We arrived at the Beijing branch office of the Eunhae Merchant Group.
“You’re back?”
“Yeah. You’ve been well?”
“Of course.”
I told Palgap to show Lady Jaryeong and her maid to some temporary quarters, then headed to my room.
And I sat down to write a letter to Father.
“Geumryeong.”
As I flicked my sleeve, Geumryeong slipped out from inside it, letting out a soft Kui sound.
“This is a letter I’m sending to Father.”
At my words, Geumryeong lightly swished its tail. I firmly tied the letter to that tail.
“Alright, off you go.”
“Kui!”
Geumryeong shot out like an arrow.
I straightened my robes and headed for my office at the Virtuous Wind Department.
As soon as I sat down at the desk in my office, I heard Escort Guard Chang Un’s voice from outside.
“Lord, Deputy Yeo Chang-ui is here.”
“Let him in.”
At my reply, the door opened and Deputy Yeo Chang-ui walked in. Ever since he’d been promoted to Deputy, he had been running the Virtuous Wind Department in my stead.
“You’ve finally returned!”
He greeted me with a gaunt, relieved face.
“Ah, yeah. It took a bit longer than I thought. Sorry about that.”
“No need to apologize. Right now, this is more urgent.”
Thud!
He dropped a stack of documents on my desk.
W–what was that sound just now?
A thud? Since when can a pile of paper make that kind of noise?
Then Deputy Yeo Chang-ui spoke in a grim, solemn tone.
“These are all the documents that piled up while you were gone. Please approve them.”
“…”
Ah… work the moment I get back.
Just then, Lady Jaryeong popped into my head.
Yeah, since it turned out like this, it wouldn’t be bad to test her skills a little.
A little while later.
Lady Jaryeong walked into my office.
“You called for me?”
“Yeah. First, have a seat here.”
I sat her down at the desk prepared beside mine.
“And if you look over these documents…”
I showed her the documents and explained how to process the paperwork.
“This is how you do it. Think you can handle it?”
“Yes. It’s easier than I thought.”
…Huh?
People usually struggle quite a bit the first time they see this stuff, and she thinks it’s easy…
She soon got to work, and processed the documents at a much faster pace than I’d expected.
Whoa… what is this speed? And she’s accurate on top of it!
I must have been staring at her with honey dripping from my eyes.
Thanks to her, we finished all the paperwork far faster than I had predicted.
Honestly, I’m more tempted by how fast she handles documents than by that whole seeing–the–future thing.
There’s no way I can let talent like this slip away.
All of a sudden, I understood why Internal Chief Administrator Yu So-ak had been so reluctant to let me go.
“Lady Jaryeong!”
“Yes?”
“Let’s make this official and sign a contract. I’ll pay you seven silver taels a month.”
Seven silver taels a month is the kind of pay only people with both seniority and rank receive even in the Eunhae Merchant Group.
But I’d be willing to pay even more every month if that’s what it took to hire her.
The Commissioner of Land Affairs might not be too pleased if he finds out later.
But I have a perfectly reasonable excuse.
She needs to completely hide her identity, and no one would ever imagine some high official’s precious daughter working under me as my deputy.
In other words, I’m aiming right at a blind spot.
At my offer, her eyes went wide as she spoke.
“Huh? I wasn’t planning on getting paid. Father gives me my living expenses anyway.”
She went on.
“I just made the offer because I wanted to repay your kindness.”
“Absolutely not. I never have anyone work for free. It goes against my personal principles. Anyone who works should receive fair payment.”
At my words, she nodded.
“If that makes you more comfortable, I’ll do it your way. So that means I’ll actually be earning my own money.”
She grinned.
“This is my first time earning money myself.”
Well, when would a high official’s daughter ever have the chance to go out and make her own money?
And just like that, Lady Jaryeong and I signed a proper employment contract.
“By the way, what should I put down for your name?”
She can’t keep using the name Dong Jaryeong anymore. Sure, we could stick with it and poke the Murim Alliance right in the ribs.
But it’s better not to draw attention at all than to raise needless suspicion.
“Then, Seohyang.”
“You had that ready really fast, so I’m guessing it has some meaning to you.”
She smiled and nodded.
“Father came up with it while looking at the flowers of the Winter Daphne. He wanted me to be someone as fragrant as those little purple bell–shaped blossoms.”
“I see.”
“So I always thought that someday I’d use Seohyang as my courtesy name. I didn’t expect my wish to come true like this, though.”
