325.
The Council at Yingtian Prefecture
At dawn, the palace gates of Yingtian—Nanjing—were soaked in pale morning light.
The messenger who burst through the doors wore armor caked with mud and blood.
He dropped to his knees in haste and shouted,
"General Seodal, who was attacking the Jiju front, has been killed in action!"
In that instant, the air in the chamber froze.
After Shang Youchun—now Seodal as well.
Zhu Yuanzhang stood stiff, brush still in hand.
A drop of ink fell from the tip and splattered onto the unfolded map, leaving a black mark over Taiping.
"…Seodal is dead?"
His voice was low, but everyone in the room heard it clearly.
One of the generals he trusted most was gone.
"Are you certain?"
"Yes. The general and nearly all his troops were annihilated in an enemy trap."
Zhu Yuanzhang raised his hand.
It was trembling.
"Everyone out."
The generals and civil officials all dropped to their knees.
"Your Majesty, this council must—"
"I said, get out!"
His voice exploded through the chamber.
Anger and fear he had long suppressed burst forth at once.
This is the fate of those who serve a man with a foul temper.
Do well, and he rages. Do poorly, and he rages all the same.
He pours blame onto his subordinates for everything.
Set him out on the street and he would be a pitiful man, yet within the frame of an organization he sits high and comes to believe himself exceptional.
A short while later, the advisers and generals were summoned back in and took their seats.
Zhu Yuanzhang did not speak for some time.
Staring at the map before him, he traced Jiju Fortress, Taiping, and Yingtian in turn with his finger.
"Seodal was the most cautious of my generals."
"He was not one to rush blindly into battle."
"If even a man like that has fallen…"
He paused and drew in a breath.
"This is not a simple battle."
"It is a single throw of the dice, a fight with everything at stake."
"If we fail to crush Chen Youliang's forces now, we will not get another chance."
The adviser Liu Bowen stepped forward.
"Your Majesty, no matter the enemy's momentum, that fortress is isolated."
"Even if Seodal failed, it would be proper to dispatch the next army."
Zhu Yuanzhang glared at him.
"The next army?"
"Men are dead."
"And you dare call that the 'next army'?"
Liu Bowen bowed his head.
Silence fell over the chamber once more.
To others, it might be nothing more than a move on a game board,
but to Zhu Yuanzhang, they were comrades and brothers-in-arms—
friends who had pledged to stake their lives together.
The depth of that grief is not something outsiders can easily grasp.
Words like "regrettable" never reach it.
Zhu Yuanzhang covered his face with his hands.
After a moment, he let out a low laugh.
"I speak of founding a nation…"
"Yet I still cannot endure the death of even one man."
He rose from his seat.
"Park Seong-jin."
"They call him the monster of Goryeo, do they not?"
Then he pressed his words down, hard.
"Use any means necessary and kill him."
"Whoever brings me his head will be rewarded with one million nyang."
He walked to the window and looked toward the western sky.
Through the mist, the morning sun was beginning to shine.
"Shang Youchun fell to him."
"Seodal has fallen as well."
"Raise the army again from where they collapsed."
After steadying his breath, Zhu Yuanzhang added,
"This is no longer a simple battle."
"This is a hunt—for a man called Park Seong-jin."
When he turned his back, the generals all bowed their heads at once.
Zhu Yuanzhang murmured one last time,
"Seodal's death has awakened me."
"I have been far too complacent."
After everyone withdrew, Zhu Yuanzhang remained alone in the chamber.
On the map where the lamplight flickered, he drew a red line connecting Taiping and Jiju Fortress.
It looked like a blood vessel—an open wound of war.
He stared at the line for a long while, then spoke very softly.
"Park Seong-jin."
"My fate—I will claim it with my own hands, someday."
As his words ended, a bell rang outside.
Another day was beginning in Yingtian.