Chapter 327
The Youngest Son of Eunhaesang Trading Company Chapter 327
Chapter 327. Settle the Accounts Neatly (5)
Most of the documents that Bang No-sa gave me were letters.
They were letters from King Seonggyeong ordering Yeokcheon-do, and the contents were exactly as I expected.
He said that they must be eradicated, and that they must be completely eliminated, just as he had said before.
How brutal.
Was King Se-gyeong always like this?
I put the letters aside and looked through the other documents.
They were documents summarizing the situation when the Yeokcheon-do gang was defeated.
Hmm...
Yeokcheon-do was said to have been hiding in a cave in a forest in northern Shandong.
There were about 500 of them.
With the financial support from King Se-gyeong, their numbers were rapidly increasing...
But the distance between Jiangxi and Shandong is considerable. How did he give instructions to each of them through letters?
I searched through the documents, but...
“There's nothing.”
“What's wrong?”
The chamberlain asked me, and I scratched the back of my neck and replied.
“These letters. How were they sent? King Seokgyeong was in Jiangxi, and the rebels were in Shandong.”
“Of course, they were sent by messenger. It would be too dangerous to send them by carrier pigeon.”
Messengers are fast, but there is a high possibility that the letters will be lost along the way.
That's why we send several messengers at once.
And if someone intercepts the messengers and reads the contents, that would be a big problem.
“Then there is something strange.”
At my words, Bang No-sa frowned and approached me.
“What do you mean?”
“Look at these letters.”
“This one says to keep an eye on things, and this one is the reply saying that the reply has been received and that it should be destroyed when the time comes.”
“Look at the dates, not the contents.”
“Huh?”
“It's only three days apart. Does that make sense? It takes more than ten days to ride a horse from their base to where His Majesty King Seokyeong is.”
“...!”
My words made Bang No-sa's eyes widen.
Of course, it is possible for a master who has surpassed the peak of his skill, but it is quite difficult.
Moreover, they are using such a precious master who has surpassed the peak of his skill as a messenger?
That's ridiculous.
“Then this letter is...”
“It's a forged letter.”
“But this handwriting is clearly His Majesty's.”
“That's why I thought about it. Then I found something strange about this letter.”
“Where?”
I pointed to the right side of the letter.
“Isn't the margin a little strange? There's no margin at all.”
Then I continued.
“His Majesty King Seokgyeong would never write like this because he wanted to save paper. There must be some reason.”
“Continue explaining.”
“Yes. Look here. Can you see the small piece of paper that's been cut off on the right side?”
“...!”
Bang No-sa's eyes widened.
“Could it be?”
“Yes. This... someone cut the letter.”
This was almost certain.
Otherwise, there would be no trace of it.
Then the question was, what was written before this?
“Who is King Seonggyeong?”
“Hmm...”
After thinking for a moment, Bang No-sa opened his mouth.
“To be honest, he's a bit of an eccentric. He was born into the royal family, but he has never expressed his political views... He just enjoys tending to his flowers in the garden all day. He is kind and gentle, so he is trusted by the royal family.”
“I see.”
Hearing Bang No-sa's words, everything fell into place in my mind.
“Flowers. Let's think of the purpose of these letters as advice on flowers, not treason. Doesn't that change the meaning completely?”
I continued.
“The phrase ‘pull out the roots’ probably means to pull out the roots of weeds, right? As I said before, the phrase ‘remove everything’ must also be related to that.”
“Since the letter was sent in spring, it must mean to watch over them after sowing the seeds.”
Bang No-sa and I exchanged glances.
A strange joy filled Bang No-sa's eyes.
“Uwahahaha!”
Bang-nosa patted me on the back and said.
“You're so clever! You're so beautiful!”
“Ouch! That hurts!”
“Where on earth have you been? If I had met you earlier, I wouldn't have had to go through all that trouble.”
Instead, I would have had to go through all that trouble.
And at that time, I was quite sickly.
