The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Merchant Group - Chapter 498

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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 498

Chapter 498. White Dew Liquor (2)

I couldn’t help but be startled by Dong Hyuk-su’s sudden action.
I never would have imagined he’d throw an axe at the door.
Wait, when did he even get that axe?
And that axe struck precisely at the door’s lock, shattering the mechanism.
“What in the world are you doing?”
The warriors’ expressions turned menacing upon realizing what had happened.
But Dong Hyuk-su paid them no mind and shouted into the room.
“Hey! You bastard! Get out here right now!”
“We cannot allow you to act so recklessly.”
“If you persist, we will use force.”
Dong Hyuk-su grappled with the two warriors while signaling me with his eyes.
I nodded and immediately rushed toward the door.
“No, you cannot!”
The two warriors tried to stop me, but Dong Hyuk-su blocked their path.
As I opened the door and entered, I saw Young Gu-jin Master tied to a chair.
“Young Gu-jin Master!”
“S-Small Guild Master!”
“Are you alright?”
“Yes.”
I quickly cut through the ropes binding him and helped him out.
Dong Hyuk-su was still locked in confrontation with the two warriors.
“Stop!”
….
Upon seeing Young Gu-jin Master, the warriors’ faces fell in dismay.
Dong Hyuk-su turned back and grinned widely as he spoke.
“Hey! You were alive?”
“I don’t die that easily.”
Young Gu-jin Master chuckled and picked up the axe that had fallen to the ground.
“Did you throw this?”
“Yeah. So?”
“Thank you.”
Just then, a man appeared leading more warriors, drawn by the commotion.
“What is this disturbance….”
He trailed off, having caught sight of Young Gu-jin Master standing beside me.
In that instant, he quickly changed his expression and spoke.
“Gu Jin, what is the meaning of this? Bringing an axe and causing such a disturbance!”
I was about to say something to him as he tried to drive Young Gu-jin Master away.
But Dong Hyuk-su the Great Hero was faster than me.
“It has been a long time, Elder Brother.”
“You are….”
“And please do not accuse an innocent man. That axe is mine, which I brought myself. I brought it to rescue my old friend whom you have imprisoned.”
“Imprisoned? What are you talking about?”
“Why not look at the marks remaining on this man’s arms and then speak?”
As he said, clear traces of bindings remained on Young Master-in-law’s arms.
“Now that I think about it, I heard that Gu Man Elder Brother is away on business, so you took this opportunity to commit such an act? In any case, I will not let this matter pass.”
“This is a family matter of the Seonju Yeongga Family. No matter how close you are to Gu Jin, you cannot interfere in the internal affairs of the main house.”
How cowardly, drawing a line by calling it a family matter.
If this continues, our room to intervene disappears.
But Dong Hyuk-su the Great Hero was not the type to yield to such things.
“So the Seonju Yeongga Family is a clan that binds and confines its own brothers? When I met Spring Commander before, he spoke with great pride about his family, yet he never mentioned such customs.”
Wow!
Well done! Excellent!
I wanted to applaud him inwardly.
“Gu Jin has committed a crime against the family! Therefore….”
“Ha! This is truly outrageous, Elder Brother! How many more lies must you tell before you are satisfied? That I committed a crime? What crime exactly have I committed?”
“The crime of bringing shame upon the family’s honor.”
Dong Hyuk-su the Great Hero wore an expression of disbelief.
“You say this man brought shame upon the family’s honor because he engages in brewing liquor?”
“That is correct!”
Sigh… This will not do.
I stepped forward and spoke.
“This is our first meeting. I am Eun Seo-ho, the Small Guild Master of the Eun Hae Trading Company.”
“A mere merchant has no place to interfere here!”
“On the contrary, I have every right. I have come representing the trading company that sponsors Young Gu-jin Master.”
“….”
“Young Gu-jin Master, whom our Eun Hae Trading Company has been supporting diligently, has gone missing just before the Evaluation Competition, causing us considerable difficulty.”
I lowered my voice and continued.
“However, I have discovered that you are detaining Young Gu-jin Master. So to whom should I direct my claim for compensation for this loss?”
“That is….”
“Shall I report this to the Crown Prince, who oversees this liquor tasting competition, and have the matter investigated?”
At my words, he stepped back with a troubled expression.
“So would it not be best to conclude this matter here? If this affair becomes known, what good would come of it?”
“Ugh….”
I spoke to Young Gu-jin Master and Dong Hyuk-su the Great Hero.
“Let’s go.”
And so we managed to leave that residence safely.
“Are you alright?”
When we arrived at the Beijing Branch, Eun Jung-ho came to greet us.
“Yes, thanks to you, I’m fine.”
“I’m truly relieved.”
I spoke to Eun Jung-ho.
“Elder Brother, just to be safe, please focus more on security.”
“Understood.”
Eun Jung-ho nodded.
With him in charge, I didn’t need to worry about the Beijing Branch’s security. He was that thorough of a person.
The only exception was when he occasionally spouted nonsense.
Still, I preferred Eun Jung-ho as he was now. The Eun Jung-ho who would later become the External Chief Manager grew far more serious than Go Il-pyeong, which made him less entertaining.
I spoke to Young Gu Jin Master.
“Then let us have a conversation.”
“Yes.”

