So seven people have gone missing after being sent to investigate what’s happening on Hainan Island?
This is more serious than I thought…
Judging by Warrior Jin Yeong’s reaction, there was no chance those missing people were ordinary civilians or civil officials.
In other words, seven agents dispatched by the Embroidered Guard or the Eastern Depot had vanished – no, they had been eliminated.
If even martial artists with specialized training had met such an end… then this mission was far more dangerous than I’d anticipated.
“Here. Take this.”
Warrior Jin Yeong handed me a scroll.
“It’s your official writ of command.”
“…”
Do I really have to take it?
Unfortunately, there was no backing out now.
If I said, ‘I’m not going,’ the consequences that followed would be…
I didn’t even want to imagine them.
I shook my head to clear away those thoughts, then respectfully accepted the scroll.
That didn’t stop me from grumbling inwardly.
Damn it, couldn’t you have warned me about this a little sooner?
“Take this as well.”
“What is it?”
“Information on the Embroidered Guard agent who will be assisting you. Memorize it here and burn it immediately afterward.”
“Understood.”
That was only natural when it concerned an agent carrying out a top-secret mission.
If their identity were exposed, their life would be in danger.
After I finished reading the document and burned it, Warrior Jin Yeong gave me one final warning.
“His Majesty the Emperor has high expectations for this mission. Take care of yourself.”
“Yes. I will.”
“Then have a safe journey.”
Warrior Jin Yeong must have been busy, because he left as soon as he had finished delivering his message.
After seeing him off, I let out a long sigh.
“Whew…”
Palgap walked over and asked,
“What’s wrong, Young Master?”
“It’s hard to explain. Imagine discovering a priceless spirit herb and being promised half its value if you retrieve it, only to learn that the damned thing is clinging to a cliff above a drop thousands of feet deep.”
“So, in other words, you’re completely screwed?”
“…Yeah.”
“But you fell off a cliff before and still came back perfectly fine, Young Master.”
Ah…
That was true.
On the way back after rescuing Brother Jin-ho, an earthquake had suddenly struck. I’d pushed Brother Jin-ho to safety and fallen over the cliff in his place.
I had barely escaped death that time.
Even now, I still wasn’t entirely sure how I’d survived.
And that was where I obtained the Silver Mist Sword and met Geumryeong.
I slipped a hand into my sleeve and gently stroked Geumryeong’s soft fur.
That helped settle my nerves a little.
Once I had calmed down, I carefully reconsidered my plan.
Hmm. It looks like I’ll have to make a few adjustments.
“Palgap.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
“Prepare some outrageously extravagant clothes. And find us a carriage just as flashy.”
I returned to my office.
Lady Seohyang was reviewing a document, but when she noticed me, she gave a slight bow of her head.
At first, she had risen to greet me every time I entered, but that only disrupted her work.
So I had asked her to acknowledge me with a simple nod instead.
I waited until Lady Seohyang finished reviewing the document in front of her, and before long, she held it out to me.
“Deputy Merchant Lord, please review and approve this.”
“Thank you.”
I accepted it, placed it on the desk, and said,
“Deputy Gwak, there’s something I’d like to ask of you.”
“Of course. What is it?”
“I’d like you to accompany me to Hainan Island.”
Originally, Lady Seohyang was supposed to remain in Beijing.
The journey to Hainan Island would take a long time, and the road itself would be arduous.
Despite my sudden request, Lady Seohyang showed no surprise. She merely nodded.
“I already knew.”
“Oh, did you?”
“I could tell while we were working earlier.”
I explained the situation to her in detail.
“…And that’s why I’m reluctant to bring you into such a dangerous situation. But that danger is precisely why I need your abilities. We’ll also need a convincing disguise.”
I continued,
“I intend to pose as the idle young heir of an obscenely wealthy family. Which means… instead of acting as my deputy, I’ll need you to pose as my lover.”
.
.
.
After speaking with Lady Seohyang, I returned to my room, washed, and lay down on the bed.
We were leaving tomorrow morning, so I needed to sleep early.
And yet…
Why did Lady Seohyang’s face keep appearing before my eyes?
Strictly speaking, if I only needed Lady Seohyang’s expertise, I could send Geumryeong back periodically and ask for her advice.
The disguise was meant to prevent the local officials from becoming suspicious.
And if that was the goal, having a woman by my side would make the act far more convincing.
I had considered taking a female warrior from the Eunpoong Division or a female agent from the Intelligence Unit, but I quickly abandoned the idea.
For some reason, even the thought of another woman touching me filled me with an inexplicable sense of aversion.
It would be disastrous if that discomfort showed on my face while we were supposed to be acting intimate.
But Lady Seohyang was different.
Maybe it was because she was almost always at my side, but I felt no instinctive rejection when she touched me.
That was why I had made the request, and she had agreed.
