Princess Yeoryang called over a maid and had her distribute envelopes containing invitation passes to every noblewoman present.
We had put enough care into making them that even the envelopes looked expensive.
One of the noblewomen opened hers and asked,
“There aren't just one invitation pass in here. There are four?”
Brother Jeong-ho answered with a gentle smile.
“Wouldn't it be rather lonely if you came by yourself? I believe good things are meant to be shared, so we included four passes. You may bring up to three companions with you.”
“Oh my, how thoughtful.”
“I'm simply glad you see it that way.”
Brother Jeong-ho really was a merchant through and through.
Giving each person four invitation passes had been Brother Jeong-ho's idea.
He claimed it was because coming alone would be too lonely, but what he really meant was: if you're coming anyway, bring three more customers with you.
And with things set up this way, the noblewomen here would have favors to hand out to others.
I smoothly changed the subject.
“We've been talking business when the lady of the hour is right here. How rude of us.”
“It's quite all right.”
The princess smiled and shook her head.
“I was already feeling a little guilty about buying all these beautiful pieces for myself, so I feel much better now that you've given everyone else such a wonderful opportunity as well.”
Truthfully, another merchant group might have landed itself in serious trouble for pulling something like this.
But I was already acquainted with her, and I'd secured her permission beforehand through Imperial Son-in-Law Yeon Yu-mun, so there was no problem.
You could call the whole thing a rigged game.
In exchange, I'd agreed to gift her one accessory she particularly liked.
She had only gone along with it because she wanted to show her gratitude for what I'd done for Springview Fortress, but I'd rather collect that debt in some other way later.
“Which piece catches your eye?”
“I think…”
That day, the princess chose no fewer than five pieces from the Eunhae Merchant Group.
* * *
The Hwang Merchant Group's Merchant Lord was in an exceptionally foul mood.
Part of the reason was that he'd visited the manor hoping to sell jewelry for the princess's wedding, only to sell a single piece.
‘They say she picked five pieces from the Eunhae Merchant Group.’
But there was a much bigger reason for his anger.
It was something one of the noblewomen had said to him.
“Every piece the Eunhae Merchant Group brought was beautiful, but to be frank, yours look rather plain by comparison.”
In other words, she was saying his merchandise was inferior to the Eunhae Merchant Group's.
On top of that, Hwang Gon's Escort Guard had brought him another unpleasant piece of news.
Hwang Gon had tried to buy off one of the Eunhae Merchant Group's artisans and failed.
“Damn it! Even if you failed, you should've made sure they never found out!”
He glared fiercely at his second son, Hwang Gon, who was following behind him. Hwang Gon shrank back and replied,
“M–my apologies, Father.”
“Have you forgotten who Deputy Merchant Lord Eun Seo-ho is? He's a mere merchant like us, yet he enjoys the Emperor's favor, and both the Embroidered Guard and the Eastern Depot watch his back. Because of you, we've effectively made an enemy out of a man like that.”
“…”
“So how do you intend to fix this?”
Hwang Gon had nothing to say, so he merely lowered his head in silence.
The Hwang Merchant Group's Merchant Lord pressed him impatiently.
“I hear the Eunhae Merchant Group is holding a jewelry exhibition in three days. Do you know what that means? They're planning to swallow Beijing's entire jewelry trade!”
Hwang Gon bit his lip, then spoke with a hardened expression.
“Then, Father, shouldn't we do something instead of sitting here?”
“What else are you planning to do?”
“Why don't we ruin the exhibition? We could send in street thugs, or hire some Unorthodox martial artists…”
“Beijing's noblewomen will all be gathered there. If anything happens to them, do you think the high officials behind those ladies will spare us once they learn we arranged it?”
“Hmm…”
After a long silence, Hwang Gon seemed to think of something clever.
“What about this?”
As Hwang Gon explained his idea, the Hwang Merchant Group's Merchant Lord slowly nodded.
“That… isn't bad.”
* * *
I spent the next few days running around preparing for the upcoming jewelry exhibition.
Brother Jeong-ho had named the shop that would sell the Eunhae Merchant Group's jewelry Floral Splendor (華贇麗).
The name carried the sense of a beauty so radiant it rivaled flowers.
I heard his wife had come up with it. She certainly had a talent for naming things.
The exhibition would be held in the banquet hall at the Eunhae Merchant Group's Beijing Branch.
It was a large hall built specifically to accommodate banquets, celebrations, and other events.
“You've arrived?”
“Welcome, Third Deputy Merchant Lord.”
When I reached the banquet hall, the Supervisor in charge of the exhibition hurried over to greet me.
“You've worked hard. How much of the venue decoration is finished?”
“Yes. All that's left is decorating the tables where we'll display the jewelry.”
“And the refreshments?”
