“Whoa, whoa!”
A group of people had just arrived in Chengdu, Sichuan.
They were from the Eunhae Merchant Group headquarters.
“You arrived earlier than expected.”
Leading them was the temporary captain, Clerk Im Gi-cheol of Gap-rank from the Finance Pavilion.
He spotted the young man sitting under the tree ahead of him. It was Eun Seo-ho.
“Young Master!”
“Was the journey smooth?”
As Eun Seo-ho rose and asked, Im Gi-cheol clasped his fists and replied,
“We picked a good route, so there was nothing too difficult about it.”
Well, it just took a long time.
They had to detour quite a bit while pulling carriages.
“Did everything go well here in Sichuan? From what I saw along the way, things seemed to have gone smoothly in Hubei and Shaanxi, just as planned.”
“Yes. Things are going according to plan here too. Coming early was worth it. Shall we head to the branch now?”
“Yes, sir.”
.
.
.
Before long, they arrived at the Sichuan Branch of the Eunhae Merchant Group.
“Welcome!”
“Greetings, Branch Lord!”
They cupped their fists toward the Branch Lord who had come out to greet them.
His name was Eun Myeong-sang.
He was the younger brother of the current Merchant Lord.
The former Merchant Lord, Eun Ji-bong, had three sons and one daughter. Eun Myeong-sang was his second son.
“But I heard Seo-ho was coming with you?”
“I’m right here.”
The young man standing just ahead answered.
“Oh!”
He didn’t recognize him at first, but upon closer look, the features of the child he remembered became clear.
With a respectful bow, the youth greeted him.
“Your nephew, Eun Seo-ho, greets his uncle.”
“I really didn’t recognize you! You’ve grown into such a fine young man!”
Eun Myeong-sang looked over his nephew with eyes full of pride. He hadn’t even recognized him up close—that’s how much he’d changed.
As a child, he’d frequently fallen ill.
So when he heard he was coming to Sichuan, he’d been quite worried.
But the youth before him looked very healthy. Even tall.
‘That face is quite fair—he’ll break quite a few hearts. I think he resembles me more than my brother, doesn’t he?’
With a pleased smile, he welcomed Eun Seo-ho.
“It’s been a while. Have you been well?”
“Yes, and you, Uncle? Have you been in good health?”
“I’ve been doing just fine.”
“Then allow me to introduce the others in our group.”
With that, they exchanged greetings, and Eun Myeong-sang addressed them.
“Well then, come on in.”
“Yes, sir.”
They entered the Eunhae Merchant Group’s Sichuan Branch.
Inside the large estate stood quite a few buildings, clearly divided between inner and outer quarters.
Eun Seo-ho was led to the inner quarters.
Naturally so—unlike the other employees, he was family, bearing the Eun surname.
Eun Myeong-sang and Eun Seo-ho spent time alone together.
“Your aunt and cousins are all out at the moment. You’ll get to meet them this evening.”
“Understood.”
Eun Myeong-sang personally brewed and served tea.
“Here, drink up. Sichuan may be famous for its silk and rock salt, but its tea has its own charms too.”
“Thank you, I’ll enjoy it.”
Eun Seo-ho sipped the tea carefully.
“But listen…”
Eun Myeong-sang continued as he looked at him.
“A few days ago, someone from the Tang Clan came looking for you.”
“What?!”
Cough!
Hack! Hack!
Ow! Hot!
I burned my tongue.
It was such an abrupt statement.
I’d made a point not to reveal my identity to the Tang Clan. So how did they find out I was from the Eunhae Merchant Group—and my name too?
Ah… I did mention it once to reassure Tang Jo-ung. Did he remember?
My uncle handed me a handkerchief as he asked,
“Are you alright?”
“Y-yeah, I’m fine.”
“From the way you’re reacting, there’s clearly a reason the Tang Clan was looking for you. They seemed to be doing it quite discreetly.”
That was a relief.
If the Tang Clan hadn’t kept things quiet, this entire plan would’ve fallen apart.
