Sitting Back and Reaping the Fruits
Geum-jan-ru.
“Indeed, one might say as much. You are truly formidable, First Young Master…!”
At Cheong Ho-wi’s words, Yeon So-hyeon gave a light shrug of his shoulders.
“It is nothing of consequence.”
Yeon So-hyeon’s expression remained serene, as though he genuinely regarded the matter as nothing special.
“The Third Young Master’s military advisors sought to arrest you all through the Law Protection Court, so I merely made some preparations of my own.”
An aged knight shook his head firmly from side to side.
“We had long expected that, should we ever face one who possessed both strength and wisdom, our organization would find itself unable to exert its full power.”
“….”
The knights, Cheong Ho-wi among them, nodded in agreement.
Was that not precisely why he and the troubleshooter Su-ran had visited Yeon So-hyeon at the main compound of the House of Compassion in the first place?
The aged knight continued.
“…I had always known a day like this would come.”
The old man’s clear gaze settled upon Yeon So-hyeon, who stood by the railing.
“Would we scatter and try to survive on our own somehow, or would we follow the First Young Master?”
The aged knight rose from his seat and raised his cup.
“It was a choice that required no further deliberation.”
His clear, upright gaze met Yeon So-hyeon’s. Truly unfathomable in its depths. Eyes like a dragon’s pool…! He spoke toward Yeon So-hyeon.
“We of the Spring of Luoyang are all as brothers to one another. From this day forth, we shall honor the First Young Master as our eldest brother!”
Following his lead, every man raised his cup toward Yeon So-hyeon and drained it in a single draught.
A knight in scholarly robes, one who seemed well-versed in letters, reported with a solemn expression.
“This place may not be the Peach Garden, yet our sworn resolve toward the First Young Master would not fall short even when set against the Peach Garden Oath of the Founding Emperor of Shu Han and his brothers in history.”
Another knight called out.
“This finest liquor is peach wine itself—what is there to envy of Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei’s Peach Garden!”
A young knight, a mischievous glint in his eyes, smiled as he spoke.
“They never swore their oath in a place as luxurious as this, with such fine wine. Seems our side has the better of it.”
Everyone burst into laughter.
“Since talk of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms has arisen, I shall match it myself.”
Yeon So-hyeon refilled his own cup and spoke.
“Though we brothers could not be born in the same year, the same month, and the same day, we desire to die in the same year, the same month, and the same day!”
He then raised his cup high toward the sky through the open ceiling and drained it in one go.
“We look forward to your guidance from this day forward, Eldest Brother!”
“We shall be your hands and feet, Eldest Brother!”
“Therefore, Eldest Brother, you must keep your promise and bring spring to this Luoyang and the Central Plains!”
They were calling a teenage boy their eldest brother, yet not a single one among them found it strange.
The presence of Yeon So-hyeon had already reached a realm that transcended his outward appearance.
“Excellent!”
One burly knight drained the cup he had raised and seized his weapon.
“Eldest Brother said the Third Young Master’s dogs have sealed off Luoyang.”
Following his lead, several hot-tempered men took up their own weapons.
“We shall open the path!”
A knight who had been drinking straight from a jar shouted toward Yeon So-hyeon.
“The First Young Master has only just become our eldest brother—he cannot begin by ordering his brothers to throw away their lives!”
“Well said.”
Despite the rising wine-heat, a middle-aged knight whirled a hand-axe in each hand and wore a deep smile.
“If the first order were something like that, it would bring ill fortune thereafter. So we shall take care of it ourselves.”
Admiration flickered in Yeon So-hyeon’s gaze as he looked down upon them.
They walked the path of the knight precisely because they refused to view the world in simple terms convenient to themselves.
To reject the easy road and follow a great cause was a far more difficult and complex path than merely living according to one’s desires.
“Good!”
“Let’s do this!”
And yet—
Their decisions and actions were as swift and simple as those of the brainwashed maid corps of Wongak Pavilion.
“Brothers.”
At the sound of Yeon So-hyeon’s voice, those who had been stoking their fighting spirit turned to look at him.
“I have no intention of watching my brothers be sacrificed the moment I become your eldest brother.”
