The Calamity of Clan Annihilation
The middle-aged woman exhaled a stream of smoke and raised the hand holding her cigarette toward Yeon So-hyeon.
“First Young Master. Before we begin, I have a question.”
Seated in the place of honor, Yeon So-hyeon extended a hand toward her.
“Please, speak.”
“Everyone present here is a representative of a different enterprise. What we share in common is that each of us has ties to the trade routes linking Gangnam and Luoyang.”
That was precisely why they had taken an interest in acquiring the Yi family’s enterprise—the Yeongwa Merchant Group.
She cast a sidelong glance around the room and continued.
“As yet, none of us here maintain any direct relationship with Sapaecheon. Nor has anyone taken the Second Young Master of the Sword Family by the hand….”
“From the start, none of you seated here belong to families whose main houses stand in Luoyang.”
“Correct. However….”
Her eyes narrowed.
“Depending on how the wind blows, any one of us could join hands with the Second Young Master at any moment and plant a knife in the First Young Master’s back. Moreover, you yourself cannot actually operate the Yeongwa Merchant Group.”
The middle-aged woman drew deeply on her cigarette, then slowly released the smoke into the air.
“In that case….”
Her serpentine gaze never left Yeon So-hyeon for an instant.
“Rather than pay the First Young Master an enormous sum to acquire the Yeongwa Merchant Group, would it not be simpler to join hands with the Second Young Master, secure his understanding, and simply seize the territories and trade routes the Yeongwa Merchant Group once held?”
The Yi family no longer possessed any real power, after all. The Second Young Master would gladly permit any new force that offered to join him to devour the Yeongwa Merchant Group in the family’s place.
“And one more thing.”
The middle-aged woman’s tongue flicked lightly across her heavily rouged lips.
“If the true problem is the burden of meddling in the Sword Family’s succession struggle….”
She raised a hand and indicated the others around her.
“Then we need neither the First Young Master nor the Second. Our enterprises here could simply join forces among ourselves and take the Yeongwa Merchant Group’s territories and trade routes for our own.”
It was an uncomfortable truth.
“…Ahem.”
The representatives avoided Yeon So-hyeon’s eyes. One cleared his throat, another gave a slow nod, a third stroked his beard.
They had snatched the prey from a jackal’s jaws, only for the vipers to come swarming in. True to those who already kept one foot planted in Sapaecheon’s domain, their very thoughts were no different from those of scorpions and snakes.
“A most intriguing proposition.”
Yeon So-hyeon nodded, his expression utterly unperturbed.
“If you were to do so, snatching the Yeongwa Merchant Group from this First Young Master’s hand and dividing it among yourselves would indeed be entirely possible.”
Someone raised a hand and interjected carefully.
“…Therefore, if the price could simply be adjusted to something a little more reasonable, a peaceful transaction might still be arranged.”
At those words, everyone shared the same sly smile within.
That had been their aim from the beginning. Neither joining the Second Young Master and plunging into the Luoyang Sword Family’s succession war, nor paying full price to buy the Yeongwa Merchant Group from the First Young Master. Forming an alliance that might stab one another in the back at any moment and opposing the First Young Master outright was also troublesome. If they could devour the Yeongwa Merchant Group cheaply, that was the best course.
“That would be somewhat difficult.”
Yeon So-hyeon shook his head.
“There is no need for the First Young Master to go so far as to protect the Yeongwa Merchant Group by confronting us in a situation like—”
Yeon So-hyeon cut the man off.
“There is no need to confront you at all. If you unite, everything will be taken from me in the end.”
“Then why—”
“But I give you my word.”
Yeon So-hyeon crossed his legs and settled deeply into his chair.
“The family of whoever first opens fire upon the Yeongwa Merchant Group while it remains in this First Young Master’s grasp….”
He lifted his chin and swept the gathering with an arrogant gaze.
“I shall personally reduce that family to the same state as the Yi.”
"......."
The smoke that had been drifting thickly through the room seemed to freeze solid in place.
Yeon So-hyeon raised not a scrap of artificial presence, nor did he reveal even a sliver of killing intent. Neither was necessary.
“When that happens, the next gathering in this room will see not only the Yeongwa Merchant Group, but also the merchant group of the family I have just shattered, placed upon the auction block.”
