This time, I decided to formally ask Lady Seohyang to marry me.
My father’s advice had played a part, but more than anything, I felt sorry toward her.
She was a woman willing to walk a thorny road at my side for my sake.
There was no way I could get away with not even giving her a proper proposal.
It wasn’t as though I lacked the means to do it, either.
I might have been a little late, but late was still far better than never.
“Palgap.”
“Yes! Young Master.”
“Is everything I told you to prepare ready?”
“Of course! Everything’s been prepared perfectly, Young Master.”
* * *
People enjoyed the banquet amid delicious food, boisterous laughter, and cheerful conversation.
Eun Seo-ho was strict when it came to work, but whenever it was time to let people relax, he never did things halfway.
Of course, there were still lines no one was allowed to cross.
“So then I told him…”
“Back then…”
“Just like I said…”
The lively music played by the entertainers of the winehouse continued, and just as the banquet was reaching its height…
Silence.
The music abruptly stopped, and a voice rang out.
“I dedicate this song to the woman I love.”
The voice belonged to Eun Seo-ho.
He was standing atop the platform, drawing the attention of everyone enjoying the banquet.
Eun Seo-ho personally played the zither as he began to sing.
Forgive this cowardly man
Who could not be the first to say that he loved you
From the very moment we first met, my heart
Had already ceased to belong to me
And I was the greatest fool beneath the heavens for failing to realize it
But now, I will gather my courage and say it aloud.
My beloved, the most beautiful woman in the world.
My beloved, more precious than any pearl.
I love you. I love you. I love you.
I love you with a passion redder than my own lifeblood.
Eun Seo-ho set down the zither.
“Deputy Gwak… no, Lady Seohyang.”
At his call, Seohyang blinked.
This was a future she had never seen beforehand.
She had seen herself being present at this winehouse, but she had never seen him standing there and singing such a sweet song to her.
And truthfully, she was a little flustered.
She had complained that his proposal lacked romance, but she never imagined he would gather everyone together and propose to her in such spectacular fashion.
That certainly didn’t mean she disliked it.
She loved it.
What woman could possibly hate such a wonderful sight?
Especially when the man before her was Eun Seo-ho, the man she loved.
Eun Seo-ho knelt on one knee where he stood, held out a bouquet made of silk, and spoke.
“I can’t promise that I’ll never make you cry, or that I’ll never let hardship touch your hands. But there is one thing I can promise you. You will be my one and only wife.”
Eun Seo-ho continued with complete sincerity.
“Please marry me.”
Seohyang’s answer had already been decided long ago.
She walked over to Eun Seo-ho and accepted the silk bouquet he held out to her.
Purple daphne blossoms, the flowers that shared her name.
“Yes. I’d love to.”
At that moment, everyone simultaneously tossed silk flowers toward Eun Seo-ho and Seohyang.
Palgap had swiftly handed them out to everyone while Eun Seo-ho was singing, and when they all flew through the air toward the couple at once, the sight was nothing short of spectacular.
* * *
I breathed a sigh of relief inside.
Thankfully, Lady Seohyang had answered, “I’d love to.”
After all, there was always the chance she might have changed her mind and said, “I’m sorry, but I have to refuse.”
“Thank you.”
“For what? You gave me such an incredible proposal! I should be the one thanking you.”
Quite a few people had worked hard to make both the red silk petals scattered across the floor and the bouquet Lady Seohyang was holding.
Flowers weren’t in bloom in Beijing at this time of year, after all.
But Lady Seohyang loved flowers, so I had insisted on using them somehow.
“We have a road of flowers now.”
“Yes. A road of flowers leading straight to you.”
Lady Seohyang beamed at my words.
The proposal was a resounding success.
.
.
.
Morning came.
Apparently, last night’s proposal had become quite the topic of conversation, because nearly everyone who saw me offered their congratulations.
“Congratulations.”
Brother Jin-ho was no exception.
“Thanks.”
“But how did you even come up with the idea of proposing in front of everyone like that?”
“Ah…”
I scratched my cheek.
“Well, I wanted to do something like that for her.”
“How anticlimactic.”
We ate a quick breakfast and immediately departed for Nanjing.
The merchant ships should have arrived in Nanjing by now.
Since we were traveling with Brother Jin-ho’s group, we couldn’t simply race there on River-Crossing Horses.
Instead, we used a carriage pulled by a River-Crossing Horse, and ever since Geumryeong gave it a stern talking to last time, it had obediently pulled the carriage without complaint.
More importantly, what exactly was the Emperor planning to make me do?
The fact that I still hadn’t received even the slightest hint about it was making me uneasy.
Our journey to Nanjing went smoothly, and we headed straight for the harbor.
