The carriage stopped.
It was painted black, with not a single flag. Early in the morning, there were still few signs of life outside the main gate. Before Jang Isu had even finished undoing the gate bar, the carriage door opened first.
The man who stepped down wore an unmarked gray robe. Instead of a sword, he had only a token hanging at his waist. It bore the mark of the Celestial Blossom Gang's Enforcement Hall—the place that investigated and punished crimes within the gang.
"Jang Isu."
"That's right."
"I'm here about Vice Chief Jwa Woryang. I hear you saw everything that happened outside the gate last night, from beginning to end."
"I did."
"Then this should go quickly." The man tucked the token back inside his robe. "I'm not taking you to the Hall. I just have a few questions to ask here."
Footsteps hurried toward them from the direction of the corridor. It was Wang Ho. The moment he saw the carriage's insignia, his complexion changed.
"Isn't that... the Enforcement Hall's carriage?"
"It seems so."
"They said someone was coming from the main headquarters yesterday, but already..." Wang Ho's voice trembled. "Jang Isu, just say you don't know anything. You don't need to tell them everything you do know."
"I'll only tell them what I know."
"What does that even—" When Wang Ho tried to step forward, the Hall Chief waved him back with a single gesture. Wang Ho couldn't come any closer and retreated behind a corridor pillar. Even so, his eyes remained fixed on them.
The Hall Chief took a seat in one corner of the mountain estate's guest hall. He didn't ask for even a cup of tea. Jang Isu stood before him.
"Blackwind Stronghold came all the way to the main gate and collected payment, I hear."
"Yes."
"Which means the Vice Chief had a deal with them."
"I'm only telling you what happened there. I don't know what the deal was."
"You don't know..." The Hall Chief let out a low laugh. There was no warmth in it. "I also heard about the piece of paper in your possession. The one you picked up in an alley that day."
Jang Isu didn't answer.
"The main headquarters hasn't abandoned the Vice Chief yet. But if this matter gets out, the entire gang will have to pay the price. That's why I want to make things clear." For the first time, the Hall Chief looked Jang Isu directly in the eye. "Hand that paper over to me. Then you'll be completely out of this mess. I'll even set you up with a position better than being the mountain estate's Gatekeeper."
"The paper isn't mine."
"Whose is it, then?"
"The Vice Chief's. The person who lost it is its owner."
The Hall Chief's eyes narrowed. "Enough wordplay. Are you handing it over or not?"
"No."
"I wasn't making an idle offer when I said I'd give you a better position." For the first time, an edge entered the Hall Chief's voice. "Do you really think another chance like this will come along when you've spent three years guarding the main gate?"
"You called it a chance?"
"I did."
"Then this isn't a chance. You're telling me to change positions." Jang Isu answered briefly. "I have no intention of changing the position I'm standing in now."
The Hall Chief stared at him for a moment. It wasn't the look of someone waiting for an answer. It was the look of someone reassessing the person in front of him.
After watching Jang Isu for a moment, the Hall Chief gave his attendant a brief signal.
"Bring the Vice Chief here."
A quarter hour later, Jwa Woryang entered the guest hall. He wore a different expression from the one he'd had atop the sedan chair last night. The color had drained from his cheeks, and with every step, one hand fussed with his robe hem. The moment he saw the Hall Chief, he bent at the waist.
"Hall Chief. What brings you all the way to this humble place..."
"Sit." The Hall Chief's command was brief. "Let's start with last night. What is your relationship with Blackwind Stronghold?"
"There is no relationship." Jwa Woryang's voice came a beat too quickly. "Those men have been throwing my name around without permission. I've never done business with people like that."
"Then why did they come to your gate and collect payment?"
"Th-that..." Jwa Woryang's gaze briefly brushed Jang Isu. "That Gatekeeper must have misunderstood something. From the start, it was probably a trap they set to intimidate me."
"The Gatekeeper set it up?" The Hall Chief turned his head toward Jang Isu. "Are you saying you called Blackwind Stronghold, Vice Chief?"
