The Ruler of Darkness

“My, with such illustrious seniors seated before me, it’s simply dazzling.”

Yeon So-hyeon’s light quip.

Across the long table, the former clan head of the Situ Clan smiled faintly.

“The Eldest Young Master, who says that, is indeed incomparably brilliant now that we’re meeting in person. But…”

Another clan head interrupted.

“The Eldest Young Master seems as if he knew in advance that we would come?”

Yeon So-hyeon’s smile deepened.

“It’s not particularly difficult to guess.”

Before another clan head could open his mouth, Yeon So-hyeon pointed behind them.

“I saw the Second Imperial Guards Brigade’s grand and resplendent flag moving high above the Gongsun Clan’s tall walls in the distance.”

“And?”

“With just that, I thought it was simply because Senior Gongsun was in the midst of threatening to drive me out…”

Yeon So-hyeon grinned.

“But from a certain point, not a single person could be seen moving anywhere in this massive mansion, so I couldn’t help but notice.”

Because it would tarnish their prestige if word spread that they all moved at once just for Yeon So-hyeon.

The Second Imperial Guards Brigade remained on the main road, blocking the view of the Eldest Young Master’s procession, and in that gap, the former clan heads moved.

Halting all external activities of everyone inside the Gongsun Clan’s mansion was in the same vein.

“Hmph.”

The former clan head of the Lu Clan nodded.

“He seems to be right.”

They, too, had wanted to verify the actual existence of the person they had exchanged letters with.

“The test is getting tiresome. Why don’t you all stop it about here?”

Yeon So-hyeon waved his hand.

“You’ll naturally come to know as we converse more anyway.”

The clan head of the Chunyu Clan smiled.

“Then let’s get straight to the point.”

At those words, Yeon So-hyeon sighed exaggeratedly.

“Is this about the price for crossing the threshold as you please again? That’s getting tiresome too.”

“The fact that the Eldest Young Master came all the way here means there must be some deal to be made. But for a deal to proceed normally, shouldn’t the settlement come first?”

Then they began listing their demands one by one.

“First, the Situ Clan demands a stake in the mining rights for the copper mine discovered in the northern end of Henan Province this time.”

“The Yuan Clan wants the ship usage fees on the Yellow River waived for a year.”

“The Puyang Clan…”

“And also…”

They all demanded grandiose compensation befitting the power their clans possessed.

Yeon So-hyeon listened to their blabbering and scoffed inwardly.

How the sight of those who lust for power and crave authority was so alike anytime, anywhere.

Those who hide their own, covet others’, and ceaselessly immerse themselves in filling a bottomless warehouse.

‘If you come at me like this…’

Yeon So-hyeon smiled, pretending to listen attentively to them.

‘Aren’t you too easy to handle?’

What was too easy to handle?

With the former clan heads of the Sixteen Clans, seven old monsters at that, seated before him, Yeon So-hyeon thought so.

As Yeon So-hyeon was thinking about other matters, their seemingly endless list of demands finally came to an end.

“Let’s leave it at this.”

“Indeed. No matter how outstanding the Eldest Young Master’s abilities are, anything more would be burdensome, wouldn’t it?”

The former clan head of the Situ Clan smiled, meeting Yeon So-hyeon’s gaze.

“If it’s to this extent, we’ve also taken into account our ties with the Eldest Young Master and made considerable concessions.”

And then, a melodious laughter burst out from Yeon So-hyeon’s mouth.

The sound was so loud that the former clan heads were embarrassed.

“What does the Eldest Young Master find so amusing…?”

“If you don’t explain properly…!”

Yeon So-hyeon waved his hand and decisively cut them off.

It was obvious that if one opened his mouth, another would open his, and if left unchecked, they would take turns pressuring him endlessly.

“You are all the same as Senior Gongsun.”

Yeon So-hyeon looked at them with a provocative gaze.

“Have you also forgotten what you truly need? Has your sense deteriorated to that extent?”

Sharp glares flew like blades, but Yeon So-hyeon cleanly ignored them.

“Rushing to chase immediate gains, using excuses like the order of visits, and rushing at me greedily?”

Yeon So-hyeon leaned forward, baring his teeth.

“Wasn’t it simply that your hearts ached as your turn got delayed, fearing the portions you could immediately devour would diminish?”

Yeon So-hyeon cackled.

“That’s why you all couldn’t even wait and barged in together like street thugs.”

Someone abruptly rose from his seat, teeth grinding, curses flying, and Yeon So-hyeon neatly ignored all those reactions like before.

“Now that you’ve been reduced to this, there’s no reason for me, Yeon So-hyeon, to pay a price for freely crossing this threshold.”

Yeon So-hyeon openly sneered at them.

“Don’t you understand? I’m saying you no longer have that much value.”

Yeon So-hyeon slowly shook his head.

“You’ve made considerable concessions…”

Yeon So-hyeon slowly folded his arms.

“It seems I’m the one making concessions here…”

His eyes chillingly sank.

“The fact that I sought you out, not the newly rising clans in the Central Plains…”

Yeon So-hyeon bared his teeth.

“You should know that I, Yeon So-hyeon, am making considerable concessions for you because of our past ties.”

