Chapter 393
The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Trading Company Chapter 393
Chapter 393. Ice Eyes (2)
I tilted my head at the Palace Head's words.
A request? What could it be?
I should at least hear him out.
“What is your request?”
“There is something I want you to find. It is difficult to find by normal means, but with your quality armor, it will be easy to find.”
“What will you give me in return?”
“If you find it, it will not only be good for this palace. It will also be good for Seolpung Palace.”
“...?”
“Thanks to you having the note, I don't have to explain everything.”
No way!
“What I'm looking for is something that the former Palace Head of Seolpung Palace hid somewhere.”
“I understand that finding it will be good for Seolpung Palace, but why are you looking for it?”
“Ah, actually, I left something with the former Palace Head of Emei. I clearly told him to keep it in his personal belongings. I want to find it, but only Hanho can see what he has hidden away.”
“But you mean that you can see it, right?”
“Yes.”
Hmm, what should I do?
I don't know what was in the late Palace Head Seolpung's notes. But for some reason, my intuition told me that I had to find it.
The problem was that I had to involve Young Mistress Seo Hyang in this matter.
“All right.”
At that moment, Young Mistress Seo Hyang replied.
“If I can be of any help, I will certainly do my part.”
“Thank you.”
“Um... Are you sure it's okay?”
She nodded in response to my question.
“It's fine. I'm happy to help.”
.
.
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Hyung-nim Jin-ho is with my mother-in-law, my aunt, and my sister-in-law's aunt...
Huh?
I tilted my head.
“What are you doing?”
“Ah, I'm learning how to throw hidden weapons.”
“Hidden weapons?”
“Yeah. I'm not learning how to do it properly, just the basics. As you know, I'm a man, so I can't learn the martial arts of Binggung.”
Come to think of it, Jin-ho wasn't very good at delicate martial arts like throwing hidden weapons.
Shuuk! Tak!
“Hmm, your posture is getting better.”
“Thanks to my mother-in-law's guidance. Hahaha.”
But seeing him like that, it seemed that Hyung-nim wasn't lacking talent, but rather that he hadn't been taught properly.
Come to think of it, I've never seen the Chief Administrator use hidden weapons either.
This is a good opportunity for Hyung-nim.
By the way, throwing hidden weapons around like that is typical of the Northern Sea Ice Palace.
I told my brother that I had been asked to do something for the Palace Head and would be gone for a while.
“I'll be back soon.”
“Okay, take care.”
So, I left with Seo Hyang and headed for the Ice Palace Inn through the foggy gate.
Bing Hae-rin, the young palace head, was with me.
Judging from the fact that the Palace Head sent her, it seemed that what he was looking for was quite important.
Well, that's why he's trying so hard to find it.
The real reason why the Palace Head's face lit up when he first saw Seo Hyang-soo might have been because he now had a chance to find that thing.
But... what is the Palace Head looking for?
I was curious, but I couldn't ask the Palace Head Bing Hae-rin...
Well, I'll find out naturally.
When we arrived at the Bing Palace Inn, Pal-gap greeted me at the door.
“Young Master, have you arrived?”
“Did you know I was coming?”
It had been decided that we would leave the Bing Palace tomorrow morning, so I thought you would be resting at the inn.
“I just had a feeling that you would come, so I came out.”
Pal-gap's intuition is really amazing.
Hearing my voice, the other bodyguards quickly rushed out.
“Are you here?”
“You came out earlier than expected. Is something wrong?”
I nodded in response to their question.
“I have something to do. Would anyone have some time to spare?”
They answered my question immediately.
“We are always at the service of our Liege.”
“Then, let's go.”
I felt very secure.
A short time later, we were ready and set out on our journey.
“But do we have to search the entire North Sea?”
Binghaerin, the Palace Head, shook her head in response to my question.
“No, that's not the case. How could the Palace Head make such an unreasonable request when the North Sea is so vast?”
“Then...”
“It's probably somewhere near where Seolpung Palace used to be.”
