Book 11: Chapter 13: Prestige

The Imperial Palace.

"Your Imperial Majesty, they say they have entered the palace and are heading here."

"…I understand."

Although the Emperor seemed calm as he answered so kang Sang's sharp observation did not miss the tension lingering on the Emperor's face.

"Your Imperial Majesty…"

Kang Sang carefully spoke, examining the Emperor's face.

"…There is no need for Your Imperial Majesty to meet those old demons directly."

Old demons.

The former patriarchs of the Sixteen Families were the very ones who had brought the Emperor down to his current position in the past.

Even Kang Sang, who had served as Chancellor twice and gone through all kinds of hardships, felt uncomfortable seeing them again so how much more so for the young Emperor, who had only been manipulated by them in his childhood?

"It would be better for your humble servant to meet them first, have a conversation, and convey the contents to Your Imperial Majesty—" the Emperor shook his head with a firm face.

"No."

"No, Chancellor. That will not do."

A drop of cold sweat was running down the Emperor's forehead.

"We must face Our fears. We cannot remain a 'child Emperor' protected behind someone forever." "……."

The Emperor gritted his teeth.

The Eldest Young Master of the Luoyang Sword Family, Yeon So-hyeon, who had been in seclusion for a long time, had returned.

In the sky, the Heavenly Killing Star had risen again.

He faced his destiny.

Not even once had he met Yeon So-hyeon directly, but the Emperor could guess how deep the determination and pain were under which he was carving out his destiny.

'We—no, I can do it too.'

Kang Sang saw the Emperor tightly clenching his fist.

He straightened his robes, took his place beside the Emperor, and straightened his back.

The giant body of the old man was like looking at an impregnable fortress.

"Your humble servant will guard Your Imperial Majesty's side."

"…Thank you, Chancellor."

"They too are in a position where they must share the same boat. Since they are quicker to catch on than anyone, they will never act stiffly."

"…We must hope so."

"Your Imperial Majesty…"

Just as Kang Sang was about to reply to those words, the voice of the old eunuch came from outside.

"Your Imperial Majesty, the fourteen former patriarchs of the Sixteen Families request an audience with Your Imperial Majesty."

The Emperor replied in the most solemn voice he could produce.

"Let them enter."

* * *

Luoyang.

The day was drawing to a close.

From the window, the light of the setting sun stretched long, dyeing the interior red.

"Eldest Young Master."

Gong Ryang, sitting in the wheeled chair, opened his mouth.

"As you know, this old man fully trusts and supports your plan."

He was an old man who would accept even jumping into fire carrying firewood if it was Yeon So-hyeon's request.

"But."

He tightly gripped the armrest of the chair he was sitting in.

If it were just his heart he wanted to jump up from his seat right away and run to the Imperial Capital in one breath.

"…I worry whether those old demons will play tricks on His Imperial Majesty again."

As the setting sun was deep, the shadows were also deep.

Gong Ryang, who had no internal energy, could not properly see the expression of Yeon So-hyeon, who was sitting with his back to the setting sun.

"You do not need to worry, Elder."

But Gong Ryang felt that Yeon So-hyeon was wearing a dreary smile with his shadowed face.

"For I am holding their leashes tightly."

Yeon So-hyeon held up his hand.

"Now they can never remove those leashes by their own strength."

That hand was nothing but a bare hand, filled only with the light of the setting sun, but for some reason in Gong Ryang's eyes, a string was held in the hand of Yeon So-hyeon sitting in a corner of Luoyang, and that string seemed to stretch all the way to the distant Imperial Capital.

* * *

The Imperial Palace.

Through the open door, the setting sun's light was pouring in fully, and "……." "……."

The young Emperor and the old Kang Sang were unable to say anything.

"Your Imperial Majesty…!"

The old demons did not even enter the room where the Emperor was.

They were kneeling on the ground in the small yard of the temporary lodging, bowing their heads.

"Please put these humble ones to death!"

The one crying out on their behalf at the top of his lungs was none other than the eunuch who had assisted the young Emperor at the closest distance in the past, gongsun Na-gang.

"Please put us to death!"

And following Gongsun Na-gang, the fourteen old demons threw themselves onto the dirt ground, crying out at the top of their lungs.

"The heavy sins we committed against Your Imperial Majesty in the past…! Even our lives are not enough to atone for them!"

"Please punish us who insulted Your Imperial Majesty and desecrated the Imperial Household!"

"Please punish us!"

