Of course, he had no idea it was a fake.
"No! Something this precious!"
His eyes went wide, and his mouth split into a broad grin.
"Are you truly sure I can accept this?"
"Of course."
I deliberately put on a sly smile.
"Truthfully, I'd been wondering what I could possibly give the Prefect when this unexpectedly fell into my hands."
Then I smoothly continued.
"Do you happen to know of the Mu Merchant Group in Xuwen County, across the strait?"
The Prefect flinched at my question.
"Hm? Hmm? Was there such a place?"
He knows damn well and is pretending he doesn't…
"Before coming to Hainan Island, I stopped at an inn, and the rice they served was exceptionally good. I was told the rice came from the Mu Merchant Group, so I purchased twenty thousand sacks from them. I gave them a hundred thousand taels as an advance payment, and they gave me this as collateral."
"If it's collateral, don't you have to return it later?"
"It's fine. I can simply pay them its value in money instead."
"You certainly know how to spend big!"
"I'm grateful you see it that way."
"I almost feel guilty accepting something so precious."
"You're more than worthy of it, Prefect."
"Ahem, ahem. Then I'll gratefully accept it."
He pulled the box toward himself and gave me a warm, satisfied smile.
"If you encounter any inconvenience during your stay on Hainan Island, come see me anytime."
"Your words alone are more than enough."
Good. The fake golden toad had put him in a wonderful mood, so now it was time to collect my return on the investment.
"Well, there's one thing… I'm a little concerned the County Magistrate where I'm staying might take offense that I came to see the Prefect before paying him a visit."
"Which county are you staying in?"
I told him which county I was staying in, and the Prefect nodded.
"Yes, I suppose that fellow might take offense. He's notoriously petty. But don't worry about it. I'll write you a letter."
He immediately had writing materials brought over, wrote a letter, and handed it to me.
"If anything happens, give this to him."
"Thank you."
I read the letter.
On the surface, it simply instructed the County Magistrate to provide me with every possible assistance, but the real meaning was more along the lines of,
‘If you dare treat Handsome Young Hero poorly, you'd better be ready to have every bone in your body broken.’
Excellent. That took care of the County Magistrate problem.
"Would it be all right if I asked you for one more favor?"
"What is it?"
"I intend to visit that man surnamed Cheon you mentioned earlier. I thought he might receive me more favorably if I had a written introduction from you rather than simply telling him I came on your recommendation."
"That's certainly possible! Very well! I'll write you a letter of introduction."
"Thank you."
Cheon Cheon-bok, Merchant Lord of the Chaehong Merchant Group… I needed to look into him as well.
With the letter and introduction in hand, I returned to the inn.
As soon as I arrived, the Hainan Sect disciples who had remained behind to look after me rushed out to greet me.
"You're back, Great Hero!"
"Yes. I just returned."
Judging by their expressions, however, something seemed to have happened.
"Did something happen?"
"Well…"
One of the disciples sighed at my question.
"The County Magistrate came by earlier this morning. He flew into a rage because you'd had the audacity to come here without first presenting yourself to him."
Just as Young Lady Seohyang had predicted.
Since I'd already expected this, I calmly nodded.
"I see."
"Yes. And he ordered you to go see him personally."
I gave a faint chuckle.
"Let's go now."
It was always better to get annoying matters out of the way all at once.
So we headed straight for the Magistrate's Office.
"What brings you here?"
I spoke to the gatekeeper.
"I am Eun Seo-ho, Deputy Merchant Lord of the Eunhae Merchant Group."
At my introduction, both gatekeepers sharply drew in their breaths.
"Are you Handsome Young Hero?"
"That's what people call me."
"Please wait a moment."
One of the gatekeepers hurried inside, then returned and approached me with an awkward expression.
"My apologies. The County Magistrate says he has too many official matters to attend to today and cannot meet with you."
It's been a while since someone turned me away at the door like this.
There was no need to think too deeply about it. He was simply making his displeasure with me obvious.
Official matters? At this hour?
And a man supposedly drowning in official work had personally come to my inn this morning?
I smiled.
"Well, that's unfortunate. The Prefect told me to come see the County Magistrate when I visited him today, so here I am…"
I took the letter from inside my robe.
"This is a letter from the Prefect for the County Magistrate. Please make sure he receives it."
"Understood."
"Then I'll be on my way."
With that, we turned around and headed back toward the inn.
For a County Magistrate, the Prefect was effectively his direct superior by two full ranks.
Once he read that letter, he'd probably start sweating bullets.
.
.
.
The next morning.
A steady drizzle had been falling since dawn, so I listened to the rain from inside my room while performing Breathing Meditation and doing some light training.
