After taking back his house and revealing the secret hidden beneath the yard, Clan Lord Man called back the workers who had once served the household.
As his circumstances worsened, he’d been forced to dismiss them one by one.
About half had already found other work, but the other half still hadn’t settled anywhere else.
Not one of them hesitated when Clan Lord Man called for them.
“These are all people who served our Clan for many years.”
“I see.”
I nodded at Young Lord Man’s words.
There were five of them in all. They were all somewhat older, and every one of them looked deeply loyal to Clan Lord Man.
“Clan Lord! Thank heavens you’ve recovered so well!”
“To see you healthy again like this… truly… hngh!”
The man who’d once served as the Clan Lord’s attendant broke down in tears. It seemed he’d been carrying the guilt, feeling as though the Clan Lord ending up bedridden had somehow been his fault.
And now that he saw him standing there in good health, the relief finally made him cry.
“Hoho, that’s all thanks to my lord.”
At that, they came over to thank me, and I awkwardly accepted their gratitude.
I’d done it for my own benefit, so being thanked this sincerely felt a little embarrassing.
“You’re giving me too much credit.”
Just then, Clan Lord Man spoke.
“Our Clan has decided to become my lord’s vassals. So I’ll be traveling with him to Hubei for a while. Please look after this house in the meantime.”
“Of course we will.”
“Then we’ll get everything ready right away.”
Preparations went smoothly, and by the end of the Eleventh Month, we set out for Hubei once more.
Clan Lord Man still wasn’t strong enough to ride a horse, so he had to travel by carriage.
Still, that didn’t cause any problem with our schedule.
I’d already left enough room in the itinerary in case the Clan Lord ended up coming back to the main branch with us.
Then I should make use of the Path-Revealing Map again.
We needed to travel as safely as possible.
But…
When I’d left Shaolin Temple after dealing with the matter involving Venerable Blood Staff Star Monk’s remains, I’d used the Path-Revealing Map then too.
And on the way, I ran into those Embroidered Guards and practically got dragged off to Yunnan.
Don’t tell me this thing’s a fake.
When I looked at the Path-Revealing Map with open suspicion, one corner of it fluttered.
Even though there was no wind…
It almost looked like it was protesting, as if to say, “Why are you doubting me?”
Well…
The Path-Revealing Map guided its owner along the safest route, not the fastest or easiest one.
Which meant that miserable ordeal must’ve really been the best route for keeping me alive.
Damn it.
Fine. At least I managed to set one thing up for the future, so maybe I should be satisfied with that.
Still, I really hope there won’t be any more hellish detours like that.
As I thought that and looked at the Path-Revealing Map again, this time I saw the corner droop.
“…”
What was that supposed to mean? That it couldn’t promise anything?
Damn it.
.
.
.
This time, it didn’t take very long to reach the main branch in Hubei.
We went straight down to Nanjing, boarded a ship, and sailed up the Yangtze River.
So this time, we arrived without incident and exactly as planned.
“That’s the main branch of the Eunhae Merchant Group.”
At my explanation, the Man father and son stared at me in surprise.
“It’s enormous.”
“Yes. Our main branch is fairly large.”
But the more I looked at it, the more it seemed even bigger than before.
Did they expand the yard?
It looked like the houses that used to stand beside it were gone.
Don’t tell me they really expanded it while I was away.
As I stood there wondering, I suddenly realized something.
What I was looking at was the same size the Eunhae Merchant Group had reached in my previous life, when it began growing at a frightening pace.
That was years earlier than before.
It made me realize all over again that I really was doing well, and for some reason that stirred something in me…
“Young Master, why are you looking at home like that?”
“Hm?”
“You look like a man seeing a lost lover again after years apart.”
I gave an awkward laugh at Palgap’s remark.
“What kind of nonsense is that…”
He really did have a creepy way of reading my mind.
“Then how would you know what a man reunited with a lost lover looks like?”
“Uh…”
Palgap blinked at my question.
“Well, that is…”
“I see. So you’ve had your share of heartbreak too.”
“N–no, I haven’t!”
Before he could defend himself, Escort Guard Seo Wu grinned and piled on.
“So that’s what it was. Sorry I didn’t notice sooner, Palgap.”
“I said that’s not it.”
Laughing together in that warm mood, we entered the Eunhae Merchant Group’s main yard.
“You’re back!”
Maybe because I’d sent word ahead, Father had come out personally to greet us.
“Father! Aren’t you busy?”
“I am.”
“You didn’t have to come out yourself…”
“No matter how busy I am, I still have time to welcome my son home.”
Smiling, I said,
“You’ve been well, I hope?”
