The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Merchant Group - Chapter 115

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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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The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Trading Company – Chapter 115

Chapter 115. The Benefactor of the Sichuan Tang Family (5)

Lee Pil Warrior continued his story.
“But at that time, my father didn’t know that. He left anyway. Later, my mother brought me to the Sichuan Tang Family.”
Somehow, Lee Pil Warrior must have been accepted into the Sichuan Tang Family.
“I’m grateful they didn’t let me starve, but… I was always hungry, even after coming to the Sichuan Tang Family.”
What did he mean by that?
Hungry in such a wealthy place?
Was it metaphorical?
“My mother passed away soon after. She was already ill with no hope of recovery when she left me here.”
He smiled bitterly.
“But the Sichuan Tang Family was not kind to me. I was always treated poorly. However, my talent with dark arts was exceptional, and that became the problem. My elder brothers’ harassment grew worse and worse. Eventually, I left a letter renouncing my claim to the Sichuan Tang Family name and ran away at eighteen.”
“So, how did you survive?”
“I wandered as a ronin until I saw a notice from the Eunhae Trading Company recruiting warriors. I applied and became my lord’s guard warrior.”
He spoke calmly, but was his life truly so calm?
No, speaking calmly without anger meant his anger had transcended its limits.
He had accepted his fate.
I genuinely sympathized with Lee Pil Warrior.
“You’ve endured much.”
“But I’m happy now.”
“Yet despite running away at eighteen, you handle dark arts so well. That speaks to considerable talent.”
The two other warriors nodded at Yeo Eung-am Warrior’s words.
I had sensed something unsettling in Dang Jun-ryeong’s eyes earlier, and now I understood what it was.
He had feared losing his position.
Lee Pil Warrior possessed far superior talent, and the Sichuan Tang Family was a clan that valued ability above all else.
Was that why they tormented him?
How petty.
“Life brings unexpected turns. I’ve become a benefactor to the Sichuan Tang Family, and I’ve even eaten my fill in that Yellow-Colored Banquet Hall. Haha.”
Tears seemed to seep through that laughter.
But there was one crucial question that needed to be asked. As I hesitated whether to ask it, Jin Yu Warrior spoke.
“But I must ask, Lee Pil Warrior.”
“Yes?”
“Who was your father?”
This was exactly the question.
“Jin Yu Warrior, that question is…”
I tried to stop him, but Lee Pil Warrior opened his mouth readily.
“My father is the younger brother of the previous House Master and the uncle of the current House Master.”
He continued speaking.
“Fortunately, he is not here at the moment. He has been dispatched to the Murim Alliance.”
What?
The Murim Alliance?
Knowing what the Murim Alliance was, those words carried far more weight than they might have seemed.