Seohyang had once seen me training indoors and said she wanted to learn how to do the same, so I'd shown her a few simple methods.
We trained together in the room, then went downstairs for breakfast, only to hear a commotion breaking out outside.
Hm? What's going on?
One of the inn's servers hurried over to me.
"Handsome Young Hero, the County Magistrate is here to see you."
"Ah, is that so?"
"What should we…"
"Prepare somewhere quiet for us."
"Yes."
The County Magistrate soon entered the inn, and I went to greet him.
"I am Eun Seo-ho. Greetings, County Magistrate."
"Ahem, ahem. Yes. Good to see you."
"What brings you all the way here? I came to see you yesterday evening, but I heard you were too occupied with official business…"
"Ah, yes. That's all been taken care of."
"I see. You must have worked very hard late into the night. Please, have a seat."
"No need. More importantly, I heard you met with the Prefect yesterday?"
"Yes. Since this is my first time here, wouldn't it be proper to first pay my respects to the Prefect, who oversees all of Hainan Island?"
"Y–yes, of course."
"I hope that didn't offend you in any way…"
At my question, he hurriedly waved his hands.
"Of course not! Why would it? Hahaha! I'm hardly such a petty man."
The Prefect seemed to think otherwise.
"Will you be visiting the Prefect again anytime soon?"
"I don't have any immediate plans to, but business may give me reason to see him again."
"Y–yes, naturally. If there's anything you need, don't hesitate to tell me. I'll do everything in my power to assist you. And…"
He lowered his voice.
"Please put in a good word for me with the Prefect."
"Of course. I only need to tell him exactly how you've treated me, don't I?"
"Y–yes, naturally. But people do make mistakes without meaning to from time to time. Isn't that right?"
"Yes. They certainly do."
"So I'll be counting on you. Then I'll take my leave."
After that brief farewell, he scurried out of the inn.
Judging by his reaction, the Prefect's letter must have scared him half to death.
He'd come here first thing in the morning despite the rain, after all.
As expected, the most effective way to deal with power was to crush it beneath even greater power.
I returned to my room.
Today, I needed to visit that man surnamed Cheon – Cheon Cheon-bok.
I had to examine the warriors from outside Hainan whom he'd supposedly hired to protect his pearls.
There was no doubt about it.
Just like the Mu Merchant Group's warriors, they were probably connected to the Blood Cult.
"Palgap."
"Yes, Young Master."
"Prepare something extremely extravagant for me to wear today. And something for Deputy Gwak as well."
"Understood, Young Master."
"And tell the Escort Guards they're wearing silk today too."
With every preparation made, we left the inn.
Despite wearing an exceptionally extravagant and expensive silk outfit, Young Lady Seohyang didn't seem uncomfortable with it in the slightest.
That wasn't surprising. As the only daughter of Guizhou's Provincial Administration Commissioner, she had probably worn clothes like these plenty of times before.
Cheon Cheon-bok lived in the southern part of Hainan Island, so we headed south.
On the way, Palgap looked up at the sky and sighed.
"The weather here truly couldn't be more different from Beijing, Young Master."
Southern Hainan was even hotter than the north.
Seeing people busily working in rice paddies everywhere we went was somehow strangely unfamiliar.
Before long, we arrived at the Chaehong Merchant Group.
It occupied a fairly large three-story building, and as we approached, the gatekeepers stopped us.
"What brings you here?"
"I am Eun Seo-ho, Deputy Merchant Lord of the Eunhae Merchant Group."
At my introduction, curiosity immediately appeared in their eyes.
Perhaps because they were martial artists, hearing my name seemed to stir a rather different reaction in them than it did in ordinary people.
"So you're the famous Handsome Young Hero."
"I've been wanting to test myself against you."
I let out an exaggerated sigh right in front of them.
As expected, I could sense Unorthodox Qi from them, but it felt somewhat different from what I'd sensed from the Mu Merchant Group's men.
There was no stench of blood.
I said to them,
"I don't normally turn down a challenge, but my leg still hasn't healed, so I'm afraid fighting right now would be difficult."
"Your leg?"
Palgap quickly jumped in.
"Haven't you heard? Our Young Master injured his leg while rescuing people from a fire."
"Ah… right. I did hear something about that."
"Then this is even better. Now I've got a chance to beat Handsome Young Hero into the ground. Hehehe."
A response worthy of the Unorthodox Factions.
Did these idiots actually think they stood a chance against me?
Even if they couldn't sense my true level, what I'd already shown during the friendly martial bout should've been more than enough to tell them they weren't qualified to act this cocky.
I gave another small sigh and stepped back, and as though they'd been waiting for precisely that signal, my Escort Guards stepped forward and unleashed their killing intent.
