The high council of Goryeo was an assembly of representatives from each of the so-called high noble clans. Historically, the high nobles each claimed ancestry to a particular great spirit, though most didn’t model themselves after their ancestors to quite the degree that the Seong did. For the Seong clan, this was of course the Kumiho, the nine-tailed fox spirit. Of the remaining three clans, the Kim family was descended from the white tiger Baekho, the Seok family from the black tortoise Hyeonmu, and lastly the Yi family from either the vermillion bird Jujak, or the three-legged golden crow Samjok-o—depending on who you asked.
The Yi clan themselves always attested that their ancestor, the golden crow, stood above all others, and that they should be the rightful rulers of Goryeo, while the other nobles insisted that the vermillion bird was no greater or lesser than any other great spirit, and that there was no proof of a spirit like the golden crow ever existing.
Yue had no idea which was correct, and didn’t particularly care. The Yi clan was highly influential, and had traditionally been the only clan to regularly challenge the Seong’s hegemony. By contrast, the Kim clan were close allies of the Seong, while the Seok generally took a more neutral position—often in favor of the status quo.
She was glad that she’d have Eunae to help her navigate the political climate of Goryeo, though it still chafed that she’d become one of Yoshika’s aspects. First Hayakawa Kaede, then Seong Eunae—it was as though she was snubbing Yue on purpose!
Not that Yue wanted to become part of Yoshika—even the idea of joint cultivation made her uncomfortable—but it was hard not to be jealous. She was Yoshika’s best friend and closest advisor, but that was a level of intimacy that she’d never achieve. A treacherous little voice in the back of her mind reminded Yue of the unusual loophole she’d discovered in Qin’s rules of succession, but she shut it down. That was a political matter, not a personal one, and she didn’t have time to entertain such fantasies.
It was traditional for high council meetings to be hosted by whichever clan called them, and so a grand feast was prepared in the main hall of the palace. Yue had to wonder whether that was Jia’s influence shining through, although she had to admit that food and drink was an excellent way to make political events less boring.
Eunae sat at the head of the table, flanked on either side by Yue and Eui. Seong Min was out waiting to guide the other representatives into the hall, but she’d be sitting opposite Eunae to serve her role as prime minister.
In theory, the purpose of the prime minister of Goryeo was to act as a representative of the people and a neutral liaison between the council and the ruling clan. In practice, it was usually just another way for the clans to wrestle for more control over the country. Do Hye had been part of an anti-royal faction and backed primarily by the Yi clan, and his departure had enabled the previous queen to install her own daughter, Princess Seong Min, in his place by taking advantage of some of the more reactionary elements within the council.
Before long, the nobles began streaming in and taking their places at the table. There were only four houses, but each of them except for the sitting rulers had several seats to fill based on the number of cities under their control. Yue didn’t know most of them, but the only ones she needed to worry about were the clan heads.
Kim Wonshik, she already knew. He’d visited Jiaguo a number of times as an enthusiastic participant in the academy’s research exchange initiative. He was joined by his son, Kim Yongsun, the tiger-headed boy who was apparently Eunae’s paternal cousin, and one of their former classmates.
Leading the Seok clan was a man Yue had barely even heard of—Seok Hoon. He was a fairly unremarkable looking man in his late fifties, with closely-cropped black hair and dark scales around his neck and face. Among his subordinates was an unexpected familiar face. Sun Jaehwa trembled like a leaf as she took her place, eyes wide as saucers and locked directly on Eui—who pretended not to notice.
Finally, the Yi clan was led by Yi Gong, flanked by a much larger entourage than the other clans. Yi Gong had sharp yellow eyes and a brilliant plume of red feathers in place of regular hair. Yue didn’t know his subordinates, but she expected at least one of them to represent the Yeong clan. Most likely the one who couldn’t decide where to settle his sneering gaze between Eui and Sun Jaehwa.
Just what Yue needed to complicate an already difficult political situation—personal history.
Once everyone was seated, Seong Min stood and bowed.
“Thank you all for attending on such short notice. I would have liked to give you all more time, but the situation demanded greater urgency.”
Yue held back a snort. ‘The situation’ was that Yue had insisted on it. Goryeon politics were infamously slow, and if there was one thing she’d learned after half a decade of dealing with them it was that anything that happened at the leisure of Goryeon high nobility never happened at all.
Yi Gong eyed Eunae critically before turning his attention back to Seong Min.
