I asked Palgap.
“What’s going on?”
“An arrow with this letter tied to it was stuck in the main gate of Yangyang Martial Hall!”
“A letter?”
I quickly took the letter and unfolded it.
[I won’t hand Clear Wave Pavilion and Cheongpa over to the likes of you. Back off quietly. If you don’t do as we say, you’ll regret it.]
A letter full of threats aimed at me.
Who in the world sent this?
While I was thinking it over, one line caught my eye – the list of things they refused to hand over included the madam of Clear Wave Pavilion herself.
Why? Just because the madam’s known as Hangzhou’s number one beauty?
But if it were just that, this threat letter feels way too blunt.
In that case… the ones who sent this might actually know the madam of Clear Wave Pavilion.
They could have known her from long ago, been eyeing both Clear Wave Pavilion and its madam, and now they’re threatening me because I got in their way.
But then another question pops up.
If that’s true, why haven’t they taken it already?
Ah… it must be because of Clear Wave Pavilion’s situation.
I’d heard that among Hangzhou’s pleasure houses, Clear Wave Pavilion was one of the few still doing relatively well.
Because of that, they could keep refusing those people’s demands until now.
But the famine and the prohibition order on alcohol had put Clear Wave Pavilion in a tight spot financially.
Things got so bad that a courtesan had to snatch food off a customer’s table just to eat.
If that’s the case… then this must be why Clear Wave Pavilion managed to survive in my previous life.
The alcohol ban doesn’t last that long, but the famine drags on for three full years.
It hadn’t survived on the madam’s fame, the high level of the courtesans, and good food alone.
It survived because another power was backing it from behind the scenes.
I’d wondered why things felt even harsher than I’d expected – this explains it.
“What are you going to do, Young Master?”
At Palgap’s question, I tucked the letter into my sleeve and said,
“Do I even need to think about it? I spent a fortune to buy this pavilion – why would I hand it over?”
I went on.
“Let’s go.”
“Where are we going?”
“Clear Wave Pavilion.”
If it’s Madam Cheongpa, she should at least know who sent this letter.
I was about to leave my room with that thought when Escort Guard Lee Pil approached me and said,
“You have a guest.”
A guest at this hour?
“He’s a server from Clear Wave Pavilion.”
I glanced down at my sleeve.
To be exact, at the letter tucked inside.
I couldn’t help thinking that his visit had something to do with that letter.
“Show him in.”
A short while later, I was sitting across from the server in the reception room of Yangyang Martial Hall.
“I greet you, Deputy Merchant Lord. Or… should I be calling you Owner instead?”
“Just call me Deputy Merchant Lord. The only owner of Clear Wave Pavilion is Madam Cheongpa.”
“Understood.”
While we exchanged greetings, his face stayed dark the whole time.
It definitely looked like this had something to do with the threat letter.
“So, what brings you here?”
“Please help our madam!”
“I’ll need you to explain in detail.”
“Yes.”
The server told me everything from the beginning.
“Our madam used to be quite famous within the Hao Clan. She was widely known by the alias ‘Blue Feather (靑羽).’”
I’d heard that name more than a few times myself.
Whenever I bought information from the Hao Clan, they would say things like, ‘This information came from Blue Feather, so it’s extremely reliable.’
They mostly used it to emphasize how trustworthy the information was.
And because anything provided by Blue Feather really was that reliable, you had to pay a higher price for it.
But Madam Cheongpa was Blue Feather?
“However, our madam left the Hao Clan ten years ago and founded this pavilion.”
“So you’re saying she built this place without any support from the Hao Clan?”
“That’s right.”
“That is interesting. Things would’ve been much easier with the Hao Clan’s backing, so why did she do that?”
“Because our madam didn’t want any power interfering with the pavilion. At the last house she worked at, a clash between factions turned violent, and many of the staff were killed. That left a deep scar on her.”
“I see.”
“And the Hao Clan kept sending messages, asking her to come back.”
In my memory, the name Blue Feather was one I kept hearing right up until the moment I died in my previous life.
That would mean that during this famine, Clear Wave Pavilion and Madam Cheongpa ended up falling into the Hao Clan’s hands.
Just like I’d suspected.
So in my previous life, the reason Clear Wave Pavilion managed to survive was because of the Hao Clan.
But this time, things are different.