“What exactly happened?”
My uncle’s face turned serious.
“Crossing the Tang Clan is absolutely forbidden.”
“You think I don’t know that?”
If you became enemies with the Tang Clan?
You’d have to give up on sleep, good food, even stepping outside.
Because you’d never know when a hidden weapon might fly your way, or where poison might be waiting.
Even if it took ten or a hundred years, the Tang Clan would see vengeance through.
They were relentless and merciless when it came to revenge.
“If you did anything to offend them, you should go and apologize immediately. If you don’t have the courage, I’ll go with you.”
The way my uncle looked at me was so warm.
This was one way he resembled my father—they both seemed to have inherited that quality from my grandfather.
I shook my head.
“No, it’s alright. They’re not looking for me because I offended them.”
“That’s a relief!”
“Well… I may have caused them a slight inconvenience, but they’ll forgive that much. Haha.”
I mean, I did leave them wondering about my name and affiliation.
“The truth is…”
I explained to my uncle what had happened with the Tang Clan.
Of course, I didn’t mention that the real mastermind behind the kidnapping was the Murim Alliance.
There was no proof, and it was too huge a matter.
Even if the Murim Alliance was little more than a shell now, it was still the center of the Orthodox Sects.
I couldn’t just throw accusations around.
“That’s what happened?”
My uncle’s eyes widened.
“So you saved the Clan Lord’s son, and now the Tang Clan owes you a debt. That’s why they were searching for you.”
He continued,
“In the Orthodox Sects, there’s an unspoken rule among sects and noble families—favors must be properly repaid.”
He poured me another cup and asked,
“But from what you said, it sounds like you’ve already been here for two weeks?”
“Ah, that’s…”
“Now that I think of it, for the past two weeks, some strange rumors have been spreading. And now, the talk about Self-Dancing Dolls having souls has lost credibility, and the Dan Clan’s reputation has crashed instead.”
He looked at me and added,
“This was your doing, wasn’t it?”
“It was.”
I admitted it without hesitation.
“Father sent me here ahead of time to carry out a series of tasks.”
“Still, to think your father came up with a scheme like this! That’s quite the surprise. As expected of a Merchant Lord.”
It had been my plan, but I felt awkward saying that to my uncle—so I stayed quiet.
“That aside, about the real reason you came here yourself.”
Honestly, if it were just about those rumors, someone else trustworthy could’ve handled it. Like we did with the other provinces.
But Sichuan was different. I came in person for one purpose—flushing out the rat.
“You really believe there’s a rat in this branch?”
“You’ve suspected it too, haven’t you, Uncle?”
“But we’ve lived like family for years… and now you’re saying someone’s a spy…”
Uncle wore a look of disbelief.
I could understand, at least a little, how he felt.
This branch was built on mutual trust here in Sichuan. So if someone who’s practically family betrayed the others, it would hit deep.
In my past life, I experienced that kind of betrayal too.
No matter how generously you treat people or how much trust you place in them, a traitor always shows up eventually.
It hurt a lot at first, but after a while, I got used to it.
Because after all the investigation, it was clear the betrayal wasn’t due to the Eunhae Merchant Group’s fault.
It came down to personal greed and outside pressure.
Even so, I never cut back on the benefits the Eunhae Merchant Group provided.
If we ever started treating people poorly, then betrayal would start being our fault.
“Uncle, this isn’t your fault.”
“Hmm?”
“You looked like you were blaming yourself. As if you were thinking, ‘If I’d been just a little kinder, they wouldn’t have betrayed us.’”
“Ah… was it that obvious?”
“You’re a good man, Uncle. Just the fact you’re even thinking that proves it.”
I gave a small laugh.
“And it might sound boastful, but the Eunhae Merchant Group’s benefits are honestly excellent. You don’t need to beat yourself up over this.”
“Now that’s going too far. ‘Beating myself up’?”
“If I said too much, I apologize.”
I bowed my head, and Uncle waved a hand, chuckling.
“I’m kidding, just joking.”