At those words, everyone tilted their heads in confusion.
The aged warrior who had sensed something in Yeon So-hyeon’s words widened his eyes.
“…Does that mean, Eldest Brother, that you have yet another measure prepared?”
Yeon So-hyeon shook his head.
“It is not something I prepared.”
“…?”
The Third Young Master’s Military Advisors’ Quarters.
“Great Strategist Zhuge!”
A military officer burst through the door.
“A report has arrived from the personnel dispatched to the Luoyang Central Administration!”
Great Strategist Zhuge instantly sensed from the man’s tone that matters were not proceeding as intended.
“What problem has arisen?”
“The blockade of Luoyang has been refused!”
“Refused? Did they demand unreasonable conditions?”
“No, sir! Our people offered every condition they could possibly present, yet it was still refused!”
Great Strategist Zhuge’s eyes wavered.
The only contingency he had anticipated was that officials, aware of the Third Young Master’s faction’s current disarray, might simply demand a larger price.
“…Why?!”
The messenger officer, sweat pouring down his face, cried out.
“I do not know! One of the bureaucrats said, ‘Look to your own house first’—that is the only message we received…!”
“……!”
With that single phrase—
the young genius of the Zhuge family saw through the entire scheme.
“Th-th-this…!”
Great Strategist Zhuge trembled with rage as he shouted.
“These damned Yeon bloodline bastards…!”
The senior officers who heard him exchanged glances.
“…?”
They simply could not keep pace with the speed of Great Strategist Zhuge’s thoughts.
A certain pier in Luoyang.
Everything there was steeped in the light of the setting sun as an old man in silken robes stamped his feet in agitation.
“Can you not load any faster?! Faster, I say!”
The official responsible for the pier wiped his sweat with a handkerchief and tried to soothe the man beside him.
“Aigoo, Elder. All the laborers are already swarming the work, are they not? Please be patient just a little longer.”
As the official said, countless laborers were busily hauling the cargo—yet every single crate contained goods of the highest value.
Their work simply could not proceed as quickly as the silk-clad elder desired.
“The procedures?!”
The old man spun toward the official, spittle flying.
“All the procedures are finished, yes?!”
“Aigoo, of course they are.”
The official hastily waved his hands.
“The moment the unloading is complete, the ship can depart. Every last formality has already been settled.”
“Good. That is how it should be. Otherwise I shall personally wring that neck of yours…!”
The old man’s words and manner seemed cheap, yet no one in Luoyang could deny that he possessed power to match them.
“Please do not worry! Who in Luoyang would dare obstruct the affairs of an elder bearing the Yeon surname?”
And at that very moment—
the elder at the pier was far from the only one smuggling wealth out of Luoyang.
“Hurry, hurry and move it!”
“We must leave Luoyang’s jurisdiction before the day is out!”
Porters raised a great clamor.
Watching them frantically secure cargo onto carriages and carts, one of the Yeon bloodline ground his teeth. That damned Yeon So-hyeon! He was the middle-aged man who had attended the gathering of the Second Young Master’s faction and the Yeon bloodline some days prior. Those damned Second Young Master’s dogs! The meaning of that gathering had evaporated.
The Second Young Master’s side, which had been the nucleus, had withdrawn. Those damned Third Young Master’s dogs! And that had all happened because the Third Young Master’s faction had pulled back from the labor riot at the Yongbongjihoe Arena Construction Site.
They were steadily returning to their old front lines against the Second Young Master. That damned Supreme Operations Committee! He clenched his fists so hard behind his back that his arms trembled.
The gemstone-encrusted rings on his fingers, infused with internal qi, scraped against one another and screeched. Ordinarily, I would never have to handle such a matter personally…! He would have left it to the countless subordinates under him, yet the situation was now that dire. That damned Geomga Jeonjang! He had received word that Yeon So-hyeon had leaked information, and that the Yeon bloodline’s corruption tied to Geomga Jeonjang had been handed over to the Central Investigation Department. That damned Central Investigation Department! With the Central Investigation Department already catching the scent and moving, he had to somehow smuggle the fortunes secretly amassed through illicit accumulation to a safe place outside Luoyang. Damn it…! Damn it…! He ground his teeth.