The merchant ships had already arrived.
They still hadn’t been allowed to enter the harbor, however, because they were required to wait for fifteen days in case they were carrying some unknown epidemic.
We secured rooms at an inn, and I headed separately to the Provincial Command Office.
“This humble merchant greets the Provincial Commander.”
“It has been quite some time.”
Lord Ak Yeong-gyeong, who was still serving as Nanjing’s Provincial Commander, welcomed me personally.
He was a member of the Shandong Ak Clan and a man deeply loyal to the Imperial Family.
He also happened to think quite favorably of me.
“Your timing is excellent.”
“Pardon?”
“Come. Let’s have some tea, just the two of us.”
The important part was ‘just the two of us.’ That meant he had something he wanted to discuss in secret.
“Of course.”
“Follow me.”
I followed Lord Ak into the reception room.
Once a maidservant brought in the tea, Lord Ak spoke.
“I’ll brew it myself. You may leave us.”
“Yes.”
The maidservant departed, and Lord Ak personally brewed the tea before pouring me a cup.
“Try it.”
“Thank you.”
I bowed my head in thanks and took a sip of the tea he had brewed.
Mm. That’s good.
It seemed he was quite fond of tea himself.
“Thank you for serving me such excellent tea.”
“You seem to know your tea as well. Can you tell what it is?”
“Would this happen to be Jingshan Tea from Hangzhou, Zhejiang?”
“Oh! How did you know?”
“This gentle fragrance and smooth flavor are both characteristic of Jingshan Tea. And since it tastes this fresh, I assumed it must have been produced somewhere relatively nearby.”
“Hahaha! As expected of the Deputy Merchant Lord of the Eunhae Merchant Group. You have a discerning palate.”
“You flatter me.”
Lord Ak took a satisfied sip of his tea before speaking again.
“How is the establishment of that martial arts academy you mentioned before coming along?”
“Actually, that is one of the reasons I came to see you today.”
I continued.
“This time, I received His Majesty’s formal approval for the project.”
“Oh, is that so?”
“Yes. I should have informed you much sooner, but I was so occupied with other matters that I delayed. Please forgive me.”
“Nonsense. I also heard about what you accomplished during the Murim Grand Assembly. With something like that happening, how could you possibly have had time to concern yourself with everything else?”
“Thank you for understanding.”
Lord Ak spoke.
“Then I must keep my promise as well. As I told you before, the next time you came to see me, I would introduce you to a capable instructor who could teach spear arts.”
“Thank you.”
We discussed several other matters besides the martial arts academy, but none of them seemed to be what Lord Ak truly wanted to talk about.
Everything we had discussed so far could have been overheard by anyone without causing a problem.
Then it happened.
Rustle.
Lord Ak pulled a letter from his sleeve, held it out to me, and shook his head.
He was telling me not to say anything.
So this was why he had asked me to have tea with him alone.
I naturally slipped it into my own sleeve and continued speaking.
“Thank you for the tea. Next time, I’ll repay the favor by bringing you something truly exceptional.”
“Hahaha. I’ll look forward to it. Ah! Come to think of it, there was something I forgot to tell you.”
“What is it?”
“When the sailors disembark this time, I’ll be providing them with liquor at a winehouse I’ve designated.”
“Pardon? Liquor?”
The Prohibition Decree still hadn’t been lifted, so if he was saying something like this…
“Has His Majesty approved it?”
“He has. From what I’ve heard, sailors ease the hardships of their work with drink.”
“They’ll be delighted.”
And with that, we ended our meeting.
I returned to the inn and immediately unfolded the letter Lord Ak had secretly given me.
“…”
It was an Imperial Decree from the Emperor.
[By the time you receive this letter, I imagine you’ll be wearing the face of a man who just swallowed rotten tea.]
Yes. That’s exactly right.
[Unfortunately, you are particularly well suited for this task, so there is nothing to be done. Get to work. After everything I did for you, don’t even think about taking your benefits and slipping away.]
Tch! And here I was hoping to slip away.
At any rate, I finally understood the source of my uneasiness. An Imperial Decree from the Emperor had been waiting for me all along.
And just as I expected, the Emperor was absolutely not the sort of man who granted favors without demanding something in return.
[It appears those people from the Baekpa Merchant Group have been playing games. According to a report I recently received, they have been exploiting the tax exemption system for their own profit. That is nothing less than an attempt to deceive me.
Therefore, I formally command you. Warn the merchants of the Baekpa Merchant Group who dared deceive me, and make certain they never attempt to deceive me again.]
Hmm. A warning.
Was he planning to simply watch them for now?
