Chapter 293
The Youngest Son of the Silver Sea Trading Company Chapter 293
Chapter 293. The Poem Thief (6)
I watched Master Jin leave.
It wasn't surprising that Chu Il-gong had hired a hitman. When Chu Il-gong found out that Song Rok was participating in the competition, he considered harming him.
Therefore, Song Rok and his family are currently staying at a temporary residence.
The Eunpungdae warriors are also stationed here, so they should be well protected.
Song Rok's wife was spending her days doing sewing work, and seeing that, I decided that I would have to be even harder on Song Rok once this was over.
What surprised me was something else.
There are people working as contract killers near the imperial palace?
Of course, even if they have the Royal Guards and the Royal Guards Alumni Association on their side, they can't control everyone.
Then, while we have this opportunity...
“Master Jin-yeong!”
I called out to Master Jin-yeong and ran toward him.
“Hm? Why are you calling me?”
“Let's do something together.”
.
.
.
That night.
I was walking with Song Rok on the street.
“Thank you for your hard work today.”
“Not at all.”
“How did you feel? People were praising the poem you wrote.”
At my words, Song Rok scratched the back of his neck.
“It... was good.”
His face turned red.
“I didn't know that people's recognition felt this good. Somehow, I understand why he did it.”
“That's not true.”
“Huh?”
"Stealing someone else's poetry is a serious crime. How can you understand a criminal? Aren't you too kind?“
”Oh, is that so?“
”So you still want to die?“
He flinched at my question and turned his head away.
”I was foolish back then."
I chuckled at his willingness to admit his mistake.
There were several reasons why I brought Song Rok with me as the author, but first and foremost, it was to lure the assassin.
Chu Il-gong wants to assassinate Song Rok as soon as possible.
And Song Rok has no idea that he is the target of a contract killing.
I brought him with me to get him some good writing implements for the upcoming contest.
“This inkstone seems fine. How about it?”
“I am very grateful.”
“A brush made from weasel hair would be good.”
They purchased an inkstone and brushes at a store in the Sebin Trading Company and moved to their temporary residence.
“Be careful. He is approaching.”
He heard Jin-yu's telepathy.
Finally, he's here.
As he walked with his senses on high alert, he could feel the killing intent.
Then
whoosh!
A dagger flew toward Song-rok.
If there had been no one around, he would have rushed forward, but since there were several people around him, he threw the dagger instead.
The dagger flew straight toward Songrok's neck.
Bang!
However, the dagger was blocked by a shield. It was the shield held by the Royal Guard Master who had been following us as my bodyguard.
The small black shield was attached to the arm, and with a simple maneuver, it could be transformed into a shield in an instant.
That shield was also the symbol of the Royal Guards.
It was used to reveal one's identity as a member of the Royal Guards, but now he was deliberately showing it.
“Thanks to the cooperation of the poet Choo Il-gong, we will be able to wipe out these assassins in Beijing!”
I shouted loudly on purpose.
“Assassins! Chase them!”
Master Jin led the other Royal Guards and began to chase after them.
The Royal Guards would chase after the assassin but deliberately let him escape.
This assassin was a key to finding the assassins in Beijing.
And at this distance, the assassin must have heard what I said.
That the poet Choo Il-gong was cooperating with us.
The fact that he is staying in Beijing means that he is proud of his work and has a strong sense of pride.
Would someone like that just sit back and do nothing after being humiliated like that? He will definitely go after Choo Il-gong.
I know how people like that work. They don't just swing their swords and say, “You're dead!”
They slowly kill their enemies.
It's vicious. Very.
It doesn't matter that the target is Chu Il-gong.
He'll bleed every day, but it's his own fault.
Still, I'm not going to let him die. If he dies, he won't be able to pay for his sins.
I bowed my head and looked at Song Rok lying on the floor.
“Are you all right?”
“What... what just happened?”
“You mean this?”
I picked up the dagger that had been deflected by my shield and replied in a dry voice.