They looked exactly like loyal subjects.

Kang Sang smiled bitterly inwardly and shook his head.

'Just what kind of method did the Eldest Young Master use on these old demons…?'

In the past, to these old demons the Emperor was merely a symbol of imperial power, and nothing but a symbol of the noble bloodline that they themselves did not possess.

"Please put us to death!"

It was not that he had no inkling at all.

'…Probably, the Eldest Young Master made these people, who had been virtually exiled to Mount Beimang, taste the sweetness of power once again.'

But even so, the surprising point was, they had spent their entire lives biting at each other.

'are these old demons not moving as if they are one body?'

There were even those who regarded each other as mortal enemies.

'I was prepared to prevent the plan from collapsing due to excessive checks among the old demons…'

But Yeon So-hyeon had succeeded, as if he had performed some kind of sorcery, in binding them together like a pack of hunting dogs.

'Just who is the Eldest Young Master…?'

That was, for Kang Sang and the Emperor who did not know what had transpired between Yeon So-hyeon and them in the past, a deep question they could not help but harbor, and at the same time, a shock.

"Your Imperial Majesty! Please, us—!"

The Emperor waved his hand.

"Enough!"

At that shout, the voices of the old demons who were practically wailing stopped abruptly. "……." "……."

Even more so, not only their voices but even their actions stopped.

The sight was like looking at a pack of hunting dogs that had completed training to the limit.

"We understand that you repent for the past."

Kang Sang sent a grateful look to the Emperor, who had created an opening, and stepped forward himself.

"However, We do not think you are truly repenting to the point of laying down your lives."

At those words, the old demons winced inwardly.

Because it was the exact truth.

Reflecting their desire to return to being the patriarchs of their respective families if they lost their lives, what use would all that power be?

"That is—!"

The startled Gongsun Na-gang tried to raise his voice to say something, but the Emperor stepped in.

"We did not permit you to speak."

It was neither a shout forced with difficulty, nor a voice that seemed to leak out under the pressure of past memories.

It was a voice fitting for the Emperor of the State of Zhongyuan. "……."

The old demons, including Gongsun Na-gang, shut their mouths again, and Kang Sang was able to continue what he had to say on behalf of the Emperor.

"The time given to us now is not very long. Please present the news you have brought to His Imperial Majesty."

Yeon So-hyeon had successfully executed the strategy of truth and falsehood and no matter how skillfully Kang Sang and the old demons had sneaked into the Imperial Palace, it was only a matter of time before the news reached the current patriarchs of the Sixteen Families who practically ruled the Imperial Capital now.

"…Your Imperial Majesty."

Gongsun Na-gang bowed deeply and pressed his forehead to the ground.

"Please grant this old man permission to omit the imperial etiquettes that must be observed before Your Imperial Majesty."

The Emperor immediately nodded.

"Granted."

And Gongsun Na-gang also got straight to the point.

"What does Your Imperial Majesty think is most needed by the Imperial Household right now?"

* * *

Luoyang.

Yeon So-hyeon spoke deliberately, as if explaining to Kang Ho.

"What is most needed by the current Imperial Household and the current His Imperial Majesty is prestige."

"Certainly…"

Kang Ho nodded.

"Having been regarded as puppets for a long time, to the power holders of the State of Zhongyuan, His Imperial Majesty and the Imperial Household became nothing but symbolic existences."

Therefore, what the Emperor and the Imperial Household needed most was dignity and public trust.

That was, prestige.

"Then."

This time, Yeon So-hyeon posed a question to Kang Ho.

"What would be needed for His Imperial Majesty to gain prestige and gather his forces again?"

Kang Ho replied instantly.

"Achievements."

He remembered all the stories about the politics of the Imperial Capital that his grandfather used to hold him and talk about.

"And a massive achievement at that, enough to convey the message to the entire State of Zhongyuan that His Imperial Majesty is no longer a puppet."

* * *

The Imperial Palace.

Gongsun Na-gang reported.

"Do you remember the long-cherished project of the late Emperor who passed away?"

"How could We forget that even in Our dreams?"

The Emperor replied with a bitter smile.

"Expanding and refining the waterways of the Yangtze River to distribute the wealth monopolized by the forces of Jiangnan (south of the Yangtze River) to the entire southern region was the long-cherished wish of Our father, the late Emperor."

"But major obstacles piled up, and in the end, it could not make proper progress."

"Indeed."

The Emperor nodded slowly.

