Emperor Namgung Mu of the Thousand Years - Chapter 93

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#093

She was a young woman with striking elaborate makeup.

The high-quality jade hairpin holding up her styled hair was impressive.

She looked at the empty seats on the second floor, excluding us, and laughed as if incredulous.

Then she shouted toward the first floor.

“Look at this. There are plenty of seats. Yet you dare to block me?”

The server’s voice could be heard urgently.

“Ah, that… that’s! This is a space only for those who made prior arrangements or gave advance notice…! Ack!”

-Crash!

A small explosion sound came from the first floor.

“Tsk tsk tsk, we must have gotten too lenient lately, even inn servers are talking back to us.”

Soon five burly bodyguards followed her up the stairs.

The woman looked at us sitting by the window in one corner of the inn and frowned.

Then she looked at the larger window area next to us and curled up the corners of her mouth. She shot venomous words toward the bottom of the stairs.

“Server!!”

There was a clattering sound, then the server came running up from the first floor in shock.

“Yes, yes! Customer! I’m here!”

The server’s clothes around the collar were torn and his lips were split.

“Over there.”

The woman pointed toward the second floor railing with her fan. It was precisely the entire rectangular window area, excluding the small window where we were sitting.

“There. Move all three tables together to that spot. I’ll sit there.”

“H-however, if you do that, there’s someone coming for dinner later, and it would seriously affect the evening business-.”

“What?”

The woman’s eyes grew fierce.

The woman stepped closer and lifted the server’s chin with her fan.

“Don’t you know whose attention you need to pay in this alley? Should I remind you what kind of place the Chen Family is in this alley?”

The server trembled and bowed his head.

“N-no!”

“Hmph, pathetic vermin.”

The woman snorted and withdrew her fan.

I looked at Guk and muttered quietly.

“Are there other families besides our Namgung in this Anhui region?”

“How could there be.”

“Then what about those people’s words?”

Guk moistened his lips.

“If my guess is correct, they don’t mean the kind of general family we commonly think of. As far as I know, the Chen Family is even more impossible to exist now. But…”

Guk’s face answering was full of confusion.

“This doesn’t make sense either.”

That’s when it happened.

“Yoehwa, is there some problem?”

A man approached the woman’s side and put his hand around her slender waist.

“Or is this server giving you trouble?”

The woman twisted her body with a coquettish laugh.

“My lord, you’ve come.”

“Yes. I was worried someone might have done something bad to our beautiful cat, so I rushed over.”

His temples were prominent, and his mouth was covered with thick whiskers. A sword with ornate decorations hung at his waist.

Most impressive of all was the massive belt adorned with gold and jade.

Guk’s complexion hardened.

“…That person…is.”

“Can you identify him?”

Guk lowered his voice.

“I was half-doubtful, but seeing that person makes it certain. That man is Seok Mudo, the Chaejoo of Yaxiang Guild. Then the woman next to him must certainly be the infamous Yoehwa.”

“…Yaxiang Guild? But they said Chen Family.”

“The Chen Family was a minor family that declined and perished over ten years ago. Those people are certainly impersonating the Chen Family. Sometimes, there are cases where they buy the name plaques and genealogies of destroyed families with massive funds to change their identity, and I think that’s what this is.”

“Even for a minor family, it would be difficult to buy that name value without considerable wealth. What kind of group is Yaxiang Guild that they could mobilize such funds?”

Guk took a deep breath.

“Essentially Black Dao. They’re involved in illegal liquor and cargo transport, and I heard they’ve recently expanded into brothels. That woman would be the proprietress and real power, while that Chaejoo handles the force.”

“…Then does that make even less sense?”

If I were an ordinary young master of the Namgung Family who knew nothing about the ways of this world, I might have answered his words differently.

Something like, how dare Black Dao operate in Anhui, which is Namgung territory.

Or how dare mere Black Dao buy another family’s name with money and act so brazenly.

But I wasn’t like that.

I knew the ways of this world better than anyone.

I wasn’t someone who knew it superficially, but someone who had lived by melting into and adapting to this cycle.

“In Anhui, Namgung’s territory of Jeongpa, Black Dao groups are strutting around in broad daylight and openly threatening civilians, even though they bought a legitimate name? Regardless of whether they exist or not, that would be an absolute taboo they’d never break, even for their own organization’s sake?”

“That’s exactly why I said I don’t understand it. Unless they’re given justification that forces them to move, even if Black Dao parasitically exists in the shadows of one of the many alleys and villages in Anhui like this, Namgung would have no particular reason to launch a subjugation.”

