Chapter 151
The Youngest Son of the Silver Sea Trading Company Chapter 151
Chapter 151. Keep Your Valuables in the Warehouse (2)
I cautiously called out to my Master.
“Master, I have something to tell you.”
“What is it?”
“Actually, when I went to Luoyang this time, I stopped by a secondhand bookstore. There, I was able to get my hands on a book. The owner of the bookstore said it was a secret book.”
I took the secret book out of my pocket and handed it to him.
“This is it.”
Master took the book from me with a calm expression and flipped through the pages.
“...!”
At first, his face froze in surprise, but soon his hands began to tremble.
It was the first time I had ever seen my Master like this, so I was quite surprised myself.
“What's wrong?”
“Where did you find this?”
“It's a small bookstore in the book district of Luoyang. It's a place that sells used books...”
I continued.
“To be honest, I felt an inexplicable attraction to it, so I bought it. When I entered the bookstore, I didn't notice any other books, only that one.”
“....”
“I showed it to you because it seemed to be about Tae-eum. Do you know what it is?”
Master sighed, paused for a moment, and then said.
“Of course I know. It is the secret notes left behind by the investigator from Seolpung Palace that I just told you about.”
“What?”
Surprised, I asked my Master again.
“Didn't you say that all the secret notes from Seolpung Palace were burned?”
“Yes, that's right. I didn't think this would remain.”
Master covered the secret book again and said in a trembling voice.
“May I take this with me?”
“Yes, please do.”
With my permission, Master carefully put it in his pocket.
“Actually, Master, there is one more thing I would like to discuss with you.”
“Please, go ahead.”
I took another secret manual out of my pocket and handed it to him.
“This is the secret manual that the owner of the bookstore recommended to Pal-gap.”
My master took the book, read it, and asked me with a look of disbelief.
“Who exactly is the owner of that bookstore?”
“I'm not sure, but I think he must have been someone very powerful in the past. I didn't want to push him too hard in case he ran away, so I left it at that.”
“...You did well.”
My master nodded.
“Jin-yu Musha said that Pal-gap Soi has the talent of a king.”
As expected, Jin-yu Musha noticed that.
My master thought for a moment and then spoke.
“In my opinion, His Majesty is not concerned about whether Pal-gap So-i will master this or not.”
“That's right. In fact, I feel that if he masters this, he will no longer be the Pal-gap I know.”
“That is an unnecessary concern.”
“What?”
I asked my master, and he returned the secret manual to me and said,
“A person's nature does not change no matter what martial arts they learn. And Pal-gap So-yi's nature is just as you know it.”
“Um...”
“If you master that martial art, Pal-gap will be able to serve his liege better, and he will be happy. His loyalty to his liege is what I see as the essence of Pal-gap.”
My master's words hit me like a hammer.
What was I worrying about?
Pal-gap is just Pal-gap, and he will always be Pal-gap.
“If you want to teach him, you should ask Jin-yu.”
“I understand.”
* * *
Gwak Myeong-hyun left the Moon-gok Hall, which was Eunseoho's private room, and glanced behind him.
Then he pressed his chest, where the secret book was hidden, with his hand.
When Seolpunggung was destroyed, he tried everything he could to find something.
However, literally everything was burned and destroyed, so he couldn't find anything.
Therefore, he gave up on finding the martial arts of the palace and lived only to practice the Jinseolshik Sword Technique.
Of course, he was able to reach his current level because he was a formidable martial artist, but he couldn't help but regret losing his other martial arts skills.
Above all, he deeply regretted losing the secret techniques left behind by Seolpungung.
However, he knew that they had been burned, so he had given up on finding them.
So, imagine how surprised he was when he saw the secret manual that Eun Seo-ho handed him.
“Did he say he felt a strong attraction?”
In fact, these insights were only allowed to be seen by the Palace Head and Young Master of Seolpung Palace.
He was able to recognize this secret book because he had read it before.
He was the Young Master of Seolpung Palace.
However, only the first half of the book was allowed to be seen by the Young Master, so he had not seen the second half.
He was very disappointed, but then the complete secret technique appeared.
“By the way, the fact that this secret technique called for the Prince...”
He thought of the silver sword that Eun Seo-ho had and the golden bell that Han Ho-su always kept with him.
Both were sacred objects of Seolpung Palace.
“Three things in total?”
Still, he didn't want to burden his disciple with such a heavy load just yet.
“First, I need to investigate the old man at the bookstore. And how this came to be in his possession.”
* *
Minjang Village.
It had been about ten days since Eun Seo-ho and his party left.
Chairman Min Ik looked at his second son, Min Joon.
His complexion was good, as if he had never been sick.
“So, you have something to tell me?”
“Yes.”
The reason he was facing his son today was because his son had come to him with something to say.
“What is it you want to tell me?”
“Father. I want to learn martial arts.”
“Martial arts?”
“Yes, I do.”
Honestly, Min-ik was happy that his second son, Min-joon, wanted to learn martial arts.
Being a large landowner meant that he had a lot to protect.
To do so, he needed a certain amount of physical strength, and there were times when he had to borrow someone else's power.
The most common way to do this was to become a disciple of an influential sect.
Just like Min Ik, the younger brother of Chairman Min Ik-joon, was a disciple of a sect.
However, there were two problems.
One was that everyone was curious about how Min Ik-joon had overcome his heart condition.
The other was his reason for wanting to learn martial arts.
“Ik-joon.”
“Yes, Father.”
“Why do you want to learn martial arts?”
