Lord Seong Jun had been in a foul mood lately.
It was because the tavern business he’d launched with such ambition had completely gone bust.
There were failures, and then there was this disaster.
“Um, Lord.”
“What is it?”
His Internal Chief Administrator had come to see him and cautiously asked.
“About this month’s wages for the household employees… what should we do about the money…?”
At those words, Lord Seong Jun felt a sharp twinge in the back of his neck.
“Tell them to just… wait a little longer.”
“Understood.”
Once the Internal Chief Administrator left, Lord Seong got up from his seat and irritably yanked the window open.
He felt so stifled he could hardly stand it.
But then…
Of all things, out in the distance in the direction of that window, an eight–story building came into view.
That building was none other than the tavern he’d built himself, Beautiful Lake Pavilion.
His insides boiled, and he slammed the window shut.
When he had first gone against his father’s wishes and built Beautiful Lake Pavilion, he’d been filled with hope.
He’d thought he’d rake in money like the other lords who owned businesses around West Lake.
But contrary to his expectations, Beautiful Lake Pavilion never had many customers.
So to figure out why, he’d paid the Hao Clan a hefty sum to gather information.
“They say there’s no reason to go there when you can’t even get a good view of West Lake from it.”
“But you can see the lake from the eighth floor.”
“Most tavern guests eat on the lower floors. And the people from out of town came to see West Lake – why would they go all the way to Beautiful Lake Pavilion instead of a place closer to the shore?”
“…”
Hearing the Hao Clan’s blunt assessment, Lord Seong finally felt like he’d woken up from a dream.
Thinking back, plenty of people had tried to talk him out of the Beautiful Lake Pavilion project.
His family had tried, the Internal Chief Administrator had tried, even the lords he was friendly with had told him to drop it.
But he trusted his own judgment and convinced himself the other lords were just jealous of him.
Anyway, he couldn’t let it crash the moment it opened, so he’d grit his teeth and slashed the prices.
That brought in a trickle of customers with light wallets, but before long a prohibition edict came down.
For Lord Seong, it was enough to make him want to climb the walls.
He’d emptied his entire estate to build Beautiful Lake Pavilion, and instead of recouping his investment he was dying just trying to cover operating costs.
Just then, the door opened and his attendant came in.
“Um, Lord. What do you want to do about today’s gathering?”
“Ah, right. Today was the meeting.”
There was a gathering formed by the lords in the vicinity. They’d taken the name Fine Wine Society from the legend that West Lake was created when two immortals spilled their fine wine.
He thought back to their last meeting.
He wasn’t the only one having a hard time these days.
Years of bad harvests had led to uprisings all over, and with the prohibition edict on top of that, the lords who owned businesses around West Lake were drowning in mounting losses and wearing long faces.
His own situation was dire, sure, but watching those once–swaggering lords pulling such miserable faces had still been pretty entertaining.
“I’ll go. Make preparations with that in mind.”
“Yes, Lord.”
Evening came.
Lord Seong headed for the appointed place.
This time, the meeting was being held at Moon Wine Pavilion, an establishment owned by Lord Man, one of the members.
“Welcome, sir.”
“Ahem, is everyone here?”
“Yes. They’re on the second floor.”
As Lord Seong climbed to the second floor, he tilted his head in puzzlement.
The place looked completely different from the last time he’d been there.
Things that had been left in disrepair despite their age were now neatly fixed up or replaced with brand–new ones.
Just as he reached the second floor, he spotted Lord Man.
“Lord Man, you kept saying you had no money and left everything falling apart, so what happened all of a sudden? Did a gold ingot fall out of the sky?”
“Ah, I wasn’t the one who paid for the repairs.”
“What do you mean? If you didn’t fix your own tavern, who would?”
“The new owner did.”
“New owner?”
“I sold this place a little while ago.”
Now that he looked closely, Lord Man’s face was completely free of the worries that had weighed it down before.
He looked as relieved as someone who’d finally had a bad tooth pulled.
But with how things were these days, there was no way he’d gotten a good price.
“I see. But how could you let such a fine tavern go for a pittance?”
“Eh? A pittance? Not at all.”
He waved his hand and said,
“To be honest, the price I named was a pittance. But the one who bought the place insisted they couldn’t pay so little and bought it at a generous price.”
“Where’d you find a sucker like that?”
Someone behind him sounded offended at those words.
“A sucker? How can you refer to our benefactor like that?”
“Ahem! That’s not the sort of thing you say about that person.”
Lord Seong blinked.
‘What, did they all eat something weird together or what?’
