At last, the main house of the Eunhae Merchant Group came into view.
Escort Guard Yeo Eung-am, who’d been following on horseback behind us, spoke to Escort Guards Myeong Jong and Chang Un.
“That’s the main house of the Eunhae Merchant Group over there.”
“Huh?”
“You mean that place?”
They asked back in shock.
“It’s way bigger than I imagined.”
The two Escort Guards had said they’d heard of our merchant group before, but judging by their reaction, it was probably just the name.
No wonder they were so startled seeing the main compound in person.
“Of course it’s big! We’re the second-largest merchant group in all of Hubei Province!”
We were only second for now, but before long we’d be the number one merchant group in all of Hubei.
With that hopeful resolve in mind, we rode the carriage through the main compound gate.
“Whoa, whoa!”
The coachman pulled the horses to a stop.
Palgap quickly jumped down from the carriage and set out the footstool.
As soon as I stepped down, the whole family had come out to welcome us.
“Did you return safely?”
At Grandfather’s gentle question, my parents and I bowed with proper courtesy.
“Your grandson has returned safely.”
“I have returned without incident, Father.”
“Your grandchild has come back.”
“I’m glad everyone is safe.”
After greeting Grandfather, I glanced to the side. Jin-ho and my two Cousins-in-law both looked well.
Right now, Jeong-ho was in Beijing, overseeing the establishment of our branch there.
Once I headed to Beijing, Jeong-ho would probably come back to the main house.
Building the Beijing branch was crucial, so one of the Deputy Merchant Lords had to stay there in person.
After the greetings, my parents and Grandfather went inside.
Thankfully, Geon-hyeok and Bo-yeon hadn’t forgotten my face. They burst into giggles the moment they saw me.
Palgap muttered something under their breath when they saw that, but…
Still, seeing my eldest Cousin-in-law standing there alone made me feel oddly guilty. I really needed to hurry to Beijing and switch places with Jeong-ho.
“Hey, was it good?”
At Jin-ho’s question, I tilted my head.
“What was?”
“Don’t play dumb. The Dragon-Phoenix Martial Gathering. Ah… I really wanted to see it too.”
He looked like a sulking puppy, and I couldn’t help feeling a little guilty.
But thinking about it, it was a good thing I was the one who went.
Unlike in my previous life, Mother had watched this Dragon-Phoenix Martial Gathering in person. In that situation, Jin-ho would have missed the matches again, busy bringing back fish bone powder and lime like in my previous life.
If anything had happened to Mother…
Just imagining it was horrifying.
But now it’s something that never happened, so it didn’t matter anymore.
I gave him a small smile and answered.
“It was great. Ah, and Cousin Hyang-ok joined the competition this time too.”
“Hyang-ok did?”
“Yeah, she came with the disciples of Mount Emei. I think she made it to the third round of the main tournament? Somewhere around there.”
“Wow, that’s impressive.”
“When you see her next time, don’t go saying congratulations or anything.”
“Why not?”
“She lost by a hair and she’s still furious about it.”
“Ugh!”
Knowing Cousin Hyang-ok’s personality all too well, Jin-ho flinched.
“Thanks for the warning. So how did it end?”
“Ah, this time the winner was Young Hero Peng Gang-un of the Hebei Peng Clan, and the runner-up was Lady Zhuge Yu-ah.”
“Really? A young lady of the Zhuge Clan took second place?”
Jin-ho looked more shocked by the Zhuge Clan’s young lady taking runner-up than by Young Hero Peng Gang-un of the Hebei Peng Clan winning.
He knew as well as anyone that the Zhuge Clan’s martial power had never drawn much attention.
“By the way, who are those faces I don’t recognize behind you?”
I introduced the two Escort Guards to my brother.
“They’ll be part of my escort squad. They’re warriors from the Mount Hua Sect and Mount Zhongnan Sect, and… well, because of circumstances, I’m taking them in.”
“I see.”
I then introduced them to Jin-ho.
“This is my second brother.”
“I’m Eun Jin-ho.”
“It’s an honor to meet you. I’m Myeong Jong.”
“I’m Chang Un. Please take care of us.”
After exchanging greetings, Jin-ho patted my shoulder twice.
“You must be tired. Go get some rest.”
“Yeah.”
I headed to my detached residence with everyone. Still, with six escorts now, it was going to be hard for all of us to stay in the detached residence together.
Looked like I’d have to build a separate building next to it, just like in my previous life.
I went into my room.
Seeing that there wasn’t a speck of dust, the servants must have scrubbed the place down the moment they heard I was coming back.
Coming home after so long, I felt strangely off.
But it wasn’t a bad kind of strange. More like the feeling of finally standing in front of something you’d been missing.
