Geum Sa-gyeon raced down the mountain path, cursing the entire way.
‘Damn it! Damn it all! What a goddamn mess! This fucking bullshit!’
And really, who could blame him? His life was hanging by a thread.
It had all begun about fifteen days after he'd been assigned to Hainan Island, when a mysterious man came to him with a proposal.
“Being assigned to an island this far from Beijing means you don't have much of a future. Surely you aren't dreaming that if you work hard out here, you'll someday earn yourself a post at the Imperial Palace. Heh heh heh.”
“What exactly are you trying to say?”
“No need to get so worked up. I'm merely making you an offer.”
“An offer?”
“Wouldn't you like to become rich?”
“I'm already wealthy enough. I may only be a local official, but are you looking down on a Prefect's monthly salary?”
“You're satisfied with just that? Do you really think that kind of money will let you spend the rest of your life doing whatever you please?”
“…”
“And what will you do if you end up retiring much sooner than you expected?”
The man's temptation had been surprisingly sweet.
“Hear me out. I promise you, this is an offer you will never regret accepting.”
What the man proposed was essentially a scheme involving embezzlement and tax evasion.
“If a ship carrying tax revenue were to sink at sea, how would the higher-ups ever know what truly happened? This place is incredibly far from Beijing.”
“It's not that simple. His Majesty has the Embroidered Guard and the Eastern Depot at his side.”
“I'll take care of them. All you need to do, Prefect, is close your eyes and look the other way. In return, I'll give you thirty percent of the profits from this arrangement.”
After agonizing over it, Geum Sa-gyeon accepted the proposal and was introduced to a man working with them.
The man was posing as the Merchant Lord of a merchant group dealing in pearls, and his name was Cheon Cheon-bok.
All Geum Sa-gyeon had to do was provide protection from behind the scenes, and he would pocket thirty percent of the profits.
As he watched his wealth steadily pile up, his greed only grew, and he began turning a blind eye even when they committed increasingly brazen crimes.
Then, eventually, he realized that the operation he'd gotten himself tangled up in was far more serious than he'd thought.
The people who had lured him in hadn't stopped with him.
The Mu Merchant Group was based in Xuwen County, the closest port in Guangdong to Hainan Island, and it was playing the same role there that the Chaehong Merchant Group played here.
The officials there had been bought off as well.
The moment he learned that, one thought crossed his mind.
‘If this gets exposed, there won't even be bones left to bury.’
But it was far too late to report everything to his superiors.
These people belonged to an organization capable of eliminating even agents from the Embroidered Guard and the Eastern Depot. If they discovered that he'd informed on them, there was no chance they would let him live.
So, in preparation for the worst, Geum Sa-gyeon had quietly prepared an escape route.
He'd assumed that if anything went wrong, the crackdown would hit Guangdong first, so he'd planted a warning system on that side.
He purchased a small plot of land in Guangdong, then threatened the tenant farmer working it that he would take the land away unless the man came to visit him once every three days.
But the day the man was supposed to come had already passed, and he never showed up.
Worse still, every ship that was supposed to sail from Guangdong to Hainan Island had suddenly stopped coming altogether.
There was no question about it. Something had happened.
As if that weren't bad enough, the pirates who had recently invaded Hainan Island had been completely wiped out.
Those pirates had also been part of Cheon Cheon-bok's scheme.
Geum Sa-gyeon might have been assigned to Hainan Island as a local official, but he hadn't won the position of Prefect at a gambling table.
The instant his instincts told him everything had gone wrong, he chose to flee.
He had already hidden a considerable fortune inside a secret vault on the mainland, so he only took a few of the most valuable things he had on hand.
One of them was the golden toad Eun Seo-ho had given him as a token of goodwill.
A treasure worth an astonishing one hundred thousand silver taels.
After gathering his valuables, he made his way to a boat he'd secretly hidden away and crossed over to Guangdong alone.
He had occasionally practiced handling the boat in preparation for just such an emergency, so he was able to make the crossing to Guangdong by himself.
But once he arrived, he realized the situation was far worse than even he'd imagined.
Imperial Guards were stationed all across Guangdong.
“…”
He had to watch his every move.
If those men caught him, he certainly wouldn't be granted a quick or painless death.
His first priority was converting the golden toad into bank drafts.
Valuable though it was, the thing was so heavy that it would only become a burden while he was on the run.
The fortune he'd hidden away was already enough for him to disappear somewhere no one would ever find him and live comfortably for the rest of his life.
The golden toad would simply fund his escape until he reached that place.
And so, carrying it with him, he headed for a money house.
Money houses would appraise precious metals and exchange them for bank drafts.
Naturally, he pulled his bamboo hat as low as possible to conceal his identity.
“Welcome. How may I help you?”
“I've come to sell this golden toad.”
“Please hand it to me.”
