The Imperial Court
Morning over the imperial capital was clear and bright.
Spring air drifted over the palace walls.
Yet inside the Office of Royal Secretariat, the air lay heavy and unmoving.
A courier arrived just after sunrise.
His horse was caked in dust.
He dismounted and pushed past the gatekeeper without ceremony.
"Urgent dispatch from Bokwu Mountain."
The document was unfolded.
The damp seal was torn open.
Great General Jin Mugwang.
Deceased at the summit.
Body in advanced decay.
Temporary burial completed.
The sentences were brief.
Their impact was not.
Silence settled over the hall.
Someone swallowed dryly.
"It does not state suicide," the Left Royal Secretary murmured.
His fingertips pressed against the edge of the parchment.
"It says cause of death unknown."
That single line carried greater danger.
Before the morning audience, the ministers gathered.
Their lips remained sealed, yet their eyes shifted uneasily.
"If he ascended the mountain as a fugitive and died there… might he not have taken his own life?" one minister ventured carefully.
Another shook his head.
"Then why was he not discovered until the body had begun to decay? What was the White Dragon Unit doing?"
His voice trailed off.
Suspicion turned, slowly, in another direction.
"Could it be that he could no longer endure the pressure from the court…"
The sentence did not reach its end.
It did not need to.
Doubt does not require completion.
It grows within the air itself.
The Emperor remained silent for a long moment.
The document lay before him.
He did not read it to the end.
"Confirm it," he said at last.
"Inspect the grave. Compare the burial items. Whatever the cause, do not allow rumor to move ahead of fact."
It was already too late.
News of the funeral traveled faster than any courier.
Merchants' wagons, peddlers' tongues, tavern keepers, travelers descending the mountain.
"Jin Mugwang is dead."
Within a single day, the words reached the teahouses of the capital.
Another line attached itself naturally.
"The imperial court drove him to it."
"The court killed the general who fought for the realm."
No one spoke of evidence.
Yet all watched their words carefully.
The head of the Black Blade received the report as well.
"A request to confirm the temporary burial at Bokwu Mountain."
He pondered for a long time before nodding.
"Open the coffin."
That single command sent another ripple outward.
To open the coffin meant to seek truth.
It also meant that if deception were uncovered, enemies would multiply at once.
Within the palace, calculations had already begun.
If it was suicide, the court would bear moral blame.
If it was murder, someone had gained from it.
If he yet lived—
No one gave that thought voice.
That night,
The palace lanterns burned later than usual.
The death of the Great General exceeded the span of a single life.
In death, he had grown heavier than in life.
And for the first time, the imperial court understood.
Death is not an ending.
It can become the beginning of something else.
Three days later, after descending the mountain, the entire White Dragon Unit assembled in formation upon a broad clearing.
Lee Hui stepped forward slowly.
Each step pressed into the earth.
For a long while, he said nothing.
Only the faint wind crossed the open ground.
"I offer my deepest respect to you who walked this road beside the Great General.
Through the blood-winds of Haran, across the battlefields of Gyeongsa, and along the road that led to Hanam, you never once turned your backs.
Bound by loyalty and honor, your footsteps were firmer than blades and stronger than shields.
I will remember you."
He lowered his gaze briefly.
"Great General Jin Mugwang.
His name was our command, our banner, our standard.
He devoted his life to a single purpose—to drive the barbarians from this land.
Before that noble will, we bow in humility.
His life was a single flame, and beneath its light we raised our swords."
His voice remained low, yet its resonance traveled far.
"Now we send him on his way.
His name will not be buried.
His spirit will not vanish.
Even if the world forgets, the will engraved upon our hearts will not fade."
He lifted his head and looked at the White Dragon Unit.
"We part here.
The time we stood beneath the same banner has reached its end.
Yet that time does not disappear.
Though our paths diverge, with the single resolve to strike down the barbarians, we may one day stand together again."
Silence descended.
His voice grew softer still.
"Your loyalty and fellowship are the heaviest debt of my life.
Carry the Great General's will in your hearts.
Return to your own places and live with steadfastness and with happiness.
I truly believe that one day we shall face the same banner beneath the same sky once more."
He bent deeply at the waist.
Not as a commander, but as a man.
"Thank you for walking beside me.
May peace attend every step of your return."