I said with a sly smile.
“Trade secrets are as precious as a merchant’s life, so I hope you’ll understand.”
At my answer, the Clan Lord glared at me with clear displeasure.
“Are you truly going to be like this?”
At the same time, killing intent bore down on me.
Cold sweat trickled down my back under that pressure, but I didn’t let my smile slip.
“Still, I’d rather you not misunderstand. If I had ties to the Namgoong Clan, why would I have told you to keep an eye on Young Lord Hwangbo Uk?”
When his killing intent still showed no sign of fading, I let out a sigh.
“I did come here bearing His Majesty the Emperor’s Imperial Decree, you know?”
“…”
Only then did the killing intent disappear, and the Clan Lord awkwardly cleared his throat.
“Ahem, ahem. If that is truly the case, then there’s nothing to be done.”
“Do you intend to leave your clan’s affairs in someone else’s hands?”
In other words, stop trying to get the answer from me and figure it out yourself.
“You’re right. I cannot leave the clan’s affairs in someone else’s hands.”
“By any chance, when do you expect the matter of the Martial Arts Academy instructors to be settled?”
“I expect the selection to be finalized in about three days.”
“Understood. Then I’ll take my leave.”
“Do so.”
* * *
Hwangbo Se, Clan Lord of the Hwangbo Clan, stared at the spot where Eun Seo-ho had been standing moments ago.
Even when Hwangbo Se had deliberately unleashed his killing intent to pressure him, Eun Seo-ho had never lost his smile. He was certainly no ordinary man.
‘I heard he was only at the Peak realm…’
From what Hwangbo Se had seen, however, Eun Seo-ho seemed to have already gone beyond that level.
And then there was the way he had casually mentioned being sent by the Emperor, neatly preventing Hwangbo Se from pressuring him any further.
His abilities and resourcefulness were anything but ordinary.
Hwangbo Se thought back to when Hwangbo Hwi had visited the clan estate some time ago.
“Brother. I met a very interesting fellow. He’ll come to this clan someday, and when he does, if he mentions ‘my real birthday,’ give him this key.”
“Isn’t that the key to your library?”
“It is. I intend to leave everything I’ve collected to him.”
“What kind of fellow could have won you over so completely that you’d hand all of that down to him?”
“You’ll like him too, Brother. He’s a truly entertaining fellow.”
“Now that you say that, I admit I’m curious.”
“And Brother, if that fellow ever gives you advice about something, make sure you listen carefully. Otherwise, you’ll regret it.”
Truthfully, Hwangbo Se had taken offense when Eun Seo-ho told him to keep watch over his own grandson.
But because those words echoed the warning left by Hwangbo Hwi, his beloved younger brother, he hadn’t dismissed Eun Seo-ho’s advice.
So he had secretly ordered one of his most trusted retainers to watch his grandson, only for the man to return before breakfast with startling news.
“Young Lord Hwangbo Uk secretly met with someone. I investigated the other party and discovered that the person was from the Namgoong Clan.”
The Namgoong Clan, of all places.
They obstructed the Hwangbo Clan at every turn and always seemed eager for the slightest excuse to pick a fight.
Worse, after the Hwangbo Clan retaliated for the humiliation Hwangbo Se’s daughter had suffered at the last Murim Grand Assembly, the Namgoong Clan had spitefully monopolized the region that produced whetstones, cutting off the Hwangbo Clan’s supply entirely.
If Eun Seo-ho hadn’t supplied them with whetstones, the situation would have become extremely difficult.
Eventually, the Hwangbo Clan would have had no choice but to bow its head to the Namgoong Clan.
Whatever the circumstances, if his own grandson was acting as a spy for the Namgoong Clan, this was not something Hwangbo Se could simply overlook.
‘If he’d been a spy for some Unorthodox Sect, I could have punished him appropriately and let the matter end there. But the Namgoong Clan!’
For now, however, he needed to gather more evidence.
* * *
I returned to my quarters.
“Phew…”
When I let out a long sigh, Palgap looked at me curiously.
“Young Master, did something happen? Why do you look like you just died and came back to life?”
“Something like that happened.”
Taking the killing intent of a Transcendent martial artist head-on was something I never wanted to experience again.
But it wasn’t as if I could reveal my trade secrets just because of that.
“You’d better have some tea right away, Young Master.”
“Thanks.”
Palgap poured me a cup of tea, and I organized my thoughts as I drank.
Before I left for Shandong, Lady Seohyang had whispered a warning to me.
“Deputy Merchant Lord. If anyone from the Hwangbo Clan goes out of their way to be unusually kind to you, be careful. You may end up getting stabbed in the back.”
In other words, there was a traitor.
That was why I had been wary of Hwangbo Uk.
A direct descendant of a clan as prestigious as the Hwangbo Clan was going to devote himself to waiting on me hand and foot?
It wasn’t impossible, but Hwangbo Uk’s kindness had gone far beyond what anyone could reasonably expect.