[Master.]
At the sound transmission from the shadows behind him, he answered in kind without even glancing back.
[You properly blocked the Left and Right Great Strategists’ schemes, I trust?]
His subordinate hidden in the shadows wore a thin smile.
[Of course. How could the likes of them dare obstruct the affairs of the Yeon bloodline?]
Recalling the faces of the Third Young Master’s Left and Right Great Strategists, the Yeon bloodline member leaked killing intent.
[Those damned bastards. Trying to seal off Luoyang at a time like this.]
[They must have struck some deal with the Central Investigation Department. That is why they are helping them.]
It was a misunderstanding.
Yet the timing had been so coincidental that the misunderstanding was inevitable.
[Those damned bastards!]
By blocking the blockade of Luoyang, matters had unfolded as he wished—
yet the middle-aged man’s face did not ease.
His gaze turned to the servants loading the illicitly amassed wealth.
“Hurry up, you lot!”
His stewards barked and prodded the servants onward.
Even if the Central Investigation Department’s inquiry came, the fewer pieces of evidence remaining, the better.
Geum-jan-ru.
The knight in scholarly robes marveled.
“Mencius said, ‘It may be achieved while sitting’—that one may calculate the winter solstice a thousand years hence from a seated position. Eldest Brother seems the very embodiment of those words!”
“As I said, it is nothing special.”
Yeon So-hyeon gave a bitter smile.
“It is merely ‘sitting back and reaping the fruits’—nothing more than snatching what others have labored to achieve while remaining still.”
Though the exchange was brief, the scholarly knight could not suppress his continued admiration.
“Haha…!”
The phrase Yeon So-hyeon had used, “sitting back and reaping the fruits,” itself originated from the passage of Mencius that the knight had first quoted—concerning what the wise abhor.
“At any rate….”
A knight who had not followed the exchange scratched the back of his head with the hand still holding a hand-axe.
“What Eldest Brother means is that, since the Third Young Master’s blockade of Luoyang has failed, we will have no trouble slipping out… correct?”
This time Yeon So-hyeon nodded before anyone else could answer.
“That is so. And….”
As Yeon So-hyeon answered and gestured, the Wongak Pavilion maids who had driven the carriages entered carrying neatly folded slips of paper and began distributing them among the knights.
“Eldest Brother. These are…?”
At the knights’ question, Yeon So-hyeon offered a smile.
“They mark the waterways within the vast Underground Great Waterway of Luoyang whose safety the House of Compassion has secured.”
“…!”
Shock appeared on every face.
“Each has a different route marked, so even should someone make a mistake, no danger will reach the other brothers.”
Several people raised their hands.
Among them were Cheong Ho-wi and Su-ran.
“We did not receive maps, however….”
Yeon So-hyeon answered.
“You are not on the Third Young Master’s wanted list. They have not grasped the entirety of the Spring of Luoyang. You will come with me.”
Those who had not received maps looked at one another and nodded.
Most were young knights who had not been involved in the labor riot at the Yongbongjihoe Arena Construction Site.
“Do not worry about the families of the brothers who must leave Luoyang.”
Strength entered Yeon So-hyeon’s voice.
“I will ensure that nothing befalls them.”
“Eldest Brother…!”
“It is time to move.”
As a wave of emotion spread, Yeon So-hyeon raised a hand and cut off their words.
“The Third Young Master’s hunting dogs are moving faster than I anticipated. According to my information, they are the ‘Tanrang.’”
“The hell-hounds of the Martial Alliance…!”
Yeon So-hyeon looked around at those gathered and spoke.
“This is all I can do for you right now. Shaking off any individual pursuit thereafter is something each of you must resolve with your own strength.”
Smiles rose on every face.
“Do not worry, Eldest Brother.”
The knight with the hand-axes grinned.
“Though we are reduced to fleeing beyond Luoyang for now, our names are not so meager that they fall short of theirs.”
Yeon So-hyeon smiled as he surveyed them.
“The Spring of Luoyang shall now become the Spring of the Central Plains.”