215.
The palace of Dadu lay in silence.
Along the long corridors draped with golden silk screens, not a single footstep sounded.
Then, at the very center of that stillness, a woman's voice burst out as if exploding.
"Why did no one tell me!"
"That my elder brother—Deokseong Bu-won-gun, Gi Cheol—has been taken prisoner!"
Empress Gi's cry shook the ceiling of the corridor.
The ministers prostrated beneath the canopy dared not lift their heads.
Her black hair spilled over her shoulders, and fury burned in her eyes.
"The king of Goryeo dares to seize a member of the imperial clan!"
"If this is not rebellion, then what is!"
At that moment, the Grand Preceptor bent even lower and spoke.
His voice was cautious, each word chosen with care.
"Your Majesty."
"The Great Khan has already begun to examine this matter."
"The battle at Hwaju has been reported… as a preemptive action taken by Lord Gi Cheol."
"What did you say?"
The Empress's voice sank, cold and compressed.
Her anger no longer flared—it condensed.
"The bandits of Goryeo sought to harm my family, and you call that preemptive?"
"Who dared put such words in their mouth?"
Just then, footsteps sounded from the far end of the corridor.
Clad in a black dragon robe, the Great Khan entered quietly.
With a single gesture he dismissed the ministers and stood before the Empress.
"Enough, Empress."
"Your Majesty."
She turned at once.
Rage and desperation were tangled together in her gaze.
"This concerns the dignity of the Empire.
The king of Goryeo has humiliated an imperial kinsman.
You must punish him."
"I understand your anger,"
the Great Khan replied, his voice low and firm.
Emotion was restrained; only judgment remained.
"But I have already received the reports.
Gi Cheol raised troops first and attacked Hwaju,
and that army moved not by imperial command, but as mercenaries paid with your funds."
The Empress's face hardened.
"It is slander."
The Great Khan's gaze pierced straight through her.
Each time she opened her mouth, it was a lie.
"Slander or truth, the result does not change.
Your private troops used imperial standards,
and beneath those banners, people died.
That was not a campaign—it was personal ambition."
The Empress stepped forward; the curtain trembled slightly.
"Your Majesty. Do you not trust my words?
The king of Goryeo is trying to sever the Empire's hand.
From the very act of attacking Hwaju, it was a challenge to imperial authority."
The Great Khan raised his hand, cutting her off.
"Goryeo aided the Empire in the Jiangnan campaign.
That merit still stands.
I cannot shatter order for the sake of your single rage.
Goryeo remains a state under imperial law.
If we bare the blade again in its internal affairs, the world will mock us."
The Empress's lips trembled.
For a moment, she could not continue.
"Then…
are you saying you will abandon my brother?"
The Great Khan's answer did not waver.
"He abandoned himself first.
Had he not ridden on the name of the Empress, his glory would not have lasted so long.
Blood he may be, but before imperial law he is a criminal.
That he yet lives was the choice of Goryeo's king—
and it is they who also preserved your name."
Silence fell.
Tears welled in the Empress's eyes.
Falsehood would not do.
Now came tears.
Yet those tears quickly cooled, hardening into a cold gleam.
Once, a single tear had been enough to move an emperor.
Now, even a bucket poured out would not suffice.
She slowly turned away.
"So Your Majesty has chosen justice.
Then I will choose blood.
I will not do this in the Empire's name.
By my own private will, I will take revenge—and then revenge again."
The Great Khan's voice rang out, firm.
"Empress. That path is not the Empire's path."
But she was already pushing aside the curtain and leaving.
Beneath the whisper of silk, the air of the court twisted.
The Great Khan stood there for a long while.
Then he spoke quietly to the aide at his side.
"The Empress's fury will not subside."
"Yes, Your Majesty.
She will surely strike again."
The Great Khan's eyes darkened.
"Then prepare.
Before her blade turns toward Goryeo, we must sever her shadow.
For now… Goryeo is still necessary."