Chapter 190
The Youngest Son of the Eunhaesang Trading Company Chapter 190
Chapter 190. Competition to Deliver Silk to the Royal Family (3)
Footsteps could be heard coming from the direction of a faint light.
“Who is it?”
“I'll go report this first!”
Replacing Man-dong, who was frozen in place, his fellow escort rushed inside.
Soon, the captain of the Jin-ga Trading Company and the head escort of the Dae-woong Escort Agency came out.
“Are they people? Or are they ghosts?”
“We don't know, so everyone be on guard.”
The lanterns gradually approached them, and soon they were close enough to recognize their faces.
The faces reflected in the lanterns were so handsome that they froze for a moment.
Was that why?
Even though they were frightened by the ghosts, they stared blankly at him.
“Is everyone all right?”
They replied hastily to his gentle voice.
“Huh! What's going on?”
“Are you human?”
"Yes, I am. I was sleeping over there when I heard screams, so I came to see what was going on... I'm glad nothing happened.“
He looked around with a relaxed expression and then opened his mouth.
”Ah, you are from the Jin-ga Trading Company and the Dae-woong Escort Agency. My name is Eun Seo-ho, the captain of the Eunhae Trading Company.“
”Ah..."
Hearing that, the captain of the Jin-ga Trading Company quickly stepped forward and greeted him.
“My name is Jin Woo-jin, the captain of the Jin-ga Trading Company. But who are you over there?”
“Over there in front.”
Eun Seo-ho pointed to the place they had to pass tomorrow.
In other words, they were ahead of them.
That meant that the obstacles they had placed on the road to hinder the Changin Escort Agency and Eunhae Trading Company were useless.
Captain Jin Woo-jin tried hard to control his expression and said, “You are ahead of us.
I apologize for disturbing your rest.”
“No, we are fine... But you all look pale.”
“That is...”
“Did you see a ghost?”
“...!”
At that, they all stopped in their tracks, and the head escort of the Daeung Escort Agency cleared his throat and said.
“What do you mean, ghosts? Ha ha.”
“Actually, we are spending the night over there because this place is haunted.”
“...”
“I passed by here once before and decided to spend the night here.”
At those words, a man who looked like a bear-like servant nodded his head.
“At that time, an old man who seemed to be a local resident said to me, ‘Did you happen to set up any obstacles on the road?’”
“....”
At those words, everyone couldn't help but flinch.
However, the handsome man didn't seem to notice and continued calmly.
“So I asked, ‘Why do you ask?’ He said that if we put obstacles on the road or didn't clean them up properly, we would see a ghost tapping on our shoulders when we slept here.”
“Eek!”
“Eek!”
“There is a heartbreaking and sad story behind this place.”
“What kind of story?”
Eunseoho answered Jinwoo's frightened question.
“A woman heard that her husband, who was away on business, had fallen ill. So she set out on a journey to bring him medicine. However, someone placed obstacles on the road, causing her to be delayed, and when she finally arrived, her husband had passed away just a few hours earlier.”
“....”
“The woman was so heartbroken that she fell ill and died. Her spirit became a ghost and now roams this area, setting up obstacles to catch the person who delayed her.”
“....”
“And she taps people on the shoulder to mark those she will take away.”
Eun Seo-ho's calm tone made them even more frightened.
“What should we do to prevent the ghost from appearing again?”
The constable asked with a frightened expression.
“It's simpler than you think.”
“...?”
“There is a small rock over there, and it is said to be where she is enshrined. You must repent your sins in front of it and do ten forward rolls.”
“What?”
“Forward rolls?”
“Yes. Then the traces she left behind will be erased, and she will not be able to find you.”
Eun Seo-ho continued.
“So, one of my companions at the time threw a piece of wood on the road, which was mistaken for an obstacle, and we got into trouble, but fortunately, we survived because we rolled forward in front of it.”
“That's right.”
“The old man was right. Anyway, since then, we have avoided this place.”
“....”
Eun Seo-ho said with a faint smile.
“Well, if there was no obstacle or anything like that, you can ignore what I said.”
“Hahaha. I see.”
One of the escorts from Daeung Escort Agency tilted his head and said.
“But we haven't heard anything like that. We've been coming here for a long time.”
“If one of our group hadn't done that, we wouldn't have known about it either.”
“...”
Eun Seo-ho's serious expression and tone of voice left them with no room for argument.
Not only had they already experienced the “shoulder-tapping ghost,” but they had also committed a crime, which made it even worse.
“It's getting late. I'm glad nothing happened. It looks like you're going to deliver silk to the royal family, so let's all get along.”
* *
I smiled to myself as I looked at them.
Did my story seem so real?
They were completely frozen.
In my opinion, it wasn't because I made the story so realistic, but because Seo Woo and Jin Yu had frightened them so much.
Of course, Geum-ryeong also played a part.
“Well, we'll be going now.”
“Yes...”
We returned to our lodgings.
“By the way...”
“Yes?”
“For a made-up story, it was really scary.”
I chuckled at Pal-gap's words.
“Even I can see that you have a talent for storytelling.”
That's right.
The story I just told about the ghost that tapped on my shoulder was completely made up.
Now it's time to go see something interesting.
We headed to the cliff near our campsite and looked down below.
The place I had told them about was right below the cliff, so it was clearly visible from where we were standing.
We brought some small rocks and arranged them to look convincing.
A moment later, a group of people rushed over. They paired up in groups of ten and came forward.
“We apologize for our sins.”
Then, all the members of the Jin-ga Trading Company and the Dae-woong Escort Agency did ten forward rolls.
That was the real reason I played ghost.
Seeing them roll around made me feel so good.
Who would dare to mess with us now?
