193.
"They say Gwon Gyeom권겸權謙* was beaten to death with an iron mace."
*A civil official who served during the Goryeo–Yuan intervention period, holding offices such as Pansamsa-sa and Chanseong-sa.
"They say No Chaek노책 盧頙** was seized in his home and cut down with a single stroke."
**A late-Goryeo civil official and member of the entrenched aristocracy (gwonmun sejok), of the Gyohwa (Gyoha) clan: No Chaek (盧頙). He served as Left State Councillor of Goryeo.
Who died, who died—
how brutal it was—
they say no one even dared to go look for the bodies—
they say anyone who touched them would be killed.
Such rumors spread.
If it was an iron mace, then it was not my doing.
That much set his mind at ease.
Even so, what he had done on that vicious night no longer remained clearly within him.
Civil strife is always like this.
Right and wrong blur.
The line between victim and perpetrator collapses.
In the end, only the living speak.
Gwon Gyeom and No Chaek.
Both were said to be men who had offered their daughters to the Yuan crown prince.
Men who sought power.
Men who, seeking yet more power and fearing the loss of what they held, reached too far.
Park Seong-jin smiled faintly.
It was nothing new.
Long ago already, Goryeo and Yuan had been bound together in blood.
In the veins of the Goryeo kings ran the blood of Genghis Khan; it was difficult to find a king without it.
Conversely, in the lineage of the Great Khans, Goryeo blood was also mixed.
Royal bloodlines, perhaps, had crossed borders for centuries.
Park Seong-jin asked,
"And Ki Cheol기철奇轍*? I heard he was the most important among the collateral elites."
*A Goryeo-born figure from Liaodong, he was a powerful court strongman—and widely reviled as a traitorous minister—in the late Goryeo period. He was notorious as the second elder brother of Empress Gi (Gi Hwanghu). Aligning himself with the Yuan dynasty, and together with Hong Bok-won of an earlier generation, he came to be remembered in Goryeo-sa as among the worst collaborators in Goryeo history.
Lee In-jung answered briefly.
"They say he fled."
"Ah…"
Park Seong-jin's gaze drifted, almost of its own accord, toward the queen.
In the open tent, the Grand Princess Noguk was drinking tea.
The fact that she was a Yuan princess brushed past his thoughts.
He soon set it aside.
A person cannot be judged by where they were born.
Yet history had always spilled blood by that simplest of measures.
They said the palace had been soaked in blood.
Half of the Gyeonryong Guard had joined the rebellion.
Had they overthrown the king, Ki Cheol would have sent him to Yuan in chains, as had been done in the time of King Chunghye.
The whereabouts of Park Cheol-gu, the Chief of the Gyeonryong Guard, were unknown.
Some said he was dead.
Park Seong-jin did not think so.
The cut had not been deep.
The man had twisted desperately, barely evading it.
It had not struck a vital point.
He was alive.
And someday, they would meet again.
Now rumors traveled faster than battle itself.
Who lived, who died.
Where blades crossed, what words were spoken, what looks were exchanged.
Everything poured out like a flood through someone's mouth.
Park Seong-jin's name was mixed among them.
They said his merit was great, that before long he would rise to high office.
It felt like someone else's story.
"What a strange world," he murmured, leaning his back against the wall.
His eyelids grew heavy.
"I'll… rest a little."
When he closed his eyes, Osun-gun removed his bloodstained outer garment and laid it over him.
Was it courtesy, now, toward a comrade who had become a great warrior?
Dohyeon approached and silently folded a piece of cloth, placing it beneath his head like a pillow.
"If you sleep in the cold, your mouth will go crooked."
"Oh… oh…"
Park Seong-jin could not even finish answering before he fell asleep.
His breathing evened out.
The Second Detachment of the Sungui troops naturally fell silent.
They watched him, standing guard as if protecting him.
For the young boy among them who had somehow become a master.
The lights dimmed.
