It was finally the day to depart for Beijing.
Since we would be leaving at dawn, I had already said my goodbyes to my family yesterday.
“Young Master, everything is ready.”
“Yeah. I’ll be right out.”
I headed to the carriage yard together with the Escort Guards.
The people from the Virtuous Wind Department had already come out and were busily making preparations to depart.
This time, the Eunwol Pavilion had seriously discussed the Virtuous Wind Department’s future base and decided to officially station the Virtuous Wind Department in Beijing.
After all, it was the imperial capital and the most prosperous city, so our merchant group’s rise and fall would inevitably be swayed by Beijing’s situation.
To grow the merchant group further, a Beijing branch was not only essential, it was absolutely crucial.
In truth, this decision carried a hidden message from my father to me.
It was basically, “I’m counting on you, my son…”
“Department Chief, you’re here?”
“Good morning.”
Everyone who saw me greeted me as I passed, and I exchanged greetings with them while heading to one spot.
There, the Changin Escort Bureau’s Chief and Squad Leader Jeong Chung of the Eunpoong Division’s Third Squad were waiting.
It had been a while since I last saw Squad Leader Jeong Chung.
“I’ll be in your care today.”
“How could there be any doubt?”
Getting familiar not only with the Eunpoong Division but also with the people from the escort bureau was very important, so I kept the mood light and friendly as we exchanged greetings.
“May we depart now?”
At Squad Leader Jeong Chung’s question, I looked to Palgap, and Palgap nodded.
“Yes, everything’s ready. You can leave whenever you wish.”
“Then let’s head out.”
“Understood.”
I made sure everyone from the Virtuous Wind Department had boarded their carriages, then walked over to my own.
“I’ll be in your care.”
Escort Guard Seo Wu answered on behalf of the others.
“We only ever do our utmost to protect our lord.”
“That’s reassuring.”
Once I climbed into the carriage, Palgap followed after me and took the front seat.
Through the window, I could see the Escort Guards mounting their horses one by one.
Fweeeet! Fweeeet! Fweeeet!
Along with the sound of the whistle, the Escort Chief’s voice rang out.
“Move out!”
The procession began to move toward Beijing.
I unconsciously glanced toward Father’s office and my eyes widened.
Huh?
Through the office window, Father was watching our group leave the main compound.
As a merchant group grows bigger, the Merchant Lord’s authority naturally grows with it.
Which meant that whenever the Merchant Lord showed up in person, things inevitably grew hectic. That was probably why he hadn’t come out on purpose.
I waved my hand toward Father.
I’ll come back safely, Father.
This time, while Father still held the Merchant Lord’s seat, I would turn him into the greatest Merchant Lord under heaven.
.
.
.
The road to Beijing was one I had traveled so often by now that it felt completely familiar.
Even so, I didn’t let my guard down.
You never knew when or where trouble might suddenly break out.
Still, it was worth the effort the Embroidered Guard warriors put into breaking the ice upstream on the river again this year.
Thanks to them, there was no flooding downriver this year either, and no disaster victims because of it.
If the river had flooded, this spring’s crops would have been… just thinking about it was horrifying.
I felt oddly proud knowing that, because I had intervened, the huge uprising that had tormented everyone in my past life wasn’t growing as large this time.
By the way, when should I head to Hangzhou?
For now, the pleasure houses in Hangzhou were still making plenty of money, so they probably wouldn’t sell cheaply…
Maybe I should visit around next spring.
And by then, the ones I absolutely had to get my hands on would be there as well.
Ah…
Come to think of it, once I got to Beijing I still had to finish learning the Imperial Palace Martial Art.
.
.
.
We finally arrived in Beijing.
Because we moved quickly, we made it to Beijing without any other incidents.
And no matter how hungry people were, no one was foolish enough to start an uprising near Beijing.
“Welcome.”
Branch Chief Eun, who had been appointed head of the Beijing branch, came out to greet us.
“It’s good to see you again.”
“You must be tired from the journey. Please rest first.”
“I appreciate the sentiment, but I’ll have to pass.”
But I wasn’t in a position to leisurely rest and shake off the fatigue of travel.
There was a pile of things waiting for me to handle here in Beijing.
“First, I’d like you to report everything that’s happened so far. I’ll be in the temporary residence.”