Once he had calmed down a little, Bang No-sa sat down on a chair and brought up another topic.
“But then, who on earth did this?”
“Rather than that, shouldn't we be thinking about why someone would want to slander His Majesty King Seonggyeong?”
“You're right.”
“It may be simpler than we think. If letters were exchanged in three days, it means that the actual recipient is in Jiangxi Province.”
“We must send someone to Jiangxi Province.”
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.
.
After finishing my conversation with Bang No-sa, I left the imperial palace.
“Did you wait long?”
“No, not at all.”
“You didn't wait long.”
I scratched the back of my neck at the reply from Pal-gap and the guards. Even though they said that, they must have waited a long time.
“Are you going to your quarters now?”
“Yes.”
I nodded.
“By the way, Pal-gap. Why is the moon so bright today?”
“Young master, that is not the moon, it is the sun.”
“....”
Feeling embarrassed, I quietly turned my head away.
So, I had spent the night at the imperial palace.
Still, it was a meaningful night. I had found the decisive evidence to clear Se-gyeong's name.
The rest would be taken care of by the chamberlain.
He was a man of great ability.
.
.
.
After that, I spent another busy few days.
With summer approaching, I had to come up with a new design.
I created a new chair with a curved backrest so that it would be comfortable to sit in for long periods of time.
Before releasing it, I had it tested by the Trading Company, and it was very well received.
People said that it was easy to sit for long periods of time because it helped them maintain good posture.
Hmm, now that things have turned out this way, it might not be a bad idea to expand into furniture.
In the evening, I began learning the martial arts of the imperial palace from Master Jin.
As he was a very busy man, he came once every three days to teach me the martial arts of the Imperial Palace, and thanks to him, I was able to learn how matters related to King Se-gyeong were progressing.
“Those who went to Jiangxi Province have brought back some new information. Do you happen to know a place called Myeonggeol Trading Company?”
“Yes, I do.”
“I see. Actually, we have had some conflicts with them.”
Myeonggeol Trading Company.
How could I forget that name?
In my previous life, they refused to give me the medicine I needed to cure Dae-hyung's illness.
But you said there was a conflict with them?
“I heard that the Myeonggeol Trading Company is a bit rough and reckless. So, while they are growing their power, some people are being sacrificed, and they have a pretty bad reputation. That's why His Majesty Se-gyeong said something about them.”
How did King Se-gyeong know that I needed medicinal herbs in my previous life?
It was because he was watching the Myeonggeol Trading Company.
And there is one more important thing.
In my previous life, I learned something when dealing with the Myeonggeol Trading Company. That is, the Martial Alliance is behind the Myeonggeol Trading Company.
That made me even more angry.
Even with the Martial Alliance, known for its fairness, backing them, they still acted so despicably.
In any case, the fact that the Minggeul Trading Company acted that way must have been the Martial Alliance's plan to frame King Se-gyeong.
Why is something that didn't happen in my previous life happening now?
The answer is simple.
While trying to increase their power through the Myeonggeol Trading Company, they must have found King Se-kyung to be a hindrance.
So they took this opportunity to frame King Se-kyung for treason and get rid of him.
Wow...
What dirty and scary people.
Something must have changed from my previous life for this to happen...
Now that they're after me, I can't just let them get away.
“Master, are you saying that the Myeonggeol Trading Company slandered His Majesty Se-gyeong?”
“It's highly likely, but we don't know for sure yet.”
“Then there must be someone else behind this.”
“Huh?”
“How could a mere trading company do something so reckless?”
“That's true.”
“And there must be evidence. For example, there may be a martial artist among the martial artists of the Myeonggeol Trading Company who belongs to a different organization.”
The Martial Alliance always plants its own warriors in places related to itself.
With just this hint, we should be able to find a lead.
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.
.
Several days passed.
It was a day like any other.
It was almost June.
Fortunately, the barley harvest had not been ruined, so the lean season was not too severe.
