Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 661 Incheon Landing
Prince Inseong, Yi Gong's residence was located in a place called Seocheon-dong, between the former sites of Gyeongdeokgung Palace and Gyeongbokgung Palace.

As one of the few powerful members of the royal family under King Yi Hun, Prince Inseong, Yi Gong, always had a constant stream of carriages and visitors at his residence. But today, only soldiers summoned by the Uijeongbu (State Council) through a special administrative order could be seen under the eaves of his vermilion gate.

At the end of the afternoon, the gates of Prince Inseong's residence opened once again. This time, it was Prince Inseong himself who stepped out, wearing a winged crown, a red round-necked robe, and a rhinoceros horn belt. But even he was immediately stopped by the soldiers.

"Sir, please return." The leading soldier bowed to Li Gong. "We have orders from above; please, do not make things difficult for us."

"Get out of the way!" Li Gong roared and shoved aside the bowing soldier. Immediately afterwards, his servants, each wielding a jujube wood stick, poured out like a stream.

"Your Excellency! What are you doing!" The soldier who was kicked away rolled over and then retreated repeatedly under the pressure of Li Gong's servants.

"Get out of here! Where did you get the audacity to surround my house!" Li Gong shoved him again.

"Sir, don't force us!" The leading soldier instinctively placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Draw your sword!" Li Gong straightened the white eagle embroidered on his chest and pressed it firmly against the wall. "Draw your sword if you dare!"

The soldiers dared not draw their swords at Lord Rencheng, but they also dared not step aside. So they stood there, ready to be beaten.

Just as the two sides were at a stalemate, the military officer in charge and his deputy, who were sitting in the teahouse opposite Li Gong's residence, jogged over and said to Prince Rencheng with a big smile, "Your Excellency, is there anything you need? I will have someone procure it for you right away."

"Get your ass off! Get lost!" Li Gong raised his hand and slapped the military officer across the face. "I want you and your men to get out of here!"

Li Gong's sudden slap stunned the military officer in charge. His smile froze on his face, and a red handprint covering most of his face slowly appeared.

"Hehe." The military officer chuckled awkwardly, remaining standing in place. "Please forgive me, sir, for being unable to comply."

"Then bring the imperial edict!" Li Gong's face was practically burning red.

"Your Excellency. I have no imperial decree, but I am indeed carrying out orders. Please do not make things difficult for me." His face was really stinging, and the military officer couldn't help but rub it.

"I am the King's brother, a member of the Imperial Clan Court. Without an imperial decree, what right do you bastards have to surround my home! Are you trying to rebel?" Li Gong raised his foot to deliver another fierce kick, but this time, the military officer was prepared and easily dodged it with a nimble movement.

"You flatter me, sir." The military officer suddenly tasted a metallic sweetness, and when he flicked his tongue to the left, he indeed found a sore spot. "I am acting on orders from the government; how could this be considered rebellion?"

"Then call Park Seung-jong to come see me!" Lee Gong roared. "That old bastard has sent you bunch of good-for-nothings to surround me all day. You have to give me an explanation!"

His house had been surrounded since yesterday morning. But after a whole day, the people surrounding the house couldn't produce any imperial edict, or even explain why they were surrounding his house. Li Gong figured he hadn't broken any laws, but he was afraid of being falsely accused, so he was determined to make a scene today. He had already decided that if someone was indeed falsely accusing him, he would do what he always did: after making a big scene, he would weep bitterly before the king.

"Please calm down, young and old. I have already sent someone to invite Prime Minister Park." The military officer swallowed the metallic taste in his mouth, and his gaze towards Li Gong turned colder.

"You son of a bitch said that yesterday!" Li Gong stretched out his hands and pushed forward, but was grabbed by the military officer.

"Your Excellency, you should stay at home. Things are not peaceful outside, and this is for your own good." The military officer really wanted to push Li Gong to the ground, but as Li Gong himself said, he was the king's younger brother and a member of the imperial clan. Without an imperial decree, he really couldn't do anything to him.

"What do you mean there's trouble outside? What exactly happened!" Even now, this poor Prince Rencheng still doesn't know about the Heavenly Court's accusations and the imperial envoy's proclamation.

"You'll find out in the next couple of days." The military officer sighed and impatiently ordered his soldiers, "Remove their wooden sticks. Anyone who resists should be arrested and taken to the Uijinfu for punishment!"

"Yes!" the soldiers responded in unison and sprang into action.

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Although the threat of "arresting him and taking him to the Yijinfu for trial" was just a baseless rumor, it still successfully intimidated Li Gong, or rather, his lackeys.

