The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Merchant Group - Chapter 393

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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 393

Chapter 393. The Frozen Heart (2)

At the Palace Master’s words, I tilted my head in confusion.
A request? What could it be?
I should hear them out first.
“What is it that you wish to request of me?”
“There is something I would like you to find. It would be difficult to locate through ordinary means, but with the Young Lady’s frozen heart technique, it should be easy to find.”
“If I find that for you, what will you give me in return?”
“Finding it would not only benefit this palace. It would be beneficial to Seolpung Palace as well.”
“…?”
“Because you possess the Secret Vault, I have saved myself time in explaining.”
Could it be?
“What I am looking for are the items that the Previous Seolpung Palace Master, Han Ho-su, hid away somewhere.”
“I understand how finding them would benefit Seolpung Palace, but why do you wish to find them, Palace Master?”
“Ah, you see, I had entrusted something to the Previous Seolpung Palace Master. He said he would keep it in his Secret Vault. I wish to retrieve it, but since what Han Ho-su hid can only be seen by his master, I cannot access it.”
“But Gwak Vice-Manager can see it, is that correct?”
“Yes.”
Hmm, what should I do?
I do not know what was in the Previous Seolpung Palace Master’s Secret Vault. Yet my instincts tell me I must find it.
The problem is that I would have to involve Seo Hyang in this matter.
“Very well.”
It was then that Seo Hyang answered.
“If I can be of help, then of course I should step forward.”
“Thank you.”
“Are you… certain about this?”
At my question, she nodded.
“I am fine. I am pleased to be of help.”
.
.
.
Jin-ho and Mother-in-law, along with my maternal grandmother-in-law and the Elder Brother’s Wife’s aunts…
Huh?
I tilted my head in confusion.
“What are you all doing right now?”
“Ah, we are learning how to throw hidden blades.”
“Hidden blades?”
“Right. I’m not trying to master it properly, just pick up the basics. As you know, I’m a man, so I can’t learn the martial arts of the Ice Palace.”
Now that I thought about it, Jin-ho didn’t seem to lack talent for intricate techniques like hidden blade throwing, did he?
Whoosh—! Thud!
“Hmm, your stance is coming together nicely now.”
“It’s all thanks to Mother-in-law’s instruction. Haha.”
But watching him, it seemed his lack of talent wasn’t the real issue—he simply hadn’t trained properly before.
Come to think of it, I’d never seen the External Chief Manager use hidden blades either.
This was a good opportunity for Jin-ho.
Still, playing around with hidden blade throwing—that’s the Northern Sea Ice Palace for you.
I told my brother I was stepping out briefly on an errand from the Palace Master.
“I’ll be back soon.”
“All right, go safely.”
With that, Seo Hyang and I exited through the Gate of Mist and headed toward the Ice Palace Inn.
Bing Haerin, Young Palace Master, walked beside me as well.
The fact that the Palace Master had sent her suggested whatever he was looking for was quite important.
Well, that would explain why he was searching so earnestly.
Perhaps the real reason the Palace Master’s face brightened when he first saw Seo Hyang was because a possibility had emerged to find that object.
But… what was the Palace Master searching for?
I was curious, but I couldn’t ask Bing Haerin, Young Palace Master directly…
Well, I’d find out naturally in time.
When we arrived at the Ice Palace Inn, Palgap greeted me at the entrance.
“Young Master, you’ve arrived?”
“You knew I was coming?”
I’d thought he’d be resting inside the inn, since we were supposed to leave the Ice Palace tomorrow morning.
“I simply had a feeling you would come, so I stepped out.”
Palgap’s instincts were truly remarkable.
Hearing my voice, the other Guard Warriors quickly rushed out.
“You’ve arrived?”
“You came out earlier than expected—is something the matter?”
I nodded at the question.
“There’s something I need to do for a moment. So, is anyone available?”
They answered immediately.
“We are always awaiting our lord’s command.”
“Please give your orders.”
It was truly reassuring.

