Chapter 354: v15c4 - Half a Day
Volume 15 Chapter 4 – Half a Day
Part 4 – Half a Day
After the Eldest Young Master finished speaking no one could open their mouth.
“……”
“……”
As the sun that had lain long across the grasslands sank below the horizon, night fell and darkness came to the meeting room that had been dyed red by the sunset.
“……”
Normally the soldiers, who should have lit up the meeting room at sunset long ago, were frozen, unable to do this or that.
“……”
The cold air that settled in the meeting room along with the darkness resembled the north wind that blows across the grasslands in midwinter making it feel as if the cold sweat flowing down without them realizing it was freezing solid.
“…Even so,” the voice of General Gwak, who barely opened his mouth after a long while, was deeply husky.
“isn’t this going too far with being unreasonable, Eldest Young Master?”
At those words the corners of the Eldest Young Master’s eyes twitched, and as his deep eyes narrowed, even the generals in the assembly gasped.
“If I was rude, I apologize. However…”
General Gwak, unable to withstand the pressure, continued speaking as if making an excuse.
“I am the next patriarch of the Gwak Family, and at the same time, I am also a general of this nation of Zhongyuan.”
As he spoke, had his choked throat cleared even slightly?
General Gwak’s voice, which had been crawling back, regained a bit of confidence.
“To me, a threat like letting me walk out on my own two feet—” the Eldest Young Master’s low voice cut off his words as if there was no need to hear any more.
“Yes, indeed.”
“Your family is a family of Zhongyuan, and you are a general of Zhongyuan.”
Along with his voice, from beneath his narrowed eyes the Eldest Young Master’s gaze flashed as if sparks were flying.
“Did a fellow who knows that so well refuse to supply military provisions to the frontline, using the past as an excuse?”
“T-That was—” the Eldest Young Master gave no time to him, who tried to scoop up any excuse.
“Was it fun all this time?”
“What does that—” as the Eldest Young Master looked down from the seat of honor, his head tilted slightly to the side, he asked as if he would pierce General Gwak’s inside with just his gaze.
“Indeed, it must have been fun. It must have been enjoyable.”
“Even when you stubbornly refused to supply provisions in such a grave crisis and went around acting as if you were the Great General yourself,” the Eldest Young Master raised a white finger and pointed at General Gwak.
“because you knew very well that the Great General’s Headquarters, fearing that you might join hands with the Terror King, could do nothing to you.”
“……”
At the Eldest Young Master’s words, the generals glared at General Gwak with burning eyes, as if the anger they had accumulated all this time had caught fire again.
“Perhaps, if the situation turned bad, you intended to use that stockpiled food to directly install the Terror King as the new Great General of the North?”
“…What nonsense is that?!”
At those words from the Eldest Young Master even Murong Un-jeong, who had sat without a single movement, had her rough hands twitch, looking as if she would immediately draw the general’s sword lying beside her.
“Even if the people you must protect grow exhausted with hunger, even if the hands of the soldiers you must lead lose their strength to hold their spears, you probably felt nothing? You wouldn’t feel a single thing?”
General Gwak felt the Eldest Young Master’s finger and his voice, felt as if it directly pierced his heart.
“Dirty bastard.”
“I have cleared away fellows of your kind until I was sick of it in Luoyang too.”
The fingertip of the Eldest Young Master, which had been pointing at General Gwak, moved and pointed straight at the door of the meeting room.
“Do not forget. It is three years. And…”
“Get lost.”
Would the sound of molten metal boiling in a kiln in the depths of hell be like this?
Far from offering any counterargument,
“……!”
General Gwak fled from the meeting room through the door the Eldest Young Master pointed at, as if running away.
How rushed he was he opened the door himself and dashed out before the soldiers guarding the exit could even open it, and he even collided with those waiting in front of the door and rolled on the floor once.
“Oof!”
“R-Retreat…!”
A half-beat late his pale guards exited the meeting room as if chasing after General Gwak.
“……”
“……”
Even though general Gwak, who had caused such a headache, was thoroughly cleaned out and kicked out, no one in the meeting room, suppressed by the Eldest Young Master’s presence, dared to make even a small noise.