However, this year's autumn harvest would surely be poor.
“Young master! Young master!”
At that moment, Pal-gap came running up.
“What is it?”
“Master Jin-yeong is here.”
What? Today is not the day to learn martial arts at the imperial palace.
With questions in my mind, I headed for the reception room.
As if he had been waiting for me, Master Jin-yeong stood up from his seat.
“Hurry and get ready.”
“What?”
“His Majesty the Emperor is calling for you.”
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.
A moment later
I headed for the imperial palace with Master Jin-yeong.
On the way, he told me the general situation.
“So you mean the Martial Alliance was behind it?”
Master Jin-yeong nodded in response to my question.
“Yes.”
Just as I thought.
“According to the Martial Alliance, it seems that a family belonging to the Martial Alliance was behind this.”
Cutting off the tail is also as I expected.
But it's not necessarily a bad thing.
Even if they cut off the tail one by one, their power will weaken.
“Anyway, the Minister of Justice told His Majesty the Emperor that you were a great help in this matter.”
“Ah...”
That's why I was called here.
Soon, we arrived at His Majesty the Emperor's office, and I entered alone.
I bowed in respect to His Majesty the Emperor.
“Raise your head.”
“I am deeply honored.”
I raised my head, and standing next to the emperor was someone other than the eunuch.
Huh?
That face looks familiar...
“You are Se-gyeong-wang.”
“Ah!”
I quickly bowed in respect to the royal family.
“I asked His Majesty the Emperor about you because I was curious.”
He continued.
“Thanks to you, I was able to clear my name. If it weren't for you... Just thinking about it is terrifying.”
The emperor nodded at his words.
“I feel the same way.”
The emperor looked at me and continued.
“Thanks to you, I didn't lose someone precious to me. I am truly grateful.”
“I did nothing. I was just lucky.”
I did my best to downplay my contribution.
Why?
Because if I didn't, the emperor might say, “Now come work for the imperial court.”
And the look in the chamberlain's eyes was not good either.
“You don't have to be so humble. It is true that you saved my life and the lives of my family.”
King Se-gyeong said in a sincere voice.
“I will never forget your kindness.”
“...”
I had only repaid the kindness shown to me in my previous life, but King Se-gyeong was telling me that he would repay me.
I raised my head and looked at him.
Compared to his previous life, King Se-gyeong's eyes were more determined. It seemed that he had gone through a lot and realized many things because of this incident.
Yes, it would be good if someone like him became my ally.
I decided to think positively.
“It seems you have something to say, so I will leave first.”
“Let's have a cup of tea together later.”
“Yes, I will.”
With that, King Se-gyeong left the emperor's office first.
It seemed he had come to express his gratitude to me.
“I heard from the Minister of Justice that you said you would intervene in the investigation first.”
“Yes, that's right.”
I quickly replied to the emperor's question.
“What is your reason?”
“That is... I wanted to be sure. If it is a case of treason involving the royal family, there will surely be a lot of bloodshed. If it is wrong, I want to set it right.”
I cannot say that I met King Se-gyeong in my previous life and thought that he would never do such a thing.
“Anyway, thank you.”
As the emperor spoke, his gaze softened.
Huh?
Did he just smile? Did he really smile?
I wondered if what I had just seen was real.
“King Se-gyeong was my cousin and a great source of strength to me when I was lonely.”
“...”
“Thanks to him, I was able to avoid making a big mistake. I am grateful to him.”
“No, it's nothing. I was just...”
“I will not forget what you did. Therefore, I will grant you one request.”
A chance to make a request to the emperor!
It was a tremendous opportunity.
“Then you may leave.”
“I will take my leave now.”
With that, I withdrew from before the emperor and walked out of the palace with Master Jin, who was waiting at the door.
“By the way, what happened to the Minggeul Trading Company?”
“How could they be fine after daring to slander the imperial family?”
In this way, I neatly settled the debts of my past life.
As a bonus, I also gained a few benefits.