“Of course. Everyone’s doing well.”
“That’s a relief.”
It really was.
One of the reasons I kept throwing myself into all this with everything I had was to protect my family’s peaceful life.
“The people behind you are strangers to me.”
Father looked at Clan Lord Man and Young Lord Man as he spoke, and I introduced them.
“This is the Clan Lord of the Yungang Man Clan from Shandong, and this is his son.”
The moment I said that, I saw Father flinch.
It didn’t show on his face, but there was unmistakable shock in his eyes.
Why was he reacting like that?
Still, I put that question aside for the moment.
I was in the middle of introducing them to Father.
“I am Eun Gil-sang, Merchant Lord of the Eunhae Merchant Group. Welcome to the Eunhae Merchant Group.”
“I am Man Juk, Clan Lord of the Yungang Man Clan, and this is my son, Man Jeong. It is an honor to meet my lord’s honorable father.”
“Your lord…?”
Father turned toward me with a puzzled look, and I quickly continued.
“I’ll explain the details once we’re inside.”
“Very well.”
“For now, I’ll have them stay in the building beside my annex.”
“Do that.”
“Yes, Father.”
I asked Palgap to guide them.
Then I told the other escort guards, aside from Escort Guard Seo Wu, to go rest, and followed Father to his office.
We didn’t need much protection here.
“Ah, is Mother busy?”
“Your mother’s out at a gathering right now. There’s a meeting of merchant household ladies from this area.”
“I see. What about my brothers?”
“Jeong-ho went to Beijing for the Hundred Great Merchant Groups Under the Heaven gathering, and from there he stopped by the Myeongmyeong Merchant Group to deal with a matter involving black pepper before coming back.”
“Brother’s busy too.”
Come to think of it, Lady Seohyang had told me before that Brother Jeong-ho had stopped by the Beijing branch.
But the Myeongmyeong Merchant Group?
Their main branch was in Sichuan.
They were already one of the three greatest merchant groups under heaven, so why would they…
Ah, black pepper. That was it.
They mainly dealt in porcelain and spices, and they’d risen into the top three by monopolizing the pepper trade.
And this time, the Great Yue Kingdom, where our merchant group’s ships had gone, was one of the main production regions for pepper.
As far as I knew, the Myeongmyeong Merchant Group imported pepper by having people haul it over rough mountain ranges by hand.
But maritime trade meant bringing back far larger quantities with much less effort, so of course they’d come to us.
“Isn’t the Myeongmyeong Merchant Group based in Sichuan? Since we have our Sichuan branch, couldn’t they have contacted the main branch directly through Uncle?”
“They did send word through your uncle, asking for a meeting to discuss it. Jeong-ho had planned to meet the Myeongmyeong Merchant Group together with you, but then a letter came through that little creature you raise. It said you were going to Yunnan…”
Ah…
That must’ve been when I sent word through Geumryeong that I was heading to Yunnan.
“You seemed busy, so I didn’t bother telling you separately.”
“Thank you.”
If I’d heard about this ahead of time, I probably would’ve felt pressured.
I remembered hearing that the Myeongmyeong Merchant Group had once helped Grandfather when he first attended the Hundred Great Merchant Groups Under the Heaven.
“But he’s later than I expected. The gathering was at the start of the Tenth Month, so shouldn’t Brother Jeong-ho be getting back around now?”
“That’s true. He’ll probably be back soon.”
Well, long-distance merchant trips didn’t always run on schedule.
“What about Brother Jin-ho?”
“He went along as escort for a merchant group headed to Hunan.”
“And my sisters-in-law?”
“They’re each busy with their own work.”
“And Grandfather?”
“He’s the one I envy most.”
At that, I laughed.
Then Father gave me some welcome news.
“Oh, and your second sister-in-law is expecting.”
“Oh? That’s wonderful news.”
“It is. She’ll probably give birth early next year.”
“I should congratulate them properly later.”
That truly was something to celebrate. In my previous life, I’d lost my second sister-in-law, and Brother Jin-ho had grown old alone, drowning his grief in drink.
Listening to his drunken rambling had been exhausting.
Come to think of it, Brother Jeong-ho used to drink and pour his heart out to me too before he married my sister-in-law in my previous life.
Maybe the biggest reason I didn’t enjoy drinking wasn’t just my constitution or Master’s advice.
Maybe it was because I’d gotten sick of listening to my brothers get drunk and complain.
“What about Geon-hyeok and Bo-yeon?”
“They’re wild as ever.”
“So that means they’re healthy.”
They had to be around five or six by now.
Time really flew.
After checking in on how the family was doing, we moved on to discussing the merchant group’s business.
