The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Merchant Group - Chapter 340

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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 340

Chapter 340. Things Gone Awry (3)

[Father, as I mentioned before, do not grow close to the Murim Alliance. They will use you.]

A sentence so clean and lucid that it left no room for misinterpretation.
Lady Zaling spoke with unmistakable clarity.
Do not draw near to the Murim Alliance, for they would exploit the Provincial Governor.
That statement meant Lady Zaling had foreseen even the future moment when the Murim Alliance would approach to use the Provincial Governor.
If the Murim Alliance learned of this, their response would fall into one of two categories.
Recruit her, or eliminate her.
And the Murim Alliance had chosen elimination. That was why they administered that quadruple-layered poison.
Of course, in my previous life, the direct cause of Lady Zaling’s death was the Oseong Trading Company, but the Murim Alliance had nothing to lose.
They achieved their objective regardless.
Yet something troubled me.
The ability to foresee the future was extraordinary—so much so that recruitment would almost always be the superior choice.
Then why did they decide to eliminate her?
At that moment, I sensed someone approaching.
I started to return to my seat, then changed my mind and moved toward the bookshelf beside me.
Creak.
The door opened and the Provincial Governor entered.
“Have you finished reviewing the documents?”
“Nothing of great consequence. My apologies for leaving you alone like this.”
“Not at all.”
I gestured toward the bookshelf and spoke.
“Ah, forgive me. The books appeared so intriguing that I examined them without first seeking permission.”
“No matter. Those volumes are quite sophisticated—it seems you possess considerable scholarly depth!”
“Merely humble knowledge, nothing more.”
He chuckled warmly at my modest reply.
“Feel free to borrow them if you wish. I hear you read extensively during your stay here.”
“Is that so? But these appear to be rare volumes—are you certain?”
“As the saying goes, ‘Read a book a hundred times and its meaning becomes clear.’ I have already read these volumes more than a hundred times each.”
This phrase originated from a scholar named Dong-woo, spoken to those who wished to become his disciples.
It meant that reading a book a hundred times would naturally reveal its deeper meaning—though honestly, reading a single volume a hundred times required extraordinary determination and patience.
The books on this shelf alone appeared to number nearly a thousand, yet he claimed to have read each more than a hundred times…
No wonder he achieved the highest honors in the imperial examination.
“That is truly remarkable.”
I expressed my admiration sincerely.
“Then I shall borrow some books from you later. I would like to take them now, but I’m still reading another volume.”
“I see. What book are you currently reading?”
At his question, I naturally took a seat at the table and answered.
“A work titled ‘A Thousand Questions, A Thousand Answers’ written by Yu Seung.”
It was a book that had gained considerable fame in Beijing recently—one where the author posed a thousand questions to himself and answered them all.
“You know that book too! I acquired a copy myself when I went to Beijing recently. But I haven’t had time to read it yet.”
“For someone of So-sang’s discernment, it’s quite fascinating.”
“Indeed. I must read it soon.”
As we exchanged pleasantries, I sensed that we were approaching the real purpose of this conversation.
“You seem to have much on your mind lately.”
“Ah, does it show? Haha.”
He laughed somewhat awkwardly.
“Every time you see through my thoughts like this, it seems I have no talent whatsoever for concealing my true feelings.”
“Not at all. Rather, it speaks to how genuine and sincere you are.”
“That’s one way to look at it. But as you know, in the world of politics, that’s quite a significant weakness.”
“Yet who would dare to scheme against you?”
“True enough. At least there’s one advantage to being born into a good family.”
He continued.
“Ja-ryeong’s condition has been improving noticeably, and that’s what troubles me. There is an engagement agreement, after all.”
I understood his concern well.
Lady Zaling was about to be married into a family suspected of attempting to poison her.
Yet breaking the engagement outright would require more evidence than they possessed.
Moreover, it would be disrespectful to the family that had waited so patiently.
“Since Ja-ryeong has recovered, I have a duty to inform the betrothed family of her improved condition.”
“Indeed.”
“But I cannot predict what their reaction will be.”
Yes, this was truly a problem.
The Oseong Trading Company matter seemed insignificant by comparison.
“Ah, speaking of which, what became of the Oseong Trading Company matter?”
“That? Ah… Pyeong Vice-Manager, who deceived me, has been sentenced to ten years of hard labor. And Maeyeom, who made the request to Pyeong Vice-Manager, has also been sentenced to ten years of hard labor.”
“But Maeyeom surely didn’t act solely out of personal greed.”
“I think so too. And I’ve secured evidence that the Oseong Trading Company itself provided support to them and profited from it.”
“Fortunately. Then you must have imposed a severe penalty on them as well.”
“Of course. For a merchant guild, the harshest punishment is a fine. I imposed a penalty of fifty thousand taels on them.”
Fifty thousand taels in silver—that’s less than I expected.
“Ah, fifty thousand taels in gold, that is.”
That should be sufficient.
