The Sungui Army entered Hwaju Fortress.
With the plains—where the flames had finally subsided—at their backs, they crossed the gates.
Grand Princess Noguk walked for a long while along the ramparts, gazing toward the distant eastern horizon.
The remnants of the Ssangseong Regional Command still lay dark red below.
Beyond them, toward the sea, stretched fields where the old boundary of Eastern Ye once faintly showed itself.
It was land at the edge between the Yuan Empire and Goryeo.
To be precise, it was Goryeo land that others had occupied.
It was territory Naha-chu had once coveted as well.
A place that could not be left unattended.
If absorbed carelessly, it would strip away diplomatic justification and send shockwaves through the world.
It was land that had to be handled only under the pretext of suppressing rebellion—
ground balanced on a delicate edge.
The princess had to decide.
She would report the fact of victory gained through battle.
She would make clear to the Great Khan that the victory was justified.
But this was not a simple report.
It was an intricate political decision.
She had to petition at once for territorial jurisdiction and political legitimacy.
So she wrote the memorial herself.
With language that was precise and cold, yet carried warmth and loyalty together.
---*
〈The Memorial〉
Your Imperial Majesty,
I, your subject Borjigin Botaširi,
Grand Princess of Noguk,
humbly submit this memorial and beg Your Majesty to grant it your discerning review.
謹奉上表 伏惟睿覽.
In this month, Gecheol (奇轍) raised a rebellion and sought to assassinate the King of Goryeo and myself.
本月中 奇轍 作亂 欲弒高麗王及臣妾.
Having concealed himself within the Ssangseong Regional Command of Goryeo and gathered troops in armed defiance,
I was left with no choice but to mobilize forces and suppress him.
其人 潛據雙城摠管府 聚兵拒命
故不得已 動用兵馬 以行討平.
Gecheol, as the elder brother of Empress Gi, had long enjoyed power under the Great Khan's favor.
Yet he abused that power and sought to inflict grave harm upon the royal authority of Goryeo and its people.
奇轍 本以奇皇后之兄 蒙大칸厚恩 擅享權勢
而恃寵縱橫 欲害高麗王權 及百姓
His actions consisted of rallying a portion of the Ssangseong Command's troops to incite civil strife within Goryeo.
This was nothing less than a grave act of impiety—
invoking the Great Khan's authority as a pretext to move troops for private ends.
其所行者 糾合雙城摠管府部分軍士
煽動高麗內亂
是假借大칸之威 私自興兵 其罪大不敬.
Seeing that the situation was too urgent for the King of Goryeo to address at once,
I, in my capacity as queen, stepped forward in person and carried out an emergency suppression.
臣妾 見高麗王 當時勢急 難以即時處斷
乃以王妃之身 親自出面 斷行急討.
As a result, the rebel forces led by Gecheol were subdued,
and the Ssangseong Regional Command was pacified.
遂平奇轍所率叛軍 克定雙城摠管府.
This matter does not concern the punishment of a single man alone.
It constitutes a case in which the troops of the Ssangseong Command, in effect, rose in defiance of the Great Khan's authority.
Thus, I humbly report that the measures taken were unavoidable and fully consonant with righteous principle.
此事 非但誅一人而已
實乃雙城軍士 近於公然違逆大칸威權
其處置 誠屬不得已而合於大義.
Accordingly, I venture to petition Your Majesty that the jurisdiction of the Ssangseong Regional Command—
now effectively brought under control through this incident—
be returned to the authority of the King of Goryeo.
是以 敢請於陛下
將此次事變中 實際受控之雙城摠管府管轄權
歸屬於高麗王.
The grounds for this petition are threefold.
其所以然者 有三.
First, Gecheol's rebellion was a grave crime that usurped the Great Khan's authority.
To clearly repudiate it is the proper means of manifesting the Empire's dignity.
一曰 奇轍之亂
乃僭用大칸威權之大逆
明正其罪 乃所以彰顯帝國之威嚴.
Second, the present condition of the Ssangseong Regional Command shows that Goryeo's civil and administrative foundations remain intact.
To place this territory under Goryeo's governance accords with reason and propriety.
二曰 雙城摠管府之現況
高麗民政官制 尚皆具存
以其地歸高麗治下 於理為宜.
Third, should the Great Khan and Goryeo seek enduring peace together,
this incident may serve as the occasion to establish an institutional accord
for the stability of the northern regions and the eastern seaboard.
三曰 若大汗與高麗 共圖久安
則可因是事 定立北方及東海沿岸之制度和議.
