What the hell are you up to? (2)
“W-Wait!”
Yoon Jong pulled Jwa Gohak back in alarm.
“Let go of him, and we can talk. Just let go first!”
“Release me! I must hear his answer!”
“Enough, calm down! You were the one who said he was not someone we could treat disrespectfully, however much our positions might differ!”
“…”
Yoon Jong forcibly pried Jwa Gohak’s hand loose and pulled him back. Even as Yoon Jong dragged him away, Jwa Gohak ground his teeth.
“Answer me, Do Hyeon. What on earth are you doing?”
But Do Hyeon merely gazed at Jwa Gohak in silence without answering.
After watching their confrontation for a moment, Baek Cheon tilted his head in puzzlement.
“Why are you suddenly getting so worked up. We came here expecting to find weapons stockpiled here.”
Jwa Gohak did not answer. Jo Geol, who had been watching, answered in his stead.
“There are too many. Sasuk.”
“Hm?”
Jo Geol continued with an unusually grave expression.
“Of course, if someone of the Chief Eunuch’s standing set his mind to it, amassing an enormous stockpile of weapons would not be impossible…”
Jo Geol’s gaze shifted towards the warehouse, which somehow looked all the more desolate and ominous.
“But even taking that into account, there are far too many here.”
“That many?”
Baek Cheon frowned, still unable to understand.
Of course, the number of weapons here was excessive. But wasn’t that merely from a martial artist’s perspective. When it came to affairs of state, this much would be…
“There’s no telling how many more warehouses of this size there might be.”
“Even so…”
“And, Sasuk.”
Jo Geol turned to Baek Cheon and spoke, his expression grim.
“We can’t be certain that all the weapons brought here so far are still stored here.”
“…What do you mean?”
“I mean, these warehouses may already have been emptied and filled again several times.”
Baek Cheon’s eyes flew wide for a moment. After a brief silence, he spoke again in a lowered voice.
“Then you’re saying… that the Chief Eunuch may have secured several times more weapons than what we’re seeing here?”
“From what we can tell.”
“…”
As even Baek Cheon’s expression began to grow grave, Yoon Jong raised his voice at Jo Geol.
“So what are you trying to say. Stop talking in circles and spell it out.”
“I mean……”
Jo Geol swallowed hard.
“There are too many. Far too many for someone who is merely planning to make a move within the Imperial Capital. It’s almost as if…”
Just as Jo Geol found himself unable to bring himself to utter the words hovering on the tip of his tongue.
“As if he were preparing to wage war.”
Everyone’s gaze turned to the same spot.
Standing at the back, Chung Myung shrugged under their gazes.
“Right?”
“…”
Everyone’s gaze shifted to Do Hyeon, who stood in front of Chung Myung.
“War?”
Baek Cheon spoke in disbelief.
“He is going to start a war?”
“Probably?”
“Does that make any sense?”
“Why wouldn’t it?”
“It just doesn’t.”
Baek Cheon’s face twisted.
“War requires an opponent. You can’t wage war all by yourself. Who on earth is he planning to fight?”
“How would I know.”
“Hm?”
Chung Myung shrugged and spoke as though stating the obvious.
“You’re not exactly wrong, Sasuk. That would be the sensible conclusion.”
“…..But.”
“There’s just one thing I do know.”
Chung Myung’s gaze turned to the warehouse before them.
“When common sense and undeniable evidence that contradicts it both exist… It’s the evidence you have to trust.”
“…”
At those words, Baek Cheon fell silent.
It still made no sense. Why Do Hyeon would wage war, and whom he could possibly be planning to fight? But Chung Myung was right, too. If he wasn’t going to start a war, then what on earth did he intend to use all these weapons for, stockpiling them here.
“…”
Just then, Tang Soso cautiously raised her hand.
“Why don’t we try looking at this a little more positively?”
“Positively?”
Tang Soso quickly nodded and smiled brightly.
“Perhaps that gentleman over there is actually a remarkably loyal subject, and has been using his own money to stockpile supplies for the country in preparation for some future crisis…”
“Rejected.”