Li Gong believed himself innocent and had no fear of the Righteous Guard, but the lackeys didn't protect him from the saying "the law does not apply to high-ranking officials." If he were to enter a place where they would beat him without asking any questions, he would be lucky to escape with his skin peeled off.

"Commander Song, why don't we just put a lock on this door?" the second-in-command said, pointing to the door that had just been closed. "That way, they won't be able to do anything else."

“Lord Rencheng may disrespect us, but we can’t disrespect him. Bah!” The fifth-rank guard surnamed Song smacked his lips a few times, then spat a mouthful of bloody saliva on the ground. “He didn’t really rebel. Once this mess is over, he’ll become the King’s uncle. He’ll even be promoted in rank.”

"What if he goes out and causes trouble again?"

"I want you to go to the front and take the lead." Song Weishuai grinned and glared at Zuo Erguan.

"This..." Zuo Erguan looked at Song Weishuai's swollen right cheek and felt a strange sense of sympathy for him.

"Let's go, let's go back and rest." Song Wei raised his head and nodded towards the restaurant they had just left. "In this sweltering summer heat, just moving around like this makes me sweat buckets."

Zuo Erguan turned his head and then lowered his voice, saying, "Do you think the Emperor of the Celestial Empire might change the color of the sky over our Joseon?"

"I don't know. Pah!" Song Wei shrugged, turned around and spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva. "This isn't something people like you and me, who have to smile even after being slapped, should be thinking about."

Song Weilu appeared carefree, but he was actually quite flustered inside. After all, he had taken the slap on behalf of Park Seung-jong. If Park Seung-jong fell because the Crown Prince couldn't get the position, then he would probably have to give up even the right to stand in front and take the slap.

"Indeed." Zuo Erguan had wanted to find an opportunity to criticize the current affairs, but Song Weishuai cut him off abruptly, so he could only sigh and laugh in agreement.

The two walked side by side to the entrance of the restaurant when a sudden commotion arose from the direction of the street corner.

Song Wei looked in the direction of the sound and saw that the soldiers he had deployed there seemed to be discussing something with someone.

"You stay here and keep watch, I'll go take a look," Song Wei said to his assistant.

"it is good."

After spitting out another mouthful of saliva, slightly lighter in color than blood, Song Weishuai started jogging. As he approached the center of the street, the street gradually quieted down. Then, a person suddenly emerged from the crowd. The person turned and ran a few steps, then, upon recognizing Song Weishuai approaching, shouted, "Master Song! It's someone from the Longxiang Guard! They say they're on orders from the Military Commissioner to go check on the Rencheng Lord's residence!"

———————— Inside the Military Affairs Office, Li Erzhan, now dressed in the robes of a first-rank official, sat behind a large desk, propping his head up with his hand. To his left sat Zhang Wan, the reinstated Vice-Prefect of the Military Affairs Office, and Liu Xifen, a "miscellaneous person" who was lingering there.

Orders for searches and imprisonment have been issued, but no one has responded yet.

Li Erzhan knew very well that he didn't have much time left. Just as he had told that "sir," once the imperial envoy arrived in the capital, he would inevitably take control of the entire Hanyang. At that time, imperial troops would be stationed in every government office, and the case would become impossible to investigate.

Even if we find out, what can we do?

That "sir" is still outside the city, and by now he must know about his broken promise. There's no way he'll be back at this time. Even if Li Erzhan finds the mastermind through this thorough search, he can only imprison his family.

What should we do next?

Kill that "Your Excellency's" entire family? Li Erzhan was adept at such things and wouldn't mind adding another layer of human blood to his hands. But at this moment, he was acting in the Crown Prince's name, and doing so could very well bring trouble to the Crown Prince.

Find a way to smear and discredit that "Your Excellency"? This is something Li Erzhan is good at, but in today's Korea, what could be more filthy and foul than betraying the Celestial Empire and colluding with the slaves?

Just as he was lost in thought, a noise came from the direction of the gate. Li Erzhan blinked to focus, looked up, and saw Park Seung-jong's annoying old face.

"Greetings, Speaker Park." Liu Xifen and Zhang Wan stood up, but Li Erzhan's old backside remained on the chair as if glued to it.

"Where did you go yesterday! Where is the training supervisor?" Park Seung-jong returned the greetings to both sides, but his eyes remained fixed on Lee Er-chan in the middle.

“I’ve explained this many times already, and I don’t want to repeat myself.” Li Erzhan was not polite to Park Seung-jong at all, and even rolled his eyes.

