Chapter 11
The Youngest Son of the Silver Sea Trading Company Chapter 11
Chapter 11. Continuing the Connection (2)
If that is the case, it is highly likely that Baek Lu-ju's sudden death was not an accident but murder.
If so, why did they put so much effort into Hwaryeongru?
After thinking for a moment, the answer came quickly.
This place is one of the five major brothels in Hubei Province.
Basically, it is a place where many people come and go.
And because there are many talented courtesans, people who are wealthy and want to show off their education often visit, making it the perfect place to gather information about them.
It is also perfect for spreading rumors and recruiting them.
In other words, this place was planned to be a secret branch of the Martial Alliance.
In the future I had experienced, there was a reason why the wealthy people of Hubei Province were strangely friendly toward the Martial Alliance and the Baekcheon Trading Company.
I had been secretly recruited by them here.
I barely managed to suppress a laugh.
I had prevented this place from becoming a secret branch of the Martial Alliance.
At the same time, I felt a chill run down my spine.
All I did was prevent a fire at Jae-kyung's house, which would have caused great damage to the Silver Sea Trading Company.
Thanks to that, the documents in the archive were not destroyed, so there would be no loss of money.
Ah, Jae-kyung survived, and his family is safe.
The members of the Yeochang Branch saved their lives.
The person who was supposed to be on duty today is also safe, and In-soo, who was going to resign out of guilt, will now be able to have a happy family.
To be honest, that was all I thought about.
However, the consequences of my actions to prevent the fire have been twisted beyond recognition.
I don't know how far the consequences of my actions will go.
But one thing was certain.
It was not a good direction for the Martial Alliance and the Baekcheon Trading Company.
That satisfied me.
“Young master?”
A voice interrupted my thoughts.
The bodyguard who had followed me was looking at me with a puzzled look.
“I'm sorry. Let's go back.”
“Yes.”
We returned to the office and reported what I had found to my father.
“And there was a strange pattern on the wall. It was a pattern of clouds and peach blossoms, which must be the symbol of a group that wants to deceive the world.”
Baek Lu-joo was shocked by my words and shouted.
“That's nonsense! That's just the symbol of the Dao Trading Company!”
“The Dao Trading Company?”
I pretended not to know.
“...”
My father's eyes turned cold.
“The Dao Trading Company... You mean the trading company.”
My father looked at Baek Lu-ju.
“If you want mercy, you know you have to pay the price, yet you still refuse to speak?”
“That's...”
Baek Lu-ju hesitated, but under continued pressure, he finally confessed everything.
“...That's how it happened. I don't know anything about them! I just accepted their offer because they asked me to!”
“Tsk, tsk.”
His father clicked his tongue at his words.
It must have been frustrating to have someone as short-sighted as Roo-joo.
Soon, his father gave instructions to Chief Administrator Go.
“Hand him over to the authorities.”
“Yes, sir.”
Now that they had obtained Hwaryeonru, the question was how to run it.
“But I wonder if we should keep Hwaryeonru.”
Chief administrator Yoo nodded at my father's words as he looked at the accounting books.
“Should we put it up for sale?”
“No, we can't do that!”
My urgent cry startled the two men, and they looked at me in surprise.
“Why not?”
“I'm sorry. It's just that…”
I trailed off and quickly thought of something to say.
We had barely prevented the Martial Alliance from establishing a secret branch in the front yard of our trading company, and if we put this tavern up for sale, all my efforts would be wasted.
But I couldn't say that.
I would tell them someday, but not yet. So I had to come up with a reasonable excuse.
“Hwaryeonru is an important place for our Eunhae Trading Company. We cannot sell it.”
“Important?”
“Yes. It is important for us to know what our customers want, isn't it?”
“That's true.”
“And it is also important to evaluate the goods we sell.”
Chief Administrator Yoo smiled at my words.
“I think I understand what you mean, young master. You want to use Hwaryeonru as a place for our Eunhae Trading Company to gather information and promote our business.”
As expected of Chief Administrator Yoo. He understood immediately.
“Yes. And spread the word.”
“That's a good idea. But we don't know much about running a tavern. How do you plan to handle that?”
“You can keep Chief Administrator Seo in his position. He has done a good job running Hwaryeonru, so I'm sure he will continue to do so.”
My father nodded as he listened to Chief Administrator Yu and me.
“Hmm. What do you think, Chief Administrator Yu?”
“If we are going to continue running it, he is the most suitable person for the job. He is well-liked by the employees and has proven himself capable of running a tavern.”
Chief Administrator Yu continued.
“I can see that from the books. Books never lie.”
“Very well. Let's do that.”
“Thank you.”
I nodded in gratitude.
And so, Hwaryeonru came to play the same role it had in my future.
Only the owner had changed.
From the Martial Alliance to the Eunhae Trading Company.
At that moment, I remembered a method I had used before.
“How about providing our silk to the courtesans for free so they can make clothes?”
“To the courtesans? But...”
"This is a brothel. The courtesans here are not prostitutes, but geishas. So there is no need for you to worry.“
”That's true."
When I ran the Eunhae Cloth Store, I provided free silk to the famous courtesans and geishas of the taverns and brothels.
They were women who captivated men with their beauty and talent.
It was only natural that they looked even more beautiful in fine silk, and as a result, the Eunhae Cloth Store made a considerable profit.
My father saw Chief Administrator Yoo in my opinion. After thinking for a moment, Chief Administrator Yoo nodded.
“You have a point. People are attracted to beautiful things.”
That explained everything.
“I'll go talk to Yeon Gak-ju later.”
I was sure my opinion would be accepted.
My father was a very kind man.
Running a trading company is like walking through a forest of cruelty, where there is no mercy.