"Th-that's not what I meant..." Jwa Woryang stammered. "I'm only saying that this whole commotion started because of that paper. If only that paper had been gone..."
"Paper?" A sharp glint flashed in the Hall Chief's eyes. "You brought that up first. I haven't mentioned the paper to you yet."
The guest hall fell silent. The color drained from Jwa Woryang's face once more.
"Th-that..." He hurriedly continued. "The Gatekeeper must have told you. I only heard a rough version of it..."
"For something you supposedly heard only in passing..." The Hall Chief's voice lowered. "You know an awful lot for someone who doesn't know what the paper is or why it was lost, especially considering why you personally rode a sedan chair all the way here yesterday."
"I..."
"Jang Isu," the Hall Chief asked. "Is it true that the Vice Chief lost that paper?"
"Yes."
"Where did it come from?"
"I heard it recorded the payment Blackwind Stronghold received for turning over the Sword Pavilion's position." Jang Isu's voice did not waver. "I don't know anything beyond that."
Jwa Woryang's body went rigid. He had already confirmed the paper's existence with his own mouth. It was too late to deny it, and too late to admit it. Whichever path he chose would contradict what he had just said.
"Vice Chief." The Hall Chief rose from his seat. "You'll be coming with me to the main headquarters. It seems there are quite a few things you'll need to confirm yourself."
"Hall Chief, this is..." Jwa Woryang swayed as he stood. "What did I do wrong...?"
"We'll discuss your wrongdoing later." The Hall Chief headed toward the door. "But I heard every word you said here today. Repeat them in front of the elders at the main headquarters."
Jwa Woryang's gaze turned to Jang Isu again. It held neither resentment nor pleading. His face showed that he had only just realized the position he had destroyed with his own hands.
"Jang Isu." He barely forced the words out. "You... you did this on purpose..."
"I only answered what I was asked."
Jwa Woryang could say no more. Two attendants took their places at his sides. With the same unsteady gait as the retainers who had knelt in the mud before Blackwind Stronghold yesterday, he left the guest hall.
Beyond the wall, several attendants who had come rushing out after hearing the rumors were watching. Not a trace of color remained in Wang Ho's face behind the corridor pillar. Half the people at the mountain estate had witnessed the Vice Chief being dragged away by the Enforcement Hall. The man who had ridden here in person yesterday to intimidate the Gatekeeper was being dragged out on his own feet today.
The Hall Chief looked back at Jang Isu one last time.
"Keep the paper with you as it is. Now that its owner has been taken to the main headquarters, they—not the Vice Chief—will come looking for it."
"Yes."
"One last question." The Hall Chief's eyes narrowed again. "How did you know so precisely what the Vice Chief had said wrong?"
"I didn't. I only answered your questions with what I knew."
The Hall Chief watched him for a long while. His eyes were weighing him. But he asked no more questions, simply turned and headed for the carriage.
"Your name will come up again at the main headquarters. Whether in a good way or not."
The carriage door closed. The sound of its wheels faded beyond the main gate.
Wang Ho slowly emerged from behind the corridor pillar. Unable to say a word, he stared for a long while at the street where the carriage had disappeared.
Jang Isu rubbed the callus between his index and middle fingers with the thumb of his right hand. Jwa Woryang had merely stumbled on the lies he had built up himself. Jang Isu hadn't pushed him at all. A person who piles lies atop a position he is trying to protect will eventually be crushed beneath the weight of those lies. Jang Isu knew that without having to push.
The paper in his robe was still untouched. The only difference was that the person reaching for it was no longer Jwa Woryang, but the Celestial Blossom Gang's main headquarters. The Hall Chief's offer of a position might have been just as flimsy as that paper.
As he took up his broom and stood before the main gate, Jang Isu swept his eyes over the street outside. No one bearing the name of the main headquarters had appeared yet. But just as the Hall Chief had said, his name must already be making its way onto some document somewhere.
The main gate was still open. Beyond it, a bigger figure than Jwa Woryang was now drawing near.