Chapter 470: At the Martial Alliance (4)

Tang Sang-a was startled by her father's question.

It was an exceedingly sensitive subject. She had never imagined he would ask her something so official—much less something involving the position of Clan Lord.

Does he think Yangseon is suited to become Clan Lord?

Tang Sang-a could not answer easily.

Tang Gwan spoke.

"Don't feel pressured. Answer however you truly think. I won't draw any unnecessary conclusions from it."

"If you say so..."

Tang Sang-a thought of Tang Yangseon.

He was her younger brother, but no matter how charitably she tried to view him, it was difficult to call him an exceptional person.

Of course, he had talent in martial arts. Since coming to the Martial Alliance, she had realized just how many geniuses existed in the world, but that did not mean Yangseon lacked talent himself.

The real issue was his character.

What sort of family was the Tang Clan of Sichuan in the eyes of the martial world?

People said all manner of things about them, but nearly everyone agreed on one point: they were ruthless and difficult to approach.

And that fearsome reputation had been earned through the Tang Clan's conduct over generations.

The Tang Clan showed no mercy to its enemies. If someone wronged them once, they were a clan that repaid it tenfold or twentyfold.

Was Tang Yangseon truly suited to lead such a family?

"To be honest..."

Tang Sang-a sighed.

"I think it's too soon, at least as he is now."

Too soon as he was now.

She had phrased it as gently as possible, but ultimately, she meant that he was not suited to the role.

"As far as martial arts are concerned, Grandfather is still there, and so are you. If the two of you truly devoted yourselves to teaching him, I'm sure he could become an extraordinary master someday."

"He could."

"But character is different. Yangseon will be in his mid-twenties next year. I don't think a nature shaped over an entire lifetime can be changed so easily."

"What do you think of Yangseon's character?"

"......"

"Tell me."

"It isn't good."

There were no qualifiers or elaborate explanations.

That simplicity made the words hit all the harder.

"As a potential Clan Lord, as a martial artist, and even simply as a member of the Tang bloodline... I find it difficult to say Yangseon has good character."

It was an extremely candid answer.

In another light, one might have taken it to mean that Tang Gwan, as his parent, had failed to raise his son properly.

But neither Tang Sang-a nor Tang Gwan misunderstood it that way.

A failing was a failing.

Something contemptible did not become less so merely because it belonged to family.

Tang Gwan contemplated her words for a moment, then spoke.

"Once, an entire pleasure house disappeared."

"What?"

"Five years ago, there was a pleasure house Yangseon frequented. I knew about it and pretended I didn't. Had he become addicted to the place, that would have been another matter, but at least he never neglected what he was supposed to do."

"Ah... yes."

It was not an easy subject for a father to discuss with his daughter.

After all, a pleasure house was a place where women sold liquor and smiles, and often their bodies as well.

"The martial world is harsh. I thought that sort of thing was, in its own way, another form of experience. So I didn't stop him. Besides, I didn't think he was the sort to become so consumed by lust that he would neglect himself."

"......"

"But five years ago, that pleasure house burned to the ground."

Tang Gwan closed his eyes.

"I was told that more than twenty courtesans died in the fire. Including the proprietor, cooks, and workers, there were nearly forty casualties altogether."

"......!"

Tang Sang-a's face went pale.

"Don't tell me... Yangseon?"

"You answered me honestly, so I will do the same."

Tang Gwan sighed.

Tang Sang-a could not remember the last time she had heard such a sigh from her father.

"I never investigated."

"...What?"

"I suspected Yangseon was responsible. But I did not investigate. I could infer what had happened, but if I had looked into it directly and it became undeniable that he had done it..."

Tang Gwan, unusually for him, could not finish the sentence.

Tang Sang-a spoke quietly.

"Were you afraid you'd be disappointed in him?"

"Now, perhaps. But back then, it was for a different reason."

"What was it?"

"Back then, even if I had learned for certain that he was responsible, I would not have punished him."

Back then.

He had deliberately emphasized those words.

Because he was speaking to his daughter.

Because she had personally witnessed how much he had changed.

Even though he knew she would understand, some part of him still feared that she might not, and so he made the distinction explicit.

Tang Gwan was, in the end, still a father.

A father who wanted his child to think well of him.

At the very least, the Tang Gwan of the present was a far more human parent than the man he had once been.

"The reason I refused to investigate was because I feared it might obstruct Yangseon's path to becoming Clan Lord."

The moment a secret was shared with another person, it had already begun to leak.

No matter how tight-lipped one's subordinates might be, once multiple people knew, something could always go wrong.

Tang Gwan had wanted to eliminate even the possibility of that information escaping.

"...I see."

"As you know, the Tang Clan's Clan Lord wields enormous authority. But not every Clan Lord throughout our history possessed the same degree of power."

Tang Gwan looked up at the sky.

There was something stifled in his expression.

It was an honesty he would never have shown Yeon Wi or Je Gal Munho—an expression reserved for blood.

"A Tang Clan Lord is challenged. In particular, he must fend off restraints imposed from above rather than below. That is one reason I keep my distance from your grandfather."

Of course, it was not the greatest reason.

Tang Gwan's father, the Dark King, had been a ruthless Clan Lord and had carved his name into the Tang Clan's history as its most powerful ruler.

He was also remembered as its most terrifying.

But after handing the position of Clan Lord to Tang Gwan, the man had changed.

He had come to realize that his own rule through fear—and the countless future Clan Lords who might imitate it—could one day poison the Tang Clan from within.

"A retired sovereign should not meddle in the governance of the realm. Yet the retired Clan Lords of previous generations could never manage that. Because of their narrow and self-righteous views, even when a talented descendant succeeded them, they would interfere in the Clan Lord's rule whenever something displeased them."

