Abolition of the Wicked - Chapter 59

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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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#059

While Yeon Geum-hong hummed contentedly, Gang Seo Samak was meeting with three members of the Hyeolpung Saja.
“She just let you go?”
“Yes. O Tong-su only took a light blow to the stomach.”
“It hurt.”
“If Yeon Geum-hong hadn’t held back, you wouldn’t be hurting — you’d be lying in a bed or a coffin.”
Do Pyeong-su turned to Seo Seok-san as he spoke.
“Are you sure there’s nothing to it?”
Seo Seok-san shook his head firmly.
“There’s definitely something. If she’d broken any of their legs, I wouldn’t suspect another thing. But letting them go like that? That means she’s got plans. She doesn’t want to make this into a bigger mess. I was right all along.”
“You mean… you sent us knowing she’d find out?”
“Of course. Did you really think you could fool Yeon Geum-hong? We’re not idiots.”
“But what if our legs had gotten broken…”
“Jang Man-dok would’ve set them right.”
Gang Seo Samak could only sigh.
He left the three men to their anxiety, fretting over whatever Yeon Geum-hong was plotting.
“When whales fight, the shrimp’s back gets crushed. That’s us.”
“Tell me about it. Though if there really is something going on and we find out, maybe she’ll show us some favor.”
Gang Seo Samak, now in his mid-fifties, was desperately in need of such favor.
“Should we look into it?”
At Go Seo-bang’s suggestion, O Tong-su spoke up with worry.
“If Yeon Geum-hong catches us again, she’ll really break our legs this time.”
“We’ll use the hired hands instead. We all live in the same estate — we can’t fool everyone perfectly, can we?”
Gal Ma-pyeong waved his hand in protest.
“There’s no need to go that far. If we anger Yeon Geum-hong, we lose. Better to stay still — that way we at least break even. Haven’t you heard the old sage’s wisdom?”
Go Seo-bang asked quietly.
“Do you really want to keep calling Se-hwa your junior?”
Because they’d been together so long, Gang Seo Samak didn’t much care about the hierarchy of senior and junior, but Se-hwa was another matter entirely.
“Maybe this is our chance to stop calling Se-hwa our junior.”
“How?”
“I don’t know. But we have to grab every thread we can. We can’t stay Se-hwa’s disciples forever!”
So in the end, they decided to keep digging into Yeon Geum-hong’s affairs.
Of course, they moved carefully, keeping their activities to the bare minimum to avoid discovery.
They casually asked the hired hands about her, and whenever they actually encountered Yeon Geum-hong, they deliberately stayed away.
“Where’s Jang Man-dok off to now? He’s been disappearing constantly these days!”
The one complaining as he arrived was Gong Seong-tak.
Gong Seong-tak’s position at Oseong Jang-won was ambiguous to define.
Though he wasn’t their master, he was teaching Geom U-bin martial arts, so Gang Seo Samak treated him as an honored guest with proper courtesy.
Fortunately, Gong Seong-tak was not a man without manners, and he observed the proper etiquette.
“Lord Gong, what troubles you so?” Go Seo-bang asked.
Gong Seong-tak complained bitterly.
“I’m building a smithy, and Se-hwa keeps taking away my workers.”
“Taking your workers? For what purpose?”
“I have no idea. Whatever she’s making them do, she takes one of them to her quarters for one double hour every day.”
“What? That means… possibly…”
When a woman called a man to her private quarters for a double hour at a time, the first thought that sprang to mind was unavoidable.
“Why that look on your face? No, no! He’s nearly seventy years old!”
The thought of unusual tastes quickly transformed into an exclamation of understanding.
‘I should have been watching Se-hwa instead of Yeon Geum-hong!’
If Yeon Geum-hong really was plotting something, Se-hwa could very well have her fingers in it.
“It’s probably nothing,” Go Seo-bang said aloud.
But he decided he would look into it on his own before telling anyone else.
If it turned out to be nothing, he’d only earn ridicule for making a fuss over nothing.

