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#30
Taejonbirok Volume 2 Episode 5
Chapter 10 – The Censor (2)
Moon Yu-hwan looked at the old man with eyes asking for permission.
The old man nodded slowly.
“Mosigeora.”
"yes."
The door opened and Moon Eun-ji and Wi Yeon-ho came in. Moon Eun-ji was extremely cautious in every action. However, Wi Yeon-ho came in with a puffy face and a shaky step. Just from his steps, you could tell how much Wi Yeon-ho was annoyed by the current situation.
Moon Yu-hwan smiled softly.
“I’m worried that I might have been rude so early in the morning. Did you sleep well?”
Wi Yeon-ho answered bluntly.
“Yes, I slept very well. I could have slept a little better if no one had poured cold water on my sleeping face. It’s a shame.”
Moon Yu-hwan looked at Moon Eun-ji without saying a word.
Moon Eun-ji turned her head and avoided Moon Yu-hwan's gaze.
“Haha, that happened. At least I got a good night’s sleep.”
“Yes, I slept well. I was a little sleep deprived, so I just wanted to take a breather, but I wish I had slept more soundly if someone hadn’t scratched my face with their nails.”
Moon Yu-hwan's blank gaze turned back to Moon Eun-ji.
But Moon Ji-eun's gaze was fixed on a distant place and did not return.
“Ahem, is that so?”
Moon Yu-hwan ended up apologizing without realizing it.
“I’m sorry. It seems I’ve been in Busan since early this morning.”
“It’s not like I have anything to complain about since I’m in a position where I get to eat. However, I would appreciate it if you could refrain from eating too early in the morning from now on.”
Moon Yu-hwan looked out the window.
The sun in the middle of the sky was hiding behind the clouds as if it was embarrassed.
“……I’m sorry.”
Moon Yu-hwan coughed a couple of times and then turned his head toward the old man.
“This person is…… hmm…….”
The old man opened his mouth himself.
“Let’s just say he’s an old man passing by.”
Wi Yeon-ho nodded.
“That explanation seems to have a lot of meaning.”
“Huh, is that so?”
“The person who seems to have business with me is an old man, isn’t he?”
The old man nodded.
“That’s right on the mark.”
“What’s going on?”
The old man burst into laughter.
“What’s going on, you idiot? What business would you have with Hanlim Ki-seong? We just wanted to play a game of baduk.”
Wi Yeon-ho glanced at Moon Yu-hwan.
Moon Yu-hwan nodded with a smile.
Wi Yeon-ho returned Moon Yu-hwan's smile with a smile, then looked at the old man and smiled brightly.
“It won’t work?”
"huh?"
The old man looked at Wei Yanhu with a bewildered expression.
“You said no?”
"yes."
Wi Yeon-ho answered calmly.
“What are you talking about? Aren’t you already chatting with the people who come to the manor?”
“You know very well.”
“But I can’t.”
Wi Yeon-ho shook his head.
“I never said I wouldn’t play Go with the old man.”
"then?"
Wi Yeon-ho said with a stern face.
“It’s not that I don’t play Go with the old man, but I’m saying that you should keep your turn. Since there are people who came first, I ask that the old man wait.”
The old man looked at Wi Yeon-ho with a slightly stiff face, then burst into laughter.
“Hahaha! If that’s the case, then you don’t have to worry. I’ll explain it well.”
But Wei Yanhui was resolute.
“What can’t be done, can’t be done.”
The old man opened his eyes slightly.
“Look, didn’t I tell you that I would explain it well?”
Wi Yeon-ho waved his hand as if he was annoyed.
“Then go now and get permission from everyone.”
“Do you really have to go that far?”
“People who wait three or four days to play a game of Go may not seem like that much, but we have to acknowledge that they waited that long. There are people who waited for days to keep their turn, so how disheartening would they be if they were suddenly forced to play a game of Go with an old master?”
“I said I could handle it.”
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Wi Yeon-ho looked straight at the old man.
“That’s not a solution. That’s coercion.”
“……Force?”
“It seems like he has a pretty high status, so if the old man speaks, the others will have no choice but to listen. However, they won’t be convinced.”
The old man felt that he was running out of excuses. Surely, if he revealed his identity and asked for understanding, no one would object openly, but certainly not many would willingly accept it.
“Five games a day. Playing Go with the first person to arrive is a promise and a principle that I made with them. I don’t want to break my promise with them, and I don’t want to break my principle for the sake of the old man.”
At Wei Yanho's firm words, the old man looked at him with a new expression.
I think he's more powerful than I thought.
The old man shared a glance with Moon Yu-hwan.
However, Moon Yu-hwan just had a puzzled expression on his face, as if he had no other choice. After all, it would be unreasonable to ask Moon Yu-hwan, who was an upright scholar, to break the rules set by the other person.
'This is difficult.'
If they told me to wait for a game or two, I was willing to wait.
But now Wei Yanhu was telling the old man to wait in line. As far as the old man knew, there were more than fifteen people waiting to play Go with Wei Yanhu.
That meant we had to waste at least three days here, which was impossible considering the passage of time.
“How could it not work?”
“Why not? Just wait.”
“Okay.”
The old man shook his head.
There was no communication whatsoever.
I glanced at Moon Yu-hwan to ask for help, but he just kept lowering his head as if he was also embarrassed.
'What should I do?'