In the end, there was only one conclusion.
Home really was the best.
.
.
.
That evening, I went to see External Chief Administrator Go Il-pyeong.
I wanted to ask him to train Escort Guards Myeong Jong and Chang Un.
“Welcome.”
When I stepped into his office, the External Chief Administrator greeted me with a hearty smile.
“Hahaha! For the Dragon-Phoenix Martial Gathering’s hero, the Handsome Young Hero, to visit this shabby place personally—what an honor!”
It hadn’t even been a full day, and word had already reached his ears!
Father…
“Please stop teasing me. I’m already feeling pressured and embarrassed enough as it is.”
“Hahaha! I know you’re nothing like that. If anything, I bet you’re already racking your brains over how to put that ‘hero’ title to good use.”
“…”
Damn it, the External Chief Administrator knew me way too well.
“So then, what brings you all the way here?”
“Actually, I ended up taking in two Escort Guards in Luoyang.”
I explained the situation to him in detail. Even if no one else knew, the External Chief Administrator at least had to be in the loop.
“So, you’re saying you rescued them right before they were expelled from their sects.”
“Yes.”
The External Chief Administrator tapped the desk a few times, then nodded.
“Understood. I’ll make sure they’re trained properly.”
“I’m counting on you. Ah, and I think they’ll need about three months of training. They’re seriously lacking in real combat experience.”
“In that case, just as you said, about three months of training should do.”
With that, we wrapped up our discussion and I rose from my seat.
“Deputy Merchant Lord.”
Suddenly, the External Chief Administrator clasped his fists toward me and bowed his head.
Startled, I quickly waved my hands.
“What are you doing? Please, raise your head.”
“No. I’m expressing my gratitude to you, Deputy Merchant Lord. If, because of what happened at this Dragon-Phoenix Martial Gathering, the Merchant Lord and his wife had suffered something terrible…”
“…”
“I might never have been able to repay the grace I’ve received.”
The External Chief Administrator continued.
“So I thank you, Deputy Merchant Lord. I won’t forget this favor.”
Well, this was unexpected. I never thought I’d be receiving thanks from him.
It was a little embarrassing, but it didn’t feel bad.
The External Chief Administrator straightened up again and spoke.
“Where are the two Escort Guards?”
“Ah, they’re right outside.”
“Efficient as always.”
We left his office.
In front of it, Escort Guards Jin Yu and Yeo Eung-am were standing there with Escort Guards Myeong Jong and Chang Un.
“My name is Go Il-pyeong. I’m the External Chief Administrator of the Eunhae Merchant Group and Commander of the Eunpoong Division.”
“It’s an honor to meet you. I’m Myeong Jong.”
“It’s an honor to meet you. I’m Chang Un.”
They clasped their fists and bowed politely.
“Starting tomorrow, you two will be training in the Eunpoong Division for three months. Only then can you become escorts for the members of the Eunhae Merchant Group. So devote yourselves.”
“Understood.”
“We will.”
The External Chief Administrator nodded.
“Right now you probably feel wronged, worried about your future, all of that. I understand how you feel. But since things have already turned out this way, give it everything you’ve got. If you do, one day your names might shake the whole Murim. Just like how I earned the title ‘One Sword Sweeps the Sky.'”
At the mention of ‘One Sword Sweeps the Sky’, the two Escort Guards’ eyes lit up.
That was how well-known External Chief Administrator Go Il-pyeong’s title was in Murim.
Judging from his words, though, it sounded like he’d once been in a situation similar to theirs…
No wonder Father hadn’t opposed taking the two Escort Guards in.
.
.
.
The next day.
For the first time in a while, I circulated my Qi and did breathing exercises in the courtyard of my detached residence.
There was still no word that Master had returned, so today’s training was on my own.
I went over everything I’d learned, one thing at a time.
I refused to let Master look at me and say my skills had regressed.
After finishing my morning training and washing up, I headed to the dining hall.
“The hero has arrived!”
Hearing Jin-ho’s teasing voice, I couldn’t help but sigh.
“Come on, brother.”
“What? You are a hero. The hero of the Dragon-Phoenix Martial Gathering! Look, it’s even written here in this book…”
The book in his hands was the one I’d seen Palgap reading before, [New Generation Heroes of the Thirty-Sixth Dragon-Phoenix Martial Gathering].
“Where’d you even get that?”
“How else? I asked Supervisor Yun.”
“And how did you even know that kind of book existed?”
“Of course I knew. I’ve got every one of them from the Fifteenth Gathering onward in my study.”
“…”
“It says it loud and clear right here. ‘Handsome Hero Eun Seo-ho’ and ‘White Butterfly Sword Hero Seo Wu’.”
