The Merchant Lords who sided with Eun Myeong-sang were now looking at him with eyes full of goodwill.
The Dan Clan Merchant Lord took a step back.
“I see. I must’ve misheard back then, hard of hearing as I am.”
Eun Myeong-sang comforted him.
“I heard the losses were quite severe. I do hope things resolve smoothly for you.”
Though in truth, the words were meant to salt the wound.
“I brought it on myself, didn’t I. Hahaha.”
The Dan Clan Merchant Lord laughed bitterly and continued.
“Still, if even the Branch Lord said as much, that would imply the other executives at the branch were aware too…”
“Of course they were. No way they wouldn’t be. When there was talk of us jumping into the salt trade too, I explained the situation myself.”
At Eun Myeong-sang’s response, the Dan Clan Merchant Lord clenched his fist.
But outwardly, he kept a smile.
“R-Right.”
Watching him, Eun Myeong-sang chuckled inwardly.
‘Was wondering how to bring this up. Nice of him to ask first.’
That brief exchange had been the real reason Eun Myeong-sang came to the gathering today.
Meanwhile, the Dan Clan Merchant Lord realized he’d been deceived by Yeong-po.
Yeong-po had persistently urged him to keep buying salt, insisting it was a guaranteed windfall.
‘I invested so much in this!’
The plan had been to eventually use Yeong-po to swallow the Eunhae Merchant Group as well.
But with Yeong-po’s betrayal, it had all gone up in smoke.
No—not just gone. The losses were staggering.
Even if he tightened spending for a decade, he wasn’t sure he could recover what he’d lost.
Earlier today, an imperial proclamation bearing the Emperor’s seal had been posted at every County Magistrate’s office. Which meant Yeong-po must know the Dan Clan had suffered losses.
And no one walks willingly into a lightning strike.
So where was he, and what was he doing?
The answer was obvious.
The Dan Clan Merchant Lord recalled the secret estate where Yeong-po had been steadily hoarding wealth.
‘That might at least make up some of the losses.’
As the Dan Clan Merchant Lord excused himself and left the banquet hall, Eun Myeong-sang turned to one of his escort guards.
“Tell Seo-ho. It’s time to finish this.”
I looked up at the night sky.
The moon was bright.
A good night for catching rats.
“So?”
I turned my head. Beside me stood Hyang-ok, her hand resting on her sword.
“When do I get to move?”
“Any moment now.”
We were hiding near Yeong-po’s secret estate.
I glanced at the estate and gave a wry smile.
Who’d ever guess there’d be a hidden estate here?
In my previous life, I never realized Yeong-po was a rat.
If not for the matter of the Self-Dancing Dolls, I probably never would’ve known.
Of course, I’d have suspected something.
But not because the Eunhae Merchant Group or I were incompetent. Yeong-po simply hadn’t played the rat for long.
From what I remember, it was almost the end of the sixth month—just a few days from now.
That’s when Yeong-po’s corpse was found in a forest.
He’d been murdered quite brutally, and judging by the wounds, there were three attackers. Skilled with swords, by the look of it.
The motive was said to be a personal grudge.
But the culprits were never caught.
What really happened back then?
But this is still before that incident.
I looked at the estate again and chuckled.
The imperial decree had come without warning.
But Yeong-po wasn’t just anybody.
He’d been feeding false information to the Dan Clan while preparing for this exact scenario.
He’d already liquidated and hidden away most of his assets in other places.
He was here now to take care of what remained.
I wondered if Yeong-po knew.
That all the wealth he’d hidden away—through selling out the Eunhae Merchant Group—was already in my hands.
Couldn’t just sit back and watch him profit off betrayal.
Just then, my uncle’s escort guard approached and passed on a message from him.
It was time to wrap this up.
“Shall we get going, then?”
As if in response, Hyang-ok drew her sword. Then she turned to Squad Leader Gu Ji-seong of the Eunpoong Division.
“We’ll be in your care tonight.”
“Don’t worry.”
Gu Ji-seong raised a whistle to his lips and blew.
Pweeet—!
That was the signal.
We stormed into Yeong-po’s secret estate.
“Who goes there!”
Three warriors tried to block our way.
We had them vastly outnumbered.
They looked flustered. From behind, Yeong-po came out to see what the commotion was—and froze in shock.
“Gah! Wh-What is this!”
Hyang-ok shouted at him.
“Yeong-po! You’re under arrest for committing espionage!”
“What are you talking about? Espionage? I’ve never done such a thing…”
He tried to deny it, but I cut in.
“They’ve already confessed, you know?”
“…”
He shouted in rage.
“Dan Clan Merchant Lord! You damn bastard!”
Who’s the real bastard here? Anyway, we took control of the estate in an instant.
The three warriors and Yeong-po were soon bound and forced to kneel.
At that point, something struck me as odd.
It was about the three warriors guarding the estate. They fought to protect Yeong-po like their lives depended on it.
I wondered if they were related to him by blood—but that didn’t seem to be the case. The looks they gave him weren’t exactly affectionate.
“Why go so far for him? You could’ve just run.”
At my question, one of them ground his teeth and said,
“We wanted to! But… but! That bastard made us take poison!”
“Poison?”
“The kind that kills you in agony unless you take the antidote once a month.”
I tilted my head.
Poisons like that do exist.
But they’re outrageously expensive and hard to find.
To use something like that just to guard an estate?
“Do you know where the poison or antidote is stored?”
“I don’t know where the antidote is, but I do know where he keeps the poison.”
I followed their directions and brought back a metal box.
“This it?”
“Yes.”
But it was tightly locked.
I turned to Yeong-po.
“The key. Where is it?”
“I lost it.”