For a moment, the former clan heads’ eyes briefly wavered.

Yeon So-hyeon seized that moment and raised his voice.

“Why have you ended up as old men in the back room like this? There’s no one here who wouldn’t know that!”

There was no one in the world who was a powerful old man in the back room like them, but it didn’t matter.

‘Because they themselves would think of themselves that way.’

Yeon So-hyeon’s voice resounded even more loudly.

So loud that one might worry someone would hear in this perfectly soundproofed mansion.

“You stubbornly waged the northern war that I said was impossible and ultimately lost!”

A few former clan heads’ shoulders flinched slightly.

They raised their voices even more, veins bulging in their necks, but Yeon So-hyeon’s voice didn’t back down.

“Thanks to the Emperor’s leniency and the fact that you were already elderly, your retirement from the political world took place over several years and appeared natural from the outside! But what’s the reality? Aren’t you sitting in North Mang Mountain, waiting only for the day you die?!”

Yeon So-hyeon pressed them even harder, building momentum.

“You’re all old and sick, but no matter what, it seems you still have energy to spare!”

Yeon So-hyeon guffawed.

“Good! Do you want to fix this young fellow’s insolence?”

He spread his hands.

“Then, how about we properly test our mettle right now? This Eldest Young Master has the confidence to take you all on!”

His eyes blazed like the sun, his spirit as solemn as Mount Tai.

“Do you think I can’t become the Minor Family Head of the Luoyang Sword House while facing all of you? And that I can’t become the Family Head?”

A thunderous shout erupted from Yeon So-hyeon’s mouth.

“I will erase every last foundation stone of these North Mang Mountain mansions!”

Yeon So-hyeon glared at the former clan heads.

“And I will fill this North Mang Mountain with a new Sixteen Clans.”

As Yeon So-hyeon’s declaration ended, there was no sound in the garden.

Because the former clan heads, who had been bulging veins in their necks, turning their faces bright red, gesticulating, and spitting, had all closed their mouths at some point.

Yeon So-hyeon faced each former clan head one by one.

Their faces held only faint traces of emotion, with no proper expressions visible.

But Yeon So-hyeon knew.

‘Their true faces have finally been revealed.’

Why had he not listened to their words from the start?

Why had he ignored them even as they acted as if they would fight to the death at any moment?

Those reactions were merely what they had expressed out of necessity.

‘Monsters who fabricate emotions to their advantage according to the situation, pressuring others with it, while endlessly weighing profit and loss in their minds…’

It didn’t mean they were emotionless beings.

They were simply seasoned enough to bury their own emotions in the deepest place and move solely based on practicality and profit and loss.

Although pushed back now…

The assets derived from their experience of dominating the pinnacle of political power in the Central Plains for such a long time were still vividly alive like this.

Just Gongsun Nakang alone, whom Yeon So-hyeon had faced first, hadn’t he bizarrely changed his expressions in an instant to suit the situation?

‘Truly human-faced demons. Aren’t they befitting of the nickname “old monsters”?’

Therefore, to move the emotions deep within them, Yeon So-hyeon shook and shook them.

And eventually made them stop fabricating emotions.

“…”

Yeon So-hyeon, arms folded, closed his eyes altogether.

And waited.

Giving the old monsters time to compare their former prime with their current selves, and to reflect once more on their position pushed out of power within their clans.

And giving them time to feel once again how much the ‘letters’ Yeon So-hyeon had sent them in the past through numerous experiences had helped.

How could old monsters like them not know Yeon So-hyeon’s ability to stimulate and move people’s minds without killing a single person, creating the flow of events as he desired?

How could they not know that Yeon So-hyeon was currently shaking them in that manner?

But Yeon So-hyeon waited.

***

A former clan head, calculating what dangers he might face by joining hands with Yeon So-hyeon, gave a bitter smile.

‘At first, I only thought of extorting ample compensation.’

At some point, he found himself considering joining hands with this ‘young monster’ at least once.

‘I’m being swayed.’

He knew.

That it was that child’s tactic.

That the provocations he had made were also nothing more than that tactic.

But somehow, the overflowing spirit that young monster showed without hesitation touched the emotions he had suppressed deep within.

Emotions he had forcibly suppressed due to his position.

And the moment he realized those emotions…

The cold calculation that seemed to proceed dispassionately met that boundless will to power and began spewing desires that had ended their long slumber and squirmed.

Then, that young monster named Yeon So-hyeon, a being that could hardly be called young…

Started to look like an attractive ‘opportunity.’

***

The first to open his mouth was Gongsun Nakang.

Shaking him up before the others joined had been effective.

Thanks to that, the conversation Yeon So-hyeon had been waiting for opened up.

“Then. What do we gain from the deal the Eldest Young Master proposes?”

Although there was no particular agreement, no one questioned or stopped that question.

The trivial talk about compensation had vanished into thin air.

It meant that such things were no longer important to them.

Yeon So-hyeon, unfolding his arms, spoke again in a polite tone.

“Of course, it’s the opportunity for the former clan heads present here to regain the position of clan head and stand by His Majesty the Emperor’s side.”

Yeon So-hyeon thought, wearing a fabricated smile.

‘That’s why I said you’re easy to handle.’

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