I agree with that.

But the question is that they’re blatantly violating that in the heart of Anhui.

Buying the name value of the Chen Family might satisfy their vanity, but it can be interpreted differently too.

Usually such behavior is also to create an escape route for those above.

All of this pointed to one thing.

‘…Namgung, and one of the core members at that, is protecting them.’

“…Oh my. What’s this.”

Yoehwa furrowed her brows.

The woman looked closely at our table.

Especially at me, continuing my meal calmly, scanning me from top to bottom.

“My lord, look at that face.”

“What about it?”

“He’s really ugly, isn’t he.”

My chopsticks slowed slightly, then moved again.

The woman went further, grabbing the Chaejoo’s arm and acting coquettish.

“My lord! Look at those people. I’m already having trouble with the courtesans at our brothel not listening to me lately, and even if they received bundles of silver, our courtesans would find serving drinks to them distressing.”

-Crack…

Guk’s eyes became bloodshot.

The sound of grinding teeth could be heard.

“If you’re not prepared to see it through to the end, you shouldn’t move in the first place.”

I spoke quietly.

“I’ve heard this kind of talk my whole life. It doesn’t bother me at all.”

Guk raised his head.

“I know better than anyone that you’re not okay with it.”

“When I was born, I later heard that the midwife who delivered me retched when she saw me. Compared to those words, this is nothing. While we should definitely respond to intolerable rocks blocking our path, we must ignore and walk past the tiny pebbles even if they trip us every time. That’s the only way to move forward.”

I spoke calmly.

“If we move, then to the very roots. But if not, don’t touch it in the first place. Otherwise we can’t advance.”

Guk maintained a brief silence.

After that, he muttered quietly as if chewing the words.

“…That midwife must have been blind. And you don’t look like that at all now. You’ll get even better.”

Guk buried his head and pushed food into his mouth.

Yoehwa turned her head away, seemingly losing interest in our response.

“Ugh, what’s this? You guys talk among yourselves and then it gets all boring… No fun.”

Seokmode burst into loud laughter.

“Haha, our generous beauty should look upon this kindly. Especially today, when we’ve made quite a haul, haven’t we?”

He sat down at the table that had been fully set in the meantime, spreading both arms wide.

“Come now, don’t worry about useless things and let’s eat. You all come and eat too!”

“Thank you, Chaejoo!”

The Five Guards also sat at the table, grabbing food with their five fingers like starving animals.

Yoehwa smiled contentedly as she stuffed dried tobacco into her long pipe.

“Oh my, my men. How well and heartily you eat. My husband and you all must eat well and protect me for the Jin Family to grow. Understood?”

“Don’t worry, sister! Speaking of which, the Jin Family! What a wonderful name. To think we’re a noble family… Haha! We should start formally accepting disciples soon, shouldn’t we?”

The Five Guards burst into laughter.

Yoehwa took a puff from her pipe and spoke along with white smoke.

“By the way, I clearly told this bastard to drop everything he was doing and come, so why isn’t he… Ah.”

Scattering white smoke into the night sky, Yoehwa said.

“There he comes now. That useless old fool.”

Shortly after, a middle-aged man came rushing up to the second floor.

“Yo, Yoehwa miss! Chaejoo!”

His face was deeply wrinkled, and his hands were rough with calluses.

They were the hands of someone who had lived a lifetime of hard labor.

He approached while repeatedly bowing.

“I’m sorry, sorry for being late!”

The woman covered her face with her fan and chuckled.

“Oh Haengsu. You must be busy running the trading company these days? Are you busy?”

“No, no! Absolutely not that…”

“Then why are you late?”

“I’m, I’m sorry… The goods that Yoehwa miss suddenly asked me to transport this dawn were too heavy, and the porters all ran away from the rushed schedule, so I had to finish everything alone…”

Yoehwa’s brow furrowed.

“Is that an excuse? You useless old fool, when we give you work, you should be grateful and work yourself to death.”

Yoehwa snapped her fan shut.

“Oh Haengsu. You seem to be mistaken – do you think we entrust goods to you because you’re good at it? Are you getting slow because you’re old now, not as quick as before?”

“No… no… that’s not…”

Oh Haengsu’s wrinkled face turned pale. In his hands was a towel stained with blood and dirt.

His palms were completely raw from handling the sudden workload alone since the cold spring dawn.

“The reason we use you is because you’re cheap, because you do exactly what we tell you to do. That’s all. You’re a disposable item that can be replaced anytime. We don’t care that you’re struggling to save your tiny trading company and support your family.”