"You!" Park Seung-jong was shocked that Lee Er-chan would speak to him like that in public. His eyes widened and his face turned red instantly.

“Li Deyu was kidnapped by thieves and only recently escaped death,” Liu Xifen explained from the side. “He’s in a very bad mood right now, and he’s full of anger with nowhere to vent it. Speaker Park, please bear with him.”

"Tch." Li Erzhan immediately understood that Liu Xifen was trying to sow discord between him and Liu Xifen, but he didn't care anymore.

"Kidnapping? Who did it?" Park Seung-jong's anger subsided.

"Isn't this being investigated right now?" Li Erzhan rolled his eyes again.

"You suspect In-sung-gun?" Park Seung-jong asked, frowning.

“And there’s Uichang-gun, Gyeongchang-gun, Heungan-gun, Gyeongpyeong-gun, Haepyeong-gun, Ayō-gun, and Ayōhara-gun,” Yi Er-chan waved his hand impatiently. “What exactly do you want? Doesn’t the Uijeongbu have anything better to do?”

“Nothing,” Park Seung-jong said. “Yesterday I sent men to surround the residences of Prince Inseong and Prince Uichang. I just heard that the Military Commissioner was going to send men to their residences to investigate, so I came to ask.”

Upon hearing this, the other officials in the hall began to look at each other in bewilderment.

"Wow, yesterday." Li Erzhan's eyes flickered. "Prime Minister Park was actually so vigilant?"

"Don't be so arrogant," Park Seung-jong sneered, mocking, "I wasn't kidnapped."

“Maybe they don’t bother to tie you up,” Li Erzhan retorted casually.

"Hiss!" Park Seung-jong gasped, his once-faded face flushing red again. "You!"

"Hehe." Li Erzhan chuckled rather smugly. This feeling of not having to worry about superficial harmony and being able to freely unleash malice was truly delightful. "If there's nothing else, hurry up and leave. This place can't even accommodate four people."

"Why don't you ask about the situation at the residences of Lord Rencheng and Lord Yichang?" Liu Xifen interjected, trying to smooth things over.

Lee Er-chan was completely unmoved. "There's no need for that. Prince Inseong and Prince Uichang are definitely still at their residences, otherwise our clever Prime Minister Park would have already jumped up in anger. He wouldn't be so leisurely coming to the Ministry of War to ask so many questions." As if deliberately provoking Park Seung-jong, after saying this, Lee Er-chan turned to Jang Man and said, "Judge Jang, withdraw all the personnel sent to Prince Inseong's and Prince Uichang's residences. There are already people watching them."

Zhang Wan didn't look up, but replied in a businesslike tone, "There's no need for that. They'll come back on their own after the mission is complete, and we won't send any new missions then."

“That’s true.” Li Erzhan nodded and said to Park Seung-jong, “Minister Park can go back now. If you have any further questions, you can ask in the palace.”

"Hmph!" Park Seung-jong snorted coldly and turned to leave.

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Park Seung-jong stormed to the entrance of the military headquarters, and the head sedan bearer immediately lifted the curtain for him.

"Master, shall we return to the government office?" The sedan chair bearers lowered their voices as much as possible when they saw their master's sullen face, so as not to upset him.

"What did you say?" Park Seung-jong didn't hear him clearly because a fast horse in the direction the sedan chair was facing caught his attention.

"Sir, are we returning to the government office?" The sedan chair bearer raised his voice slightly and asked again.

"Enter the palace first," Park Seung-jong replied, but did not immediately step over the palanquin pole. He gazed at the swift horse that came rushing in, and quickly identified the person who had arrived—it was Chae Jong-ki, the gatekeeper of Sungnyemun.

"Sir Park?" Cai Zongji rushed to the entrance of the Ministry of War's residence. When he saw Park Seung-jong, a look of surprise flashed across his face.

"What are you doing here?" Park Seung-jong's already furrowed brows deepened. "Is there a problem at the South Gate?"

Cai Zongji dismounted and knelt directly at Park Seung-jong's feet. "This humble general pays his respects."

"I'm asking you if something's wrong at the South Gate!" Park Seung-jong was in a terrible mood and too impatient to even respond to Li Bai.

"Greetings, Minister Park." Cai Zongji was startled, but still habitually finished his greetings before continuing, "Incheon Military Commissioner Lin Chengye reports that the Ming Dynasty fleet has landed. He requests that Incheon Prefecture open its gates to welcome them and demands that the Imperial Court immediately send envoys to negotiate!"

(End of this chapter)