Chapter 312
The Youngest Son of the Silver Sea Trading Company Chapter 312
Chapter 312. The Emperor's Errand (3)
There were quite a few masked men surrounding us. There were about twenty of them.
I could clearly sense their evil intentions.
“Let's cut to the chase. Hand over the letter.”
“Letter? I don't understand what you're talking about.”
“Don't play dumb! We know you have the letter.”
That meant they had an informant in the imperial palace. Or maybe they had assumed that because I had entered the palace.
“This is frustrating! What are you talking about?”
“The letter the emperor entrusted to you!”
It's obvious that he's not friendly toward the emperor.
In that case, I can't just tell them that I have the letter.
“What do you mean? Why would His Majesty entrust me with a letter? I am not qualified to carry out such an important mission.”
“Are you really telling me that?”
“This is driving me crazy!”
“I guess you really don't have it.”
“What should we do?”
“It doesn't matter. They know about us now, so we can't let them live. Kill them!”
“Yes.”
They all rushed toward us.
We gave them a chance to live, but they threw it away.
We outnumber them, but they have three peak-level warriors and four first-class warriors.
Don't they know anything about me?
What happened in Luoyang last time wasn't exactly a secret, and anyone with even the slightest interest in martial arts would know about me and Seo Woo's abilities.
Could they really not know?
Or maybe they didn't connect the dots.
In any case, thanks to them, we learned that they were after my letter and that there was a spy inside the imperial palace.
That's right.
“Capture them alive if possible. But don't get hurt trying.”
“Yes, sir!”
A fight broke out and chaos ensued.
Naturally, my bodyguards were far superior, so the battle turned in our favor.
Just as we were about to defeat all of them, a whistle sounded and a group of soldiers rushed in.
“Damn it! Retreat!”
They quickly fled, leaving their fallen comrades behind.
They were incredibly fast.
The head constable hurriedly approached my party and asked, “Are you all right?”
“Yes, we are fine.”
“I am glad you are unharmed. I am sorry, but I must ask you to accompany me to the county office.”
I nodded at the head constable's words. It was troublesome, but rules were rules.
I nodded at the head constable's words.
It was troublesome, but it was the procedure, so there was nothing we could do.
When I was suddenly attacked by rebels in Beijing before, I was with the Royal Guards, so they took care of everything and I didn't have to go to the county office.
But this time was different.
The head constable glanced at the men we had subdued and shouted.
“Handcuff them!”
“Yes, sir!”
Fortunately, most of the men we had subdued were still alive and could be taken prisoner.
“While you're at it, gag them. They might bite their tongues and kill themselves.”
“Yes, sir.”
The head constable seemed to think it was a good idea and gave the order to the police officers again.
Then we headed for the county office.
Ji-hyun was surprised to see us with the head constable and ran over to us.
He knew him.
“What on earth is going on?”
“Actually, we were attacked by masked men.”
“What? Attacked?”
“Yes, there were about twenty of them. They attacked us, but they fled when the police appeared. Fortunately, we were able to capture some of them.”
Ji-hyun clicked his tongue as he glanced at the men who were bound and gagged.
“How could they? They attacked Seonhyeokmi and Baekjeokgeom, the heroes of the Dragon and Phoenix Duel! It was suicide.”
Hearing this, their eyes widened.
Judging from their reaction, they didn't know anything about Seo Woo and me.
“I'm sorry to trouble you, but please write a report.”
“Yes, sir.”
After writing the report, we were finally able to go to the tavern where the banquet was being held.
“What happened? I was worried because you were late.”
I smiled awkwardly at the branch manager's words.
“I had a lot of work to do.”
There was no need to ruin the mood by telling him that we had been attacked on the way.
No one was hurt, after all.
“I see.”
I smiled as if to say I was fine and looked inside the hall.
The Trading Company people were enjoying the banquet, watching the dancers and musicians perform.
Of course, there was no alcohol.
But the food was delicious, and there was music, so it was fine.
The music was accompanied by a drink made with water, honey, and dried fruit, which added color, sourness, and fragrance.
I approached them and asked,
“Are you enjoying the banquet?”
“Ah! Captain!”
“Please come and have a drink. It's incredibly delicious.”
“Yes, please.”
I took a cup of yin and drank it. It was delicious.
“Well, have a good time. I'll be going now. Branch Chief, please come with me.”
The branch chief quickly replied to my words.
“Yes, sir.”
No matter what kind of banquet it is, it cannot be enjoyable when you are with your superiors.
You have to relax a little when you let your guard down.
And when you drink, you are likely to lose your mind and cause trouble, but since there is no alcohol, that is unlikely to happen.
Well, can you cause trouble even when you are sober?
That would be good for me.
I could stop you before you cause a bigger accident.
“Then enjoy yourself and come back later.”
When I went down to the first floor, the tavern owner bowed politely.
That was understandable, given that business had been poor since the prohibition on alcohol was imposed, and this was a large banquet.
From the tavern owner's perspective, he must have felt truly grateful.
“Thank you for choosing our tavern.”
“We always enjoy the food here, so we came again this time.”
“Thank you very much. Our head chef's cooking is exquisite.”
Of course it is.
He is a former imperial chef.
Of course, no one knows that now.
The truth was revealed later, and the head chef said to those who questioned his decision to give up the honor of being an imperial chef.
“What's the point of making delicious food if there's no one who can truly enjoy it?”
Since it was a matter of the imperial palace, he couldn't go into detail, leaving everyone curious and fueling various speculations.
Later, while talking with King Jin Seung, who was a friend of mine, the topic came up by chance.
“I can understand what the chef meant.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Because it's food for the imperial palace, the procedures are very complicated. First, everything about the food prepared each day must be recorded, from the ingredients to the cooking methods.”
