Welcome
As soon as the Grand Master of the Gongdong Sect turned around—
as if refusing to concede even a single thread of light—
the Eldest Young Master's eyes, black as the hollow of an abyss, were fixed upon him.
"I welcome the Gongdong Sect's joining."
He himself was clearly the taller of the two.
In years, he was more than three times the young man's senior.
And yet—
"Grand Master."
—why did it feel as though the Eldest Young Master were looking down on him?
Up close, the Eldest Young Master was nothing like the figure one merely watched from afar.
"…Thank you, Eldest Young Master."
The Grand Master of Gongdong heard his own voice tremble, against his will.
"Ahem."
He cleared his throat in haste, steadying it—and Yeon So-hyeon smiled at him.
"Do not worry."
"W-worry about what, if I may ask?"
Yeon So-hyeon spoke as though he already knew everything.
"You fear that because Gongdong chose to join so late, you may be treated unfairly in my camp."
The wrinkled corners of the Grand Master's eyes twitched.
He's bringing that up himself—here, now?
Had their positions been reversed, it was a matter he would never have raised in a place this public.
If latecomers are treated the same as those who pledged their loyalty early, discontent will only take root…
Then why was the Eldest Young Master speaking of it with his own mouth, in front of everyone?
The Grand Master's mind spun at a furious pace.
Ah…!
Something clicked into place. He bent at the waist at once and answered.
"Not at all, Eldest Young Master."
He continued with the most deferential air he could manage.
"Gongdong watched the current of the times and joined late. Equality? How could we of Gongdong dare to be so greedy?"
He forced a smile onto his wrinkled face.
"We of Gongdong will be content so long as we may be of use to our allies!"
His voice rose.
"Securing a foothold in Luoyang is beyond our wildest dreams—we do not even dare to hope for it! We will take whatever reward is given us, and nothing more!"
Even as he said it, he nodded to himself.
The Eldest Young Master must have wanted me to refuse first…!
If late-joining Gongdong knew its place and bent of its own accord, the Eldest Young Master would quietly see that they were not left wanting—and the other sects would have no grounds for complaint.
And if we of Gongdong throw ourselves wholly into his service for years to come—
then, in the end, the chance to secure a foothold in Luoyang would fall to them as well.
"What nonsense is that, Grand Master?"
"…Pardon?"
But of course—
the Eldest Young Master was always one step beyond expectation.
"Did I not tell you not to worry?"
He stepped lightly past every calculation.
"Just as I promised Diancang, Zhongnan, and Hyeongsan Bukryu—"
Yeon So-hyeon's hand pointed toward the Grand Master of Gongdong.
"—so too will you of the Gongdong Sect be granted an equal opportunity to secure a foothold in Luoyang."
For a moment the Grand Master could not believe what he had heard. His eyes went wide; his mouth fell open of its own accord.
"…What?"
He found himself answering Yeon So-hyeon before he could stop himself.
"But if you do that—how do you mean to keep the other sects from resenting it?"
That chance was the very prize the former Sect Leader of Diancang had made a laughingstock of himself trying to seize. To simply hand it to latecomers like Gongdong—what then?
The one who burst out laughing was—
"Heh-heh-heh."
—Gong Ryang, the old demon already designated as the next Governor of Luoyang.
"If the only opportunity the Eldest Young Master could bestow were a foothold in Luoyang, then yes—some might well grow discontented."
"You mean to say—"
The Grand Master of Gongdong felt his mind reel as he asked.
"—that the Eldest Young Master can offer each sect opportunities greater still?"
The answer came from Yeon So-hyeon himself.
"Of course."
A smile curved his lips—so full of confidence it bordered on arrogance.
"Did you think the measure of this Eldest Young Master, Yeon So-hyeon, was so small as that?"
He turned his gaze, sweeping it across the heads of the various sects newly brought under his banner.
"Every sect that joined today will, as a baseline, be given an equal opportunity to secure a foothold in Luoyang."
As his eyes passed over them, each sect leader composed himself into a still more humble bearing.
"And going forward, those who render meritorious service will receive rewards matching their deeds—regardless of when they joined."
Yeon So-hyeon's voice rolled through the assembly.
"Does anyone object?"
To men whose dearest wish had been to plant roots and build a foundation, Yeon So-hyeon was now promising something larger still.
Naturally—
they could only wonder, in silence, what greater opportunities he might hold in store. There was not a single voice raised in protest.
"Good."
Yeon So-hyeon nodded, satisfied, and addressed the distinguished guests at large.
"I thank every guest who has honored this gathering with their presence today."
Applause burst from the guests who had just witnessed the Eldest Young Master's presence up close—as was only to be expected.
"I instructed the head lady-in-waiting to prepare food and drink in abundance, and yet…"
Raising a hand in answer to the applause, Yeon So-hyeon smiled and tossed out a light jest.
"Judging by the rate at which the grand banquet hall is being emptied, one would think none of you have had so much as a bowl of thin gruel in three days. If you do not wish to be taken for a pack of beggars wherever you go, I suggest a little restraint."
Laughter broke across the hall, and Yeon So-hyeon laughed with them.
"I have an internal council to attend, and so must take my leave. Enjoy yourselves in my stead as well."
