At my words, his face slowly turned red, then he suddenly shouted at me.
“What kind of bullshit is that? And show me some proof that this contract is even real!”
“Didn’t I just tell you? I had it notarized by the County Magistrate.”
“How much did you bribe him to notarize such a ridiculous contract!”
There it is, his true colors finally coming out.
The polite attitude he’d shown me just a moment ago was completely gone.
“And what exactly is your relationship with Yangyang Martial Hall that you’re getting involved in this?”
“We’re very close. Don’t tell me you don’t know. Back when I was staying at Yangyang Martial Hall, didn’t you already send people to keep an eye on me?”
“…”
“So just now, were you saying the County Magistrate is some corrupt leech who takes bribes?”
“Well, that guy was happily taking the bribes I…”
“Oh, so you did bribe him?”
“…!”
He froze for a moment, then brazenly turned it around on me.
“Why are you making a fuss over that? Isn’t it something everyone in the know already knows?”
“So you’re saying you can’t give that land back?”
“Hmph! As if I’d trust some notarization from the County Magistrate!”
“Then whose notarization would you trust?”
“Well, if it had the Imperial Palace’s notarization, I might.”
At those words, I grinned and pulled something out from my robe.
“I figured you’d say that, so I brought this along.”
I carefully unfolded it and laid it out on the tea table.
“It’s notarized by the Vice Minister of Revenue.”
“…!”
At my words, silence briefly fell over Yangyang Martial Hall’s guest reception room.
The first one to react was Hall Master Yeom.
“I–is that really the Vice Minister of Revenue’s…”
“Yes.”
Manor Lord Seong’s jaw dropped open.
Heh heh heh.
Shocked you, didn’t I?
When I first went to have the County Magistrate notarize this document, he cautiously voiced his concern.
“To be honest, in this county the landlords hold a lot of power. There are plenty of times even I have no choice but to listen to them. Manor Lord Seong is no exception. So to be safe, you’d better get a notarization from someone above me.”
So beforehand, I’d already had this contract notarized by the Vice Minister of Revenue.
Good thing I listened to the County Magistrate’s advice.
The Vice Minister of Revenue is the Ministry of Revenue’s second-in-command.
For something like this, his notarization is about as trustworthy as it gets.
Even Manor Lord Seong wouldn’t dare keep throwing a tantrum after seeing that.
Honestly, I would’ve liked to get the Minister of Revenue himself to notarize it, but he’s far too busy.
“I’d like you to get everything in order and return the land within five days.”
“Th–then what about the tavern building? I spent my own money to put that up!”
“Of course we’re going to have to tear it down.”
“What?”
“The previous Yangyang Martial Hall building was also paid for with Yangyang Martial Hall’s own money. Yet you still knocked it down without hesitation. Is there some law that says we can’t demolish your tavern building just because it’s yours?”
I slapped my knee and added.
“Ah! Now that I think about it, you even took demolition fees when you tore down Yangyang Martial Hall’s building, didn’t you? So either you pay the demolition costs, or you clear the whole thing out yourself.”
When Yangyang Martial Hall was demolished, he got thirty silver taels as demolition compensation.
If a one–story hall cost that much to take down, demolishing an eight–story tavern would cost several times more.
On top of that, the taller the building, the more money it takes.
Manor Lord Seong could do that much math, which was why his face had gone so pale.
“B–but where would I even get that kind of money…”
“What do you mean you don’t have it? Saying Manor Lord Seong doesn’t have money would make even an ant passing by laugh.”
Oh. He really might not have it.
That must be why he rushed over to sell Beautiful Lake Pavilion to me.
He might own plenty of land, but what he desperately needed right now was ready cash.
A truly healthy rich man keeps his cash flowing, but Manor Lord Seong was nowhere near that.
“Make up your mind quickly. We’re busy.”
“C–could you… show a bit of leniency?”
“Did you show Yangyang Martial Hall any leniency? You kicked them out in the dead of winter, remember?”
At that, Manor Lord Seong pressed his lips together and slowly lowered his head.
Watching him, I calmly sipped my tea.
At this point, it felt about time to get to the main point.
“Then how about we do this instead?”
“…?”
“Just hand over the tavern building to us as well. It’s only been a year or two, so it’s practically new. Wouldn’t it be a waste to demolish it?”
“That’s true.”
“So let’s say we just go ahead and use that building.”
“In other words, you’re planning to just swallow my tavern whole, aren’t you?”
“Then you can pay the demolition fee or tear it down yourself.”
Manor Lord Seong thought it over for a moment, then let out a sigh.
“Fine. We’ll do it your way.”
“Wise choice.”
