Chapter 262 — The Old Man's Offer 3
Go Hoewon said, "I have a proposal."
"Please speak."
"You said you needed a guide. That alone will be difficult. You will not be able to enter. If you accompany us, we can bring you inside. We can arrange for you to meet Lord Yelü Zhangnu without passing through personal troops, household servants, or guards. In exchange..."
Go Hoewon stopped speaking.
It seemed as though he was deliberately pausing.
Yeongu's eyes narrowed slightly.
Words that carried conditions rarely ended well.
At first, they might look like goodwill, but later, calculations usually followed.
Yeongu asked bluntly, "In exchange for what?"
Go Hoewon looked straight at Yeongu.
"Help us."
"Us? What is it you want me to help with?"
"We are descendants of Balhae. Please lend your strength to the restoration of Balhae. We will not forget that grace."
Yeongu tilted his head.
He truly could not understand.
Nearly two hundred years had passed since Balhae fell, yet they were still dreaming of another Balhae.
Yeongu shook his head.
"I am not saying I do not wish to help. I am saying again that my help is worth very little. I keep repeating the same thing, but I have no political power at all. I have no share in the Goryeo court. If I say one word, there will be swarms of people who oppose it. I have no power. I am a soldier at the foremost front."
Go Hoewon could not easily accept that.
The rumors said otherwise.
They said the abilities of the Goryeo military support group helping Jin were extraordinary.
They said it had drawn out large-scale support from the Goryeo court, and that Jin depended on them for many parts of its military operation.
His transcendent martial strength went without saying.
Some even said he fought better than any Jin general.
Rumors always carried exaggeration.
Even so, the talk that Goryeo strategy lay behind the string of victories was not easy to dismiss.
"The rumors say otherwise."
Yeongu shook his head.
"Rumors are like that by nature. They become exaggerated and absurd. Often, the pleasure of passing along a story comes before any intent to convey the truth. To hold the listener, the words grow larger. Once the words grow larger, they move away from the truth. And as I said, I am an active soldier. I am working under my country's command. I cannot simply do or refuse things as I please. Please take that into account."
Go Hoewon felt regret.
This old-fashioned soldier could obtain great help now with a single promise to help later.
Yet he could not even say that one easy word.
When Go Hoewon realized he was someone who could not even tell an easy lie, he liked him more.
Yeongu clicked his tongue softly.
"I am grateful for your proposal. In any case, I will go today. If you become entangled with me, all of you may face trouble. If you have business there, go another day. Then I will take my leave."
It was a dismissal.
Yeongu did not even watch the two of them leave. He went into the room.
He circled the room once, then came back out.
It felt as though he should take something with him, but since everything had been left in the prison, there was nothing to pack.
He did not even have a single sword.
"Tch."
Seeing Go Hoewon and Okjeong rise, Yeongu left the inn first.
But when Okjeong looked, Yeongu was going in the opposite direction.
"Father, that man is going the wrong way."
"He has no sense of direction. Huh-huh."
Okjeong hurried after him.
Then she spoke quickly.
"It is not that way. It is this way. That direction. Look for the old Li Family Compound."
"Ah, thank you. I was going to go this way and circle around that way. Hmm. Heuheuheu."
She knew it was a lie, but the man was not hateful.
Go Hoewon approached.
"This will not do. I will guide you."
"No, I told you the two of you may be put in a difficult position."
"It will be fine. What could possibly happen?"
Yeongu frowned.
"If I decide I do not like him and kill him, the two of you may suffer hardship afterward. The two of you may suffer hardship afterward."
Go Hoewon smiled awkwardly.
"Surely you would not commit such murder."
"It is not murder. We are at war."
"Ah, yes. It is war. Hmm. Even so, I will help you."
Yeongu waved his hand.
"I am sorry, but I will not be able to help you later either. I am a soldier."
Go Hoewon said calmly, "Then leave it as a debt for some day. Now, follow me."
Go Hoewon led the way.
Not far away, four men and women were waiting with horses by the reins.
The maidservant he had seen earlier was among them.
"Ah, my horse..."
Yeongu suddenly looked around.
Of course, there was no horse.
When he had been captured earlier, everything he had was taken from him.
At that moment, Okjeong led over a spare horse.
She handed Yeongu the reins and smiled faintly.
"It is goodwill. Do not feel too burdened."
"Hmm. Thank you."
Yeongu mounted.
The party set off together.
Go Hoewon brought his horse close in a friendly manner.
"If your strength reaches that far someday, please help us. It will be enough if you do not pass over it as someone else's matter.
Today, I will guide you and help prepare a place for you inside.
You said you would handle the meeting and persuasion yourself, General, so you may do that."
From horseback, Yeongu placed his fist against the left side of his chest.
"Thank you."
---*---
Go Hoewon seemed to keep Yeongu's urgency in mind and headed straight north.
Okjeong kindly explained.
"This way. Earlier, the direction you were heading was the opposite. You were trying to go that way."
"Ah, yes. Since there was nothing I could do for you, I was first trying to get away."
"It seemed that way."
His wish not to burden them was visible.
Okjeong pointed ahead.
"We must leave through the north gate."
"There is no gate."
"Yes. There is none now. They say there used to be one."
The way she spoke was far too practiced.
She was not merely a traveler who had stopped briefly at the inn.
Yeongu asked, "Do you perhaps have other business, and are going this way because of me?"
"No. We needed to look for lodgings and eat as well. We came a long way and were quite tired."
Okjeong rode well.
She stepped lightly on the stirrups, and her waist did not sway.
Even when the horse changed speed, she did not pull hard on the reins. She controlled the horse first with her knees and thighs.
Her nature was lively, but on horseback her movements were calm, never growing too large or too small.
She wore a veil over her simply bound hair.
Black silk fell from her forehead, covering her cheeks and chin, and the ends flowed down below her shoulders.
Whenever the wind blew, the thin cloth fluttered lightly above the horse's mane.
Her face was almost hidden.
Only the line of her eyes showed faintly through the silk.