And just like that, she became Gwak Seohyang.
The next day.
A letter arrived from Father.
He was glad I’d returned safely, and suggested that Lady Dong Jaryeong—no, Lady Gwak Seohyang’s residence should be listed in Hubei rather than Beijing.
Even I had to admit that made sense.
Compared to Beijing, that place is much more within both my and my master’s sphere of influence.
For now, she can just use an empty room here as her temporary quarters.
I burned the letter. It would be troublesome if anyone happened to see it.
And as I stood up, Geumryeong, who had been lying on my desk, started thumping it with its front paws in protest.
“Kui! Kui!”
“Ah! Sorry.”
I totally forgot to give it its silver.
I took a silver tael from my pouch and held it out, and Geumryeong promptly gulped it down.
It had eaten so much silver and gained all sorts of abilities, yet its size hadn’t changed at all from when I first saw it.
Well, if it got any bigger, it would have trouble living inside my sleeve. Then it would definitely insist on riding on my shoulder…
I imagined that scene and quickly shook my head.
“Ah! Right! Sorry to do this as soon as you got back, but I’ve got another letter delivery for you.”
“Kui? Kui kui!”
“Hm? As long as I pay you, it’s fine? Uh… sure.”
I wrote another letter and tied it to Geumryeong’s tail. This one was for my master.
It explained that Lady Jaryeong’s alias would be Gwak Seohyang.
My master needed to know in advance so our stories would line up.
“I’m counting on you.”
After sending Geumryeong off with the letter, I sat down to circulate my Qi and adjust my breathing.
Once I finished cultivating, I had breakfast.
Then I returned to my quarters, handed a letter to Escort Guard Lee Pil, and asked him to deliver it to Warrior Jin Yeong.
It simply said that I had returned.
Before I left, Warrior Jin Yeong had told me that ‘His Majesty the Emperor has something urgent he wishes to discuss.’ It felt wrong to just come back and say nothing.
Of course, he would know I’d returned even without a letter.
But there’s such a thing as basic courtesy.
“I’ll carry out your order.”
“And when you get back, make sure you take a break.”
“Yes.”
Escort Guard Lee Pil took the letter and left my room, and I turned to Palgap.
“Alright then, let’s get ready to head out.”
“Got it.”
“Today… let’s dress up a bit.”
“And where are you going all dressed up, young master?”
“Oh, I’ve got a few buildings to buy.”
At that moment.
While she was working in Eun Seo-ho’s office, a scene suddenly flashed before Gwak Seohyang’s eyes.
It was… several mansions collapsing all at once.
“No!”
Startled, she shot to her feet.
“Huh? This is…”
She tilted her head. She was sure she had seen this scene before.
Back then, watching all those mansions collapse and so many people die or get hurt had made her heart ache.
That was why she had gone to her father with a request.
She asked him, since he was going to the Ministry of Works in Beijing anyway, to have the Ministry of Works officials inspect those buildings.
But seeing the same future again like this meant that future still hadn’t changed.
‘So what’s meant to happen will happen no matter what?’
But…
This time, she saw something a little different from before. She saw Eun Seo-ho clicking his tongue as he watched the buildings collapse.
But only for a moment – then Eun Seo-ho suddenly grinned.
That smile quickly put Gwak Seohyang’s heart at ease.
I stood in front of a fairly large tiled–roof house in Beijing.
“Anyone home?”
At my call, someone came out.
“Who’re ya?”
“I’m Eun Seo-ho, Deputy Merchant Lord of the Eunhae Merchant Group. Is the owner of the house in?”
“Please wait a moment.”
He went back inside, then returned a short while later and spoke to me.
“Come on in.”
I went inside and was led to the reception room. After some tea was served and I’d waited a bit, the owner of the house came in.
“I heard you wanted to see me?”
“Please, speak more casually. I’m still young.”
“Ahem, very well then. So, why did you want to see me?”
I got straight to the point.
“I’d like to buy this house.”
“Buy… this house?”
“Yes.”
I nodded.
“I’ll pay whatever price you name.”
He looked at me, as if wondering what on earth my intentions were.
“And what are you planning to do with this place if you buy it?”
“Our merchant group recently opened a branch office in Beijing. But we still don’t have official residences, so we’re just using rooms in the branch for now. Still, since it’s a branch in the Imperial Capital, shouldn’t we have at least one decent mansion so it looks the part?”
I continued.
“This house happens to be close to the branch and looked suitable, so I came to see you. We’ll pay whatever price you want.”
