18 Taskmaster

Seol keeps the reasons that had carried her feet to the shrine yard instead of her own courtyard, at the back of her mind to ponder upon later. The place that resembled so closely the personal courtyard of her imperial father had left an impression on her, when Seo had first brought her here - it may have been his way of tenderly breaking her heart - but still, he had in his own way given her a flicker of hope to hold on to.

The night is colder out there, enough for chill to crawl under her fur collar and nip at her throat. There is the mishepen moon hanging low by the branches and dimmed by unfamiliar firelight.

Seol halts in her tracks, surprised to have run into her 13th uncle at such a particular place. Grand prince Anjong looks younger than his years when he has removed his royal finaries. Being a prince of first rank and one of the few remaining siblings of the emperor had garnered him privileges over the others. However, looking at him now - away from his family and under the muted stars he no longer looks like the legendary man who had led the men of wind and dust for decades but lonely and adrift, drinking straight from a fagon of fragrant wine.

"Seolie," he greets her with her childhood nickname, gesturing to her to join him by the fireside. Seol walks on, lifting her skirts carefully from brushing the frosted ground. "It's a good day to remember and forget - is it not?"

She sits by his side, thawing her hands in the pleasant heat of flames.

"You have memories here as well - uncle?"

Anjong laughs dryly.

"Which of us doesn't?" His voice deepens, his focus shifting into the far away night. "We brothers are tangled together like threads on a fine silk Seolie. Each has memories of the others - parts of others who are long gone. All of us have loved and lost. All of us have nights when we'd rather not see each other."

He drank deeply from his flagon and wiped his mouth.

"Kang Seo told me you wished to meet?"

Seol is recovered from falling into deep thoughts by that question. She claps her warmed hands together.

"Do you think I could dip my toes into court politics - uncle?"

She allows the older man's judging eyes to scrutinize her. Anjong smiles softly.

"I'd rather you wouldn't. But then, to be an imperial princess and not to have her political opinion is unheard of. To be the only imperial princess …" he trails off. "Every woman is entitled to her opinion, Seolie. If you wish to meddle with the court I'm certain that my imperial brother would find it entertaining."

"I want you to propose a law in my stead." Seol presses on, registering the mild amusement in her uncle's face she deduces. "Seo told you."

"These Kangs have a different way of teaching than ours," Anjong tilts his head, lips curved with wary amusement. "They don't tell you what they know. Instead they push you into a route where you will gain the same experiences. It has been well thought out on my imperial brother's part to make him your adviser and guardian. I haven't seen a man more politically savvy at her younger age. Kang Seo has earned his place at the mid council and I believe Yong would grant him a position at his high council when the time comes. So -" he claps his hands together, discarding the empty flagon of wine. "Kang Seo wants you to learn the process of law making in Goryeo."

"You think it's possible?"

"You are the first and only daughter of the emperor - of course it's possible. Only, it's not simply a matter of one proposing and one confirming."

"Lord uncle, what else should I do?"

Anjong's eyes gleam, for a moment he looks thousand years younger, as if Seol had given him his favorite toy with no conditions.

"Dear girl, first of all you shouldn't propose a law that will fail in the councils. For that you need people who will carry it from council to council. Supporters at every juncture."

"How?"

"This legitimization?" he says keenly. "Get the imperial library to draw out family trees of councilors. You are looking for people who has -"

"No descendants from the main courtyard!" Seol catches on. Anjong looks impressed.

"Yes, see which family has no heirs to inherit their titles but has base born children who are dear to their fathers. Use your ladies - who provide the perfect sample of noble society outside to glean an idea of their family dynamics. You must be sharp and smart here - they shouldn't guess what you will do with the information they provide. A good interrogator never alerts the subject of the interrogation. Be sweet, be concerned - be approachable. Soon your ladies will be sharing their news from home with you."

Seol frowns and makes note of that advice. She has always been selectively friendly to her bevy of ladies - perhaps, it was time to change that.

"Then to light the fire you need to spark the tinder." Anjong continues. "Propose a system of title rotation, where a household has no heir to inherit the title - the title and associated property gets revested on the dragon throne. It can be granted to another at his majesty's pleasure. Now that the state exam is established and new talents pour into the system - they need to be ennobled. There will be others who could claim titles if a family no longer has an heir to claim them."

Seol's eyes gleam wickedly.

"Uncle you are -"

"Genius, I know." Anjong chuckles. "I learned from the best." His voice regains a hint of nostalgia. "Your lady mother and I learned from the same master. Her older brother. He was the most legendary commander of shadows since the establishment of this nation. You will never find a better man at plotting than a Kang - scheming runs in their veins."

Seol says nothing, as she ponders upon this information.

"Then," Anjong continues. "When you have lit the fire under their cauldron, these nobles without heirs will get agitated. They will find that they have been cornered by others who have no issue with the implication of title rotation. All of them will race to find heirs - they will come begging to consider their base born progeny."

"And we will grant them that. Not the law we want but the law they need!"

"Clever girl!" Anjong claps her on the back. "And when that time comes, when they gather around you to do their begging - you - gongjunim mama - you hold the upper hand of this bargain. Then, if you ask them to agree to your own reforms in exchange for getting what they want… Say this married women's proprietorship laws of yours … They will look upon it more favorably if it is the price they have to pay in exchange for keeping their ancestral titles in the family."

"This is wicked!" Seol doesn't even attempt to conceal the childlike glee that she feels. For a moment she considers reaching for her uncle's discarded wine flagon, for such wit needed to be digested with alcohol, but then she satisfies herself with beaming widely. Anjong returns that grin and offers her the wine himself.

"Navigating the court is an art Seolie," he says. "And like all artforms there are vices involved. Let's drink to your last night at Songak shall we? And the journey north?" He laughs at the look on her face. "Your lady mother wouldn't have considered an offer to drink for so long. Cheers to lady In Ha - the imperial princess in making."

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