Chapter 354. I Will Not Help Put a King on the Throne
Youngwoo spoke slowly.
"I will not lend my strength to putting a king on the throne."
Okjeong's gaze darkened slightly.
Youngwoo continued.
"But if it is a matter of defending the city, gathering provisions, keeping the people from being harmed, and buying time between Jin and Liao, then I will help."
Okjeong lifted her head.
"That will be enough."
Youngwoo shook his head.
"No. It will not end there. If I devise a plan to defend the city, people will use it as justification for founding a state. If I stand beside General Go, they will say I have acknowledged him as king."
Okjeong could not answer.
That, too, was true.
Youngwoo looked out the window.
The snow was growing thicker.
The lights along the night streets blurred behind the falling flakes, and beyond the estate walls the rooftops of Liaoyang were slowly disappearing beneath white.
"So there must be a clear line."
Okjeong asked,
"What kind of line?"
Youngwoo answered.
"We do not speak of a royal title or the name of a new state. First, we deal with Liaoyang's defenses, provisions, prisoners, markets, public order, and relations with Jin. If that is what you intend to do, I will help. But if talk of kings and emperors begins again after that, I will leave immediately."
Okjeong looked at him for a long moment.
A small measure of relief appeared on her face.
It was not full consent.
But neither was it a complete refusal.
For now, that alone was enough to open a path forward.
"I will tell my father."
Youngwoo lifted his cup again.
The tea had already gone cold.
He took a sip and said quietly,
"You may. But make it even clearer to General Go. I did not come here to make a king."
"What is your relationship with General Go?"
Instead of answering, Okjeong extended one hand.
It was a hand long accustomed to the bow, and the joints of her fingers were not entirely delicate.
There were calluses along the inside of her palm and faint scars across the back of her hand.
A ring rested on one finger.
"We are betrothed."
The instant he heard that, Youngwoo recoiled.
"Oh..."
Okjeong's eyes widened.
"What? Why?"
Youngwoo could not answer immediately.
He turned his gaze awkwardly toward one of the paintings on the wall.
It depicted an old man and a child entering the mountains in search of an immortal realm.
The two tiny figures climbed a mist-covered path, while pines and a waterfall faded into the mountainside above them.
Youngwoo clicked his tongue inwardly.
How had he failed to realize they were this close?
Her defense of Go Youngchang earlier had not come merely from family ties.
"It's nothing."
Okjeong tilted her head slightly.
"That did not sound like nothing."
Youngwoo smiled awkwardly.
"Well... you know how it is. When you see a beautiful woman, the man beside her somehow looks lacking, and you think she could have done better. That is all I meant. Nothing else."
Okjeong's eyes narrowed.
She seemed to be deciding whether he was joking or serious.
Youngwoo quickly picked up his teacup.
The tea was already cold, but at that moment he needed something—anything—to bring to his lips.
He took a sip and looked back at the painting for no reason.
The old man and the child continued climbing toward the immortal realm as though nothing at all had happened.
Okjeong stared for a long while at the empty seat opposite her.
It was almost as though Go Youngchang himself were sitting there.
The scent of tea had already faded, and the snow outside had grown heavier.
Okjeong spoke quietly.
"You do not approve of the direction these discussions are taking, do you?"
Youngwoo slowly nodded without a word.
"Why?"
"He would be a king for only a few months. Half a year at best."
Okjeong answered at once.
"That is exactly why I am asking you to help."
Youngwoo took his hand away from the teacup.
"I helped the Balhae soldiers return home."
"I know. And I am deeply grateful."
Youngwoo shook his head.
"I do not involve myself in politics. From the outside, it may look like serving the country or founding one. But once you step inside, you only become a handmaiden to some power-hungry man."
His voice lowered.
"A warrior must not do that."
Something shifted in Okjeong's eyes.
But she did not retreat.
"Please help us."
Youngwoo looked at her.
Okjeong clasped both hands together over her knees.
The same hands that had held a bow.
The same hand that had just shown him the ring.
Now they could no longer conceal her desperation.
"If you help us... if someone like you helps us, Commander Yi, then perhaps it will not collapse."
Youngwoo could not answer immediately.
Her words touched him in exactly the way he disliked most.
If something was certain to fail, one should stay away from it.
And yet turning away from people who were marching toward ruin was not an easy thing either.
They were not trying to stop the man doing the foolish thing.
Instead, they were asking an innocent bystander to help.
If all it took was persuading Go Youngchang, then why refuse to do that and make everyone else suffer through the problem?
Perhaps the answer was simple.
Perhaps they, too, supported Go Youngchang's claim to the throne.