Chapter 3: The Emperor and the Strategist

How much time had passed?

Bi Yeon opened his eyes to a savory aroma as soldiers arrived, bluntly placed a bowl of porridge before him, and untied the gag around his mouth.

It was a bit embarrassing to see the puddle of saliva on the table beneath where he had been leaning.

His mouth and cheeks were so sore from being bound that his face felt paralyzed, yet at the sight of food, a strange surge of hunger hit him.

At some point, the day must have turned to night.

When Bi Yeon shivered from the cold, the soldiers surprisingly even draped a blanket over his shoulders before quickly vanishing from the tent.

Bi Yeon was dazed by this unexpected kindness.

If they were going to be kind, it would have been nice if they had removed the handcuffs as well.

He sat blankly, staring at the porridge in front of him.

Perhaps because he had slept in such an uncomfortable position, his head felt like it was splitting.

“Is the food too humble for the Chancellor of a nation?”

Suddenly, a low voice echoed from the darkness in front of Bi Yeon, who had been staring vacantly at the white porridge.

Bi Yeon reflexively bolted to his feet.

The iron chains on his wrists let out a sharp clatter.

“I apologize, Your Majesty.”

“Sit.”

It was clear now that the soldiers hadn’t rushed out for no reason.

Bi Yeon secretly scanned the man he was meeting for the second time today.

Emperor Young Tae Ryung.

His broad shoulders and tall stature were enough to provide a sense of overwhelming pressure, and his cool features carried the aura of a ruler.

During the day, Bi Yeon had been too distracted to properly perceive what he was seeing, but meeting the Emperor’s face now, illuminated by the flickering torches in the darkness, it appeared far more three-dimensional than he remembered.

The man moved with a lightness that seemed to defy gravity even while wearing heavy armor; he truly looked more like a martial officer than a civil one.

His young, strong-looking face had bold, distinct lines.

He exuded an air that was both mysterious and arrogant, a vibe only possessed by those who have experienced much.

Locked onto those bottomless black eyes, Bi Yeon felt a chill run through one side of his chest.

As Bi Yeon sat down, the Emperor sat across from him.

The Emperor glanced at the porridge on the table and spoke.

“Do you have no appetite?”

“No, I was just lost in thought…….”

“……Are you thinking of starving yourself to a slow death?”

“……?!”

Bi Yeon looked at the Emperor, startled by the extreme assumption.

His mouth was simply sore from the gag, and he had been waiting for the pain to subside.

Furthermore, Bi Yeon preferred dying in his sleep without knowing it if he had to die at all; he had never once considered starving himself to feel that agony.

In the first place, he had no intention of dying.

Why would he have surrendered if he planned such a terrible thing?

However, the Emperor scanned Bi Yeon from head to toe and said.

“You do not look particularly sturdy, so I suppose you would die faster than others if you missed a few meals.”

Bi Yeon didn’t know how to respond.

Was he saying he was going to starve him now?

But then, the Emperor said something entirely unexpected.

“If I prepared a feast of delicacies in the Mokju style, would you eat then?”

At such a ridiculous statement, Bi Yeon bowed his head in surprise.

“That is quite unnecessary.”

“I suppose. Since the country has fallen, there is likely no one left who knows how to prepare such things.”

“That is……!”

“It is clear the porridge does not please you. What did the soldiers of Mokju eat? Tell me.”

Bi Yeon lowered his gaze again.

The porridge served to him was of high quality, a mix of glossy barley and rice.

It was difficult to receive such supplies during a war.

Suddenly, the thought that they wouldn’t have lasted long even if they had held out in the castle made his heart feel bitter.

Even though he knew the rise and fall of nations was as natural as flowers blooming and withering, it was deeply regrettable that the withering flower happened to be the place where he served as Chancellor.

“The soldiers of Mokju were boiling remaining grains and tree roots to eat.”

“…….”

“It is not that the porridge is displeasing, but rather that I was realizing there was no hope for my motherland, so please do not be angry.”

And had he known sooner that there was no hope, Bi Yeon wouldn’t have obsessed over defending the castle so stubbornly.

But before Bi Yeon could even think of another plan, Won Ho had committed an irreversible blunder, and Bi Yeon had become a prisoner.

Sometimes, a single wrong choice in a fleeting moment decides the most important chapters of a life.

Bi Yeon, who knew this better than anyone, felt a surge of resentment that made him feel like he was going crazy.

“Are you sad?”