At my words, he hesitated for a moment, then spoke.
“A thousand silver taels! I can’t go any lower than that.”
That was about twice the going rate.
“Alright.”
“Huh?”
When I agreed so readily, he blurted out in surprise.
“A–are you serious?”
“Yes, I’m serious. Would I, the Deputy Merchant Lord of the Eunhae Merchant Group, joke with you over something like this, sir?”
I took out the sales contract I’d prepared in advance.
“If you don’t mind, I’ll borrow your brush and ink for a moment.”
I was just dipping the brush in ink to write down the amount when he spoke up.
“A–a thousand taels feels a bit excessive even to me… Just give me eight hundred and…”
“No. I’ll give you the full thousand you first named. In return, I need you to vacate the house within fifteen days. Is that possible?”
“Seems you’re in a hurry. Alright.”
“Shall I pay with a note from the Geumsan Bank, or in actual silver?”
“Let’s do it with a Geumsan Bank note, and handle the transfer inside Geumsan Bank.”
We filled out the contract right there and headed straight to Geumsan Bank.
And as agreed, we settled the payment of a thousand silver taels with Geumsan Bank as witness.
Just like that, I bought a mansion.
Then I immediately moved on to the next house. I’d been delayed longer than expected in Guizhou, so I was running short on time.
The reason I’m going around buying up houses like this is because several houses in Beijing are about to collapse.
The designs were sound, of course – it was a man–made disaster brought on by the greed of the builders.
They were supposed to install ten pillars and only put in six, that sort of thing.
Then they bribed the Ministry of Works inspectors who came for the final inspection and got their approval stamps.
Honestly.
Instead of plotting how to mess with me, they should’ve spent that energy thinking about basic building safety.
So I mixed in buildings that would collapse with ones that wouldn’t when I bought them. If every single property I purchased collapsed, people would start to wonder.
Of course, some people might ask why I’d knowingly buy buildings that are going to collapse and take a loss.
A loss, huh?
You really think I’d do something that puts me in the red?
This is going to come back to me as a huge profit.
A true great merchant isn’t supposed to get hung up on short–term gains and losses.
And besides… the most important reason is that when those houses collapse, countless people will die or get injured.
On top of that, only the larger mansions collapsed, and the ones who suffered damages were influential power holders.
So of course, all hell broke loose.
Anyway, rich or poor, I couldn’t just stand by knowing innocent people were going to die or be hurt because of someone else’s corruption.
I really am soft–hearted.
People can call it meddling all they want. As long as I meddle and still squeeze out maximum profit, what’s the problem?
Besides, I have no intention of living as someone who’s lost all humanity.
If I can save them, isn’t that the right thing to do?
.
.
.
That evening.
As I’d expected, Warrior Jin Yeong came to see me.
“His Majesty the Emperor is summoning you.”
“Alright.”
I followed him toward the imperial palace.
“This small merchant, Eun Seo-ho, greets the Most High Emperor. Ten thousand years, Ten thousand years!”
I fell to my knees and bowed low before the Emperor, offering the highest form of courtesy.
“You may rise.”
“Your grace is boundless.”
I raised my head and looked at the Emperor.
“You worked hard this time as well. But why is it that trouble breaks out wherever you go? Are you the one calling trouble, or is trouble the one calling you?”
“I honestly don’t know. I just figure Your Majesty’s grace is spreading across the central plains through me.”
“You certainly have a way with words.”
The Emperor let out a small laugh and continued.
“Anyway, the Murim Alliance keeps being a nuisance.”
“How did they respond?”
“A classic case of cutting off the tail. They claim it was all that man’s unilateral action, that they never gave such orders themselves. So they’ll accept whatever punishment we give him.”
Just as I thought.
“Putting that aside, I hear the Guizhou Province Commissioner of Land Affairs’s daughter, the one you worked so hard to save, died in an accident. Tsk, tsk, what a pity.”
“Yes, that is so.”
At that, the Emperor gave me a look like he could hardly believe me.
“Well, would you look at this brat? So that’s how it is, huh?”
My heart skipped a beat.
“Excuse me? This small merchant isn’t sure what Your Majesty means.”
“I’ll have to ask after her well–being later.”
“…”
Wait, how in the world did he find out I secretly spirited Lady Jaryeong away?
In my previous life, one of my nicknames had been Silver Serpent, so it’s not like I’m someone whose emotions show easily on my face.
Seriously, can he read minds or something?
–TL Notes–
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