3.4 audience
Yoongi focus
It was not an army that endangered their border but a convoy of ministers that ended the silence between the kingdoms. Three ministers of Baekje had asked for an audience, so Namjoon had called the court into the throne hall and they had allowed their unexpected guests in.
"Are those three all the ones left?" he asked Yoongi quietly while they waited for the guests to reach the hall.
"If you don't consider the assistant ministers, yes," Yoongi whispered back. After the minister of war had been killed at the banquet, they had received two more reports about ministers being beheaded. The ministries of justice and revenue currently were headless and in slight chaos, which was bad considering how important those were to keep the order in a kingdom.
Namjoon nodded that he had understood.
"To leave such a trail of widows and orphans... what is he thinking?" the king asked after a while of silent waiting.
"I'm sure there is a reason for this," Yoongi replied.
"There better be," Namjoon growled.
"The convoy from Baekje!" someone announced, and all the heads turned toward the door where three figures came walking in.
Yoongi spoke first. "Introduce yourselves," he demanded.
The one who looked like he was the leader of the small group stepped forward and knelt. He knelt! Yoongi was surprised. For a minister of a kingdom that had been at odds with them it was quite strange to show such a grand gesture of submission.
When the two others saw that, they followed their head's lead.
"I am minister of rites Kang Jaesung," the man introduced himself. "And with me are minister of personnel Ye Soohyung and minister of appointments Seo Kyung."
Interested, Yoongi looked at the last one. So, this was his expensive minister Seo. What a lucky coincidence.
"You may rise," Namjoon allowed and the guests followed. "What brings you here?"
"Your majesty," minister Kang began. "Word travels fast, so his majesty may already know that our palace has been taken over by a monster."
"How does that concern me?" Namjoon asked coldly, making Yoongi proud. His friend was too soft-hearted to see people suffer, but he seemed to understand the situation they were in today.
"It does not concern his majesty," the minister was quick to say. "But our people live in fear and insecurity, and all our attempts to take back the palace have failed."
Silla's minister Park stepped forward, taking over the conversation. "What, if I may ask, did you try?"
"We tried negotiating, but if we overdo it, it will end in death. Too many ministers have lost their life already," minister Kang said, an expression of agony and helplessness on his face. "Then we tried sending assassins, but they all get caught and are beheaded."
Minister Park raised a hand to stop the man for a moment. "How do you know they are beheaded?"
Minister Kang looked at his colleagues with a look of ambivalence. Minister Ye decided that it had to be said. "Because he...because he..."
"Because he hangs the heads instead of lanterns all over the palace," minister Kang finished, obviously convulsed.
Namjoon did not look less disgusted when he gave Yoongi a glance. They had assumed that the gossip was exaggerated, but apparently every word had been true. Jungkook hung heads as decoration. How repulsive.
But minister Park continued to inquire calmly. "What is your law for assassinating the king?" he wanted to know.
"Be-beheading."
"Is he not executing the law then?" Park asked coldly.
"Minister Park!" Namjoon interfered.
"Your majesty!" Park came back at him no less intense. "I know our king's heart for righteousness and fairness, but what I wonder is, first: how can his majesty achieve what those assassins could not? And second: what do we gain from helping you?" He turned towards the three foreign ministers again. "Baekje is not our concern. You marched against our kingdom, your spies slew our late king, his second wife and his majesty's wife. What do we owe you? For all I know, you got what you deserved."
His words had something finite, and Yoongi agreed with him. Why would they help someone who had brought this destiny about themselves?
Yoongi could see Namjoon struggling to say something, but his friend as well had to admit defeat in this discussion. He had no reason at all to take action. As far as they knew, no commoners had been killed or hurt in any way. And any assassin who lost his head was a good assassin.
The Silla minsters seemed to agree with Park if their murmur and nodding was any indicator.
"As for your first question," the Baekje minister said calmly. "Hwon Hye still holds up the court, so we have-"
"He holds up the court?" Namjoon interrupted, speaking Yoongi's mind. "Then how can it be that you were not able to overwhelm him?"
Minister Kang looked like he had tasted something sour. "He never calls all of the ministers to debate. He only calls those who seem to be fit for a task. That is also why it is us three who came to ask for help. We are not needed currently."
Yoongi would have almost laughed. But of course, a king who did not need crowning or fests and had emptied the palace was in no need for a minister of rites and personnel. And appointments? Who could think of a promotion in times like these? Most assistant minister would most likely prefer to stay in their lower rank in order not to endanger their own head.
Jungkook truly had an eye for important heads.
"So, there is the possibility that he will receive me if I ask for it?" Namjoon asked the three minister who nodded.
"We do think so," Kang confirmed. "As for the second question, we shall return to our kingdom to debate a possible solution and bring the suggestion to his majesty."
Namjoon nodded, but minister Park seemed to disagree. "If we are to help you, his majesty should receive the throne of Baekje," he said determinedly, and a gush of gasps rolled through the hall. Even the Silla ministers were shocked by those words.