He merely looked from one face to the next—calmly, and with absolute arrogance. Not one among them dared meet his eyes properly.
“Well then. Shall any of you try your hand against this First Young Master?”
Silence fell over the entire company.
"......."
Only yesterday those words would never have carried weight against men who represented powerful houses. Today, everything had changed.
When Yeon So-hyeon moved, the magistrates of the Cheong family—who had known nothing but honor—had moved with him. Though it still defied belief, it was becoming clear that the entire Gong family of the Sixteen Imperial Capital Families stood behind the First Young Master. The Yi family, which had flaunted its strength so boldly that it charged the First Young Master of the Luoyang Sword Family without hesitation, had been smashed to pieces overnight. The very Yeongwa Merchant Group they now sought to purchase was nothing less than the still-warm corpse of the Yi family.
“…Ah!”
Someone hastily shook out his hand. He had not even noticed that the tobacco between his fingers had burned completely away.
At that single cry, the air inside the room—frozen solid as a glacier of ten thousand years—began to flow once more. Murmurs rose.
“…The First Young Master has certainly demonstrated his ability this time.”
“Even if we formed an alliance, no one would be willing to bare their teeth at him first.”
“After hearing words like that, is there even a family left that would try to form a united front?”
Only after giving them ample time to exchange opinions did Yeon So-hyeon speak again.
“If a single family swallows the Yeongwa Merchant Group whole, it may well earn the Second Young Master’s personal grudge.”
The whispered conversations died away, and every gaze in the room gathered naturally upon him.
“Should Sapaecheon, at his request, simply block the trade routes you have just purchased, the situation would become most awkward.”
Yeon So-hyeon smiled as he looked over the gathering.
“That is why this First Young Master is dividing the Yeongwa Merchant Group by region and selling the pieces separately.”
One family might be blocked entirely. But if many families each bought only a portion of the Yeongwa Merchant Group, Sapaecheon could not seal every route. Those same arteries brought northern wealth into Sapaecheon’s own hands.
As everyone nodded at the First Young Master’s strategy, the middle-aged woman who had first spoken opened her mouth again.
“First Young Master.”
She crushed out her cigarette as she spoke.
“Please name your price.”
The main house of the family had been stripped bare.
The elders were under arrest. The family head was gone. Members who had held official posts had vanished. The merchant group that had been the family’s very roots was being carved into pieces and sold off.
Originally, the calamity known as myeolmunjihwa—the disaster of clan annihilation—referred to the wholesale slaughter of an entire household. Most of the Yi family still lived, yet they were no longer among the living. Having lost everything, the only inheritance left to them after long years of accumulation was resentment and hatred.
Those who had been mere small fry, or who had survived by sheer luck, were hastily concealing themselves and fleeing Luoyang. Never again would they dare speak their surname anywhere.
In the political streets of Luoyang a new saying began to circulate:
“In less than half a day, the Yi family met the calamity of clan annihilation at the hands of the Sword Family’s First Young Master.”
Every power-holder in Luoyang, without exception, had every nerve stretched taut by the present situation.
And at the very moment First Young Master Yeon So-hyeon was carving up and disposing of the Yeongwa Merchant Group, there were those who ran about as though fire had fallen upon their own feet.
They were the families that had taken the Second Young Master of the Luoyang Sword Family by the hand from early on.
“Family Head! Family Head!”
In the main house of a certain influential family whose roots lay in Luoyang, a man in official robes appeared in the inner courtyard, calling for the family head until his lungs nearly burst. He had even removed his official cap and clutched it in his hand as he rushed in. The aged family head himself leapt down into the courtyard to meet him.
“W-well?! Is the rumor true?!”
The attitude was so far removed from the family head who normally prized dignity above all else that it was hard to believe.
“Yes! Yes! The active officials of the Yi family who should by now be preparing to leave their offices for the day—none of them can be found anywhere!”
At those words the Wang family head nearly leapt out of his skin.
“Is that the absolute truth?! Not a single one of them was to be seen?!”
“Would I dare report a falsehood before Your Lordship’s seat of judgment?!”
The active official of the Wang family nodded his head frantically.