Even a large trading company would bleed considerably from such a fine.
Their influence would diminish substantially as well.
“That should serve as a sufficient warning to the other merchant guilds, wouldn’t it?”
“Your words are most wise, sir.”
Having softened the atmosphere with the matter of Oseong Trading Company, I broached another subject delicately.
“By chance, has anyone who worked near your daughter recently left their position?”
“I see where you’re heading with this. I’ve already looked into it.”
As expected, while not a remarkable administrator, he was a wise man—having passed the provincial examination in his youth.
“One of Lady Zaling’s maidservants left her position three months ago. By all accounts, she was kind in all matters, showed no signs of misconduct, and performed her duties flawlessly.”
“Is that so?”
“Everyone was disappointed when she departed, and at Lady Zaling’s instruction, she was given a generous severance.”
The Magistrate’s eyes gleamed with intensity.
“She was responsible for preparing Lady Zaling’s tea.”
“…!”
If that were true, the likelihood that she had acted under the Murim Alliance’s orders was extraordinarily high.
“So I had her whereabouts traced.”
He had reached the same conclusion as I had.
“What came of it?”
“No one was found in her hometown. Her entire family had vanished.”
At his words, I could not help but furrow my brow.
“That is far too suspicious. If she were an innocent person, she would not have disappeared the moment she returned to her hometown.”
“You speak truly. Moreover, it’s inconceivable that a mere maidservant would have orchestrated such a scheme independently.”
He continued.
“It must have been orchestrated by the Honam Province Magistrate’s office.”
Well, that made sense.
If one were unaware of the Murim Alliance’s involvement, such a conclusion would be inevitable.
“The Honam Province Magistrate supplied the poisoned tea, and the maidservant he hired brewed it to complete the quadruple-layered poison.”
Yes, that much was correct.
From my perspective, it was highly likely that the maidservant had been a member of the Murim Alliance from the beginning.
Looking at the dates in the prophecy scroll, the warning about the Murim Alliance had clearly been written before Lady Zaling fell ill.
That maidservant must have seen the prophecy scroll and reported it to the Murim Alliance.
Ah! That’s why they decided to eliminate her.
In any case, it meant there was a Murim Alliance operative within the Honam Province Magistrate’s office.
Which meant that to resolve this matter, we would need to investigate the Honam Province Magistrate’s office.
Truthfully, this was something I didn’t need to involve myself in. But if the opponent was the Murim Alliance, that changed everything.
This was an opportunity to strike at the Murim Alliance—I couldn’t possibly let it slip away.
“Sir, without exposing their crimes, wouldn’t we still need to send someone to investigate?”
“That’s true enough.”
“You won’t be going yourself, I presume… Who were you thinking of sending?”
“I’m thinking of sending my Third Son and Vice-Commander Ji-yeong.”
“Would it be possible for me to join that expedition?”
“You, you say?”
I scratched behind my ear and wore an awkward expression.
“Yes, it’s rather sudden of me to say this, but I prefer things to be clear and straightforward. And if our Merchant Guild should conduct business with the Honam Province Magistrate in the future, it would be wise to know who harbors dark intentions, lest we suffer losses.”
“You mean to say you’ll uncover who the culprit is?”
“I don’t possess such remarkable abilities, but I would like to see and judge matters with my own eyes.”
At my words, he wore a pleased expression.
“In fact, I was already planning to ask this of you.”
What? Me?
“When you revealed that Pyeong Vice-Manager was the one who stole the vessel aboard the boat, I was deeply impressed by your insight.”
Ah… I should have simply remained silent.
That would have painted a better picture.
“I beseech you, then.”
And so I found myself heading to Honam Province.
.
.
.
The next day,
a young man visited the Magistrate’s Residence, and when summoned to his office, I was introduced to him.
“Make your acquaintance. This is my third son. And this is Eun Seo-ho, the Small Guild Master of the Eunhae Trading Company.”
“It is my first time meeting you. I am Eun Seo-ho, Small Guild Master of the Eunhae Trading Company.”
“I am Dong Hang-su. I serve as a Magistrate in Yi-yeon Prefecture of Guizhou Province.”
A Magistrate holds the rank of seventh grade and occupies a position handling practical administrative duties.
“If I may ask, what duties do you oversee?”
“I handle various miscellaneous matters.”
A vague answer.
He was signaling that I shouldn’t pry further.
“I heard you informed us that Lady Zaling’s condition was poisoning.”
“I discovered it by chance. Your sister was fated to live, it seems.”
“That is indeed the case.”
Then the Magistrate spoke.
“When you go to Honam Province tomorrow, travel with Eun Small Merchant Leader.”
“For what reason?”
“He possesses considerable insight, and it will prove useful in this matter.”
“Since he’s handsome enough, he might be useful when you wish to loosen the tongues of the women.”
How cynical.
For someone who knows his sister nearly fell victim to poisoning and that we’re going to uncover the truth, isn’t this far too cold?
A typical elder brother would be raging and ready to storm in immediately.
Could it be that the Magistrate summoned this man from among his five sons precisely because of such a temperament?
Better than a fiery disposition, but… this is rather disconcerting in its own way.

