Madam Hong Mae kept going with the introductions.
“This is the artisan who makes our tea.”
“My name is Yu Cheon.”
“Nice to meet you.”
At the words “tea artisan,” my eyes lit up.
The talent I’d been coveting while drinking tea earlier was exactly this kind of tea artisan.
He looked like an ordinary man at a glance.
“By any chance, are you the one who created Moon Tea?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“It was an excellent tea. I thought only the Moon Wine here had that cool bite, I never imagined Moon Tea would have the same refreshing chill.”
“You flatter me.”
“So what do you put in Moon Tea to give it that cool sensation?”
“That’s a trade secret…”
“Understood. In that case, could you brew some for me? I’d like to take that tea back with me.”
“Of course.”
After being introduced to the rest as well, I wrapped things up and returned to Clear Wave Pavilion.
Since it was the first tavern I’d acquired, I was basically using the place as my office.
It didn’t have as many rooms as a full inn, but a tavern still had some guest rooms.
Anyway, now that Moon Wine Pavilion was successfully in my hands, where should I buy next tomorrow…
Hao Clan’s Hangzhou branch.
Branch Chief Yeon-yeon chewed on her fingernail as she asked,
“So, you sent the report, right?”
“Yes. I sent it to headquarters.”
The one answering was the new Internal Chief Administrator.
After Internal Chief Administrator Hwang An resigned, she’d picked someone who looked like he’d obey her without question.
In the end, Yeon-yeon had falsified part of the report.
Seeing how things were still quiet, it seemed the people upstairs hadn’t noticed yet.
Honestly, Yeon-yeon knew perfectly well that headquarters wouldn’t stay fooled forever.
The Hao Clan Lord’s hidden eyes and ears were spread all across the empire, so there was no way there weren’t any here in Hangzhou.
But she had her own plan.
If headquarters called them to account, she intended to dump all the blame on the Internal Chief Administrator.
She moved on to the next document, then suddenly crumpled it in her fist.
It was a report that Eun Seo-ho had recently acquired Moon Wine Pavilion.
“Damn it!”
Right then.
“Branch Chief! Branch Chief! An Elder from headquarters is here!”
“What?”
She shot to her feet.
‘Already?’
Face gone pale, she rushed out in a panic.
Right in front of her, a frail-looking old woman appeared.
“G–greetings, Elder. You’ve arrived.”
At her greeting, the Elder only nodded without any other response.
Then she headed straight toward the branch chief’s office, issuing an order as she walked.
“Bring me every single document you’ve filed in the last month.”
“Pardon?”
“Are my words not getting through? I said bring every report you’ve filed in the last month.”
At her roar, the Internal Chief Administrator hurriedly gathered up all the documents and carried them over.
“Hmm…”
After examining the papers with sharp, piercing eyes, the old woman rose from her seat.
“Let’s take a look at the vault.”
“…!”
At those words, Yeon-yeon’s eyes started trembling violently.
“P–pardon?”
“Are you going to make me repeat myself?”
“I–I apologize.”
And so they arrived at the vault.
“Open it.”
“…”
Yeon-yeon squeezed her eyes shut and opened the vault.
After a moment, the Elder silently stared at the completely empty vault and asked,
“Why did you falsify the report?”
“Well, that’s…”
“Before you start, let me say this – don’t you dare try to blame the Internal Chief Administrator. You have to know a few things before you can even falsify records. That man just became Internal Chief Administrator; what would he possibly know…”
With her schemes laid bare, Yeon-yeon bit her lip.
“…”
“This is my last warning. Don’t make me ask twice.”
“It was because of Deputy Merchant Lord Eun Seo-ho.”
She explained everything to the Elder.
That Eun Seo-ho had emptied the branch vault, and their performance had dropped because of it.
That she’d done all this out of fear of being punished for it.
“From what I know, he’s not the sort to casually steal from others. There’s a reason people call him the Handsome Young Hero.”
“…”
“Tell me the truth. What exactly did you do wrong?”
“Well, I…”
She hesitated yet again.
With a long sigh, the Elder pulled a dagger from her sleeve and, without a second’s hesitation, threw it.
Thud!
“Aaaagh!”
The sudden dagger lodged in her leg made Yeon-yeon scream.
“I guess my warning didn’t sound much like a warning to you.”
“N–no! I’m sorry!”
“I still have plenty more daggers.”
In the end, Yeon-yeon had no choice but to confess everything to the Elder.
After hearing the whole story, the Elder glared at her.
“So why haven’t you gone in person to apologize yet?”
