A Baby Cat Who Commands the Dog Clan - Chapter 39

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 39
“Yes! Because the Myo Water Trading Company has monopolized the iris trade….”
What followed was a tale as common as they come.
The Myo Water Trading Company used the drought as a pretext to steadily raise the price of irises supplied to the Weaving Workshop. Then one day, they abruptly announced they would supply no more irises.
“It turned out the Myo Water Trading Company had opened their own fabric shop. And now they’re producing and selling the exact same iris silk.”
“How could they!”
Mae Ran, the maidservant listening to Lady Hong’s account, exhaled a sorrowful sigh.
The Seamstress pursed her lips.
“But their silk is inferior to ours! They may monopolize the dyes, but they cannot steal an artisan’s skill.”
Knowing this, the Myo Water Trading Company extended their reach to the Weaving Workshop itself. They offered to double the wages of anyone who came under their employ. But the women who followed Lady Hong rejected the proposal.
Enraged, the Myo Water Trading Company began selling various fabrics, including iris silk, at half price.
It was their way of teaching these presumptuous women a lesson.
“This cannot continue.”
Worry settled across Lady Hong’s gaunt face.
“If only we could find a merchant guild willing to supply us with irises… then both the women of the Weaving Workshop and we could sustain ourselves.”
A merchant guild?
In that moment, a figure came to mind.
The proprietor of the largest merchant guild in Hefei.
* * *
Three days had passed since Lady Hong’s visit. The entrance to Chang Cheon Pavilion was in considerable commotion.
“Goodness, what brings the Elder to Chang Cheon Pavilion instead of the Patriarch’s Residence….”
“He’s been invited, invited.”
“If the Grand Patriarch learns of your unauthorized entry to Chang Cheon Pavilion, he’ll have you whipped.”
“I said I was invited! Out of my way!”
After a prolonged verbal scuffle, the guard at the door was finally pushed aside.
For the visitor was none other than Elder Nam Goong Mu Young.
Though his frame was wizened and bent, his bearing rivaled that of any great general—a formidable old man indeed.
Creak.
The door to Chang Cheon Pavilion’s reception hall swung wide open.
“I have arrived!”
Hong Seol sat with her mouth agape like a fledgling bird, staring blankly at him. A teacup she hadn’t finished drinking sat in her hand.
“You… Elder Nam Goong Mu Young?”
“Still the same, aren’t you, little one? Still as small as an acorn!”
“How did you come to be here?”
“How? Didn’t you send me a letter!”
The whirlwind of conversation left me utterly bewildered.
I set down my teacup and racked my mind, trying to recall what I had written in that letter.
Finally, as memory returned, I opened my eyes wide and spoke.
“I only asked you about merchant guilds.”
Nam Goong Mu Young cleared his throat with an awkward cough, feigning indifference.
Hong Seol’s cheeks flushed crimson.
“You rushed all the way here from the Branch Family Residence in one breath just to see me?”
“Hmm, w-well, I happened to have business at the Main Residence, business!”
Knowing that beneath his awkward words lay a warm heart, Hong Seol broke into a radiant smile.
“Welcome. Mae Ran, bring us some tea.”
At her mistress’s command, Mae Ran scurried away with practiced swiftness.
Witnessing this, Nam Goong Mu Young felt a subtle jolt of surprise.
‘She commands her servants with such authority. The little one has grown into quite the adult in my absence.’
Moments later, as Nam Goong Mu Young sipped his tea, he posed a question.
“Long ago, I gave you a letter through my secretary. Have you visited the place I wrote down in it?”
Hong Seol’s mind conjured the memory of that letter. It had instructed her to visit a small fortune-teller’s shop in the Back Alley of the Market District within the city.
‘He said that if I went there, I would meet a noble person.’
Indeed, Elder Nam Goong Mu Young’s own life had been transformed by that very place.
Yet Hong Seol lacked both the pretext and the courage to venture into the Market District alone.
“Ah, not yet…”
“Tsk. I told you to go already!”
“Eep.”
Hong Seol hunched her shoulders with an awkward expression. Nam Goong Mu Young’s face darkened with displeasure.
Yet even as he frowned, his gaze flickered toward her face—betraying that his displeasure was not entirely genuine.
“Your letter was well-received. In essence, you wish to prevent the Myo Water Trading Company from monopolizing the iris trade, yes?”
