The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Merchant Group - Chapter 455

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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 Eun Hae Trading Company Chapter 455

Chapter 455. The Time of Reckoning (2)

It was the second day since Hae-chul arrived at his wife’s family home.
‘Sigh… what a predicament I’ve found myself in.’
He exhaled deeply, lamenting his circumstances.

He had expected to receive lavish treatment upon arriving at his wife’s family estate.
But it didn’t take long for him to discover how mistaken he’d been.
When he first arrived, his father-in-law, mother-in-law, and brothers-in-law had welcomed him warmly.
“Father, Mother…”
Hae Chul’s Wife spoke hesitantly.
“It seems we’ll need to live here together.”
“What?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“The truth is… this child…”
She explained the situation through streaming tears.
“I invested in a business venture and lost everything completely. I even lost the house and land. Sob… I couldn’t even salvage a single piece of jewelry.”
“You lost your entire fortune?”
“Yes.”
“Oh my, oh my, what shall we do!”
“Father, Mother! How am I supposed to live now?”
At her wailing, Hae-chul’s father-in-law and mother-in-law comforted her, and they granted permission for him to remain at the estate.
But the treatment he received from his wife’s family changed the very next day.
He headed to the Dining Hall when told breakfast was ready.
It was somewhat meager compared to his usual morning meals, yet still appeared reasonably abundant.
But he failed to recognize his station.
“Mother-in-law, is this the meal you’ve prepared for your son-in-law? Shouldn’t there be at least three meat dishes?”
“How absurd.”
“I… beg your pardon?”
He had never heard his mother-in-law speak so harshly before.
“A son-in-law who squandered his entire fortune and came crawling to his wife’s family—why should I serve three meat dishes? Eat what’s given to you and be grateful!”
His father-in-law chimed in from the side with a disapproving expression.
“In our family, those who complain about their meals eat in the Servants’ Quarters. Would you like to join them there?”
When he wondered where the Servants’ Quarters were, his wife spoke from beside him.
“It’s where the servants and handmaidens eat. And did you think this was your own home? Just eat quietly!”
“…”
Thus he became mute and had no choice but to simply eat his meal.
Yet even that brought him no peace.
“Eat well, my daughter. You’ve suffered so much because of that useless husband of yours, haven’t you?”
“Mother… I’m so sorry….”
“No. No, you’re not.”
“Ahem! Ahem!”
The First Brother-in-law spoke to him as he cleared his throat.
“Brother-in-law, if you’re finished eating, you can get up now, can’t you?”
He hadn’t even lifted his chopsticks five times. Yet the situation was unfolding in an awkward direction.
“Already finished? So soon? Won’t you eat more?”
“Then I’ll go sweep the courtyard.”
“What? That’s work the servants should do….”
The Second Brother-in-law responded to his words.
“Unless you do such things, how could you have any shame about remaining in this household?”
At this cold treatment, Hae-chul bristled without thinking.
“What! You dare speak to me this way? After living well off the money I’ve provided all this time!”
“Don’t be mistaken.”
His wife spoke sharply from beside him.
“Our family was always well-to-do.”
Hae-chul was left speechless.
She was right—her family had always lived comfortably.
But Hae-chul had seduced her by posing as the son of a wealthy man, and eventually a child was born between them.
The two were forced into marriage, and naturally, Hae-chul’s true circumstances were exposed in the process.
Her family was appalled, but ultimately supported their precious daughter financially—covering not only the wedding expenses but all subsequent living costs.
When his sister arrived with her son, her family, hearing of the situation, even extended financial support to his sister’s household out of pity.
But when Hae-chul’s Sister became a concubine of Song Merchant House and suddenly became wealthy, she forgot everything her wife’s family had done for her and treated them with contempt.
“Don’t you remember what our family did for you when we were poor? I was ashamed watching how arrogant you became after becoming rich. And when you give money, how much do you boast about it? Have you given us more than what our parents gave you?”
At these words, Hae-chul could only fumble for an answer.
“I, I was never arrogant….”
“See? You don’t even remember!”
She spoke coldly to Hae-chul.
“Stop wasting food and go sweep the courtyard.”
“My son… your father is being treated this way….”
At his words, his son quickly glanced at his mother’s expression before speaking.
“Grandfather, Grandmother, from today onward I intend to study diligently and restore our family’s honor.”
“What a fine grandson we have….”
In this house, Hae-chul had no allies.

