The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Merchant Group - Chapter 344

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

The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Trading Company Chapter 344

Chapter 344. Things Gone Awry (7)

The Honam Province Administrator furrowed his brow and continued speaking.
“I’ve found it strange from the beginning. There were people who would come to me already knowing about the matters I was pursuing.”
“You mean to say they possessed the information beforehand?”
“Indeed. A diverse array of individuals would visit me. It was clear they were obtaining information from somewhere.”
From my perspective, the Murim Alliance was providing that information to them in exchange for compensation.
“As it happens, I was planning to summon you separately because I have a request for you.”
“A request for me, sir?”
“I’ve heard much of your reputation. Moreover, are you not one recognized as a hero by the Murim Alliance itself?”
In other words, he trusted the name of the Murim Alliance.
This was troublesome indeed.
Though, to be fair, the Murim Alliance appeared outwardly to be a place of fairness and justice.
Behind closed doors, they committed every manner of wickedness.
And when caught, their excuse was always the same—it was unavoidable for the greater good.
But what of the innocent few who were sacrificed in the process?
Those who accepted such reasoning possessed a critical blind spot: they themselves could one day become part of that sacrificed minority.
I chose not to tell the Honam Province Administrator directly that the Murim Alliance was actually corrupt.
Eventually, he would come to understand it naturally.
“Is the request you wish to make of me related to that matter?”
“That and the matter you mentioned as well. Looking at this letter, I cannot say the two are unrelated.”
He continued speaking.
“As compensation… first, let me ask. Are you a martial artist or a merchant?”
“I am a merchant, sir.”
“Then I shall offer five hundred silver taels as compensation.”
A generous proposal, befitting a Provincial Administrator. Yet I possessed something worth far more than five hundred silver taels.
“I appreciate the offer, but I must decline the payment.”
“Then do you desire honor?”
“Honor is useless to a merchant and only brings headaches.”
I continued.
“I simply ask that when the Eunhae Trading Company faces difficulty here in Honam Province, you would offer your assistance just once.”
“Is that truly sufficient?”
“Yes, sir.”
What I had just requested would prove far more valuable than five hundred silver taels in the future.
Excellent. I would undermine the Murim Alliance and receive compensation in return.
“However, it must be within the bounds of what I am capable of. You understand that, yes?”
“Of course. I shall make my request only to the extent that the Provincial Inspector does not face any difficulties.”
“Good. Let us proceed that way.”
The Provincial Inspector readily accepted my proposal.
“First, it seems we must investigate that tea shipment… Gifts sent to other families would fall under the domain of the inner household, would they not? I would appreciate it if you could look into this matter.”
“I shall do so.”
“Then I shall investigate where this letter was intended to be sent. First, I will spread word that I discovered this letter.”

* * *

Im Do was satisfied with his current situation.
The work was not difficult, his treatment was fair, and his salary was generous.
‘But this life will end soon.’
The Fourth Son he served had begun to notice something amiss.
That he was obtaining information about the Provincial Inspector’s operations through him.
Surely, once his superiors received the letter he had sent, they would order the elimination of the Provincial Inspector’s Fourth Son.
‘And I might be able to dispose of that unlucky woman as well.’
Twenty-Six Ho, who served as a maidservant to Dong Ja-ryeong and had poisoned her, continued to surpass him, and he had grown resentful of it.
If things proceeded according to the letter he had sent, he could break her momentum.
As Im Do crossed the Fourth Son’s Quarters on an errand, he overheard a maidservant conversing with Chan Mo in the kitchen.

“Did you hear? That young master Eun Seo-ho who came as a guest apparently found a letter in the inner quarters?”
“A letter?”
“Yes. A bird that was perched on a tree flew away and dropped a letter.”

At that conversation, Im Do’s heart sank.
That letter was surely the one he had hidden to deliver to his superiors.
He listened intently to their exchange.

“How strange. What happened to that letter?”
“He apparently just discarded it.”

He exhaled in relief.
The letter had been discarded—what a stroke of luck. If it had fallen into the hands of the Provincial Inspector or someone else, it would have been catastrophic.
‘Cursed bird!’
He ground his teeth.
‘I must hurry and write another letter!’
The news of Dong Ja-ryeong’s recovery, which he had learned yesterday from the Guizhou Provincial Governor’s household, was shocking.
If his report on this was delayed…
The mere thought was horrifying.