“Am I to assume this has something to do with the new queen? Should I offer congratulations or condolences?”
“Both. Regrettably, the previous queen passed away due to unforeseen complications with Her Majesty Eunae’s ascension. However, as you can see, her successor is more than a match for the title.”
“By your standards perhaps. It remains to be seen whether this council will agree. But first, what are the foreigners doing here?”
Yue met Yi Gong’s glare without flinching, allowing herself a little smirk at his expense. He had no idea what was coming.
Eunae rose to her feet and gave the high noble a commanding glare of her own.
“They are foreigners no longer. Our nations are one under the same banner, united as equal members of the Jiaguo empire.”
Seok Hoon stood and slammed his hands on the table.
“That’s preposterous! You cannot just surrender our entire nation to the whims of some trumped-up city-state!”
Yi Gong nodded in agreement, and even Kim Wonshik seemed put off by the announcement, but Yoshika didn’t back down.
“I did no such thing. I am Seong Eunae, the rightful queen of Goryeo, and I am Yoshika, the Empress of Jiaguo. As both are part of my demesne, we are, naturally, a single nation.”
It took a moment for her words to sink in, and then Yi Gong began to laugh.
“I see what this is now. Did you think we’d be like those southern barbarians? That we’d bow to you just because you took control of a princess and then murdered the queen? Goryeo is ruled by a council, ‘empress’, and if this council determines that you are no longer fit to represent us, then your little coup ends, here and now.”
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Eui threw her head back and laughed in that sinister cackling way of hers.
“Oh, that’s rich coming from you! You want to talk about coups, do you? It’s a little sooner than we planned, but Yue, do you want to handle it from here?”
Yue rose to her feet and smiled.
“It would be my pleasure, Your Majesty. Lord Yi Gong, are you familiar with the names Lee Seung, Do Hye, and Hyeong Aecha?”
He scowled at her, the red plumage on his head puffing out angrily.
“Don’t play games with me, woman! Of course I know the Snake—his betrayal caused unspeakable damage to my clan. As for the others, they mean nothing to me.”
“Is that so? Lee Seung—or rather, simply Seung if my empress will forgive me for sullying one of her names—was a man in charge of a rather large human trafficking organization. It just so happens that my apprentice was once a member of the unit in charge of investigating organized crime here in Goryeo, and she had the pleasure of interrogating Seung before his subsequent trial and execution.”
Yue paused to inspect her nails for a moment, but Yi Gong didn’t take the bait to dig himself any deeper. A shame.
“My apprentice’s interrogations are very thorough, and very effective. Once within her clutches, it’s quite impossible to keep a secret. Unfortunately, that unit was disbanded before further progress could be made, and the investigation ended there.”
Yi Gong stared impassively.
“Is this some kind of a joke to you? Why are you wasting our time?”
That was more like it.
“Well, you see, while the investigation ended in Goryeo, Empress Yoshika has a history with this Seung character due to his crossings with Lee Jia—herself one of Yoshika’s aspects—and her sisters. So the investigation continued on our side of things.”
Yi Gong was unmoved, but Yue could see the Yeong patriarch sweating. She had to hold back her laughter—she was barely getting started.
“At the same time, investigations into the traitor Do Hye, led by his very own apprentice, Hyeong Daesung, led to the discovery of his biological twin—one Hyeong Aecha—who was a victim of a very different sort of human trafficking. Seung, it seems, had higher ambitions than gambling houses and brothels.
“Hyeong Daesung and his sister Aecha were illegally kept as slaves, as part of an operation that specifically targeted orphans with high spiritual affinity to be sold to a particularly demanding sort of clientele. Obviously we know what became of the brother, and the sister was rescued before she could be sold, but where do you think she was destined to end up without that intervention?”
The noble lord scoffed.
“How should I know? I’d never allow such debased activity in my lands. That it was happening at all only demonstrates how far the crown has fallen, even before your laughable attempt to seize power. Why are we still entertaining this farce?”
Eui chuckled and shook her head.
“Trying to run away already? Afraid of where we might be going with this?”
“Not at all. I just don’t see why we are wasting our time on it when we could be discussing whether or not it’s appropriate to turn our nation over to criminals like yourself.”
“Heh. I’ll hold you to that. Alright, why don’t we ask Aecha herself?”