He’d told me to use him as a porter and had even pulled a handcart himself. Granted, the very next day he used work as an excuse and ran off.
Either way, even by my standards, his behavior made no sense. So I paid close attention and examined his Qi.
But I couldn’t sense any of that revolting Unorthodox Qi or the Asura Blood Cult’s Qi from him.
For a moment I wondered whether I was simply being overly suspicious, but the warning had come from Lady Seohyang, so I refused to dismiss it.
That was why I shook him off before proceeding with the work at the quarry.
When I returned to the Hwangbo Clan afterward, Young Lord Hwangbo Uk had acted rather hurt about being left behind.
So I said, “Then you should’ve followed me with the cart, shouldn’t you?” and for one brief instant, he directed killing intent at me.
That was when it clicked.
Attending to me might have been the Young Clan Lord’s order, but Hwangbo Uk had been trying to learn something from me while he was at it.
That was why I told the Clan Lord to keep an eye on Young Lord Hwangbo Uk, but who would’ve imagined the person he was secretly communicating with belonged to the Namgoong Clan!
Damn…
If Lady Seohyang hadn’t warned me, this could’ve turned into a real disaster.
At present, the Namgoong Clan was the Hwangbo Clan’s greatest rival.
If Hwangbo Uk had really been acting as a spy for the Namgoong Clan, then even being the Young Clan Lord’s son wouldn’t be enough to save him.
He had to know that, so why in the world had Young Lord Hwangbo Uk joined hands with the Namgoong Clan?
Ugh, my head hurts.
Most of the urgent work was already settled, so I decided to take a short walk.
There was a rather nicely maintained garden near the Guest Hall.
A short while later.
I went out for a walk with Escort Guard Lee Pil and Escort Guard Myeong Jong.
As I slowly admired the garden’s rare flowers and exotic plants, I noticed a middle-aged woman approaching from a distance.
The colors and patterns of her clothing were subdued and dark.
But who was I?
In my previous life, I had built a successful silk business.
No matter how plain her clothes looked, there was no chance I’d fail to recognize that the fabric itself was top-grade silk.
Which meant the middle-aged woman held a fairly high position within the Hwangbo Clan.
Our eyes met, and she spoke to me first.
“I don’t believe we’ve met before.”
I quickly cupped my hands in greeting.
“I’m Eun Seo-ho, Deputy Merchant Lord of the Eunhae Merchant Group. I’m staying here as a guest for a short while.”
“I see. I’m Hwangbo In-a. My elder brother has told me about you. I hear you enjoy His Majesty the Emperor’s favor.”
“That’s far too generous. And please, there’s no need to speak so formally with me. I haven’t even turned thirty yet.”
I quickly pieced together who she was.
Judging from her age and what she’d just said, she was probably Warrior Hwangbo Seon-yu’s younger sister.
Ah…
Then, all at once, I remembered what I’d heard about her in my previous life.
The tragic woman of the Hwangbo Clan.
She had married into a family chosen by the clan, and by all accounts, she and her husband had gotten along quite well.
The problem was that they’d never had children.
Then one day, her husband was mobilized for a campaign against nearby Forest Bandits and lost his life in battle.
Hwangbo In-a had risen in fury, personally exterminated those Forest Bandits, and successfully avenged her husband.
Yet when she returned after the campaign, her husband’s family sent her back to the Hwangbo Clan, and ever since then, she had lived so quietly that one could almost forget she was there.
At present, she could be considered the Hwangbo Clan’s one blemish.
Well, not anymore.
Young Lord Hwangbo Uk had gone and caused a disaster on a whole other level by apparently becoming a spy for the Namgoong Clan.
“Very well, then. I’ll speak comfortably. By the way, you seem to know who I am.”
At her question, I quickly answered.
“I’m the Deputy Merchant Lord of the Eunhae Merchant Group. What kind of merchant would I be if I didn’t know the backgrounds of our most important clients?”
“I see. It’s been a long time since I met someone who knew about me and still didn’t look at me with pity.”
I calmly replied.
“Forgive me, but why should I pity you, my lady?”
“…”
“If anything, I think you’re an admirable woman. You avenged your husband with your own hands, didn’t you?”
There was one thing about her story that had always struck me as strange.
Her husband’s family had willingly given up the protection that came with the Hwangbo Clan’s name and sent her back to her birth family.
Even if the direct blood connection had disappeared with her husband’s death, the marriage itself had still taken place. As long as they kept her with them, the Hwangbo Clan’s name would have remained a powerful shield.
And yet her husband’s family had still sent her away.
Why?
After thinking about it for a moment, the answer soon came to me.
I’d heard that Lady Hwangbo had wiped out the Forest Bandits by herself.
In that case, there was no chance her martial arts were ordinary.
I discreetly examined her, and soon sensed the level of her cultivation.
Profound.
If anything, that should have made her husband’s family even more desperate to keep her.
Yet they had still sent her back to her birth family…
“Perhaps your husband’s family felt guilty about keeping such an admirable woman tied down there.”
“Guilty?”