A moment later, we prepared ourselves thoroughly and set out on our journey.
“But we’ll have to search this entire vast Northern Sea, won’t we?”
At my question, Bing Haerin, Young Palace Master shook her head.
“That’s not it. The Northern Sea is far too vast for the Palace Master to make such an unreasonable request.”
“Then….”
“It’s probably the vicinity of where Seolpung Palace once stood.”
“….”
I hesitated for a moment before asking carefully.
“Are you certain you’re alright with this?”
“Yes? What do you mean?”
“That place is….”
“I’m fine. I barely remember it anyway.”
She spoke with composure.
“Let’s go quickly. If the snowwind rises, we’ll lose time.”
And so we headed toward the location where Seolpung Palace once stood.
As we climbed the hill formed of snow, something appeared in the distance.
That must be where Seolpung Palace once was.
Everything was destroyed, just as I had been told.
Only traces remained—nothing of any significance was visible.
“Getting any closer would be pointless. And I wouldn’t recommend it.”
Those who had exterminated Seolpung Palace might still be watching this place.
And from what I learned through Geumryeong, Han Ho-su is quite intelligent.
Knowing Seolpung Palace faced annihilation, he wouldn’t have hidden anything inside or near the palace itself.
But since he had to protect his master, he couldn’t have gone too far away either.
So it should be somewhere around here.
Yet even after searching extensively with such reasoning, I sensed nothing at all.
Only the barren wasteland covered in snow.
Where on earth could he have hidden it?
I felt at a loss for how to find it.
Still, I couldn’t give up so soon.
We took long poles and began our search, stabbing through the snow repeatedly.
It had already been some twenty years since Seolpung Palace was exterminated.
Considering the terrain and climate of this place, there was a high probability that what we sought was buried beneath the snow.
We had been wandering through the snow for about an hour when it happened.
“Kwui?”
At that moment, Geumryeong, who had been inside my sleeve, tilted her head.
“What is it, Geumryeong?”
“Kwui!”
Geumryeong emerged from my sleeve and leaped onto the snow. Then she dashed off somewhere with rapid patter-patter sounds.
“Huff, huff!”
Geumryeong tapped the ground repeatedly, drooling profusely.
Oh, what a waste!
That’s medicine!
But the fact that Geumryeong was drooling like that meant there was something in this place that Geumryeong would like?
I lifted Geumryeong up and spoke.
“Let’s dig here once.”
“Yes.”
We dug where Geumryeong had been. And soon we discovered something.
What is this?
I picked it up. It was a bundle containing golden essence orbs.
Why is this here?
Anyway, what do we do with this?
With such questions in mind, I looked at Bing Haerin, Young Palace Master.
“The law of the Northern Sea is that whoever obtains something becomes its owner.”
“I see.”
I counted the golden essence orbs in my pocket. Eleven in total.
“It’s rare for things to divide so perfectly. We’re truly fortunate.”
Our party consisted of myself, Seo Hyang, Palgap, and six Guard Warriors—nine people in all.
And with Bing Haerin, Young Palace Master, that made ten.
And I couldn’t overlook Geumryeong, who played the decisive role in finding these golden essence orbs.
I distributed one to each person.
And I held out a golden essence orb to Geumryeong.
“Here, eat. This one is yours.”
“Kwuit?”
Geumryeong looked at me with eyes asking if I really meant it, and I nodded.
Geumryeong swallowed the golden essence orb whole.
Wow, not even a gold coin but this massive golden essence orb, swallowed in one go. Impressive.
Seeing that, an idea occurred to me.
“From now on, search this nearby region for expensive things like this. I’ll give you a reward.”
“Kwuiit!”
Geumryeong excitedly began scurrying around the nearby region.
“Huh? You want me to dig here?”
Where Geumryeong pointed, there was silver.
Thud thud thud thud.
“Huh? There’s something here too?”
There was spirit medicine.
Scurry scurry scurry.
“There’s something here as well?”
There was gold.
“Hmm, why are there so many treasures buried in the Northern Sea?”
Bing Haerin, Young Palace Master, answered my question.
“The Northern Sea here is also a land of fugitives, much like Chuk Yung.”
Indeed, there was such a saying about the Northern Sea.
It was one of the most representative places where those who could no longer live openly in the Central Plains would flee.
Naturally, they would have liquidated their assets and converted them into gold and silver.
They came here to hide and dream of one day returning to the Central Plains.
But they likely never knew.
How harsh and brutal the Northern Sea truly was.
The blood-hungry Spirit Creatures that constantly stalked them were almost merciful by comparison.
Those who froze to death in sudden blizzards would be far more numerous.