Yoongi, however, huffed impressed and smiled amused. Minister Park had some backbone to suggest something like this so bluntly. Even Namjoon looked just as stricken as the Baekje convoy.
"Let me elaborate," Park said more calmly and turned toward the throne. "What we should at least receive is the honor to choose the new king of Baekje, so that we, to an extent, can have control over his actions and decisions to avoid another disaster like this summer. We should not accept something of less value after what has been done to our royal family."
He looked honest in his compassion for the palace, so Namjoon nodded for him to continue.
"But what use do we have for a puppet? It is but a useless man in the middle. So, why should we not ask for the throne directly?" He looked back at the three ministers. "Your royal family has been eradicated. There is no legal heir to the throne, so what will you do? Fight over it and cause your people suffering?" He looked back up to Namjoon. "In the name of the people of Baekje, I ask that we claim the throne to avoid a disruption in the kingdom. Commoners do not care about who is their king, they care whether they have food and can live in peace."
"Well spoken," Yoongi murmured impressed.
Namjoon threw him a side-glance that told him to shut up.
"Your majesty," Kang of Baekje asked beggingly. His face told everything there was to know. The Baekje court, or what remained of it, would not agree to this. It meant for them to give up their position, and no one would be willing to accept that.
At a sudden thought, Yoongi bent down to whisper something into Namjoon's ear. "Tell them that you agree that we should choose the new king. We will not touch their court except for the minister of war, justice, and revenue which we also want to choose. Since they are dead this should not be a problem."
Namjoon looked him in the eye, then he turned at the Baekje convoy to repeat those words. The three whispered with each other for quite some time, then Kang spoke up. "I will propose this idea to our court. His majesty will be informed if we come to an agreement." He bowed.
"Do you have any expectations as to how I solve your problem?" Namjoon wanted to know.
The three shook their heads. "If his majesty can persuade him, he shall persuade him. If he can fight him, he shall fight him," Kang said. "Only know, that we cannot be held responsible if the plan fails. We only came to ask for help. His majesty can deny or accept."
Namjoon nodded although the words had a hint of rudeness. However, no one could hold it against foreign ministers not to care for the king of a neighbor kingdom. They only saw their people and their royalty, nothing more and nothing less.
"I must apologize," the king began to close the audience. "Our palace currently is on high alert, so I cannot allow foreign ministers to stay as guests. But I am sure that our capital has enough inns that can accommodate our noble guests comfortably." He rose and everyone knelt. "The court is closed. You may leave."
"So petty," Yoongi joked quietly and received a dark look from his friend.
"Be quiet. I feel sick," Namjoon growled. They walked out through the backdoor. "Why did you want me to agree to the puppet king instead of the throne?" he suddenly asked.
Yoongi was astounded. "You agreed without understanding my plan?"
Namjoon nodded. "You are the royal advisor. Your advice seems to have worked. The convoy looked happier than with what minister Park suggested so bluntly."
Yoongi huffed and shook his head. "I thought you understood."
"Stop being arrogant and explain it to me," his friend growled, looking like he really did not feel that well.
Yoongi grinned when he began to explain. "They would never agree to give up their positions as ministers, so nothing would have come around had we gone for minister Park's plan. But if they agree to accept anyone we place as their king, we might as well place Taehyung," he revealed his thoughts.
Namjoon's eyes widened in disbelief. "Taehyung?"
"Why not? He should be capable enough to be a puppet king," Yoongi said and shrugged. "As minister of war we place minister Park to unify the army under his oversight, as minister of justice we will place out minister Choi to align the law, and as minister of revenue we place minister Kang to end all conflicts regarding trading."
He felt that his idea was rather brilliant.
"You are an extraordinary thinker," Namjoon admitted, looking still slightly taken aback.
"Well, I do what I can," Yoongi said and grinned. "The problem is, how do you plan to take Jungkook down?"
"I will kill him," Namjoon said flatly, face suddenly cold and distant. "He has to go."
That made Yoongi furrow his brows. "Why don't you try to persuade him? He's your brother's close friend. Don't you think he's willing to free the space for you?"
Namjoon shook his head. "He did everything I despise. He killed a child, left orphans and widows left and right, and scared his people with brutish displays of violence. If he keeps up the court as he does now, the people will suffer eventually. Do you really think he still cares about us and our values? Even if he would leave me the throne, I cannot allow him to live after what he did. What kind of king would I be to spare someone like him?"
"A benevolent one?" Yoongi asked but regretted his words instantly when he saw the flicker of fear and pain in Namjoon's eyes at the cursed word.
He apologized and stayed silent for the rest of their walk to the office while he thought back to the destined day with the green jade and the promise he had bought with it. Could Jungkook really forget about this so easily? Did he really turn into the monster everyone saw in him?
"Yoongi?" Namjoon's voice called him out of his thoughts.
"What is it?"
"Teach me your secret sword techniques."
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