“Yes. You did everything you possibly could, even avenging your husband by yourself, didn’t you? I’m sure your husband’s family knows that perfectly well. Frankly, keeping you with them would have benefited them far more. They could have continued relying on the Hwangbo Clan’s name and protection.”
“…”
“But perhaps they decided that keeping you there for the sake of their own interests would simply be too selfish.”
“Then…”
“Yes. I think they were telling you to stop living your life bound by your husband or his family and to live freely from then on.”
“…”
“By any chance, does the Clan Lord still provide some form of support to your late husband’s family even now? If he does, then I’d say that’s the proof.”
I scratched my cheek.
“This is only my own humble guess, so I may be wrong. But I hope you won’t keep letting what happened weigh you down.”
“…”
I bowed my head politely.
“Then I’ll take my leave.”
I headed back toward my quarters. When I glanced over my shoulder, she was still standing in the same spot, staring blankly into the distance.
.
.
.
That evening.
“Deputy Merchant Lord Eun, are you in?”
“Yes! Come in!”
Warrior Hwangbo Seon-yu came to visit my quarters.
“What brings you here?”
He’d once given me a hard time for running around everywhere like I had somewhere urgent to be, yet lately he’d been even busier than I was.
“Why? Is there some reason I’m not allowed to come?”
“Of course not. I’m always glad to see you, Great Hero. You just seemed rather busy.”
“I still have to sleep sometime.”
Fair enough. It was already getting pretty late…
“If I’d been asleep, were you planning to wake me?”
“As if you’d already be asleep at this hour.”
A wise answer to a foolish question.
“Please, have a seat.”
Palgap had conveniently left some tea in my room not long ago, so I poured Warrior Hwangbo Seon-yu a cup.
As he drank, there was something faintly complicated about his expression.
Was it because of Young Lord Hwangbo Uk?
Just as I was wondering about that, the Great Hero spoke.
“You met my younger sister earlier, didn’t you?”
Ah, so this was what brought him here.
I had half expected this topic to come up as well, so I nodded readily.
“Yes. I met her while taking a walk through the garden.”
“In-a finally threw away those dreary clothes.”
“Pardon?”
“Ever since In-a returned to our family, she stopped wearing all the bright-colored clothes she used to love and wore nothing but dull, somber things. I suppose they were mourning clothes in her own way. Or perhaps she blamed herself, thinking that a woman cast out by her husband’s family had no right to dress in bright colors.”
“…”
“In-a went to see Father a little while ago. Apparently, after hearing what you told her, she wanted to ask him for the full story herself.”
Judging from his tone, things seemed to have worked out well.
“Thanks to you, In-a was finally able to let go of some of the burden she’s been carrying. That’s why I came to thank you.”
Truthfully, even while I was talking to Lady Hwangbo In-a earlier, there had been one part of the whole situation that didn’t quite sit right with me.
Why hadn’t the Clan Lord ever explained any of this to his own daughter?
When I asked, Warrior Hwangbo Seon-yu let out a sigh before answering.
“Why wouldn’t Father have told her? Of course he did. But do you really think words can reach someone who has no intention of hearing them?”
“Hmm, that’s true.”
“And sometimes, being family is precisely why those words don’t get through. You assume they’re only saying those things because they’re family and they want to comfort you.”
“…”
So the difference was probably that I was a complete outsider with no connection to the situation, and enough time had passed for her to finally be ready to hear those words.
Either way, it was a good thing.
Honestly, those gloomy colors hadn’t suited Lady Hwangbo In-a at all.
“Actually… during the last Murim Grand Assembly, the Namgoong Clan used In-a to provoke Father.”
“Pardon?”
“I believe they said something along the lines of, ‘How desperate must the Hwangbo Clan be for talent if you’re taking back a daughter her husband’s family threw out?’”
That wasn’t provocation. That was an outright insult, and the Namgoong Clan had actually said something like that?
“And he just let that go?”
“Of course not!”
He nearly jumped out of his seat before continuing.
“The Alliance Leader intervened at the time, so both sides had to back down. But not long after, we happened to find some members of the Namgoong Clan causing trouble in Shandong, so we gave them a thorough beating and drove them out.”
Ah…
So that was why the whetstone deliveries had suddenly stopped.
“And Father quietly told me something else. The Namgoong Clan demanded an apology for what happened. They said that unless we apologized, they would never supply us with whetstones again.”
Wow…
Petty bastards.
They were the ones who started it in the first place, weren’t they?
And it wasn’t as if the Hwangbo Clan had driven those people out for no reason. They’d been causing trouble in Shandong.
And in the middle of all that, Hwangbo Uk had been secretly communicating with the Namgoong Clan.
Why in the world had Young Lord Hwangbo Uk made such a foolish choice?
“So, about that…”
He hesitated, and I nodded for him to continue.
“Please, speak freely.”
“Would it be all right if In-a took one of the instructor positions at the academy?”
“…Pardon?”
Wow. I definitely hadn’t seen that coming.
–TL Notes–
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