Above All Men
Above All Men.
From ages past, countless dynasties had risen and fallen across the continent, yet the title had always pointed to one figure alone: the Emperor who held dominion over the realm.
And yet—
“The Emperor’s first step, you say…”
When the current heads of the Sixteen Imperial Capital Families spoke the word “Emperor,” not a shred of that supreme authority could be felt in it.
“To take his first step only after passing the age of twenty…”
They had reached the conclusion that the Emperor himself had moved to appoint a Grand Chancellor, yet not one among them showed any real tension or anxiety.
“Our Emperor has been rather late in learning to walk.”
Someone tossed out the jest, and the rest answered with thin, mocking smiles—as if the Emperor himself were beneath their notice.
“Still…”
One family head frowned and stroked his beard.
“Using the northern nomads’ movements as a distraction so the Emperor can take that first step in the opening… Just how did he manage it?”
Imperial Palace.
…So I have entered the palace again.
An old man of such towering height and bulk that he might as well have been called a giant was making his way forward.
He had slipped in by a rear path to avoid every watching eye, yet—
…To think that at my age I would set foot in the Imperial Palace once more.
Why did his aged heart pound so fiercely?
As he walked, the old man raised a hand like a cauldron lid and slowly brushed the stone wall of the palace.
…Everything is just as it was.
On that day long ago he had stripped off his official robes and left the palace behind. Yet the palace itself seemed to have frozen in place ever since, greeting the old man in exactly the same form as before.
Overwhelming emotion.
Unbefitting his years, the rims of his eyes grew red.
The aged eunuch who guided him could not begin to fathom the old man’s feelings; he spoke not a single word until the escort was complete.
“This is the place.”
The Imperial Palace of the Central Kingdom boasted one thousand nine hundred ninety-nine chambers of unmatched splendor, yet the building they had reached was a single small structure used by low-ranking civil officials whenever weather or other circumstances kept them overnight in the palace.
The door opened. The giant of an old man bent low to pass through the low entrance.
That low lintel existed so that every subject would forever remember that the Emperor stood above them all.
Because of his height the old man had to stoop excessively—yet even after clearing the doorway he did not straighten.
Instead he bent still lower and sank to his knees.
“Ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand years.”
In the entire Central Kingdom only one person was entitled to receive that wish for eternal life as greeting.
“This humble servant, Gang Sang, has returned to the palace at His Majesty’s summons.”
Seated in lotus posture inside the temporary quarters meant for junior officials, a young man opened the eyes he had kept closed.
“…It has truly been a long time, Grand Chancellor.”
A face that still held traces of baby fat. A sparse, awkward beard.
Not a strikingly handsome man, nor one who radiated untouchable majesty.
An unremarkable face. An unremarkable frame.
By every measure ordinary—and yet this was the Emperor of the Central Kingdom.
“We most sincerely welcome your return to the Imperial Palace.”
The two of them moved deeper into the narrow room.
There were simply too many eyes in the palace to risk an open meeting. This was a strictly unofficial audience, held in secret before Gang Sang’s formal appointment as Grand Chancellor.
“To evade the Empress’s gaze and arrange your appointment with Our own hands… the hair on Our neck stood on end and the cold sweat on Our back would not stop.”
The young Emperor spoke with an embarrassed smile.
“In that moment We realized something.”
Beneath Gang Sang’s carefully raised gaze the Emperor laid bare his true feelings.
“For the first time in Our life, We had taken a single step by Our own strength.”
Gang Sang immediately bowed his head.
“This old man’s abilities are so lacking that he forced Your Majesty’s precious person to move. That is an unforgivable disloyalty—”
“Enough of that disloyalty nonsense, Grand Chancellor. We have no need of empty formalities.”
The Emperor waved a hand as though the words themselves were unpleasant. His manner and expression were far too plain for one who stood above all men.
“A pathetic creature who only managed to settle a single matter by his own hand after passing the age of twenty.”
Gang Sang lowered his head once more, but this time he did not speak further.
“The heads of the Sixteen Families in the capital are surely mocking Us even now.”