From the outside, the Clan Lord of the Tang Clan seemed to wield absolute authority within Sichuan.

The reality was considerably different.

"Your grandfather, however, has never once interfered with my governance. In that respect, he has always kept a remarkably clean boundary. Then again, he was such an exceptional Clan Lord that even his own predecessors had little grounds to restrain him."

"......"

"But blood will tell. Whenever he called me over to speak, he would invariably slip in a remark or two about how my philosophy of rule was mistaken."

Tang Gwan closed his eyes.

"Your grandfather and I have different beliefs. We learned from different things and came to see the world differently. To a man who led the Tang Clan into its golden age, my rule must have seemed sorely lacking."

"Th-that can't be true."

She said it, but Tang Sang-a knew better.

When her grandfather had taught her martial arts, he had occasionally let a few remarks about her father slip without meaning to.

He had never questioned Tang Gwan's ability, but Tang Sang-a was perceptive enough to realize that her grandfather did not view her father all that favorably.

"And that wasn't all. An exceptional leader naturally gathers capable subordinates. Several of the elders in the main clan tried, openly or otherwise, to involve themselves in my governance."

Tang Gwan opened his eyes and looked at Tang Sang-a.

"Do you understand? That is how difficult the position of Clan Lord truly is. A successor may be formally designated, but very few elders actually lend him their full support. Sometimes it's enough to be grateful if they simply stay out of his way."

"......"

"I didn't want Yangseon to face that kind of environment. So I buried every ugly rumor about him."

It was not an easy admission to make.

Least of all before one's own child.

That alone showed how much Tang Gwan had changed.

"It was my mistake."

"Father."

"If I had truly wanted what was best for Yangseon, I should never have done that."

This was a first.

The first time Tang Sang-a had ever seen her father regret something.

The first time he had ever spoken to her about something this serious with such complete sincerity.

"And an even greater mistake was my narrow-minded insistence that Yangseon had to become Clan Lord."

"F-Father."

"A man without the ability cannot endure the position of Clan Lord. I wanted Yangseon to develop enough ability to bear it. But looking back now, I think all I taught him was strength and ruthlessness. I failed to teach him how he ought to look at the world."

Tang Gwan nodded to himself.

"When we return to the clan, I intend to strip Yangseon of his position as Young Clan Lord."

"......!"

Tang Sang-a's expression stiffened.

After resisting interference from the previous generation and firmly consolidating his own authority as Clan Lord, Tang Gwan had become the most powerful Clan Lord in the clan's history since Tang Hyeong.

Yet even with such authority, removing a designated successor was an extraordinarily difficult thing.

Politically, it would place tremendous strain on him.

More than that, it meant fighting against the Tang Clan's own history.

Unless a successor died or became permanently incapacitated, the clan had never once revoked the position after it had been granted.

"More precisely, if Yangseon does not change from this point onward, I will strip him of his status as heir."

"Won't that be dangerous?"

"It will cause no end of trouble. The elders in particular will resist fiercely. Some may even say I have disregarded the Tang Clan's history and am therefore unfit to remain Clan Lord."

"That's... that's going too far."

"Of course, I'm not a man who will collapse because a pack of old men complains. Still, if it comes to that, the foundation of my authority may be shaken considerably for a time."

Tang Gwan shook his head.

"I've decided to accept that. For my child's sake, and for the clan's."

Concern filled Tang Sang-a's face.

This was likely the hardest decision her father had made since becoming Clan Lord.

And she could only imagine how fiercely he must have wrestled with it before reaching this conclusion.

Tang Sang-a lowered her head.

"I doubt I'll be of any real help... but I'm on your side, Father."

"That's not true."

"What?"

"It helps more than enough."

"......!"

A brief silence settled between father and daughter.

Then Tang Gwan changed the subject.

"I hear Yeon Hojeong will be arriving before long."

"Ah, yes."

Tang Sang-a's cheeks were still faintly flushed.

Her father's words had made her deeply happy.

"Mo Yong-woo won't be coming, apparently."

"I see."

"Aren't you disappointed?"

Tang Sang-a smiled.

"We aren't anything to each other yet."

Tang Gwan replied in a stiff tone.

"Clan Lord Mo Yong is not a man I could call decent even as empty flattery. Mo Yong-woo is different. I dislike his family, but judging the man alone, I don't think he would make a poor husband."

Hearing her father say things like this made Tang Sang-a realize once again just how much he had changed.

"I intend to let things happen naturally. If there is no bond between us, then nothing will come of it. And if there is, wouldn't it come together even without forcing it?"

"Wrong. Bonds are made by people. Don't let yourself be bewitched by words like fate and destiny. A relationship does not shine upon those who refuse to put effort into it."

Those were words born from experience.

After all, Tang Gwan himself had worked relentlessly to close the distance between himself and his daughter.

"You are no longer particularly young. If you don't like him, then nothing can be done. But if you think well of him, then charge in without hesitation."

Tang Sang-a burst into a laugh before she could stop herself.

Charge in without hesitation?

It was such a thoroughly Tang Gwan way of putting it.

"By the way, is there a reason only Supreme Commander Yeon is returning? If the mission is over, shouldn't the Righteous Justice Corps be returning with him?"

"The mission isn't over. The Righteous Justice Corps will remain there until Guangdong has stabilized."

"Then why is Supreme Commander Yeon...?"

Tang Gwan's eyes turned cold.

It was the gaze of the man who had once shaken all of Sichuan with fear.

He looked entirely himself again.

"Because there's a loach that needs catching. This time, I suppose I should lend him a hand."