With the air of a man who had lost everything, Manor Lord Seong walked out of Yangyang Martial Hall.
“So is everything settled now?”
I nodded at Hall Master Yeom’s question.
“Yeah.”
He might squirm a bit, trying not to lose his tavern building, but that’ll just run up against the arrangements I’ve already put in place.
“By the way, Deputy Merchant Lord, why didn’t you give him that?”
Hall Master Yeom was pointing at a few other sheets of paper.
They were letters the former Manor Lord, Seong Ji-myeong, had left for his son, kept together with the real contract.
I let out a bitter smile and shook my head.
“Even if I handed it to him now, the former Manor Lord’s words written there wouldn’t sink in.”
“Then when will you?”
“The right time will come soon enough.”
Manor Lord Seong returned home.
“How did it go?”
The one who’d been waiting most anxiously for his return was the Internal Chief Administrator.
But he didn’t hear the answer he wanted.
“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Why did Father have to leave a contract like that behind! Damn it!”
“Sir?”
“It means the land and building where Beautiful Lake Pavilion stands are no longer ours.”
“So Deputy Merchant Lord Eun Seo-ho is taking it over?”
“Ha! If that were the case, do you think I’d be wearing this expression?”
The Internal Chief Administrator flinched at that.
His face really did look like he’d lost everything.
“Father left behind a contract for the land Yangyang Martial Hall stands on. Ha ha ha.”
Manor Lord Seong let out a laugh of disbelief and explained everything that had happened.
The Internal Chief Administrator needed to know as well, after all.
“So that’s how it turned out? Huh…”
After a brief sigh, the Internal Chief Administrator thought for a while, then spoke up.
“Did you say the Vice Minister of Revenue notarized that contract for him?”
“That’s right.”
“In that case, you should submit a petition.”
“A petition?”
“Yes. As far as I know, when something unjust happens, if you submit a petition through the County Magistrate, they’ll review the matter again, so you might be able to get relief.”
“Oh! That’s a good idea! I’ll go to the County Magistrate at once.”
Brightening, Manor Lord Seong hurried to the county office and met with the County Magistrate.
“I already know about that matter. I’m the one who notarized that the contract is genuine.”
“Is it really genuine?”
“Yes.”
“Just how much did that brat pay you to make you act like this?”
“Hey! Watch your mouth. How could you speak like that about him!”
“Him?”
The County Magistrate looked flustered and quickly changed the subject.
“Ahem, anyway, I really can’t understand why you’re acting like this, Manor Lord. The contract is clearly there, so how can you throw such a fit?”
“If you keep this up, I’ll have to make you cough up everything I’ve given you until now.”
“Ugh!”
At that, the County Magistrate’s face twisted into a troubled expression. It made sense, since he’d taken a fair bit from Manor Lord Seong up to now.
Ever since getting caught by Eun Seo-ho, however, he hadn’t taken a single thing.
But suddenly, his insides began to boil.
The other party was just a mere manor lord, while he was the County Magistrate personally appointed by His Majesty the Emperor.
“Are you threatening me right now?”
“Threatening you… yes, I am.”
“Hah. I admit I’ve taken a bit. But do you really think I’d go down alone?”
“…”
Manor Lord Seong was left speechless.
After all, bribery charges didn’t just punish the one who took the bribe, but the one who gave it as well.
“There’s nothing more to discuss. You should go back.”
With that dismissal, Manor Lord Seong had no choice but to leave the county office.
“Damn it!”
Grinding his teeth, Manor Lord Seong glanced back at the county office and thought to himself.
“’I’ll have to borrow the other manor lords’ strength. Even if he acts so brazen, if all the other manor lords join in, he won’t be able to refuse submitting the petition the way I want.’”
Manor Lord Seong spoke to his attendant.
“Let’s go to Manor Lord Ma.”
“Yes, sir.”
On the way to the Ma Family Manor, Manor Lord Seong was suddenly struck by a thought and had to stop in his tracks.
“For ten years, they agreed to cut us a tenth of their business profits. There was only one condition. That we would protect Yangyang Martial Hall!”
Given how close Eun Seo-ho was to Yangyang Martial Hall, it made perfect sense for him to set that kind of condition.
But for some reason, it felt like Eun Seo-ho had seen even further ahead when he made that demand.
“’Did he really anticipate I’d end up like this and rope in the other manor lords in advance?’”
Cold sweat trickled down Manor Lord Seong’s back.
At the same time, his father’s dying injunction surfaced in his mind.
‘Jun, if you want our Seong Family Manor to last for a long time, stay away from taverns and any other entertainment businesses. Our family doesn’t have what it takes to handle that kind of business.’