A bitter smile touched the Emperor’s lips.
“They must be saying, ‘If the Emperor has taken his first step, when will he finally learn to walk?’”
Just as the Emperor said, if Gang Sang kept taking the blame upon himself it would only deepen the young sovereign’s shame.
“And though We claim to have settled the matter by Our own strength, in the end We merely summoned you because We lacked the ability to judge and handle it Ourselves.”
Gang Sang bowed even deeper. Something deep in his chest ached.
The young Emperor before him was by nature gentle and kind-hearted—so much so that he could truly empathize with the common people. Had he inherited the throne in an age when imperial authority still stood firm, he would surely have led the Central Kingdom into a golden age and been remembered as a sage king.
“We know Ourselves well.”
In the old minister’s silence the young Emperor continued with a self-mocking smile.
“Had We become Emperor in peaceful times, We might at least have left a single line in the histories as a sovereign who cared for his people. But We ascended the throne in this age of chaos, and so We will be recorded only as an incompetent dark lord.”
“…Your Majesty.”
Moisture edged the loyal subject’s voice. Outside the room the aged eunuch who had raised a martial barrier to keep sound from leaking bit his lip hard.
A sovereign of rare self-knowledge and excellent character—yet powerless. And the minister most capable of supporting him had been forced to lay down his office of his own will. Now the two of them met in the most remote, most shabby chamber of the palace. How could one not feel sorrow?
“That is why,” the young Emperor said, his expression hardening,
“when We heard that the First Young Master of the Luoyang Sword Family had ended his seclusion and returned to the world—”
A resolute light shone in his eyes.
“We understood that this was the final chance Heaven had granted Us.”
Luoyang.
“This is the imperial edict I received when I ended my seclusion.”
Yeon So-hyeon carefully drew forth the carefully preserved decree. Kang Ho accepted it with both hands and unrolled it.
“…Young Master. This is merely ordinary content, is it not?”
Just as Kang Ho said, the elegant calligraphy contained nothing more than a conventional wish that Yeon So-hyeon would perform many great deeds for the Central Kingdom henceforth.
“Indeed.”
Receiving an imperial edict simply for ending seclusion was surprising, yet when the recipient was the First Young Master of the Luoyang Sword Family—called the greatest under heaven—it could hardly be called unusual.
“It could not have been otherwise.”
Kong Ryang spoke.
“An imperial edict passes through dozens of hands before it reaches its destination.”
He took the decree from Kang Ho and slowly smoothed the silk with his thin, bony fingers.
“Unless the reigning Emperor’s power is absolute, no content can remain secure.”
Kang Ho nodded.
“That is certainly true. There is even a bureau in the palace that deals exclusively with imperial edicts…”
And that bureau would, of course, be under the thumb of the current heads of the Sixteen Imperial Capital Families.
“Moreover, every move His Majesty makes is observed by the eunuchs.”
Kang Ho tilted his head.
“Then how did the Young Master exchange messages with His Majesty?”
Yeon So-hyeon had thrown the Sixteen Families into confusion, and in that opening the Emperor had moved with exquisite timing to summon Gang Sang. Such coordination would normally require careful planning and constant communication to align the moment.
“No.”
Unexpectedly, Yeon So-hyeon shook his head.
“I never exchanged messages with His Majesty.”
“…What?”
Yeon So-hyeon took the decree back from Kong Ryang—and in one motion ripped the paper free of its silk mounting.
The destruction of an imperial edict. Should word of it reach the outside, even the execution of three generations would not be enough to atone. Kang Ho’s face went paper-white; his mouth opened and closed soundlessly, unable even to scream.
“…Y-Young Master! What on earth—!”
“Brilliant!”
Before Kang Ho could finish his protest, Kong Ryang’s eyes flew wide with admiration.
“So that was the method…!”
At those words Yeon So-hyeon held up the silk scroll, now stripped of its paper, for Kang Ho to see clearly.
“Ah…!”
Kang Ho, too, could not help a gasp of wonder.
“The darkness under the lamp.”
Yeon So-hyeon gave a quiet laugh at their reactions.
