The pale green liquor that filled the cups was exquisitely clear.“I’ve decided to name it Green Shade Wine. You know it, don’t you? The drink Father used to favor.”“…”“I’ve always wondered why he never gave such a fine wine a name, when you think about it.”“…”“Will you have a cup?”“Yes.”Ming Cheon filled Ming Usan’s cup.“Listen here, Usan.”Ming Usan flinched.It had truly been a long time since Ming Cheon called him by name.Ming Cheon was a man who always tried to draw a line between public and private. The results hadn’t always matched the effort, but as a rule he didn’t call people by name in public.Now, he broke that custom.“Yes, elder brother.”“As I see it, you’ve made no mistake. It was all my mistake.”“…”“You even tried, in whatever way you could, to stop the mistake I made. Had I followed your words, we wouldn’t have wasted troops for nothing.”“…No.”Ming Cheon emptied his own cup.Ming Usan couldn’t bring himself to drink.“It’s all my fault. Whether the people of the house were injured, struck dead by lightning on the road, or fell into a river by mistake—everything is the Clan Lord’s responsibility.”“…”“But the one who shares the Clan Lord’s heavy burden—that position is precisely the Chief Steward.”“Y-yes.”“Seating you, a collateral-line man, in the Chief Steward’s post was not for any other reason. Ability? To speak plainly, there were plenty in the direct line with as much ability as you.”“…”“What I liked was your sense of responsibility. And I liked your doctrine. Even if the entire leadership of the clan dies, the Clan Lord’s dignity must not be marred. I felt sincerity in those words from you. That is why I entrusted you with the Chief Steward’s seat.”Ming Cheon lifted the bottle.“It was I who attached the title of Chief Steward to a man who had been merely Ming Usan of the collateral line.”“…I am ashamed.”“Of what?”“…”“What fault could you have? I am the one who set you in the Chief Steward’s post. If there is fault, it lies with me.”Ming Usan’s complexion went pale.Ming Cheon’s face grew steadily colder.“Only—this is a problem.”“…”“Suddenly there are many who harbor doubts about a correlation between the Azure Wolf Ghosts and the main house. Even though, apart from the Mo Yong Clan, there was no force that knew the Azure Wolf Ghosts belonged to the main house.”“…”“The Yeon brat, the first son? Fine, he could be a peerless prodigy. To blow away the Azure Wolf Ghosts alone—he’s a formidable one. Yes, that can be—but…”Bang! Craaang!The table broke apart as the bottle and cups crashed to the floor. The bottle and cups that hit the floor shattered to pieces.“Why did you fail to block this rumor?”“…”“Is your elder brother not asking? Why didn’t you block it?”“…I am sorry.”Ming Cheon’s face flushed red.He swung a porcelain piece placed by the window.Craang!In an instant Ming Usan’s head was drenched in blood.He had not protected himself with inner power. For a moment, Ming Usan felt the world spin before his eyes. But he clenched his teeth and did not fall.“Rumors, too, have a first strike. Don’t tell me you were at ease with no precautions whatsoever? That as Chief Steward you did not factor in even the slightest possibility that the Azure Wolf Ghosts could fall to Yeon Hojeong!!”It was like a tiger’s roar. Ming Usan felt his mind reel.‘Ungh.’The inner power was terrifying.Ming Cheon, too, had begun studying the forefathers’ martial art a few days ago—because none who had learned it showed any side effects.In those few days, the quantity and quality of his inner power had greatly risen. He emanated a perfect flow of Qi, as if he had found a missing piece.Drip.Blood ran from Ming Usan’s nose. The shockwave in the voice had injured his nasal mucosa.“What have you been doing until now? Spare me the lip-service of ‘I’m sorry’—tell me what you did!”“I…”Ming Usan bit his lip.“I was searching for the Shadow-Death Division.”Ming Cheon’s eyes blazed like fire.“Why? Because of your daughter?!”“…I will not utter a lie. Yes, partly because of my daughter—but also because if they are holding the Shadow-Death Division, it is a grave problem.”“Ha! Why? Did you think the Shadow-Death Division would recite the main house’s secrets line by line?”