Now that he noticed, the lines of worry had vanished from their faces as well.
‘Don’t tell me…’
Lord Seong asked them,
“Don’t tell me you also sold your businesses to that suc… no, to that person?”
“That’s right.”
“Sold them at very good prices, too.”
“It paid off rushing straight to Clear Wave Pavilion as soon as we heard Lord Man’s story.”
At that, Lord Seong turned on Lord Man, sounding aggrieved.
“I’m hurt. Why didn’t you tell me about this?”
“Weren’t you the one who said I shouldn’t talk like that to you? Remember when I asked if you’d sell if someone came along wanting to buy? You cut me off and swore up and down you’d never do such a thing.”
“…”
He had no answer to that.
“That’s why I didn’t tell you, so don’t take it personally.”
At those words, Lord Seong cleared his throat and changed the subject.
“So… who did you sell to?”
“You’ve surely heard the name as well, Lord Seong. Deputy Merchant Lord Eun Seo-ho of the Eunhae Merchant Group.”
“Ah! That Handsome Young Hero?”
“That’s the one.”
“But once the famine ends, these businesses will start turning a profit again… Won’t your stomach burn with regret later?”
“Maybe.”
“But right now, putting out the fire at our feet comes first, doesn’t it?”
“And there were some terms we were quite satisfied with.”
He couldn’t help wondering what kind of terms they’d gotten to talk like that. Maybe they picked up on his curiosity, or maybe they just wanted to brag, because the lords spoke up without hesitation.
“For the next ten years, he’ll give us a tenth of the profits from the businesses we handed over.”
“A whole tenth?”
“That’s right. We’re more than satisfied. We put out the immediate fire, and we’ll still be getting extra income for ten years.”
“But if he’s willing to give up a tenth of the profits, there must have been some pretty serious conditions attached…”
“The condition wasn’t that difficult. We just have to shield Yangyang Martial Hall!”
At that, Lord Seong’s face twisted.
It figured – his relationship with Yangyang Martial Hall could hardly be called good.
“Come to think of it, I heard he’s still buying up more businesses.”
Lord Seong’s ears perked up at that.
He had no idea what Eun Seo-ho’s relationship with Yangyang Martial Hall was, but if the man was that generous a sucker, he might just buy Beautiful Lake Pavilion for a good price too.
His heart suddenly started pounding with nervous excitement.
“With this contract, you’ve now acquired a total of twenty-two businesses.”
At Lady Seohyang’s words, I nodded.
“This should be enough, right?”
At my question, Palgap answered,
“Goodness, Young Master, that’s something you should know. How would the likes of us know that?”
Well, he had a point.
Twenty-two places meant nearly half of the businesses around West Lake were now in my hands.
At this point, my name had spread everywhere. If they still weren’t coming to me, it meant they had no intention of selling.
Or they’d already sold to someone else.
It wasn’t like I was trying to monopolize all the business here, so this was plenty.
Just then, Lady Seohyang spoke up.
“From what I can tell, you’ve bought up almost all the big businesses.”
She was right – I’d timed it for when the larger businesses were struggling to hold out, so I’d managed to acquire most of the high–quality ones.
“Then let’s wrap up the acquisitions here.”
“Understood.”
Come to think of it, yesterday was the meeting of the Fine Wine Society that Lord Seong belonged to, wasn’t it?
Now that the Hao Clan was back to running normally, I wasn’t buying any more information, but what I’d already gathered still told me plenty.
A good number of the lords who’d sold me their businesses were members of that Fine Wine Society.
Which meant that by now, having heard about me, Lord Seong was probably all worked up, heart pounding at the thought of selling Beautiful Lake Pavilion to me.
What a shame.
I had absolutely no intention of buying Beautiful Lake Pavilion.
Anyway, it was about time to start wrapping things up here in Hangzhou.
The next day,
I headed to Yangyang Martial Hall early in the morning.
“Welcome.”
Hall Master Yeom greeted me with a broad smile.
“Deputy Merchant Lord, your name is echoing all over the place.”
“Haha, I did make a bit of a splash.”
“So, did you get everything you were aiming for?”
At that question, I nodded.
“Of course. I got more than enough – more than I’d hoped for, even.”
“That’s good to hear. Ah, and we enjoyed the food you sent over. It was truly delicious.”
“I’m glad it suited your taste.”
I went on,
“Do you have time today?”
“I don’t have anything particular scheduled.”
“Then come with me. It’s time for Yangyang Martial Hall to take back its land.”
I headed to Lord Seong’s residence with Hall Master Yeom.
