The Hunan Commissioner of Land Affairs furrowed his brow and went on.
“I’d thought it strange for a while now. There are people who show up already knowing the things I’m trying to push forward.”
“You mean they already had information ahead of time?”
“That’s right. All sorts of people came. It was obvious they were getting information from somewhere.”
From where I’m standing, the Murim Alliance is feeding them that information and taking payment in return.
“In fact, I was already thinking of calling you separately to ask you a favor.”
“Me, Commissioner?”
“I’ve heard plenty about your formidable reputation. On top of that, aren’t you someone the Murim Alliance itself recognizes as a hero?”
In other words, he trusts the Murim Alliance’s name.
Sigh, he’s someone who’s going to get himself into big trouble.
Well… to be fair, the Murim Alliance looks so upright and righteous on the surface.
Even while they do every dirty thing imaginable behind the scenes.
And when they get caught, their excuse is always the same. They had no choice, it was all for the greater good.
But what about the few decent people who end up sacrificed for that so-called greater good?
There’s one blind spot the people who accept that logic never consider. One day, they themselves might be part of that “small number” sacrificed.
I didn’t bother telling the Hunan Commissioner that the Murim Alliance are actually the bad guys.
He’ll find out for himself sooner or later.
“Is the favor you mentioned related to this matter, by any chance?”
“To that, and to the matter you brought up. Looking at this letter, I can’t say the two things are unrelated.”
He continued.
“As for compensation… first, let me ask. Are you a martial artist, or a merchant?”
“I’m a merchant.”
“Then I’ll give you five hundred silver taels as payment.”
As expected of the Commissioner, generous with his offers. But there’s something worth more to me than five hundred silver taels.
“I appreciate the thought, but I’ll pass on the money.”
“Then do you want honor?”
“For a merchant, honor is useless and just a headache.”
I went on.
“I’d just like you to help the Eunhae Merchant Group once – only once – if we ever end up in real trouble here in Hunan.”
“Are you sure that’s enough for you?”
“Yes.”
What I just asked for will end up being worth far more than five hundred silver taels down the line.
Nice. I get to screw over the Murim Alliance and get paid for it.
“But it has to be within what I can actually do. You understand that, right?”
“Of course. I’ll only ask for something that won’t put you in a difficult position, Commissioner.”
“Good. Then let’s do that.”
The Commissioner readily accepted my proposal.
“First, I think we need to investigate that tea… Wouldn’t gifts sent to other households fall under the mistress’s responsibilities? I’d like you to look into that part yourself, sir.”
“Very well, I’ll do that.”
“Then I’ll find out where they were trying to send this letter. First, I’ll spread a rumor that I picked it up.”
Im Do was satisfied with the way things were right now.
The work wasn’t hard, the treatment was good, and the pay was generous.
‘But this comfortable life is about to end.’
The fourth son Im Do was serving seemed to be slowly catching on that something was strange.
That they were using him to obtain information on the Commissioner’s projects.
Once the higher-ups received the letter already sent, an order would definitely come down to eliminate the Commissioner’s fourth son.
‘And they might get rid of that annoying bitch as well.’
No. 26, the maid serving Lady Jaryeong who had fed her poison, kept getting ahead of Im Do, and that had been grating on him.
If things went according to the letter he had sent, that rising momentum of hers could be cut short.
While Im Do was passing by the fourth son’s quarters on an errand, a maid’s conversation with one of the kitchen cooks reached his ears.
“Did you hear? Young Master Eun Seo-ho, the guest who came this time, supposedly found some kind of letter in the inner quarters.”
“A letter?”
“Yeah. A bird that had been perched on a tree flew off and dropped a letter.”
At those words, Im Do’s chest tightened.
It was clearly the very letter he had hidden away for delivery to the higher-ups.
Im Do strained to listen.
“That’s strange. So what happened to the letter?”
“They say he just threw it away.”
A wave of relief washed through him.
The fact that the letter had been discarded was an enormous relief. If it had ended up in the Commissioner’s hands, or anyone else’s, it would have been a disaster.
‘That damned bird, I ought to boil it alive!’
Im Do ground his teeth.
‘Anyway, I’d better hurry up and write another letter!’
The news that had come yesterday from the Guizhou Commissioner of Land Affairs’ household – that Lady Jaryeong was recovering – had been shocking enough.
If the report on this was delayed…
The mere thought was terrifying.
Im Do hurriedly drafted another letter to send to the higher-ups.