He drafted another letter to send to his superiors.
However, he had no intention of hiding it in the same location as before. There was a chance that those who had heard the rumors might grow curious and regard that tree with suspicion, searching it thoroughly.
‘In truth, that bird has been trained to come to a designated location depending on how I blow this whistle.’
This time, he concealed the letter in a tree directly opposite to the previous one.
Then he drew out the whistle and blew into it.
Wheeee!
The whistle’s cry echoed through the air, and about an hour later.
A black bird descended from the sky. It flew swiftly and perched upon the tree.
He fastened the letter directly to the bird’s leg. This time, he would not let it slip away.
Flap!
As I watched the bird soar high into the heavens and turned to make my way back to my quarters, a voice reached my ears.
“So it was you. The sender of that suspicious letter.”
Startled by those words, Im Do spun around. There stood a Young Man and the Honam Province Administrator.

* * *

Caught.
The reason I had spread the rumor that I had obtained that suspicious letter and discarded it was to seize evidence at the scene.
Once he heard that rumor, he would attempt to send another letter.
And he acted precisely as I intended.
“W-what are you saying? I was merely taking the air….”
At those words, the Honam Province Administrator beside me spoke.
“You are the Fourth Young Master’s servant. And his quarters are quite a distance from here—yet you came all this way to take the air? Your story doesn’t hold water!”
At that rebuke, the servant prostrated himself and spoke.
“In truth, I apologize for seeming to speak ill of my master, but there are circumstances.”
“What circumstances?”
“Actually… the Fourth Young Master has been subtly tormenting me… so I have been hiding here for a time.”
“Is that so? Heh. I thought you might say that the Fourth was acting out of character…”
“Sir?”
At the Honam Province Administrator’s words, he lifted his face, his expression bewildered.
What a shameless creature.
I could only let out a derisive chuckle.
There was no way the Provincial Inspector would fall for such a tale.
“That boy is not the sort to torment another. His nature is weak and timid by disposition. Of course, as a father, I may not see my son clearly, but he is not such a person.”
He continued with a cold expression.
“How audacious you are! Obscuring the truth so cunningly with such words! What matters now is that you bound a letter to that bird’s leg and sent it somewhere.”
The Honam Province Administrator gestured behind him and spoke.
“Seize him.”
“Yes, sir!”
Immediately, the warriors behind him rushed forward and apprehended the man.
“Tell me the truth! Where did you send that letter?”
Realizing his excuses had failed, he dropped the pretense.
“Hehehehe, do you think I’ll tell you?”
“You bastard!”
The Honam Province Magistrate erupted in fury.
Just moments earlier, I had learned from the Honam Province Magistrate about the origin of the tea that Lady Zaling had drunk.
The tea was something the Third Son—Lady Zaling’s betrothed—had personally procured.
When I pressed the Third Son about it, he claimed he was too busy and had asked his younger brother to obtain it.
When I inquired about the tea with the Fourth Son….

“My servant Im Do procured it for me. I’ve tasted it myself, and it was quite fragrant and delicious.”