“How could a Hao Clan’s branch chief possibly go apologize in person to a mere merchant?”
“And who was it that did wrong?”
“I… did.”
“And yet you run that mouth so well, spewing excuses. Someone like you is branch chief?”
The Elder’s voice rang out, stern and heavy.
“Listen carefully. A branch chief’s job is to make sure that branch runs well. Even if you have to smear filth all over yourself in the process, if the branch runs properly, you’ll be praised as an excellent branch chief. But someone like you, arrogant and unable to see past yourself, will only ever be judged the worst kind of branch chief.”
“…”
“In any case, you’ve committed the grave crime of submitting false reports. You’ve also turned this branch into a mess. So headquarters has decided to dismiss you from the position of branch chief.”
“What? Y–you can’t do that! Please, just this once, look the other way!”
The Elder impatiently held out her hand.
“Stop your whining and hand over your branch chief token.”
“I can’t! That belongs to me! I’m the Hangzhou branch chief!”
At her protest, the Elder slapped her across the face.
“Kyaa!”
“At headquarters, false reports are a capital crime, punishable by death! We’re sparing your life out of regard for your past service, and you don’t even understand that, do you!”
“…”
At some point, the branch chief token had ended up in the Elder’s hand. She’d snatched Yeon-yeon’s token at the exact same moment she slapped her.
That one move alone was enough to show the Elder’s level of martial skill.
“Get out. Right now.”
At those words, Yeon-yeon finally realized that begging any further would be pointless.
Limping, she left the Hangzhou branch, and the Elder turned to the people standing in the back.
“Is the girl named Hongram here?”
One person stepped forward and bowed low before her.
“I’m Hongram.”
“From now on, you’re branch chief of the Hangzhou branch.”
“What?”
“This is something headquarters has already decided, so don’t refuse.”
The Elder handed the branch chief token to Hongram.
.
.
.
That night.
Driven out of the Hangzhou branch, Yeon-yeon headed for Clear Wave Pavilion. She knew Eun Seo-ho was staying there.
‘This is all that bastard Eun Seo-ho’s fault! If he’d just come when I told him to so I could apologize, and accepted it, things would’ve worked out fine for both of us.’
Blinded by her hatred for Eun Seo-ho, Yeon-yeon couldn’t see anything else.
At this point, she’d resolved to kill Eun Seo-ho with her own hands. She was glaring up at Clear Wave Pavilion, thinking about how she might lure him out, when it happened.
“Branch Chief Yeon-yeon?”
Startled by the voice, she spun around to see a man watching her.
No – to be precise, a masked man was standing in front of her.
“And you are… kuh!”
She couldn’t finish the sentence. The masked man’s sword had already pierced her belly.
“I’ve been hired. To kill you.”
“W–who on earth…”
“Do you remember the fellow courtesan whose face you ruined?”
“…!”
“When you get to the underworld, apologize to my younger sister.”
“Slash–!”
With that, her head hit the ground and rolled away.
An upside–down world.
That was the last thing Yeon-yeon ever saw.
After breakfast, I was standing in the pavilion, looking out over the view of the West Lake, when Hwang An came over to me.
“Have you eaten, Deputy Merchant Lord?”
“Yes. I ate well.”
“I heard something from one of my former subordinates. As of yesterday, Branch Chief Yeon-yeon was kicked out, and someone named Hongram became the new branch chief.”
So that part hadn’t changed from my previous life.
She’d been driven out perfectly, just the way I wanted.
Knowing her, instead of reflecting on anything, she’d be grinding her teeth, trying to get revenge on me – I wondered what kind of method she’d try.
Just then, server Dong-a came running over.
“Deputy Merchant Lord! I have urgent news for you.”
“Take your time and tell me.”
“Whew, Branch Chief Yeon-yeon is dead.”
“What? Branch Chief Yeon-yeon is dead?”
“Yes. They found her body nearby. Looks like she died last night, but since it was such a hidden spot, they probably only just discovered her.”
“…”
So she’d died earlier than in my previous life.
Back then, she’d been killed by one of her underlings. This time, who had done it?
Either way, the fact she’d be murdered hadn’t changed.
She should’ve just lived properly.
I didn’t feel the slightest regret over her death, because she was exactly that kind of woman.
While gathering information this time, I’d learned a lot about her.
In short, she was greedy and only ever cared about herself.
So she’d been driven out of her position as branch chief, and on her way to Clear Wave Pavilion to cause trouble for me, she’d been killed.
Given the circumstances, it didn’t look like there was any other possibility.
