Then why did the Jinkyeon Merchant Lord kidnap Artisan Gong’s family in my past life?
If a concubinage contract had already been signed, there would’ve been no reason to resort to kidnapping…
Ah!
I think I understand now.
It was because of the thief I caught.
If I hadn’t caught that thief yesterday, Artisan Gong would’ve simply lost the money.
He probably would’ve still scraped by somehow.
Given his character, I’m sure people around him would’ve helped.
That was something even the Jinkyeon Merchant Lord didn’t foresee.
And perhaps something happened that kept them from keeping an eye on him.
So Artisan Gong must’ve quietly left the Jinkyeon Merchant Group.
Then they discovered the wooden martial dolls, and the group—always watching his surroundings—learned of Gong Mil’s talent. That’s how the tragedy began.
I couldn’t help but laugh inwardly.
A trivial action like catching a thief had changed everything this much.
And by saving that thief’s life, I was now able to stop this filthy scheme.
Right now, rescuing Artisan Gong and his family comes first.
“You claim we’re detaining someone from the Eunhae Merchant Group? That’s absurd.”
“It’s not absurd.”
I pulled out a paper from my robe.
It was the contract between Artisan Gong, his family, and myself.
His seal was clearly on it.
Of course, Artisan Gong had never signed such a contract. I forged it.
“We signed the contract just yesterday.”
I lightly tapped Gong Du-i’s leg with my foot. He wasn’t clueless—he caught on quickly and chimed in.
“Yes, that’s right. He visited yesterday and offered favorable terms, so I signed.”
Now that he’d acknowledged it himself, it technically wasn’t a forgery anymore.
I declared confidently,
“Since last night, Artisan Gong and his family have been members of our group.”
The contract I had prepared just in case after hearing the thief’s confession was proving its worth.
I was the one who raised the Eunhae Merchant Group to one of the Three Great Merchant Groups under heaven.
Forging a contract like this was child’s play.
Of course, the other party was also a merchant, and if he examined it closely, he would be able to tell it was fake—but I had no intention of giving him the chance.
At my and Artisan Gong’s words, Hwang Garyeong looked flustered. Then he smirked coldly.
“In that case…”
With a sly grin, Hwang Garyeong said,
“You’ll have to compensate for what he stole, since he’s now under your group.”
“What did he steal?”
“These gold taels. We found them in his home.”
He held out a stack of gold taels.
“Let me take a look.”
“Go ahead.”
I picked up the gold taels and asked,
“These are real gold taels?”
“Of course!”
“Don’t lie.”
At my words, his face flushed red.
“W-what kind of nonsense…”
I pulled a dagger from my sleeve. It was a gift from my two older brothers.
Seeing it, Hwang Garyeong flinched. I imbued a bit of internal Qi into the blade and slashed the gold tael.
The gold leaf peeled off, revealing a dark metal underneath.
“Isn’t counterfeiting currency a serious crime?”
“That, uh… well…”
Hwang Garyeong was clearly panicked, unsure what to do. I gave him a wide grin.
There were two reasons I’d known the taels he presented were fake.
First was the weight.
The feel in my hand didn’t match that of genuine gold taels, and I’ve handled more of those in my past life than I can count.
Of course I’d notice something was off.
Second was the personality of the Jinkyeon Merchant Lord.
Their group isn’t that large yet. Gold taels aren’t something they’d part with lightly.
And someone as greedy and suspicious as him? There’s no way he’d hand out real gold for something like this.
My conclusion: it was just metal shaped like taels, covered in a thin layer of gold.
Even if they hadn’t used it in actual trade, it still counts as currency forgery.
And judging from Hwang Garyeong’s reaction, he knew it too.
Just then, seemingly having heard the news late, the Jinkyeon Merchant Lord arrived where I stood.
“Hah! What disgraceful behavior in someone else’s group…”
“Good day, Merchant Lord.”
It’d been a while since I saw that face.
