Chapter 335
The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Trading Company Chapter 335
Chapter 335. This is not acceptable. (4)
He looked flustered by my words, but he pushed my hand away and made excuses.
“This is just because I spilled tea yesterday! Don't make a big deal out of nothing!”
“Do you think I'm an idiot who can't tell the difference between water from tea and discoloration from freezing? And how do you explain the damage to the fabric?”
“That's because...”
He broke out in a cold sweat.
You're trying too hard when there's no way out.
“You bastard!”
At that moment, Po-jeong, convinced that Pyung-tak was the culprit, swung his fist at him.
SMACK!
“Ouch!”
Pyung-tak covered his face and fell backward. When he let go of his hands, his lips were torn and bleeding.
When he opened his mouth, two white teeth stained with blood fell to the floor.
Wow...
Po-jeong-sa, you must have been a boxer at one point.
You don't seem to have any martial arts training, so how did you knock out two teeth with just one punch?
He was so angry that he threw his punch with all his strength.
“You know how serious I am about this, and you still do this?”
“I have committed a capital offense!”
“Who ordered you to do this?”
“Who ordered me? There is no one!”
Pyeong-tak shook his head desperately.
Of course. If he revealed that there was someone behind him, his crime would be even more serious, as he would be considered to have received a request as Po-jeong's second-in-command.
However, Po Jeong-sa's expression remained cold.
“Do you really need to be punished before you will confess?”
“I really don't...”
At that moment, someone spoke up.
“With all due respect, sir, someone recently told me something about Pyeong Bu-gan.”
He was another aide to Po Jeong-sa.
“I heard that the deputy officer has been spending a lot of time with people from the Insight Trading Company lately.”
When the Insight Trading Company was mentioned, Pyeong-tak's face showed obvious embarrassment.
So the Insight Trading Company was behind this.
“There were a few suspicious things, so I was investigating on my own. I was going to report it once I had confirmed everything, but then this happened.”
He bowed his head.
“It is my fault for not informing you in advance.”
Hearing this, the chief officer shook his head and grabbed his shoulder to help him up.
“It's all right. I know you only did that to avoid causing unnecessary trouble.”
“Sir...”
“By the way, did you say something suspicious?”
The man who called himself Ji Bu-gan nodded in response to his question.
“Yes, sir.”
A thought flashed through my mind.
He was willing to steal government property at the behest of the Insight Trading Company. If that was the case, hadn't he done something similar before?
Ji Bu-gan opened his mouth.
“When you were delivering wood for building repairs, didn't you hold a competitive bid through the trading companies?”
“Yes, I did.”
“At that time, you said that the quality of the wood was more important than the price, so I visited the site to check the quality of the wood myself, and Insight Trading Company had prepared everything we wanted to see perfectly.”
“That's right. Isn't that why Insight Trading Company won the bid because they had the best quality?”
“That's right. But don't you think something is strange?”
When the others tilted their heads in confusion, I spoke up.
“No trading company can perfectly prepare for what the other side wants unless they have prior information.”
At my words, everyone's eyes turned to Pyong-taek.
“No way!”
The assistant officer continued.
“However, the wood that was actually delivered was of poor quality. The master carpenter complained about this several times, but the assistant officer in charge ignored his complaints.”
“That assistant officer is that guy?”
“Yes, sir. That's not all.”
Hearing his account of the officer's actions, the chief minister laughed bitterly.
Then he looked at me and said,
“In a way, losing that artifact may have been for the best. If you had kept that man with you, I would have been in serious trouble.”
I smiled bitterly at his words.
I remembered that in my previous life, I had cheated the daughter of the Po Jeongsa and caused her death at the Insight Trading Company.
As a result, his assistant, Pyeong-tak, must have been fired along with the rest of the Insight Trading Company.
But what does that matter? His daughter is already dead.
There can be no greater misfortune than the death of one's daughter. Therefore, the Po Jeongsa's words were true.
I clasped my hands together and said,
“It seems that the gods are watching over you.”