“This is proof that an assassin just came to kill the poet Song.”
“Ah, assassination... You mean me?”
“Yes.”
“Why me? I haven't done anything to them...”
He was very frightened, so I explained to him.
“I just heard it myself. A man named Chu Il-gong ordered the assassination of Song.”
“What?”
He tilted his head.
“But didn't Captain Song say that it was with the cooperation of the poet Chu Il-gong?”
“You mean that?”
I chuckled and leaned in close to whisper.
“It's a lie.”
“What?”
“It's a lie. It's to confuse the assassins. And this way, they won't know it's a trap and won't target Song again.”
“Ah...”
I held out my hand to him.
“Get up. The floor is dirty.”
“Oh, yes…”
He stood up, and I dusted the dirt off his clothes.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes.”
He said he was fine, but his face was still pale.
He must have been really scared.
Well, this is a normal reaction for an ordinary person.
“Take a few deep breaths and you'll calm down.”
Song Rok took several deep breaths as I told him.
Then, once he had calmed down a little, he asked me,
“So you're saying that Chu Il-gong hired an assassin to kill me?”
“Yes.”
I continued.
“You saw it today, didn't you? To those who don't know the details, Song Rok's poems sounded like they were written by Choo Il-gong. So, before the truth comes out and he is disgraced, they want to kill Song Rok...”
“So, they tried to steal his poems again.”
His eyes, which had calmed down a little, began to fill with rage.
That was why I brought Song Rok here and exposed him to the assassin.
Even if I wanted to punish Song Rok properly after this incident, it would be difficult.
He was too kind-hearted.
In other words, he was a good person, and good people tend to cause trouble for their families.
This incident was also a chance for Song Rok to take personal revenge.
Anyone would be filled with hatred after being treated like that, but he is still a good person.
You can see his character from the fact that he wanted to turn himself in.
To be honest, I don't like his personality. Why would he turn himself in? He should be sharpening his knife for revenge instead of worrying about that.
Anyway, it will be difficult to get proper revenge like this.
He will most likely face him in the final competition, and if he is overwhelmed by his momentum at that time, he will not be able to show his true abilities.
So he asked a little coldly.
“So what do you think? Do you still want to die?”
A moment ago, he was trembling and saying that he was foolish.
But now, as if he had become filled with hatred, even his voice had changed.
“I will never die until I destroy him socially.”
That was a satisfactory answer.
***
The second day of the imperial poetry contest dawned.
When Choo Il-gong arrived at the contest venue, his friends cheered him on.
“I hope your name will be praised again today! Hahaha!”
“Your victory is already a foregone conclusion!”
“I'll cheer for you.”
However, his friends noticed that Chu Il-gong seemed a little strange today.
“Why is that?”
“Huh?”
“You seem anxious today.”
Hearing this, Chu Il-gong smiled awkwardly and said,
“I'm not nervous. Hahaha.”
However, cold sweat was pouring down his back and forehead.
This morning.
When he woke up, there was a dagger stuck next to his head.
A piece of paper was pierced through the dagger, and it read, “The price for deceiving me is death.”
He had no idea what was going on.
“Could someone have hired someone to kill me? Damn it!”
He wondered who had ordered his death, but he had deceived so many people that he had no idea.
The contest began.
One pair after another took the stage to show off their skills, and two of the four were eliminated.
Then it happened.
“The theme for this round is ‘mirror’ and ‘flower.’”
After the theme was announced, a moment passed, and the reciters began to recite their poems.
“The mirror you left behind...”
The moment he heard that poem, Chu Il-gong's eyes widened.
He knew that it was the poem written by Song Rok, the man he had hired to assassinate him.
“He's alive? Damn it! Those useless hitmen!”
The audience was amazed as they listened to Song Rok's poem.
“Oh! He's truly a master poet!”
“What a beautiful poem!”
“The beauty of poetry is even more apparent today.”
And then...
