3. Baek Clan Estate (2)
Baek Clan Estate (2)
3. Baek Clan Estate (2)
"I pay my respects to the Clan Head."
I entered the Clan Head's Hall, bowed my head, and paid my respects with a cupped-fist salute. Without answering, Father tossed something at me, and I caught it lightly. Snatching a liquor bottle hurtling fast above my head while keeping my head bowed was a feat that would've been impossible in my past life when I knew no martial arts.
A pure white bottle, its stopper sealed with oiled mulberry paper and thin twine.
"I've taken a real shine to this one."
Father spoke to me slouched like a loafer, without a shred of the solemn dignity befitting the Baek Clan Head. His face was already flushed—he'd clearly been drinking and had suddenly thought of his son.
"Is this from the latest spoils?"
Father grinned at my question. The Baek Clan Estate had only a short history. We had never been in a position to indulge ourselves, so its daughters-in-law had always been selected not for beauty, but for martial skill or the influence they could bring to the estate. That policy had brought rapid growth in both strength and connections, which was fortunate, but compared with long-established clans, our family was decidedly lacking in the looks department. Father had the face of a Green Forest bandit chief. What made it unfair was that, unlike my grandmother, my mother had been a genuine beauty, yet I looked exactly like Father. Where had my mother's genes gone?
"It's already been ten days since you returned from the subjugation. Are you only now inspecting the spoils?"
"How could that be? I had something else to sample first, so I only got around to the trifles later."
Father laughed brightly, loud enough to burst my eardrums. The booming sound seemed to shake my entire body. He wasn't actually channeling internal energy, was he? He looked genuinely delighted.
Plundering bandits for spoils was Father's cherished hobby. By now, the Baek Clan Estate's notoriety had quietly spread, and whether bandits or unorthodox types, they were reluctant to settle in this area. Father had truly gotten to enjoy his hobby for the first time in a long while. In particular, among this time's spoils was a woman from the unorthodox faction named Heuk Jahwa, who—though now a middle-aged matron—had once been famed for her beauty, so Father had holed up in the dungeon the moment he returned and spent ten days violating that woman before finally getting around to checking the other spoils.
"She was pretty good for an unorthodox bitch. At first she glared daggers at me, but after I cut off one finger, she turned into a complete whore."
Father laughed with the pure, cheerful brightness of a boy who'd just gotten a toy.
"For a wife, you want an orthodox lady; but for pleasure, you've got to catch yourself an unorthodox slut. Those worthless whores have been learning how to please a man since they were little."
"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself."
I meant it. Whatever anyone else thought of Father, to me he was truly the best father. My father from my previous life had been in a vegetative state for twenty years. That past-life father, so deeply pitiable, had been unable to give me, my mother, or my younger sister warm family memories, let alone immediate living expenses. Compared to that father, this bandit-faced father in front of me was a truly excellent one—a man who combined the ability to provide for his family with a warmth and love of family unusual for a man of this era.
"That Heuk Jahwa—I caught her disciple too. She's twenty-three, I hear. What do you say? Isn't it about time my son learned how to interrogate prisoners?"
Father asked me with warm eyes. Truthfully, I had gotten a look on the day Father returned as well. Unlike her master Heuk Jahwa, the disciple was plain—no, slightly ugly. I felt no particular lust, and as the eldest son of the Baek Clan Estate, I had never exactly been starved for women.
"No. I'm fine. Give her to Dan-yeong or something."
"Then I'll get an earful from my second wife."
Father waved his hands with a troubled expression. Lady Tang never interfered when he dragged unorthodox women into the dungeon and subjected them to whatever depravity he pleased, but when it came to her only son, Baek Dan-yeong, she would never remain silent.
"Tch. Then I'll interrogate her myself."
Regret and pleasure shone together on Father's face. As Baek Clan Head, he could take any woman in the region he pleased, yet he still preferred women from the unorthodox factions. Then again, captured unorthodox women were ideal if he wanted someone he could use roughly without worrying about injuries, then kill when he tired of them without consequence.
Perhaps what Father wanted was not a lover at all, but livestock stripped of its humanity.
But the issue at hand wasn't Father's sexual preferences.
"Clan Head, the conflict between Manager Jeong and Commander Kang has been growing steadily worse."
"Those two never got along. And kids grow up fighting."
Father answered indifferently. Was he simply too much of a big-picture man to care about such things? Manager Jeong was the estate's most senior retainer and had managed all its affairs for decades, while Commander Kang led its armed force, the White Horse Unit. Even as the conflict between them worsened, Father merely yawned and dug at his ear with his thick pinky. Then he suddenly met my gaze.
"Son. I told you, didn't I? That problem is for you to handle on your own. I have my own position to consider, after all."
"Do you genuinely have no thoughts on the matter?"
"Daddy's busy."
It was the same this time as always. Father was right. This was a problem that I, as the eldest son of the Baek Clan Estate, had to decide.
"Then please publicly name Dan-yeong the Young Clan Head."
At my words, Father's thick eyebrows twitched.
"Are you serious, Son?"
"Yes. The more I think about it, the more certain I am that this is the best choice."
"Why?"
"First of all, our Baek Clan Estate is a martial clan. Dan-yeong—that kid's talent is superior to mine."
"Talent? Do you think you're already at a level where you can judge that?"
"It's not just me. Every retainer knows it too. We're both your sons, but Dan-yeong has Lady Tang behind him. Since childhood, she's fed him all kinds of elixirs smuggled from the Sichuan Tang Clan and discreetly taught him internal arts passed down through its branch families. I'm slightly ahead for now because of our age difference, but everyone in the estate knows that, given a little more time, Dan-yeong will inevitably surpass me."