But there was no way it was going back into the old hiding place. Someone curious about the rumors might start finding that tree suspicious and search it.
‘Actually, that bird’s been trained to come to different spots depending on how I blow the whistle.’
This time, he hid the letter in a tree directly opposite the original one.
Then he took out the whistle and blew it.
“Fweeeet!”
The shrill sound of the whistle rang out, and about a quarter of an hour later…
A black bird came flying down from the sky, swooping in quickly to perch on the tree.
He personally tied the letter to the bird’s leg this time, making sure it couldn’t be dropped.
“Flap!”
Just as he was about to head back to his quarters, watching the bird soar high into the sky, a voice spoke up.
“So it was you. The sender of that suspicious letter.”
Startled, Im Do spun around. Standing there were a handsome young man… and the Hunan Commissioner of Land Affairs.
Caught him.
The reason I had them spread the rumor that I’d gotten my hands on that suspicious letter and then thrown it away was to catch the culprit red-handed.
Once he heard the rumor, he’d definitely try sending a letter again.
And sure enough, he acted exactly as I’d expected.
“W–what are you talking about? I just came out to get some fresh air…”
At that, the Hunan Commissioner beside me spoke up.
“You’re my fourth son’s attendant. His quarters are a good distance from here, yet you came all the way out here just for some fresh air? Your story doesn’t add up.”
At those words, the attendant dropped to his knees and spoke.
“I feel ashamed to speak ill of the one I serve, but there are circumstances.”
“What circumstances?”
“To tell the truth… the fourth young master has been subtly tormenting me… so I was hiding out here for a bit.”
“I see. Ha. And did you think I’d say, ‘Why would my fourth do such a thing…’?”
“Sir?”
At the Commissioner’s words, the attendant lifted his face, confusion written all over it.
Honestly, the things people come up with.
I couldn’t help but snort.
There was no way the Commissioner would fall for something like that.
“That boy isn’t the type to bully anyone. He’s timid and weak by nature. Ah, as a father I might not see my son clearly, but even so, he’s not someone who would do that.”
The Commissioner went on, his expression turning cold.
“What an impudent fellow. Trying to twist things with excuses like that. What matters right now is that you tied a letter to that bird’s leg and sent it somewhere.”
The Hunan Commissioner glanced behind him and ordered:
“Tie him up.”
“Yes, sir!”
At once, the guards behind him rushed forward and bound the attendant.
“Tell the truth. Where did you send that letter?”
Realizing his excuse had already fallen apart, the attendant dropped the act.
“Heh heh… do you really think I’d tell you?”
“You bastard!”
The Hunan Commissioner exploded in anger.
A little earlier, I’d heard from the Commissioner about the origin of the tea Lady Jaryeong had drunk.
Apparently, the tea had been procured personally by the third son – Lady Jaryeong’s fiancé.
When the third son was pressed, he claimed he’d been too busy and had asked his younger brother to handle it.
And when they asked the fourth son about the tea…
“My attendant Im Do got it for me. I tried it myself, and it was fragrant and delicious.”
So there it was.
The Im Do kneeling in front of me was the shadowy mastermind inside this household.
Which meant we had to make that attendant open his mouth if we wanted to uncover the forces behind him.
On the Commissioner’s orders, the guards who had tied Im Do up tried torturing him this way and that, but his mouth stayed firmly shut.
Well, I’d expected as much.
— Young Master. We’ve found their base.
Escort Guard Jin Yu’s voice transmission brushed past my ear.
— Kui!
And Geumryeong’s voice transmission as well.
Yeah, yeah, I’ll give you a silver tael later.
Back when Im Do had sent the bird off, I’d told Geumryeong to track it.
Then instructed it to tell Escort Guard Jin Yu the location.
So honestly, it didn’t matter whether Im Do talked or not.
Then why did I let the Commissioner keep torturing him?
Because I was ticked off about how much trouble he’d put me through. And a lot of others had suffered because of him too.
That runaway maid still needed to be caught and beaten as well.
Honestly, part of me wanted to make him suffer more, but we had to move quickly; there was no telling how the people above the ones who received that letter would respond.
“Sir, you can stop now.”
“What do you mean?”
“My Escort Guard tracked where the letter arrived.”
.
.
.
A little later.
I headed to my quarters and met Escort Guard Jin Yu.
I’d told the Commissioner that I’d investigate the place and report back.
“You’re here?”