I led Young Gu Jin Master and Dong Hyuk-su to the Guest Reception Room.
As we took our seats, Palgap poured tea for us.
“Please, this is a tea that calms both body and mind.”
“Ah, thank you.”
We spent some time sipping tea and settling our nerves.
Conversations conducted in an agitated state rarely proceed in the right direction.
Mm, this tea tastes good.
Palgap’s skill in brewing tea improves with each passing day.
Once I felt the excitement had subsided somewhat, I asked Young Gu Jin Master.
“Who was that person from earlier?”
“Ah… Young Gu-sang. He’s my second elder brother.”
Dong Dae-hyeop added from beside him, furrowing his brow.
“He’s an elder brother I really can’t stand. Always resorting to shallow schemes….”
“It’s probably his own survival strategy.”
To seize what he desires. Typically, the second son of a family tends to have a stronger enterprising nature.
Mm, Eun Jung-ho was….

“Seo-ho. I too believe the position of Merchant Guild Leader belongs to Eun Jung-ho. For me, protecting this trading company is my pride.”

That’s true—you can’t generalize everything.
And regardless of ambition or drive, it’s wrong to seize what you want at the expense of harming others.
“So, why exactly did you detain Young Gu-jin?”
“I’d rather not say frankly, but it wouldn’t be proper courtesy toward my patron.”
He sighed and continued.
“I hope what I’m about to say remains within these walls.”
“Understood. I’ll keep it confidential.”
“They told me to marry.”
“Marry… is that what they said?”
“Yes.”
He nodded.
“The Minister of War’s household has a daughter, and I hear she suffers from violent episodes. But you can’t just marry her off to any man—there’s the matter of family status, after all.”
“So you wanted to make Young Gu-jin the Minister of War’s son-in-law and gain benefits through those connections.”
“Yes.”
“You bastard!”
Dong Hyuk-su erupted in fury.
Even I, a third party, felt rage boiling up—how much more so for him, a childhood friend.
Speaking of the Minister of War’s daughter and her violent episodes…
Actually, I know about this too.
In my previous life, while trying to prevent her episodes, her husband died, and I learned of it during the trial that followed.
He was acquitted of murder.
The verdict was that it resulted from an accident.
But since the Minister of War’s side had provided the cause, they had to pay massive compensation to the groom’s family.
And a few years later, she was cured of her violent episodes.
A Moshan Sect Taoist treated her, they say.
That accident is still years away, and since it had no direct connection to me, I hadn’t given it thought.
No matter how much I’ve turned back time, I can’t save everyone in this world.
I have to accept my own limitations.
Besides, my goal is to make the Eun Hae Trading Company the greatest merchant guild under heaven and take revenge on the Murim Alliance and Baekcheon Trading Company.
Sigh.
I wiped my face dry.
But now the situation has changed.
Young Gu-jin could become a victim of that incident.
Now that he’s become someone connected to me, I can’t pretend not to know about this.
As for her violent episodes…
Her condition is that whenever it rains, she harms herself.
It wasn’t always like that—apparently it started suddenly one day.
The fact that a Moshan Sect Taoist, not a physician, cured her means it’s not a disease.
But I’ll have to look into that matter later.
There are more urgent things to handle right now.
I spoke to Young Gu Jin Master.
“Though an unfortunate incident occurred, I hope you’ll do your very best tomorrow.”
“Of course.”