The stillness before dawn covered the tent.
The uprising had broken out on the very day of the summons.
There had been no time even to pack proper gear.
Only when the sun had climbed high and its harsh light poured down did he wake.
He found himself sleeping deeply, alone.
The camp was in an uproar, preparing to move the temporary encampment to the main camp.
Had it not been for that noise, he might have slept half a day more.
Even so, he was hungry.
It felt as though a begging spirit had possessed him.
Smacking his lips as he rose, Dohyeon came over.
"When you wake, they said to come to the main camp."
His tone had changed.
The indifference of the first summons was gone.
Now it was the voice of a comrade.
"Huu… let me rest just a bit more," Park Seong-jin whined—
yet he took the hand Dohyeon offered and sprang up.
Shuffling along, he checked the banners of the main camp and walked slowly.
Unused muscles refused to cooperate.
Strength was still clinging too tightly to his body.
"Loyalty!"
After his bow, a junior officer at the entrance guided him inside.
"We have been waiting. You have worked hard."
He shouted loyalty again, and a gesture came telling him to rest.
"They said you may sleep."
"I'm still tense. I used muscles I never use.
It seems there are muscles just for swordwork."
Lee In-jung rolled his shoulders.
"You did well."
"It was only my duty. And General—thank you for all your consideration."
"It is only your due. You worked hard and did well.
Giving you a general's rank would not be too much."
Park Seong-jin shook his head.
"Command is difficult. I am only strong."
"No. You have talent for strategy."
"Just petty tricks. But why are you saying only good things today?"
"Because you did well."
"Heh heh."
Scratching the back of his head, Park Seong-jin laughed.
It was a smile wholly unlike the face of the warrior who had charged into the enemy lines the night before.
"His Majesty asked for you."
"I was asleep?"
"He came by. Said not to wake you."
"Ah—you should have."
Lee In-jung smiled.
Only days ago, the boy had been forcing himself to act like an adult.
Now he was growing natural among warriors.
"It seems he intends to reward you."
"Please let the executioner take it instead."
"I'll take mine too."
"Tell him after things are finished. They're not finished yet."
Lee In-jung's expression hardened slightly.
"More importantly—Ki Cheol has escaped."
"To the Ssangseong Commandery?"
"Yes."
People, it seemed, were not very creative—even in flight.
If they truly thought, they might consider another route, yet they never strayed far from expectation.
He would recover in what could be called his home ground, the Ssangseong Commandery, and wait for the next chance.
Park Seong-jin stared blankly for a moment.
"Why is that a problem?"
"Some Yuan troops are stationed there.
Ah… it is not yet time for war. That is why His Majesty has decided."
Park Seong-jin shook his head.
"Civil war is no good. It is better to draw him out with guile."
"Guile?"
Lee In-jung's eyes sharpened.
Park Seong-jin raised his index finger and pointed to the sky.
"Proclaim a general pardon and hold a banquet.
If there is suspicion, tell them to bring their troops. And then—"
"And then?"
"Cut them all down."
Lee In-jung snorted softly.
"A dangerous scheme. And would they come just because they're summoned?"
"You must stake something they would come for."
"And what would that be?"
"I do not know that man."
"Hm."
Lee In-jung considered Park Seong-jin's words deeply.
"It would be effective. But dangerous."
"Then why do you say jeonha at times, and pyeha at others?"
Lee In-jung laughed as he explained.
Outwardly, king. Inwardly, imperial dignity.
An outer king, an inner emperor.
The conversation drifted here and there.
Park Seong-jin's curiosity did not easily fade.
Lee In-jung returned to the point.
"If we do that, we can avoid war."
His throat worked as he swallowed.
It was temptation.
From all experience, war could never truly be avoided.
At best, it could be delayed.
But if Ki Cheol could be captured without war, if even the leadership of the Ssangseong Commandery could be subdued—
The dawn at the main camp moved quietly toward its next phase.