Chapter 19

As the sun rose, Luoyang turned upside down.

It was because word had spread widely that Wang Yun’s adopted daughter had never actually entered Luoyang. Then who on earth was that peerless beauty who had come into the city? Since there were thousands who had seen the carriage with white wheel‑skirts, people were in an absolute uproar. Did the peerless beauty truly exist? Did such a person even exist? Was Wang Yun’s adopted daughter ever really a peerless beauty to begin with?

As the rumor spread into every corner, those who knew the true situation appeared.

“It must have been the elder brother.”

“Elder brother?”

They were those who knew Wang Yun had taken in a brother and sister.

“Right, so I heard as well. Lord Wang the Registrar took in the siblings.”

“So he didn’t take in only the adopted daughter?”

Since the truth was so shocking, the rumor spread rapidly again. The peerless adopted daughter was still in Bing Province, and the one who entered Luoyang was her elder brother! Had it ended there, it would merely have concluded with the appearance of a matchless handsome man…

“…W‑what?”

Even the fact that Cao Cao had vaulted a wall to see Jaheon spread through every neighborhood.

“It’s all over Luoyang that the young master vaulted a wall to see Young Master Im…!”

Cao Cao’s father, Cao Song, who had writhed in anguish until the dawn and finally come to his senses, felt as if he would die of apoplexy.

“How did that get out!”

“His Majesty issued a decree to release the young master.”

Thump—

Cao Song’s heart dropped.

“Even His Majesty… knew of it?”

So shameful that tears came to Cao Song’s eyes. Had the accursed boy vaulted a wall to see a beautiful woman, it would not have been this mortifying.

“I must die! To have raised my son thus! I must die!”

Wailing, Cao Song soon pulled himself together.

“…No. Not yet—there is still room to contain this. Is that not so?!”

From the servants’ account, the young master’s looks were no ordinary thing; they said it would be strange not to mistake his gender. If they pulled back now, they could still treat it as merely adding a ridiculous anecdote to Cao Cao’s reputation for desiring beauties.

“Since His Majesty sent a decree, tell that brat A‑man to return home at once!”

Cao Song barked immediately.

Yes—up to here, it was surely manageable.

“…He refused?”

But the damned boy did not come! Even after receiving the imperial decree pardoning him, that Im Jaheon fellow did not let Cao Cao leave Wang Yun’s residence. Was the boy, who never discriminated in matters of the flesh, now truly intent on male love? Why did that brat touted as Wang Yun’s adopted son not send the accursed boy away; and with the boy’s skills, he should have more than enough ability to escape the residence—why was he staying…

“……!”

All at once, Cao Song realized it.

How often had the boy played his games over Cao Song’s head—he cared little for his father. Even when locked in the household prison, he would invariably escape and be found at a brothel or a hunting ground; could there be any chance that he could not break free of a mere small residence a provincial official had purchased in Luoyang?

“No question—it’s by his own will. The mad brat is staying of his own accord…!”

At the thunderclap of realization, Cao Song felt a chill. But why on earth? To read the mind of his exceptional son, Cao Song racked his brains. Was the boy truly one for male love? Given how lustful he was, the possibility was ample—but he was not one to move so heedlessly. If he were to pursue men, he would do so behind the scenes; he would not do it brazenly before all.

“Does he have another ploy?”

Then Cao Song grew calm. The head that had been hot with agitation cleared. It was no time to be excited. Cao Song asked a servant,

“Has any other rumor spread regarding that Im Jaheon?”

“Yes.”

“Speak.”

“They say he had a private audience with His Majesty last evening.”

“A private audience?”

“Yes. Moreover, His Majesty is said to have bestowed along with a style name ‘Huaseo’ the office of yirang.”

“……”

Though Cao Song’s mind was not keen in all areas, he had a remarkable nose for the scent of power. So he asked what others had not considered important.

“Huaseo? What does it mean?”

“They say it means ‘flower‑like script.’”

“A name that would suit a consort in the harem.”

“Yes. Hence there is much talk—that an eleventh attendant has appeared…”

Biting his nails, Cao Song paced the room, lost in thought.

“…They also revile Wang Yun, saying he has gone mad for power and has even offered up a male favorite.”

“When is that man called Huaseo to become yirang?”

“Tomorrow—after sitting an examination at Hongdu with other students; if his marks are good, he will be formally appointed yirang.”

“……”

“At Hongdu, many who study write base literature, so all are taking it as a foregone conclusion that he will become yirang.”

Even at the servant’s words, Cao Song made no reply. After thinking deeply for some time, he spoke.

“It makes no sense.”

“…Sir?”

“It was Wang Yun who killed the man who bought office through collusion with the eunuchs. That was how he made his name known to the world. Would such a man offer up a male favorite?”

Cao Song chewed over each suspicious point.

“Or say he would—say Wang Yun coveted power and would offer a male favorite to His Majesty. But would that Wang Yun offer such a useless pawn?”