* * *

Young Gu-sang ground his teeth.
His plan had fallen to pieces.
Dong Hyuk-su.
That childhood friend of my youngest brother had never sat well with him.
Perhaps it was because he resembled himself while being nothing like himself.
Fiery and reckless on the surface, yet in truth, the man possessed a sharp mind.
Most people simply didn’t realize it.
Moreover, he was the eldest son of the Guizhou Provincial Governor.
A man not easily touched by his hand.
Thus, his hatred naturally burned toward Eun Seo-ho, who stood beside him.
“How dare a lowly merchant interfere with me?”
He ground his teeth, pondering how to make Eun Seo-ho eat his words.
And he took note of the fact that Eun Seo-ho was a merchant.
For merchants, the most troublesome entity was the Ministry of Household Affairs, which had direct dealings with them.

The next day, he entered the Imperial Palace and headed straight for the Ministry of Household Affairs.
“What brings a martial artist here?”
“I’ve come to report information I’ve learned regarding irregularities at a merchant guild.”
“What? Which place?”
“The Eun Hae Trading Company. I witnessed their Small Guild Master Eun Seo-ho accepting bribes.”
Merchant guilds inevitably engaged in bribery.
Thus his accusation was false yet not false.
Soon they would dispatch officials to the Eun Hae Trading Company.
Once the Ministry’s officials tore through the place, each day would become torment.
While entertaining such pleasant fantasies, something about the situation felt amiss.
“Is your report genuine?”
“Of course.”
“Then write down in detail when and where Small Guild Master Eun received the bribe, and from whom, and how you came to know of it.”
“Pardon?”
“To move against Small Guild Master Eun Seo-ho, we need precise evidence—extremely precise evidence.”
The Ministry official continued.
“That’s why we have a saying in our Ministry: when dealing with the Eun Hae Trading Company, prepare a hundredfold more than usual. Otherwise, we’ll be the ones who suffer.”
“….”
“Hmph, a place famous for refusing bribes has accepted them! Yes, this is a grave matter indeed. What are you doing? Write it down at once!”
Young Gu-sang broke out in a cold sweat.
If he wrote false testimony, it would become an inescapable trap that would land him in prison.
Moreover, the crime of false accusation was considered quite serious.
“Truth be told, I don’t remember it very well… I’m, I’m sorry.”
He fled from the Ministry of Household Affairs like a man escaping a burning building.
“Damn it!”
He couldn’t retreat just because his first plan had failed.
The second place that came to mind was the Geumui Guard.
Since he had worked in the Ministry of War for a long time, he had connections with people in the Geumui Guard as well.
People often transferred from the Ministry of War to the Geumui Guard.
They possessed formidable authority—they could arrest and interrogate suspects even without detailed circumstantial evidence.
‘There’s a risk that Father or my brothers might hear about this, but there’s no more certain way to make that merchant bastard suffer than this.’
Young Gu-sang approached a Gold Guard Officer who had been his old friend, and he informed him about Eun Seo-ho.
“I heard that man making remarks that suggest he harbors treasonous thoughts toward His Majesty the Emperor.”
“What?”
“So you should arrest him right away….”
“You bastard! Where do you get off making such accusations about that man?”
“Huh? W-what?”
“That man is our Geumui Guard’s benefactor! There is not a single member of our Geumui Guard who hasn’t received his kindness! His loyalty is something we all acknowledge! Not only that, but he is someone favored by His Majesty the Emperor!”
Faced with this completely unexpected response, he stood bewildered, and his old friend spoke to him coldly.
“If you slander that man like this one more time, you’ll die by my hand! And I’m warning you—if you touch that man, you’ll die at the hands of our Geumui Guard, and your family will be scattered to the winds by His Majesty the Emperor!”
“….”
“Ugh! To think I called such a man my friend!”
With that, he turned and left.
Only then did Young Gu-sang grasp the situation.
The lowly merchant he had tried to take revenge on was absolutely not a lowly merchant.
‘Damn it! I’m screwed!’
As he stood there in agitation, a man approached him.
“Oh? You were here!”
It was his elder brother, Young Gu-man.
“B-brother, when did you return?”
“Just now. I heard our youngest was participating in the liquor tasting competition today, so I hurried back.”
He continued with a smile.
“Our youngest is finally making achievements! Hahaha! It may be brewing liquor, but standing before His Majesty is a great accomplishment! What are you doing? Let’s go watch.”
“….”
The organizers of this evaluation competition were the Qingshui Trading Company and the Eunhae Trading Company.
Surely Eun Seo-ho, the Small Guild Master of the Eunhae Trading Company, would be there.
And Dong Hyuk-su would be there as well.
Young Gu-sang truly, desperately, earnestly did not want to go there.

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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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