Chapter 193
The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Trading Company Chapter 193
Chapter 193. Competition to Deliver Silk to the Imperial Court (6)
I blinked my eyes.
What was going on?
If the first three tests were the same as before, shouldn't the next test be the same too?
However, the fourth test I received this time was “silk selection.”
It was not the “silk procurement” I knew.
In my previous life, I had to procure the silk presented by the imperial family as quickly as possible, and the place that procured it the fastest was Baekcheon Trading Company.
Could it be...
There is one difference between that competition and this one.
The presence or absence of a man named Go Seong-il.
If so, was he involved in the competition in my previous life?
Did the theme change because he wasn't here this time?
I don't know the reason, but it doesn't matter.
Either way, it's not to Baekcheon Trading Company's advantage.
* *
At that moment, Baekcheon Trading Company also received notification of the test theme through an official.
The name of the representative who came to Baekcheon Trading Company this time was Namgung Bo. He was the nephew of Namgung Gang, the head of Baekcheon Trading Company. Baekcheon Trading Company did not yet have a vice head. As a trading company affiliated with the Martial Arts Association, it was necessary to have a vice head.
The name of the representative of the Baekcheon Trading Company was Namgung Bo.
He was the nephew of Namgung Gang, the head of the Baekcheon Trading Company.
The Baekcheon Trading Company did not have a captain yet. As it was a trading company affiliated with the Martial Alliance, the senior members of the Martial Alliance elected the successor of the Baekcheon Trading Company.
Namgung Bo was one of the candidates for the next captain.
For him, this competition to deliver silk to the imperial court was a great opportunity to impress the senior members of the Martial Alliance.
Therefore, he felt compelled to succeed in this task.
“I must succeed, no matter what it takes!”
So, he bribed the people in the imperial palace and was able to pass the third stage of the test without any problems.
The theme of the fourth test he found out was “obtaining silk.”
He also knew what kind of silk he had to obtain, so he made all the necessary preparations.
However, when he received the scroll from the court official and unfolded it, he was taken aback.
This was because the theme written on it was completely different from what he knew.
“Damn it! That means all my hard work was for nothing!”
It pained him to realize that the people he had used to get help this time were not high-ranking officials.
That was because he had tried to use his connections with high-ranking officials, but they had rejected him, saying, “Are you trying to get me fired?”
“Me! A member of the Namgung Clan! I bowed my head to them!”
Then, a thought suddenly crossed his mind.
“Could the empress have found out that I bribed the people in the imperial palace?”
He remembered what his father, one of the leaders of the Martial Alliance, had said when he was leaving for Beijing.
“Bo-ya, the person you must be most careful of in this matter is the empress.”
Even he thought that the empress was the one who had ruined everything. There was no way that the emperor would get involved in something like this.
In any case, the situation had already begun.
.
.
.
Imperial Palace.
The emperor, who was busy with his work, asked the eunuch.
“By now, the seven Trading Companies should have received the order, right?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
He chuckled.
“How dare they try to stir up trouble in a competition where my favorite is participating as a representative?”
Normally, he would not have paid much attention to the royal silk supply competition, thinking that the empress would take care of it.
However, one of the participants was Eun Seo-ho, so he naturally became interested.
Thanks to him, I learned
that there were people who were throwing money around.
Of course, the emperor was not going to let this go.
* *
Finally, the day of the fourth stage of the competition arrived.
The three head officials and I headed to the imperial palace as we had been instructed.
“When everyone is gathered, we will enter the imperial palace.”
Following the court official waiting in front of us, we passed through the palace gates and headed to the place where the second and third stages of the competition had been held.
As we waited there, the empress, the concubines, the princesses, and the ministers soon arrived.
We bowed to the empress.
“You may all rise.”
At her words, everyone stood up.
However, I had a strange feeling.
Why did the princesses look at me differently than before?
Last time, they blushed when they looked at me, but today they looked at me with pity.
What is it?
