Chapter 340
The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Trading Company Chapter 340
Chapter 340. Things Gone Astray (3)
[As I told you before, stay away from the Martial Alliance. They will use you.
It was a clear and concise sentence that left no room for misinterpretation.
Miss Jaryeong was very clear.
Don't get close to the Martial Alliance, they will use the Po Jung-sa.
That means Miss Ja-ryung foresaw that the Martial Alliance would approach her in order to use the Po Jung-sa.
If the Martial Alliance sees this, there are two possible reactions.
Either recruit her or eliminate her.
And the Martial Alliance would have decided to eliminate her. That's why they fed her the quadruple poison.
Of course, in her previous life, Ja-ryung's direct cause of death was the Insight Trading Company, but from the Martial Alliance's perspective, there was nothing wrong with that.
After all, they achieved their goal.
But I'm a little puzzled.
Knowing the future is a tremendous ability. Under normal circumstances, it would be better to recruit her.
So why did they decide to eliminate her?
At that moment, I sensed someone approaching.
I quickly tried to return to my seat, but changed my mind and headed for the bookshelf next to me.
The door opened and Po-jeong entered.
“Have you seen everything?”
“Nothing unusual. I'm sorry to leave you alone like this.”
“Nothing much. I'm sorry to have left you here alone.”
“Not at all.”
I pointed to the bookshelf and said,
“I'm sorry. The books looked interesting, so I looked at them without asking for permission.”
“It's fine. Those books are quite advanced. You must be well-educated!”
“My knowledge is limited.”
He laughed at my modesty and said,
“You can borrow them if you want. I heard that you will be staying here for a while, so you can read many books.”
“What? There seem to be some valuable books. Is that okay?”
“There is a saying, ‘Read a book a hundred times and its meaning will become clear. ’ I have already read those books more than a hundred times.”
This was said by a scholar named Dong-woo to those who admired his scholarship and wanted to become his disciples.
It means that if you read a book a hundred times, its meaning will become clear, but honestly, reading a single book a hundred times requires tremendous determination and patience.
There are nearly a thousand books on this bookshelf alone, and to read all of them a hundred times...
No wonder you passed the civil service examination with flying colors.
“You are amazing.”
I was genuinely impressed.
“Then I will borrow some books later. I would like to borrow them right now, but I still have some books I am reading.”
“I see. What books are you reading now?”
Hearing that, I naturally sat down in front of the table and replied.
“It is Jacheonmunjacheonjab (自千問自千答) written by Yoo Seung.”
It is a book that is quite famous in Beijing these days, in which the author asks himself a thousand questions and answers them himself.
“You know that book too! I also went to Beijing and bought it. But I haven't had time to read it yet.”
“From my limited knowledge, it seems quite interesting.”
“I see. I must read it.”
As we talked about this and that, I realized that it was time to get to the point.
“You seem to have a lot on your mind these days.”
“Is that so? Hahaha.”
He laughed awkwardly.
“Every time I talk to you, you seem to see right through me. I guess I'm not very good at hiding my true feelings.”
“No, it just means that you are a sincere person.”
“You could think that, but as you know, in politics, that is quite a weakness.”
“But who would slander you?”
“You are right. You are fortunate to have good blood.”
He continued.
“Now that Ja-ryeong's condition is clearly improving, I am worried. She is already betrothed.”
I understood his concern.
Ja-ryeong was about to be sent to the house where someone had tried to poison her.
However, there was not enough evidence to break off the engagement.
Besides, it would be rude to the family for waiting so long.
“Now that Ja-ryeong is healthy, we have a duty to inform her fiancé's family.”
“Yes, you're right.”
“But I don't know how they will react.”
Hmm, that is a real problem.
The matter with the Insight Trading Company doesn't even feel like a problem anymore.
“Oh, by the way, what happened with the Insight Trading Company?”