The principles and justifications are there. The situation is difficult and they cannot just wait around, but as Confucian scholars, they cannot ask others to break their principles, so there was no other way.
As the old man and Moon Yu-hwan were at a loss as to what to do, Moon Eun-ji, who had been silently watching the situation, opened her mouth.
“Father.”
Moon Yu-hwan looked at Moon Eun-ji.
“Tell me.”
“I think the girl can handle it.”
Moon Yu-hwan was delighted by Moon Eun-ji's words.
"you?"
"yes."
When Moon Yu-hwan looked at the old man, the old man nodded as well.
Moon Yu-hwan wondered what his daughter, who was smart and full of talent, could do. If you think about it, it is true that Moon Eun-ji was the person with whom Wi Yeon-ho had spent the most time since coming to Hanrim University, so she would know Wi Yeon-ho the best.
Since it is such a door, it cannot be nonsense.
“Tell me.”
As soon as Moon Yu-hwan's permission was granted, Moon Eun-ji looked at Wi Yeon-ho and smiled.
“Why don’t we just play a game?”
“I said I don’t want to.”
However, Wi Yeon-ho bluntly rejected Moon Eun-ji's proposal.
I'm already in a bad mood because of what happened this morning, so why would I listen to her and say something pretty?
“Okay, just leave it.”
“I don’t like it!”
“I will cancel the remaining games of Go that need to be played today with just one game.”
Wi Yeon-ho looked at Moon Eun-ji with intense eyes.
Moon Eun-ji smiled with conversion.
principle?
promise?
The Wi Yeon-ho that Moon Eun-ji had seen so far was absolutely not a person who would be obsessed with such things.
The reason Wei Yanhu refused was because playing Go with the old man did not count towards the number of games he had to play.
It was obvious that telling others that we had already played one game of Go and would only play four games today would be pointless.
Even if the old man explained the situation, it was unclear whether it would be accepted or not.
But why should we take such risks?
In that case, Moon Ji-eun's proposal came across as very sweet to Wi Yeon-ho.
"……really?"
Moon Eun-ji asked Moon Yu-hwan for permission.
“Are you okay?”
Moon Yu-hwan nodded with a trembling face.
“I think I can explain that well.”
Moon Eun-ji smiled faintly.
“Is it okay now?”
But Wei Yanho spoke in a curt tone, as if he had never been happy before.
“Hmm, it is an attractive idea, but I am a person with principles and morals, so that method…….”
Moon Eun-ji cut off Wi Yeon-ho's words.
“Not until tomorrow. If you want to rest even today, don’t act like a brat.”
Wi Yeon-ho's face was pale.
I thought that if we negotiated well, we might get something more, but Moon Eun-ji's attitude was too firm.
“Just one game tomorrow…….”
“No.”
Wi Yeon-ho's face trembled.
“Don’t do that, let’s talk first…….”
“There’s nothing to talk about. It can’t be done.”
Wi Yeon-ho's head was drooped like a sick chicken.
“Cold-blooded woman!”
“You can’t say no to more words. Just avoiding a match today is a great favor to me.”
Wi Yeon-ho sighed.
A man must know when to step aside.
If you try to cheat to get something more now, you might end up losing something bigger.
“There’s nothing I can do.”
Wi Yeon-ho looked at the old man.
“Hehehe, let’s begin.”
The old man looked at Wi Yeon-ho with a trembling face and then turned to Moon Yu-hwan. Moon Yu-hwan avoided the old man's gaze and slowly turned his head away.
'Talent?'
The old man's sharp gaze was fixed on Moon Yu-hwan's back.
'A sleeping dragon hiding itself?'
As the old man's eyes became sharper, Moon Yu-hwan's back began to tremble.
The old man sighed and looked at Wi Yeon-ho again. When I first heard the story from Moon Yu-hwan, I thought he was a man with something.
When I saw Wei Yanhu in person, I thought he was a frivolous man who was hiding something.
But honestly, the impression I got from Wi Yeon-ho when I met him face to face today was…
'This is the worst.'
The old man sighed deeply.
'I only lived with my mouth, I only lived with my mouth!'
If only he had been a little more awkward in his speech, his impression would have been better. His actions are typical of a conman. If this guy had seen the past, the old man would have torn up the answer sheet without even looking at it.
He had the look of a man who would ruin the country.
'Was it a waste of time?'
I also thought that maybe Wei Yanhui was acting frivolous to hide something.
But the elderly have not lived in vain until now.
He had an eye for distinguishing between acting and real personality.
The old man's eyes were telling him that the character of the man he was seeing before him matched perfectly with what he saw.
however…….
Something keeps bothering me.
When you look at his impressions, conversations, and behavior, it doesn’t seem like there’s any need to waste time, but something keeps bothering him. That slight uneasiness is what’s keeping the old man from getting up from his seat.
'Conversation doesn't seem to have much meaning.'
The old man, without a word, ordered the board to be brought in and took a white stone. Like Moon Yu-hwan, the old man believed that one could get to know one's opponent through conversation.
'Let me see what kind of guy you are.'
Whatever appears on the outside, if you talk about it, what's inside will come out.
The old man held the go stone tightly.
The old man was on fire with the determination to uncover every single thing the man before him was hiding.
But it was obvious that the old man's efforts would be in vain.
No matter how much you look at it, it is impossible to find something inside Wei Yanho.
How can you create something that didn't exist in the first place?
The old man's greatest misfortune was that he did not know what kind of seed Wei Yanho was.