Lady Seohyang seemed not to have foreseen this situation either. Otherwise, she never would have followed me here.
I was startled for a moment, but I quickly regained my composure and whispered to Lady Seohyang.
“Young Lady, the more you try to avoid him or hide, the more suspicious he’ll become. Face him calmly.”
“You’re right. Right now, I’m Gwak Seohyang.”
“Yes. You’re only someone who looks like her. It’s not as though the world is so small that two similar-looking people can’t exist, is it?”
“That’s true.”
“And you’re wearing a veil right now, so there’s a chance he won’t recognize you at all. Even if he does, we can talk our way through it.”
I had already prepared Lady Seohyang’s background perfectly, just in case.
Even aside from a situation like this, there would be times when I needed to introduce her to others.
I answered the brewer with a composed expression.
“Ah, Master Brewer Yeong Gu-jin. Is this the person you wanted to introduce?”
“That’s right. He’s my childhood friend. He came a long way just to cheer me on.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Eun Seo-ho, Deputy Merchant Lord of the Eunhae Merchant Group.”
Strictly speaking, we had met before, but he and I had never formally exchanged greetings back then, so I greeted him as though this were our first meeting.
“Good to meet you. I’m this fellow’s friend, Dong Hyeok-su.”
“To come all this way to support him… that is a friendship worth envying.”
“Hahaha, there’s nothing to envy. It’s just a rotten old tie I can’t seem to get rid of.”
As Warrior Dong said that, his expression suddenly shifted.
His gaze had fixed on Lady Seohyang, who was standing behind me.
Even though he could see only the shape of her eyes, he had realized who she was.
I carefully asked.
“Is something wrong?”
“Ja-ryeong… Don’t tell me you’re Ja-ryeong?”
Even with his voice trembling like that, Lady Seohyang calmly asked in return.
“Pardon? Who might that be?”
“Uh…”
At her response, Warrior Dong was the one who became flustered.
I tilted my head.
“Ja-ryeong… Dong Hyeok-su… Ah! Might you be the son of the Provincial Administration Commissioner of Guizhou?”
At my question, he nodded.
“I see. Some time ago, at the Provincial Administration Commissioner’s request, I brought snow to Young Lady Dong Ja-ryeong. I later heard that she passed away in an unfortunate accident. Please accept my condolences.”
I continued.
“I should have attended the funeral, but I heard the news too late and was unable to do so. I apologize.”
At my words, Lady Seohyang played along.
“Ah, you mean that young lady. The one who looked very much like me?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
I quickly said to her.
“Warrior Dong seems to have mistaken you for his younger sister, Young Lady Dong Ja-ryeong, because she looked so much like Deputy Gwak.”
Even then, he could not take his eyes off Lady Seohyang.
“Mistaken… No, that can’t be… She looks so much like her.”
Of course she does.
They’re the same person.
But we could not reveal that.
“I admit Deputy Gwak looks very similar to Young Lady Dong Ja-ryeong. However, Deputy Gwak here is someone my master recommended to me.”
“My introduction is late. I am Gwak Seohyang, Deputy to Deputy Merchant Lord Eun Seo-ho.”
“Deputy Gwak is my master’s relative. When my master first introduced her to me, I was stunned as well.”
“…”
“I understand how painful this must be for you. But my deputy is not the person you are thinking of, so I would appreciate it if you refrained from any further discourtesy.”
Warrior Dong gazed at Lady Seohyang with desperate eyes, but Lady Seohyang only looked back at him with an indifferent gaze.
At that, Warrior Dong let out a sigh, cupped his fists, and apologized.
“I’m sorry. I was… out of line.”
Since I knew he had a fiery temperament, I had braced myself for him to demand she remove her veil or something of the sort.
But to think he would apologize so readily…
Had his personality changed?
Lady Seohyang’s death might have changed him.
“I accept your apology.”
The moment he heard Lady Seohyang’s words, he walked past us and headed somewhere else.
“Ah, my apologies.”
Master Brewer Yeong Gu-jin, who had been nervously watching us and Warrior Dong, apologized to me.
“It’s all right. You should go after him.”
“Yes.”
He hurried after Warrior Dong.
After that, we continued encouraging the brewers and inspecting their preparations, then finally met Master Brewer Yeong Gu-jin again after he returned.
“I am truly sorry about earlier.”
He let out a sigh and continued.
“That happened because he misses his younger sister, who died in an accident, far too much. The two of them were very close. Every time we met, he would talk about her.”
