1000 years ago :-
The story goes back to a thousand years in the past , when the empire of Goryeo was overthrown by a worior who led the military to end the rule of emperor Gongyang and established a new empire called Joseon.
At that time , the riots spread throughout the region and tribal people started a war against the new emporer Yi Soeng Gye , so he sent an army to different regions of the empire to destroy all the riots and disturbances .
An accomplished general was sent with a few troops to every region to vanquish the tribes.
...
The horses are galloping through the lands which are bathed with blood , the bodies of people are still lying on the ground and the soldiers are running their horses on the body of these warriors, the General with this troop leads his army on his horse , sitting proud and arrogant in his black robe and the flag of Joseon in his hand.
The sinster smile on his face deepens as he now sees the last village he has to conquer , he takes his hand out and gives his soldiers the sign to go forward , the blood on his hand has yet to dry as he fastens his pace to kill more people then he already has , the feeling of proudness is seeping from every corner of his body as he feels the happiness of victory already .
As they get close the village , he signs his archers to rain the arrows on the people , the fight breaks out and the army kills the tribal people brutally . After sometime, the fight has now ended the whole village has fallen silent and in the eerie silence , the villagers who have made it alive are being held hostage , kneeling on the ground , the general smiles with a devilish face and orders the mass murder of the people , the order does not really have an affect on the tribal people ,they already knew they were going to die when they started the war .
As they complete the task given by the general and are about to leave , a warrior comes back with a child in his hands , barely 3 or 4 years in age , the boy is beautiful and still learning to speak words , the boy trembles in the arms of the warrior as he goes forward towards his general.
"General , I found this child in one of the huts , he" .. The warrior was still trying to explain the situation ,when a sword flung towards him and the child's head fell on the ground with his body still in the warrior's arms.
"General , he was a Child" , the warrior cries out as he looks at the body in his arms.
"He is a child now, but he will be a man soon, we can't leave a threat unattended as the loyal army of the emperor , can we?" The general asked as he put his sword back inside the scabbard.
"Let's go back to the main city" , the general ordered as he got on the back of his horse and pulled it's reins.
....
The whole troop was dead silent as they rode their proud horses back to the main city, the general smiled as he looked at the fields full of corpses on his way back , trampling and crushing the bones of martyrs below his horse's hooves , he pulled the reins of his horse in one of such corpse fields and ordered his warriors to collect the bodies ,the warrior's silently did as was ordered by the general, and made a mountain of corpses in the middle of the field , the general slowly walked towards the mountain of bodies and stepped on them, going up , he took the flag from his subordinate and stabbed it in the heart of the dead body.
"Long live the General' , the warriors said in unison at the last move of their general and bowed to him and the journey back home continued after that.
At the gate of the city :-
As the troop of warriors reached the main gate of the city , an announcement was made from above the gate to warn the people.
"The Victorious And Mighty General
Lee Byung Ho has come back With Victory".
As soon as the General's name fell into the ears of the people inside the city walls , they immediately stopped anything they were doing and started looking for their children , as the sounds of horses steps came closer and closer , the whole city fell silent , the General came inside the city walls and was satisfied with the sight in front of him, as it should be, the people of city were all bowing down , their noses touching the ground , it was a sign that they respected their general , the one who fought to keep them safe and a sign of fear as he was the one who could kill them any moment .
The General drew his sword from the scabbard and dragged it from the ground making a line between the people and him and showing them the authority he held . The sound of sword hitting the stones was a warning that he was back , back to make them feel safe and scared , he was a god's gift but he was also a calamity that had befell on them.
The general took a look at the horrified faces of people and satisfied with their faces ,he paced to the court to report his victory to the emperor.
The General got down from his horse and signed the troop of warriors to withdraw , looking around the palace , the General went straight inside the court and saw a number of ministers standing on both sides of the hall, as soon as the hoard of ministers saw the General coming inside the hall, Every one of them bowed their heads in the direction of door and said in unison.
"Long Live The General".
The general took a look at the ministers who were chanting his name like a handful of headless chickens and made his way in front of the emperor.
He bowed his head a little in front of the emperor , seeing this gesture the emperor got up from his throne and walked to him.
"Byung Ho , you have made me proud yet again, with your skills , i am lucky that you are the part of the Joseon , i am sure no one can go against me as long as you are with me , the emperor said as he hugged the General ,but the General was not happy with the way the ruler had called him earlier.
"Byung Ho, how dare he, how dare he call my name without any respect", The General thought as he looked at the emperor in the eyes and stated.
"I will always be here to protect the people of Joseon, no matter what I have to do, No body can harm my people", The general said with a grim expression as he faced the emperor.
"Of course , of course , take a rest now General, you might be tired from this long battle" . The emperor stated patting his shoulder.
"Call me whenever you need me , i am always ready to fight for my people" . The general said before turning around and left without bowing to the emperor.
"He is getting more and more arrogant as the days pass", the emperors advisor said as everyone left from the court .
"I will find a way to kill him as soon as possible, i am going to get rid of him before he becomes more big of a threat, to my empire". The emperor answered clenching his fists.
The General left from the court , as he was coming back home he saw all the market was closed ,no people were outside their houses and the streets were empty , making him grin as he was proud that the people had not forgotten who really rules them and who they should be afraid of , as the general reached his palace, the grin on his face disappeared as a disgusted frown made it's way to his face .
A boy and a girl barely the age of 6 and 4 respectively ran around the yard laughing loudly as the boy tried to catch the girl , the scene was heartwarming ,the maids were laughing along them as they made sure that none of the two children fell down, the atmosphere of this courtyard was completely different from that of outside, which was gloomy and dark but the lively scene did not last long as the General stepped inside the courtyard .
As soon as the two children saw him ,they stopped in the middle of their play , they immediately kneeled on the ground and bowed their heads to the ground .
"Long live The General" , the maids and the kids said in unison in a loud voice , making a woman come out of her chambers , like the others, when she saw the General ,she bowed her head and said.
"Welcome Back Home' , she said in a voice that was strong yet weak , loud yet low, full of love yet disappointment.
The General didn't spare a look at the children or the woman and with a sharp turn he walked towards his chamber , Every sound of his footsteps echoing in the whole place.