Emeralds and Enemies

Chapter Seventy

            The senior members of the protocol office were doing a similar calculus. They, however, had reasons to suspect the attack on Knight-Master Lie and the situation General Tan was facing were linked. Their working hypothesis was the poisoned wedding banquet was designed to stop the troop of irregulars being dispatched by simultaneously cutting off the initiative's strategic leadership and source of funding. Only Madam Go's penchant for visiting around the whole room meant she and her family members missed using the tainted tableware. Even so, the impact on the Choi family's status favored those who wanted the Misao empire to overtake the Qin influence at court.

The so-called "Council of Five," acting through agents in the Capital, were the most likely suspects. This group of disaffected Lords and Regional Governors opposed the growing allegiance between those considered to be in the Dowager's camp and the King's party. Their aim was to drive a wedge between the different generations at court and cut off the support for the Crown Prince.

It was not clear how far they were willing to go but there were strong hints about elevating Lord Sun-Gyu into the direct line of succession. Not being a Lie by birth was the official reason for his disqualification, his marital ties to one of the invaders was equally persuasive for the protocol office. The senior officers were aware of the number of meetings he had with individual members of the Council of Five he failed to record.

The protocol office considered themselves neutral loyalists, serving the interests of the crown, no matter who was wearing it. They were also pragmatists, keeping back as much as they might share with interested parties. The attacks on members on the Go family was an unwarranted escalation in the usual tensions around court and were even more confusing for having divergent origins. The only common thread the office had been able to trace was the presence of members of the new training group. To get a clearer picture they brought one of their casual informants, Captain Shiro in for a discussion fully expecting him to report their inquiries to Knight-Master Lie.

Wen Hou had been trying to put together different pieces but was blinkered by the fact he knew he was not at all interested in being part of the official line of succession. Others noted his closeness with his Grandmother and being the only one of the King's nephews still living in the Corranna. The others had been exiled, or had died, while he had been trusted to lead the King's troops. He thought once his army career ended, he would no longer be considered a threat to his more ambitious relatives. Captain Shiro was here to inform him that he was wrong.

"Have you ever heard of the Council of Five?" The Captain asked quietly as they shared some late afternoon tea.

"Only that they were the main targets of the Broken Wheel rebellions in the past couple of years. The Governor in G'Sang province is supposedly one of them." Wen Hou shrugged.

"They each control training yards for local guard units or for their private armies."

"That is true of most provincial governors or major Lords. After all, even Minister Go has a pretty substantial force of private guards." Wen Hou could not really see where this might be going.

"Some of them don't like competition for talent, even from as small and informal a training group we have here."

"I guess they thought anyone from the provinces should not have a chance to advance to anywhere else. It's a lot like all the academies here in Lueso assuming anyone from the provinces would not make it past the first rounds in the qualifiers." Wen Hou was still stinging from some of the interactions he had while registering the team members.

Captain Shiro could see this line was not going to get where he wanted so he talked about his interview at the protocol office before asking Wen Hou what he thought of Lord Sun-Gyu.

"Is he part of the Council of Five?" Wen Hou asked.

"Not exactly, it looks more like a loose alliance."

"Sun-Gyu's mother was always very ambitious for him and did press to have him officially adopted. In the end the King did not trust her and sent her to a monastery. There was a rumor she had passed away but I don't know if it is true. Sun-Gyu's wife is Takimoto's niece and seems almost as ambitious has his mother." Wen Hou did not share how Sun-Gyu had always struck him as mean.

"It seems like he and the counsel may have contributed to General Tan's difficulties in the west and may have taken measures to stop the irregulars going out to clear the supply lines. I don't want to say this but they may also think your training group initiative is the first step in preparing to try for the throne. Any contender needs completely loyal troops and molding young leaders would be a building block for your own army."

"How ridiculous! They obviously don't know me at all. Where do they think I would get the money for such an endeavor? Oh wait. Let me guess. The Qin will make me a puppet king for a vassal state. Aren't they forgetting the Qin already have the next queen in place?" Wen Hou fumed some more then he stopped himself. He went and got a gameboard and some tiles. He shuffled the tiles over and over while he thought through different scenarios.

Then he set a position up on the board and indicated Captain Shiro should make a move. It was easy to tell what the different pieces represented so the Captain played the moves which would allow him to take out key opponents. Wen Hou turned things around but not without first sacrificing a lot more pieces.

"Unacceptable," he said then stood. He reset the board and had the Captain play from the other side. This time they reached a stalemate having critical losses on both sides.

"Our only chance is if they don't want to tip their hand too soon and we can bring over some new allies. We need to get the boys back safely. Then we will just have to find new placements."

"You are going to give up, just like that? How is that going to bring back any honor to our warriors?" Captain Shiro stared at the man he had come to admire over the past few months.

"I am not going to put the boys in danger. Nobody else should have to die protecting me from my crazy family." Wen Hou's voice cracked as he swept the tiles off the board. He pulled himself back together and said, "Now, if you will excuse me, I am going to see if my cousin can lend us some troops.