“Yes! Is there a way to do it?”
Hong Seol nodded eagerly as she posed the question.
At her response, Nam Goong Mu Young stroked his beard with satisfaction.
“Of course. I always have a way.”
“W-what is it?”
“Shall I teach you the righteous path, or the unrighteous path?”
A remark befitting his origins among the street rabble—one that would have shocked anyone who overheard it.
Yet Hong Seol merely laughed, a soft, amused sound.
‘What a delightful grandfather he is.’
However, having resolved to walk the path of righteousness and propriety, she could not employ unrighteous methods.
“Please teach me the righteous path!”
“It requires money.”
“M-money?”
Hong Seol tilted her head in puzzlement.
“Simply purchase all the iris gardens that the Myo Water Trading Company deals with. You cannot help the quantities already contracted, but thereafter, every iris shall be yours.”
“How much money would that require?”
“How much do you have?”
At his question, Hong Seol quietly began to tally what she possessed.
First, there were fifteen coins she kept in a pillowcase.
‘Nam Goong Soo O gave them to me later, telling me to buy pastries at the Market District.’
And several silk ribbons, along with a gold bracelet adorned with jade stones….
‘The bracelet won’t do! It’s a gift from Grandfather Nam Goong Ho.’
But if that was the case, I truly had no money.
Ah, what poverty truly meant.
Having never properly experienced the importance of money until now, I began to feel distressed.
I answered dejectedly.
“It doesn’t seem like I have enough to buy out the entire flower garden.”
“Then we’ll have no choice but to use Heuk’s methods.”
‘Oh no, Grandfather Nam Goong Ho always said I must consider righteousness and honor.’
But….
Beneath the table, my feet fidgeted nervously, invisible to others.
I was desperately anxious that the Weaving Workshop and Lady Hong’s Fabric Shop would collapse.
“That won’t work…but let me hear it first.”
“Good. Then we summon the heterodox Black Eagle Gang to set fire to the Myo Water Trading Company, and have the Ha O Gate—the information organization in the Back Alley—spread false rumors that the merchandise quality has deteriorated….”
“No!”
I clamped my mouth shut, my small teeth gritted, and shook my head vigorously.
“That absolutely won’t do.”
If I did that, I wouldn’t just fail to uphold righteousness and honor—I’d be dragged before the magistrate and face serious consequences!
“Tsk, so you’re another one of those righteous types after all.”
Nam Goong Mu Young spoke as though his interest had been dampened. Anyone listening would think he himself wasn’t righteous.
“In any case, breaking a monopoly is no simple matter. Moreover, the iris monopoly doesn’t violate imperial law.”
“I see….”
Sigh.
As I let out a small sigh, Nam Goong Mu Young glanced at me sideways.
The child with a dejected expression was fidgeting with my fingers beneath the table.
“I thought… if you were the Elder Judge, you could surely devise some method. After all, you have the largest merchant guild in Hefei….”
Perhaps I should ask Grandfather Nam Goong Ho instead.
At my barely audible words, Nam Goong Mu Young suddenly cleared his throat.
“Ahem, ahem. Well, it’s not entirely impossible.”
“Really? What is this method?”
“If rice is scarce, use barley; if barley is scarce, use millet—wouldn’t that work?”
At those words, my eyes sparkled with inspiration.
“You mean I should find something to substitute for the iris!”
“Precisely.”
Nam Goong Mu Young pulled up one corner of his mouth, regarding me with approval for having guessed correctly.
“So, what will the little merchant do now?”
“How do people usually do it?”
“They activate their own information network to find a substitute.”
As Nam Goong Mu Young said this, he glanced at me sideways.
Upon hearing the words “information network,” the child fell silent, my mouth clamped shut in thought.
‘There’s no way a child from outside would have another method.’
He was prepared to feign reluctance and agree if Hong Seol asked to use the Mu Young Merchant Guild’s intelligence network.
Using that as an excuse, he would enjoy several more pleasant tea sessions together.
Nam Goong Mu Young concealed his true intentions and studied the child’s expression.
Yet Hong Seol’s face appeared surprisingly bright.
And moments later.
Words that even Nam Goong Mu Young could not help but be astonished by tumbled from her lips.
“Then I’ll activate my own intelligence network!”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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