.
"Then I wish you fortune in battle."
Luoyang Sword Family, Second Young Master's camp.
In the broad, luxurious front courtyard a black carriage of rare metals stood waiting.
Its shape somehow recalled the First Young Master's Ironclad Fortress.
Six famous horses with silver manes harnessed to it stamped and snorted.
"...So what level of martial attainment do they claim the First Young Master has reached? What? If the information is low-confidence, then secure quantity at least!"
Before the carriage the elders of the Second Young Master's faction paced restlessly.
"...The families that joined the firefighting, headed by the Gong Family of Mount Beimang, number six. Seven in total, you say?"
"The mobilization power of the House of Compassion exceeded predictions. It seems they were more organized than we had previously assessed."
Even while the Great Immortal Merchant Group was reorganizing, their analysis work continued without major disruption.
That was because famous information brokers of Luoyang were cooperating with the Second Young Master's side.
"So?"
Elder An, the man responsible for the Great Immortal Merchant Group, pushed up his spectacles and asked his subordinate again.
"The attacks on the Great Immortal Merchant Group—you say they are the work of Hyeonwol Pavilion, which holds the Fourth Young Master's Sword Family token?"
It seemed this side, too, had finally caught the tail.
"We cannot be certain yet, but..."
Elder An roughly flipped through the reports the subordinate handed him; his face twisted fiercely.
"Th-this dog-shit...!"
Someone clapped a hand on the shoulder that trembled around the reports.
"Calm yourself, Elder An."
It was a fellow elder of the same Jiangnan faction.
"Follow-up countermeasures are already proceeding with certainty. This is only the beginning—why work yourself into such a state?"
Elder An composed his expression.
"...I know."
"The analysis is progressing smoothly as well."
The fellow elder crossed his arms, smiled, and watched those bustling about the front courtyard.
Everyone was racing about in the deep of night as if it were broad day.
Then he jerked his chin toward one corner.
"Besides, our Jiangnan faction is far better off than that fellow, is it not?"
Elder An's gaze turned to the corner.
There stood Elder Ha-hu, unable to still his anxious pacing for even a moment.
"...Mmm."
It was Elder Ha-hu of the Luoyang faction, the one who had held command in the great council chamber that day.
"A ridiculous sight."
After a moment spent sneering at the man, the fellow elder spoke again to Elder An.
"In any case we cannot directly block those old mares of Mount Beimang, but we can pre-emptively stop those who will try to move at their behest."
They currently held no official posts.
To accomplish anything they would have to move someone who did.
"...But it is impossible with our strength alone."
"Of course."
The fellow elder shrugged.
"That is why we are waiting here for our lord, is it not?"
Hardly had the words left his mouth when the chief steward's sharp voice rang out.
"The Second Young Master approaches!"