The gatekeeper saw us and asked,
“What business do you have here?”
“We’ve come to see the Lord.”
“Do you have a prior appointment?”
“No, we don’t.”
At that, the gatekeeper shook his head and said,
“The Lord is a busy man. Make an appointment and come back another time.”
In response, I said,
“Very well. Then please inform the Lord that a man named Eun Seo-ho of the Eunhae Merchant Group will come back to pay his respects in about half a year.”
After saying that, we returned to Yangyang Martial Hall. Hall Master Yeom tilted his head and asked me,
“Half a year from now? Is that really alright?”
“Yes, it’s fine. The one whose guts are burning from urgency right now is Lord Seong. He’ll definitely come within three days.”
The only reason I’d said half a year was to make him even more desperate.
After Eun Seo-ho’s party left, the gatekeeper reported to Lord Seong’s attendant.
“Some guests came by just now wanting to see the Lord. I asked if they had an appointment, they said no, so I sent them away.”
“Well done. To think they wanted to see the Lord without an appointment! Bold dreams, that.”
“They did say they’d come back in half a year, though.”
The attendant pulled a schedule from his sleeve and unfolded it as he spoke.
“Half a year… that would be the twelfth month this year, right? So, who were they again?”
“He said he was Eun Seo-ho of the Eunhae Merchant Group.”
“Eun Seo-ho of the Eunhae…”
The attendant’s body suddenly went rigid.
Barely lifting his head, he asked,
“What did you just say?”
“He said he was Eun Seo-ho of the Eunhae Merchant Group, and he came with Hall Master Yeom of Yangyang Martial Hall over th—”
“You idiot! You must have a death wish, doing this to the Lord!”
“Huh?”
The gatekeeper was dumbfounded by the sudden change in attitude after being praised just a moment ago.
“That man is our Lord’s lifeline!”
“What?”
Half a year, he said!
Facing a Lord whose losses had piled up for half a year and whose temper had piled up right along with them would be absolutely terrifying.
The attendant hurried straight toward the Lord’s office.
The reception room of Yangyang Martial Hall.
Hall Master Yeom and I were sitting across from Lord Seong.
Hall Master Yeom was staring at me, mouth slightly open.
His expression clearly said, ‘How in the world did you call that so perfectly?’
I just smiled back and answered with my eyes.
‘See? Didn’t I say he’d come within three days?’
Anyway, he must have been really desperate.
Three days? Please.
Considering that he’d shown up at Yangyang Martial Hall the very next day like this.
“I deeply apologize for the unpleasantness you suffered because of our gatekeeper yesterday.”
He was being extremely polite.
“Think nothing of it. The gatekeeper was just doing his job.”
“Thank you for saying so. By any chance… did you come to see me in order to acquire Beautiful Lake Pavilion?”
Oh, Lord Seong.
You really are jumping the gun.
Putting on an apologetic expression, I said,
“I’m sorry, but that’s not why I’m here.”
“What?”
“As of yesterday, I’ve finished acquiring businesses around West Lake. I was actually getting ready to head back soon.”
“Ex–cuse me?”
It was clearly something he’d never even imagined; his face darkened at once.
“Wh–what do you mean by that? Are you saying you won’t be buying any more businesses…?”
“That’s right.”
“No! Then what in the world did you come to see me for?”
In answer, I took a document from my breast and unfolded it.
“This is a contract made between the late Lord Seong Ji-myeong and the late Hall Master Baek Eul-ji of Yangyang Martial Hall.”
“A contract? What do you…?”
Muttering that, Lord Seong looked over the contract, and his pupils began to tremble violently.
This is the genuine contract concerning the lease of a plot of land of roughly four–tenths of an acre located in XX, between Seong Ji-myeong of the Seong family in Hangzhou and Baek Eul-ji of Yangyang Martial Hall.
I, Seong Ji-myeong, in repayment for the grace of having my life saved, hereby promise to lease that land to Yangyang Martial Hall in perpetuity for five silver taels a year.
If my descendants break this promise and order them to vacate, then at that moment the rights to that land will pass to Yangyang Martial Hall, and all obligation to pay rent will cease.
His expression plainly said he couldn’t believe it.
“This document has already been notarized by County Magistrate Ji Hyeon, so there’s no doubt it’s genuine.”
“…”
“Furthermore, there is clear evidence that you, Lord Seong, ordered Yangyang Martial Hall to vacate and that they moved out. So it’s equally clear that the rights to that land have already passed to Yangyang Martial Hall.”
I continued,
“So, why don’t you return that land now?”
–TL Notes–
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