Chapter 213
The Youngest Son of the Silver Sea Trading Company Chapter 213
Chapter 213. Karma (2)
I hurriedly prepared to leave for Henan.
However, even though I was busy, I took the time to read the letters my children had given me.
[I am so glad to have a senior brother. I heard what you and Master said. You said that thanks to you, we can move to such a nice place. Thank you very much.
[Thanks to you, I had a very enjoyable time. Actually, I tried dangho for the first time. I was so happy.
All of the letters were written with such sincerity that my eyes filled with tears.
I could feel the children's feelings.
The children who couldn't write drew pictures to express their gratitude.
They drew pictures of themselves eating dangho-ro and playing with me.
I was glad that the children had a good time.
The letter from the child who asked me to buy him some dye was accompanied by a beautiful drawing.
It was a landscape painting of Seoho.
Even though it was just a simple drawing using only black ink, it was very beautiful.
I should make a scroll out of this and hang it in my study.
With that in mind, I opened another letter.
“When I grow up, I want to marry Orabeoni. I love Orabeoni so much. So please wait for me for ten years.”
“Guh! Cough, cough!”
I coughed without realizing it.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, I'm fine.”
“What happened?”
Pal-gap frowned when he saw the letter in my hand.
“What have you done to that innocent girl?”
“That makes me sound like a piece of trash.”
“But in ten years...”
“Pal-gap.”
“Yes?”
“Get out.”
.
.
.
Two days later.
Pal-gap, four bodyguards, and I left the Eunhae Trading Company together.
We needed the help of warriors for this mission, so I asked Captain Go Il-pyeong of the Eunpoong Captain to send some men.
However, I did not go with them.
I didn't want to attract attention before I went ahead and assessed the situation.
Of course, there was no way that Master Han Jae-ik would lie, but I had to assess the situation objectively and decide what to do.
The road to Henan was not as rough as expected.
Although we had to cross the Fuling Mountains, there was a road.
“This is like jumping from east to west.”
Seo Woo said in response to Pal Gap's words.
“But it is only natural for our Liege to take action. Isn't Master Han Jae-ik in danger right now?”
“That is true...”
We had all experienced Master Han Jae-ik, so we were heartbroken to hear about his situation.
“By the way, that Ma Jang-ju is a truly evil man.”
“Yes, he is a truly evil man.”
Last time, Master Han Jae-ik came to the North Sea to prevent his sister from becoming Ma Jang-ju's ninth wife.
Thanks to him, his sister's unhappy future was prevented, but Ma Jang-ju's evil deeds could not be stopped.
Master Han Jae-ik's family had been a small martial arts academy for generations.
It was not a large academy, but it was quite respectable.
However, Ma Jang-ju, a local tyrant and influential figure, threatened those who attended the martial arts academy and carried out various schemes against them, so eventually, his disciples quit the academy one by one.
Everyone knew who the culprit was, but they were afraid of being targeted by him, so they couldn't help the martial arts academy.
In the end, Master Han Jae-ik's family couldn't take it anymore and tried to leave the village, but they were attacked and couldn't leave.
Master Han Jae-ik was injured, but his father was seriously injured while protecting his mother and is now unable to move.
Those who attacked them left a threatening message saying, “If you run away, you will die.”
Furthermore, all the physicians in the village were afraid of Ma Jang-ju and refused to treat Master Han Jae-ik and his father, causing his father's injuries to worsen.
In that situation, Master Han Jae-ik sent me a letter asking for help, desperate for any chance of salvation.
It seems that you are on good terms with the people of the Pungju Escort Agency, since they brought the letter.
In any case, how could I ignore such a distress signal?
* *
Han Jae-ik leaned against the wall and sighed heavily.
“I hope the letter was delivered safely.”
The letter he sent to Captain Eun Seo-ho, whom he met in the North Sea, was the best he could do.
His mother called him.
“Jae-ik.”
“Yes, Mother.”
“Your father is calling you. Go see him.”
He entered his father's room.
His father was lying on his bed, moaning in pain.
Next to him was a basin filled with bloody bandages that had just been changed.
However, all they could do was use the herbs that a physician who took pity on them had given them.
“Father. I'm here.”
His father opened his eyes with difficulty and spoke with great effort.
“Jae-ik.”
“Yes, Father.”
“I'm sorry. I should have left here quickly, as you said. I was stubborn for no reason...”
“Don't say that. You had your reasons, Father.”
At first, Han Jae-ik told his father to leave this place quickly. However, his father said he couldn't leave the land where his ancestors had lived for generations.
But they should have left then.
Now, even if they wanted to leave, they couldn't. It was already too late.
Ma Jang-ju was slowly killing Han Jae-ik's family.
This was the price they had to pay for disobeying his orders.
In this village, Ma Jang-ju's word is law.
Ma Jang-ju's intention was clear.
If he didn't want to die of thirst, he had to bring his sister, who was in hiding.
It was clear that he didn't believe that she had entered the Northern Sea Ice Palace.
When he returned from the North Sea, he asked another escort agency for help, and since they had parted ways near the village, there was no one who could prove it.
But even if that weren't the case, Han Jae-ik had no intention of sending his sister to Ma Jang-ju.
He knew that the women who had become Ma Jang-ju's wives had died suddenly within a year.
Everyone kept quiet because of Ma Jang-ju's influence, but those who knew the truth knew the truth.
They knew how horribly the women who had become Ma Jang-ju's wives had died.
Amidst all this, the news that the Northern Sea Ice Palace had opened came as a ray of hope.
That is why he made his decision.
“Hoo...”
He left his father's room and sighed deeply.
