Chapter 318
The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Trading Company Chapter 318
Chapter 318. In Lanzhou (5)
At that moment.
As Eun Seo-ho had said, the mountain keep was in an uproar.
Not only had the four Royal Guards who had been detained and tortured for information disappeared, but dozens of people had been killed.
“What on earth is going on!”
Boss trembled with rage.
They went to catch the men the official had told them about, but when they followed the trail, all they found was a deer bone stuck in the ground.
It was clearly meant to mock them.
They returned in a rage, only to find something even more infuriating.
Yes.
They had been completely deceived from beginning to end.
Boss thought back to how this whole thing started.
He didn't have to look far.
“Cheong-gwan, that bastard! Bring him here right now!”
“Yes, sir!”
.
.
.
Meanwhile, Cheong-gwan now had nothing to fear.
The Royal Guards, who knew of his wrongdoings, had been arrested, and those who came looking for them would have been arrested as well.
He had even kindly told them to be prepared for anything, so they would have brought all their forces with them.
Therefore, there was no way that the mountain keepers could have let them escape.
All that was left was to finish the job.
Still, he had to report this to his superiors. However, he did not intend to report it immediately. If he reported it too quickly, he might arouse suspicion.
He was on his way to meet someone who wanted his information and then return to his quarters.
Then, someone called him from behind.
“Cheong-gwan Gong?”
He turned around and saw some familiar faces.
“It's you guys from the mountain keep. What do you want?”
“The boss wants to see you.”
“Now?”
“Yes. The boss wants to thank you and ask you something.”
Without suspicion, Cheong-gwan nodded readily.
“All right. Let's go.”
“We'll take you there.”
With that, they headed toward the mountain keep, and when the magistrate entered, he bowed to the boss with clasped hands...
Bam!
Before he could even finish, he was knocked flying by the boss and slammed into the wall.
“Ugh! Boss! What are you doing?”
“What are you doing? You son of a bitch! You think you can screw us over like this? You bastard!”
“What do you mean? Why would I screw you over?”
“You said those guys were grilling meat down there, right? But when we got there, all we found were deer bones!”
“What?”
“Just in case, I followed the trail, and all I found were deer bones!”
“....”
“And when I came back, the Royal Guards were gone and our men were dead!”
“In this situation, who should I punish?”
At those words, Cheong-gwan's face turned pale.
That meant that those who came from the Imperial Palace knew about Cheong-gwan's true intentions from the beginning.
In other words, he had been deceived.
“I'm also innocent! I didn't want the Royal Guards to be rescued either.”
Hearing this, Boss snorted and said, "Come on, you're just making excuses.
“Come to think of it, something was strange. A member of Dongchang betraying the Royal Guards. Tell us the truth. You used us!”
Swoosh.
When Chae-ju drew his sword, Cheong-gwan cried out in alarm.
“No, I'm not! I'm a member of Dongchang! I'm a direct subordinate of His Majesty the Emperor! Touching me is treason!”
“That's ridiculous. You bastard. Hey! You didn't say anything like that when we touched the Royal Guards.”
The people around them nodded in agreement with Boss's words.
“That's true.”
“If we were afraid of that, we wouldn't have touched the Royal Guards in the first place.”
“What's the difference? We're going to die either way.”
Cheong-gwan hesitated at their killing intent and backed away, but he was soon blocked by the wall.
At that moment, his body moved swiftly.
The martial arts practiced by his classmates were characterized by stealthy and swift movements.
Puk!
However, Boss's martial arts skills were superior, and he was caught and thrown to the ground.
In an instant, Boss pressed his fingers on Cheong-gwan's acupoints and ordered, “Take him to the basement!”
“Yes!”
Cheong-gwan's attempt to escape failed, and he ended up hanging from the wall where the Royal Guards had been hanging.
* *
I checked the wounds of the Royal Guards.
Thanks to expensive and effective medicine, they recovered faster than expected, but their wounds were very serious.
Some of the wounds were so severe that their bones were visible.
“Ugh...”
“Are you all right...? That was a stupid question. Of course you're not.”
“Still, I'm grateful that we're alive.”
Everyone nodded at Master Jin's words.
“The problem is that we failed to fulfill His Majesty's orders.”
“Ugh! Master Jin is right. That is what is so frustrating.”
Bang No-sa clicked his tongue.
“That's excessive loyalty. You should just focus on recovering.”
Hearing that, I said gently,
“These people have their own thoughts and circumstances. So please don't be too hard on them.”
Then I turned my head and looked at the Royal Guards.
“Still, what you learned while enduring that pain will be a big clue in solving this case later. That alone is enough for you to have done your job.”
They looked moved by my words, and Bang No-sa just laughed.
I was surprised that the Royal Guards had gathered information even while being tortured.
They said, “It's just part of the training that all Royal Guards undergo,” but training and reality are two different things.
On top of that, they had the mental strength to act according to their training!
I realized that the Royal Guards were truly the Royal Guards.
Then Bang No-sa asked me, “So, are you going to just leave that Cheong-gwan guy alone?”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“To be honest, I want to just let him die. But we have to save him and take him to the Imperial Palace.”
I continued.
“Is it possible that he committed those crimes alone? I'm sure someone turned a blind eye to his crimes. That's why we have to rescue him and bring him before His Majesty the Emperor so he can confess everything.”
“You're right.”
One of the Royal Guards said.
“The Imperial Palace is better at torture.”
There was a chill in his voice as he said this.
“Of course, if he loses a limb or two during the rescue, there's nothing we can do about it.”
“That's true.”
“But this time, it won't be easy.”
I laughed at Bang No-sa's words.
“You're being too modest. If you give us a plan, it won't be difficult.”
“You're flattering me. Heh heh heh.”