“N-no! The Shadow-Death Division are not people who would leak secrets, even at the cost of their lives!”“Then!”“If Yeon Hojeong appears dragging the Shadow-Death Division behind him, then the fact that we tried to kill him becomes clear as daylight. That is why I searched.”Ming Cheon’s eyes deepened.So he hadn’t been idly playing with nothing in his head.“And ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ the Shadow-Death Division’s whereabouts?”“Still… we have not found them.”“Splendid.”“B-but! I was able to learn who intervened! I also secured proof!”Ming Cheon’s eyes glinted.“Proof?”“Y-yes! The Beggars’ Union intervened! I am certain!”“I know the Beggars’ Union intervened. The question is: even with that proof, what can you do?”“We can apply pressure.”“To whom? Don’t tell me—to the Beggars’ Union?”Ming Usan licked his lips. His dry lips cracked and split.“Yes. The Beggars’ Union is a great sect that raises chivalry as its banner. For them, chivalry is value number one. Yet what they did is no different from kidnapping and unlawful detention.”Ming Cheon frowned.“You think you can shake them with such petty slander?”“Not shake them—shake public opinion.”“Public opinion?”“Yes. The fact that they detained the Shadow-Death Division is, in the end, also proof that they committed all of this together with the Yeon Clan.”“Hm.”“Whatever the method, so long as the result is good? No. The orthodox path is never run that way. The handling of matters by a Beggars’ Union whose reputation has suffered a mortal blow will surely betray the trust of many.”Ming Usan’s eyes shone.“Contact the Dragon-Head Hall Lord. Tell him that unless he intends to die together with them, he should stop at a reasonable line. Between the main house and the Yeon Clan, which side will be easier to withstand—the Dragon-Head Hall Lord won’t be ignorant of that.”It was correct.Correct, but insufficient. Even if this stratagem worked, problems would remain.“In the end, it amounts to admitting that we possessed the Azure Wolf Ghosts and the like. Given time, the Beggars’ Union will dig into us.”“Do we not have a reliable ally?”“Mo Yong?”“Yes. The Mo Yong Clan’s influence, apart from our main house, contends for first among the Seven Great Clans. Unless he intends to turn the orthodox martial world into a slaughterhouse, even the Dragon-Head Hall Lord will not dare to intrude into this side of the board.”Ming Cheon snorted.“Fine—wouldn’t it be wonderful if things went as you think? In the end it’s all words. For the situation to flow as you intend, we need a more decisive weapon.”Something not of force, but enough to shake public opinion.Something so shocking it would erase from people’s minds the very incidents connected to Yeon Hojeong.At that moment, Ming Usan’s eyes lit.“Pin it on him.”“Pin what?”“Not to make them forget the incidents connected to Yeon Hojeong—but to make him an evil enemy outright.”Now this was interesting.Ming Cheon smiled inwardly. As expected, a person’s true value came out when driven into a corner. Ming Usan was the same.“Done well, we can crush Yeon Hojeong and the Yeon Clan, and even the Beggars’ Union.”“How?”“Contact the Old Sword Workshop in Jiangsu and have them gather the murder cases and other major crimes committed over the last five years or so. We then pin the unsolved cases on Yeon Hojeong.”It was a seductive proposal.Ming Cheon asked, mildly.“There’s no proof.”“It doesn’t matter. As everyone knows, the main house’s warriors are all hot-blooded men. We can say we intended to detain Yeon Hojeong first, then invoke the Right of Grand Assembly to interrogate him—and with that excuse, all the recent incidents will be buried.”At last, a pleasant smile surfaced on Ming Cheon’s face.“That’s good. Very good.”Even if the truth came out later, it didn’t matter. That much could be smoothed over easily with the Ming Clan’s power.If done well, they might even win the support of the common folk living in Jiangsu. It was a clever stratagem that, at the cost of a little loss, could gain much more.In the end, it’s justification. So long as you clutch a single strong justification, the remaining trifles can be smashed to bits with the material power of your force.That was precisely how the Ming Clan had grown—and how countless sects had grown to this day.At least, among the orthodox path, the sects that had betrayed their way were like that.