His face brightened again.
“Alright, enough pointless self-blame. So? Did coming here early pay off?”
“It did.”
I smiled as I answered.
“I’ve figured out who the rat is, where they show up, and what bait they’ve been chasing.”
I didn’t come here early just to spread a song.
I’ve been keeping myself busy.
I had to watch the Dan Clan Merchant Group while also monitoring our own Sichuan Branch.
And finally, I caught someone from the Dan Clan meeting with someone from our branch.
Uncle’s eyes gleamed at my words.
“Then who is it? Let’s drag that rat out right now!”
“Uncle.”
I smiled playfully and continued.
“Imagine this: a rat borrows a cat’s tail and gets bird droppings instead of food as payment. Then, furious, it bites the cat. Doesn’t that sound fun?”
“Sounds fun, sure, but the cat would’ve definitely paid in food, right? Why would it be bird droppings?”
“That’s where it gets really fun.”
“…?”
“A hawk, watching the whole thing, swoops down and snatches the food—leaving only droppings behind.”
Uncle asked,
“So who’s the hawk?”
“Me.”
I went on.
“I can’t forgive someone who became a traitor just for money—but I also can’t let the Dan Clan Merchant Group off the hook for planting the spy.”
The Dan Clan had already taken a huge hit to their reputation because of the baseless rumors they spread about the Self-Dancing Dolls.
But that was a separate matter.
This time, they’ll pay the price for planting a traitor.
.
.
.
That evening.
I finally got to meet Uncle’s family.
Aunt greeted me warmly.
“Welcome! Seo-ho, you’ve grown so handsome!”
“Haha.”
Aunt was the typical Sichuan native—bold, open, and cheerful.
Uncle had been active in Sichuan from early on and met her during that time.
Together, they had two sons and two daughters.
The two sons were currently helping with Uncle’s work. Their names were Eun Dae-seok and Eun Chung-seok.
Dae-seok was nineteen now, and Chung-seok was seventeen.
“It’s been a while, brothers.”
“Yeah, it has.”
“You’ve been well?”
“Yes.”
The youngest daughter was younger than me. A late child—just six years old now.
So naturally, she was doted on by the entire family.
Her name was Eun Ryeo-ok.
Right now, Ryeo-ok was clinging to my sleeve and wouldn’t let go.
I wanted to head to my room, wash up, and rest, but I couldn’t, since Ryeo-ok had me pinned down.
“Ryeo-ok, time to go to bed now. Big Brother needs to sleep too, doesn’t he?”
“Then I can sleep with him.”
She looked up at me, her glittering eyes seeming to say, ‘You still won’t play with me?’
My heart throbbed.
She’s… way too cute.
That’s when Dae-seok asked Ryeo-ok,
“Ryeo-ok, do you really like Big Brother Seo-ho that much?”
“Yes.”
“Why do you like him so much?”
“He’s handsome.”
“…”
If you say it that firmly, I’m the one who gets embarrassed.
Then—
“Ryeo-ok, don’t bother Big Brother Seo-ho too much.”
I turned around.
A bold-looking girl strode in, hair tied back, dressed in martial robes, and a sword at her waist.
Her name was Eun Hyang-ok.
Uncle’s eldest daughter.
She was sixteen, one year older than me.
She said to Ryeo-ok,
“If you keep bothering Big Brother Seo-ho, he might start to dislike you. Wouldn’t that make you sad?”
“Uh…”
“You like being with people who like you, right? So let’s stop here and go to bed. You can play again tomorrow.”
After a moment of thought, Ryeo-ok finally let go of my sleeve.
“Okay. But you have to play with me tomorrow.”
“Of course.”
At my answer, Ryeo-ok finally relaxed and followed her nanny back to her room.
Hyang-ok bowed to Uncle and said,
“I came as soon as I got the message, but I’m a bit late.”
“It’s fine.”
“So, do we kill the rat now?”
There was such intensity in her voice that I flinched without meaning to.
Hyang-ok… scares me.
–TL Notes–
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