The employee carefully examined the golden toad, then tilted his head and spoke.
“Sir, I'm sorry, but even if I gave you the best possible price, I doubt I could offer you even half a silver tael.”
“Half a silver tael? This is a treasure worth a full hundred thousand silver taels!”
“I'm afraid not. This is a fake.”
“What are you talking about? A fake?”
“Look here.”
The employee took a sharp dagger and scraped at the golden toad's belly. The thin layer of gold peeled away, revealing black iron underneath.
“They made the toad out of iron and simply covered it with gold leaf.”
Geum Sa-gyeon couldn't believe his own eyes.
No, he refused to believe them.
“Th-that's fake?! No! God fucking damn it!”
Without even realizing what he was doing, he screamed at the top of his lungs and hurled his bamboo hat onto the floor.
Everyone around him immediately turned to stare.
“Huh?”
Then someone recognized him.
“Isn't that the Prefect of Hainan Island?”
“My goodness! Prefect, what brings you all the way here?”
Panicked by the attention of those who recognized him, Geum Sa-gyeon hurriedly fled the money house.
But…
“What an unexpected place to run into you, Prefect.”
“…!”
A familiar voice reached his ears.
It belonged to Eun Seo-ho, the man who had given him the golden toad as a token of goodwill.
All of Geum Sa-gyeon's fury immediately turned toward Eun Seo-ho.
“You damned swindler! How dare you give me a fake golden toad!”
“What are you talking about? I merely gave you exactly what I received from the Mu Merchant Group.”
“That thing was fake!”
“What? Those goddamn bastards! Are you telling me they gave me a fake golden toad as collateral?”
When Eun Seo-ho became even angrier than he was, Geum Sa-gyeon faltered.
“I-I suppose that's what happened. Well, then, I'll be going…”
“Wait. What exactly is the Prefect of Hainan Island doing all the way out here?”
“I have some business to attend to…”
“And that ‘business’ wouldn't happen to be running away, would it?”
“What?”
Eun Seo-ho smiled when he saw Geum Sa-gyeon flinch.
“Allow me to introduce myself again. My name is Eun Seo-ho, a Censorate Inspector sent under His Majesty's orders to investigate the corruption taking place on Hainan Island.”
* * *
I grinned as I watched the Imperial Guards drag the Prefect away.
Lady Seohyang's advice had prompted me to ask Escort Guard Jin Yu to tail the man, and it looked like that decision had paid off.
The Embroidered Guard agents dispatched here would probably squeeze every last secret out of him, but I didn't feel sorry for him in the slightest.
He'd brought every bit of this upon himself.
“Then let's head to the Magistrate's Office.”
“Yes.”
I made my way to the Magistrate's Office in Xuwen County, where I met the Senior Supervisor of the Mu Merchant Group, who was currently locked up in the Underground Prison.
“Good to see you.”
“Hm? Gasp! You?”
The instant he saw me, his eyes widened, and he desperately cried out.
“P-please save me! Treason? Me? There's no possible way I could have committed treason!”
“What in the world happened?”
“They claim there was an item from the Imperial Palace inside my private vault.”
He hurriedly explained everything that had happened.
The Imperial Guards had suddenly appeared, accused him of treason, and searched even his private vault.
As if that weren't bad enough, they apparently discovered an item belonging to the Imperial Palace inside.
Anyone outside the Imperial Family caught possessing such an item without the Imperial Family's permission could be punished for treason.
“My goodness! So that's what happened!”
“This is someone's conspiracy! I swear, I know absolutely nothing about that item!”
Tsk, tsk. What an idiot.
I was the one who put it in his vault.
I'd borrowed one from His Majesty.
And here he was, completely unaware of that fact, desperately begging me to save him…
I sighed and spoke.
“I'm sorry, but I simply can't trust you, Senior Supervisor.”
“Wh-what are you saying…?”
“The golden toad you gave me as collateral turned out to be a fake.”
“…!”
The Senior Supervisor visibly flinched.
“How am I supposed to trust someone who hands over fake collateral in a transaction worth one hundred thousand silver taels?”
“Th-that was… I… I didn't know anything about it either!”
“I've already secured testimony. Apparently, someone made that gold-plated fake golden toad on your personal orders some time ago.”
“…”
“What's more, I heard that some of the things found in your private vault belonged to the Embroidered Guard. If that isn't proof that you disposed of the agents who were sent here and later disappeared without a trace, then what else could it possibly be?”
His face rapidly filled with panic at my words.
“A Warrior I know in the Embroidered Guard told me that His Majesty is extremely furious over what happened. Apparently, he intends to turn every single person involved completely inside out until there's nothing left to hide.”
“…”
“As I'm sure you know, they say the Embroidered Guard's interrogation techniques can make a man confess even the secrets of Heaven.”