“That? Ah... The deputy commander who deceived me was sentenced to ten years of hard labor. And the man named Ma-yeong who made the request to the deputy commander was also sentenced to ten years of hard labor.”
“But Ma-yeong didn't act solely out of personal greed.”
“I agree. And we have secured evidence that the Insight Trading Company supported them and profited from it.”
“That's good. Then I'm sure you punished them severely.”
“Of course. The punishment for a trading company is a fine. I fined them 50,000 nyang.”
Fifty thousand silver coins isn't that much, is it?
“Oh, it's fifty thousand gold coins.”
That's enough.
Even a large trading company would bleed a little to pay a fine like that.
Their influence will also weaken considerably.
“Isn't that enough to serve as a warning to other trading companies?”
“You are absolutely right.”
After softening the mood with the story of the Insight Trading Company, he casually brought up another topic.
“Have any of the people working for your daughter recently quit or been fired?”
“I know why you are asking that. I already looked into it.”
He was not a great administrator, but he was a wise man who had passed the imperial examination in the past.
“Recently, one of Jaryeong's maids quit her job three months ago. She was known to be kind, never did anything out of line, and was very efficient at her work.”
“Is that so?”
“That's why everyone was sad when she quit, and Jaryeong ordered that she be given a generous severance package.”
Po Jeong's eyes lit up.
“She was in charge of Ja-ryeong's tea.”
“...!”
If that was the case, there was a high possibility that she was working for the Martial Alliance.
“So I tracked down the maid.”
He had the same idea as me.
“What happened?”
“There was no one in the maid's hometown. Even her family had disappeared.”
I couldn't help but frown at his words.
“This is very suspicious. A respectable person would not have disappeared without a trace as soon as they returned to their hometown.”
“You're right. Moreover, it's unlikely that a mere maid would have done this on her own.”
He continued.
“It must have been ordered by the Po Jing-sa in Hunan Province.”
Come to think of it...
If you don't know that the Martial Alliance was involved, that conclusion would be reasonable.
“The Po Jing-sa in Hunan Province supplied the poisoned tea, and the maid who was ordered to do so brewed the tea to complete the quadruple poison.”
Yes, that's right.
In my opinion, it is highly likely that the maid was a member of the Martial Alliance from the beginning.
Looking at the date on the prophecy, it was clear that the warning about the Martial Alliance had been written before Miss Ja-ryeong fell ill.
The maid must have seen the prophecy and reported it to the Martial Alliance.
Ah! That's why they decided to get rid of her.
In any case, it means that there are members of the Martial Alliance in the Po Jing Temple in Hunan Province.
That means we need to investigate the Po Jing Temple in Hunan Province to solve this case.
To be honest, it's not something I need to get involved in. But if the opponent is the Martial Alliance, it's a different story.
This is a chance to get back at the Martial Alliance, so we can't miss it.
“Dae-in. But as long as we can't prove their crimes, shouldn't we send someone?”
“That's true.”
“You won't go yourself... Who are you planning to send?”
“I'm thinking of sending my third son and his aide, Ji-yeong.”
“May I join them?”
“You?”
I scratched my ear and looked embarrassed.
“Yes. It's a little sudden, but... I like things to be clear and definite. And in the future, our Trading Company may do business with the Hunan Provincial Government, so I think it would be better to know who has ulterior motives so that we don't suffer any losses.”
“You mean you want to find out who the culprit is?”
“I'm not that talented, but I want to see it with my own eyes and judge for myself.”
He looked pleased at my words.
“Actually, I was thinking of asking you to do that anyway.”
Huh? Me?
“I was very impressed by your insight when you discovered that the assistant officer was the thief who stole the artifacts from the ship last time.”
Ah... I should have just kept quiet.
That would have been better.
“I beg you.”
And so I went to Hunan.
.
.
.
The next day,
a young man visited the magistrate's residence, and when the magistrate called me to his office, he introduced me to him.