When he looked up, he saw the pitch-black night sky.
It was like their future.
But soon, he clenched his fists tightly.
“Even if we die like this, I can't send Jae-in away. You must be happy...”
As he thought so, he saw the stars in the night sky.
He felt that they were twinkling without speed.
“By the way... we don't have much food left...”
Not only food, but they also lacked firewood, so they could barely heat their parents' room.
How much longer could they hold out like this...
He felt hopeless.
Thud!
At that moment, he heard something fall in the yard and went to check.
There was a large bundle in the yard.
“What is this?”
Han Jae-ik carefully unwrapped the bundle.
“Huh?”
Inside were rice, meat, daily necessities, charcoal, and even medicine.
There was also a letter enclosed.
“I received your letter. I have not forgotten our connection in the North Sea and my promise. Please wait a little longer.”
“Ah...”
He knew who sent it.
Tears flowed from his eyes without him realizing it.
Captain Eun Seo-ho had not forgotten him.
He composed himself and looked up at the sky again.
The silver moon, which had been hidden by clouds, was smiling down on him.
* * *
Henan is a place name that comes from its location south of the Yellow River.
Thanks to the Yellow River, the land is very fertile and agriculture flourished, and because it has long been located in the center of the Central Plains, commerce also developed.
The Ma family, the Chairman of the Ma Clan, is one of the long-standing families in this village.
They accumulated wealth by growing cotton and invested it in commerce, which proved to be quite profitable.
The current Chairman of the Ma Clan is Ma Jeong.
He was the richest man in Taegyeong County and one of the ten richest men in the province to which Taegyeong County belonged.
Therefore, his words were law in Taegyeong County.
Even the county magistrate could not go against him.
This was because even the county magistrate could be killed if he fell out of favor with Ma Jeong.
Ma Jeong maintained a large private army with his abundant financial resources.
To protect property and lives, the national law allowed the possession of private soldiers up to a certain level.
The problem was that they were committing all kinds of acts of violence under Ma-jeong's name, but that was not Ma-jeong's concern.
All that mattered to him was his own pleasure.
However, there was a thorn in his side, and that was Han Ga-mu, a martial arts academy.
“How dare you disobey my orders and hide her?”
He happened to see a girl named Han Jae-in and fell in love with her.
He chose her to be his ninth wife, but she had the audacity to hide her.
“I said I like her.”
Her father said that his daughter Han Jae-in would be entering the Northern Sea Ice Palace.
However, he did not believe him.
He had heard that only about five out of ten girls who entered the palace would survive.
And he sent her to a place like that?
“You have to make sense!”
So he was slowly killing them. If they didn't want to die, they would have to give up their sister.
Until now, he had lived his life according to his own will. Nothing stood in his way.
At that moment, his servant said to him.
“Master, someone from the Martial Alliance is here to see you.”
“Oh, really? Show them into the reception room.”
“Yes.”
However, he was not satisfied with this small county of Taegyeong.
He wanted to expand his influence through the Martial Alliance and eventually rule over the entire Central Plains.
The Martial Alliance was an important partner for achieving this goal.
* *
I was staying in a county right next to Taegyeong.
Taegyeong County was not very large, and Ma Jang-ju's influence was too great.
So if we stayed in that county, everything about us would reach the ears of Ma Jang-ju.
Although I was staying here, it was not difficult to investigate Ma Jang-ju.
He was a very famous figure.
Of course, it was not good information.
Pal-gap reported the information he had gathered to me and vented his anger.
“This Ma Jang-ju is a rotten bastard. He beat a ten-year-old child so badly that he could no longer use his legs because the child did not greet him.”
“...Really?”
“It's true. There were many people who saw it. And he cut off the wrists of those who didn't come to celebrate his birthday.”
“...”
He's much worse than I thought.
At this point, Ji-hyun should step in...
“He has over a hundred soldiers, and twenty of them are top-class warriors.”
I had no choice but to nod at Pal-gap's words.
Ji-hyun must have been desperate to protect his own life.
There is a saying that the law is far away, but fists are close.
Ma Jang-ju is reigning as the king of the small Taegyeong-hyun.
Even so, it's a county smaller than where I am.
But why doesn't the lord of the province to which Taegyeong County belongs intervene?
It's obvious. He must have been bribed.
This place is not in Hubei, but on the border between Anhui and Henan provinces.
So unless it was a big problem, they would have let it slide.
I came here to rescue Master Han Jae-ik and his parents.
However, my father told me to take care of everything while I'm here.
Even if we only rescue Master Han Jae-ik's family, Chairman Ma will not tolerate it.
I don't even need to see him to know what he's like.
He has unnecessary pride and cannot tolerate things not going his way.
In other words, he is likely to cause trouble for our Eunhae Trading Company.
It won't cause us any major damage, but it will be a nuisance.
So what can we do?
We have to force him to accept it.
But I seem to remember hearing about a person named Ma Jeong in my previous life.
Where did I hear that?
Just then, Jin-yu Musha knocked on the door.
I asked him to keep an eye on Magajang, but it seems something is going on.
“Come in.”
“I have something to report to you, Liege.”
“Go ahead.”
“Someone I know just went into Magajang.”
“What?”
“He is a member of the Martial Alliance.”
That reminded him of where he had heard the name Ma Jeong before.
“Thanks to a man named Ma Jeong, the Baekcheon Trading Company was able to obtain cotton at a low price. So they are flooding the market with cheap goods...”
That was the name mentioned in a report about the Baekcheon Trading Company in his previous life.
In other words, he was an ally of the Martial Alliance.
If you let him get away with this, he'll only do more bad things.