“Those preparations are proceeding without any problems as well.”
“This exhibition is extremely important. Don't lower your guard until it's completely over.”
“Yes! I'll keep that firmly in mind.”
I entered the banquet hall and began inspecting every corner.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
Just then, I heard someone running toward us in a hurry.
That Qi… Brother Jeong-ho?
The door flew open, and Brother Jeong-ho shouted with a deathly pale face.
“Seo-ho! We've got a serious problem!”
“Why? What happened?”
“A strange rumor is spreading through Beijing right now. They're saying the jewelry made by the Eunhae Merchant Group was crafted from cursed gemstones…”
“…”
That reminded me of what had happened with the Dancing Doll.
Back then, they'd also tried to sabotage us with rumors.
Well, it wasn't as though I'd expected everything to go this smoothly.
Still, cursed gemstones…
So that's what Lady Seohyang had meant yesterday.
Ever since I'd taken Brother Jeong-ho's advice, I'd occasionally made time to sit down and talk with Lady Seohyang.
Sometimes we'd have tea at a teahouse, and other times we'd stroll through the rear garden together.
I was too busy to do it often, but the time we did spend together had been surprisingly worthwhile.
Yesterday, Lady Seohyang had said something strange.
“People are… rather strange.”
“Pardon?”
“Why do they find cursed jewels more alluring?”
“What? But the Dancing Doll's sales clearly plummeted when people thought it was cursed…”
“I suppose that's simply part of a jewel's appeal.”
The future Lady Seohyang had seen was clearly connected to what was happening today.
“Have you figured out who's spreading the rumor?”
“We're still looking into it. More importantly, the exhibition is tomorrow…”
I calmly reassured him.
“Don't worry too much. I have a good idea.”
Whoever had spread the rumor was almost certainly involved in Beijing's jewelry trade.
And the Hwang Merchant Group was by far the most likely culprit.
But storming over there and confronting them right now would only hurt us.
We had no evidence.
Fortunately, we didn't need to do that to overcome this problem.
“Instead, there's something I need you to do.”
“What is it? Tell me. I'll do anything.”
“Tell the artisans to make one enormous, ridiculously extravagant piece using a large gemstone. I want something so breathtaking that people forget how to breathe when they see it. A necklace would be best.”
“Why?”
“They're saying our jewelry was made from cursed gemstones, aren't they? Then we should play along.”
“What?”
“Brother Jeong-ho.”
I called his name and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“I know what you're worried about, but if you're going to sell jewelry, you can't afford to misunderstand the minds of the people who want to own it.”
“…What?”
“Think about the Dancing Doll. People recoiled when they heard it was cursed. Why do you think that happened?”
“Because it was cursed?”
“More because it looked human. A doll resembles a person without actually being one, and that resemblance unsettles people on an instinctive level.”
“Now that you mention it… even I get chills down my spine whenever I enter the place where we keep the Dancing Dolls.”
And dolls were often used when someone wanted to harm another person through evil sorcery.
“That was why the rumor about the curse made people fear them even more. Jewels are different.”
I raised my index finger.
“Jewels shine. They don't resemble people, either. They're beautiful all by themselves, the sort of tempting little things that awaken desire the moment someone looks at them.”
“That's true.”
“And because of that, calling a jewel cursed can actually make it more valuable.”
A crooked grin spread across my face.
“They went to the trouble of building us a stage. Shouldn't we at least give them a show?”
* * *
Hwang I-gyeon, Merchant Lord of the Hwang Merchant Group, was looking exceedingly pleased with himself.
Only a single day had passed since he'd secretly started the rumor, yet it had already spread throughout Beijing.
The rumor, of course, claimed that the jewels made by the Eunhae Merchant Group were cursed.
And as rumors tended to do, the story kept growing more outrageous with every retelling.
“Didn't you hear? Anyone who owns that jewel gets murdered. Three people have already died!”
“How did the Eunhae Merchant Group even get hold of something like that?”
“No idea.”
Even the conversations reaching Hwang I-gyeon's ears right now were all about the Eunhae Merchant Group's cursed jewel.
With the rumor becoming the talk of the entire capital, surely the Eunhae Merchant Group's upcoming jewelry exhibition was doomed to be a spectacular failure.
“Heh heh heh. I ought to see that disaster for myself.”
And so he took his two sons with him and headed for the Eunhae Merchant Group's Beijing Branch.
After all, the jewelry exhibition was being held inside the branch's banquet hall.
But when they drew close to the Eunhae Merchant Group's Beijing Branch…
“Hm?”
“F–Father… what are all those people doing?”
“…”
The three of them could hardly believe their eyes.
A long line of people stretched out in front of the Eunhae Merchant Group.
“Are you gentlemen lining up?”
“What? W–well…”
“If you're going to line up, please stand in the line properly.”