Recalling what had happened that morning, Hae-chul sighed again and stepped out into the courtyard.
It had been a long time since Hae-chul had wielded a broom.
After roughly ten years without holding one, the nostalgia felt….
‘Nostalgia my foot!’
Having barely eaten breakfast, I was both hungry and miserable.
But there was no time to wallow in self-pity.
“Hae, once you’ve finished sweeping the courtyard, clean out the stable for me.”
“….”
“If you don’t like it, you can leave.”
“Ah, no. I’ll do it.”
Hae-chul trudged reluctantly toward the stable.
True to the bride’s family home’s affluence, they kept two horses.
Upon arriving at the stable, the servant who managed it handed him a pitchfork and spoke.
“You load the horse manure onto the cart with this. Then stack it in the compost storage.”
“….”
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to. I’ll tell the master….”
“No, when did I say I didn’t want to?”
He quickly took the pitchfork and entered the stable.
“Ugh….”
A wave of revulsion washed over me unbidden.
He shoveled the manure into the cart using the pitchfork and other farm tools, grinding his teeth inwardly.
He loaded horse manure onto a cart using a pitchfork and other farm tools, grinding his teeth inwardly.
‘The elixir I consumed was supposed to show effects after a month! That’s right! Once I gain inner strength, just wait and see! I’ll make every member of this household beg before me!’
After finishing the manure, he followed the servant toward the compost storage.
Upon arriving there, he tilted his head in confusion.
Piles of something familiar were stacked like mountains.
He picked some up, brought it to his nose, and sniffed.
‘This, this is an elixir, isn’t it? That smell and texture! It must be the elixir I consumed!’
At that moment, the servant looked at him with a puzzled expression and asked.
“Have you lost your mind? Why are you suddenly smelling horse manure? How filthy.”
“Huh? Horse manure? This is an elixir….”
“What elixir? It’s just dried horse manure.”
“Huh?”
Seeing his continued confusion, the servant explained.
“When that wet manure dries, it becomes like that.”
“But it doesn’t smell that foul?”
“Dried manure doesn’t smell.”
“….”
Only then did it begin to dawn on him that something was terribly wrong.
‘Ji-sang gave me that, saying it was an errand from him, but…?’
After much deliberation, he placed horse dung into his mouth.
Crunch, crunch….
The servant watched with an expression that screamed ‘he’s finally lost it,’ but Hae-chul remained deadly serious.
“Hmm….”
The taste was identical.
‘No, no! This can’t be right!’
He bolted from that place and rushed into a Martial Hall in his wife’s hometown village.
From what he knew, the School Master of that hall had consumed an elixir and become a supreme master at his peak.
He could resolve his doubts.
“Where have you come from?”
“I, I have a question! I consumed an elixir—one that supposedly grants inner strength even to those untrained in martial arts. Can you verify whether I truly consumed a genuine elixir?”
“Ah, please wait a moment.”
The Martial Hall’s disciple summoned the School Master, who listened to Hae-chul’s entire account.
“Hmm… that’s not an elixir.”
“What? It’s not? That can’t be!”
“First, one must never consume an elixir carelessly. Especially an elixir potent enough to grant inner strength to ordinary people—it’s extraordinarily dangerous. Even martial artists seek out masters to guide their qi circulation when consuming elixirs. For a commoner, it’s unthinkable. Without a supreme master guiding your qi beside you, every blood vessel in your body would rupture and you’d die on the spot.”
“But didn’t you consume an elixir on the mountain and become a master?”
“I was truly blessed by heaven’s fortune. I had to endure unimaginable agony to accept that elixir’s power. Had I lost consciousness, I would have died right there.”
He continued speaking.
“The suffering was so intense I’d think it better not to consume an elixir at all. How much pain did you experience?”
“I, I just had a slight stomachache.”
“Then it seems you merely had indigestion from eating something you shouldn’t have. If you’d truly consumed an elixir, the pain would be far greater than that.”
“Then, what did I consume?”
“It’s counterfeit. You’ve been deceived.”
At those words, he collapsed to the ground.
Only then did he grasp everything.
What he’d consumed was merely horse dung.
“Aaaaaargh!”
He unleashed a furious roar.
‘Ji-sang, you bastard! I’ll kill you!’
As he rushed forward consumed by rage, he suddenly stopped.
Something felt wrong.
‘Hmm….’
Why would someone other than Ji-sang have given this to him?
The pouch containing it was made from cloth used to craft monk’s robes.
If that were the case….
‘Shaolin Temple already knew! They knew I had instructed Ji-sang to do this!’
In other words, it was a warning.
Shaolin Temple didn’t carelessly violate the precepts of life, so they’d merely issued this warning. Had it been another martial family, his life would already be forfeit.
‘Now that I think about it….’
I recalled the tracking incense I had consumed. The kind that allowed me to be found wherever I went.
So that too had been a means of surveillance.
It was a misunderstanding, but the results of that misunderstanding proved far more effective than Eun Seo-ho had anticipated.
Hae-chul made his decision.
He would never go near Shaolin Temple.
Thus, there was only one place left for him to return to.
As he trudged through the deep forest to make his way back to his wife’s hometown village, a giant man approached him.
“Are you Hae-chul Estate Master?”
“That I am.”
Before his answer had even finished, the giant man drove a short blade into his abdomen.
Thud!
“…!”
The giant man whispered into his ear.
“Do you remember the servant you beat to death because he displeased you?”
Since he had beaten more than one or two servants to death, the memory did not come immediately.
But soon a face resembling the giant man before him surfaced in his mind.
“G-Gyeong-eul?”
“Yes, I am Gyeong-eul’s Elder Brother. At last I have avenged my grudge.”
Thud, thud, thud, thud!
He stabbed Hae-chul repeatedly with the short blade, pouring all his resentment into each strike.
“Ugh, ugh….”
“Farewell.”
Thump.
Hae-chul’s body collapsed where it stood.
The giant man poured oil over Hae-chul’s corpse and tossed a fire starter onto it.