Half of my Escort Guards were at least Peak Realm experts.
"Urgh!"
"Ghk!"
Their faces went pale beneath the crushing killing intent, and I smiled pleasantly at them.
"My Escort Guards are rather capable. So, would you mind taking me to Merchant Lord Cheon now?"
"…"
At that moment, a man approached from inside.
"My, I wondered what all the commotion was about, only to find we've received an unexpected guest. My warriors were discourteous. My apologies."
"They were certainly a little lacking in manners."
"Hahaha. I'll make sure to give them a proper scolding later. I am Cheon Cheon-man, Merchant Lord of the Chaehong Merchant Group."
Seeing how smoothly he laughed the matter off, I returned his greeting.
"I am Eun Seo-ho, Deputy Merchant Lord of the Eunhae Merchant Group."
"What brings the hero of Hainan Island to see someone like me?"
I took the letter of introduction from inside my robe.
"The Prefect recommended I pay you a visit."
He accepted the letter, read through it, then nodded.
"I see. You've come to find a birthday gift for your wife."
"That's right."
"Forgive my discourtesy. Please, come inside."
We followed him inside. As I watched his back, I lightly bit my lip.
The warriors guarding this place were merely members of the Unorthodox Factions, but Cheon Cheon-man was entirely different.
The stench of blood clinging to him was so thick that the Mu Merchant Group's warriors couldn't even be compared to him.
I'll have to be careful with this one.
He led us to a Reception Room, where some fairly decent tea and refreshments were served.
The stench of blood I sensed from him had killed my appetite, but refusing refreshments offered by a host would have been a serious breach of etiquette.
So I suppressed my revulsion, took a sip of tea, and ate one of the pastries.
"What price range did you have in mind?"
"I'd prefer to look at the pearls first and discuss the price afterward."
"Of course. Please wait a moment."
He left the Reception Room and soon returned with several servants.
The servants placed a number of boxes on the long table in the Reception Room before withdrawing.
Cheon Cheon-man personally opened the boxes and showed me their contents.
"To begin with, these pearls are around five silver taels each. And these…"
Every pearl he showed us was of excellent quality.
Whether it was because of the Prefect's letter of introduction or because he knew I was the Deputy Merchant Lord of the Eunhae Merchant Group, at least he didn't seem interested in trying to fleece me.
I turned to Young Lady Seohyang.
"Which ones do you like, my dear?"
"I can choose whichever ones I want?"
"Of course. Pick anything that catches your eye."
At my answer, Young Lady Seohyang selected several pearls.
"Let's take these."
"An excellent choice."
"I'd like to have these pearls made into a hairpin. Do you know a skilled artisan nearby?"
"Of course. I know an excellent artisan. If you entrust the work to him, I guarantee you won't be disappointed."
After choosing the pearls and arranging for the custom work, I left the Chaehong Merchant Group.
My thoughts were tangled as we made our way back to the inn.
The highest authority on Hainan Island was protecting someone I suspected of belonging to the Blood Cult, and that man had brought in a considerable number of Unorthodox warriors.
Meanwhile, over in Xuwen County, the County Magistrate was colluding with a traitor from the Embroidered Guard.
And then there was the Mu Merchant Group on top of all that.
This is turning into something much bigger than I expected.
I returned to the inn, ate dinner, and then went outside.
The rain had stopped, leaving behind a clear sky filled with beautiful stars.
Yet despite the beautiful sight before me, my heart felt bitter.
What a goddamn mess.
Even if this was a region where the Emperor's authority didn't reach as firmly as elsewhere, how could every official in an entire region be colluding to commit corruption?
Before coming here, I'd already reviewed the records of the taxes collected from Hainan Island.
And I'd discovered a considerable discrepancy between those records and reality.
In other words, the officials had deliberately underreported the taxes they sent to the Imperial Court and pocketed the rest.
As though that weren't enough, they'd even falsely reported ships traveling through these waters as having sunk and pocketed the proceeds from those as well.
At this scale, there was a good chance their goal wasn't merely to line their own pockets.
Cheon Cheon-man, the man I'd met today.
There was no doubt he was one of the central figures in this entire affair.
Which meant Cheon Cheon-man, a member of the Blood Cult, was bribing the officials here and amassing an enormous fortune for some purpose.
And if I had to guess what that purpose was…
Were they trying to resurrect the Blood Cult?
Just what the hell was the Alliance Leader thinking, using people like them?
And if that assumption was correct, wouldn't that mean the Prefect was the ringleader behind all this corruption?
But my thoughts didn't have a chance to continue.
"W–we have a disaster!"
The innkeeper came rushing toward me in a panic.
He shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Pirates are attacking!"
–TL Notes–
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