Their corpses would be carried away by the Spirit Creatures, leaving only their wealth behind.
The blood-hungry Spirit Creatures did not eat gold and silver treasures, after all.
“So in the end, these are all masterless things.”
“That would be correct.”
As we spoke, Geumryeong displayed an unusual reaction.
Rather than drooling as before, it was tilting its head back and forth.
It felt as though something valuable was buried here, but it seemed uncertain whether it was truly there.
Could it be?
I spoke to everyone.
“Let us dig here.”
“Yes.”
We took up shovels and began digging. This time, we had to dig quite deep.
How far down did we dig?
Thunk.
The shovel struck something.
From that point on, we carefully excavated the area.
But there was nothing visible to the eye.
Only the sense that something hard lay beneath.
Then Seo Hyang spoke in a trembling voice.
“There’s something… here.”
“Pardon?”
“That… it looks like it’s covered with cloth or something… Am I the only one who can see it?”
“It would appear so.”
At my response, Seo Hyang jumped down from above. She took the shovel from my hands and dug slightly to the side of where we had been excavating.
Then, she lifted something with both hands as though raising it.
In that moment, our jaws dropped open.
What had been hidden was revealed.
There were all manner of things there.
Gold and silver treasures, small chests, scrolls, and weapons of various kinds.
The quantity was truly staggering.
And the inscription on one small box among those items.
[To Myeong Hyun, Young Palace Master of Seolpung Palace and my son]
I bit my lip.
This was something the Palace Master of Seolpung Palace left behind for his own son.
I had found it correctly.
Was it because of this box that I had felt the intuition to search for it?
I took out a gold coin from among the items and gave it to Geum-ryeong.
“Here, this is your share.”
“Kwui?”
A look questioning why I was giving only this much.
“Geum-ryeong? Think about it. I said I’d give you some compensation, but I never promised how much, did I?”
“Kwu… Kwui….”
Geum-ryeong’s expression grew flustered.
“Besides, you’ve eaten a lot today. You’ve already consumed gold ingots, gold coins, and silver coins. Too much eating causes indigestion.”
Wait… does Han Ho-su get indigestion too?
It doesn’t seem likely, but well….
“Anyway, let’s stop eating for today. And move everything here to my Secret Vault. Can you do that?”
Geum-ryeong nodded.
Once we moved all the items to my Secret Vault, what remained was….
We had to climb back up the snow pit we had dug through.
My Guard Warriors were first-rate martial artists, so they climbed up easily.
And Palgap’s skills had improved considerably as well, so he ascended without difficulty.
But Seo Hyang was not yet at that level of skill, so I had no choice but to carry her up.
“I suppose I came down for nothing.”
“That is not so. Without you, Young Lady, who could have found those items?”
I lifted Seo Hyang up with both arms.
Her face flushed red, and I chuckled softly.
From this angle, she certainly looked beautiful.
Gasp! What was I thinking just now….
I shook off the thought, pushed off the ground, and leaped upward, then set her down gently.
Somehow… the fragrance of plum blossoms from her seemed to cling to my body and would not fade.
.
.
.
We returned to the Ice Palace Inn.
The day had already grown dark, and evening had arrived.
I headed toward the Northern Sea Ice Palace again through the Gate of Mist with Seo Hyang and Bing Haerin, Young Palace Master.
And I went straight to the Palace Master’s quarters.
“Come in.”
As expected, he knew of our arrival.
We entered, and the Palace Master offered us seats.
“How did it go?”
A faint glimmer of anticipation crossed the Palace Master’s face.
I smiled with confidence and spoke.
“I found it.”
“Truly?”
“Yes.”
I rose from my seat and opened the Secret Vault.
Then I laid out everything I had found today before him. Since I myself wasn’t certain which of these items was what the Palace Master sought.
The Palace Master sifted through what I had placed before him.
After searching for some time, his hand suddenly stopped at one spot.
In that hand lay an extraordinarily weathered box.
So worn it seemed it might crumble at any moment, yet the Palace Master cradled it with the utmost care and tenderness.
Then he sank to the ground right there, placed the box upon his lap, and carefully lifted the lid.
What revealed itself within were several sheets of aged paper and a single jade ring of pale blue.
The jade ring bore no ornate craftsmanship whatsoever—it was utterly plain and simple.
The Palace Master gazed upon it with eyes full of longing.
What could that ring possibly be, that he should look upon it with such tender affection?

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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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