HLCOB C55

Chapter 55

Led by O Juk-yeop, Jaheon arrived at an old mansion nestled between the slums and the laborers’ quarters.

“…My lord!”

There stood Ma Teng, his complexion brightened from the first time they had met.

“This Ma Teng pays respects to my lord!”

He bowed deeply to Jaheon.

“It seems you are faring well?”

“Yes, hehe. My wife treats me kindly these days.”

“…?”

The strange use of “wife” for his spouse drew Jaheon’s curiosity, but he chose not to dwell on it. After all, Ma Teng was a man about whom thinking deeply rarely bore fruit.

“And the work is not too difficult?”

“Of course not! In fact, I feel ashamed! To be paid for something like this….”

At his words, Jaheon smiled faintly.

“Then enjoy it while you can.”

“…?”

“For soon, I intend to place you in the most arduous of places.”

In Jaheon’s modern memories, there was an event approaching in which Ma Teng could make great merit. He intended to send him there, to use him well. With such absurd charisma, it would be wasteful to let it lie idle. But first, to employ him to the fullest, Jaheon needed to subtly raise Ma Teng’s rank.

Ma Teng, however, remained oblivious.

“Yes! Then I shall enjoy it to the fullest!”

“….”

Jaheon nearly reeled at the bright response.

“Truly, should I raise his rank first? No—raising his intellect would be better. But that is impossible…”

With a sigh of resignation, Jaheon muttered, “I must bring that one sooner rather than later.”

He asked, “And the children I mentioned?”

“They are gathered over here, my lord.”

Following Ma Teng, Jaheon entered the training yard where the children were assembled.

“I chose them as one might select warriors in the villages.”

The children Ma Teng had picked were broad-shouldered and sturdily built. Even among the younger ones, there was something unusual in their bearing. Jaheon looked over each one carefully, then stopped before a single boy.

“…?”

The boy’s shorn head, the scars that cut across his sharp features, and the calluses thick upon his hands all told of a harsh life. Apart from that, there seemed nothing special.

But his demeanor was different.

Unlike the others, the boy did not blush under Jaheon’s gaze. If these children were all to be trained as private soldiers anyway, then better for Choseon’s guard to be someone immune to the sight of his and Choseon’s faces.

Jaheon, studying the boy’s potato-like, plain face, asked, “What is your name?”

“….”

The taciturn boy raised his head and stared directly at Jaheon with black eyes before abruptly asking, “Will you truly provide food and shelter?”

At his bold words, Jaheon answered, “Do you think it a lie?”

“Yes. Do not the lofty breathe lies as easily as air?”

“And do you know who I am?”

“You are none other than the famed Lord Huaseo.”

“You insolent brat…!”

Ma Teng reached out his great hand to seize the boy, but Jaheon stopped him.

“Indeed, the lofty do lie as easily as they breathe.”

“…?”

“But I do not favor lies. For what can be done with lies has its limits.”

At this, the boy’s expression shifted with confusion. Jaheon, intrigued, leaned closer.

“Then how about this—we strike a bargain.”

“A bargain?”

“Yes. If you work, I will give you reward in equal measure.”

“You mean… I shall receive as much as I give?”

“Indeed. Do you object?”

“….”

The boy shut his lips tight, then shook his head.

“No. I do not.”

To assent so readily—Jaheon found him promising. Pleased, he asked, “Then tell me your name.”

He intended to remember it, to place him by Choseon’s side as guard.

“…Huang. Xu Huang.”

The name was familiar.

“…?”

Xu Huang.

Courtesy name Gongming.

One of the five renowned generals of Wei—the Five Elite Generals. Yet unlike the others, Xu Huang’s renown was lesser spread. His flaw lay in his past: he had once been a bandit.

“Xu Huang, is it?”

A bandit’s origin meant poverty in childhood. That he would be found among the slums was not unthinkable.

“What is he doing here?”

If this boy was indeed Xu Huang, Jaheon must win him. For despite his stain, he had risen among the five. Why? Because Xu Huang was one of the rare generals of true intellect.

Unlike Ma Teng, he possessed cunning.

Jaheon turned to look at Ma Teng, who grinned foolishly. Running his hand across his face, Jaheon told Xu Huang, “Likely you must be the leader.”

“…?”

At such words, confusion crossed Xu Huang’s face. Was this not their first meeting? Yet suddenly he was to be made a leader? And Xu Huang was but newly grown—how absurd. His eyes slid toward Ma Teng.

There, for the first time, he saw the truth. The man who had terrified him when dragging him here now sat grinning like a simpleton, chattering with O Juk-yeop.

“…My wife dearly wished to see my lord! She says he made me a man!”

The great, fearsome brute was gone, replaced by a fool. Xu Huang’s gaze turned strange, then returned to Jaheon—with a faint trace of pity. Jaheon, not blind, caught it. He cleared his throat and said,

“I hear you once led these children in thievery.”

“…Yes.”

“Then here, you shall lead them again. Rule over them.”

He swept his eyes across the gathered youths.

“But remember well.”

Xu Huang thought Jaheon no more than a delicate noble, beautiful but naive. To gather street brats for training—what folly. Even Xu Huang, who seemed taciturn, harbored a rebellious streak. He thought, with Ma Teng so dim, that he could bleed Jaheon dry for a time.

Yet as Jaheon’s words continued, Xu Huang realized otherwise.

“If these children falter, if they thieve again, if they cause trouble…”

“…?”

“Then you, their leader, shall be cast out.”

“…!”

“The others may stay. But not you. That is the burden of command.”

Not what Xu Huang expected.

“The fine food you will taste, the soft beds you will lie upon, the tutors who will teach you, the warmth of this home—all will be lost to you.”

Though his voice was as mellifluous as ever, his words struck hard. Xu Huang stared at him, face hard.

“All shall be your responsibility.”

Jaheon met his gaze and smiled.

“Why so surprised?”

He raised the corner of his lips.

“Did I not already tell you? You shall be paid for what you do.”

The smile was radiant. Yet Xu Huang’s heart sank. Three characters—that was all Jaheon’s name held. He was not of noble birth. Xu Huang’s thoughts had already been seen through.

For had Jaheon himself not once lived as Xu Huang did? He knew the simplest way to tame rebellious youths: make them leaders.

“How you rule them, that is yours to decide.”

And if Xu Huang could not lead, then he was not the Xu Huang Jaheon knew from history. To slay Lü Bu, that much spirit was required.

“Then I shall return next month.”

He patted Xu Huang lightly on the shoulder and turned to leave the mansion.

“My lord.”

At last, Xu Huang, who had kept silent, spoke.

“…If I obey your words faithfully all this while—what will you do for me?”

It was a simple, frank question. Jaheon turned back.

“….”

For the first time, faint resolve showed upon the boy’s ever-stoic face. Seeing it, Jaheon chuckled softly.

“I never promise what I cannot give.”

Then added quietly,

“I will grant you what you could never have dreamed.”

For he would become Choseon’s guard—was that not enough?

Jaheon truly meant it.