Yue blinked. That hadn’t been part of the plan. Eui stood up and closed her eyes to focus. Moments later, perfect images of Hayakawa Kaede and Hyeong Aecha appeared behind her. Kaede gave the maid an encouraging gesture, and Aecha stepped forward and bowed.
“Greetings, lord and lady councilors. My mistress has called on me to testify on the matter of my upbringing. It’s a painful subject for me, so I humbly request that you keep your questions brief.”
The Yeong patriarch suddenly rose to his feet and pointed an accusatory finger at her.
“You expect us to trust such obvious illusions?! Is there no depth you’ll sink to?”
Yi Gong turned on him and grimaced.
“Control yourself, Lord Yeong.”
He turned back and smiled thinly.
“How can we be certain that the image you are presenting is true?”
Lord Kim stood.
“I can attest to Jiaguo’s capabilities when it comes to long distance communication. Empress Yoshika, in particular, can coordinate between her various identities at great distances.”
Seong Min nodded in agreement.
“I concur. I’ve seen such a demonstration before, and I recognize its legitimacy.”
Yi Gong looked askance at Lord Seok, who hesitated for a moment before rising to speak.
“I’d like to see what she has to say.”
Lord Yi clenched his jaw, but relented.
“It seems I am outvoted, and unlike our self-proclaimed empress, I respect the rule of this council. Miss Hyeong, you may proceed. Do you know to whom you were meant to be sold before you were freed from captivity?”
Aecha bowed.
“Not precisely, my lord. I was told very little about my future master. However, once when he was drunk, the man in charge of my group complained that the client I was intended for had been particularly troublesome, and warned that if I was anything less than perfect I would end up exiled like the last woman to cross the client’s family.”
Eui was staring daggers at the Yeong patriarch, who was desperately trying—and failing—to look unperturbed. Yue put a hand on her hip and smirked at the panicking nobleman.
“How curious. Was there anything else of note that might identify either your client, or the targets of his ire?”
Aecha frowned.
“Only that the boss was irritated about wasting manpower to harass some no-name merchants, ‘as though exiling their daughter wasn’t enough.’”
“How fascinating. I don’t suppose there’s anybody here who might have something to add?”
Sun Jaehwa practically jumped to her feet, pointing across the table at the Yeong family.
“I had nothing to do with it, I swear! He forced me to testify against Eui, then cut off all contact with us! I never thought they’d go after your family, Eui—I mean, Your Majesty. You have to believe me!”
Yeong slammed the table with his fist.
“You treacherous harlot! How dare you?! You’re lucky you kept your head after the disgrace you brought to my clan with your depravity! You have no right to make such vile accusations!”
Seok rose in defense of his vassal, and the meeting rapidly descended into a cacophony of unintelligible shouting. Yue braced herself, but she was spared the pressure of Yoshika’s domain as it descended over the meeting and forced the bickering nobles back into their seats.
They went silent as Eunae’s faintly glowing blue gaze swept across them.
“Enough! Yi Gong, do you have anything to say for your vassal?”
The high noble narrowed his eyes, giving her a long, calculating look.
“I was unaware of the Yeong clan’s debasement. I disavow their crimes, and swear to commit myself and my clan to uncovering and dismantling their underground organizations, should Your Majesty allow it.”
The Yeong patriarch whirled around to stare up at the high lord with a look of shock and betrayal.
“My lord?!”
“I am your lord no longer, Yeong. You shame yourself, and you have shamed me.”
Eunae pointed at Yeong.
“Yeong Il, I hereby strip you of your land and titles, and remove you from this council. If anybody objects, speak now.”
The room was silent, except for Yeong Il’s impotent protests. Yi Gong cast a talisman to paralyze him and bowed to Eunae.
“Your Majesty, I will handle Yeong Il’s punishment myself. Perhaps exile would be appropriate, if it pleases you.”
Eui grimaced.
“No! No more exiles. We’re abolishing that practice. It doesn’t make sense anyway—where are they even going to go?”
The high lord's eyes flickered to her momentarily before he deepened his bow.
“As you wish it. Your reputation for mercy is well-earned, Empress. I will find a suitable alternative, then.”
Yue smiled to herself. He’d certainly changed his tune quickly, but that was probably because she hadn’t finished drawing the connections that implicated him as the mastermind behind the failed coup led by the elementals.
His corruption would need to be dealt with properly eventually, but not even Yoshika could dismantle such a deeply ingrained establishment in a day.