* * *

Dang Gyu-jeong returned to his office after the banquet concluded.
It had been a long time since he’d enjoyed such a pleasant gathering.
‘Eun Seo-ho… a true talent.’
The Sichuan Tang Family, being a clan that coveted talented individuals, meant that Dang Gyu-jeong himself harbored an insatiable appetite for such talent.
To him, Eun Seo-ho the merchant was truly coveted.
Upon learning that it was Eun Seo-ho who had saved his youngest son, he mobilized the family’s intelligence network to conduct a discreet investigation into the man.
And he learned of Eun Seo-ho’s accomplishments.
Until merely three years ago, the Eunhae Trading Company had ranked within the top ten merchant guilds of Hubei Province.
But as Eun Seo-ho began to take an active role in the company’s operations, it experienced explosive growth, and now it stood within the top three merchant guilds of Hubei Province.
He had heard that by the winter solstice rankings announced by the Imperial Court, it would certainly place within the top fifty nationally.
It was clear that Eun Seo-ho’s abilities had driven such growth.
‘And with such boldness and wisdom besides…’
Otherwise, no matter how lavishly he had been entertained with delicacies in the most ornate of halls, he would not have eaten with such genuine pleasure.
It was unavoidable.
The very name of the Sichuan Tang Family inspired fear.
And it was impossible to shed that fear and approach with warmth.
Poison, after all, was not something one grew familiar with.
Thus, the Sichuan Tang Family had become a place of dread, and it had become customary for those invited to banquets to attend reluctantly and eat reluctantly.
But Eun Seo-ho had eaten with genuine joy at the banquet, and that had impressed Dang Gyu-jeong.
‘And he’s only eighteen years old.’
Moreover, what he had said pleased him greatly.
‘Perhaps I should arrange a marriage proposal?’
The desire to take him as a son-in-law began to swell within him.
As Dang Gyu-jeong contemplated Eun Seo-ho, another figure came to mind.
‘That fellow…’
The one Eun Seo-ho called Lee Pil Warrior.
His true name was Dang Yi-pil.
He was the illegitimate son of his youngest uncle, born outside the family.
Having watched Yi-pil since childhood, he knew that the boy had always been alone.
He possessed a remarkable talent for handling hidden blades, and seeing this, Dang Gyu-jeong had thought that indeed, talent could not be stolen.
His youngest uncle too had possessed talent with hidden blades.
He was dispatched to the Murim Alliance as a training instructor in concealed weapons, fulfilling their request for an expert in that discipline.
“Hmm….”
I exhaled slowly.
Memories surfaced of Lee Pil enduring various forms of harassment.
Of course, I had always intervened when I witnessed it, but the troubling reality was that most of those who tormented him were his half-brothers.
That must have made things even harder for Lee Pil.
Eventually, at eighteen, he left home.
In the letter he left behind, he renounced the Dang surname of the Sichuan Tang Family, stating he needed nothing and wanted nothing, and begging us not to search for him.
Those around me insisted we assemble a search party immediately to find Lee Pil before the Sichuan Tang Family’s name was tarnished.
But there was one who objected.
Surprisingly, it was Lee Pil’s own father.

“House Master, please let that boy go.”
“Why, Uncle?”
“That boy has suffered far too many wounds because of his worthless father while here. For him, life outside the family would bring greater happiness.”
“But the outside world is dangerous.”
“He is not so weak as to fall to mere danger. And for him, remaining within the family is far more perilous.”
“….”
“Fortunately, he never learned the martial arts practiced by the direct or collateral lines of our family. He learned only up to what the Bongshin Family members learn. I ask you to decide not to search for him based on this fact.”

Moved by that earnest plea, Dang Gyu-jeong ultimately decided to handle the matter that way.
Yet now he had encountered Lee Pil, who had become Eun Seo-ho’s Guard Warrior.
Moreover, Lee Pil had even saved his son.
At first, I was quite startled and considered greeting him.
But that would mean breaking my own command.
So what I chose was to treat him as a stranger.
Those who noticed my intention likewise refrained from speaking to Lee Pil.
Once they treated him as someone from outside the family rather than as a member of the Dang Clan, Lee Pil’s expression gradually began to ease.
And just now in the banquet hall, he too ate with evident relish.
When Lee Pil was within the Sichuan Tang Family, he always picked at his food.
So seeing him eat with such satisfaction stirred something bittersweet and sorrowful in me.
“House Master, I shall take my leave.”
Just then the door opened and the Deputy Officer entered.
“Have you settled Eun Seo-ho and his companions in the Separate Quarters?”
“Yes.”
But the Deputy Officer hesitated.
“It seems you have more to say?”
“Well, that is… Dang Jun-ryeong Commander visited the Separate Quarters.”
“The Separate Quarters? To meet with Eun Seo-ho?”
“No. He met with Dang Yi-pil… rather, with Lee Pil Warrior.”
At my words, Dang Gyu-jeong let out a sigh.
“What a pointless thing to do….”

* * *

The next morning.
I went to the Dining Hall in the Separate Quarters with Palgap.
“Welcome.”
“Good morning.”
The Guard Warriors were already in the Dining Hall.
Normally they should accompany me as my escort and come to the Dining Hall together, but I had made it clear that there was no need for such formality here.
Yesterday I had eaten so much that I couldn’t have dinner. Perhaps because of that, this morning I felt particularly hungry.
It was strange how eating well the day before made you hungrier the next day.
Soon the Maidservants attached to the Separate Quarters began bringing out the food.
Along with soup and various dishes, rice was served.
I had heard that the Sichuan Tang Family ate rice for breakfast.
“I’m grateful for this meal.”
I said so and picked up my chopsticks, and the others all followed suit.
But I noticed Lee Pil Warrior stirring through his rice.
Now that I thought about it….
Even before, whenever Lee Pil Warrior ate, he always stirred through his portion of food before eating it.
I had thought it was merely a habit at first.
But such habits don’t just develop on their own, do they?
It was as if he were searching for something hidden in his food, but it wasn’t the kind of cautious behavior a warrior would develop from experiencing danger.
In the thieves’ den disguised as an inn, poison was typically used, so they would check for insects around the area or use tools to detect toxins.
But stirring through food like that meant he had experienced something other than poison being placed in his meals.
Wait.
Something other than poison?
I recalled words I had overlooked in yesterday’s conversation with Lee Pil Warrior.

