The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Merchant Group - Chapter 724

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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 724

Chapter 724. Hyerim Sect (1)

As evening meal time arrived, I made my way to the Dining Hall with Seo Hyang.
Upon taking our seats, my Second Sister-in-law arrived first.
“I pay my respects to you, Second Sister-in-law. I trust you have been well?”
“Yes, thanks to your kindness.”
“Young Lady, I greet my elder sister.”
My Second Sister-in-law received Seo Hyang’s greeting with a warm smile.
“How wonderful to see you. Have you been well all this time?”
Since they had grown close as old friends, my Second Sister-in-law was genuinely delighted.
“At last I hear myself called ‘elder sister.’ How delightful.”
Then she turned to look at me and spoke.
“Young Master Seo-ho is truly blessed. Wherever you go, you won’t find another woman as fine as this one in a lifetime.”
“I share that sentiment entirely. Ha ha ha.”
As we exchanged pleasantries, my parents entered the Dining Hall.
Seo Hyang and I rose from our seats at once and offered proper greetings.
“I bow before my Father and Mother.”
“Young Lady bows before Father and Mother.”
My parents received our greetings with contented smiles.
“You must have had a difficult journey.”
Then my Grandfather entered and spoke to us.
“Be seated comfortably.”
“Yes.”
“Thank you.”
Once we were seated, my Mother signaled, and the Handmaidens began bringing out the dishes.
Eun Jung-ho was not present at this gathering.
He had not yet returned from his trading expedition.
According to Palgap, he was expected to arrive in two days.
I sincerely hoped nothing would go wrong this time.
We exchanged news as we dined.
We spoke of how Eun Jung-ho’s family was faring, shared stories of our visit to the Shandong Ak Clan, and discussed word of those who had gone to the Northern Sea, among other matters.
As that conversation drew to a close, I broached a new subject.
“Mother, it seems Seo Hyang will now need a Maidservant of her own.”
“That is true.”
“So I wondered—might you know of a suitable person?”
“Indeed, I happen to know of someone quite fitting.”
The way she spoke as if she had been waiting suggested she had already made preparations.
Phew, I’m glad I asked.
Mother would have been terribly disappointed otherwise.
.
.
.
The next day.
Seo Hyang and I made our way to Mother’s Quarters.
Mother had said she would introduce a maidservant for Seo Hyang.
Mother welcomed us warmly.
“Come in, dear. Would you like some tea?”
“That would be lovely.”
As I sipped the tea Mother had poured, I waited, but there was no one else in the room besides the three of us.
She said she would introduce a maidservant, so why were we alone?
Noticing my confusion, Mother spoke.
“The person I recommend is a daughter of the Hyerim Sect.”
“Pardon?”
I was somewhat taken aback.
The Hyerim Sect was one of the sects established in Chongyang County.
“Though it is a small sect, it has managed to persist steadily all this time, has it not?”
“Indeed, which is precisely why their pride runs deep. For a sect daughter to abandon her dignity and become a maidservant to the Third Son’s wife is no simple matter.”
Mother continued.
“However, it seems misfortune will soon befall the Hyerim Sect.”
So Mother knew as well.
The only way for the Hyerim Sect to survive would be for her to become Seo Hyang’s maidservant.
According to my memories of the previous life, the Hyerim Sect would soon face utter annihilation.
They would become unable to repay the debts they had accumulated.
Even our Eunhae Trading Company had lent them considerable sums, yet they borrowed from disreputable sources as well, which became their undoing.
When the repayment deadline passed and the Hyerim Sect could not pay, the Black-Clad Criminals seized their buildings.
In the process, the Sect Master suffered grave injuries, and he witnessed his eldest son’s death.
His daughter fled but was captured and took her own life.
The Sect Master, having witnessed such tragedy, ultimately threw himself into the river and ended his life.
The sect was annihilated, and all the family members perished—a tragic end.
As I recalled those memories, Mother continued speaking.
“I cannot fathom why they needed so much money, but from what I hear at gatherings, they have now reached their limit. When I saw that daughter before, she truly impressed me, but at this rate, she will be sold to a pleasure house. Is becoming a maidservant not preferable to that?”
“It certainly is.”
Mother looked at Seo Hyang and me.
“Show her kindness. And make her one of your own people.”