“Isn't that natural?”
“Yes, but that's not all. His Majesty does not choose his food himself. When His Majesty points to a dish, a court official serves it directly to His Majesty. However, once His Majesty has pointed to a dish three times, it cannot be served again.”
“...Is it because of poisoning?”
“Yes.”
King Jin-seung nodded and continued.
“How frustrated must he be that most of the food he makes is so delicious that it can't be served again?”
Hearing this, I felt sorry for the chef who had left the royal palace because he couldn't show his talent, but I also felt sorry for the emperor who couldn't enjoy delicious food at ease.
Still, in the end, Suk-soo was happy because he was able to use his talent, and those who ate his food were also happy.
It was a win-win situation.
I said to Lu-ju.
“Then, I will leave it to you.”
“Of course.”
“Oh, and...”
I looked around and whispered to him.
“I know you have some moonshine.”
He flinched at my words.
This tavern had good wine made for emergencies, which was secretly served to high-ranking officials in Beijing.
However, he was caught and suffered greatly, and in the process, it was revealed that the chef here was a former chef at the imperial palace.
To be honest, it was a pity.
When running a brothel in Beijing, it was impossible not to be wary of high-ranking officials.
However, when they were caught, it was the brothel owner who was severely punished, while the officials received only a light reprimand.
In response to my words, he asked in a low voice.
“Shall I provide it for you?”
“You're asking for trouble.”
“...”
“If they ask for alcohol, do not give it to them under any circumstances. And if anyone at the banquet makes any unreasonable demands, please let me know who they are.”
“Yes?”
“And one more piece of advice... It would be a good idea to set fire to the wine cellar.”
“...”
“Then I will be on my way.”
Then, together with the branch chief, he left the tavern.
.
.
.
When I returned to my temporary quarters, I washed and changed into my pajamas. Then, before lying down on my bed, I sat down in front of the table.
I took two sealed letters out of my pocket.
The emperor had looked different than usual when he entrusted me with these two letters.
He looked apologetic.
The emperor already knew. He knew that just having these letters would put my life in danger.
What was in these letters that caused the attack?
I wanted to open the letters, but that would have been rude.
I knew that the emperor would have made sure that no one could read the letters before I received them.
Therefore, I put down the letters that had to be delivered and took out the sealed letter with my personal information.
Zip.
I opened the letter and read its contents.
Huh?
Gansu Province?
Gansu, at the northwestern tip of the empire?
I just arrived in Beijing and have a mountain of work to do, and now I have to go to Gansu?
Damn it.
If I had known this would happen, I should have refused.
But what power do I have to refuse the emperor's orders, or rather, his request?
Sigh.
I let out a light sigh and looked over the details.
The recipient of the letter was a man named Bang Hyo-myeong in Gansu.
But if I, who was simply asked to deliver a letter, was attacked in Beijing, would he be all right?
Perhaps Bang Hyo-myeong would also be in danger of his life at the hands of the suspicious group?
With those thoughts in mind, I turned to the next page.
“....”
It was a letter from the emperor. As I read it, I felt somewhat embarrassed.
He said that I was probably cursing myself right now, but that this was an unavoidable choice.
Instead, he said he would provide as much support as possible for the establishment of the Beijing branch.
In other words, it was the reward for my service.
Sigh... What can I do?
I scratched my ear and sighed, then called out to Pal-gap.
“Pal-gap!”
“Yes, sir?”
Pal-gap appeared immediately upon hearing my call.
“You weren't asleep yet?”
“I had a feeling you would ask me to leave tonight, so I prepared everything in advance.”
“....”
It's not just my imagination that Pal-gap is becoming a more perfect servant the more he learns the martial arts book left behind by King Sal.
“Then shall I call the bodyguards?”
“Yes. And bring Branch Chief Eun and Team Leader Jeong-chung as well.”
“Yes, sir.”
Pal-gap moved immediately.
No matter how I thought about it, I felt that moving now would allow us to catch them off guard.
Soon, Branch Chief Eun and Team Leader Jeong-chung arrived.
I gave them a brief explanation, focusing only on the most important points.
I couldn't explain in detail because it was a letter from the emperor.
“I apologize for having to leave again so soon after arriving.”
“No, it can't be helped. But where are you going?”
“Guangdong Province.”
“That's very far away.”
Actually, I wasn't going to Guangdong Province, but there's a saying, isn't there?
To deceive the enemy, you must first deceive your allies.
“Instead, His Majesty the Emperor said he would provide as much support as possible to the Sect Leader of Emei for the establishment of a branch in Beijing.”
“Is that so?”
“Of course. We are going all the way to Guangdong Province, so it's only fair that we receive some compensation, isn't it?”
“You're right.”
“Then I will go with confidence, trusting you both.”
That night.
I left Beijing secretly with only Pal-gap and six bodyguards.
Of course, our destination was Gansu.
* * *
The next day.
A deserted mansion in Beijing.
A man rushed into the mansion.
“It's an emergency!”
“What is it?”
“He left last night.”
Upon hearing this, he gritted his teeth.
“I thought he would leave in a few days!”
“....”
“We must make sure that the letter he has with him does not reach him. If that letter reaches him, our plan will be ruined!”
That meant that everything he had built up while playing mind games with the emperor would come crashing down.
However, he had a feeling that it would not be easy to stop this man named Eun Seo-ho.
“I've been outsmarted by that fox of an emperor!”
Last night, those who attacked Eun Seo-ho were not only unsuccessful, but several of them were captured and only managed to escape with great difficulty.
Thus, focusing on that matter, he had neglected to monitor Eun Seo-ho's movements, which was a fatal mistake.
“So, do you know where he's headed?”
“Yes! He's said he's going to Guangdong Province.”
“Send a pursuit party immediately.”