Because I’m the one who acquired it.
“Actually, I just received this letter.”
I pulled out the letter Palgap had brought me and showed it to him. When he read it, he bit his lip.
“This letter… was it sent by the Hao Clan?”
“Yes.”
The server nodded, then asked me with an anxious look,
“So… may I ask what you plan to do?”
Palgap answered before I could.
“Once our Young Master gets his hands on something, he’ll give it away of his own will maybe, but nobody ever takes it from him.”
He’s right.
I might give something up if I feel like it, but I never let anyone rip it away from me.
“Anyway, now that they’ve had the nerve to threaten Young Master and make him their enemy, they’re in for a world of hurt. Our Young Master is really scary, you know. Ah! Not that he’s some kind of psycho or anything.”
Hey, Palgap?
Why is it that the last thing out of your mouth is always weird?
Well, not the time to nitpick that.
“So where is your madam right now?”
“The Hao Clan took her away by force.”
My brows furrowed before I even realized it.
“Since when did the Hao Clan start acting this aggressively?”
“It just shows how valuable our madam is to them.”
Well, Madam Cheongpa is famed as Hangzhou’s greatest beauty, and she’s incredibly capable on top of that.
On top of that, Clear Wave Pavilion is one of the top five houses in Hangzhou.
So when they heard that the pavilion had been transferred to me, they must’ve panicked.
Panicked enough to send me a threat and drag Madam Cheongpa away by force.
“Didn’t she have bodyguards?”
“They tried to stop it… and now they’re gravely injured, barely clinging to life.”
“I see. Then which Hao Clan branch did they take her to?”
“I’m sorry. I know a few Hao Clan branches here, but I don’t know exactly which one they dragged her to.”
If even this server, who’s clearly worried sick about his madam, doesn’t know, then he really doesn’t know.
But that’s fine.
I have Geumryeong.
“Can I ask you for a favor?”
“Please, go ahead.”
“Bring me something that belongs to your madam. Anything is fine. It’s urgent, so move quickly. Actually, let’s go together.”
Before long, I headed to Clear Wave Pavilion with several Escort Guards in tow.
When I reached Clear Wave Pavilion, I was left speechless.
They’d really gone wild – furniture and decorations were scattered everywhere.
The servers were busily cleaning up the mess.
As soon as I stepped in, they hurriedly bowed their heads. At that moment, Miss Baekwol ran over to me.
“Deputy Merchant Lord, you’re here?”
“Are you feeling any better?”
“Yes. Thanks to you, I’m fine now. But our madam…”
“I know. That’s why I came in person.”
Just then, a familiar woman came down from the second floor.
It was Physician Jami, the one who had treated Miss Baekwol last time.
“Ah, Physician. How’s the bodyguard?”
“Fortunately, he’s past the critical stage.”
Everyone let out a breath of relief at that.
“I’ll cover all the treatment costs, so please focus entirely on his recovery.”
“All right.”
“And all of you, tally up the value of everything that was damaged. Then double that amount, no matter what total you come up with.”
“What?”
To their surprised looks, I declared confidently,
“Because that’s exactly how much we’re going to squeeze out of them.”
At my words, the servers quickly nodded.
“Understood.”
They immediately bustled off to work. I headed up to the third floor with the server who had come to find me.
“Ah, by the way, what’s your name?”
“My name is Dong-a.”
Dong-a (冬兒)?
“I was born in winter, so they gave me that name. My mother was a courtesan. She was quite famous – she used the stage name Baekjang (白薔), or White Rose.”
“I see. Then I’ll call you Attendant Dong-a.”
“Yes.”
Outwardly, I kept my composure, but inside my heart was pounding.
That’s how shocked I was.
Dong-a, son of the courtesan Baekjang.
Because I knew exactly who his father was. And Attendant Dong-a himself still had no idea.
Not that this was the important issue right now.
“Bring me something that belongs to your madam.”
“All right.”
Soon, Attendant Dong-a brought me one of her robes. I quietly called Geumryeong.
“Geumryeong. I’ll give you a silver tael. Find the owner of this robe.”
“Kui!”
Geumryeong sniffed the robe a few times, then shot off like an arrow.
The Hao Clan’s Third Branch in Hangzhou.
Cheongpa was locked up in the underground dungeon there.
She had never imagined the Hao Clan would go this far.