First, Father told me that the Eunhae Merchant Group’s two ships had safely reached the harbor built by the Eunhae Merchant Group and were now being serviced, and that he’d arranged lodging for Captain Yong’s family.
“But what in the world happened? The moment most of the sailors got off the ships, they ran straight either to their homes or to the brothels.”
“Ah…”
I guess their frustrations had piled up more than I thought.
With a bitter smile, I answered,
“Well, they were put to sleep the moment they arrived in Nanjing.”
“Put to sleep?”
“That was… His Majesty’s order.”
“Mm… for secrecy?”
That was Father for you.
I nodded, and Father gave a small smirk.
“Well, it makes sense. This is the place where the Eunhae Merchant Group has a firm grip.”
The intelligence unit I’d proposed had been doing its work, and at this point, you could say the Eunhae Merchant Group had a firm hold over most of Hubei.
“By the way, those people you brought back really are from the Yungang Man Clan?”
“Yes. But why were you so surprised earlier?”
At my question, Father cleared his throat.
“Ahem…”
“Father, I’m your son.”
“Do you remember the record I told you about, the one passed down only to the Merchant Lord?”
“Yes.”
Father had told me before.
He’d said that the reason the first Merchant Lord named us the Eunhae Merchant Group was written in that record.
That it said, [If one remains within this empire alone, one can never become a true great merchant. Only by setting one’s sights on the wealth beyond the sea can one become a true great merchant.]
“There’s more written there. It says that if we ever find ourselves in trouble because of pirates, we should seek help from Shandong’s Yungang Man Clan.”
“What?”
“That record alone didn’t make the meaning clear. But after seeing the arrows the Clan Lord and his son carry, I think I understand a little. Were you planning to use their archery to stop pirates?”
“Yes. That’s right. Starting with the next voyage, or maybe the one after that, pirate attacks will probably begin. When that happens, I plan to stop them with an archer unit trained by them.”
Then I continued.
“It would be ideal if we had cannons, but gunpowder is tightly controlled by the empire. It’d be nice if we could get it, but considering the trouble that would come with it, building an archer unit is our best option.”
“But can archers alone really stop pirates?”
Father only said that because he didn’t know how powerful the Heaven-Shattering Bow was yet.
“Father. Wouldn’t there have been a reason the first Merchant Lord left that record?”
“That’s true, but…”
He still looked unconvinced.
Once you see it for yourself, you’ll think differently.
I returned to my annex.
After washing up and changing clothes, I went to see Grandfather.
“Grandfather, it’s Seo-ho.”
“Come in.”
When I carefully opened the door and stepped inside, I found Grandfather painting.
“You were painting. Oh? Plum blossoms?”
“I’ve grown rather fond of plum blossom paintings lately. More importantly, it’s been a while.”
“Yes. I’m sorry I haven’t come to see you more often.”
“Nonsense.”
Grandfather set down his brush and spoke.
“Does anyone not know how busy you are?”
“Hahaha.”
“By the way, I hear you came back with guests this time.”
As expected of Grandfather.
He may have retired, but he still kept eyes and ears on everything that happened in the merchant group.
“Yes, the Clan Lord of the Yungang Man Clan and his son have agreed to help me.”
“The Yungang Man Clan?”
“Yes.”
“Did you perhaps read that record passed down only to the Merchant Lord?”
Grandfather’s eyes narrowed. I quickly shook my head.
“I know that record exists, but I’ve never read it. That right belongs to Brother Jeong-ho, and I have no intention of stepping over his rights.”
“Then how did you know to bring them here?”
“I helped them this time, and through that, I learned how powerful their arrows are. So I thought an archer unit under their guidance would be a great asset, and I brought them with me.”
Grandfather silently studied me for a moment before speaking.
“Do you truly have no ambition to become Merchant Lord?”
“No. None.”
“Truly none?”
“None.”
Am I crazy? Why would I ever want to become Merchant Lord?
That is absolutely not for me.
My answer came without even a moment’s hesitation, and Grandfather slowly nodded, looking disappointed.
“And I spend every other day traveling across the empire as it is. I barely have time to stay at the main branch.”
Half of that was the Emperor’s fault, though.
“If someone like me became Merchant Lord, do you really think the merchant group would run properly?”
“Well… that’s true enough.”
Grandfather nodded to himself.
“Fine, I understand. You must be busy, so off you go.”
“Yes.”
I stepped out of Grandfather’s residence. But why did it feel like something was missing?
After thinking it over, I finally realized what it was.
Come to think of it, this time he hadn’t asked me when I was getting married.
Why not?
–TL Notes–
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