At the guard's words, they quickly shuffled into place. Then, after glancing behind himself, Hwang I-gyeon cautiously asked,
“Excuse me, is this the line to enter the Eunhae Merchant Group's exhibition?”
The guard readily answered him.
“Yes. The Eunhae Merchant Group is unveiling the jewel known as the cursed ‘Soul of the Sea’ (海魄) today.”
Now that he looked, a huge, long banner had been hung near the entrance.
[Grand Opening of Floral Splendor, the Eunhae Merchant Group Jewelry Shop: Special Public Exhibition of the Cursed Jewel ‘Soul of the Sea’]
Hwang I-gyeon could only bite his lip when he saw it.
Since he knew the truth, the entire situation was utterly absurd.
There was no such thing as a cursed jewel.
He had invented the rumor himself to undermine the Eunhae Merchant Group.
Yet now the Eunhae Merchant Group was using his own rumor to their advantage.
“What do you think that jewel looks like?”
“Well, if they call it the Soul of the Sea, wouldn't it be blue?”
Everyone around him was openly brimming with curiosity.
Hwang I-gyeon casually turned to another person and asked,
“They say the jewel is cursed. Aren't you afraid?”
“Why would I be? They say whoever owns it gets murdered, but it's not as if I'm going to buy the thing.”
“…”
“The Eunhae Merchant Group says they never intended to sell it and had simply kept it in storage. They're only displaying it now as a special attraction to celebrate Floral Splendor's grand opening. When else would I ever get a chance to see something this rare? It'd be a terrible waste to miss it.”
“…”
Only then did Hwang I-gyeon realize what he'd overlooked.
People's desire for jewels.
He had spent his entire life making money by feeding that desire, but after years spent indulging himself in pleasure and luxury while neglecting the Hwang Merchant Group's operations, his merchant instincts had grown dull.
If he'd properly managed the Hwang Merchant Group and kept those instincts sharp, he never would have made such an elementary mistake.
In other words, he had just helped the Eunhae Merchant Group with his own hands.
“Gon.”
“Yes, F–Father…”
Hwang Gon had also realized that something had gone terribly wrong, and cold sweat was pouring down his face.
“You and I are going to have a talk when we get back.”
“Hic!”
* * *
I'd been busy since early morning greeting the flood of guests.
“Welcome.”
“Welcome to the grand opening of Floral Splendor, the Eunhae Merchant Group's jewelry shop.”
Everything had gone exactly as I'd predicted.
The announcement that a cursed jewel would be unveiled during the jewelry shop's grand opening had drawn people in droves.
I had arranged the exhibition floor in the shape of the character 區.
The most valuable pieces were displayed at the center, and among them sat Soul of the Sea, the so-called cursed jewel.
It was a necklace centered on a clear sapphire nearly two inches across.
The craftsmanship was so extraordinary that no matter which angle you viewed it from, light danced across its surface like sunlight glittering over the sea.
“Ah…”
“So this is the cursed jewel! It's breathtaking.”
People stared at Soul of the Sea with utterly entranced expressions.
To think they could create something that extraordinary!
Signing Artisan Son Mun to a lifetime contract had certainly paid off.
After admiring Soul of the Sea and the other displayed pieces, people headed toward one of the sales areas near the entrance.
That section sold the relatively affordable pieces.
Anyone who came all the way to an exhibition like this wasn't going to leave empty-handed.
Just as I'd expected, people walked out of the sales area with something in their hands.
And while those pieces were relatively affordable, anything sold at an exhibition like this still carried a substantial price tag.
At this rate, we'd already earned several times what we'd spent preparing the entire exhibition.
All that work had definitely been worth it.
– Kui…
Though Geumryeong was staring at the gemstones and whining because it wanted to eat them.
You little brat. Of course you know exactly which ones are expensive.
Just then, Palgap came running toward me.
“Young Master! The noblewomen are starting to arrive!”
“I see. Then I'd better go welcome them. You told Brother Jeong-ho too, right?”
“Of course I did, Young Master.”
That was when I spotted the Hwang Merchant Group's Merchant Lord and his two sons awkwardly edging into the exhibition hall.
They had the unmistakable expressions of men who'd just realized something had gone terribly wrong.
“You seem to be in a very good mood, Young Master.”
“Seeing those three wearing faces like they just swallowed spoiled tea is surprisingly satisfying. I guess I'm not as nice a person as I thought.”
“That's right, Young Master.”
“…Couldn't you at least have told me I was wrong?”
“A true attendant must never distort the truth. You do have a rather nasty personality, Young Master, but it comes in handy from time to time, so I hope you won't take it too hard.”
“…”
That was supposed to comfort me, right?
Because it wasn't comforting in the slightest.
–TL Notes–
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