***

Geom U-bin could feel the tension permeating Oseong Jang-won with perfect clarity these days.
Without even looking closely, it was obvious that a confrontation between Yeon Geum-hong and her three disciples was the cause.
From Geom U-bin’s perspective, they’d already destroyed three buildings over what wasn’t even a serious matter, all because of petty squabbling.
But this time, the atmosphere seemed considerably more grave. For that reason, Geom U-bin called the Hyeolpung Saja together.
“What’s been going on lately?”
“What? Nothing at all, sir.”
Yeon Geum-hong spoke with perfect composure, but the other three contradicted her in unison.
“Geum-hong is plotting something.”
“Me? What could I possibly be plotting?”
“We don’t know what it is, but it’s certainly nothing good.”
At Seo Seok-san’s words, Yeon Geum-hong let out a derisive laugh.
“So you’re accusing me of something you don’t even know about?”
Do Pyeong-su spoke up.
“That’s exactly why it’s so irritating—because we don’t know what it is.”
Jang Man-dok nodded in agreement.
“What a procession of fools. With nothing else to criticize, you’ve moved on to criticizing things you don’t even understand.”
Even to Geom U-bin’s ear, the three’s reactions made no sense. Yet he knew from experience that the Hyeolpung Saja’s instincts were precise.
“Please, don’t fight over nothing. You four are making me so nervous these days that it’s interfering with my cultivation practice.”
When Geom U-bin invoked cultivation-disruption as a justification, the Hyeolpung Saja startled.
“If it’s disrupting your cultivation, that’s absolutely unacceptable. We’ll be more careful from now on!”
“We’ll make sure not to bother you at all!”
At Do Pyeong-su’s and Seo Seok-san’s pledges, it was Yeon Geum-hong who smiled inwardly. But her belief that she’d removed an obstacle proved premature.
“Se-hwa?”
“Yes. I’m not sure what construction was happening, but I heard a carpenter working in the room next to Se-hwa’s. The door was locked tight, so I couldn’t confirm it… but surely you’d have a way, wouldn’t you, Master?”
Sneaking about didn’t suit Seo Seok-san, but because it involved Yeon Geum-hong, he could move like a mouse if necessary.
Seo Seok-san climbed onto the roof, removed some tiles, and cut a small hole through the ceiling of the room where Go Seo-bang had directed him.
“That—that’s it!”
Ten pottery jars arranged in neat rows—it was unmistakably a brewery.
“Why in the world is she building a brewery in a room?”
It took only a quarter hour to piece together the answer.
“The deceitful little wretch!”
She’d secretly constructed a brewery to produce ten more jars of Women’s Liquor, all in service of winning her wager with the three disciples. The thought made his teeth chatter.
As Seo Seok-san turned to go tell Jang Man-dok and Do Pyeong-su the truth, he stopped short.
“Wait. This is actually brilliant.”
Accepting a brief moment of dishonor in exchange for hearing “senior brother” from three people for the rest of his life—that was far too good a deal to pass up.
Instead of telling Jang Man-dok and Do Pyeong-su, Seo Seok-san sought out Go Seo-bang.
“What? You want to build a brewery to secretly make twenty jars of Poongryu Liquor?”
“That’s right. Do you know of a suitable location?”
“There’s plenty of empty space in the estate.”
“It has to be somewhere so hidden that the workers will never find it, and you need to be able to move in and out freely. Like Se-hwa’s adjacent room.”
“Then my adjacent room would be perfect. It faces north with decent ventilation.”
“Can you build the brewery in secret?”
“I’ll handle the work myself without hiring laborers. I won’t do anything careless that would give us away like what happened with Se-hwa.”
And so a new brewery began to take shape in the room next to Go Seo-bang’s as well.
It was a strange atmosphere where peace and tension coexisted.
“What’s got you in such a good mood? Why do you keep grinning like that? Especially whenever you see me?”
At Yeon Geum-hong’s question, Seo Seok-san put on a serious expression.
“When did I ever grin? Hmph. I was just wondering if the liquor in the brewery is aging well. Our brew should finish before the Oseong Pavilion is complete, don’t you think?”
Yeon Geum-hong was bothered by Seo Seok-san’s repeated talk of liquor.
‘Does he suspect something?’
But if he’d figured it out, he’d throw a punch first—not stand around grinning like that.
“Seok-san, don’t you want to know what Geum-hong’s scheming?”
At Do Pyeong-su’s question, Seo Seok-san’s expression turned serious.
“Is she planning to interfere with your cultivation practice?”
“No, it’s not that exactly, but I have a feeling we’re about to get blindsided.”
“How bad could it be? Just forget about it.”