Now he finally understood.
Why his father had left him those words.
He had already foreseen, long before this, that the manor lords after him wouldn’t be able to keep such businesses going and would end up handing them over to someone else.
He hadn’t wanted the Seong Family Manor to fall into such a predicament.
So when he said, “Our family doesn’t have what it takes to handle that kind of business,” what he really meant was, “You don’t have what it takes to handle that kind of business.”
“’Ah… Father…’”
Only then did Manor Lord Seong truly regret it.
But now, there was nothing he could do.
The next day.
That morning, I headed to Yangyang Martial Hall and discussed the move with Hall Master Yeom.
While we were in the middle of our discussion, a disciple of the hall came over to announce a visitor.
“A visitor?”
“Yes. Manor Lord Seong has arrived.”
What’s this about?
Tilting my head in puzzlement, I told him to show our guest to the reception room.
Since things between us were hardly friendly, we skipped any long greetings.
“We just saw each other yesterday, and here you are again. What brings you here?”
At Hall Master Yeom’s words, Manor Lord Seong rose from his seat and bowed to him.
“I’ve been… sorry for everything.”
“What?”
His behavior was so unexpected that it caught us off guard.
“All this time I’ve been blinded by my own stubbornness, clinging to greed I couldn’t afford. Because of that, I ended up doing something I should never have done to Yangyang Martial Hall. My father told me Yangyang Martial Hall was our family’s benefactor and to treat it well.”
“…”
I calmed my surprise and looked into Manor Lord Seong’s eyes.
For some reason, they seemed clear now.
“I have no right to that land. I lost it through my own fault, so who could I possibly blame?”
There was something almost heartrending about him.
“So, I hereby formally acknowledge that land as belonging to Yangyang Martial Hall. And I’ll give up my claim to the building as well. It’s shameless to say this, but I’d like you to think of that building as my way of atoning for my wrongdoing.”
I decided to probe him a little.
“That’s a big decision. Honestly, you’re taking a considerable loss that way. Are you really all right with that?”
“Of course I’m not all right. It hurts like hell. But what can I do? The water’s already been spilled.”
Ah. He really was regretting it from the heart.
“My late father told me not to get involved in entertainment businesses. But I went and did it anyway. So I’m going to take this as punishment for being an unfilial son who ignored his last words.”
He continued.
“Anyway, I’ll have the tavern cleared out within three days. However, would it be all right if I sell the furnishings inside? It’s the only way I can put a little money into my workers’ hands, so I’m asking for your understanding.”
“Of course, that’s fine.”
What mattered was the building, not the furnishings.
To be honest, the furnishings inside Beautiful Lake Pavilion were all for running a tavern, overly lavish and useless to the martial hall’s people.
“Thank you.”
With that, Manor Lord Seong rose from his seat.
I knew this was the moment to hand over the letter his father had left him.
“Manor Lord.”
“Do you still have something to say?”
“Actually, we found one more thing where the former Manor Lord’s real contract was stored.”
I held out an envelope to him.
“There wasn’t originally an envelope, but I put the letter in one so you could keep it safely.”
“Why are you only giving me this now?”
“Because now, I don’t think you’d tear this letter up. It’s your late father’s precious last words. You should treat it carefully.”
At that, Manor Lord Seong gave a wry smile.
He knew I wasn’t wrong.
“Thank you.”
Manor Lord Seong thanked me, then left Yangyang Martial Hall.
Back home, Manor Lord Seong let out a long sigh.
Once he’d sorted out all his thoughts, he felt oddly relieved.
He took out the letter he’d received from Eun Seo-ho.
The very first line of that letter made him feel ashamed.
[My son Jun. By the time you read this letter, you’ll probably have ignored my words, done as you pleased, and landed yourself in serious trouble.]
Line after line was filled with admonitions for him.
Each sentence jabbed straight into his chest and hurt.
‘Just like Deputy Merchant Lord Eun Seo-ho said, the old me would’ve torn this letter to shreds.’
[Lastly, if you’ve decided not to treat my words lightly anymore, I’ll give you a chance to set your life straight again. Go to the pond in the rear garden and look for the turtle statue in the middle.]
Tilting his head, he rose from his seat and headed for the rear garden.
The pond in the rear garden was only about waist–deep, so he had no trouble wading in alone.
It was something he could have ordered a servant or attendant to do, but because it was his father’s last request, he stepped into the pond himself.
He found the turtle statue in the middle of the pond and lifted it up with a heave.
“Gah!”
The moment he saw what was hidden beneath it, he was so shocked he forgot to breathe.
–TL Notes–
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