536.
They Do Not Answer — The Ten Great Houses' Midnight Emergency Council
That night, the great families of Gaegyeong's upper quarters did not let their lanterns go dark even once.
From one of the Ten Great Houses, messengers were hurriedly dispatched to the other nine with a single command: Come at once.
The heads of all ten houses gathered in secret, deep into the night.
Inside the hall, even breathing sounded urgent.
Faces were set hard, and beneath them lay naked fear.
Someone spoke first.
"Park Seong-jin stepped in. They say he crushed hundreds in just two moves."
Another swallowed dryly.
"His Majesty declared confiscation of land, emancipation of slaves, and dissolution of private troops. The Jeonmin Byeonjeong Dogam isn't a proclamation—it's enforcement. He even took resignation letters. That's a warning. It means he can cut us off at any time."
The temperature in the room dropped at once.
Then someone ground his teeth.
"But Park Seong-jin is only one man. If we don't move, can he really storm our estates?"
Agreement followed.
"Exactly. Even a master of the Hwageong realm can't change the fact that civil war is a different matter. The king won't turn all of us into enemies. If we submit, that becomes precedent."
As if sealing the conclusion, someone said,
"Then we don't go to the North Gate tomorrow."
The wavering air hardened into relief.
A dissenting voice rose.
"He said he'd come himself if we didn't. There are rumors that Choi Sang-do's private soldiers were destroyed by him."
The most powerful house cut in.
"He won't come. If he does, it's war. And we're not ready to start a war yet."
They did not understand.
To Park Seong-jin, the battlefield was not chaos but a place where calculations were completed—
a place where tangled justifications vanished and the order of force was decided in an instant.
So they repeated their resolve, believing they had found a way to live.
"We won't answer. We won't go to the North Gate. We won't heed the king's summons. That is our strength."
But that conclusion had already collapsed.
The moment they closed their doors and gathered, Park Seong-jin already held the addresses of their strongholds in his hand.
The night of the Ten Great Houses was not a night of defense.
It was the quietest prelude, just before the storm struck.
They Did Not Come
It was the chen hour, just before sunrise.
At the North Gate, torches that had burned quietly through the night flickered in the faint morning breeze.
Song I-sul and the officers of the Gyeollyong Guard stood in neatly arranged formation.
But those who were supposed to arrive did not appear.
A Gyeollyong officer checked the time first, then looked cautiously toward Park Seong-jin.
Park Seong-jin stood without a word.
Only judgment rested on his shadowed face.
Moments later, an officer ran up and reported urgently.
"My lord, the chen hour has passed."
Park Seong-jin did not reply.
Lowering his voice, the officer continued.
"Of the ten houses of the Ten Great Houses… not a single one has shown itself."
The wind brushed past.
Park Seong-jin's collar fluttered lightly.
He spoke very quietly.
"I see."
There was no emotion in the words—only confirmation.
Song I-sul stepped closer.
"What will you do?"
Park Seong-jin dusted his hands once.
"What did I say last night?"
Song I-sul swallowed.
"You said… if they don't come, you'll go to them."
Park Seong-jin nodded.
"Then we proceed as stated. Promises must be kept. That, too, is a promise."
He said it lightly, but the air froze.
Among the soldiers, the sound of someone swallowing spread unconsciously.
A Gyeollyong officer offered a scroll with trembling hands.
"These are the locations of the ten houses."
Park Seong-jin opened it.
The map was closer to a procedure than a drawing.
He had already organized directions and structure in his mind.
He passed the scroll to Song I-sul.
"Lead the way."
Song I-sul hesitated briefly.
"Will you go in person?"
"Yes," Park Seong-jin answered.
"From here on, this isn't a fight. It's processing."
An officer added cautiously,
"My lord, perhaps we should report to His Majesty first—"
Park Seong-jin cut him off at once.
"No report. Resistance from entrenched interests must be pressed down immediately to settle. Today is not a day to wait."
His steps turned beyond the North Gate.
Slowly, firmly, he said,
"They must have held council all night. Their conclusion was probably one thing."
Song I-sul replied under his breath,
"They won't answer."
Park Seong-jin nodded.
"Then we make them answer."
As he moved, twenty members of the martial unit followed naturally.
Song I-sul took the lead, and part of the Gyeollyong Guard quietly joined.
In the still morning air, their shadows stretched long.
Park Seong-jin muttered one last line.
"All that remains is deciding which house's gate falls first."