I hadn’t had to deal with him since I ruined his merchant group in my previous life.
“Good day? This is hardly good! What’s the meaning of all this?”
At his side, Hwang Garyeong waved his hand frantically, clearly signaling this wasn’t the time.
“You—what in the world are you doing—”
“Merchant Lord, I’ve just discovered something very interesting.”
I pointed at the gold tael.
“You’ve been manufacturing counterfeit gold taels.”
“…!”
“I intend to report this to Master Ji Hyeon.”
At that, he immediately tried to deny it.
“W-what nonsense is this? Counterfeit taels, really?”
“There’s a Jinkyeon Merchant Group seal engraved on the bottom of this tael.”
“Ghk!”
That must’ve been their way to prevent swapping it with a real one.
But now that very mark was tightening around his throat.
“Now, please step aside. I need to go see Master Ji Hyeon.”
Hearing that, he quickly grabbed my sleeve.
Smack—!
But one of my bodyguards coolly knocked his hand away.
He dropped to his knees and cried out in desperation.
“P-please, let it go just this once! I’ll do anything you ask!”
“Are you serious?”
“Of course!”
Currency forgery is a major crime. If he got dragged off now, he’d suffer serious consequences.
But I didn’t plan to ruin him with just this.
It was a serious offense, sure, but maybe not enough to fully bring him down.
This was bait.
Bait that’d let me take down the Jinkyeon Merchant Lord for good.
“Alright. I’ll think about what I want from you by tonight. I’ll hold onto this for now.”
“Understood.”
“Then, let’s go.”
I helped Artisan Gong to his feet.
“And his family—I’m taking them with me.”
“A-alright.”
I turned to the bodyguard beside me.
“Tell Squad Leader Jeong I’ll be staying at Artisan Gong’s home tonight.”
“Yes, sir.”
As I heard that reply, I glanced over at the Jinkyeon Merchant Lord.
If he’s the same man I knew, there’s no way he’ll ignore the bait I just laid.
I returned to Artisan Gong’s home with him and his family.
Palgap, having received my message, brought Gong Lae and joined us at their house.
“Father!”
“Lae!”
I watched the tearful reunion of the family with quiet warmth.
A moment later, Artisan Gong came to me and bowed deeply.
“Thank you so much for saving my family.”
“I only did what anyone should’ve done.”
“You say that, but for those of us who received your grace, all we can do is be grateful.”
I gave a small chuckle.
“Then, shall we finalize our contract?”
“Of course.”
At that, Artisan Gong’s wife asked,
“A contract?”
Artisan Gong explained the situation, and his wife nodded.
“I see. So that’s what happened.”
“You’ll have to start anew in a different place, but I promise to treat you more than fairly.”
To that, Artisan Gong waved his hand.
“Please, don’t say such things. It’s a thousand times better than becoming a bonded servant. Ah! You must be hungry, Young Master.”
“Shall I catch a chicken for dinner?”
At his wife’s suggestion, I smiled and said,
“No need to worry about the meal. Palgap.”
“Yes! You called, Young Master?”
“Go get something for us to eat tonight.”
“Understood!”
I handed Palgap the pouch. He took it and left through the gate.
“Then… you’re Gong Mil, right?”
At my words, Gong Mil nodded.
“Yes.”
“Mind having a chat with me?”
“Of course, go ahead.”
“Actually, there’s something I need. Do you think you can make it?”
“What is it you need?”
I crouched and began drawing on the ground with my finger.
“Something like a puppet that dances by itself at regular intervals.”
Gong Lae, who was listening nearby, suddenly chimed in.
“Oh? That’s the one my brother made for me before, right?”
“…What?”
Scratching his head, Gong Mil replied,
“Just like my sister said, it’s a puppet I made a while ago. I think it’s still somewhere around here…”
He asked us to wait a moment, then went into the shed next to the house and came back with something.
‘No way…’
What he brought out was a wooden puppet.