Oh Haengsu fell to his knees.

“Please forgive me just this once! I’ll make sure this never happens again. I’ll, I’ll run even harder…!”

“Never again?”

The woman laughed.

“Oh Haengsu, how many times have you said that? You said the same thing last month, and the month before that.”

“That, that’s…”

“Don’t make excuses. This won’t do. I’ll consider other options for transporting this cargo.”

The man’s face turned blue.

“Yoehwa! I was wrong…!”

Chaejoo intervened.

“Oh Haengsu. My wife is very angry. Even I think you went too far this time.”

“Chae, Chaejoo…”

Chaejoo picked up a plate of meat from the table.

“How many children does Oh Haengsu have?”

The middle-aged man’s face turned pale.

“…Three.”

“Three? Ah, that’s right. Three daughters. It must be hard for a father alone to feed all four including his wife.”

“…”

“But what if our business relationship ends because you act like this? Who else in this alley would take your trading company’s goods besides us?”

The middle-aged man’s lips trembled.

“Chae, Chaejoo… Please…”

“Please? Do pleas work in this business? You need to show sincerity.”

Chaejoo picked up a piece of meat. Then he dropped it on the floor.

“If you think of your children.”

The corner of his mouth twisted.

“Lick this up. Then I’ll accept your apology.”

The inn became silent as a tomb.

“Won’t you do it?”

Chaejoo said.

“Don’t you treasure your daughters? Your family? This is failing as a father.”

Tears welled up in the middle-aged man’s eyes. His hands trembled violently. But he slowly began to lower his head toward the floor.

His knees touched the ground.

His hand reached toward the meat on the floor.

The woman giggled.

“Oh my, is he really going to do it? Look at that, husband. He’s really a dog. A real dog. Not even manly. I would have died first.”

Chaejoo cackled.

“Right. A man with no pride, wait, this makes me look like the bad guy. Ah, this won’t do.”

He pulled out several iron coins from his pocket and threw them in front of the middle-aged man.

“Here. Here’s the money you treasure so much. You have to feed your family, right? Pick these up while you eat the meat.”

The iron coins scattered across the floor with a clatter.

Then he spun his palm in circles, stroking the man’s head.

“If you don’t pick them up, even if you eat the meat, I’ll consider it insincere, won’t I? You wouldn’t want to ignore my sincerity, would you?”

The middle-aged man’s shoulders shook.

He seemed to be crying.

“I… understand.”

“Good. Reality is harsh.”

Chaejoo said.

“Does pride feed you? Right?”

The man’s lips moved slightly. He seemed to be muttering something silently. It might have been his children’s names. It might have been his family’s names.

“Ugh… ugh…”

His wrinkled hand trembled as it reached toward the iron coins.

“Though pride may not feed you.”

And even before that,

My hand picked up one of the iron coins from the floor.

“…?”

Everyone’s gaze turned to me.

I slowly stood up.

“The dignity based on it does help you move forward even in a hellish life.”

“…Who are you.”

The guards murmured.

I spoke briefly to the man at my feet.

“Don’t eat the meat. If you do, I’ll really get angry.”

And I looked at the group in front of me and said calmly.

“I heard you also run a cargo transport business on the side. Can I commission some work too?”

“What the hell is this bastard!”

The Five Guards and Chaejoo simultaneously kicked back their chairs and stood up.

Yoehwa frowned and said.

“What’s this now? The guy who was sitting there scared earlier… Do you want to become half-crippled by our master?”

“Half-crippled?”

I held an iron coin between my fingers.

The iron coin folded in half.

The sound of metal crumpling like paper echoed throughout the entire inn.

Chaejoo laughed as if it was pathetic.

“Where are you showing off your strength? Folding one iron coin and now trying to intimidate us-.”

I gripped that half-folded iron coin again.

-Creak… creeak.

The folded iron coin begins to fold once more again.

“…!”

Everyone falls silent.

Chaejoo’s face turns deathly pale.

“Folding what’s already folded… once more?”

The iron coin now becomes a crushed lump of metal, its original circular shape unrecognizable.

I tossed the twice-folded iron coin, no, now a small clump of metal, in front of Chaejoo.

“There, I’ve paid the cargo transport fee. Since payment’s already made, refusal is impossible.”

“Transport fee…?”

“The items to be commissioned are simple.”

I spoke calmly with red light gleaming in both eyes.

“Six half-corpses with broken limbs. The destination is in front of your main residence.”

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