The next day
we left for Beijing again.
Perhaps because of what happened last night, the guards looked at me with trust in their eyes.
To be honest, I had a hard time holding back my laughter last night when I saw the members of the Jin-ga Trading Company and Dae-woong Escort Agency rolling around on the ground.
I thought the guards were going to die from laughing so hard.
“We are very fortunate that the third captain is a member of the Eunhae Trading Company.”
“That's so true.”
The head of the caravan nodded in agreement with the deputy head and the assistant head.
And so our journey continued.
.
.
.
A few days later, we arrived in Beijing.
Then we headed for the Yeonjoon Trading Company, where my aunt was.
Yeonjun Trading Company was growing rapidly, and now we could owe them a debt without feeling burdened.
“Come in.”
Perhaps because we had sent word ahead, my aunt and Sunmi welcomed me warmly.
“Hello, Auntie. It's been a long time, Sunmi.”
“Yes, Orabeoni.”
“By the way, didn't you say Jungho was coming too?”
“Yes, but Jeong-ho collapsed from overwork, so I came instead.”
“Oh no... Is he okay now?”
“Yes, fortunately, he wasn't seriously injured. But I was worried that he might have overexerted himself coming to Beijing, so I decided to come instead.”
“You did the right thing. Even though the road from Hubei to Beijing is relatively easy compared to other routes, it is still a long journey.”
My aunt turned her gaze to the officials behind me, and I introduced them to her.
“These are the officials who will be accompanying me in this competition.”
My aunt and the officials seemed to know each other, and they greeted each other with smiles.
“It's been a long time. Deputy Chief Seok, and you two as well.”
“Yes, how have you been?”
Come to think of it, all three of them had been with Eunhae Trading Company before my aunt got married and came to Beijing.
“It must have been a long journey. Please rest.”
“Thank you, Miss.”
I headed to my room.
Only after washing off the dust and changing my clothes could I collapse onto my bed.
“As I thought, riding in a carriage for a long time is not for me.”
“Still, I think it's more comfortable than riding a horse.”
“That's true.”
I muttered to myself as I thought about the royal silk delivery competition.
I hadn't been able to participate in the competition in my previous life, but I had been gathering information just in case.
There were a few things to keep in mind, so I was going to let Jeong-ho know, but it wasn't necessary.
First of all, the situation was a little different from before.
One of the judges in the previous competition was Go Seong-il.
According to Hyung-nim, he was one of two people who committed fraud to rise to a high position.
As he had the Martial Alliance behind him, he naturally gave high scores to the Baekcheon Trading Company.
However, he was gone this time, so the situation would be a little different.
But it didn't matter.
There was other information he knew, and if he couldn't even accomplish this much, he couldn't call himself the world's best trading company.
* *
Imperial Palace.
The emperor was listening to the eunuch's report in his office.
“Really? That guy came as the representative of the Eunhae Trading Company?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The emperor chuckled, and the eunuch asked cautiously.
“Shall I summon him?”
“No.”
The emperor raised his hand to stop the eunuch.
“What? Why not?”
“Think about it. If I summon him, they will be watching each other closely, and how can the silk delivery competition be conducted fairly?”
“I apologize. I was short-sighted.”
“I am looking forward to seeing what kind of trouble he will cause this time. Hahaha.”
The emperor's laughter suddenly stopped.
“By the way.”
“Yes? What is it, Your Majesty?”
“The problem is that he is too handsome.”
*
Finally, the imperial silk delivery competition began.
We headed to the imperial palace on time as written in the document.
We had to gather in front of the imperial palace by the beginning of the hour (between 9 and 11 a.m.) and inform the court official of our arrival.
Then, we all had to move to the competition venue together.
We set off with my aunt's encouragement and soon arrived at the Imperial Palace.
In front of us stood a court official holding a list.
I approached him and said,
“We are from the Eunhae Trading Company.”
The court official checked the list and marked it.
“We will be leaving soon, so please wait here.”
“Yes, sir.”
After about a moment, a bell rang, signaling the start of the competition.
“Everyone, please line up. When you receive your pass, be sure to wear it and follow the court official.”
I entered the Imperial Palace, accompanied by my bodyguards.
The Imperial Palace had never impressed me much before, but today, my heart was pounding.
The competition venue was in the outer palace.
We stood there and waited for a while.
“Are you nervous?”
Seok Dae-su nodded in response to my question.
“Yes, I'm a little nervous. I've never been inside the imperial palace before, so I'll have something to brag about to my grandchildren.”
“Your grandchildren will be proud of you.”
Just then, the voice of an eunuch echoed through the air.
“The Empress, the Consort, and the Princess are arriving.”
The imperial family entered, and we all immediately bowed and shouted.
“We greet the Empress. Long live the Empress!”
“Raise your heads.”
What a dignified voice.
We stood up and raised our heads.
We saw the Empress, dressed in gorgeous attire, followed by the Empresses Consorts and Princesses.
The theme of this competition was silk, which was used to make clothing.
Therefore, the judges for this competition were the officials in charge of the royal family's clothing, the palace maids, the empress and the concubines who used the most silk, and two officials sent by the emperor.
The princesses seemed to be just there to observe.
The empress ordered us to compete fairly in a quiet but powerful voice.
Looking at her, I remembered my previous life.
Ten years from now, she will be poisoned.
It will be the same poison I found out about when I visited the Jegal Clan.
Given the circumstances, it is clear that the Martial Alliance is behind this.
If our Eunhae Trading Company wins this competition, that time may come sooner.
They will become impatient because they did not get what they wanted.
A question suddenly popped into my mind.
The martial arts world and the government are supposed to be separate entities... Why did they poison the empress and bring in another empress?