Anyway…
“You said Branch Chief Yeon-yeon was kicked out yesterday, right? There’s no way she stepped down quietly… did anyone from Hao Clan headquarters come in person?”
“You really did figure it out. I heard Third Elder came herself.”
“…”
I was briefly taken aback.
Third Elder came personally? Why would that old lady come herself?
The Hao Clan had five Elders, and every one of them was a Peak–realm expert.
And as it happened, I’d met Third Elder in my previous life.
If it was her, she’d probably be coming to see me soon.
.
.
.
Sure enough, before even two hours had passed since I’d thought that, Third Elder visited Clear Wave Pavilion.
“Welcome. I’m Eun Seo-ho, Deputy Merchant Lord of the Eunhae Merchant Group.”
“So you know who I am, I see.”
“Yes. You’re Third Elder of the Hao Clan, aren’t you?”
“As expected, you really are the Deputy Merchant Lord of the Eunhae Merchant Group.”
“You honor me.”
“Then you must also know why I’ve come.”
“I do.”
She studied me for a moment, then bowed slightly, hands clasped in a martial salute.
“I sincerely apologize for our branch under headquarters threatening you and even trying to harm you.”
Just as I thought she would.
Third Elder was exactly this kind of person – which made her that much more frightening.
“It hardly seems enough as compensation, but please accept this token.”
She held out a round token to me.
“What’s this?”
“It’s a token of our promise to provide you with any one piece of information you want, free of charge.”
She really meant it.
“So, could you find it in your heart to forgive us now?”
“When an Elder comes in person like this, how could I not forgive you?”
“Then would you help so that our Hangzhou branch can get back to running properly?”
“All right.”
“Thank you. By the way, I heard the branch vault was completely emptied by you. There’s no proof it was you, but everything points your way. What kind of method did you use?”
I just smiled without answering.
Saying anything at all would be as good as admitting I was the culprit.
“…You’re not going to slip up, are you.”
I changed the subject.
“Please tell the new branch chief to stop by here. I think I can give her some help.”
.
.
.
That evening, another guest came to Clear Wave Pavilion.
I couldn’t help smiling at the familiar face.
It was Hongram, the new Hangzhou branch chief.
We introduced ourselves properly and exchanged a few brief words.
“There’s a reason I invited you here. Would you look down there?”
I pointed to several carts piled high with something.
Seeing them, Hongram tilted her head.
“What are those…”
“Information.”
“Sorry?”
“It’s information we purchased under Clear Wave Pavilion’s name. With that, you should be able to fill in the gap in your intelligence network.”
“Are you saying you’re just going to give that to us?”
“Yes.”
“But why would you…”
“Because the money we used to buy that information belonged to the Hao Clan’s Hangzhou branch in the first place.”
“Cough!”
“We were only doing the Hao Clan’s job in your stead for a while.”
Smiling, I added,
“So you don’t have to feel grateful.”
.
.
.
With the help of Clear Wave Pavilion’s servers, Hongram took the carts and headed back to the Hangzhou branch.
As I watched her from the balcony, Geumryeong came scampering over.
“Kui!”
Just as I’d asked, it had gone and returned all of the Hao Clan’s money I’d stored in my hidden vault.
“You did well, didn’t you?”
“Kui!”
“Here, your errand fee.”
I handed Geumryeong a silver tael, and it quickly snapped it up and swallowed it.
And with that, the matter with the Hao Clan was wrapped up.
Come to think of it, the Sixth Month was already halfway over.
It was time to hurry and finish my business in Hangzhou and head to Liaoning.
Deputy Merchant Lord Bok Yun’s wedding wasn’t far off.
He’d even handed me the invitation in person; if I didn’t go, he’d definitely be disappointed.
Even aside from that, he was a precious friend.
Of course I had to go and celebrate for him.
The next morning.
I ran into an unexpected situation – because about a dozen people had come looking for me at Clear Wave Pavilion.
They were all dressed fairly well, but their faces were full of nervous tension.
“What brings you all here?”
At my question, they glanced at one another, then bowed their heads to me and shouted,
“Please, I beg you! Take over my tavern!”
“Buy my pleasure house!”
“I’ve got a three–story inn here too!”
“…”
I was at a loss for words.
So… they’d come here to beg me to buy up their businesses?
I’d expected them to at least accept selling if I approached them, but I hadn’t imagined they’d come find me and plead with me to acquire them.
“If it’s you, we can entrust our taverns without worry.”
“We have to sell to someone who cherishes Hangzhou as much as you do!”
I had tried to build up some goodwill, but it seemed I’d piled up a bit more goodwill than I’d planned.
–TL Notes–
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