Still, he didn't seem to dislike the compliment.
Then Master Jin asked,
“Are you not requesting reinforcements?”
“Well, that's...”
When I glanced at Bang No-sa, he explained instead.
“His Majesty the Emperor sent a letter to this friend, but he said there were people chasing him.”
“What?”
“Then what?”
“The Emperor's orders must have been leaked somewhere. What would happen if we requested reinforcements in this situation?”
“This is serious.”
“Yes. So we have to solve this problem ourselves.”
“...I didn't know that, and I've put too much burden on you. I'm sorry.”
“It's okay. I'm going to grill some meat and think about it, so you guys rest up.”
“Yes.”
After Bang No-sa left, the Royal Guards talked about this and that.
“If Master Bang steps in, we will be able to resolve this matter successfully.”
“By the way, how did they manage to intercept the letter sent to Master Bang from the imperial palace?”
“Who could they be?”
“I have a few suspects...”
At that moment, I quietly asked Master Jin.
“Master Jin, who exactly is Master Bang?”
“Huh? Why do you ask?”
“Actually, after spending time with Master Bang, I feel that he is not an ordinary person.”
Master Jin-yeong cleared his throat and asked with a serious expression.
“...You really don't know who Minister Bang is?”
“No.”
“Then do you know the famous judge, Yuk-sik-gong?”
“Of course I do.”
When I was very young, there was a famous judge called Yook-sik Gong.
He was called Yook-sik Gong because he loved meat so much, but his determination and brilliant strategies helped clear the names of thousands of people who had been wrongfully accused.
This was proof that there were many people who had been wrongfully accused.
In any case, those who committed crimes dared not show their faces before Yuksik Gong, and the people praised him.
However, Yuksik Gong was skilled in politics and attributed all the praise to the emperor.
“His Majesty the Emperor appointed him as an official in the Ministry of Justice, and he eventually rose to the position of Minister of Justice.”
“So that Yook-sik-gong was Bang No-sa?”
“Yes.”
There was a reason why I didn't know that Bang No-sa was Yook-sik-gong.
It was because he had kept his name a secret very thoroughly.
That must have been part of his political skills.
“Then, seven years ago, he submitted his letter of resignation to His Majesty the Emperor and returned to his hometown.”
“I see.”
“But calling him back means that the imperial court must need his help.”
Master Jin gritted his teeth.
“If only I were healthy, I could go and help the emperor.”
He was very frustrated.
That was understandable, as everyone was so badly injured that it was uncertain whether they would be able to serve as Royal Guards again.
At that moment, Pal-gap approached.
“It's time to change your bandages.”
“Oh, really?”
Pal-gap unwrapped the bandages on Jin-yeong's leg. The wound was still gruesome, enough to make one shudder.
He wanted to heal these wounds.
It wasn't just a feeling of pity.
Of course, he felt pity, but if there were many talented people around His Majesty the Emperor, he wouldn't be forced to work as a slave.
Was there any medicine around here that was good for healing wounds?
There was some medicine that Geum-ryeong had taken from the palace, but I wasn't sure if it would be effective even if I shared it.
At that moment, Geum-ryeong peeked out from inside my sleeve. She looked at the medicine in my arm and her eyes lit up.
How does this kid know such expensive things?
- Kwi!
- No! You can't eat that.
I was glad that I could use telepathy. Otherwise, Master Jin-yeong would have thought something was strange.
Kui... Kui...
This kid...
I quickly took out the silver coin and put it in Geum-ryeong's mouth to calm her down. Then, I put it in my sleeve so that no one would notice...
Oh no!
Of all places, Geum-ryeong's saliva fell on Master Jin-yeong's wound. As I hurriedly tried to wipe it off, I saw something unusual.
The wound where Geum-ryeong's saliva had touched was rapidly healing.
Could it be Geum-ryeong's saliva...?
I rubbed the scratch on my clothes with Geum-ryeong's saliva.
“...!”
The scratch disappeared.
My heart was pounding.
Everyone! Geum-ryeong is a very special boy!
Why didn't I know that Geum-ryeong's saliva had such powers?
Or maybe it's a new ability he recently acquired.
Did I really spend that much money on him?
Anyway, I decided to ask my Master about it later and left the room immediately.
I got a bowl and headed for my room.
Then I took out Geum-ryeong and placed it in front of the bowl.
“Geum-ryung, do you want to eat this?”
Geum-ryung saw the gold coin in my other hand, and his eyes lit up and he started drooling.
It wasn't silver, but gold.
Just as I had planned, his saliva was collecting in the bowl.
Now even Geum-ryung's saliva seemed adorable.
Am I becoming too materialistic?
Anyway, once I had collected enough of Geum-ryeong's saliva in the tray, I gave her the gold coin.
I had a weak heart...
Geum-ryeong gobbled up the gold coin.
Oh, she's such a good eater. My Geum-ryeong.
After eating the gold coin, Geum-ryeong seemed to notice my gaze and trembled.
Hey... You're going to hurt my feelings.
.
.
.
The next morning.
I took the bowl containing Geum-ryeong's saliva and went back to where the Royal Guards were.
“Pal-gap, apply this to the wounds of the Masters.”
“What is that?”
I scratched the back of my neck and replied to Master Jin-yeong's question.
“Actually, last night, I prayed all night long, wondering how I could help the masters recover quickly. Then, a divine being appeared in my dream and told me to apply the water I had prepared to their wounds.”
“That's strange.”
“Yes, it is. It may just be a dream, but it can't hurt to try, right?”
I wondered if he would believe me, but I knew that sometimes things happen that don't make sense.
But I couldn't just tell him that it was Geum-ryeong's saliva.
Even if people say that saliva can heal wounds, preconceptions are a scary thing.