The next day.
We set out for Honam Province.
The provincial capital of Honam was Changsha, which lay somewhat distant from Guizhou Province.
It was positioned to the northeast of Honam Province, after all.
Thanks to the Dongjeong Lake and tributaries of the Yangtze River, the region was blessed with abundant water, making it exceptionally fertile for agriculture.
Cotton was produced in large quantities, while the hilly areas yielded tobacco, honey, and ramie cloth.
Ah, and musk deer were quite plentiful there, so musk production was considerable as well.
Though musk served as a raw material for perfume oils, it was also used in medicinal preparations, which was why our Merchant Guild visited frequently.
Come to think of it, from the Murim Alliance’s perspective, it was far more useful than Guizhou Province.
In any case, the border regions between Guizhou and Honam were mostly mountainous terrain.
Which meant we would face considerable hardship on the journey.
Still, official roads connected the regions, so we wouldn’t need to hack our way through mountain paths.
However….
Now that I thought about it, I almost wished we did have to take the mountain route instead.
Traveling by carriage with Hangsu Gongja was pleasant enough, but I felt like I was sitting on pins and needles.
“By the way, Ja-ryeong asked me to tell you to have a safe journey.”
“I see.”
“Are you and our Ja-ryeong acquainted on a personal level?”
“I beg your pardon? What do you mean by that?”
“Then why would Ja-ryeong ask me to pass along such a message to you?”
“Isn’t it because I brought back the eyes? And I have shared tea with the Young Lady before.”
“Shared tea? Why would that be?”
“It was at the Patriarch’s request.”
“Your father’s? Then why didn’t you refuse?”
“That was….”
Wait, why was I being subjected to this interrogation in the first place? And the questions were rather….
He claimed to be a magistrate handling practical affairs, but he resembled more an inspector from the Provincial Inspection Bureau.
The manner of speech was identical to that inspector who had come to audit the Eunhae Trading Company before.
Cold and devoid of emotion….
To put it crudely, utterly lacking in courtesy.
People like this would seize upon any opening to press their point, so honesty was the best approach.
Sigh, I was at a loss.
There was nothing to be intimidated about, after all.
“Well, the Patriarch has shown me such consideration that I’m living comfortably. How could I possibly refuse his request?”
“…That’s reasonable.”
“And please don’t misunderstand. I harbor no special feelings toward the Young Lady.”
“Is that so?”
“The Young Lady has a betrothed. What would be the point of my presumption? I am a man who values his own life above all else.”
“Well, you certainly seem that way.”
“There is merely a mutual affinity between us as people, nothing more. You need not worry.”
I continued speaking.
“Lady Zaling asked me to convey this only because she possesses such a kind heart that she even concerns herself with a lowly merchant like me.”
He nodded at my words.
“True enough. Ja-ryeong does have a gentle disposition.”
Then he narrowed his eyes and asked again.
“But if you’ve already shown her your eyes, shouldn’t you be leaving? So why are you still here? Could it be you’re trying to see Ja-ryeong again….”
This man, truly….
“I cannot leave until you provide payment, sir.”
I continued.
“You commissioned me to complete a task, and I have fulfilled that commission. Therefore, I must receive compensation. Surely you don’t expect me to leave empty-handed?”
“…Ahem.”
He cleared his throat and turned away.
It seemed he hadn’t anticipated such a direct response from me.
He was clearly flustered.

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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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