That was it.
This Im Do before me was the hidden mastermind behind everything in this household.
Now I needed to pry open the mouth of this servant Im Do to uncover who was pulling the strings.
On the Honam Province Magistrate’s orders, the warriors had tortured Im Do from every angle, but his lips remained sealed, refusing to budge.
Well, I’d anticipated this much anyway.
– Master. I’ve discovered their headquarters.
The mental transmission of Jin Yu Warrior reached my ears.
– Squawk!
Geumryeong’s mental transmission as well.
Right, right, I’ll give you a silver coin later.
In fact, when Im Do released that bird earlier, I had instructed Geumryeong to track it.
And I told him to relay the location to Jin Yu Warrior.
So truthfully, it didn’t matter whether Im Do opened his mouth or not.
Then why did I let the Honam Province Magistrate torture Im Do?
Because I resented what he’d put me through. Moreover, many others had suffered because of him.
I still needed to capture and deal with that Escaped Maidservant.
I wanted to torment him further, but I needed to hurry. I had no idea how the superiors of those who received the letter would react.
“Provincial Inspector. That should be enough now.”
“What do you mean?”
“My Guard Warrior has tracked where the letter arrived.”
.
.
.
A short while later.
I headed to my quarters and met with Jin Yu Warrior.
I told the Provincial Inspector I would investigate that location and report back.
“You’ve arrived?”
“Yes. Where is it?”
“Do you happen to know of a place called the Seo-un Sect?”
Where in the world is that?
“I only learned of it recently myself, but they were behind this entire affair.”
“Hmm, I see. Then we must deal with them promptly. If that letter fell into their hands, they might do something to Lady Zaling….”
Jin Yu Warrior’s expression turned awkward at my words.
“Ah, I don’t think that will be a concern….”
Following Jin Yu Warrior’s gaze, I looked down below.
There sat Geumryeong.
“…?”
Noticing our stares, Geumryeong spat out something with a *ptui*!
It was a black bird, soaked in saliva and unconscious.
Was that the bird that flew away carrying the letter earlier?
I untied the letter from its leg and unfolded it.
Yes, it was.
“What?! How did you manage to catch this?”
“Kwui! Kwui-kwui! Kwui!”
I thought I understood what Geumryeong was saying.
So it had snuck into the Seo-un Sect, approached the bird perched on their roost, and swallowed it whole.
“Did anyone see you?”
“Kwui!”
“Ah, no one did? Well done.”
In other words, there was no need to rush. What a remarkable creature.
I reached down and stroked Geumryeong’s head affectionately.
“Kwui?”
Ah, that didn’t work. I’d hoped a simple pat would suffice.
I smiled wryly and produced a silver coin, which Geumryeong promptly swallowed.
Now that was strange.
Geumryeong was smaller than this bird, so how had it managed to swallow it whole?
“What shall we do with this bird? It appears to still be alive, but wouldn’t it be safer to kill it?”
At that moment, a thought occurred to me.
Perhaps Geumryeong had a reason for keeping the bird alive and bringing it back.
Then Geumryeong approached the bird and struck its head sharply with a front paw—*thwack*!
*Fluttering*!
The bird jolted awake in alarm.
Geumryeong fixed the bird with an intense stare, and under that gaze, the bird froze rigid in submission….
Wait? It lowered its eyes?
Geumryeong nodded with satisfaction at the bird’s submission.
Huh….
Could it be that Geumryeong had just taken this bird as a subordinate?
In any case, this bird was now under Geumryeong’s command. I couldn’t simply decide its fate on my own.
.
.
.
That night.
I set out toward the Seo-un Sect with my Guard Warriors, the true architects behind this scheme.
The distance was not far.
A mere hour’s journey at full speed using lightness martial arts.
They had established their base in a rather expansive estate.
Our purpose in coming here was to ascertain the number and caliber of the Seo-un Sect’s martial artists.
If their scale proved manageable, we could handle it ourselves and report accordingly.
I infiltrated cautiously, surveying the interior of the estate.
The sickening aura of the Black Path emanated from within.
The problem was….
Their numbers far exceeded my expectations.
We withdrew from that place for now.
“What are your intentions, sir?”
Seo-woo Warrior inquired, and I exhaled deeply.
“Let me think on this for a moment.”
I then seated myself upon a tree stump, lost in contemplation.
Though quite a number of people had gathered there, not all of them emanated the Black Path’s aura.
This meant the majority were ordinary folk.
Why would ordinary people congregate in such a place? Since this was a grain storage region, most ordinary people were farmers.
They should be occupied with harvests at this time, yet why were they bearing weapons….
Ah! Suddenly, understanding dawned upon me.
They were refugees driven by famine. And their gathering here meant….
A single word crystallized in my mind.
Peasant rebellion.
If that were true, everything fell into place naturally.
If a peasant rebellion erupted, the fire at the Provincial Inspector’s residence would be feasible.
But wait—how deeply was Lady Zaling’s poisoning incident entangled in all this?
And why was the Murim Alliance orchestrating peasant rebellions in the first place?
Regardless, this was beyond my capacity to resolve alone.
“Let us return to the Provincial Inspector’s residence.”
“Understood.”
We made our way back to the Honam Provincial Inspector’s household and reported our findings to him.
He immediately dispatched a letter to Beijing.
The Provincial Inspector did not possess absolute military authority, and suppressing a rebellion before it erupted required the Emperor’s sanction.
And the bearer of the Emperor’s decree proved to be an unexpected figure.
“What? Jin-yeong Great Swordmaster?”

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