Father's expression grew complicated. For a loving father, it must have hurt to accept that I, who had received only what the Baek Clan Estate could provide, would never defeat Dan-yeong, who benefited from both the estate and the Sichuan Tang Clan. But what could anyone do? My mother had died when I was young, so I could expect no help from her family. Lady Tang might belong only to a branch of the Sichuan Tang Clan, but she still devoted her life to her son, desperately smuggling elixirs and martial arts from her maiden family for him. The estate's marriage policy had been designed for precisely that purpose, so the outcome was only natural. The Tang Clan probably turned a quiet blind eye to her smuggling as well; they would prefer Dan-yeong, who carried half their blood, to become Clan Head.
"There are plenty of other reasons. Even if one of us becomes Young Clan Head, you will not retire immediately. If I take the position, Lady Tang will try to establish Dan-yeong outside the Baek Clan Estate. Then we will no longer be able to count on the influence of an estate matriarch backed by the Sichuan Tang Clan."
"You're right, son, but isn't it too early right now? Dan-yeong is still young."
"The position is Young Clan Head, not Clan Head. It is supposed to be held by a child, Father. More importantly, we must settle this before the retainers split into factions. Think about it. Commander Kang came here with Lady Tang, so naturally he supports Dan-yeong. But why would Manager Jeong fight to put me forward if not for the enormous benefits he expects to gain once I become Young Clan Head? Right now, this is merely a conflict between two men. Given time, the Baek Clan Estate itself will split in half. Either Dan-yeong or I will need their support to secure the succession, so the longer this drags on and the fiercer the struggle becomes, the more debts the next Clan Head will owe the retainers.
"Then the tail will be wagging the dog. We're the masters, are we not? I hate to surrender the position, but rather than let the retainers take what rightfully belongs to the master, I'd rather give it to Dan-yeong, my own flesh and blood."
At those words, Father let out a deep sigh, his eyes looking somewhat forlorn—unlike him.
"Son, are you really alright with this? That second kid, even if he doesn't become Clan Head, he's got his mother and a solid backing from his mother's family. But you don't have that. Are you truly alright with giving your younger brother everything?"
"Even if he becomes Young Clan Head, he's still my younger brother. I couldn't honestly claim that we've gotten along until now, but I can try from here on."
"I'm grateful you feel that way, son. But will it be so easy? Manager Jeong has spent more than ten years trying to make you Clan Head. Will he accept this quietly? He'll surely stall by saying Dan-yeong is too young and that we should wait until he comes of age."
"Then I'll have to disappear. If Manager Jeong has no one left to pin his hopes on, he'll give up and side with Dan-yeong. He's perceptive enough to recognize that the tide has turned and that his wisest choice is to join the true power while he still can."
"Disappear? What do you mean by that?"
"I intend to join a suitable sect."
"What? Do you think that's easy?"
Of course it was difficult. Prestigious sects aside, even the Baek Clan Estate didn't accept disciples carelessly. The Nine Great Sects, the Beggars' Sect, and the Five Great Clans were the equivalent of top corporations. If some stranger appeared at the main gate asking for a place, the guards would just chase him away. Getting into a major corporation required the right qualifications, an application into which you had poured your soul, and a meticulous interview. Joining a sect likewise demanded close ties dating back to earlier generations, years of mutual evaluation, and recognition of one's talent from childhood before admission was finally granted. Even then, the timing had to align perfectly with a period when the sect was recruiting disciples, much like a corporation's open hiring cycle. Father's disbelief was entirely reasonable.
"Don't worry. I already know I have no talent for martial arts. I'll find some tiny countryside sect, kill time there for about three years, and return. While I'm gone, make sure Dan-yeong becomes firmly established as Young Clan Head."
If Baek Clan Estate ranked as a second- or third-rate martial family, then I needed to look among fourth- or fifth-rate sects. Plenty would accept me in exchange for a modest donation. I was not going there to learn their martial arts, and joining another sect would not prevent me from practicing my family's art, so in that sense it would be no different from staying here. The problem was that, after living comfortably as the young master of Baek Clan Estate, I would have to start over at my age as the youngest disciple in some place even more remote than this. Sect life followed a rigid Confucian hierarchy built on the principle that ruler, teacher, and father were one. Like the military, it would not go easy on me merely because I was older. Life in a new sect would be grueling.
Well, I had survived military service, so why could I not handle this? If I chose a declining sect, the training would be lax, and if I slipped them a few coins now and then, my master and senior brothers wouldn't work me too hard.
"I'm sorry, son."
Father spoke softly, his low voice full of regret.
"No. I'm not suited to being a martial artist anyway, so I'll spend a few years there and come back to live comfortably for the rest of my life. I doubt I could beat Dan-yeong even if I competed with him, so if I yield now, then after that little bastard becomes Clan Head, he will never forget what his older brother did for him."
That was how I truly felt—the result of several days' thought, my optimal plan for life. In my previous life, I had worked so brutally hard that death seemed preferable, only to be annihilated for my family in the end. In this life, I'd enjoyed modest happiness and comfort in a wonderful environment. Having lived both, I had learned that nothing beat an easy life. Becoming Baek Clan Head would only burden me with obligations. I wanted to live comfortably as the Clan Head's older brother and waste the family fortune instead.
Perhaps my true feelings hadn't gotten through to him, because my bandit-faced father's eyes had turned red.