532.No explanation. No reply.
The moment Park Seong-jin confirmed the movement of private retainers, he drew his momentum thin as wind and let it flow inward through the palace.
The signal passed through Song I-sul and reached Yoon Dam.
Yoon Dam had been reviewing operational reports for the Office for Rectifying Lands and People.
Ledgers and dossiers lay scattered across the desk.
More than a hundred staff filled the hall.
Though it was night, the air was stifling—
the smells of ink, candle wax, and sweat tangling to dry the throat.
At that instant, Yoon Dam's shoulder gave the faintest tremor.
Park-gong's signal.
He read the entire situation from that single surge.
No explanation. No reply.
To ask was already too late.
An official beside him,整理ing records, startled and asked, "What is it?"
Yoon Dam did not answer.
He checked the weight of the long blade at his side with his fingertips—
cold, exact—measuring that weight.
Then he left only one sentence behind.
"Continue."
Stepping out, Yoon Dam stopped the nearest eunuch.
"Summon the commander of the Gyeonryong Guard at once."
"Yes, my lord!"
As the eunuch ran off, another came barreling in from the opposite direction.
"My lord, there are rumors of private retainers moving below, near the market—"
Yoon Dam cut him off without even looking.
"I already know."
"Listen only to me."
"From now on, send the gate troops to the South Gate."
The eunuch nodded before he could catch his breath.
"Yes—immediately!"
As Yoon Dam moved swiftly down the corridor, guards who had been straining their ears everywhere shifted their stances.
No questions.
The palace collapses the moment it begins to ask questions.
The palace moves only on whether an order has fallen.
"Check weapons."
"Douse the firepits—positions will be revealed."
"Narrow the boundary lines between halls."
No drums had sounded, yet the entire palace began to move like a massive beast waking at once.
Gatekeepers hauled iron chains.
Guards on the ramparts unwrapped their bows.
Eunuchs ran, colliding with one another.
The palace had always been such a place.
When the king draws a deep breath, the palace moves first.
On the road toward the Forbidden Garden behind Wondeokjeon, Song I-sul appeared ahead of him.
Under the red lamplight, his face was hard as iron armor.
"Is it certainly a rebellion?"
"It's a feeling," Yoon Dam said—
and pressed the words down once more.
"It's certain."
A feeling that is certain should not exist.
It existed because the signal came from Park Seong-jin.
Both Yoon Dam and Song I-sul knew that.
"How many lines of retainers?"
"Three or four."
"More may join."
Song I-sul drew in a breath.
"A classic prelude."
Yoon Dam nodded, silent.
Lanterns throughout the palace wavered in the wind.
The entire complex seemed to throb.
Soldiers did not look at one another—
they listened only to commands and responded only to commands.
Eunuchs and female guards spoke less; their steps grew lighter.
The air inside the palace changed.
This was not the normal flow.
It was the stillness at the instant when sword tips converge on a single point.
When they reached the Forbidden Garden, Park Seong-jin emerged from the darkness.
He was already in position.
Standing was more accurate than waiting.
"They've moved."
"I saw."
Yoon Dam's voice was short and sharp.
"I will report to His Majesty now."
He paused a beat and looked at Seong-jin.
"And, Park-gong."
Seong-jin answered with his eyes alone.
Yoon Dam said,
"When the first clash comes, you lead."
"From this point on, there is no restraint and no compromise."
The palace had already begun to roll into that night—
in a direction from which there would be no turning back.
When Yoon Dam confirmed the change in the palace's breathing, he headed straight for the audience hall.
Eunuchs ran ahead to clear the way; Yoon Dam followed at a fast walk.
At the doors, the expressions of the royal guards hardened in unison.
They too had sensed the shift.
"Lord Yoon, His Majesty is already waiting."
The doors opened.
The king was seated upon the throne.
It was the same place where he had been processing resignation letters moments before.
His expression was more impassive than during the day—
not a face without emotion, but a face that had sheathed it.
Yoon Dam knelt and reported.
"Your Majesty."
"We have confirmed organized movement of private retainers north of the palace."
The king's brow twitched, just slightly.
"Private retainers?"
"Yes."
"They began as dozens and continue to join. At present, we estimate several hundred."
The king slowly straightened his back.
His fingertips trembled faintly—
not with anxiety, but with the tremor of one who has finished calculating.
"Who is moving?"
"We have not yet identified them."
"However, with the land investigation and the resignation order overlapping, it appears some have judged this a line that must not be crossed."
The king's voice sank low and deep.
"So they crossed it."
He rose from the throne and walked slowly to the center of the hall.
There were no footsteps, yet the temperature of the room seemed to drop with his movement.
"I anticipated resistance from the moment we demanded resignations."
"But resignations were not a threat."
"They were the beginning of returning appointment power to its proper place."
No one asked, yet the king continued toward Yoon Dam.
It sounded like an explanation, but it was a confirmation he delivered to himself.
Stopping before an open window, the king said,
"If they took that as coercion…"
"Then it means they had already committed crimes."
Yoon Dam bowed his head.
"Your Majesty's judgment is correct."
The king's voice sharpened.
"If they bring private retainers and approach the palace, that alone is treason."
"They must be put down."
He raised a hand and summoned the captain of the royal guards.
"Split the Gyeonryong Guard in two and deploy them immediately to the North Gate and Sinbong Gate."
"Have the palace guard units and the Inner Guard seal all inter-hall corridors."
The captain bowed and sprinted out.
For a while, the king said nothing more.
Then he looked at Yoon Dam.
"Lord Yoon."
"What we have begun is not the correction of one or two houses."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"The Office for Rectifying Lands and People opens the very organs of the entire powerful elite."
The king's gaze sank deep into the darkness beyond the window.
"Those who monopolized the land—if some among them have drawn swords, then now it is my turn to answer."
Yoon Dam understood the weight of those words precisely.
The king commanded,
"Issue the order at once. Whoever moves private retainers and attempts to approach the palace shall be deemed traitors the moment they do so. Execute them for treason."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The king pressed the words down one beat further.
"And place them first on the investigation list of the Office for Rectifying Lands and People. Depending on the case, confiscate all their assets."
Yoon Dam swallowed.
"Your Majesty, this is a declaration of war against every great house."
The king's voice was unyielding.
"They drew the blade first."
Outside the hall, the overlapping footsteps of soldiers heading toward the North Gate resounded—
a low, heavy vibration like distant war drums.
The first clash between the king and the powerful clans had begun.
Quietly—
yet in a current that could not be reversed.