However, when the empress began to speak, I had no choice but to put those thoughts out of my mind.
“As I announced earlier, the competition for this stage is to select silk.”
At the same time, piles of silk began to accumulate in the back.
“The two boxes in front of you contain cards numbered from one to twenty. Excluding me, there are twenty-one of us, and there are seven Trading Companies.”
The Empress continued.
“Each of the seven Trading Companies will draw three cards. If the card drawn by the Trading Company labeled ‘Gap’ is 52, the three people who drew 52 from the Imperial Palace will say which silk they want. It's a very simple rule. Each person from the Trading Company chooses the silk they want.”
The Empress said.
“Then let's draw the numbered cards first.”
The imperial palace officials drew one card each. Meanwhile, she continued her explanation.
“The criteria for this evaluation are speed and suitability. This means that you must not only choose the silk quickly, but also choose the silk that the evaluator wants.”
So this time, the princesses will not be observers, but evaluators.
The empress explained a few more points and finished her speech.
“Now, the Trading Companies, please draw your numbered cards.”
Each Trading Company drew three numbered cards. Drawing three cards meant that they would have three chances.
The number we drew was 121.
The number 1 was drawn by none other than the Baekcheon Trading Company.
Everyone, including us, watched the Baekcheon Trading Company with interest.
The person who drew number one was one of the imperial concubines.
“What kind of silk does the concubine want?”
“I want silk to make a dress to wear to His Majesty's birthday celebration.”
Upon hearing this, the Baekcheon Trading Company immediately began to select silk suitable for her from the piles of silk behind them.
Soon, they brought a piece of silk to her.
“This is the silk we have chosen.”
It was a deep red silk.
“Why did you choose that silk?”
In response to the empress's question, a man who appeared to be the representative of the Baekcheon Trading Company stepped forward.
He was a figure I remembered.
Namgung Bo.
He was the nephew of Namgung Gang, the captain of the Trading Company.
In my previous life, he had successfully led the competition to supply silk to the royal family and was considered a promising candidate to become the next captain, but he suddenly disappeared.
Officially, it was said that he had fallen into qi deviation during training and was undergoing treatment, but that was nonsense.
Qi deviation is caused by greed for martial arts, but someone who liked to show off the reputation of his family rather than his martial arts skills would never have done such a thing.
He must have been secretly eliminated. I don't know who did it, though.
Namgung Bo, who had stepped forward, said, "The birthday of His Majesty the Emperor is a day of great happiness.
“The Emperor's birthday is a day filled with good fortune. On such a day, it is only fitting to wear red silk to wish for good fortune, so I chose this color. Also, isn't chokgum the finest silk? That is why I chose this silk.”
Hearing this, the Empress asked Bi, who had picked the number one card.
“Hyangbi, do you like the silk?”
The silk chosen by Baekcheon Trading Company was so luxurious and beautiful that it caught everyone's attention at first glance.
“How did they choose such high-quality silk in such a short time!”
“Baekcheon Trading Company is truly renowned for a reason.”
I could hear other trading company officials whispering among themselves.
It seemed that our trading company officials had similar thoughts.
“Her Majesty will surely like it.”
I did not respond to Kim Hyung-soo's words.
Everyone expected Hyangbi to like the silk.
But would that really be the case?
Unlike the empress, whose expression was unreadable, Hyangbi looked troubled.
Just as expected.
“I... I will refuse this silk.”
Hwangbi's words surprised not only Baekcheon Trading Company but also everyone else in the trading companies.
Some seemed to think, “Is she deliberately trying to embarrass us?”
However, it was only natural for Hwangbi to refuse the silk.
“I see.”
The empress nodded calmly and said.
“Baekcheon Trading Company, you may leave. The next trading company to draw a number plate, please come forward.”
The members of Baekcheon Trading Company entered while trying hard to control their expressions, and I stepped forward with the other trading company representatives.
The person who drew this number plate was also one of the concubines.