“Then I suppose I’ll have to make myself look pretty.”
The image of her smiling as she said those words refused to leave my mind.
Damn…
It looks like sleep is a lost cause. I might as well review the plan one more time.
.
.
.
Early the next morning.
I rose from the bed.
Apparently, exhaustion had won in the end, because I had managed to fall asleep.
Had I slept for about three hours?
After a brief session of Breathing Meditation, my mind felt much clearer.
Creak.
When I opened the door and stepped outside, a cool breeze brushed across my face.
It was already the end of the Tenth Month.
My birthday was coming soon. Did that mean I would be twenty-four?
It had already been nearly nine years since I began this second life.
I had accomplished a great deal during that time.
But I still had a long way to go.
I had yet to make the Eunhae Merchant Group the greatest merchant group under heaven, and I had yet to take revenge on the Baekcheon Merchant Group and the Murim Alliance.
Until I accomplished every last one of those things, I couldn’t allow myself to stop moving forward.
A short while later.
Once I had finished preparing, I headed for the Carriage Yard.
Just as I had requested, an extravagant carriage was waiting for me.
My River-Crossing Horse and Lady Seohyang’s had both been harnessed to it.
“Neigh!”
They looked distinctly displeased.
That was understandable. River-Crossing Horses were proud creatures. They clearly believed that pulling a carriage was beneath them.
But whether they carried a rider or pulled a carriage, wasn’t it all the same?
At that moment, Geumryeong crawled out of my sleeve, scampered toward the horses, and gently perched atop one of their heads.
Then Geumryeong uttered a single sound.
“Kui?”
“…”
They certainly calmed down quickly.
As for what Geumryeong had just said to them… it was probably better if I kept that to myself.
Geumryeong returned to me, settled on my shoulder, and chirped Kui at me.
Was that a question about whether Geumryeong had done well?
“You did very well.”
“Kui!”
And now Geumryeong wanted money? Because we were going on a long journey and needed to eat well?
Listen, Geumryeong.
You’re going to spend the entire journey relaxing inside my sleeve.
The demand left me momentarily speechless, but I laughed and took out a silver tael.
Geumryeong swiftly snatched it into a tiny mouth and disappeared back into my sleeve.
Well, Geumryeong was adorable.
And thanks to Geumryeong putting the River-Crossing Horses in their place, we could travel without struggling to control them.
Carriage accidents could be surprisingly dangerous, after all.
Just then, I heard Lady Seohyang’s voice beside me.
“Am I late?”
“Not at all.”
I answered as I turned toward her, only to find myself unable to say anything more.
She had dressed extravagantly at my request, but she looked so dazzlingly beautiful that the sight left me stunned.
Uh… wasn’t this a little too dangerous?
She walked over and asked,
“I dressed up as you requested. Does it look strange?”
“No. You did very well.”
Honestly, I wondered whether this was going too far, but it would make no sense for me to dress lavishly while the woman accompanying me posed as my lover in plain clothes.
Besides, hers wasn’t the sort of beauty that plain clothing could conceal.
Brother Jin-ho, the Beijing Branch Chief, and the people from the Virtuous Wind Department saw us off as we departed for Hainan Island.
.
.
.
After a journey of nearly a month, we arrived in Guangdong Province.
Ordinarily, traveling that distance would have taken even longer, but whenever there was no one around, we used the River-Crossing Horses’ speed to shorten the journey.
The carriage could have broken apart if we forced it to move that quickly, so during those stretches, I temporarily stored it inside the Hidden Vault.
In any case, my birthday had passed during the journey, so we had stopped in a city and held an extravagant feast. We deliberately drew attention to ourselves everywhere we went.
Now that we had reached Guangdong Province, Hainan Island was practically within sight.
Our clothing looked completely different from what we had worn when leaving Beijing.
The weather had been chilly in Beijing, forcing us to wear thick autumn clothes, but here, the air was as warm as spring.
Guangdong Province belonged to the same empire as Beijing, but its climate was entirely different.
There were also many things here that were rarely seen in Beijing or the surrounding Hebei region.
Lychees were a perfect example.
The harvest season had already passed, so fresh ones would be difficult to find, but we could probably buy some dried or preserved in sugar.
“It’s terribly hot here, Young Master.”
I chuckled at Palgap’s complaint.
“It’s only this mild because of the season. If we’d come during summer, we would’ve been roasted alive. Hainan Island is even hotter, especially. It’s hotter than Yunnan.”
“Come now, Young Master. How could anywhere possibly be that hot?”
Palgap laughed because he had personally experienced Yunnan’s climate.
As far as he knew, Yunnan was the hottest place in the world.
Lady Seohyang smiled and said,
“The Deputy Merchant Lord is right.”
She had been born south of the Yangtze River, so she had likely heard stories about Hainan Island’s climate even if she had never visited herself.