“I see.”
“She was in very poor health, so he worried about her constantly. Fortunately, she met a good physician and recovered from her illness, and he was so happy about it… But after she lost her life in that unfortunate accident, I can’t even begin to tell you how devastated he was.”
I nodded.
“She truly was a lovely person. I had a connection with her as well, so I cannot help feeling deeply saddened. Then, I will proceed with the inspection.”
“Yes.”
After finishing the rounds of encouragement and inspection, we headed toward a quiet place.
The Beijing Branch grounds had once been the site of an imperial villa, so they were tremendously vast.
Naturally, the garden had also been made spacious.
The place we were heading to now was a secluded corner deep within that garden.
“Please wait here for a moment. Deputy Gwak, you alone will come with me.”
“Yes.”
After leaving the Escort Guards behind, I walked with Lady Seohyang for quite some time.
“There is no one here.”
“Yes.”
I took off my outer robe and draped it over her head.
“In a place like this, no one will hear you, no matter how loudly you cry.”
At my words, tears began to gather in her large, clear eyes. There was no way it could have been easy to treat her own blood so coldly when he was standing right in front of her.
Especially when he was not some relative she had never gotten along with, but someone she had truly cherished and loved.
From earlier, she had been clenching her fists so tightly that her nails left marks in her palms, and I had already noticed.
“Hic…”
In the end, Lady Seohyang sank down where she stood and burst into tears. I silently stood before her, blocking the sound so it would not carry far.
Her sobs sounded painfully heartbreaking.
“Thank you.”
After sobbing for a long while, she spoke to me.
“For saving me… Thank you, truly.”
She continued.
“Because I’m alive like this, I can see my parents and my brothers. So… thank you.”
“Since you say that, I’m the one who should be grateful.”
To be honest, a small part of me had wondered if I had done something unnecessary.
I had wondered if I had only made her heart suffer more.
But after hearing her words, I felt certain I had done the right thing.
Yes. As long as she was alive, that was enough.
As long as a person was alive, a day would surely come when they could be happy again.
Someday, Lady Seohyang would also recover her identity and reunite with her family.
.
.
.
The day of the Liquor Tasting Competition dawned.
From early morning, Merchant Lord Go of the Cheongsu Merchant Group and I had to move busily.
There were more liquors entered in this competition than expected.
That was because brewing had been temporarily permitted for the sole purpose of entering the competition.
The list of participating brewing houses had more than a thousand names on it.
If we included the places that had failed to enter for various reasons, the Empire likely had thousands of brewing houses in total.
There might have been even more than that.
Since there were so many submitted liquors, this evaluation would be carried out over roughly one month.
There was no way anyone could evaluate that many liquors in a single day.
If someone drank more than a hundred cups in a day, getting drunk was one problem, but properly distinguishing the flavor would become difficult as well.
That was why they would evaluate fifty brewing houses per day.
It was a good thing we had anticipated this and set aside plenty of days. Otherwise, I would have had to manage two events at the same time and run myself completely ragged.
There were a total of one hundred invited guests.
They had to evaluate each liquor based on ten separate categories.
Afterward, the top one hundred would be selected and move on to the second evaluation.
The second evaluation would involve making the liquor on site.
There was always a possibility that the submitted liquor and the liquor they personally brewed would taste different, and we also needed to see whether they could produce it in large quantities.
That was why everyone had been required to bring their brewing tools and ingredients here.
The Crown Prince came to visit the evaluation grounds we had worked so hard to prepare.
“Oh! This is quite impressive.”
“Yes.”
I explained the evaluation grounds to him.
“As I told Your Highness before, each of the roughly fifty tables will hold a different liquor, and the judges will wander around them at random, taste the liquors, and evaluate them.”
“I see.”
The reason the hundred or so people would not sit at their own seats drinking and evaluating, but instead move around while doing so, was to prevent any possible poisoning attempt.
Someone carrying the liquor might mix poison into a cup.
But if each brewing house was made responsible for its own liquor and poured it personally, the chance of such a thing would be minimized.
Also, if the judges tasted the liquors in a fixed order, they might fail to properly taste the later entries.
“And for those who requested it, we have prepared side dishes in advance.”
“Now that you mention it, you said the taste of liquor can change completely depending on the side dish.”
Merchant Lord Go answered that question.
“That is correct, Your Highness.”
“I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
The Crown Prince smiled with satisfaction and continued.