* * *

I’m currently in a village below Shaolin Temple.
I’ve received compensation from the Abbot Master, and I was about to leave this place when an unexpected matter arose that required my attention.
I headed toward the Geumsan Money Exchange.
It was to purchase the estate and land that Hae-chul had possessed.
Since the Geumsan Money Exchange didn’t desperately need the property, I was able to acquire the estate and land for thirty thousand taels.
The reason I bought it was because this place is within a stone’s throw of Luoyang.
Currently, I’ve established a favorable relationship with Shaolin Temple.
In such circumstances, it seemed prudent to establish a foothold here and operate from it whenever I had reason to visit Luoyang.
After everything was settled, I realized the estate’s scale and location were perfectly suited.
After concluding the transaction, I spoke to Palgap.
“We’ll need to hire people and get this place organized.”
“Understood, sir.”
Palgap quickly brought people together.
They were those who had worked at the estate before.
The problem was the owner, not the employees.
I spoke to the employees Palgap had gathered.
“Though I’ve purchased this estate, the time I’ll spend here will be extremely limited. However, your monthly wages will never fall behind, and there will be no issues. So I ask that you also maintain your loyalty to me.”
I spoke with a cold expression.
“I do not forgive those who betray their word.”
“….”
I could see tension in the employees’ expressions.
Now I should ease that tension.
“If you maintain that, I will treat you with loyalty and respect.”
As I finished speaking, Palgap clapped his hands.
“Clap clap! Now let’s each get to our tasks!”
They quickly moved to their respective positions and began busily organizing the estate.
Since they were those who had worked at this estate before, everything proceeded smoothly without a hitch.
Palgap approached me and spoke.
“While gathering the people, I heard that the Hae Estate Master was quite harsh with his employees.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. It’s said he even beat to death several servants and handmaidens as examples.”
“Hmph… he was truly wicked.”
Such a person’s end couldn’t have been good.
That was when it happened.
An old servant approached us hesitantly.
“I… have something to tell you.”
“Ah, yes. What is it? Are you perhaps unwell? Shall I call a Physician for you?”
“No, no! It’s not that… Are you the Great Hero known as Seon Hyeop Mi-rang?”
“Cough!”
Why would that title suddenly come up?
But the old servant’s expression was so grave that I responded with equal seriousness.
“I don’t hold myself in such regard, yet I’m honored to be called by such a title.”
He reached into his sleeve and withdrew something, extending it toward me.
“Would you be willing to deliver this to Ji-sang Monk at Shaolin Temple?”
It was a faded and soiled envelope.
“What could this be…?”
“This is… a letter left behind by Ji-sang Monk’s departed mother.”
“What?”

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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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