“Understood.”
Branch Chief Eun gave me a somewhat pitying look. Did I really look that pitiful?
I immediately headed to the temporary residence prepared at the Beijing branch.
A little later.
Branch Chief Eun arrived at my temporary residence, arms full of documents.
“You got here much faster than I expected.”
“I thought Deputy Merchant Lord would want a report as soon as you arrived, so I prepared everything in advance.”
Ever since I scolded him last time, he seemed to be putting his whole soul into his work.
I carefully went through the documents laid out on the desk one by one and asked him to walk me through them.
He calmly picked out the key points and explained them.
“…I believe that’s the reason that regulation was created.”
“I see.”
I was really pleased with how he handled things.
“You’ve worked hard. Let’s pick a day soon and have a big company dinner.”
I continued with a smile.
“Even if you don’t drink, having something sweet to sip on is enough to lift your mood, isn’t it?”
“Hahaha. That’s true.”
After Branch Chief Eun left, I started going over the documents he’d brought once more, line by line.
It wasn’t because I didn’t trust him; it was to draw the overall picture.
One of the things I’d learned in my past life was that whenever you tackled something big, you had to sketch the big picture first.
Only then could you decide what our merchant group should take within that picture and when we needed to move.
Failing to do that and missing out on profits you could have had was truly a sad thing.
But even more important was figuring out how much we could take without trouble coming back to bite us.
If things went wrong, the entire merchant group could be blown apart.
Right now, the most critical issues were the famine, the Prohibition Decree, and the uprisings.
That was all as I’d expected, but…
I should probably just be grateful there was nothing outside my predictions.
That evening.
I sent a letter to Warrior Jin Yeong through Escort Guard Lee Pil.
The letter asked when I could resume my Imperial Palace Martial Art training now that I’d arrived in Beijing in the spring.
But Escort Guard Lee Pil returned with unexpected news.
“Warrior Jin Yeong is currently away, I was told.”
“Do they at least know when he will be back?”
“No. They say he has already been away for over a month.”
Then there was nothing to do but wait until Warrior Jin Yeong returned.
I did want to learn the Imperial Palace Martial Art as quickly as possible, but Warrior Jin Yeong was a proper member of the Embroidered Guard and a very busy person.
So I had to be understanding.
Still, His Majesty had to know I was here—there was no way he’d summon me first thing tomorrow morning, right?
Surely not…
No matter what, he’d at least give me a few days to rest.
Or so I thought, but—
“His Majesty is summoning you.”
“…”
So much for thinking I’d get a few days off.
This time, the person who had come to fetch me was a Eunuch. I had seen this one working close by the Emperor several times.
“Get ready and follow me.”
“Understood.”
I replied and hurried to prepare to enter the Imperial Palace. Since I was going to the palace, I put on clean clothes, but with so many eyes there, I avoided anything too flashy.
“For Your Excellency to personally come and escort me like this, I hardly know how to express my gratitude.”
First, I lavishly gilded the Eunuch’s face with praise. If that person formed a bad first impression of me, it could cause all sorts of trouble down the line.
Since this Eunuch worked so close to the Emperor, there was a good chance of being from the Eastern Depot.
Which meant that if I managed to coax a bit, I might be able to get some useful information.
Of course, if indeed from the Eastern Depot, that mouth would be very tight-lipped—but it wasn’t as if I was after major secrets anyway.
Just a few trivial things would be more than enough.
“For someone so famous as the Handsome Young Hero, aren’t you being a bit too modest?”
“Hahaha. It’s only an empty title, so I’m embarrassed to be praised like that.”
“I merely follow His Majesty’s orders. Deputy Merchant Lord, you are one of the very few people His Majesty personally summons to hear opinions from. You can afford to have a bit more confidence in yourself.”
Then why did that sound like, “easy to use and order around,” to my ears?
“Thank you. By the way, how is His Majesty’s mood today?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Well, if His Majesty is in a foul mood, I should avoid doing anything that might add to his worries, shouldn’t I? I’m only asking out of loyal concern for His Majesty.”
“Hmm… Well, it’s true there’s hardly anyone as loyal to His Majesty as Deputy Merchant Lord Eun.”
The Eunuch nodded a few times, then spoke quietly.
