Chapter 365. The Council Hall of the Regent's Office
Regent's Office (留守衙): the government office where the Regent handled civil and military affairs.
In the Liao dynasty's Eastern Capital, Liaoyang Prefecture, the Regent's Office oversaw regional administration, defense, and practical affairs of government.
Youngwoo entered the council hall of the Regent's Office.
The lower-ranking soldiers, who had no way of knowing what had happened behind the scenes, greeted him warmly.
In the corridors, across the courtyard, and before the main hall, they straightened their posture and gave him precise, respectful military salutes.
"Loyalty!"
"Loyalty!"
"Loyalty!"
"Loyalty!"
The repeated calls echoed through the compound, and the people already seated in the council hall shifted uneasily.
Everyone had seen Youngwoo's martial prowess during the battle to retake Liaoyang.
They remembered the charging general who had advanced alone while cutting down dozens—hundreds—before him.
He had opened the south gate, carved a path through the city, and broken the defenders' momentum.
But once the city had been taken, his very presence became burdensome.
The discomfort showed plainly on quite a few faces.
They acknowledged the role he had played in winning the battle, but they had no desire to see that achievement turn into deep influence over Liaoyang's politics.
Liaoyang had been reclaimed by the Balhae people.
From this point on, they believed, Balhae people should decide its future.
That thought was visible in their eyes.
The soldiers were different.
They remembered the battlefield before they thought of politics.
Youngwoo had opened the way.
They had followed behind him and survived.
Several officers sprang to their feet and saluted.
"Loyalty! Did you rest well, Commander?"
"Nothing happened, I hope?"
Hearing them, Youngwoo genuinely reconsidered something.
Just because someone had tried to assassinate him did not mean he could condemn everyone here as part of the same group.
Most of these men probably did not even know such a thing had happened.
A seat was offered near the front.
When Youngwoo went over and sat down, Go Youngchang's expression twisted.
His face almost seemed to say, Why has he come all the way here?
He tried to hide the feeling, but his eyes and mouth betrayed him first.
Youngwoo said nothing.
Instead, he began leafing through the documents laid out before him.
They had certainly not been placed there for him.
Some had been pushed aside by the person sitting next to him.
Others had been spread across the table for the meeting participants to pass around.
Youngwoo did not care.
He reached out, lifted one sheet, then raised the corner of another ledger and turned it over.
Some documents still had damp ink.
There were hastily written lists of military provisions.
There were notes recording prisoner numbers and troop assignments by gate.
Youngwoo skimmed them in no particular order.
Seen one way, it was remarkably rude.
He had not asked permission from the man presiding over the meeting.
He had not spoken to the clerks responsible for the documents.
Nor did he even look particularly serious about what he was reading.
If anything, he wore the expression of a man being forced to look at something tiresome.
His movements were openly provocative.
He would glance at one document, put it down, immediately reach for another, then stop halfway through a ledger and tap his fingers on the table.
Every time the edge of a sheet rustled, eyes around the council hall turned toward him.
His restless movements were distracting enough to unsettle everyone watching.
The corners of Go Youngchang's eyes tightened further.
He clearly wanted to speak, but forced himself not to.
Go Hoewon sat with his fingertips pressed together, looking uncomfortable.
Several officers exchanged glances, unsure why Youngwoo was behaving this way.
One clerk's face changed every time his ledger ended up in Youngwoo's hands.
Youngwoo pretended not to notice any of it.
He was pretending deliberately.
He knew perfectly well what expressions the people in this room wore when they looked at him.
So he decided to make them a little more uncomfortable.
Only after a long while did Youngwoo put one document down.
"Is this the current provision inventory for Liaoyang?"
The question itself was calm.
But after all his distracting movements, everyone in the room was already tense.
The clerk answered at once.
"Yes, it is."
Youngwoo nodded.
"Then please continue the meeting. I will listen as well."
The words were polite.
Somehow, that made them sound even more impudent.
The balance of the room had already shifted slightly.
Without saying anything at all, simply by rifling through documents, Youngwoo had dragged the weaknesses everyone wanted to keep hidden onto the tabletop.
Something like that had happened last night—no, until early this morning—and yet he was now sitting calmly in the council hall.
Of course, he had not caused it.
If anything, the people who might have ordered it were the ones who could not sit still.
Everyone was watching him.
The meeting that had stopped when he entered did not resume.
Documents lay open.
Ledgers rested on the table.
Yet the participants' eyes stayed on Youngwoo's hands and face longer than they stayed on the papers.
Youngwoo quietly raised one hand.
Go Youngchang spoke reluctantly.
"Go ahead."
Youngwoo straightened slightly in his seat.
"Last night, and again before dawn this morning, assassins entered my quarters."
The air in the council hall turned heavy.
Youngwoo continued in the same even tone.
"First, they dripped poison down from above the ceiling. Then men waited outside the door with blades. There were short-bow archers in the courtyard. After them came swordsmen, spearmen, and finally longbowmen. I believe roughly a hundred men died."
He stopped there for a moment.
This, too, was something he had learned from meetings.
First, gather everyone's attention in one place.
Then say what truly matters.
Everyone in the council hall lowered even the sound of their breathing.
One man bit his lip.
Another lowered his head.
Someone tried to avoid Youngwoo's gaze and only succeeded in looking more awkward.