“…”
While I pondered how best to make him talk, Gu Ji-seong grinned.
“Time for me to step in.”
He pulled a needle from his sleeve, inserted it into the lock, and twisted it around.
Click.
The box opened.
“You’re pretty good at that.”
“Just a little hobby from my younger days. Hahaha.”
“Well, any hobby’s a good one if it’s put to good use.”
Inside the box was a pouch of tea.
“This the poison?”
At my question, the warriors ground their teeth and replied.
“Yes.”
“That tea causes excruciating pain before death.”
“This stuff?”
They nodded, and Yeong-po, looking smug, said,
“If you release me now, I can still save them. Without the antidote, they’ll die. And if they die, that’ll be on you.”
“…”
“Still willing to take that risk?”
He gave a vile grin.
At those words, Hyang-ok exploded.
“What kind of dogshit are you spouting? You saying it’s not your fault they were poisoned?”
She’d always been polite and respectful, but the fact that her tone broke meant she was furious.
“A dog’s better than you, you son of a—”
But she had to stop herself.
When our Hyang-ok gets mad, her mouth gets… intense.
Not just her mouth—she’ll tear someone’s mind to shreds without a shred of mercy.
Thankfully, she mellowed a bit after joining Mount Emei as an external disciple.
Honestly, I wanted to let her rip into Yeong-po’s brain until it turned to mush, but now wasn’t the time.
We were expecting visitors soon, and there were still things I needed to hear from these people.
“Cousin, leave him be. No point exchanging words with trash.”
“But…”
“And we don’t need to give the warriors any antidote either.”
At that, her eyes widened.
“What? What are you—”
“Why would they need an antidote if it’s not poison?”
Before anyone could interrupt, I kept talking.
“About one hour after drinking the tea, they would’ve felt as if their guts were being torn apart.”
The warriors nodded.
“In that state, once they were given a so-called antidote pill, the pain would’ve vanished instantly.”
They nodded again.
“And each month, on a fixed date, you were given those pills. But those pills—they must’ve tasted unbelievably foul.”
“H-How did you know that?”
How? Because it was about to become popular.
This tea doesn’t have a real name.
It’s just called False Poison Tea (虛毒茶).
Which means it’s not actually poison.
It’s mainly used to intimidate people. After drinking it, the pain convinces you you’ve been poisoned, so you’ll agree to whatever the other party demands.
I was scared I’d make the wrong decision if I ever got hit with this, so I once tried drinking it myself…
Nearly died.
Good thing I had the Black Flute Physician’s help in rebuilding my body. Otherwise, it would’ve killed me.
I replied to their stunned faces.
“Of course I know. The Eunhae Merchant Group originally specialized in medicinal herbs, you know.”
That was just an excuse.
“The truth is, it’s a blend of herbs that aren’t lethal, just cause severe stomach cramps. And that so-called antidote? It’s really just something that neutralizes those herbs. But the key point is this.”
I looked at Yeong-po.
“You don’t need to keep taking the antidote. It was just a one-time scare tactic with this fake poison tea.”
At my words, the three warriors erupted in rage.
“Uwaaaargh!”
“You bastard! I’ll rip you apart!”
“You dare lie to us?!”
What I didn’t expect was that Yeong-po shouted too.
“Damn it! That stuff cost a fortune! I paid ten silver taels for the poison and the antidote!”
I added a little salt.
“Wow! You paid ten taels for this? It’s not even worth half a tael, no—a quarter of a tael!”
“Aaaargh!”
I’d thought he was clever, but turns out he’s just a fool.
Did he really think he could get authentic poison that easily in Sichuan, with the Tang Clan watching everything?
If you get caught trading something like that, the Tang Clan will drag you off and make sure you regret being born.
Anyway, as I watched the three warriors struggling to contain their fury, I was suddenly reminded of Yeong-po’s corpse.
Murdered in the forest, horribly mutilated.
Three culprits, skilled swordsmen.
A grudge.
Now I knew who the culprits were.
Guess they found it strange they were still alive even after missing a dose of the antidote. And eventually realized they’d been tricked.
That’s probably when they snapped.
Then Hyang-ok spoke.
“Someone’s coming.”
Just as she said it, the front gate burst open, and a man shouted.
“Yeong-po! I know you’re here, I came to—”
He stopped short when he saw us, his face twisting into a look of confusion.
After all, Yeong-po and the three warriors were bound and kneeling in the yard.
And the estate was surrounded by our people.
Hyang-ok addressed him.
“Merchant Lord of the Dan Clan, I presume.”
“Y-You’re…?”
“You seemed quite close with Yeong-po from our merchant group.”
“Th-That’s, well…”
“And what brings you here, at this hour? Anyone might get the wrong idea.”
At her words, the Dan Clan Merchant Lord cleared his throat awkwardly.
“We came to retrieve our property.”
“Retrieve?”
“The goods here were stolen from our group by that man.”
Just as I thought—he’s making excuses.
Yeong-po snapped.
“What the hell are you talking about?! Stolen?! You gave them to me yourself! In exchange for information I leaked from the Eunhae Merchant Group!”
There. That’s our statement.
“And lately, you even started giving me fake gold! Only one of the taels was real!”
“I gave you a real one!”
“It was fake!”
“No matter how I used an informant, I would never stoop to—huh!”
Looks like it just hit him.
I stole the gold to provoke this kind of confession, but man… he really is dumb.
He just admitted to bribing an informant like it was nothing.
Hyang-ok turned to him and said,
“I’ll go fetch my father. Shall we have a nice long talk?”
“Is—Is that really necessary…”
“Or should we invite the Commissioner of Land Affairs instead?”
–TL Notes–
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