"First of all, the Sichuan Tang Family and the Dali Duan Family, each of whom is the hegemon of their region, were the problem."

Having been at odds for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years, those families were like water and oil.

Grudges and hatred.

Distrust and discord.

Their repeated confrontations in history were the first gateway to the Yangtze River waterway expansion and refinement project.

"That problem," gongsun Na-gang bowed long and said to the Emperor.

"has been resolved under the leadership of the Eldest Young Master of the Luoyang Sword Family."

"What did you say…?!"

The Emperor was astonished.

"Rather than bringing a solution on how to resolve it in the future, are you saying he has already resolved it?!"

The transaction between Yeon So-hyeon and the two families.

Kang Sang, who grasped the inside story, bowed his head and replied.

"Yes, Your Imperial Majesty. That is so."

Gongsun Na-gang took a letter from his bosom and offered it to the Emperor.

"This is the agreement of the Sichuan Tang Family and the Dali Duan Family."

The old eunuch received the letter and respectfully delivered it to the Emperor.

"How could this…!"

The hands of the Emperor, who unfolded and read the letter, trembled.

Was it not their relationship that even the late Emperor had given up on resolving?

To think that the Eldest Young Master of the Luoyang Sword Family, who was in seclusion until just a short while ago, resolved such a problem.

'If it were not for Us, who know about his childhood, no one would have easily believed this…!'

Seeing that sight, Gongsun Na-gang smiled and reported to the Emperor.

"Under the mediation of the Eldest Young Master, they have fully entrusted the management and supervision of the project's progress to us."

"Therefore, please."

Another former patriarch stepped forward and continued.

"Please grant us permission so that all the achievements and efforts we put in from now on can be used to elevate His Imperial Majesty's name!"

"Please grant us permission!"

Just as they said it meant they wanted the Emperor to declare the progress of the project and achieve that great feat.

That was.

"…Surely, this matter will become a cornerstone to announce that We are the Emperor of the State of Zhongyuan and establish Our prestige."

"That is so, Your Imperial Majesty."

Kang Sang bowed his head.

"Although everything will not return to its proper place with this single achievement alone—" the Emperor, unable to hide his excitement, caught Kang Sang's words.

"it will be the start that allows Us to summon back loyal subjects and let those loyal to Us form forces…!"

"Indeed…! You are wise, Your Imperial Majesty."

Gongsun Na-gang, who spoke so, also did not bother to hide the look of joy from his face.

This matter would also be a great step forward for the old demons to reclaim their positions as patriarchs of their families, so it was good for the Emperor and good for them.

Was it not a matter of adding flowers onto brocade?

'Incredible, Eldest Young Master. Truly incredible!'

Although he had not been able to suppress his admiration since hearing the plan from Yeon So-hyeon on Mount Beimang now that he had actually woven the Emperor into the plan and reported this in front of him, nothing but admiration came anew.

"Wait. But…"

The complexion of the Emperor, who recalled something, stiffened.

"The problem of the Sichuan Tang Family and the Dali Duan Family was the first obstacle in this project. Surely, the second was…"

Kang Sang reported.

"At the time, those who practically dominated the lower reaches of the Yangtze River were the second obstacle."

The Emperor slowly nodded, stroking his beard with a firm face.

"We heard they have now united into a single alliance and created a new power. Surely their name was…"

"Evil Tyrant Heaven."

The name of the super-giant power born from the binding of the four forces that dominated the Jiangnan region.

"Their name is Evil Tyrant Heaven."

Hearing the name reported by Kang Sang, the Emperor's face stiffened even more.

"In the past, even when they were scattered, they only sought their own interests, and the loyalty they showed to the Imperial Household was merely the bare minimum."

But even that was a story of the late Emperor's time, when the power of the Imperial Household was at least somewhat intact.

Now that the prestige of the Imperial Household had fallen to the ground, it went without saying.

"Since they have united like that, it does not seem they will cooperate with this project obediently."

If, right after Evil Tyrant Heaven was established they had not been severely beaten by Yeon So-hyeon's father, the Grand Patriarch of the Sword Family, they would have become an unimaginable power by now, based on their virtually monopolized foreign trade.

"Your Imperial Majesty, do not worry."

Kang Sang smiled.

"Could it be…?"

Toward the Emperor whose eyes widened upon seeing that smile, Kang Sang nodded.

"Already, the Eldest Young Master of the Sword Family has also begun working to resolve that issue."