Palgap tilted his head.
“But how do you know that, Young Master? You’ve never been to Hainan Island.”
What do you mean, I’ve never been there?
I had visited Hainan Island in my previous life and suffered quite a bit because of the heat.
Back then, I hadn’t been nearly as proficient with the Supreme Yin Ice Sea Divine Art as I was now, so the weather had been miserable.
Of course, I couldn’t tell them that, so I hurriedly offered an excuse.
“I read about it in a book.”
“A book again? You certainly have read about everything under the sun, Young Master.”
“Reading is good for you. All right, everyone! Let’s get moving again!”
“Yes, Young Master.”
Our destination was where the contact Warrior Jin Yeong had told me about was staying.
From this point onward, however, we would travel at roughly the same speed as everyone else.
“Let’s take it nice and slow.”
“Understood, Young Master.”
A carefree young heir with more money than sense wouldn’t be rushing anywhere.
I remained inside the carriage, idly fanning myself as I admired the scenery through the window and sampled whatever delicious food we came across. We traveled like that for about two days.
Our destination was an inn on the coast of Guangdong Province.
[Sea Song Inn]
So that was what the name meant.
“Welcome, honored guests.”
The moment our carriage stopped outside the inn, two attendants hurried out to greet us.
I stepped down from the carriage, turned around, and offered my hand.
Lady Seohyang took it and descended from the carriage.
I smoothly drew her against my side before speaking to the attendant.
“We’ll be staying here tonight.”
“Please, allow me to show you inside.”
We reserved the finest room in the inn.
After showing us to the room, the attendant asked,
“How would you like to take your meal? Shall we bring it to your room, or would you prefer to eat in the dining hall?”
“We’ll eat here.”
“Understood.”
“Ah, may I request a special dish?”
“Of course. As long as our chef knows how to prepare it and we have the necessary ingredients, we can make whatever you desire.”
“Then bring me a fresh fish stuffed with three spoonfuls of rice and steamed whole, along with Kuding tea.”
“Understood.”
“Seohyang, what would you like?”
Calling Lady Seohyang by her name felt awkward, but we were acting.
Lady Seohyang responded with a coquettish performance of her own.
“I’d like to try whatever is considered the finest delicacy in this region.”
“Very well. We’ll have that.”
Cantonese cuisine was famous, after all.
I lifted my head and looked at Palgap and the guards.
“The rest of you may order whatever you like.”
“We shall do so, my lord.”
Everyone placed their orders, and the attendant left the room.
Then, a short while later.
“My lord, an attendant has come and says there is something about the order he needs to confirm.”
“Let him in.”
The door opened, and an attendant entered.
He wasn’t the same man who had taken our orders earlier.
“Which of you ordered the steamed fish stuffed with three spoonfuls of rice?”
“I did.”
He approached me, and his expression immediately changed.
“Well, this is a surprise. My superiors informed me that you would be coming, but I honestly never expected you to arrive dressed like this.”
That was right.
This inn was one of several establishments managed by the Embroidered Guard, and the unusual dish I had ordered was a code phrase identifying me as someone sent under the Emperor’s command.
I rose from my seat and offered a fist-and-palm salute.
“A pleasure to meet you. My name is Eun Seo-ho, and I have come under His Majesty the Emperor’s command.”
“I am Jang Won of the Embroidered Guard.”
“My apologies if I startled you. I heard that seven people have already disappeared, so I thought this sort of disguise would be appropriate.”
“Indeed. Dressed as you are now, no one would ever suspect that a Great Hero was sent by His Majesty.”
“Please, don’t call me a Great Hero!”
“Aren’t you the Handsome Young Hero of the Eunhae Merchant Group?”
“Well… I suppose people do call me that.”
“Your reputation has already spread across Hainan Island and even reached this place. Hahaha!”
I tilted my head at Warrior Jang Won’s hearty laughter.
“What? My reputation? What sort of rumors are you talking about?”
“I heard that you achieved remarkable results in the exhibition matches held during the Murim Grand Assembly. They say you could have reached the finals, but you were injured while rescuing people from a fire and were unable to advance any further.”
“…You know the story in surprising detail. News of what happened in Luoyang has already spread this far?”
He nodded.
“The members of the Hainan Sect who attended the Murim Grand Assembly have returned, and the story spread through them. And…”
And what?
“The Hainan Sect also returned with a tremendous amount of grain. They distributed it among the residents of Hainan Island while telling everyone that the Handsome Young Hero had wept after hearing of their suffering and made the donation himself. At the moment, people throughout Hainan Island are singing the praises of the Eunhae Merchant Group and the Handsome Young Hero.”
“…What?”
N–no, Sect Leader…
I asked you to spread good stories about the Eunhae Merchant Group, so why did you have to drag me into them too?
–TL Notes–
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