Should Your Majesty desire closer examination,
I stand ready to appear before the Great Khan in person,
to recount all matters in full and serve as their witness.
陛下若欲詳察
臣妾 願立於大칸之前
盡陳其事 以為明證.
Ssangseong lies at the eastern extremity, on the former lands of Eastern Ye,
a strategic region of great sensitivity to both the Great Khan and Goryeo alike.
雙城 乃東方之極 舊東濊之地
於大칸與高麗 俱為敏感要衝.
I humbly beseech Your Majesty to render an appropriate decision
through your far-reaching and discerning judgment.
伏願陛下
以深遠之睿斷
施以允當之處置.
Respectfully submitted by your subject,
Borjigin Botaširi.
臣妾 孛兒只斤 寶塔實里
謹上.
---*
The Great Khan's Anguish — Liaoyang, Simju, Hwaju, and the Fractures of Empire
In the palace at Dadu, the air lay stagnant, as if it had pooled for too long.
Blue silks hanging from golden pillars swayed slowly.
Inside, even the flow of time seemed to have stopped.
The Great Khan stood holding the memorial.
On its final line, the name of Grand Princess Noguk—Borjigin Botaširi—was stamped in red.
The cinnabar seal looked like old blood.
As if to confirm it, the Great Khan brushed it with his fingertips.
"Liaoyang was given up.
Simju was given up.
I thought that would suffice.
Now even Hwaju falls into Goryeo's hands."
His voice was low and rough.
An old minister beside him bowed his head.
"Your Majesty, the Grand Princess fought to uphold your authority.
The facts are clear.
Gecheol raised troops first, and those who followed him were soldiers of the Ssangseong Command.
They had already acted against Your Majesty's name."
The Great Khan nodded.
"Then the judgment is clear.
Yet the problem is that he is the Empress's brother.
Borjigin Botaširi too must have stood at a crossroads.
Until now, I believed the Grand Princess to be on the Empress's side."
He turned and looked out the window.
"Empress Gi ruled the Empire at my side.
Now her brother raised troops, and Borjigin Botaširi crushed and cut them down.
This may lead to a fracture within the Empire."
He let out a short laugh.
At that moment, the Empress entered.
She wore robes of blue silk and a crown woven with gold thread.
Beneath her generous features, sharp eyes gleamed.
"Your Majesty."
"Empress."
"My brother moved troops only for the sake of the Empire.
It was a judgment meant to prevent chaos in Goryeo.
The Princess of Noguk may be Your Majesty's niece,
but she is now the Queen of Goryeo's king.
She led Goryeo's army to strike a Yuan general.
Will Your Majesty accept this as just?"
The Great Khan closed his eyes for a moment.
Clear intent lay within the Empress's words—
intent aimed not only at the Princess of Noguk,
but at the lines of power within the Empire itself.
"Then let me ask in return.
Would it have been just for the Hwaju forces to strike down the Princess of Noguk?
Gecheol disobeyed my command.
One who defies orders is a traitor, regardless of blood."
"Then what of the Princess of Noguk?"
The Empress stepped forward.
"In that case, she ceases to be Your Majesty's niece and becomes my enemy.
More than that, by her choice, imperial lands have been split.
Is this the path of a princess who serves the Empire?"
The Great Khan's gaze rested on her.
"You rose to that place through blood.
And an empire built on blood falls by blood.
I will no longer watch my own kin cut each other down."
The Empress's lips hardened.
"If Your Majesty does not establish order, the people's hearts will be shaken."
"Order?"
The Great Khan laughed softly.
"To you, order is the preservation of power.
To the Princess of Noguk, order is the end of bloodshed.
Which is more precious?
I will give no simple answer to either."
A long silence passed.
Outside, a sound like cicadas drifted in.
The Great Khan lifted the memorial again.
His eyes stopped on the red signature.
"That is why I hesitate.
Liaoyang, Simju, and Hwaju have all slipped away.
If I move, blood will flow.
If I do not, the Empire will tremble.
And your brother Gecheol still lives."
The silence stretched on.
The Empress did not retreat.
Candlelight wavered in the wind.
At last, the Great Khan spoke.
"I accept the Princess of Noguk's memorial.
Gecheol's crime will not be judged at once.
But his authority and lands are confiscated.
Summon him to Beiping and place him under restraint."
He raised the document.
"This decision is final.
Never again let the names of my kin appear on a battlefield."
The Great Khan's fingertips trembled slightly.
From the brush tip, red ink spread.
That red seeped across the memorial.