“I’m grateful that you’ve kept me from going hungry, but still. Even after coming to the Sichuan Tang Family, I was always hungry.”

His claim of hunger in a place of material abundance wasn’t metaphorical at all.
He was literally starving.
Because something had been mixed into his meals.
Sand, gold dust, insects—whatever could be found.
That’s how such a habit had formed.
Then who had committed such a despicable act?
The maidservants who handled his meals would have carried it out, but was it truly their will?
Even if he wasn’t the legitimate heir, would anyone dare tamper with the food of a Sichuan Tang Family member?
Dare?
The answer came easily.
It had to be the orders of other blood relatives of the Sichuan Tang Family—especially half-brothers or their mothers.
Hell, this was infuriating.
Honestly, I couldn’t empathize with Lee Pil Warrior’s feelings.
My two elder brothers were such good people, and they would have done anything for me.
To claim empathy without having experienced it myself would be a lie.
But as my thoughts reached this point, fury surged within me, and my mind turned cold and sharp.
This was merely my speculation.
But if this truth held, I had no intention of burying it.
I would make them pay for their sins.
Some might say I was being excessive over a thoughtless prank.
Yet that thoughtless prank had inflicted deep wounds upon Lee Pil Warrior.
My own Guard Warrior, no less.
I came to the Sichuan Tang Family to sever the hands and feet of the Murim Alliance operating in the shadows here.
But now, another task had emerged.
“Young Master, what troubles you?”
At that moment, Palgap tilted his head, looking at me curiously.
“Hmm?”
“Your face suddenly hardened—I thought you might be chewing on stone.”
“Ah, it’s nothing. Just something on my mind for a moment.”

After finishing breakfast and the pastries and tea served as dessert, the Sacheon Clan Master’s Deputy came to the Separate Quarters.
“I trust you slept well last night?”
“Yes. Thanks to your kindness, I had a peaceful night.”
Behind the Deputy stood a young woman.
The moment I saw her—bearing the distinctive confidence and refinement of the Sichuan Tang Family—I sensed who she was.
The Sacheon Clan Master’s Deputy spoke.
“Allow me to introduce you. This is the Clan Master’s fifth daughter.”
She performed a respectful bow.
“I am Tang Soo-bin.”
“I am Eun Seo-ho.”
She was the young woman who, in the life I had lived before, would later be called the Jade Jewel of the Sichuan Tang Family.
She was the daughter most cherished by the Clan Master and the pride of the Sichuan Tang Family.
Her specialties were poison cultivation and poison neutralization.
She possessed extraordinary talent with toxins and could neutralize poisons so seamlessly that no one would ever know she had done so.
Yet for all her brilliance, that light would fade far too quickly.
She was dispatched to the Murim Alliance and died during a mission.
It was a tragedy for the Sichuan Tang Family.
But that was a matter for the future.
What was this renowned figure doing here?
The Sacheon Clan Master’s Deputy continued.
“Today, Miss Soo-bin will guide you and your companions on a tour of the Sichuan Tang Family Estate.”
I felt a slight sense of bewilderment.
I had expected them to assign a guide, but to assign Tang Soo-bin herself was unexpected.
However, I was careful not to let that bewilderment show on my face.
“I am grateful for your kindness, Miss.”
“I’ve heard you’re handsome, and you truly are. My eyes feel refreshed just looking at you.”
At her words, the Clan Master’s Deputy wore an awkward expression.
“Miss, such remarks are….”
Ah, I see.
Now that I thought about it, Tang Soo-bin was indeed famous for her uninhibited candor.

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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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