Naturally.

“Yes.”

At Bi Yeon’s answer, which came without a hint of hesitation, the Emperor fell silent for a moment.

He sat back in his chair, naturally rested his arms on the table, and interlaced his fingers.

Then, staring intently at Bi Yeon with black eyes that seemed to have swallowed the torchlight, he spoke.

“Your reasoning was correct. Had I believed there were reinforcements in Mokju, I certainly wouldn’t have driven you into the valley.”

His voice sounded as if he were reciting poetry.

It seemed to be a response to the strategy Bi Yeon had mentioned earlier.

However, Bi Yeon couldn’t understand why he was bringing this up so out of the blue.

“But this time, no matter what trickery you used, I would not have been fooled.”

“……?”

“How many loyal subjects do you think Mokju had?”

A chill suddenly ran down the back of Bi Yeon’s neck.

The Emperor gave a low laugh and began to list familiar names.

“In my view, there was Chancellor Song Bi Yeon, General Lee So Jin, Yeon Ga Ho, Yong Je Hyeon…. And it seems there are no others.”

Bi Yeon’s eyes widened.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Do you think it was Grand Prince Gong Seon’s idea alone to lock you in the storehouse and tie you up?”

Grand Prince Gong Seon was the title Won Ho was called before he ascended to the throne.

But an even bigger question flashed through Bi Yeon’s mind.

How did he know that Bi Yeon had been tied up in a storehouse right before the critical battle?

Just how far did his spies reach?

“The ministers of Mokju began to feel anxious as they watched their incompetent King. Of course, at first, they wanted to believe in him since he was the son of a great predecessor. But can the human heart always remain so upright?”

The man’s face as he asked that looked cold and incredibly cruel at the same time, causing Bi Yeon to catch his breath.

“……Are you saying the ministers of Mokju were working for Your Majesty?”

If he understood correctly, Young Tae Ryung was saying that almost all the officials—excluding himself and a few others—had betrayed Won Ho and Mokju to side with Horyu.

“As a loyal subject who would never serve two masters, you might not understand. Not only did you weed out all my spies, but you also overcame numerous temptations.”

Bi Yeon was momentarily dumbstruck.

What on earth was he talking about?

Spies and moles exist in every country.

It wasn’t his business to know who sent them.

Of course, he had tried identifying their origins to leak counter-information, but that was only until the late King’s reign. Since the dull-witted Won Ho took the throne, Bi Yeon had maintained a principle of summary execution for spies.

Mokju had always been targeted by foreign powers because of its mild climate and ice-free port.

Whether the thieves came from the north or the south, the defender’s job was simply to catch and kill them.

There was no better way to seal a mouth than that.

Furthermore, the Emperor had mentioned “temptation,” but as far as Bi Yeon remembered, he had never received any temptation.

Bribes, favors, women—he quickly flipped through his memories, but nothing came to mind.

If Horyu’s temptations had been even slightly more overt, there was no way Bi Yeon wouldn’t have known.

However, Bi Yeon managed to stop himself from asking a stupid question like “Me?” with all his might.

“Are you saying everyone but me was in on it?”

“What if they were?”

A fierce fire ignited within Bi Yeon’s heart.

That was truly beyond insolent.

‘They didn’t even offer it to me once?’

His eyelashes trembled with shock.

Mokju was certainly a small country compared to Horyu, but it had a solid system of the ruling class built over a long history.

There were officials proportional to the population and high-ranking bureaucrats who governed them.

Just counting the heads of each department, there were over thirty people he could think of immediately.

And all those bastards betrayed us?

The Emperor, as if reading Bi Yeon’s thoughts, gave a low laugh and said.

“One does not need to win over every piece to win at chess. Stop your excessive guessing. What I need is not a dog-like loyalist who only obeys my words. I have more than enough of those.”

“……Ah.”

They weren’t wrong words, but Song Bi Yeon felt a sense of offense toward this man from an unexpected angle.

To refer to those who would give their lives for him as “dogs”—it was a moment where he felt sorry for having briefly compared Won Ho to this man.

It is natural for the powerful to attack others.

Though he was bitter about losing, he had no intention of blaming the act itself.

But he disliked a monarch who thought everything he achieved was solely due to his own greatness.

Those working under this man would feel no sense of fulfillment.

At the very least, Won Ho knew that Bi Yeon was precious.

Then, the Emperor’s lips moved once more.

“I need someone who can think and judge for themselves.”