We withdrew from Mother’s Quarters.
Seo Hyang spoke with a troubled expression.
“I feel sorry about deliberately doing her a favor so she becomes my maidservant.”
“Does it weigh on your mind?”
“Yes. It feels like I’m exploiting the situation for my purposes.”
“Though it sounds callous, there are many in this world who fade away without ever receiving such an opportunity.”
In my previous life, the Hyerim Sect had been exactly that way.
I continued speaking calmly.
“And if we don’t help the Hyerim Sect, all that awaits them is a miserable death. However, we cannot help them without reason either. Since considerable funds are required, we must gain something in return.”
In this life too, if Mother hadn’t recommended the Hyerim Sect Daughter as Seo Hyang’s maidservant, I would have had no reason to help them.
It may seem heartless, but I cannot spend my own money helping everyone without cause.
Seo Hyang sighed.
“I’m sorry. I’m speaking too ideally. I know well that the world doesn’t work that way.”
“Not at all. The fact that you think that way means you’re a good person.”
I continued, offering her comfort.
“I won’t force a choice. The decision belongs to the Hyerim Sect Master’s daughter.”

First, I needed to learn more about the Hyerim Sect.
The Trading Company was providing substantial support, and thanks to the talented people I’d recruited, our Information Bureau could be said to know all the information in Hubei Province.
I visited the Information Bureau for the first time in a while.
In that bustling place, I saw a familiar face.
“It’s been a long time.”
“Small Guild Master!”
The one greeting me warmly was none other than Heo Un.
A treasure discarded by the Baekcheon Trading Company.
“Do you have a moment?”
“Of course. If it’s a request from the Small Guild Master, I must make time even if I don’t have any.”
He nodded and moved forward using his walking stick.
I’d heard that he used a wheelchair for long distances, but walked with a cane inside the office.
Since he wasn’t completely unable to use his legs, it was to prevent them from becoming stiff.
“Please, sit.”
He offered me a seat at the tea table, and I sat down.
In the meantime, someone from the Information Bureau responsible for tea brought it over.
“I’ve come to request information.”
“What information?”
“I want to know about the Hyerim Sect. Please provide all information related to them.”
“Understood. When would you like it by?”
“The sooner the better, but I’d appreciate it within four days at the latest.”
“Since it’s not far away, I’m confident we can provide it within that timeframe.”
I concluded the business and asked about his recent circumstances.
“How have you been lately?”
He smiled at my question and replied.
“I’ve been living each day with joy. Especially since my abilities prove useful, it’s quite fulfilling.”
His memory—the very thing that had astonished everyone.
That memory had become an invaluable asset to the Information Bureau.
Scattered fragments of information coalesced into something significant, but this required retrieving previous intelligence and fitting the pieces together.
Yet Heo Un’s exceptional memory allowed him to compress that process considerably.
And he brought me another piece of good news.
“You may not be curious, but I have information regarding the Baekcheon Trading Company.”
Not curious? Surely not!
I was always curious about the Baekcheon Trading Company.
“There’s intelligence suggesting the relationship between Namgung Kang, who stepped down from the position of Guild Leader, and Namgung Seok, the new Guild Leader, is deteriorating.”
What? Their relationship has soured?
They were brothers who had supported and pulled each other along in such harmony.
“It appears that Namgung Kang being forced out and Namgung Seok being elevated to the new Guild Leader position became the root of the problem. Having tasted power, Namgung Seok seems to have begun looking down on Namgung Kang.”
Ah…
I understood what this meant.
They say that when a person becomes intoxicated by power, they cease to see what surrounds them.
They even begin to regard those who elevated them to that position as beneath them.
Conversely, if someone you believed you’d installed as a puppet begins to oppose you, you’d resent them all the more.
Thus conflict arises, and that conflict only grows larger.
I had considered such a possibility, but the situation was unfolding far more favorably for me.
I spoke to Heo Un.
“But ultimately, the Former Merchant Lord Namgung Kang will prevail. The current Guild Leader Namgung Seok simply isn’t the caliber to lead such a vast enterprise. And the remaining influence of the Former Merchant Lord Namgung Kang is far from negligible.”
“I share that assessment.”
“Moreover, the current Guild Leader Namgung Seok hasn’t yet grasped the truth—that the real masters of the Baekcheon Trading Company aren’t the Guild Leader, but the Martial Arts World factions who invested capital into it. To them, whether the Guild Leader is Namgung Kang or Namgung Seok matters little. What matters is whether the company generates profit.”
Still, I was curious.
The Baekcheon Trading Company would surely send someone to offer their congratulations.
I wondered who would come.
By my reckoning, the balance of power within the Baekcheon Trading Company would shift depending on who attended my wedding banquet.