The Hao Clan normally isn’t strict about joining or leaving.
And that makes sense – they’re an information network made up mostly of courtesans, servers, and other people from the lower classes.
Most of them can quit anytime, move somewhere else, or look for a different line of work, so there were never many restrictions.
Because of that, it was the Hao Clan’s unwritten rule not to block anyone from joining, and not to cling to anyone who wanted to leave.
Which was why she couldn’t understand why they had used force to drag her here now.
‘I never heard anything about the Hao Clan changing that unwritten rule…’
Cheongpa let out a sigh.
She was worried about her own future, of course, but she worried even more about the bodyguard who had been badly injured fighting for her, and the pavilion staff who must have been terrified.
‘And I’ve ended up causing trouble for Deputy Merchant Lord Eun Seo-ho too. If I’d known it would come to this, I never would have stepped into the Hao Clan in the first place.’
Thinking that, she let out a self-mocking laugh.
Because later, she had learned the truth.
She had joined the Hao Clan on a fellow courtesan’s recommendation, but that courtesan had actually been acting on the Hao Clan’s orders to lure her in.
In other words, the Hao Clan had had their eyes on her from the very beginning. Even she had to admit she was worth that much.
‘That’s why they were so shocked when I said I was leaving.’
In any case, plenty of people had wanted her, but she hadn’t liked a single one of them.
Because every last one of them only wanted her to satisfy their own desires.
But Eun Seo-ho, the one she had just handed the pavilion over to, was different.
There had been no desire for her in his eyes.
Just infinitely clear, calm eyes.
He didn’t see her as someone to indulge his desires, only as a business partner.
That was why she felt so terribly sorry about the situation she was in now.
‘By now, Dong-a must have told Deputy Merchant Lord Eun Seo-ho what’s happened to me.’
She had no idea how Eun Seo-ho would respond after hearing the news.
Just then.
Thud.
She heard the sound of someone collapsing, and startled, Cheongpa lifted her head.
“Urgh!”
“Who… urk!”
The sounds of groans and bodies hitting the ground continued one after another.
And after a moment, bright light poured into the dark space.
“So you were here.”
“…!”
Cheongpa’s eyes widened. The face that appeared in that light belonged to Eun Seo-ho.
“How did you… get in here?”
“I forgot to mention something, didn’t I? I’m a very greedy man. Once something is in my hands, I never let anyone take it away. That goes for you as well, Madam Cheongpa.”
The moment he finished speaking, the iron bars were sliced apart as if they were nothing but radish stems.
Slash!
Slash!
Crash!
With just two swings of his sword, every bar had been cut through.
Eun Seo-ho reached his hand out to her and said,
“That’s why I came to take back what’s mine. Let’s go.”
Such a reassuring smile.
Cheongpa extended her hand and took his.
I brought Madam Cheongpa back with me to Clear Wave Pavilion.
The pavilion’s people welcomed her back with tears in their eyes.
“Are you all right?”
“We were so worried.”
“I’m fine. But what about Dae-cheol?”
“Physician Jami treated him. Thankfully, he’s past the worst of it, and if he focuses on nourishing his body, he should be able to hold a sword again.”
“Ah, what a relief.”
While I watched that warm scene, Attendant Dong-a walked up to me.
“Thank you so much for helping our madam.”
“You can take those words back. This much is only natural for the sake of a pavilion I own.”
“There are many who talk that way, but very few who actually act on it.”
I just smiled instead of answering.
“To be honest, when our madam said she was handing the pavilion over to you, I was really worried. But seeing you now, it feels like she made an excellent choice.”
“I’m grateful to hear you say that.”
I told him,
“I’ll be counting on you to keep looking after the madam from now on.”
“That’s what I should be saying to you.”
“For the record, I don’t intend to interfere in how this pavilion is run. But if anything like this happens again, you are to inform me no matter what.”
“Where should we contact you?”
“I’ll let you know soon enough. That aside, I have something I want to ask.”
At my words, he lowered his head slightly and said,
“Please, ask.”
“Tell me about the Hao Clan’s Hangzhou branch here and its branch chief.”
“What? Why do you want to know about that…?”
“They didn’t just dare to threaten me, they even laid hands on something I own. Of course I’m going to demand compensation.”
I grinned.
“I’m planning to bleed them dry.”
–TL Notes–
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