“What kind of silk does the concubine want?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I also want silk to make clothes to wear for the emperor's birthday celebration.”
The same topic as Baekcheon Trading Company. This is how things turn out.
“Eunhae Trading Company, choose the silk.”
“Yes.”
We immediately began to choose the silk.
The head clerk said with concern.
“What kind of silk should we choose?”
“That's right. She said she didn't like that nice silk... Aren't we just being toyed with?”
Yeong agreed with him.
But I smiled calmly.
“It's only natural that Her Majesty rejected that silk. Think about it. She didn't say she didn't like it, she said she rejected it.”
“What?”
“The reason she rejected the silk is because it is red.”
Unlike the two captains, the deputy captain smiled as if he understood what I meant.
“I see... I understand.”
“Do you understand?”
“If it weren't for you, Captain, we would have made a huge mistake.”
Seok Dae-shu nodded at the two head clerks as if to explain later, then chose one of the silks.
“This one should be fine.”
“I agree.”
The silks we chose were jade green and purple.
We placed the silks in front of the queen.
“You chose two pieces of silk?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. We were not told that we had to choose only one piece.”
I could see that the other Trading Company representatives were surprised by my words.
The representatives of the Baekcheon Trading Company looked particularly disappointed as they bit their lips.
“That's right. There was no rule that you had to choose only one piece of silk. That was wise.”
“You are too kind.”
“Then why did you choose that silk?”
“Of course, it is because it is the color that suits Her Royal Highness best. Her Royal Highness has such a fair complexion, so I think this blue color will suit her well.”
Her Royal Highness asked me.
“I like the color. But it's winter, so won't it look cold?”
“If you wrap your neck in white fox fur, that won't be a problem. And think about it. It's snowing, and you're wearing a jade-colored dress with purple. Won't it look mysterious?”
She nodded with satisfaction at my words.
“Of course, I could have chosen something other than blue, but I heard that pink is the color that princesses like to wear. And red is...”
I smiled and continued.
“It is the color of the empress.”
At my words, there was a moment of silence.
It was only a moment, but during that time, the expressions of the people in the room were very colorful.
Yes.
The bright red silk chosen by Baekcheon Trading Company was so beautiful that it captivated everyone's hearts, but it was the color of the clothes worn by the empress at important royal events.
For someone like Bi-in to wear a red dress like the one chosen by Baekcheon Trading Company at a major event such as the emperor's birthday celebration was tantamount to challenging the authority of the empress.
That was why Hyang-bi refused the silk.
She didn't want to fall out of favor with the empress.
Of course, this was not something that ordinary merchants would know.
It was an “unspoken rule” that only the imperial family knew about.
Anyone who spoke carelessly about imperial matters could have their entire family executed, so everyone kept quiet, and those outside the imperial family had no way of knowing such things.
Everyone likes red, so they would naturally think that they should wear red clothes to a grand banquet at the imperial palace.
In fact, many people wore red clothes even on ordinary days.
I also liked red clothes.
Trading companies that did business with high-ranking officials also found it difficult to know such things.
The noblewomen, who were more competitive than expected, ordered silk in various colors to prevent others from wearing the same color when attending imperial events.
In addition, when asked what color clothes they would wear, they would vaguely answer, “red clothes.”
The maids and the family's personal seamstresses also kept their mouths shut.
The husbands of those noblewomen were not particularly interested in what their wives wore.
Therefore, even the merchants of large trading companies that dealt in silk were mostly unaware of this.
I wouldn't have known either if I hadn't had experience in my previous life.
When Eunhae Trading Company became one of the three largest trading companies in the world, I had a connection with King Jinseong, whom I had helped.
He loved his wife very much and asked me to make her a silk dress.
Thanks to that, I learned various things.
I continued with a clasped hands greeting.
“But how can you choose such an irreverent color?”
Young-bi nodded in agreement, and the faces of Namgung Bo and the other merchants of the Baekcheon Trading Company contorted in dismay.
Hmm, that sounds delicious.