“You are right. It seems that the gods have sent you, a noble person, to me.”
“I am just a lowly merchant.”
“How can a noble person sent by the gods be lowly?”
He glanced at the flat tray and ordered the soldiers.
“Tie that boy to the pillar and gag him.”
“Yes, sir!”
I clasped my hands together and said,
“Then may I go and set up the tray again?”
“Of course! Hurry up and set it up!”
“Then I will take my leave.”
I headed for the cabin where the box was with the bodyguards. Then I opened the box and put the toy inside, pretending it was the artifact.
Of course, I didn't forget to blow cold air into it again.
The Insight Trading Company must be completely unaware of this situation.
The chief clerk will probably send soldiers to the Insight Trading Company as soon as he arrives in Guizhou.
To be honest, it is common for trading companies to bribe someone to obtain information.
However, the Insight Trading Company should not have crossed that line.
According to what the second lieutenant said earlier, Pyung-tak seems to have falsified documents for the Insight Trading Company quite a few times.
No matter how important the interests of the trading company are, there are limits to what can be done.
It's not that we don't know how to do such things.
We don't do it because it's not right.
.
.
.
Several days passed.
After Pyong-tak's theft, I was now able to openly tell the guards to protect the box.
Now they couldn't complain, “Don't you trust us?”
And honestly, after what happened, it would be ridiculous not to guard the box, right?
Pyung-tak was still tied to the pillar.
Honestly, just being tied up in a place where everyone passed by must have been torture for him.
He was not just a regular soldier, but an aide, and his honor had been completely destroyed.
But he had brought it upon himself.
“How could you do that to someone? You know how much His Majesty loves his daughter.”
“Exactly! How could you do that to Miss Ja-ryung?”
“How could you betray Miss Ja-ryung!”
“The bastard who did such a despicable thing to our Miss Ja-ryung deserves to die!”
“It's a good thing! If it weren't for Captain Eun's foresight, Miss Ja-ryung would have been heartbroken.”
“Miss Ja-ryung would have smiled when she saw those eyes.”
I tilted my head slightly at what they said.
They were more angry about the fact that he had almost upset the daughter of the Minister of Justice than about his falsifying documents or stealing information.
Although I had never seen her before, I became personally curious about the young lady who was so loved by everyone.
So, when I saw an opportunity, I asked the person in charge of the white tiger.
“What is the Minister of Justice's daughter like?”
“Huh? Are you talking about Miss Jaryeong?”
“Is that your daughter's name?”
“Yes, it is.”
Since Po Jeong-sa's name is Dong-hwi, then she must be Miss Dong Jaryeong.
“Why do you ask?”
“I feel a little awkward asking this, but I think it's important for me to know so that I don't make any mistakes. But I can't ask Po-jeongsa himself...”
“I see.”
He nodded and said to me, “All right, I'll answer what I can. What do you want to know?”
“How old is Miss Dongja-ryeong?”
“She is nineteen this year.”
In a typical government official's family, she would already be married.
But lying in a sickbed, she could not even dream of marriage.
I nodded and asked cautiously.
“Then have you been sick since you were a child?”
“No, that's not it.”
He shook his head.
“Before I became a white tiger, I was a private soldier in the household of a nobleman. That's how I know that Miss Jaryeong was very healthy when she was young.”
“Then when did...”
He let out a deep sigh.
“About three years ago, when Miss Jaryeong was sixteen, she suddenly fell ill, and now she can hardly get out of bed.”
“I see.”
I nodded.
“And I heard that you, Lord Pojeongsa, have been in Guizhou Province all this time.”
“That's right. I served as a councilor and chief councilor in Guizhou Province for a long time.”
Although they are local officials, the Minister of Justice is a practical official of the Six Ministries of a province, and the Minister of Justice is the head of the Six Ministries.
The Minister of Justice is a third-rank official.
That means he has been a high-ranking official from the beginning, right?
Come to think of it, the Minister of Justice is relatively young for his position.