Do Pyeong-su and Jang Man-dok found Seo Seok-san’s easy dismissal suspicious.
“Seok-san doesn’t give up on things easily. That’s just not who he is.”
Do Pyeong-su saw through Jang Man-dok’s expression. And he’d also noticed that Go Seo-bang had been skipping cultivation practice frequently over the past few days.
So he summoned Gal Ma-pyeong, his personal attendant.
“Keep a close eye on Go Seo-bang.”
“Pardon? Why watch him?”
“He and Seo Seok-san seem to be plotting something together.”
Monitoring Go Seo-bang rather than Seo Seok-san directly made the task far simpler.
Four days later, Gal Ma-pyeong brought astonishing news.
“He’s built something like a brewery in the room next to his. There must be twenty pottery jars in there.”
“A brewery? What for?”
“I haven’t the faintest idea. Should I ask him?”
“No—play ignorant for now.”
From that moment, Do Pyeong-su’s mind churned relentlessly.
‘Why build a brewery? If he wanted to produce more Saegiuju, he could just expand the existing one. Is he skimming money on the side?’
But indifference to profit was a rare trait shared by the Hyeolpung Saja.
‘It’s not like he’s hoarding it to drink in secret, and selling more Saegiuju won’t….’
The thought struck him like a bucket of ice water.
If only the Poongryu Liquor sold in volume—not all the Saegiuju—then Seo Seok-san would reap an unexpected harvest.
The wager had been struck long ago, and he’d never imagined such deception; the answer didn’t come to him at first.
‘That bastard Seo Seok-san! He’s trying to become the Master!’
Since the wager hinged on absolute sales volume, making more meant selling more—it was inevitable.
‘Wait. Could Yeon Geum-hong be doing the same thing?’
Do Pyeong-su had been hunting for Yeon Geum-hong’s schemes with blazing eyes when, all at once, he went slack like a satisfied cat.
‘She’s producing more Women’s Liquor. And he’s planning to make far more Poongryu Liquor!’
The pieces of the puzzle fell perfectly into place. A smile bloomed unbidden at the corners of his mouth.
If Yeon Geum-hong and Seo Seok-san were playing this game, then he’d meet them in kind. Better yet, they wouldn’t dare cry foul later—this was a heaven-sent opportunity.
The only question was how to avoid detection.
Do Pyeong-su admitted it freely: Yeon Geum-hong and Seo Seok-san were cleverer than he was. They’d been caught red-handed themselves, and now he had to fool them both, plus Jang Man-dok.
To stay hidden, all he had to do was move in the opposite direction from them.
The fewer people who knew, the better—so Do Pyeong-su decided to act alone.
He had to avoid the foolishness of building a brewery inside the estate and getting caught.
‘Is there a good spot outside?’
Do Pyeong-su scouted the immediate area and found a suitable clearing halfway up a nearby mountain.
Felling trees and building a rough hut to serve as a brewery was no great difficulty.
In a single day of hammering and construction, Do Pyeong-su had his brewery ready. Now he headed into town to buy pottery jars.
Judging from Seo Seok-san’s twenty jars of Poongryu Liquor, Yeon Geum-hong must be making less.
To be safe, he decided to buy fifty jars. Only when Do Pyeong-su asked the potter’s owner “How much?” did he realize he didn’t have a single coin to his name.
Money—he’d never imagined running into trouble over money again.
“Could I arrange credit?”
“In thirty years of selling pots, you’re the first customer to ask for credit on a first purchase.”
As despair settled over Do Pyeong-su, someone bowed deeply before him.
“What brings Ho Yeom-seon to the marketplace?”
Among the Hangju Four, Do Pyeong-su bore the epithet Ho Yeom-seon. The potter’s owner was startled to hear it.
“Goodness! You’re Ho Yeom-seon, one of the Hangju Four! I didn’t recognize you—these eyes of mine are worthless. Shall I have them delivered to Oseong Jang-won?”
Indeed, reputation was everything.
“No need—just load them on a cart. I’ll haul them myself.”
Do Pyeong-su walked away lightly, pulling the cart behind him. And he completely forgot that he’d left the jars on credit.
Do Pyeong-su believed the potter’s owner had given him the jars for free.

“Master Do.”
O Tong-su called out as he chewed his rice. Do Pyeong-su answered while picking up a bundle sprouts with his chopsticks.
“Mm?”
“When I went into town today, the pottery shop owner asked when you’d be paying for the jars on credit. Why did you buy fifty pottery jars?”
In that instant, Do Pyeong-su’s chopsticks froze—and so did those of Yeon Geum-hong and Seo Seok-san, who were dining alongside him.

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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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