I Prayed for a Murim Reincarnation, But I Was Born as the Youngest Imperial Prince - 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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Since this was the front yard of the Namgung Clan, it was awkward to go look for an inn or somewhere similar to enter.
Therefore, Seonwu just took the man and moved to a suitable empty lot.
And although it was not as efficient as Jun’s formations, he deployed an energy barrier to block the sound.
“If you act like that in front of the Namgung Clan, you could truly suffer a great misfortune, so what on earth is your grievance?”
“That is…”
“Well, go ahead and vent your frustrations. I might not be of great help, but still, who knows? There might be something I can do to offer even a small amount of assistance.”
“Sigh… I am a merchant who came to supply silk to Namgung.”
Perhaps because his heart was stifled, the man finally opened his mouth, needing someone to pour his heart out to.
And the story he laid out was one Seonwu had seen many times somewhere before.
The man was a large-scale sericulture businessman who produced and supplied silk.
However, the Namgung Clan had offered to pay a better price than the place he had been supplying to until then.
And for a larger quantity, at that.
Instead, he had to bring it all the way to the Namgung Clan, which was a bit farther than his original supply destination, but that was something he could do by paying a fee to an escort agency.
So, he eagerly snapped up the contract.
Without knowing what kind of trap lay within it…
“What kind of trap was there?”
“Sigh, silk has grades too. The price is divided according to that grade. But they completely slashed the grade of all my silk.”
“Aha.”
If so, it was not a better price.
“And then?”
“They didn’t even give me that slashed price in silver taels, but in drafts.”
“Drafts?”
“Yes, it was a draft where I could only receive the money a year later.”
“…Really?”
‘The more I hear this, the more it crosses the line.’
Of course, it might not be true.
He also had to leave open the possibility that this man was slandering them.
Verification of the truth would have to be gone through.
However…
‘Is this for real?’
Of course, giving the payment as a draft, and a draft with a considerably long maturity at that, was a method that existed even in modernized Republic of Korea, so there was no law saying it couldn’t exist in this era.
‘The interest rate in this era must be much higher than in Republic of Korea.’
Yet a year?
Wasn’t that virtually slashing the price twice?
‘Is this a true story?’
He had not gone through the truth verification yet.
But come to think of it, the Namgung Clan was the one that had taken his own Horn of Qingjuebiao as if it were a matter of course.
Wouldn’t something like this be fully possible?
“So I pleaded that if I receive the money a year later, I will go bankrupt, and that I don’t have the financial leeway like other places, and then they said I could cash it out at Namgung’s martial bank.”
“And so?”
“When I went there, goodness, they said they would deduct as much as twenty percent as advance interest.”
‘Wow, what on earth?’
The more he listened, the dizzier he got.
If there were a company doing business like this in Republic of Korea… if there were…
Would nothing happen to them?
‘It wouldn’t be up to twenty percent a year, but there seemed to be companies doing something similar?’
And nothing happened to them.
The difference in numbers is just a gap between eras.
The method is exactly the same.
“What about other martial banks?”
“Sigh, as soon as the other martial banks saw that it was a draft issued by the Namgung Clan, they shook their hands. They said they wouldn’t dare handle a draft from the Namgung Clan themselves.”
“Ah.”
So that’s roughly how it is.
Now, it’s one of two things here.
One, this man is fearlessly lying and slandering the Namgung Clan.
Two, the Namgung Clan is truly relying on their power and managing things this way.
“You probably haven’t tried filing a lawsuit with the state.”
“Oh my, how close the government officials and the Namgung Clan are… if I did that, I would suffer an even greater misfortune.”
“Still, aren’t you going to ruin at this rate anyway?”
“Sigh, even so, I can’t put my life on the line, so…”
“Your grievance needs to be resolved somehow.”
“I was naive. Only after things turned out like this did I look around, and it turns out I’m not the only one who traded with the Namgung Clan at an ambiguous level and went bankrupt, making a profit on the surface but losing money in the end.”
“I see…”
Indeed, it didn’t seem like the Namgung Clan would recklessly issue one-year drafts in transactions with other Five Great Clans.
But against these small and medium merchants?
“What are you going to do now?”
“What else can I do. I have to take even the remaining money after the twenty percent deduction. Sigh, if only a disease hadn’t broken out in my workplace and killed the silkworms in large numbers, I wouldn’t have gone bankrupt even with the twenty percent deduction.”
Seonwu roughly formed a picture in his mind.
The Namgung Clan committed tyranny.