Unless the crime was especially grave, the Emperor tended to let a first offense pass with a warning.
Of course, if they still failed to come to their senses after that, a punishment horrifying enough to haunt their dreams would be waiting for them.
I burned the letter.
There had been an instruction at the end telling me to burn it after I finished reading.
Still, the Baekpa Merchant Group, huh… They certainly had guts.
Did they really think they could illegally fatten their purses without the Emperor ever noticing?
The Eunhae Merchant Group wouldn’t be doing anything like that, would it?
If they were, I would have to show them just how frightening I could become.
.
.
.
Several days passed, and permission to enter the harbor was finally granted.
“You’ve all worked very hard.”
“We can only be grateful that both Deputy Merchant Lords came all the way here to greet us personally.”
“After all the hardship you endured in a distant foreign land for the sake of the Eunhae Merchant Group, coming here to welcome you is the least we can do.”
“Just hearing you say that is more than enough.”
“How did this trading expedition go?”
At my question, Captain Yong answered with a deeply satisfied expression.
“It was incredible. They went absolutely mad over the liquor in particular. Gold and silver were practically flying through the air.”
“It must have been extremely popular.”
“You have no idea.”
Just as I expected.
“As a result, we earned nearly five times more profit than anticipated, and we’ve returned with every ship loaded to the brim with provisions.”
“Excellent work. Hearing that certainly puts my mind at ease.”
I continued.
“We’ve prepared rooms for all of you at an inn. Go rest and recover from the long voyage.”
Palgap guided the people from the Eunhae Merchant Group toward the inn.
Then I approached the men in charge of the other merchant groups.
“Did the Provincial Commander inform you?”
“Pardon?”
“About the liquor being provided at the winehouse tonight.”
“Ah! Yes. We heard.”
“In that case, I’ve reserved rooms at an inn nearby. I believe it would be better for you to stay there rather than at the Provincial Command Office.”
“Pardon? You reserved rooms for us?”
“That’s right.”
At my words, they all looked uncomfortable.
“What do you want in return?”
Their question was perfectly reasonable.
Merchants almost never paid for someone else’s lodging without expecting something in return.
“Nothing at all. I merely received a confidential order from His Majesty.”
“Ah!”
“So don’t concern yourselves with it. You can simply go to the inn.”
I was invoking the Emperor’s name to place them at the inn because I intended to investigate them.
Compared to a rigid place like the Provincial Command Office, people tended to loosen up and act more freely at an inn, which also meant they were more likely to make mistakes.
And this time, there would be liquor.
If they stayed at the Provincial Command Office, they would have to return there after the banquet ended, so they wouldn’t be able to drink as much as they pleased.
But with their rooms at an inn right nearby, they could drink to their hearts’ content without worrying about the trip back.
From what I knew, sailors were mad about liquor.
Sailing was grueling work, after all, and because of the Prohibition Decree, they hadn’t been able to touch a drop for quite some time.
And liquor was also a marvelous medicine for drawing out the truths people normally kept buried in their hearts.
I would focus my investigation on the Baekpa Merchant Group, but there was always a chance some of the other merchant groups had been playing the same games.
With that, the members of the other merchant groups also headed to the inn.
Well, I’m sure the Emperor will pay their lodging expenses.
.
.
.
That night.
The winehouse designated by Lord Ak was filled with the scent of liquor for the first time in ages.
People passing nearby licked their lips as they walked by.
They couldn’t enter the winehouse and drink themselves, but their eyes gleamed as they watched the sailors enjoying their liquor.
Seeing this would probably give them hope that the Prohibition Decree would soon be lifted.
I’d noticed it before, but Lord Ak had a surprisingly crafty side to him. He really was good at politics.
“Ah, Captain Yong, did you know?”
“Pardon? Know what?”
“I mean the pirates you encountered while passing Hainan Island.”
“Yes. We happened to encounter pirates while passing Hainan Island, so we struck first and sank them… but how did you know about that?”
“I was actually there at the time. Thanks to the fleet’s assistance, I was able to resolve the matter much more easily.”
“Is that so?”
After chatting pleasantly with them for a while, I turned serious and asked a question.
“Ah, but just in case… no one in the Eunhae Merchant Group has been secretly lining their own pockets, have they?”
“Pardon?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“If anyone has been using illegal methods to line their own pockets, I would be extremely disappointed.”
At my warning, they practically jumped out of their seats as they denied it.
“Absolutely not!”
“We would never do anything like that.”
“Then I’m relieved.”
The sailors from the other merchant groups were gradually beginning to slur their words.
They hadn’t been drinking at all lately, so even a little liquor was probably enough to make the room spin around them.
Well then, shall I make my move?
–TL Notes–
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