Emeralds and Enemies

Chapter Ten

The selection matches were an important social event for the Go family. It helped that their eldest boy was such a fine fencer and now their youngest was starting with scores high enough to land him in the junior finals. 

Minister Go was the most senior member of the King's court to attend and he made a point of greeting as many of the parents of the other candidates as he could. His wife was also busy with her social rounds while their boys trailed behind.

Me Yan started to slow down so San Jin took their father aside and asked if they might leave early. He scowled at them for not mentioning the injury sooner and arranged for transportation and a healer. Minister Go then started the process of extricating his wife from the chattering circle she was so animatedly entertaining. He trusted the boys to get home safely but did not want to wait too long to find out more about what had happened.

Me Yan was embarrassed having to explain first the healer, and then again to his father, just how his knee got hurt. "I should have been more on my guard. Those punks wouldn't have been able to wind me. I am not sure the hit to my knee was entirely deliberate. There was a lot of milling about by the scoreboards." One glance at his brother proved this dodge would not be accepted so he tried to shift the focus.

"Park Junseo from Ilidan was the one who helped me out of the crowd. He did enough of an adjustment so I could walk," Me Yan smiled bravely.

"The boy who did the extra flip?" His father waited for confirmation and grinned at Me Yan's quick nod.

"His father is a doctor and he said he had practice with his own injuries." San Jin felt responsible for allowing the treatment.

"Even so, he should not have done an adjustment without practitioner supervision." The healer frowned as he probed Me Yan's knee a bit more. "He may have saved you a slow, painful recovery but it could have gone the other way."

"Junseo was very clear this was just first aide to help me get to a proper healer." Me Yan said and his brother nodded. Neither wanted such an able helper to be in trouble.

"When you see your new friend again, tell him I expect to see him at our Academy. He doesn't need to wait for the fall classes to start." The Healer packed up and went on his way without waiting for the boys to reply.

"I am disappointed you waited to tell us about the injuries." Minister Go stared directly at San Jin but his younger brother jumped in.

"You know how much Mother looks forward to these outings. Beside you have told us enough times about why it is important for Ministers of the Crown to be out in public with their families." Me Yan's response proved how sincere he was about wanting to be part of his family's success. He looked to his brother for help.

San Jin offered up his own justification, "We also didn't want any sort of confrontation with the Choi's today. Not with how tense things have been."

"It probably didn't help one of them was on Judging panel." Minister Go observed dryly before going to update his wife. Her response was a lot more restrained than he expected. After she checked in with the boys and arranged for a meal to be delivered to their rooms, she returned with writing implements.

"We should really send the boy from Ilidan a token of thanks. Do you know anything more about him? Oh, do go look him up on the lists. I know you brought them home with you."

Minister Go could only chuckle and comply. It was not as if the lists were confidential. A quick glance through the exam ranking confirmed the positive impression his boys conveyed.

"The match registration says the boy is at Professor Kim's Academy. You can direct your note to him there." Minister Go frowned slightly since the school's reputation was not as strong as it once had been.

"Professor Kim? The Confucian scholar? Didn't his father serve as an Ambassador? I think I remember something about a Court Physician marrying into that family."

Minister Go could only shrug. His wife kept closer tabs on the network of eminent, and nearly eminent families, in the Capital than he had time for.

"I am just happy a boy from out-of-town made it into the qualifying rounds and he proved so helpful." Minister Go took this to be a sign that some of his modest reforms were starting to work. Improving the security for the written examinations was a work in progress. Holding public qualifying matches should reduce the temptations for the judging panels to be influenced by the candidate's social connections or potential financial incentives. Maybe now there was more room for talent to rise. He would have to wait and see what recommendations came forward but he did add his own note about the healer's academy.