“No one would ever dare to tear open an imperial edict.”
Of course not. Who in the world besides Yeon So-hyeon would even conceive of damaging paper that bore the Emperor’s own hand merely to inspect the mounting?
Kang Ho read the characters now revealed on the silk aloud.
"First Young Master. Just as your father once aided Our late father the previous Emperor, this time it is you who must aid Us."
His expression turned blank with shock.
“These words…!”
“Yes.”
Yeon So-hyeon nodded.
“What I received was a plea for rescue from His Majesty the Emperor.”
“What…?!”
Gang Sang stared at the Emperor in stunned disbelief.
“How did Your Majesty prepare such a method of contact? And how did the First Young Master know of it?”
He had only been told that Yeon So-hyeon would coordinate with the Emperor; the rest was naturally a mystery.
The Emperor smiled at his reaction.
“It is the same method the previous Emperor used when he contacted the Sword Family’s head—the First Young Master’s father.”
“…Ah!”
That explained how Yeon So-hyeon had known.
“The late Emperor constantly needed the Sword Family’s cooperation to keep the Central Kingdom in balance. Yet…”
Gang Sang nodded.
“If a single family received too many imperial favors, it would have been good for neither the Sword Family nor the late Emperor.”
Had every request been made openly, every single one would have required public reward from the throne, pouring far too much power into an already mighty house. No matter how loyal the head of the Sword Family might have been, Gang Sang himself—then Grand Chancellor—would have opposed it.
“Exactly. Thus my father and the Sword Family’s head often moved in secret. I simply imitated them.”
“Ah…!”
The Emperor’s smile widened.
“He answered my request by shaking the Sixteen Families. I knew at once that it was the signal the First Young Master had sent.”
“I see…”
And seizing that opening, the Emperor had succeeded in summoning Gang Sang.
This was the result of the First Young Master’s ingenuity and His Majesty’s quick wit working in perfect harmony…!
Gang Sang nodded in understanding—then suddenly frowned.
“Wait a moment.”
He could not make sense of one point.
“Does that not mean the First Young Master of the Sword Family tore open an imperial edict?”
“Of course.”
The Emperor nodded as though it were nothing.
“He had to tear it to read the message. What else could he do?”
Gang Sang looked utterly nonplussed.
“I was told he still possessed an intact edict and even showed it to the previous generation of the Sixteen Family heads…”
The Emperor merely shrugged.
“Well, after reading it he simply pasted another sheet of paper back on, did he not?”
“…What?”
“Imitating my handwriting on a fresh sheet would have been no difficulty for him.”
“…Even so, the special paper and ink used for edicts cannot be obtained outside the palace, can they?”
“True.”
The Emperor tilted his head.
“Or perhaps he never tore it open in the first place…?”
“…What?”
“He never tore it open the first time?!”
Kang Ho cried out as though he had been struck.
“Then how did you learn of His Majesty’s plea and prepare everything in advance?!”
Yeon So-hyeon shrugged.
“There is a way to read it without tearing. That is how it was possible.”
“What?”
Yeon So-hyeon smiled, thinking of his head maid, whose insight no one under heaven could match when it came to seeing through things.
“More than that, however…”
The Emperor’s eyes gleamed.
“What truly astonishes Us is the First Young Master’s ability to know We would summon you, Gang Sang, and to prepare you in advance.”
Gang Sang’s expression said he had run out of words.
Whether it was the Emperor who spoke so casually of damaging and forging an imperial edict, or Yeon So-hyeon who was suspected of actually doing so—both men stood far beyond ordinary common sense.
Speechless. Absurd. And yet a smile had already risen unbidden to Gang Sang’s lips—a smile bright with strong expectation.
An Emperor and a First Young Master who have never even met face to face… how can they be so perfectly in step?
That child of an Emperor has grown this much already?
This affair may yield results beyond even my hopes…!
Gang Sang opened his mouth and asked the Emperor one final question.
“Your Majesty.”
It was the same doubt he had carried ever since receiving Yeon So-hyeon’s letter after the young man ended his seclusion.
“Why the First Young Master of the Sword Family?”