The poets were looking at themselves from the waiting area.
Their eyes were filled with questions.
The poem being read aloud was clearly by the poet Chuil-gong, so why was Chuil-gong himself here?
Then whose poem was it?
That was what they were asking.
Yesterday, it was a coincidence that Songrok and Chuil-gong went up on stage at the same time, so they didn't know what was going on, but today, that wasn't the case, so the poets were wondering.
So, without thinking, Chuil-gong made an excuse.
“I don't know who you are, but you seem to admire me a lot.”
“...”
However, their questions remained unanswered, and their suspicions began to grow.
***
Thus, the second day of the poetry contest came to an end.
Naturally, Song Rok continued his winning streak, and Choo Il-gong also survived that day.
According to Song Rok, all the poems submitted by Choo Il-gong were his own work.
“I just changed the tense a little bit.”
Meanwhile, even though Choo Il-gong did not go up on the stage where the contest was held, people began to wonder if someone else had written poems that were similar to or even better than his.
It's going according to plan.
And the rumors will spread throughout Beijing tonight.
By the way, Choo Il-gong looked a little uneasy today. I wonder if an assassin visited him last night.
Master Jin was busy trying to round up the assassins.
I heard that he is going to use the Inescapable Net Formation.
The Inescapable Net Formation, which is based on the martial arts of the Imperial Palace... I am a little curious.
“Young master.”
At that moment, Pal-gap entered with a slightly flustered look on his face.
“What is the matter?”
“It's about those five warriors. It seems that they have escaped.”
“...
I was speechless for a moment, but quickly regained my composure.
”Explain in detail.“
”They had lunch, but they haven't been seen since around 1:00 p.m.“
”Hahaha.“
I laughed.
”Wow! They are formidable warriors. I didn't expect them to escape."
“No, surely not. I'm sure you expected this, sir.”
“Well, I didn't expect it completely. But I thought the possibility was extremely low.”
I asked Pal-gap.
“So you packed my things too?”
Pal-gap nodded in response to my question. That's why he said they had deserted.
I stood up.
“Let's go to the warriors' quarters.”
“Yes.”
A short time later, we arrived at the warriors' quarters. In front of the quarters, Branch Chief Eun stood with a distraught look on his face.
“I apologize. I should have watched them more closely...”
“It's all right. How could you have prevented the warriors from escaping when they were determined to do so?”
“I am truly sorry.”
“It's okay. Go back to work.”
Then I asked the warrior in front of me.
“Where is the lodgings of the warriors who escaped?”
“Ah! This way!”
I headed to the place the warrior showed me. Then I told him to wait outside for a moment.
“Geum-ryung.”
“Kui?”
“Come out.”
At my words, Geum-ryeong came out from behind my sleeve and poked her head out.
“Can you find the owner of these bedding?”
“Kui? Kui?”
“You'll give me silver coins? If you don't give me silver coins, I won't work... Fine. I'll give you silver coins. I'll give you some.”
“Kui.”
“You want the silver first? Ugh...”
Since when did I start giving her the silver first?
I shook my head, took out the silver, and handed it to her. Geum-ryung's eyes lit up as she snatched it.
She came out from my sleeve, rolled around on the bedding, and then jumped up.
Then she flew out the window like a bullet.
When I counted to about 150, Geum-ryung returned.
“Seo-woo, Jin-yu. Let's go catch them.”
“Yes.”
“Yes, sir.”
I left the rest to Pal-gap and the other warriors and followed Geum-ryung.
How far did we go?
After running with movement arts for about a moment, I sensed a familiar energy.
Soon, I saw five warriors with backpacks on their backs.
They were running fast, using their movement arts, as if someone was chasing them.
I already have a headache because of Choo Il-gong, and now the warriors are doing this?
Well, everyone has a plan.
That is, until they get hit.
They should be grateful that I gave them a chance.
Still, I will give them another chance.
Since it is their second chance, they will have no excuse even if they get beaten up.