“His Majesty’s mood hasn’t been very good lately. Not that His Majesty has ever been cheerful often… but as you know, the situation these days is far from good, isn’t it?”
“That’s true.”
“Perhaps because of that, His Majesty’s mood is even worse than usual. On top of it all, contact with Warrior Jin Yeong has been cut off.”
“What?”
The Eunuch tilted their head and asked back.
“You didn’t know?”
“…No.”
“Heh, I see. In fact, they say it’s been about three days since anyone heard from Warrior Jin Yeong.”
Two thoughts popped into my head at the same time.
First, the fact that contact with Warrior Jin Yeong had been cut off meant something was seriously wrong.
Second, why was a tight-lipped Eastern Depot Eunuch giving me information about Warrior Jin Yeong?
But before I could untangle those questions, we arrived at His Majesty’s office.
Once our presence was announced inside, the doors opened shortly after.
I entered, knelt, and offered my formal bow.
“This humble merchant, Eun Seo-ho, greets His Majesty the Emperor. Ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand ten-thousand years!”
“Raise your head.”
“Your boundless grace overwhelms me.”
I carefully lifted my head.
In just a few months, His Majesty looked as if aged all at once.
That alone showed how dire the empire’s situation was.
“I heard you arrived yesterday.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“You must not have had time to rest. I’m sorry to summon you like this.”
Huh?
What did I just hear? His Majesty the Emperor apologized?
The person in front of me was really His Majesty, right?
Surely a flood dragon hadn’t transformed and taken his place or something?
That ridiculous thought flashed through my mind, but I tightened up, recalling what the Eunuch had just told me.
I could clearly see deep worry etched across His Majesty’s face.
“This humble merchant is fine. It seems Your Majesty’s burdens have been heavy lately.”
“Has there ever been a time when the work wasn’t hard?”
Well, he had a point.
Then was His Majesty’s foul mood because contact with Warrior Jin Yeong had been lost?
Was the reason that Eunuch had told me about losing contact with Warrior Jin Yeong… this?
Was I being asked to solve it?
Just then, His Majesty spoke again.
“The reason I called you here is because I have a favor to ask.”
Hearing him suddenly talk about a favor made me feel pressured.
In this situation, a “favor” could only mean asking me to find Warrior Jin Yeong’s whereabouts, right?
“There is someone who was both my long-time friend and vassal. I want you to deliver a letter to that person.”
“What?”
For a moment, I almost tilted my head in confusion.
Not to find Warrior Jin Yeong, but simply to deliver a letter to someone who was His Majesty’s friend and vassal? And he wanted me to do that…
“Is something the matter?”
“It’s nothing, Your Majesty.”
“So, can you grant my request?”
It wasn’t exactly difficult, and it wasn’t as if I could refuse an imperial command in the first place.
“This humble merchant is Your Majesty’s servant. Please simply give the order.”
“Come closer.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
I stepped up to His Majesty’s side and knelt before him.
The Emperor took a letter from his sleeve and held it out to me.
“Take it.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
It wasn’t something passed along through an Eunuch, but a letter His Majesty had personally written and sealed.
That alone showed how important it was.
“And here, I’ve written that person’s particulars and current residence.”
I received the second sealed envelope as well and bowed my head.
“I’ll devote my utmost sincerity to this task.”
“Ah, and be careful.”
Hm? What was that supposed to mean?
.
.
.
As soon as I returned to the temporary residence, I spoke to Palgap.
“Palgap, pack our things. We’re leaving the day after tomorrow.”
.
.
.
That night.
Just as I’d promised, I rented out one of Beijing’s pleasure houses and held a banquet for the Beijing branch’s people.
If I didn’t do it today, it felt like it would be really hard to find another good date.
After finishing up my remaining work, I headed to the pleasure house where the banquet was being held.
But… a chilling sensation crept over me.
An ambush.
Escort Guard Seo Wu and Escort Guard Jin Yu realized it as well, their expressions turning grim.
Soon, masked figures appeared and surrounded us.
“Group A formation!”
Escort Guard Seo Wu shouted, and the six Escort Guards moved in perfect coordination.
Normally, they moved in pairs, but there was something His Majesty had said to me.
To be careful.
That was why I had brought all six Escort Guards with me tonight—and this was what happened.
Should I be glad I brought every Escort Guard?
–TL Notes–
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