“Yeah. So, where is it?”
“Have you ever heard of a place called the Seoun Sect?”
Where the hell is that supposed to be?
“This is my first time hearing of it as well, but that’s the group behind this whole affair.”
“Phew, I see. Then we need to deal with them quickly. If that letter reached them, they might do something to Lady Jaryeong…”
At my words, Escort Guard Jin Yu made an awkward face.
“Ah, I don’t think you need to worry about that part…”
I followed Jin Yu’s gaze downward.
Geumryeong was sitting there.
“…?”
Noticing our eyes on it, Geumryeong spat something out with a ptui–!
What came out was a black bird, soaked in saliva and fainted.
Wait, isn’t that the bird that flew off with the letter earlier?
I untied the letter fastened to its leg and unfolded it.
Right on.
“What? How did you even carry this back in your mouth?”
“Kui! Kui kui! Kui!”
I felt like I could understand what Geumryeong was saying.
Basically, it had slipped into the Seoun Sect, crept up on the bird perched on their roost, and swallowed it whole.
“No one saw you?”
“Kui!”
“Oh, no one did? Good job.”
In other words, there was no need to rush anymore. What a clever little thing.
I rubbed Geumryeong’s head a few times.
“Kuiit?”
Ah, that won’t do, huh. I’d hoped head pats alone would settle it.
I gave a wry smile, pulled out a silver tael and held it out, and Geumryeong snapped it up in one gulp.
Still, it’s amazing.
Geumryeong is smaller than this bird, so how did it swallow the whole thing?
“What would you like to do with this bird? It seems to still be alive. Wouldn’t it be safer to kill it?”
At that moment, a thought struck me.
Maybe there was a reason Geumryeong hadn’t killed the bird and had brought it back alive.
Just then, Geumryeong padded over to the bird and smacked its head with a forepaw.
“Flap!”
The bird jolted awake in shock.
Geumryeong glared at it, and under that gaze the bird froze rigid, not daring to move…
Huh? Is it actually lowering its eyes?
Seeing that, Geumryeong nodded in satisfaction.
Whoa…
Don’t tell me Geumryeong just made that bird its underling?
Either way, it’s one of Geumryeong’s subordinates now, so I couldn’t just decide its life or death on my own.
.
.
.
That night.
I set out with my Escort Guards toward the Seoun Sect, the group behind this incident.
It wasn’t very far.
Running with lightness skill, it took about two hours.
They were using a fairly large manor as their base.
We’d come to find out how many martial artists the Seoun Sect had and what their level was.
If their scale was small, we could just wipe them out ourselves and report back.
We slipped inside cautiously and surveyed the interior of the manor.
I could feel the nauseating Qi of the Unorthodox Sect.
The problem was…
There were far more of them than I’d expected.
We withdrew from the place for the moment.
“What do you plan to do?”
Escort Guard Seo Wu asked, and I let out a sigh.
“Let me think for a bit.”
I sat down on a tree stump and sank into thought.
There were a lot of people gathered there, but not all of them had the unorthodox aura.
Which meant the majority were ordinary people.
Why would ordinary people be gathered there in the first place? This is a grain-producing region, so most commoners here are farmers.
They should be busy working their fields right now, so why were they holding weapons…
Ah. I suddenly felt like I knew why.
They were refugees driven out by famine. And the fact that they’d been gathered like that meant…
A single word flashed through my mind.
Rebellion.
If that was the case, everything fit naturally into place.
If a rebellion broke out, it would be entirely possible for the Commissioner’s house to go up in flames.
No, seriously, just how far does Lady Jaryeong’s poisoning incident reach?
And again, why on earth is the Murim Alliance the one orchestrating these uprisings?
Either way, this isn’t something I can solve on my own level.
“Let’s head back to the Commissioner’s estate.”
“Understood.”
We returned to the Hunan Commissioner’s residence and reported everything to him.
He immediately sent a letter to Beijing.
The Commissioner didn’t hold full military authority, and to preemptively suppress an uprising that hadn’t yet erupted, he needed the Emperor’s permission.
And the one who arrived bearing the imperial decree was an unexpected person.
“Huh? Warrior Jin Yeong?”
–TL Notes–
Tired of seeing Ads? Then please support me on Patreon! Any tier of subscription will make it so you won’t get any ads!
If you want to support me or give me feedback, you can do it at patreon.com/InsanityTheGame
Join my Discord! https://discord.gg/BWaP3AHHpt