They degraded the quality of the goods and gave the payment in one-year drafts.
However, since those who supply also originally have their own share of profit left, usually the other party doesn’t go bankrupt even if slashed like this.
A level where just a very little bit is left.
They only slash to about that extent.
As an orthodox faction, having people hang themselves in succession while trading with Namgung would also be a burden, after all.
But in this man’s case, an unfortunate accident happened to overlap.
Even so, Namgung didn’t take individual circumstances into account and applied a uniform standard, which caused the man to go bankrupt.
“Hang in there.”
“Thank you, even if it’s just words.”
The man gave up and walked away.
But Seonwu did not give up.
“Absolute Shadow.”
“Yes.”
“I want to verify the authenticity of this fact, see how frequent this kind of transaction is, and check if this is Namgung’s standard method of transaction, so who would be good to assign to the investigation?”
“We need to call some people from the Golden Dragon Guard. Since it’s Namgung, they are too big to touch lightly.”
“That’s true, right? It would be difficult for a County Magistrate, let alone a Prefect, right?”
“Yes, and the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner must also have a lot of favors habitually exchanged with the Namgung Clan.”
Seonwu nodded his head.
“Then call them. Rather than doing it in a hurry, I want to do it accurately.”
Although he had plenty of suspicion due to the case of the Qingjuebiao, he wouldn’t confirm it with prejudice just yet.
Here, Absolute Shadow made one more suggestion with a slight personal motive.
“Furthermore, wouldn’t the people of the Zhuge Clan know something about Namgung, who is also one of the Five Great Clans? Though it is uncertain whether they will tell the truth.”
“Ah, indeed. There’s nothing to lose, so shall I ask him?”
The corner of Absolute Shadow’s mouth twitched very slightly.
‘There is no way that Zhuge Clan fellow will tell the truth to His Highness.’
They talk about soulmates and close friends, but telling the dirty secrets of another of the Five Great Clans is akin to telling the secrets of one’s own clan.
Since they themselves have guilty consciences, birds of a feather flock together, and they will cover up the actions of the same clan.
‘Since he doesn’t know my liege is King Wuryong, he will surely give a vague excuse.’
That lie will be exposed before long.
And how long can friendship last once trust disappears?
Removing a treacherous official from my liege’s side.
That is also something to do as a guard.
Of course, this was not a conspiracy or anything.
If that fellow Zhuge Jun is truly a close friend of His Highness, he ought to tell the truth.
Therefore, this is merely a test.
Rather, if he tells the truth as it is this time, His Highness’s trust in that guy will deepen.
He had given the opportunity as well.
Whether to seize it or miss it is that guy’s choice.
* * *
Jun was in a good mood because he had finished repairing the formation and concluded the big task.
‘All that’s left is to get permission from the clan to roam the Jianghu with Seonwu instead of returning to the clan…’
Thanks to Absolute Shadow showing excellent martial prowess, the difficulty of this persuasion also dropped significantly.
If he said he wanted to broaden his horizons while moving together, the clan wouldn’t necessarily oppose it either.
‘My other older brothers who are competing for the succession will probably shout for joy.’
His father might try to stop him, calling it a foolish act, but he possessed an absolute card that would shut that mouth.
What would his father do if he said it was the will of ‘His Highness King Wuryong’?
The clan leader permits it, his older brothers like it, so even if other elders express concern, there is no way they will oppose it to the end.
‘The big task here is finished.’
Fortunately, the major incident of the martial sparring between Absolute Shadow and Namgung was also smoothly settled.
He wanted to praise himself.
Now, let’s leave quickly.
‘I should tell Seonwu to leave tomorrow, even.’
And his happy mood did not last even for a short while.
“You have something to ask me?”
“Yeah, let’s just talk for a moment between the two of us, friend.”
Seonwu and Jun created a space for just the two of them, and Absolute Shadow waited outside.
‘Will that Zhuge Clan fellow really tell the truth to His Highness?’
If he truly does so… he would have to acknowledge him a little bit.
That burning gaze of his bore a resemblance to the gaze of a wolfdog staring at a master who left him alone and only stroked a cat.
* * *
Zhuge Jun, who had set up a formation, asked.
“What’s the matter?”
“Does Namgung use one-year drafts when paying easy supply merchants?”
“…Uh?”
What kind of question is this all of a sudden.
Jun felt dizzy for a moment.
‘Why this question now?’
And his good brain, unfortunately, automatically associated various things in a row despite it being a question with the context entirely omitted.