At that moment, as her very rarely seen joke came out and the Eldest Young Master faint-smiled at it, the generals relaxed their shoulders and let out chuckles.
“…Not only did the Eldest Young Master let him leave alive,” the one who broke the ice and spoke was the Acting Great General of the North, Murong Un-jeong.
“but you even offered words of advice, so it could be said that his debt became two instead of one.”
“Indeed.”
“Of course! That is right!”
“Since you bestowed a teaching worth a thousand gold, couldn’t we say it is three instead of two?”
As Murong Ho quickly nodded his head, sensing that the atmosphere was improving slightly the waiting soldiers began to light the oil lamps and as the lights in the meeting room began to turn on one by one in that manner,
“……”
Those who had no internal energy and were exposed directly to the tension caused by the pressure could also let out sighs of relief inwardly.
“However.”
Murong Un-jeong, sensing that the atmosphere had softened, spoke again in a low voice.
“I am concerned whether that General Gwak will keep his promise properly.”
“Yes, Eldest Young Master.”
One of the generals nodded his head to express agreement.
“As long as the patriarch, Elder Gwak, holds on as he does now, General Gwak won’t be able to do anything foolish, but…”
The general cut his words short.
Discussing the time after Elder Gwak’s passing was an action that required caution in front of the Eldest Young Master, who had been revealed to have a close relationship with him.
“You do not need to worry about that.”
As the Eldest Young Master, who received a note, gestured with his hand toward the entrance, the soldiers quickly opened the door, and a man who appeared to be a high-ranking local official entered and bowed politely to the Eldest Young Master.
“I greet the Eldest Young Master of the Luoyang Sword Family, the deputy of His Imperial Majesty!”
He was none other than the person who had been waiting outside just now and collided with General Gwak.
“You are…”
One of the generals who recognized his face spoke.
“Aren’t you an official of the governor-general’s office in the region where the Gwak Family is located?”
“Yes.”
The elderly local official, who wore his beard braided in a northern nomadic fashion, gave a friendly smile.
“I have come to deliver a message to the Eldest Young Master, representing the Governor-General.”
“A message from the Governor-General…?”
Unlike the North China region where Luoyang was located, most of the northern territories were autonomous domains and therefore, the chief administrator of those autonomous domains was not a governor, but a governor-general.
“The Governor-General said that regarding the request from the Eldest Young Master, er…”
Not wanting to make a mistake in the message, he pulled a document from his bosom, checked it meticulously, and continued.
“we will strictly monitor the process of the Gwak Clan harvesting grain and supplying it to the Great General’s Headquarters, and will not tolerate even a single grain of corruption.”
At those words the generals’ eyes widened as large as lanterns.
“……”
“……”
The Eldest Young Master, whose thoroughness was second to none, had already taken measures with the Governor-General’s office as well.
“And, along with that, the Governor-General said,” the official of the Governor-General’s office continued, putting the document back in his bosom.
“the Governor-General’s office will directly handle the entire food transport process and will take full responsibility even if an unfortunate incident should occur along the way.”
At those words, the people in the assembly admired him without realizing it.
“The Governor-General’s office will directly handle the transport and even take responsibility?”
“Ah…! The Governor-General has truly made a big decision.”
This place is the north, swarming with all kinds of large bandit groups roaming the grasslands.
Furthermore, those who had nothing to lose even targeted the armed carriages transporting taxes to be dedicated to the Emperor.
In such a north, for the Governor-General’s office to directly involve itself in the entire process of food transport was a kindness beyond imagination.
“…Is it a competition of loyalty?”
Murmurs were heard among the generals trying to grasp the situation.
“In any case, isn’t the grain, which is the core, the Gwak Clan’s?”
“Then the Governor-General can prove his loyalty to the Eldest Young Master without much cost just by intervening in the middle…”
“so it could be called a profitable business.”
“Indeed. Since he would also be able to gain an advantage in the disputes with General Gwak that happen as a daily routine…”
However,
“……”
Listening to this, Murong Ho’s thoughts were slightly different from the generals’.
‘In a situation where the Terror King might become the new Great General of the North, they line up so quickly behind the Eldest Young Master who arrived only today?’
