The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Merchant Group - Chapter 487

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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 487

Chapter 487. Mingming Trading Company (4)

In response to my question, Young Master Yu Jin replied with a troubled expression.
“What do you mean, sir?”
“Pardon?”
“I’m not sure which of the things I saw were things I shouldn’t have seen.”
“Ah….”
Even if Young Master Yu Jin seemed precocious, he was only ten years old.
At his age, it was still difficult for him to judge which of the things he’d witnessed were things he shouldn’t have seen.
They couldn’t possibly be unaware of that.
If that were the case, what they were wary of now was something that even a ten-year-old child would find suspicious enough to mention to his parents or others.
I smiled and spoke.
“Just tell me about anything from recently that left a particularly strong impression on you, or something that seemed strange or interesting.”
At my words, Young Master Yu Jin furrowed his brow in thought, but he didn’t seem to remember well.
Was he about to cry?
As someone with no interest in making children cry, this was troublesome.
It seemed he had instinctively buried the memory upon sensing danger.
But was it right to unearth that memory?
Yet letting this pass without addressing it was even more dangerous.
Then, a thought crossed my mind.
They said he saw something he shouldn’t have seen.
That meant I should focus on vision—not touch, smell, or hearing.
Human memory is better than one might think.
Thus, if something serves as a trigger, related memories surface.
Even buried ones.
And the sense most sensitive to visual stimuli is color.
“Please wait a moment.”
I left the Separate Pavilion. Uncle was just approaching it.
“Ah, Uncle!”
“Yes, are the young master and Eun Jung-ho well?”
“Yes, everyone is safe.”
“Thank goodness. The Merchant Guild Leader of Mingming Trading Company has returned to the company.”
It seemed Uncle had seen off the Merchant Guild Leader.
“And he said you should hear the detailed circumstances from him.”
“The situation must be quite urgent.”
The Merchant Guild Leader’s words to Uncle suggested he understood that this was not a situation where the company’s secrets could be hidden.
An assassin had infiltrated another merchant guild and targeted my grandson, so I mobilized the guild’s warriors to prevent it. It’s impossible to hide such a matter, and it would be disrespectful to the other party.
Concealing it would be impossible, and it wouldn’t be proper courtesy either.
“Actually….”
I explained the entire situation to my Uncle.
“What! How could such a thing happen!”
At my explanation, my Uncle sighed deeply. It was certainly a matter worthy of such a reaction.
“Uncle, I have one request to ask of you.”
“A request?”
“Would it be possible to borrow silk samples for a brief time?”