“Ugh!”
My expression must have looked like I’d just bitten into rotten cabbage, because my family burst out laughing.
After the meal, I attended a meeting at Eunwol Pavilion for the first time in a while.
As expected, the main topic of today’s meeting was me becoming the hero of the Dragon-Phoenix Martial Gathering.
“To think you became the hero without even entering the tournament yourself!”
“This is something that will go down in Murim history.”
“Indeed.”
Sigh… they were all really enjoying teasing me.
“Come to think of it, I heard the Sichuan Branch Chief’s eldest daughter advanced to the main tournament and achieved excellent results. Shouldn’t we send a congratulatory message?”
“You’re right. Pavilion Lord Jeok.”
At Father’s words, Pavilion Lord Jeok Byeong-cheol bowed his head slightly.
“Yes, I’ll see that a congratulatory letter is sent.”
“Then let’s begin the meeting.”
The first to speak was Internal Chief Administrator Yu So-ak.
“This year’s harvest is looking anything but normal. Just as the third Deputy Merchant Lord predicted… we’re expecting a famine.”
It was now the middle of the Tenth Month.
The harvest season was almost over.
“So it’s really turning out that way?”
“Of course, in our case we’ve stockpiled enough grain that we won’t have to worry for several years, but in times like this, consumer spending always shrinks.”
At the Internal Chief Administrator’s words, Pavilion Lord Sang Yu nodded.
“If consumer spending shrinks as the Internal Chief Administrator says, we should assume next year will see almost no growth for the merchant group.”
When a famine hits, people stop opening their wallets. It was simple.
“Then what’s our countermeasure?”
At Father’s question, Pavilion Lord Sang Yu answered.
“We’ll have to target people with money. Even during a famine, the landowners still live comfortably.”
“That makes sense.”
I raised my hand.
“I have a suggestion.”
“Go ahead.”
“First, we should bring in more courtesans to Lotus Pavilion, the pleasure house owned by our merchant group.”
“Courtesans?”
“Yes. When a famine gets really bad, there’s something the court always hands down. A prohibition on alcohol.”
“Ah!”
“So we need to make sure people can still enjoy themselves even without alcohol.”
“You’re right.”
At that moment, Jin-ho muttered under his breath.
“Man, does that mean I won’t get to drink? That’s a shame.”
“Huh? Weren’t you quitting drinking?”
“I just cut back.”
“Don’t worry. Once the prohibition ends, I’ll make sure you get to taste every kind of liquor in the entire empire.”
“Huh?”
I went on.
“This ban on alcohol will probably last quite a while. So who do you think will suffer the most?”
“The brewers, of course.”
“I want us to gather the brewers whose businesses go under and bring them under the Eunhae Merchant Group. It’s not like the Eunhae Merchant Group is just planning to do business for three or four years and then quit.”
At my words, Father’s eyes lit up.
“So you mean we should prepare for after the famine passes.”
“Exactly. We have to invest ahead of time if we want a bright future.”
Of course, that was a perfectly good reason, but it wasn’t my real one.
In my previous life, when the famine dragged on, the imperial palace ordered merchants to trade with foreign nations and purchase grain.
And what the foreigners liked most were the empire’s many different liquors.
But by then, countless breweries had already shut down and the brewers had scattered, so it had been a real headache.
In the middle of all that, the Baekcheon Merchant Group used the wines of the martial clans to dominate that trade and made a tidy profit.
Thanks to that, they climbed all the way up among the Hundred Great Merchant Groups Under the Heaven.
Thinking about the prohibition made me remember the taverns in Hangzhou.
And I thought of Manor Lord Seong Jun of the Seong Family House, who’d kicked out the Yangyang Martial Hall and put a tavern in its place.
Come to think of it, I’d heard construction on the tavern he was building was progressing painfully slowly.
Which meant he was that short on funds.
I needed to make time to visit Hangzhou as well.
Letting those thoughts tumble around, I let out a quiet sigh.
There was so much to do, but the Beijing branch needed to be completed first.
“You’re right.”
Father nodded.
“And to be honest, it’s thanks to your advice that we can sit here discussing things so calmly. Without it, we’d be struggling to make ends meet like everyone else.”
At his words, everyone nodded.
In the end, the meeting concluded with a decision to draw up plans based on my proposal and put them into action.
“Anyway, putting that aside, the day after tomorrow is your birthday.”
That was right.
My birthday was in the Eleventh Month, and once it passed, I’d be twenty-one.
“Is there anything you want?”
At that question, I thought for a moment, then nodded.
“Yes, Father, there is something I want.”
–TL Notes–
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