“It has been said that a man should give his life for those who recognize his worth. If I am willing to give my life for someone who recognizes my worth, what can I not do for the person who saved my life? I want to help the person who saved me, but I am not capable enough.”
“Is that why you want to learn martial arts?”
“Yes, that's right.”
In fact, Eun Seo-ho did not give Cheonhyangroju for free. He agreed to give Min Jang-ju a quarter of his harvest for three years.
Cheonhyangroju is undoubtedly a valuable commodity.
If he had made good use of it, he could have obtained something more valuable than what he had promised.
However, Eun Seo-ho gave up on him and willingly saved his son's life.
“I used my only bottle of Cheonhyangroju for my son.”
He guessed that Eun Seo-ho asked for grain because it would be less of a burden on him. And the amount and period were reasonable.
He looked at his second son.
He was shining with a strong determination to achieve his goal.
He would find some excuse for how his heart palpitations had been cured.
He asked Min Yeon-joon.
“All right. Which sect do you want to join?”
“I want to join the Mount Hua Sect.”
* *
Before he knew it, it was November, and his birthday was just around the corner.
That meant he was turning nineteen.
However, I had no mind to worry about such things. I had a lot of work to catch up on after my trip to Luoyang.
I stood up from my desk.
I felt like I needed to take a walk to gather my thoughts.
And the office staff would also have some breathing room while I was away.
“I'm going out for a bit.”
“Yes, please go ahead.”
Yoo Chang's aide replied quickly, and I chuckled to myself.
When I opened the door and stepped outside, Seo Woo, who was standing in front of the door, bowed his head.
Seo Woo was on duty now.
“I'm going to take a walk for a while.”
“I'll accompany you.”
I walked slowly inside the Trading Company, and Seo Woo said, “These days, Pal-gap So-i is practicing quite diligently.”
“Pal-gap has been training very hard lately.”
“Yes, I hear that.”
On the evening of the day I showed my secret technique to my master, I called Pal-gap and asked his opinion.
“Of course you should learn it. It will help you serve your master better.”
My master was right.
I asked Jin-yu to teach Pal-gap, and now Pal-gap is training hard while I am at work.
Geum-ryeong is also helping Pal-gap with his training. It looks like she is teasing him, though.
Suddenly, I feel a familiar presence.
Huh?
I look up at the tree and soon spot a familiar face.
It was Chun-il.
“Huh? What are you doing here?”
“Ugh! Be quiet!”
“What?”
“My target is coming.”
At his words, I tilted my head and looked ahead. Yeon Da-mi, the chief of the Yeon clan, was approaching.
“The chief of the Yeon clan?”
“My mission today is to steal the silver coin from Captain Yeon's waist.”
“I see. Good luck.”
But for some reason, Captain Yeon didn't look very happy.
“Ah! Captain!”
“What's the matter?”
“Actually, there's a problem at Sangyugak.”
I smiled to myself at his words.
I remembered this incident and had prepared for it.
I couldn't prevent it, but I could help him recover.
I didn't know the exact date, but I knew it was around this time of year.
Today was the day.
I couldn't miss this interesting spectacle.
“Can I go too?”
“Go ahead.”
I glanced at Chun-il on the tree and followed her to Sangyugak.
“I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!”
“Where was your mind?”
There was a serious atmosphere in Sangyugak.
I could hear loud voices scolding and repeated apologies.
At that moment, Yeon Gak-ju entered Sangyugak, and those who saw her quickly bowed their heads.
“Gak-ju, how are you?”
“What is this? You lost the ledger?”
“It's just that…”
One of the officials bowed his head deeply.
“I'm sorry!”
“Apologies are not needed now. We need to resolve this first. Report the details.”
“Well...”
He composed himself and explained the situation.
So, the official had a lot of work to do, but he was assigned to go on a business trip.
He took the documents he needed to take with him on the trip, but forgot to take the ledger he had been referring to.
Later, he hurried to the deputy director's office to get the ledger, but the deputy director had already sorted the goods and burned the remaining trash.
The problem was that the ledger was in the trash.
After that incident in his previous life, it became strictly forbidden to take the original ledgers with him when going on business trips for the Trading Company.
This was because the ledger that was lost at that time...
“What kind of documents were they?”
“They were this year's ledgers for the silk traded with Kangso Province...”
“...”
It was the ledger for silk, one of the Trading Company's main commodities.
He had taken it with him because it was difficult to go to Jiangsu Province when it started snowing, and no one else would have needed it.
The trading location was also close by.
Veins appeared on Yeon Gak-ju's forehead. Yeon Gak-ju was furious.
It seems like he is about to explode.
However, Yeon Gak-ju managed to control himself.
At that moment, an unpaid member of the council spoke up.
“Sir, we have received a message that the silk will be delivered from Gangso-seong tomorrow.”
This meant that without the ledger, the work could not proceed.
Yeon Gak-ju quickly assessed the situation and gave instructions.
“Search through all the other ledgers and work logs, and request documents from places like Seungpunggak and Jaegyeonggak to recreate the ledgers. This is urgent, so everyone focus on this task.”
At that moment,
a man approached, limping and leaning on a cane. It was Heo Yun, a member of the Sangyugak.
He was the one I had prepared in advance to handle this situation.
“I think I can resolve this matter.”
“What do you mean? You can resolve it?”
“Are you referring to the silk trade ledgers for Ganso? For this year.”
“Yes.”
“I saw those ledgers.”
Yeon Gak-ju didn't understand what he meant and tilted his head in confusion, but Heo Un Gakwon continued.
“I remember everything I've seen once.”