Then...
“Does the Po-jeong-sa have any relatives in the royal family?”
“How did you know? Although he passed the imperial examination with top honors, he is actually the grandson of King Gun-chung.”
So his mother is the daughter of King Gun-chung.
That makes sense.
There are two most likely reasons why someone can hold a high position at a young age.
They are either a workaholic.
Or they were born with a silver spoon in their mouth.
Still surprising, isn't it?
Usually, people born with a silver spoon in their mouth don't have to work to make a living, so they don't care much about studying, but he passed the imperial examination with flying colors.
But if you think about it, it makes sense that the governor of Gijou Castle was wise.
No matter how powerful a royal family is, their status declines rapidly with each change of ruler.
Furthermore, the current emperor began to give monthly allowances to maintain their dignity instead of confiscating the property of the royal family.
In that case, only the grandchildren of the current imperial family will receive the allowance, but it will be difficult for those below them.
That is why he started studying early on for the sake of his descendants.
I didn't realize it, but he is a remarkable person.
By the way, I can guess why Po Jeong-sa, even though he passed the imperial examination, is still an official in Gyeongju instead of being in the central government.
Gijou Castle is far from Beijing, so it must be to keep an eye on them and prevent any unrest from rising.
In return, he was given a high position and responsibilities from the beginning.
From Po Jeong-sa's perspective, it's a comfortable position.
He doesn't have to worry about being watched by the emperor, and he can live a comfortable life without getting involved in anything strange.
Considering how comfortable Gui Zhou Castle was in my previous life, he must be competent in administration.
Now, back to the original topic...
“It seems that everyone likes Miss Zaring.”
“Of course!”
He smiled happily.
“Just looking at Miss Zaring gives me strength. She is so kind, charming, and beautiful...”
I listened to the praise for Miss Jaryeong for a moment.
“But that bastard!”
And then there was anger toward Pyong-tak.
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.
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After traveling down the Yangtze River, we slowly prepared to disembark.
It was time to arrive in Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou Province.
The boat slowed down, and soon we could see the landing stage.
The sailors threw ropes, and the sailors at the landing stage secured the boat.
Squeak! Bang!
A long plank was laid between the boat and the landing stage for disembarking.
We walked across the plank and got off the boat.
There were quite a lot of passengers, so it took some time to disembark.
It took half a day to get from the landing stage to the Guiyang City Port Authority, so we could have continued on, but the horses had been traveling for a long time and needed a rest.
There happened to be ten horses at the horse station near the landing stage, so the Port Authority sent nine samurai and his aide ahead.
This was to send soldiers to the Trading Company before the Five Stars Trading Company noticed the situation and took action.
Pyeong-tak was now inside a large straw bag.
This was to prevent the Five Stars Trading Company's spies from seeing him.
After resting for a day at a nearby inn, we got ready in the morning and headed for the Port Authority.
The Pojeongsa family was staying at their official residence there.
Has it been three years since you were last in Gijuseong?
I came here because of my uncle, the captain of the Eunjosan Trading Company.
I haven't been back since then.
Now, the Miga Trading Company is only a branch of our Eunhae Trading Company in name.
The 30% of the total profits from the Namho Trading Company, with whom we had been engaged in fierce competition at the time, was still a very lucrative amount.
I remembered the reply I had received from my father.
“Since you are going to Gui Zhou, please give my regards to Branch Manager Song Sik on my behalf.”
Since my father had asked me to do so, I would have to stop by the Mi-ga Trading Company on my way back after finishing my work.
Before we knew it, we arrived at the Seungpo Pojeongsa.
“You must have had a long and difficult journey.”
Then, people dressed in official uniforms came out to greet the Pojeongsa at the door.
The Pojeongsa got out of the carriage.
“You must have had a hard time governing the city in my absence. I will hold a banquet soon to reward you for your hard work.”
“We are grateful for your kindness.”
At that moment,
someone rushed out from inside.
“What? Your Excellency! Your Excellency! It's an emergency!”