The Second Incursion – Magistrate Bang No-ju's Warning (2)
So-un personally guided him to the eight-bay wooden hall at the front courtyard, used for receiving guests.
Jin Mu-sik and others followed, but the magistrate declined their presence.
Instead, he requested privacy.
Only Mi-rang was permitted to remain and serve tea.
"For what reason have you come at this late hour?
You must be weary from your official burdens."
"I came because there is something I must convey."
"I have already heard rumors that you are handling affairs well.
Has there been some change?"
"I submitted a report of recent events, and an immediate reply arrived.
Five thousand Royal Guards have departed the imperial capital.
I came to inform you of this."
"Five thousand?"
So-un let out a quiet breath.
"Yes.
It seems they have judged the cause of the previous failure to be insufficient numbers.
Five thousand are being dispatched.
They ordered me to prepare encampments five li outside Anyang City, wait there, brief them on the situation, and provide support."
"Five thousand…"
A shadow of concern crossed So-un's brow.
He fell briefly into thought.
What else could be done?
They would have to confer and respond.
"Which route will they take?"
"The same as before.
They are not gathering forces piecemeal from various places.
Five thousand of the Royal Guards are coming directly."
"Thank you for this valuable information."
So-un remained seated and offered a respectful cupped-fist salute.
Mi-rang approached and set down jeonbyeong and light vegetable dishes, along with a bottle of wine.
"There is little we can offer.
Yet you have come in person…"
The magistrate studied him.
The fearsome commander who had once pressed him into submission was nowhere to be seen.
Before him sat only a mild-faced, slightly awkward young scholar.
It was difficult to believe.
The resolute general who had barked commands was gone.
In his place was a thin, youthful figure speaking with courtesy.
"Why are your words unlike those of that day?"
So-un smiled faintly.
"That day I faced the enemy as a soldier.
Now I meet the magistrate of this county.
The circumstances differ, so my manner differs."
"I am the same man as before.
Nothing about me has changed."
So-un smiled again.
"No.
I am meeting a different man.
That day I saw a servant of power.
Now I see the magistrate of this county."
Though they spoke different words, each understood the other's meaning.
So-un perceived that the magistrate had indeed changed.
"What do you intend to do this time?"
"We likely will not wait.
We will strike.
Before they reach here, we will annihilate them.
Of course, I am not the one who drafts the battle plan."
"And after that?
Fifty thousand may come next.
What then?"
"If one lives and dies in righteousness, what difference does the number make?
We shall be buried here.
And perhaps in the next generation, an emperor will not regard loyal ministers as rivals."
The magistrate sighed at So-un's simple, lucid reasoning.
How could he not know what was right?
Anyone could see the emperor was in error.
It was not ignorance that bound men, but circumstance.
"You would fight even fifty thousand?"
"If we must fight, we do not avoid it.
I thank you for your concern."
Inwardly, the magistrate felt a reluctant admiration at So-un's calm response.
This was no longer a village skirmish.
It was not the same as defeating five hundred.
"I understand your numbers are few."
"Even now, they gather in secret.
Bound by righteousness alone.
And we will win."
"Is there nothing I can do to assist?"
"Perhaps if we requested something, it might help.
I do not know.
But I thank you for the offer."
The conversation ended.
The magistrate studied So-un once more, then glanced at Mi-rang beside him.
An unremarkable scholar and a single attendant girl.
Old habits do not easily fade.
The magistrate found himself calculating again.
He first calculated what would follow after their destruction.
If they were doomed, why bow so low here?
Yet in the air lingered a faint, fragile hope—
that perhaps, just perhaps, they might win,
and that the regime itself might crumble.
"Are you certain you will be well?
Would it not be wiser to flee elsewhere and avoid the chaos?"
"Thank you for your concern.
To do so would be to acknowledge guilt.
That we cannot do.
And we will never be defeated.
We will fight to the last man and prevail."
"Indeed…"