“Let me introduce you. This is my third son. And this is Eun Seo-ho, the captain of the Eunhae Trading Company.”
“Nice to meet you. I am Eun Seo-ho, the captain of the Eunhae Trading Company.”
“I am Dong Hangsu. I am a magistrate in Gyeongju City.”
A magistrate is a seventh-rank official responsible for practical affairs.
“Excuse me, but what is your job?”
“I do various odd jobs.”
A vague answer.
It meant that he didn't want to reveal any details.
“I heard that you informed us that Ja-ryeong's symptoms were caused by poisoning.”
“I discovered it by chance. Your sister was destined to die.”
“I see.”
Then, the police chief said,
“When you go to Hunan Province tomorrow, accompany Captain Eun.”
“Why?”
“He is quite perceptive and will be helpful in this matter.”
“He is handsome, so he will be helpful in getting women to talk.”
How cynical.
Isn't he being too cold for someone who knows that his sister was almost poisoned and that he is going to find out who did it?
A normal older brother would be furious and rush to the scene right away.
Could this be the reason why the governor called him among his five sons?
It's better than having a hot temper, but this is still a little embarrassing.
The next day.
We left for Hunan Province.
The capital of Hunan Province was Changsha, which was a bit far from Guizhou Province.
It is located in the northeastern part of Hunan Province.
Due to Dongting Lake and a tributary of the Yangtze River, it is rich in water and is a place where agriculture thrives.
It also produces a lot of cotton, and tobacco and honey are produced in the hilly areas.
There are also many musk deer, so musk is produced in large quantities.
Musk is one of the ingredients used to make incense, but it is also used as a medicine, so our Trading Company often visits this area.
Come to think of it, it is much more useful to the Martial Alliance than Guizhou.
In any case, the border area between Guizhou and Hunan is mostly mountainous.
That means we will have to endure some hardship on the way there.
Still, there is a road connecting the two places, so we don't have to go through the mountains.
But...
Now that I think about it, I think that would have been better.
It's nice to ride in a carriage with Mister Hangsu, but it feels like sitting on a bed of needles.
“Come to think of it, Jaryeong asked me to tell you to have a safe trip.”
“I see.”
“Are you and Ja-ryeong personally acquainted?”
“What do you mean?
”Then why did she ask you to tell me that?“
”Isn't it because I brought her the medicine? And I did have tea with Miss Dao once.“
”You had tea together? Why?“
”It was at the request of His Excellency."
“Your father? Why didn't you refuse?”
“That's...”
Why am I being asked these questions? And the questions are so...
You say you're a judge in charge of practical matters, but you sound more like a chief inspector in charge of inspecting the Ministry of Justice.
The man who came to inspect Eunhaesang Trading Company spoke just like you.
Cold and emotionless...
To put it bluntly, rude?
People like this will find fault with anything, so it's best to be honest.
Well, I don't know.
There's no need to be nervous.
“No, I am living comfortably thanks to your kindness. How could I dare refuse your request?”
“...That makes sense.”
“And please don't misunderstand. I have no special feelings for you.”
“Really?”
“You have a fiancé. Why would I want to interfere? I value my own life above all else.”
“I can see that.”
“It's just a mutual attraction between two people, nothing more, so there's no need to worry.”
I continued.
“Miss asked me to tell you that because she is so kind that she cares even about a lowly merchant like me.”
He nodded at my words.
“Well, Jaryung is kind.”
Then he narrowed his eyes and asked, “But isn't it because you're afraid that I'll tell you that you're not interested in her?”
“But if you showed your feelings to Ja-ryeong, isn't it okay to leave now? Why haven't you left yet? Could it be that you want to see Ja-ryeong...”
This man...
“You have to pay me first.”
I continued.
“You asked me to do this, and I did it, so I have to get paid. Are you going to leave without paying me?”
“...Hm.”
He cleared his throat and turned his head away.
He probably didn't expect me to answer so bluntly.
He looked flustered.