I borrowed silk samples from my Uncle’s study.
Various colors and textures of silk cut into small pieces, numbered sequentially, and bound together like a booklet.
Using this, one could place orders for whatever quantity was needed.
As I entered the separate pavilion, Young Master Yu Jin hung his head with a dejected expression.
“I’m sorry. No matter how hard I think, I can’t quite remember.”
“It’s fine. That’s why I brought this with me.”
I placed the silk samples on the chamber bed and spoke.
“When you see the colors of these silks, memories related to those colors should come to mind. Shall we begin?”
“Yes.”
I slowly turned through the silk samples while conversing with Young Master Yu Jin.
Blue….
“Many people in Beijing wore clothes of this color.”
“This color is quite fashionable.”
“This green….”
“It’s also called jade green.”
“Mother’s hair ornament is this color too.”
In this way, I eased Young Master Yu Jin’s tension and gradually unlocked his memories.
As several colors passed by, no particularly significant story had emerged yet.
Finally, red.
Not the bright red that women preferred, but a slightly murky shade of red.
Should I call it blood-red?
Young Master Yu Jin’s face stiffened at the sight of it. There was something here!
“This color… I’ve seen this color before.”
He explained slowly.
“When I went to Beijing with my parents this time, I was bored, so I pestered my nursemaid to play hide-and-seek. I was hiding in a secluded corner of the residence when a man came to that place. Then a woman approached, and they spoke together.”
There was nothing particularly unusual up to this point.
In a large residence, it wasn’t uncommon for men and women to share intimate moments in secluded places.
“Then the woman turned her head and looked directly at where I was hiding. So our eyes met.”
“Oh my!”
“But… that woman’s eyes….”
Young Master Yu Jin pointed to the blood-red silk sample I had laid out and spoke.
“Her eyes changed to this color.”
What?
Young Master Yu Jin continued.
“I was startled and got caught… When that man shouted asking who I was, I came out… but back then, the Woman with Red Eyes’ eyes weren’t this color.”
“I see.”
That was precisely what Young Master Yu Jin should not have witnessed.
“Wait, but why didn’t I remember this until now?”
“Because you were frightened.”
I gently stroked Young Master Yu Jin’s head.
“Because you were afraid, your subconscious buried it deep within you.”
“….”
Tears streamed down Young Master Yu Jin’s cheeks at my words.
“Y-yes, I was terrified. I thought she would tear me to pieces.”
I truly had no interest in making children cry.
But right now, letting Young Master Yu Jin cry was the right answer.
Such memories never truly fade, no matter how deeply they’re buried.
It was better to resolve the problem now than to face complications later.
So how could I resolve it?
The method was simple.
I needed to transform that frightening experience into something good or something meaningless.
“Thank you. Thanks to your memory, I was able to protect the Mingming Trading Company.”
I continued.
“You said you saw that woman at the Beijing residence, correct?”
“Actually, I know who that woman is.”
“You know who she is?”
“Yes. She’s Uncle Jun-min’s maidservant.”
“…What?”
“And I heard people talking about it. They said she’s going to become Uncle Jun-min’s concubine.”
I recalled memories from my previous life.
Back then, Sung Jun-min, who was the Sub-leader of the Mingming Trading Company, inherited the position of Merchant Guild Leader, and he had a legitimate wife.
But shortly after, his legitimate wife died, and the former maidservant who had been his concubine became his new legitimate wife.
Hmm, regardless, her eyes turned red and then returned to normal…
For some reason, something felt distinctly wrong about this.
From their perspective, they had reason to kill Yu Jin.
But this was absolutely not about sympathizing with them. Regardless of their reasons, killing an innocent child for their own purposes was unforgivable.
It was a sin deserving of divine punishment.

I came to a halt as I returned to my quarters.
Seo Hyang was asleep with her arms folded on the wide wooden table.
Looking at the time, it was already the end of the Ox Hour—between one and three in the morning.
She should have been deep in sleep, yet she had dozed off here waiting for me.
Sleeping like that would leave her entire body aching come morning.
I pulled back the quilts from my chamber bed and lifted her into my arms, laying her down gently.
Then I draped the blankets over her.
I could have moved her to her own quarters, but winter had made the air outside considerably colder than usual.
I didn’t want to wake her from her sleep.
I had always been grateful to her.
Without her assistance, someone could have died or been gravely injured during all this.
This situation was no exception.
The thought struck me that perhaps Heaven itself had a purpose for me, given that she—possessing the Ice Crystal Eyes that glimpse the future—remained at my side.
Was saving her Heaven’s will?
Or was completing my revenge with her aid Heaven’s design?
Perhaps it was both.
I turned in bed and sat in the chair by the wooden table, recalling what Young Master Yu Jin had told me.
That woman whose eyes had turned as crimson as blood…
I would need to ask my Master about this.
It was clear that woman had approached Sung Jun-min with intent to cause trouble.
Which raised one question.
Was that woman giving orders to Sung Jun-min, or were they cooperating?
Either way, Sung Jun-min being interrogated by the Merchant Guild Leader would hardly be a favorable situation for her.
She would take one of two actions: either save Sung Jun-min or kill him to silence him.
From my assessment, the latter seemed far more likely.
The faint aura of the Black Path I had sensed when rescuing Seong Cheong-min Sub-leader was a sleep toxin.
A particularly vicious one designed to weaken the will.
I had encountered similar substances before, and every single time, the Murim Alliance had been involved.
If they went so far as to provide such things to make Sung Jun-min the Guild Leader, then conversely, if he were cast out from the Mingming Trading Company, he would lose his value to them.
Would those who ordered the massacre of an entire family really leave Sung Jun-min—who knew so much about them—alive?
Not a chance.
Which meant that if I moved now, I could catch their tail.
I rose from my seat.
Well, I’ve managed to stay awake through another night.
The reason I could endure these sleepless nights was thanks to my Master knocking me unconscious and letting me rest deeply not long ago.
Not that I wanted to admit it.
Suddenly, I froze.
Wait—if that woman with the crimson eyes is connected to the Murim Alliance, then…