“You don’t know either?”
Jun swallowed his saliva.
“Th-That, uh. I mean…”
“If it’s difficult to answer, you don’t have to. Come to think of it, you’re also from the Zhuge Clan.”
“Wait… Just a moment. Give me some time to organize my mind.”
“All right.”
Jun gulped down his tea.
And in the meantime, he figured out the context.
‘This guy must have accidentally seen some weak merchant or supplier who traded with the Namgung Clan getting into trouble.’
And that unique chivalrous spirit of his was activated.
In his past life, it was just a complaint, but in this life, he is full of executive power.
“…First of all, we are three months. No matter how long it is, we don’t issue them for more than three months.”
Jun declared that first above all.
“Oh, that’s short?”
“Among the Five Great Clans, we are the shortest.”
Jun wondered what would have happened to them if they were also a year.
He didn’t dare to ask, though.
Actually, it was originally six months.
However, Jun, who was born with the sensibility of a modern person, felt a bit iffy about a six-month draft too.
Of course, since there were plenty of bosses among modern people who issued them for six months just fine, it was ambiguous whether it was truly because he was a ‘modern person’.
It was just like that with the sensibility of ‘Lee Jun’.
So, he moved the public opinion within the clan and reduced six months to three months.
For that, he put on a ‘pleading show’ to the elders.
‘I used our ancestor.’
Here, the ancestor meant Zhuge Liang.
Even though he was a man who held absolute power as the Chancellor of the Han Dynasty, the Zhuge Clan, which inherited the will of their truly frugal ancestor, was on the side whose clan style cared a lot about the public sentiment among the Five Great Clans.
However, since the standard of caring was at the level of this era, unlike ‘Lee Jun’, about six months was the perception within the clan.
Selling Confucius, Mencius, and Zhuge Liang to reduce it to three months was just last year…
There were those who spat out complaints, saying that others do it longer, but he persuaded them somehow that looking at the big picture, gaining public sentiment was better.
Who knew that would come back around like this here?
‘Am I also a divine calculator?’
In the world of his past life, Zhuge Liang and he were unrelated, but perhaps Zhuge Liang of this world whispered to him, his descendant?
“The rest?”
“I know that Namgung issues up to one year depending on who they are dealing with, and usually it’s about six months?”
“In other words, Namgung is the longest among the five?”
“Right?”
Seonwu nodded his head.
Zhuge Jun broke into a slight cold sweat even though it wasn’t his business.
‘I thought only receiving the balance and leaving was left.’
Do I have to look on and witness the Namgung Clan being turned upside down in real-time before leaving?
Seonwu’s friend Lee Jun couldn’t care less.
But Zhuge Jun, who was reincarnated into the Zhuge Clan, found it hard to think of seeing another of the Five Great Clans receive the iron hammer of the Imperial Court as just a fire across the river.
“Oho, indeed they are the leader of the Five Great Clans. Not only are they strong, but they are longer than others.”
If this were dirty talk, it would rather be a pride as a man.
But if those were words that came out when the youngest prince, who was angry at the tyranny against the people’s livelihood and received the emperor’s favor, was weighing the level of crime…
“…That draft… by any chance, who are you going to call?”
Jun hoped here that Seonwu would say the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner.
“Golden Dragon Guard.”
But his hope was shattered.
‘It’s ruined.’
So he asked again, harboring a small hope.
“The guards?”
It would be a Hall Master, though.
“No, Lee Dae-yong—.”
‘It’s a name I’ve heard somewhere. Why can’t I remember?’
“—the Admiral. We have to press down the Sword尊, the Namgung Clan Leader.”
Ah, I remember now.
Even for the Zhuge Clan, it was an existence whose name could not be carelessly called, so it didn’t come to mind immediately.
The Ten Sovereigns of Jianghu.
There are ten sovereigns under heaven who rule the Jianghu, and one seat among them is.
The Azure Sky Sword尊, Namgung Un-seong.
The one who made the Namgung Clan the first among the Five Great Clans by his existence alone.
And…
The Ten Mighty of the Empire.
There are ten mighty in the midst of heaven who look over the world, which refers to the Ten Great Masters who support the Imperial Court.
Two Admirals and eight Great Generals.
The Admiral of the Golden Dragon Guard.
The Demon-Subduing Great Inner Power, Lee Dae-yong.
The leader of the Ten Great Masters of the Court who could easily control the Azure Sky Sword尊.
‘…We’re f*cked.’
It’s not like this is some ‘dream match’ either.

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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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