“It goes beyond the Yi officials simply being absent—no one will even speak of them! Everyone acts as though they have no idea who such people might be!”
“T-this…!”
The Wang family head clutched his forehead.
“Family Head! Family Head!”
Next came the family members who had been dispatched to various information brokers; they came running into the courtyard.
“It seems the Gong family truly did take a hand! Judging by the scale of the affair and the speed of its resolution, the entire family must have moved!”
“The Gong family of the Sixteen Imperial Capital Families!”
The Wang family head roared.
“Who does not know the Gong family is one of the Sixteen Imperial Capital Families?! That is not the point! The important question is why those bastards stood on the First Young Master’s side! Were the former family heads on Mount Beimang not supposed to hold different aims from the main house in the Imperial Capital?!”
Veins stood out on the old family head’s neck; spittle flew from his lips.
“And those Cheong family dogs—what the hell did they eat wrong that they now act like the First Young Master’s hunting hounds?! Is there not a single piece of proper information among you?!”
When he exploded in anger the family members bowed their heads in flustered silence. Ordinarily they might have cursed him inwardly, yet the present crisis was no longer the family head’s problem alone; they too were driven half-mad by it.
“What are you all standing around for?! Go back out at once and dig up real intelligence!”
Without even time to catch their breath the family members raced out of the courtyard once more. Watching them scramble into their respective carriages and pass through the main gate, the Wang family head’s eyes trembled with agitation. At any moment he felt the First Young Master’s Ironclad Fortress might smash straight through the great gates of this vast main house.
"......."
The collapse of the Yi family had been far too swift. The other families that had stood with the Second Young Master had not even been given the chance to offer aid. That First Young Master had finished off an influential house as casually as roasting beans over a lightning flash. They could not simply sit with folded hands.
“…Prepare yourselves! I must meet the Zhang family head at once!”
It was time to gather the allies.
“W-what in the world…?”
The Zhang family, like his own Wang family, was an influential house belonging to the Second Young Master’s faction. Before the main gate of that Zhang family the Wang family head wore a look of utter bewilderment.
The space before the gate thronged with people who appeared to be packing up their belongings and departing. It looked exactly like a column of refugees fleeing an enemy advance.
“I shall find out what is happening!”
The stewards who had alighted first from the carriage dashed into the Zhang main house.
“You there!”
Spotting a familiar face through the carriage window, the Wang family head thrust out a pointing hand and shouted.
“Are you not the man who managed the Zhang family’s great farms?!”
The expression of the man who turned at the cry immediately filled with awkwardness.
“Do not pretend not to know me! Come here at once!”
The Zhang family member heaved a sigh and approached the Wang family head. When the latter pressed him urgently for an explanation, he answered while watching the surroundings carefully.
“…It is exactly as you see. Everyone is packing their things and leaving Luoyang.”
“Where is Family Head Zhang?! Where are the core elders of the family right now?!”
“I do not know. But it is certain they are no longer within the main house.”
His gaze turned toward those who were casually carrying off the family’s property as they left—implying that if the family head or the core elders had still been present, such a thing would never have been allowed.
…Have they already fled Luoyang?
Judging by the scene, the moment they confirmed the Yi family had suffered the calamity of clan annihilation they had gone into hiding without delay.
“Family Head! Family Head Zhang’s bedchamber and study are both completely empty! There is no one!”
“None of the close attendants who served the family head are to be found either!”
Listening to the stewards who came running with the report, the Wang family head let his head fall back against the seat.
…Is the battle line collapsing?
One of the influential houses that should have bitten and torn at First Young Master Yeon So-hyeon without mercy had deserted the front.
Is it time for me to make a decision as well—like the Zhang family head…?
He suddenly recalled the escape plan he had prepared for emergencies, then violently shook his head.
No!
The war had not even been properly fought yet, and his own family still stood intact. To abandon the fame, wealth, and power accumulated until this very day without even putting up a real fight and choose flight instead—
Those stupid Zhang bastards!
It was unthinkable.
He shouted to the close attendant sitting in the coachman’s seat.
“To the Sword Family at once! To the Second Young Master’s camp!”
And at that same hour, carriages carrying not only the Wang family head but the heads of other families as well were likewise racing toward the Second Young Master’s camp.