* * *

On the mountainside of Chongyang County stood a building.
The faded plaque carved with the name [Hyerim Sect] hung upon it.
Long ago, it had been counted among the three great powers of Chongyang County, but as time passed, its influence waned.
A sudden calamity had befallen Hyerim Sect in ages past, one that proved catastrophically fatal.
The Sect Master of that era had died a violent death without passing the method to open the sect’s Secret Vault to his successor.
Though the Secret Vault was filled with the sect’s precious techniques and valuable treasures, it had become nothing more than a mirage.
Moreover, several dissolute Sect Masters had emerged afterward, accelerating Hyerim Sect’s decline.
By now, only the weathered building and echoes of past glory remained.

Splash, splash, splash, splash!
Thwack, thwack!
At the stream bank near Hyerim Sect.
A young girl was washing clothes there.
Her name was Lim Seok-hwa.
Though she was the Sect Master’s daughter, circumstances had left the sect unable to afford servants, so she washed the clothes herself.
Her elder brother likewise performed menial duties as the Chief Manager.
All the while, he had to cultivate his martial arts.
Her father always spoke as if it were a habit.
That glory would one day return to Hyerim Sect. That his suffering would end the moment he opened the Secret Vault.
‘Sigh, Father. So when exactly will that glory arrive? When will this hardship finally end?’
Thud, thud, thud!
Even as she struck the clothes with a wooden beater, scrubbing away the grime with all her effort, it was far from easy.
If only she had a washboard, the work would be far simpler, but such luxuries were beyond Hyerim Sect’s means.
They could barely afford two meals a day.
The real problem was the debt that continued to accumulate.
Her elder brother earned his keep through copying manuscripts, and she through hired needlework and weaving, yet the Sect Master’s desperate attempts to open the Secret Vault only multiplied their debts.
And just recently, the Red Head Loan House, from which Hyerim Sect had borrowed money, had sent an ultimatum.
If the debt was not repaid within half a month, they would seize the sect’s building and land.
Lim Seok-hwa knew well what the Red Head Loan House was.
A disreputable establishment in Chongyang County, notorious for their ruthless loan-sharking practices.
‘Why did Father have to borrow from such a place….’
In two days, the Red Head Loan House had set the deadline for forcibly settling the debt.
Yet there was no way to obtain the money, and her father desperately continued his efforts to open the Secret Vault.
It was then.
“Oh!”
In the moment she released her grip to swallow back her rising sorrow, the laundry was swept away by the current downstream.
As she moved urgently to retrieve it, a woman from below fished the garment out.
She was a woman with a beauty mark at the corner of her mouth, bearing a slightly cold expression.
“Does this belong to you?”
At her question, Lim Seok-hwa nodded her head.
“Yes, that’s right.”
The woman handed over the laundry to Lim Seok-hwa.
Now that I looked more closely, there was a man standing beside her.
A man with an exceptionally handsome and refined face.
The moment Lim Seok-hwa saw him, she recognized who he was. There wasn’t a soul in Chongyang County who wouldn’t know his identity.
He was the Third Sub-unit Leader of the Eun Hae Trading Company, Eun Seo-ho.
“Ah! I greet you, Sub-unit Leader.”
“You know who I am. It’s a pleasure. Might you be the young lady Lim Seok-hwa from the Hyerim Sect?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Then you’ve found your way here well.”
“Pardon?”
At this, she widened her eyes and asked.
“You were looking for me?”
“Indeed.”

* * *

I observed the young girl before me.
Sixteen years old this year.
While other girls her age were preoccupied with adorning themselves, she wore a patched dress and was doing laundry.
Who would ever think her the precious jewel of a sect?
I had already learned of the Hyerim Sect’s circumstances through the Information Bureau’s reports.
Including the fact that they had borrowed money from the Red Head Loan House, those notorious loan sharks.
“I heard the Red Head Loan House will come calling in two days.”
At my words, she flinched slightly, but soon composed herself and asked.
“How did you know that?”
“Is there anything that happens in Hubei Province, much less in Chongyang County, that the Eun Hae Trading Company would not know of?”
“That was a foolish question on my part.”
She shook her head and asked.
“So then, what business do you have with me that you would bring up such a matter?”
In truth, I had deliberately raised the subject first. I was curious to see how she would react.
Her spirit should have been broken, yet her gaze remained resolute.
Both her clarity of spirit and her bearing were unwavering.
For now, she passes.

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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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