“What are you talking about…”
“Don’t waste our time.”
“….What a heartless bunch.”
Even as the disciples of Hwasan bickered, Jwa Gohak never took his eyes off Do Hyeon.
“Explain yourself, Chief Eunuch.”
“…”
“What are you plotting?”
Do Hyeon’s expression remained unchanged.
“Chief Eunuch!”
Only then did Do Hyeon slowly begin to speak.
“And if I refuse to explain?”
“…”
“What will you do?”
For a moment, Jwa Gohak lost his composure, his expression turning fierce.
“Then there is only one option left. I will have no choice but to kill you right here.”
“Kill me?”
Do Hyeon scoffed faintly as he looked at Jwa Gohak.
“Do you understand how grave a matter that would be?”
“Of course.”
At the answer, given without the slightest hesitation, a peculiar gleam appeared in Do Hyeon’s eyes.
“You understand?”
Jwa Gohak nodded gravely. Even then, he never took his eyes off Do Hyeon.
“I may not be of imperial bloodline, but it is His Majesty who will decide the punishment. Even if all three generations of your family are put to death?”
“Great righteousness is supreme over the affections [대의멸친(大義滅親) – to be ready to punish one’s own family if justice demands it].”
Jwa Gohak spoke in an emotionless voice.
“For the greater good, one must sever even the bonds of affection for one’s own kin. Surely you understand.”
“…”
“If you truly are plotting to plunge the realm into turmoil, I have no choice but to stop you, even at that cost.”
Do Hyeon studied Jwa Gohak quietly, then displayed a peculiar smile.
“Yurim, huh?”
“What…..?”
“Confucian learning is like a scent, impossible to conceal forever.”
“…”
“But there is no need to worry. I already suspected that you were connected to Yurim in some way. This changes nothing.”
Do Hyeon calmly sat down where he stood.
“What are you doing?”
“Kill me.”
Jwa Gohak flinched involuntarily.
“If that is the only way, then so be it.”
“You madman…”
The moment Jwa Gohak’s hand twitched, Baek Cheon grabbed him by the scruff of the neck without another word and hurled him backward.
Crash!
Watching Jwa Gohak tumble across the ground, Baek Cheon shook his head.
“He really was going to kill him. That lunatic.”
“…Given the circumstances.”
Yoon Jong glanced at Jwa Gohak as though he could sympathize with how he felt, but soon found himself shaking his head as well.
Yes. He understood how he felt. But this was not something they could resolve that way. If Do Hyeon had already laid out a plan, and that plan could proceed without him, they would merely be destroying their only lead with their own hands.
“…I never thought things would get this serious.”
“Tell me about it.”
“After everything else, now we’re dealing with a war.”
Things seemed to grow bigger and bigger at every turn.
They had braved their share of steep mountains and treacherous waters, but the sheer weight of the word ‘war’ was enough to make those mountains seem like gentle hills and those waters like little streams.
Just as Hwasan’s disciples found themselves at a loss as to how to handle the situation.
“So.”
Chung Myung, who had been watching everything unfold, spoke up.
“What exactly is the problem here?”
At that, Baek Cheon spoke in a grave tone.
“As you said, amassing this many weapons means he really intends to wage war, or at least do something on that scale… The problem is that we don’t know what he is after.”
“Why don’t you know?”
“There’s no one for him to fight.”
“If he’s set on fighting, he could find any number of people to fight.”
“No!”
As Baek Cheon thumped his chest in frustration, Jwa Gohak, who had been thrown aside, spoke up instead.
“That is impossible. This is far more weaponry than a few thousand soldiers could use. If what we discussed earlier is true, Do Hyeon is raising a private army numbering not in the thousands, but in the tens of thousands… That would be impossible even for the entire Eastern Depot, let alone the Chief Eunuch.”
Chung Myung looked at Jwa Gohak indifferently.
“So what?”
“…Do you not understand?”
“Good grief, this is frustrating. This is the problem with you bookworms.”
“What?”