His eyes and lips trembled like leaves in the wind.
“Don't worry. If you truly know nothing about any of this, you should at least be able to keep your life.”
“W-wait…”
“Yes?”
“There's something I heard…”
He cautiously began talking, and after listening to the entire story, I nodded.
“I see. So you're saying the County Magistrate here is at the center of the entire operation.”
“That's right.”
“However, Senior Supervisor.”
I grinned.
“How could you kick away the chance I gave you so carelessly?”
“Ch-chance? What chance?”
I pulled the Censorate Inspector's badge from my clothes and held it up for him to see. His eyes nearly popped out of his head as he glared at me.
“Y-y-y-you!”
“I've already obtained a full confession from a man named Mo Gyeong.”
“…”
He quickly realized that he'd walked straight into a trap. Grabbing the bars of his cell, he screamed.
“Aaaaaagh! You bastard!”
I gave a faint chuckle, turned my back on him, and walked out of the Underground Prison.
* * *
The Embroidered Guard and Eastern Depot agents dispatched for the investigation thoroughly tore through everyone connected to the case.
What they uncovered in the process was shocking.
A considerable number of local officials across both Guangdong and Hainan Island were involved in the corruption.
The scale of it was so great that the Emperor even sent the Crown Prince as a special envoy.
“Greetings, Your Highness.”
“His Majesty ordered me to commend all of you for your hard work. Continue doing everything in your power to uncover the truth.”
After receiving the report on everything that had been uncovered thus far, the Crown Prince turned to Jang Won, who had delivered it.
“I see. By the way, where is Deputy Merchant Lord Eun Seo-ho?”
“He is currently on Hainan Island.”
“Hainan Island?”
“Yes. He said there was something he needed to do there.”
* * *
There was something I wanted to confirm, so I returned to Hainan Island.
Then I headed straight for the Chaehong Merchant Group.
The Imperial Guards had probably already cleaned the place out of everything worth taking, but I couldn't shake the feeling that something was still missing.
“Geumryeong.”
“Kui?”
“People usually keep valuables wherever they hide the really important things, don't they?”
“Kui!”
“Want to see if there's anything expensive left around here?”
At my words, Geumryeong lightly hopped down to the ground and began scurrying around.
After wandering for a while, Geumryeong stopped at one particular spot and tapped something with a front paw.
“Here?”
“Kui!”
The thing Geumryeong was tapping was a massive tree.
It stood on the hill behind the Chaehong Merchant Group.
I carefully examined the area around it before reaching into a knot in the tree.
My hand caught on something, so I pulled.
Rrrrrumble.
At the same moment, the ground beneath the tree slid open.
Wow! Jackpot.
I brought only Escort Guard Seo Wu and Escort Guard Yeo Eung-am down with me, while asking the rest of the guards to remain above and keep watch.
There was always a chance that some of the people who'd escaped or hadn't been captured yet might come here.
The hidden space had been made by digging out an underground chamber.
And what we found inside was an enormous amount of wealth.
It was probably everything the Chaehong Merchant Group had been siphoning off all this time.
As expected of Geumryeong!
I gave Geumryeong a few pats on the back.
“Good job!”
“Kui!”
Hm? Since you did such a good job, you want money instead of a pat on the back?
Yeah, that sounds like Geumryeong.
“All right. I'll give you some silver taels later.”
“Kui? Kui?”
Hm? You're saying there were so many treasures on that ship you pulled up from the sea yesterday, and I'm only offering you silver taels?
And because you went swimming yesterday, you're starting to feel a cold coming on, so you need some gold taels to nourish your body?
You really do come up with some creative excuses.
Still, Geumryeong knows when to stop. If Geumryeong was asking for this much, then the treasure collected yesterday must have been worth quite a fortune.
I hadn't checked it yet. I'd better take a look as soon as possible.
“Fine, fine. I'll give you gold taels.”
“Kui!”
There were stacks of documents beside the treasure.
I read through them and smiled.
Now the pieces finally fit together.
The people I'd seen were the sort who would never completely trust their own higher-ups.
That was why they always gathered information they could use to protect themselves. And these documents were precisely that ‘lifeline’ I'd been looking for.
They were also proof that this entire affair was connected to the Blood Cult.
With this, I could show the Emperor actual evidence and tell him, ‘The Blood Cult is attempting to rebuild itself!’
I put the documents into the Hidden Vault.
I wasn't telling the Embroidered Guard about them because there was always a chance these records might mysteriously disappear somewhere along the way.
Better to be safe and report this directly to the Emperor myself.
Now it was time to scrape together every last tael of wealth hidden here.
After all, the Emperor had ordered us to confiscate everything these people had stolen and use it to fund the construction of a naval base here.
That was when I heard it.
“Nngh…”
A sound reached my ears.
That… was definitely a person's groan.
–TL Notes–
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