“There’s no such thing as a man who must die. If only you’d done this sooner, how much better it would have been.”“I beg your pardon.”“It’s fine. With that clever stratagem you just conceived, your past mistakes are as good as gone.”“Thank you.”“As for the Azure Wolf Ghosts, we’ll have to carry that burden, like it or not.”“That cannot be helped. Say we were holding them under the pretext of reforming evildoers.”“Good. We do that. Time is short. Make haste.”“Understood.”“Oh, and Chief Steward.”“Command me.”A murderous glint rose in Ming Cheon’s eyes.“Now that we have a plausible justification, should we not, this time, actually bring in Yeon Hojeong?”“…Yes. Whom do you intend to send?”“A man who beat seventy of the Azure Wolf Ghosts. We can no longer think of him as of the rising generation’s caliber.”Ming Cheon lifted his chin.“Send Ming Chisan’s half-brothers.”Ming Usan’s eyes widened.“Weren’t they to be used as the vanguard to wipe out the Yeon Clan?”“Is Yeon Hojeong not said to be outside the Yeon Clan proper?”“…”“Send them.”“Understood.”Ming Usan left the Clan Lord’s hall with a brightened face.It was a look that mixed the thrill of having survived with the relief that this time, at last, Yeon Hojeong could be seized.At least the three he knew were the strongest among the collateral line.The three of them could easily take a Clan Lord of the Seven Great Clans. Moreover, they were the first to learn the forefathers’ martial art.The odds were ten out of ten. ****Vmmmm.Yeon Hojeong’s eyes gleamed.‘Done.’The internal and external injuries he had gained ten days earlier in the bloodbath with the Azure Wolf Ghosts were washed clean.It was the result of running Jade Wave True Formula—the most stable among the Yeon Clan’s Five Divine Arts—along with White Tiger Qi and Black Tortoise Qi at full. Had he not practiced the Four Spirit Arts, recovery would have taken over twenty days.He took up the axe and left his room.‘Hm?’Yeon Hojeong looked down at his hand wrapped around the haft.‘Good.’Not only every muscle of his body, but nerves and joints—everything was better than before.The Four Spirit Arts are a battlefield art. The more you fight, the more momentum your growth gains. No wonder one can swell the Four Spirit Qi with an enemy’s killing intent.In that brief span, he had fought more life-and-death battles than one could count, with blood and flesh flying. Those fights had swelled White Tiger Qi and Black Tortoise Qi and further developed the body itself.‘So the only way to grow stronger is to fight to the death. I can see, anew, why Master despised the Four Spirit Arts.’He had just stepped out from the room into the manor’s open yard when—“Young Master Yeon!”From far off, Ga Deoksang came running.Yeon Hojeong smiled.“You show up like you were waiting for me the moment my body heals. What—”Yeon Hojeong didn’t finish. He had read urgency in Ga Deoksang’s face.“This is bad!”“What is it?”“The Ming Clan has named you the culprit behind Jiangsu’s unsolved cases!”“What?”Ga Deoksang explained in detail the rumor the Ming Clan had set loose.“Zhengzhou and Kaifeng are in an uproar right now! The speed it’s spreading is no joke! It’s enough to bury the rumors we spread in one stroke!”“Fabricating justification.”“W-what?”Yeon Hojeong’s eyes turned cold.“They’re manufacturing justification. They can’t erase the incident, so they’ve made me the evil enemy to create a reason to dispatch troops.”“Damn it! Who wouldn’t know that? The problem is the speed of the spread! At this rate, within three or four days, all of Henan will—!”“They’re digging their own grave.”“…Eh?”Yeon Hojeong grinned.“The pretext they’ve forced together is also a pretext for us.”“W-what do you mean?”Yeon Hojeong looked back.In the distance, Shin Mo was approaching.“Captain Shin. How’s the Azure Hawk Squad’s stamina?”“Sir? Ah! Sound.”“Good. Be ready to sortie within two days.”Yeon Hojeong swung the axe up and let it rest across his shoulder.“Let’s go pay the Ming Clan Lord a visit.”

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