Just as Jwa Gohak was about to lose his temper.
“Why make it so complicated. Then it must not be a private army.”
“….Huh?”
Jwa Gohak’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“Not a private army?”
“Right. You said it yourself. This is too much weaponry for a private army, so it must not have been brought here for a private army to use.”
“If not a private army? Are you saying the imperial troops are going to use these weapons?”
“Isn’t that the only possible answer?”
“Haha.”
Jwa Gohak let out a hollow laugh.
“I can only assume you say that because you, Tao… no, because you lack an understanding of the Imperial Court.”
“Hm?”
“The Chief Eunuch cannot mobilize the imperial troops. He has no military authority.”
“Oh?”
“It is impossible to begin with. What would the imperial troops gain by acting on the Chief Eunuch’s behalf?”
Chung Myung stared at Jwa Gohak, then chuckled.
“He thinks just like Dongryong.”
“….Don’t call me Dongryong, you bastard. And what the hell is that supposed to mean?”
Chung Myung answered with a bright smile.
“What else would it mean. It means you are an idiot.”
“Why, you little…”
Just as Baek Cheon was about to snap, Chung Myung spoke again.
“I already told you earlier.”
He raised his index finger in front of him and wagged it from side to side.
“Trust the evidence over common sense.”
“But, this is a different situation.”
“No. It’s the same.”
“…The same?”
“Yeah.”
Chung Myung shrugged.
“What’s different? Just think back to a few days ago. When we found the weapons at the home of that Director of the Ministry of Revenue, what was the first thing you said?”
“What does that have to do with this?”
“Didn’t you say that you didn’t know why Do Hyeon, the Chief Eunuch, was plotting treason, but that it didn’t matter when the evidence was this clear?”
Jwa Gohak fell silent. He understood what Chung Myung was getting at.
“So you’re saying that while these weapons are far too numerous for a private army, the Chief Eunuch still lacks the authority or the means to mobilize the imperial troops. And the imperial troops have nothing to gain by helping him anyway. If he were to make a move, it would be treason, but since a eunuch can’t become Emperor, the Chief Eunuch has no reason to plot treason either.”
Jwa Gohak nodded blankly.
“So what’s the conclusion. That it can’t be treason? Wrong, idiot.”
The corners of Chung Myung’s mouth curled upward.
“There’s only one correct conclusion. Someone else is involved. Someone who stands to gain from all of this. Someone other than the Chief Eunuch.”
Jwa Gohak’s shoulders trembled.
He had been blinded. The title of Chief Eunuch loomed so large that he had assumed the man was the beginning and end of it all. Without even realizing it, he had taken for granted that the one who stood to benefit from all this had to be Chief Eunuch.
But what if there was someone else?
“The Chief Eunuch isn’t the mastermind behind all of this… but merely a pawn?”
“Exactly.”
“Then……”
“There is someone.”
Chung Myung grinned and gestured towards Do Hyeon with his chin.
“Someone who can use that Chief Eunuch as his pawn, mobilize the imperial troops, and even ascend the imperial throne himself.”
Chung Myung turned to look at the warehouse before them.
“Someone who can use what’s stockpiled here to seize what he wants…”
Chung Myung’s eyes gleamed with a chilling light.
“One hell of a monster.”
❀ ❀ ❀
“All is ready.”
The old man, who had been quietly watching the fluttering tent entrance, slowly rose.
A body worn and withered by age. Yet it still radiated incomparable majesty and power.
The old man walked slowly out of the tent. Ducking his head slightly as he passed through the fluttering entrance, he beheld a magnificent sight.
Countless troops arrayed in ranks. Banners as red as blood fluttered throughout their formations.
It was a sight that would have stirred anyone’s heart, yet the old man’s eyes, framed by wrinkles, merely surveyed it coldly without the slightest change.
After gazing down at them all for a long while, the old man spoke solemnly.
“Advance.”
“Yes!”
The army beneath the red banners began to march.
Towards the very place they had protected all this time.
________
Just how many antagonistic are we going to have in this spinoff? And now.. a war?
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