Nevertheless, my father was able to run Eunhae Trading Company well because he listened carefully to the people around him.
And when decisions had to be made, he made them boldly.
Just like when he got his hands on Hwaryeonru and handed over Baek Ru-joo to the government.
He also handed over A-Gakwon to the government, but he asked them to treat him kindly.
My father decided to help them settle down in their new home if they wanted to.
My father was truly a good man.
A-Gakwon and I were given time off.
It was a reward for the success of the operation, and we received a generous bonus.
When my father told me that I would be given leave, Chief Administrator Yu looked like he had a lot to say.
I already had a lot of work to do because of the proposal I had made, and now I, who was supposed to be his assistant, was getting leave.
But leave was my right.
I ignored his gaze, which seemed to be asking me not to take leave and to help him instead, and gratefully accepted the leave.
.
.
.
I returned to my room, lay down on my bed, and fell into deep thought.
“Fortunately, nothing happened this time...”
I couldn't help but sigh.
It was frustrating because I knew how to use martial arts but pretended that I couldn't.
If it wasn't a secret that I knew martial arts, I would have rushed in to subdue the masked man I met at Hwaryeonru.
And I would have chased after him.
If it were me, I would have been able to find out where he was going.
I regretted missing that opportunity.
In order to be able to use my martial arts freely in the future, I had to show that I was learning them.
It is also good to start learning martial arts at a young age.
If my martial arts skills had been stronger, I wouldn't have died so miserably in the end. I wouldn't have had to watch the deaths of those who followed me helplessly.
There was no reason to put off learning martial arts any longer.
Now that the urgent matter had been resolved, I had to find the master who had taught me martial arts and ask him to be my master.
He was the head escort of Changin Escort Agency, which had a cooperative relationship with Eunhae Trading Company.
Is he still working as a head escort?
Then, something suddenly came to mind.
“If I had returned just one hour earlier, my eldest son would not have died.”
For a moment, I felt a chill run down my spine.
Wait, what day is it today?
I counted the days on my fingers and jumped up from my seat.
“Damn it. It's today!”
* * *
Mrs. Kwak of Bamboo Valley was getting ready to go out early in the morning.
Her husband was the head escort of Changin Escort Agency.
Therefore, he was away from home for more than half of the year. When he was away, she had to take care of the children.
Sometimes, the money she received for living expenses was not enough.
In such cases, she had to earn extra money by helping out at banquets or doing sewing work.
Today, there was a birthday party for the chairman of the nearby market, and she decided to help out.
She was very skilled with her hands, so she was always the first to be called upon for such work.
“Mother, where are you going?”
She has two sons, Kwak Hyung-jin and Kwak Joon-ha.
Twelve-year-old Kwak Hyung-jin is her reliable eldest son.
“I'm going to the village chief's house. There's a party today.”
“You look tired. Why don't you rest, Mother?”
Mrs. Kwak smiled and shook her head at Kwak Hyung-jin's words.
“I'm not tired at all.”
“You're going to work. How can you not be tired?”
“It's okay. I'm going to eat something delicious. I'll bring something good back for you.”
Hearing her words, her eight-year-old second son, Kwak Joon-ha, said,
“I want to eat tangerines.”
“Okay, I will. Study with your brother.”
Mrs. Kwak left for the market, seeing her sons off.
Only the two brothers remained at home.
“Joon-ha. It's time to study.”
“I don't want to study.”
Kwak Hyung-jin said to his whining younger brother.
“Your father will be home soon. If you don't memorize the Emperor's 100 Characters, you'll be in big trouble.”
“Okay, brother. Let's play sword fighting after lunch.”
“Sure, whatever.”
The two brothers sat down at the table they used as a desk and began to study.
Kwak Hyung-jin was studying the Doctrine of the Mean after completing his studies of the Great Learning.
At the age of twelve, he was quite intelligent for his age.
They did not attend school, but their father taught them literature and martial arts.
However, they were only allowed to practice martial arts in front of their father.
This was because it was dangerous to practice martial arts alone.
It was lunchtime.
Today's lunch was dumplings.
They each ate a large dumpling, and as promised, Kwak Hyung-jin decided to play with his younger brother.
The two brothers always played the same games.
Their home was in a bamboo forest, so bamboo was a common toy for the two brothers.
Today, his younger brother, Kwak Joon-ha, suggested they play sword fighting with bamboo, so Kwak Hyung-jin agreed.
Their father had to be present for martial arts training, but a simple sword fight with bamboo was fine.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Although he was four years younger than Kwak Hyung-jin, Kwak Joon-ha had good physical senses.
He had an instinctive sharpness that allowed him to find his opponent's weak spots.
Their father looked at Kwak Joon-ha with complicated eyes, but they didn't know why.
Smack!
“Ugh!”
At that moment, Kwak Joon-ha's bamboo sword knocked Kwak Hyung-jin's bamboo sword away.
“Ah! I'm sorry, brother!”
“It's okay.”
Kwak Hyung-jin was looking for his bamboo sword when he tripped over something and fell forward.
It happened in an instant.
Thud!
“Aaah!”
Gwak Hyung-jin's scream echoed through the bamboo forest.
Gwak Joon-ha rushed over in shock.
“Hyung, what's wrong?”
“Ugh!”
Gwak Joon-ha was shocked as he helped his brother up.
Blood was gushing out of his brother's stomach.
Gwak Joon-ha cried out in fear.
“Help! Someone help me! Uh-uh-uh!”
It was scary.
He felt like he was going to lose his brother.
Especially since his brother's house was in a remote area.
No matter how much he cried, no one came, and Gwak Hyung-jin lost consciousness.