Waiting maids opened the rear doors, and as the Eldest Young Master withdrew, the guests applauded without reserve.
Next came Gong Ryang, Governor-designate of Luoyang.
"As the Eldest Young Master said—watching you all eat and drink, I fear Luoyang's meager treasury will not survive it."
He looked out over the guests with a mischievous expression.
"On the day of my formal inauguration, be sure to bring your own food and wine."
Another wave of laughter rolled through the hall, and Gong Ryang's wheeled chair followed the Eldest Young Master out.
"Ahem."
After them came the former Sect Leader of Diancang, needlessly squaring his shoulders—
and after him, walking side by side, the Master of Zhongnan, wearing a wry smile at Diancang's former leader, and the Penitents of Hyeongsan Bukryu.
How proud they looked.
The Grand Master of Gongdong was watching them with a distant, almost yearning gaze when one of the guests clapped him on the shoulder.
"You of Gongdong are among the Eldest Young Master's inner circle now as well, Grand Master. You should go with them."
It was true.
Gongdong, too, now belonged to Yeon So-hyeon's power.
"…My thanks."
Bowing his head in gratitude, the Grand Master of Gongdong left the grand banquet hall last of all, to a round of applause.
Wongak-jeong.
The street before the main gate.
"The Eldest Young Master accepted our Gongdong?!"
"Yes!"
A second-generation disciple of Gongdong, who had gone inside to confirm the situation and returned, nodded hard, his face bright.
"What's more—he has even permitted us to establish a foothold in Luoyang!"
The Gongdong disciples who had been sitting in a dark corner of the stall leapt to their feet on the spot.
"It's done! It's done!"
"This opens the road for Gongdong once more!"
A first-generation disciple who had been alone, draining bottle after bottle to soothe his burning insides, sprang up and roared at the sky.
"Woooooo!"
"This unworthy disciple believed in you all along, Grand Master!"
The chief disciple, finally able to breathe, gave a hollow laugh at the sight of him.
"You—when you were cursing the Grand Master earlier, what happened to all that—"
"A-ahem!"
Flushed with drink and embarrassment, the first-generation disciple hastily turned and shouted to the people around them.
"Today a great blessing has come to Gongdong! Family of the Sword Clan, all of you—celebrate with us!"
They did not entirely understand what was going on.
But if it was something to celebrate—
the thoroughly drunk crowd raised their cups in a cheerful clamor and offered their congratulations.
"Congratulations!"
"Our heartfelt felicitations!"
The first-generation disciple laughed grandly and bellowed,
"Tonight's drinks are all on Gongdong! Drink till morning and die happy!"
Cheers rose from those seated at the same stall—
"No. You idiot."
—while the chief disciple shook his head, half laughing, half appalled.
"The food and drink tonight are all provided by the Eldest Young Master to begin with, aren't they?"
"Ah—ah?!"
The first-generation disciple's face went redder still, and the surroundings erupted in a storm of slap-thighed laughter.
Wongak-jeong, Restricted Zone.
The Grand Council Chamber.
The Grand Master of Gongdong could scarcely keep up.
"Haha! Welcome to the fold, Grand Master of Gongdong!"
The first to greet him so warmly was a young woman—
"I hear the Eldest Young Master has promised Gongdong a chance to secure a base in Luoyang?"
—none other than Tang Eun-rang, Young Mistress of the Sichuan Tang Clan.
"Who knows—perhaps before long, our Tang Clan and Gongdong will be rivals in Luoyang!"
At her words,
"How could we of Gongdong dare even speak of competing with the hegemon of Sichuan?"
the Grand Master could only smile, awkward and flustered.
"Gongdong asks only for the Tang Clan's generous guidance."
"Guidance, is it? Excellent!"
She laughed in her habitual, free-spirited way.
"Our Tang Clan was a step ahead of Gongdong in receiving the Eldest Young Master's grace and establishing ourselves in Luoyang first!"
The Sichuan Tang Clan had successfully built a branch in the Sacred Valley, and was already reaping record profits day after day.
"I'll share every secret of it with you, as much as you like."
She winked one eye shut.
"We're family now, more or less. Let's work well together from here on!"
"N-no, no…!"
The Grand Master of Gongdong waved both hands in haste.
"It is we of Gongdong who must ask to be looked after."
She laughed and turned away—and before he even had time to see the Tang Clan's Young Mistress off,
"Should any legal trouble arise in Luoyang going forward, send word at any time."
the next figure was already standing before him.
"M-might you be of the Cheong Clan…?"
"I am."
The middle-aged man nodded and introduced himself.
"I lead the Cheong Clan. Cheong Hyo."
"Lord Cheong!"
The Cheong Clan had long been renowned as a great house of jurisprudence—and now, with even Gong Ryang, the Governor of Luoyang himself, among their number, they held a commanding position in Luoyang's legal world.
"A pleasure!"
"Welcome!"
And after that—
one after another—
every person who came to greet the Grand Master of Gongdong was someone the present Gongdong would scarcely have dared to face. The Grand Master, whose only remaining asset was the old name of a Nine Great Sects house, could not straighten his waist.
So this is the Eldest Young Master's power…!
He bowed without rest until even his lower back ached—
but even that pain, to the Grand Master of Gongdong, was nothing but joy.