* * *

Sung Jun-min, the Merchant Guild Leader’s fourth son, had been dragged into the Mingming Trading Company’s prison.
He had been sleeping peacefully, but the sudden turn of events left him bewildered. Yet he quickly regained his composure and spoke sharply.
“You bastards! What in the world are you doing right now?”
“We are merely following the Merchant Guild Leader’s orders.”
“What? Father would never do such a thing!”
He protested while gripping the iron bars of his cell, but the warriors who had brought him here departed, and the guards on watch simply ignored his words.
Then, a voice came from beside him.
“It appears Yeom Cheon has confessed to everything.”
The voice was mangled and broken, yet somehow familiar.
Turning his head, he saw Song Pyeong—the man he had sent to kill his nephew Sung Yu-jin and his brother Seong Cheong-min, only to fail. His former Guard Warrior.
His former Guard Warrior.
With both hands bound to the prison wall, Song Pyeong spoke toward Sung Jun-min.
“Yeom Cheon was dragged away to the torture chamber just now.”
“What? Yeom Cheon? This makes no sense… There’s no one Yeom Cheon couldn’t kill…”
Yeom Cheon was a supreme master sent by those who supported him.
I had sent him precisely because I believed no warrior of a higher realm existed.
To surpass him would require either a transcendent master or someone at the Hwagyeong level—and such a person could never be stationed at a mere branch of the Eunhae Trading Company, not at the main headquarters itself.
In any case, Yeom Cheon’s failure meant he had not succeeded in killing Sung Yu-jin.
Fury welled up within him, and he bellowed at Song Pyeong.
“Damn it! This is all because of you! If you hadn’t failed! If you’d at least succeeded the first time!”
Even as he listened to this venomous resentment, Song Pyeong merely gazed at him with a bitter expression.
When had it started? When had his lord become such a man?
“But Father believed in me. Even though you accused me, Father believed in my innocence. And this time too, Father will believe in me. Yes! Father! Father!”
Song Pyeong watched Sung Jun-min cry out so desperately with a bitter expression on his face.
Despite enduring all manner of agonizing torture, he himself had never revealed who was behind it all. Yet how could this man be so certain?
Then it happened.
Thump.
The guards on watch suddenly collapsed as if their legs had given way. From the darkness emerged a woman dressed as a maidservant.
Sung Jun-min’s face brightened at the sight of her.
“Hwang Min! Is that you, Hwang Min?”
“Yes. Seong-rang.”
“How did you get here?”
“The husband I adore is imprisoned here. How could I do nothing?”
She cradled his face in her hands as she spoke.
“Look how gaunt your face has become. Goodness…”
“Min…”
“We must escape now. Your brother is trying to kill you. But your father is on your side, so if you hide for a while, everything will return to its proper place.”
“That would be ideal.”
A key emerged from the sleeve of the woman called Hwang Min, and she used it to unlock the door to the Prison.
Seeing this, Song Pyeong furrowed his brow and cried out.
“No matter how I look at it, something’s wrong. Hwang Min! What is your true identity?”
“Pardon?”
“You are absolutely not an ordinary maidservant! And ever since you appeared, my lord has been changing.”
“What are you talking about?”
“That’s right, Song Pyeong! Shut your mouth! Hwang Min is a good woman!”
“Seong-rang, please follow me at once!”
Song Pyeong shook his head violently and cried out.
“You must not follow her, my lord!”
But ignoring that desperate voice, Sung Jun-min followed Hwang Min out of the Prison.
All those guarding the entrance to the Prison lay unconscious.
Perhaps it was because the air felt colder than usual.
As Sung Jun-min emerged from the Prison, he felt his mind gradually becoming clearer.
‘What?’
In that moment, it was as if he had awakened from a dream. And he sensed that something was amiss.
Hwang Min was an ordinary maidservant.
How could she have defeated all those warriors?
More than that, it was stranger still that he had harbored no suspicion of her whatsoever.
And….
As he recalled the things he had done until now, chills ran down his spine.
‘Did I… did I really do such things?’
Hwang Min turned back to him as he stopped in his tracks, urging him on.
“Seong-rang! There’s no time. Come quickly.”
“Min.”
“Yes?”
“Who… who are you? And what have you made me do?”
“What do you mean? I only did this for you, the one I adore….”
“Who are you?”

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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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