Chapter 265 — The Li Family Compound, Yelü Zhangnu's Estate 3
He was seated in a place that looked like the great audience hall of a palace.
It seemed several guests had already come and gone.
On the writing table arranged like a working desk lay several visiting slips, and beside them boxes that looked like piles of gifts were stacked neatly.
The man who had been sitting in the chair rose.
"Oh, Master Go has come."
"I congratulate Your Highness on your birthday. May you live long in health."
"Thank you."
Go Hoewon turned, and the guard who had followed him set down two boxes.
"This is old mountain ginseng."
Then he covered his lips with the tip of his index finger.
"It is wild Heaven-seed ginseng."*
*Heaven-seed ginseng: wild ginseng that has sprouted naturally and grown in the wild for fifty to a hundred years or more.
"Oh."
"It is deep yellow, and the reed head is tightly layered. There are too many rings to count. It is easily more than a hundred years old."
"Oh, how did you come by something so precious?"
"I had told people near Baekdu Mountain to let me know if such a root appeared, and this one came at just the right time. I could think of no better gift to pray for Your Highness's birthday and long health."
Yelü Zhangnu gladly accepted it.
Beside him, someone handed over another heavy box.
"Ah, this is a token of sincerity I give to all guests who come today."
Go Hoewon glanced at the slightly opened lid and saw silver ingots packed inside.
It was a silver coffer, one might say.
When the tribute silver coffer opened, rows of silver ingots lying inside were revealed.
They were silver ingots stamped with the mark of the Song court.
The surface bore official inspection seals, and along the edges were marks where the silver had been shaved to match the weight.
The moment the coffer opened, a pale light rose first.
Unlike the color of silk, the light of silver was cold, and when lifted by hand it was far heavier than it looked.
Some had narrow waists, and some were straight and long like pillows.
The light of silver was not splendid, yet it held people's eyes for a long time.
"I did not come to receive something like this."
Yelü Zhangnu smiled brightly.
"It is my heart."
At the very least, he was not a man straining to press bribes into another's hand.
He bound people by returning something greater than what he had received.
Two attendants struggled as they carried out a small wooden coffer.
The coffer looked small, yet even with two men holding the handles, their shoulders were tense with effort.
When the lid opened, long silver ingots lay neatly inside.
They were boat-shaped silver ingots, their waists slightly drawn in and both ends rounded upward.
On the upper surface were stamped official inspection seals and marks indicating weight, and on the underside were honeycomb-like traces formed as the metal cooled in the mold.
Each seemed small enough to fit in one hand, yet even a few of them would make an arm heavy.
It was surely part of the hundred thousand taels of silver received as annual tribute.
Go Hoewon spoke carefully.
"Your Highness, there is someone I wish to introduce to you today. I hope you will not doubt my loyalty."
Yelü Zhangnu raised his eyes.
"Who is it?"
His gaze first stopped on Okjeong.
At that moment, Yeongu stepped forward.
"I am Yi Yeongu, a jungnangjang of the Goryeo army. I would like to speak with you briefly in a quiet place."
Yelü Zhangnu's face hardened.
"Goryeo army? Are you the Goryeo commander said to be assisting Jin?"
"That is correct."
Yeongu lifted both hands.
It meant he carried no weapon.
Go Hoewon came up to Yeongu.
He looked once at Yeongu as though asking permission, then searched his body.
His touch was polite, but thorough.
He checked Yeongu's sleeves, waist, collar, and even inside his boots in order.
Then he found one small knife that looked suited even for eating and set it aside.
Go Hoewon straightened and bowed to Yelü Zhangnu.
"There is nothing else. I had come a long way and stopped briefly at the inn ahead, where I met this man. He wished to meet Your Highness, so though I knew it was improper, I brought him here. We met for the first time today."
Yelü Zhangnu's eyes flashed.
They were eyes like rising flame.
Even so, he did not immediately call for men.
That alone showed remarkable patience.
"For what reason did you wish to see me?"
Yeongu said, "If you permit me time, I wish to explain the current situation and discuss what measures should follow."
"Speak."
"It would be better if we moved elsewhere. There is a Goryeo proverb that says birds hear words spoken by day, and rats hear words spoken by night."
Yelü Zhangnu said calmly, "There is no one here."
Yeongu pointed with his fingertips to several places in the room.
Behind a pillar, beyond a screen, near a wall niche, and the dark space beside the lattice window.
Yelü Zhangnu's eyebrows moved.
Those were places where men had been secretly hidden.
They were screened so that guests could not see them, while paths had been left open so they could spring out at any time.
Some were close enough to block an enemy at once, and others stood a little farther away where they could use hidden weapons.
"How did you know?"
Yeongu answered plainly.
"It is basic, Your Highness."
Yelü Zhangnu let out a short breath.
"Hm. Then let us go to the inner room."
Yeongu looked back.
Okjeong's face was full of worry.
What words should one say when sending a man to his death?
One could not say farewell, and one could not tell him to return alive.
At such times, sending him off in silence was best.
Okjeong pressed her lips together and bowed her head only slightly.