Chapter 55
Astrahan Khan looked up and gazed at his daughter.
Seeing his daughter’s face, which looked even sadder than his own, felt like a huge iron nail had been driven into his heart as a parent.
“Father is fine, Wihwi.”
He took his daughter’s hand and helped her up, then seated her at his side. Arghana, like a child clinging for attention, leaned against her father’s shoulder and wrapped her arms around his waist.
Perhaps because of how she had grown up, or perhaps because of his illness that had so diminished his frame, she felt tears well up again at the sight of her father, so small now.
“Father, Soya’s mild temperament is worth emulating, but she doesn’t seem to know how to distinguish when to speak and when not to. Please don’t meet her alone from now on.”
“She has no ill will — how could I forbid her coming to see me? I am the Great Khan who rules this empire. To cast out a relative for personal reasons is unthinkable.”
“But……”
“Aha, let’s drop this matter here.”
Arghana pouted and rested her head on the Khan’s shoulder again. She hadn’t expected her father to agree so readily, but she worried that if Soya, oblivious as ever, repeated the same thing, she might not be able to stay silent at that time.
“By the way, what brings you here?”
“I came to see you and consult about something.”
“I see. It’s before lunch — come, let’s eat together.”
“Yes, Father.”
When Isun sent word to the palace kitchen (the court office in charge of tea and meals), the dishes were soon brought in.
The table was laden with tempting dishes. She even noticed a whole roasted duck — one of the Khan and Arghana’s shared favorites — placed on the table.
“Roast duck! I’ve been wanting some.”
Arghana brightened and the Khan smiled affectionately.
“Hey, Isun. Serve a portion of the duck to the princess.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Arghana could have simply grabbed a leg and torn it off, but she tried to be as proper as possible when dining with the Khan. Bringing the rough soldierly habit of squatting and eating with the troops into the palace — even with only her father present — felt somewhat embarrassing.
The side dishes were tasty. The spicy tofu and beef dishes seasoned with southern spices were quite good. Watching her father’s very slow chopstick movements, Arghana carefully removed some of the duck’s fatty meat and put it on his plate, then spoke.
“Father, have you heard any news from the West?”
“The West? You mean the highlands and the Bon River side?”
“Yes, Father — that’s right.”
The Khan’s face immediately took on an alert look.
Although the highlands and the Bon River are quiet for now, if they ever allied and invaded the empire, it could become a serious problem.
“Is there movement in the West? On the Bon River side?”
“No, Father. Bon River is quiet. This isn’t a military issue… Have you heard that there’s an irrigation (waterway) improvement project taking place in the West?”
The tension drained from the Khan’s face.
Isun pulled some perfectly steamed crab meat and placed it on the Khan’s plate; he then passed it back to Arghana as he spoke.
“I know. Catching and diverting water to grow more crops isn’t a bad thing. I hear they’re redirecting a few more channels downstream….”
As he spoke, the Khan glanced at Arghana’s expression.
“But Wihwi, you don’t look pleased. Why is that?”
Arghana thought back carefully to her previous life.
In her past life, when she had first heard of an irrigation project she, like the Khan, had thought there would be no problem — it might even improve harvests. But it had not gone well. The construction was shoddy, and because too many waterways were cut from upstream, the flow of water became a mess and disaster followed.
“Father, in my opinion, diverting the waterways seems dangerous.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Those in charge of the project say the Itun River holds a vast amount of water and its flow is calm, so they think they can divert channels and make lakes here and there for agricultural irrigation. But even if the Itun’s flow seems gentle, when such a volume keeps flowing, shallowly dug channels can’t hold up for long. The embankments won’t either.”
Arghana left out the details about past droughts and floods. That level of detail would be too far ahead for now and might not help persuade him.
Instead, the Khan patted Arghana’s back and said, “Wihwi, you worry too much. It’s good to care about state affairs, but you mustn’t spend all your strength only on national matters.”
“Father, that’s not—”
“Enough. But you’re right, so I will dispatch an inspector to the construction site so I can hear a firsthand report myself. Will that do?”
There was nothing to be done. Arghana thought it best to relent here.
“…Yes, Father. You’re right.”
“Eat. You love crab, so don’t say you have no appetite.”
“No, it’s delicious.”
The two finished their meal quietly but gently. Still, Arghana couldn’t shake an uneasy feeling as she stepped outside.
‘Even if an inspector is sent, once the Turegen family starts spending money, many will be bought off… I’ll need someone who won’t be swayed, someone who wouldn’t take bribes even if you gave them the country itself.’
She happened to have a suitable candidate in mind.
“Absolutely impossible.”
Arghana snorted at Tatasui’s words as he stood properly straight. The man cut off words like a blade; blunt and decisive.
“Why impossible?”
“No matter how much Her Highness the Princess favors our prince, I’m just a low-ranking civil official from Tahijin. Being an inspector — an imperial envoy — is out of the question, and the court would strongly oppose it.”
“I’m not asking that you accept because you want to.”
“Still, I can’t.”
Arghana narrowed her eyes.
“Tatasui, you’re refusing because you don’t want to be dragged into trouble, aren’t you?”
Tatasui deliberately looked away and muttered a curse under his breath. Damn, the princess is annoyingly perceptive… Still, he maintained a neat, expressionless stance and held to his position.
“There are better candidates.”
“But those candidates won’t be of use.”
“Why is that?”
“Because….”
Because they’d be bought by money.
Arghana was choosing Tatasui, who was close to Kartak, for no other reason. He was a complete stickler — jokes didn’t get through to him, he followed rules to the letter, and he did what had to be done no matter what. He was the sort of man who, even if the office caught fire, would stay at his desk to finish paperwork.
“If I told you it was an order from Kartak, you’d accept, wouldn’t you?”
“That’s not—”
A crack appeared in Tatasui’s otherwise expressionless face. Sure enough, his weakness was Kartak.
“I’ll bring Kartak here and have him give you the same order. Then you’ll have no choice but to accept the inspector’s appointment, right?”
“Princess, how could you do such a thing? The inspector for the West doesn’t have to be me.”
“No, it has to be you. Because the West is basically the Turegen family’s front yard.”
“Turegen?”
“Yes. If you sent some run-of-the-mill official, Turegen would buy them off with the money and drink them under the table — they wouldn’t be able to conduct a proper investigation. But you…”
Arghana let out a small smile, folded her arms, and appraised Tatasui from head to toe.
“You’re the sort of man who wouldn’t accept bribes even if I personally handed them to you, aren’t you?”