It looked a bit rough, but it definitely resembled the Self-Dancing Doll.
“Hah…”
He’d already made this?
Just how much of a genius is this kid?
“But… the problem is, it’s broken now.”
I asked him,
“Can you make it again?”
“Of course. I remember how I did it.”
“Good. Then let’s make it together tomorrow.”
“Alright.”
“And there’s something I need your permission for.”
“Permission from me? For what?”
“I want to sell the things you make to people. I wanted to get your permission first.”
“Hmm…”
Gong Mil scratched his head.
“Would that really be okay? It’s not like what I made is anything special…”
“You don’t need to worry about that. What you made is brilliant. I’ll give you a portion of the profits. That way, you can use the money to support your parents and buy your sister something nice too.”
I asked him,
“So, what do you think?”
Gong Mil thought for a moment, then nodded.
“Alright.”
“No, that’s not right.”
“Huh?”
I told him,
“You can’t just nod and accept right away. What if someone’s trying to cheat you?”
“But… you’re the one who saved us…”
I wagged my finger at the boy scratching his head.
“Even so, you can’t trust too easily. Someone might save you just to use you later on.”
“Ah… that’s true.”
“If anyone ever makes you an offer like this, you need to check how the profits are divided, what the working conditions are, all the terms and conditions.”
“Ah…”
So I gave Gong Mil a crash course on contracts, and both Gong Mil and Gong Lae listened with wide, curious eyes, soaking it all in.
They were siblings truly worth teaching.
Unlike the bustling Geumseon Market, Geumseon Village lay in darkness, most of its residents already fast asleep.
A group with a menacing aura crept into the village.
Among them stood a man.
The Jinkyeon Merchant Lord.
“Is everything ready?”
“Yes. We’re all set.”
He grinned coldly.
Today, he’d suffered a humiliation he never expected.
Some punk from the Eunhae Merchant Group had used a counterfeit gold tael he himself had created to threaten him.
Of course his pride had taken a hit.
‘That rotten brat…’
And on top of that, his plan to take Artisan Gong had been ruined. His rage toward Eun Seo-ho was boiling over.
But—
He wasn’t the type to just take a hit and do nothing.
He’d heard that Eun Seo-ho was staying at Artisan Gong’s house. All the better.
The plan tonight was simple.
Kidnap Artisan Gong and his family, and kill Eun Seo-ho.
At the same time, retrieve the counterfeit gold tael Eun Seo-ho had taken.
The dead don’t talk.
And they’d make it look like the work of river bandits.
Geumseon Village had been attacked by such bandits before, who raided homes for valuables.
That’s why they were wearing clothes made of fish skin and carrying Watersplit Daggers (分水刺) and Watersplit Sabers (分水刀).
Signature tools and attire of the river bandits.
As long as they left no trace of themselves, people would assume it was a bandit raid.
‘Why the hell did that brat have to act all high and mighty?’
There were bodyguards guarding Gong’s house, but they weren’t a concern.
There’s no defense against sheer numbers.
Even if Eun Seo-ho was the heir of the Eunhae Merchant Group, it didn’t matter.
As long as there was no proof, the Jinkyeon Merchant Group wouldn’t be held responsible.
“But… do we really have to go this far?”
At Hwang Garyeong’s hesitant question, the Merchant Lord replied,
“What? You scared?”
“I just don’t think we need to kill him. And if they somehow figure out it was us, the Eunhae Merchant Group won’t sit quietly. They’re among the top ten in all of Hubei.”
“What if that brat takes the gold tael to the authorities? You and I both won’t walk away clean then, right?”
“…Still, why did you even make the thing in the first place?”
“You think I was gonna hand over real gold to anyone? I had no choice.”
At that, Hwang Garyeong clicked his tongue inwardly.
He was following orders because the man was his superior, but even he was fed up with the Merchant Lord’s greed.
The kind of man who didn’t care if others bled or died, as long as he didn’t lose even a single grain.
–TL Notes–
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