It did not add up.

Wang Yun was not foolish enough to reach for such hollow power. Had he been, he would not have attacked the eunuchs to make his name in the first place. Was that not a reputation even the Emperor could not easily undo?

“And how did His Majesty know that brat A‑man vaulted the wall and send a decree? How did this rumor spread so quickly through Luoyang?”

It was suspicious.

Im Jaheon.

The name of a mere “young master” who was only a retainer under Wang Yun, origin unknown, had spread throughout Luoyang. All within a single week. There was now no one in Luoyang who did not know the name Im Jaheon. In any case, all knew that this young master would come to hold power on par with the eunuchs.

“Power on par with the eunuchs?”

At that moment, Cao Song understood.

If there existed a move that would overturn all these rumors—no, if Im Jaheon was one who possessed talent enough to fully deserve the Emperor’s favor…

“……!”

Im Jaheon had the possibility of rising, before even coming of age, as one of Luoyang’s principal figures—

With justifiable cause of the most extraordinary kind.

It had been only two days.

Since the Emperor suddenly announced he would bring a boy not yet even of age and appoint him yirang. But because the boy was excessively beautiful, and had received from the Emperor the style “Huaseo,” every notable power‑holder in Luoyang came to know the boy’s name.

Im Jaheon.

If that boy truly became yirang, the Emperor’s favor for the eunuchs would not last forever.

For that reason.

People crowded Hongdu’s school—which on ordinary days was pointed at as teaching crude literature.

They were all crowds who had come to see Jaheon.

“There are many people. Surely they have all come to see young master?”

Grinning, O Juk‑yeop spoke to Jaheon. At his words, Jaheon sneered.

“They have not come merely to see me. Half of them have come to see Lord Cai, reputed as a man of letters…”

Jaheon understood reality.

“And the rest have come to verify me.”

To speak coldly: if the Emperor’s favor toward Jaheon were based solely on looks, neither the Turbid‑Stream nor the Pure‑Stream would welcome his appearance.

From the standpoint of the Turbid‑Stream, already united with the eunuchs, Jaheon was someone to be removed; from the Pure‑Stream’s standpoint, Jaheon was little different from another eunuch who had cast off the Way.

“To see whether I am a man who will help them—or not.”

But if Jaheon could prove that he was not favored for his face alone, the situation would change.

It is proper that the Emperor favor a wise minister. So if Jaheon simply proved his own ability, there would be rightful cause for him to receive the Emperor’s favor. Then the Turbid‑Stream would gain a new card to negotiate with the eunuchs; and for the Pure‑Stream forces long out of imperial sight, there would be a new lifeline.

And recalling the memories of the twenty‑first century, Jaheon had a very easy way to prove his ability.

Thud—

Jaheon stepped into the Hongdu academy. At his appearance, the babble of many people died like a snuffed mouse. All stared at Jaheon with vacant faces. Yet despite the multitude of gazes, Jaheon walked forward unperturbed.

And he stopped before an old man in official robes.

“……”

“……”

All watched in silence as the old man and Jaheon looked at one another without a word. The old man’s face was stubborn; he was Cai Yong—versatile, a famous name at the end of the Later Han, and examiner to judge Jaheon’s compositions.

“Im Huaseo pays respects to Lord Cai.”

Even under Cai Yong’s sharp gaze, Jaheon offered a calm greeting. At his greeting, Cai Yong opened his mouth.

“His Majesty has commanded that I judge your composition skill together with the other students.”

A faint anger tinged Cai Yong’s voice. It seemed an affront to his pride to be summoned to Hongdu merely to assess Jaheon’s writings.

Yet the greater the pride, the better. The greater the pride, the higher the confidence in poetry; and the higher that confidence, the easier it was to be recognized by skill.

So it was.

Jaheon intended to be recognized by skill.

“It is an honor to be evaluated by Lord Cai.”

Naturally, Jaheon had no real interest in composition. After his twenty‑first century memories resurfaced, he loathed the Confucian classics enough to want to tear them all to shreds. Were not those very classics the fundamental cause that made Choseon thus? A man like that could hardly write poetry well.

But there was a reason Jaheon accepted this test so readily.

He had the memories of the twenty‑first century, and the twenty‑first‑century Jaheon had majored in East Asian Studies. So he remembered at least a few representative regulated poems by famous East Asian poets. And if an East Asian Studies major, not even a literature major, had been made to memorize a poem—how perfect must that poem be?

“Forgive me, but just one.”

That is, Jaheon intended to write a regulated verse praised even in later ages as perfect, and thereby win recognition from Cai Yong. And Cai Yong was a luminary recognized by all the men of letters at the end of the Later Han.

“…Because I must protect Choseon.”

Thus, to be recognized by Cai Yong for composition was a move that could transform all the infamy surrounding Jaheon into renown.