It was without a doubt an excessive gamble.
‘…That fellow is not someone to gamble like that, though?’
As expected of a direct blood relative of the Murong Family, Murong Ho was reasonably well-versed in the political situation of the north, but that the Governor-General’s beloved concubine and the Eldest Young Master Yeon So-hyeon had a close relationship since the past, and also, starting with the fortress repair project last spring, a transaction had begun between the Governor-General and the Eldest Young Master— there was no way Murong Ho could know.
“The Governor-General has bestowed a great favor. Tell him that I, Yeon So-hyeon, will not forget this favor.”
“No, not at all! To be able to prove the Governor-General’s office’s loyalty through the Eldest Young Master, who is the deputy of His Imperial Majesty, is in itself a great blessing!”
‘Just how on earth did this happen…?’
“Instead, you also, Eldest Young Master…”
As the official deliberately trailed off his words, the Eldest Young Master smiled.
“Do not worry.”
“The promise will be kept, so tell that to the Governor-General as well.”
“Yes! Of course!”
As the official exited while wishing blessings, that was since the Eldest Young Master arrived, exactly half a day.
“With this,” the Eldest Young Master spoke to the assembly.
“it seems the issue regarding food has been resolved both in the short term and the long term.”
* * *
Slap—!
In the deepest part of the Gwak Family mansion at the sound echoing from the patriarch’s study, the servants passing by scattered in surprise.
“You incredibly foolish fellow…!”
Slap—!
As the white-haired old man struck him on the cheek once more with the back of his hand,
“……”
One of General Gwak’s cheeks flushed red.
Nevertheless, it was the old man who grew tired first and sank back into the chair; the old man, the patriarch of the Gwak Family called Elder Gwak, could only resent his aged body.
“Still, seeing that you take the beating quietly, it seems you have at least felt what you did wrong.”
Given his father’s personality he knew it would not have been strange if his father had come out to the front gate and slapped him in front of everyone.
“…It is certainly my fault for tarnishing the family’s honor. However—” general Gwak did not erase the dissatisfied look in his eyes.
“However?”
“That damn Eldest Young Master was an incredibly arrogant and impudent fellow who did not know to fear the heavens.”
“This fellow, still…”
To his father, who wore an dumbfounded expression, General Gwak asked.
“I know the Luoyang Sword Family is a grand family, but do we, the Gwak Family, need to bow down unconditionally even in such a special situation?”
The ‘special situation’ he spoke of referred to the situation where they held a great advantage because the Gwak Family could support the Terror King with food at any time, helping him establish himself as the new Great General of the North.
“Perhaps, this could be an opportunity for our Gwak Family to leap forward in the northern lands no less than the Murong Family—” cutting off his words ruthlessly, the patriarch of the Gwak Family asked.
“—You.”
“Do you not know even after experiencing it yourself?”
“…What do you mean?”
“I mean, do you not know how terrifying a person the Eldest Young Master is, even after experiencing him directly!”
Although a faint emotion of fear rose in General Gwak’s eyes soon, his rebellious self raised its head.
“…Certainly, I know the Eldest Young Master is a great person. But this is the northern land, and no matter how much he flies and crawls—” once again, his words were cut off.
“There is information that the Eldest Young Master moved the Governor-General.”
“……!”
“It is surely to keep our family in check through the governor-general’s office.”
Before General Gwak could even be surprised, Elder Gwak continued.
“Did you not feel anything strange while returning home?”
“…Nothing in particular.”
“Dull fellow.”
The old man clicked his tongue and spoke.
“There were martial artists who chased behind you all the way to our family mansion.”
“……!”
The old man’s voice sank even lower.
“Undoubtedly, those people must be the Eldest Young Master’s.”
“Just why, on earth…?”
“It must be to watch whether you contact the Terror King in secret while you are angry.”
“……!”
All blood drained from the face of General Gwak, who had not been entirely without such thoughts.
“From now on, bear in mind that whether the sun rises or the moon rises, someone will be watching your actions.”
Looking at his son who swallowed dryly, the old man spoke as if engraving it once more.
“The Eldest Young Master is a terrifying person.”