“The Liquor Tasting Competition is not an event that will end after a single occasion. We intend to hold it again next year.”
“If that happens, it will become an event remembered throughout the Empire. And if it is used well, a festival could be held around it to bring money flowing through the Imperial Capital.”
As expected of Merchant Lord Go.
Perhaps because this was related to liquor, his mind was turning quickly.
“That is a good idea.”
The Crown Prince responded positively to the suggestion.
“But for that to happen, this event must first conclude successfully.”
“You are absolutely right, Your Highness.”
“Imperial Father also seems to want to assess the judges’ qualifications. Only then will the Liquor Tasting Competition’s credibility rise even further, no?”
“Indeed, Your Highness.”
“I suspect those found lacking will not be invited again next time.”
“Of course! If that happens, being invited as a judge for the competition will become a great honor among them. Naturally, they will evaluate more carefully as well.”
“Exactly. The problem is that there is no suitable method for it.”
As we all pondered together, a good idea came to me.
“What if we hide the same liquor among the submitted entries?”
Both of them looked at me with brightened eyes, waiting for my next words.
“If a judge gives different evaluations for the same liquor, or fails to realize it is the same, then they lack the proper qualifications.”
“Oh! Indeed!”
“That is an excellent method!”
Both the Crown Prince and Merchant Lord Go admired my idea.
“How did you think of that?”
“It simply came to me.”
That was how I answered, but in truth, this method had come to mind thanks to Palgap.
“Young Master, how do these two cups of tea taste?”
“Mm. They’re good.”
“Can you taste any difference between them?”
“Palgap. You do remember that I’m the Deputy Merchant Lord of the Eunhae Merchant Group, which specializes in distributing tea, right? Asking me to find the difference between two cups of the exact same tea is a little much, don’t you think?”
“Since your palate is still alive, it seems you are not tired.”
“What were you planning to do if I couldn’t tell the taste of tea apart?”
“I was going to bring Master Gwak.”
“Hey! Don’t you dare!”
That was how the method I suggested was adopted.
Wait a moment. Did that mean I had to handle that as well?
.
.
.
Several tents were set up in the open space before the Imperial Palace.
Since it was still the Third Month, the weather was chilly.
Beijing was located toward the northern side of the Empire, so there was no helping it.
Still, since it was not hot and humid, the liquor would not spoil or turn sour.
With the Imperial Guards standing watch, the first day of evaluation began.
Each brewing house placed its liquor on its assigned table and prepared its side dishes.
Meanwhile, the Emperor called the one hundred invited guests before him and impressed upon them the importance and influence of this evaluation.
“This competition is also a process for selecting premium liquors to be used in trade with foreign nations. If you have not drunk liquor for a long time and your palate has grown dull, causing you to fail to evaluate properly, that can be forgiven. But if your conscience has grown dull and you fail to evaluate properly, thereby helping bring shame upon the Empire, you will not escape severe punishment. Keep that firmly in mind!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
“Then begin the evaluation.”
The evaluation began.
The invited guests serving as judges carried evaluation sheets marked with their names, walked around the grounds, tasted the liquors, and began writing their assessments.
“My lord, our liquor is…”
And the brewing houses explained their own liquors.
“Please try one cup as it is. Then, after tasting this tofu dish, try the liquor again.”
The invited guests were forbidden not only from making useless small talk, but also from letting out loud exclamations of admiration.
I looked over the judges. Among them was also the Provincial Administration Commissioner of Guizhou.
His expression was one of emotion at drinking liquor again after so long, but he carefully tasted and evaluated each cup.
Would the Provincial Administration Commissioner be able to avoid the trap we had hidden among them?
At that moment, after taking one sip of liquor, the Provincial Administration Commissioner tilted his head.
He took another sip, tilted his head again, and then began writing on his evaluation sheet.
Seeing that, I quietly laughed to myself.
As expected of the Provincial Administration Commissioner. He noticed the trap.
In that case, there was a high chance he would be invited to next year’s Liquor Tasting Competition as well.
Lady Seohyang would be happy.
While I was watching the competition grounds like that, Escort Guard Jin Yu approached me.
What is it? He should be resting right now.
– My lord, I have something to report.
Escort Guard Jin Yu’s Voice Transmission reached my ears.
– Go ahead.
– There is a problem with one of the brewing houses on our side. I believe you should come see it yourself.
I let out a sigh inwardly.
What kind of problem could it be for Escort Guard Jin Yu, who should have been resting, to personally come find me?
–TL Notes–
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