“...”
I paused for a moment and asked cautiously.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes? What is it?”
“That place is...”
“It's okay. I hardly remember it.”
She said calmly.
“Let's hurry. The snowstorm will delay us.”
So we headed for the place where Seolpung Palace used to be.
When we climbed up a hill made of snow, we saw something in the distance.
That must be where Seolpung Palace used to be.
It was just as he had said, everything was destroyed.
Only traces remained, and there seemed to be nothing of significance.
“There's no point in going any closer. I don't recommend it.”
Those who destroyed Seolpung Palace might be watching that place.
And as I learned from the royal decree, Han Ho-soo is quite intelligent.
With Seolpung Palace in danger of being destroyed, he would not have hidden anything inside or near the palace.
However, as he was responsible for protecting his master, he would not have gone very far.
So it must be around here.
But even after looking around for a long time, I couldn't find anything.
There was nothing but a snow-covered wasteland.
Where on earth did he hide it?
I had no idea how to find it.
But I couldn't give up yet.
We picked up long sticks and began searching by poking the snow.
It had been twenty years since Seolpung Palace was destroyed.
Considering the terrain and climate here, it was highly likely that what we were looking for was buried in the snow.
We had been wandering around in the snow for about an hour when...
“Kui?”
At that moment, Geum-ryung, who was inside my sleeve, tilted her head.
“Why, Geum-ryung?”
“Kui!”
Geum-ryung jumped out of my sleeve and onto the snow. Then she ran off somewhere.
“Huff, huff!”
Geum-ryung tapped the ground and drooled.
Oh no!
That's medicine!
But if Geum-ryung is drooling like that, it means there must be something she likes over there, right?
I picked up Geum-ryung and said,
“Let's dig here.”
“Okay.”
We dug where Geum-ryung had been. Soon, we found something.
What is this?
I picked it up. It was a bundle containing gold coins.
Why is this here?
Anyway, what should we do with this?
With that question in mind, I looked at Palace Head Bing Hae-rin.
“The law of the North Sea is that whoever gets it first is the owner.”
“I see.”
I counted the gold coins in my pocket. There were eleven in total.
“It's rare to find such an even number. We're really lucky.”
There were nine of us, including me, Miss Seo, the six bodyguards, and the six guards.
And with Bing Haerin, the Palace Head, there were ten of us.
And we can't forget Geum-ryeong, who played a decisive role in finding these gold coins.
I divided them among everyone.
Then I handed a coin to Geum-ryeong.
“Here, take it. This is yours.”
“What?”
Geum-ryeong looked at me as if to ask if she could really eat it, and I nodded.
Geum-ryung swallowed the gold coin whole.
Wow, she's not even a gold-eater, but she swallowed such a large gold coin in one go. Amazing.
Seeing that, I came up with a clever idea.
“From now on, look for expensive things like this in the neighborhood. I'll pay you for your trouble.”
“Kui!”
Geum-ryung excitedly began running around the neighborhood.
“Huh? Here?”
Geum-ryung pointed to a place where there was a hermit.
Dao, dao, dao.
“Huh? Is there something here too?”
There was a magic potion there.
Dao, dao, dao.
“Is there something here too?”
There was a gold coin.
“Why are there so many treasures buried in the North Sea?”
Binghaerin, the Palace Head, answered my question.
“The North Sea is also a land of fugitives, just like Jukyong.”
Come to think of it, there is a saying like that in the North Sea.
It is one of the most popular destinations for those who can no longer live with dignity in the Central Plains.
Naturally, they would have sold their possessions and converted them into gold and silver.
They must have lived in hiding here, dreaming of returning to the Central Plains someday.
But they would not have known
how harsh and rough the North Sea was.
The bloodthirsty spiritual beasts that preyed on them were better than nothing.
Those who froze to death in the sudden snowstorm would be countless.
Their bodies would be taken by the spiritual beasts, and only their possessions would remain.
The bloodthirsty spiritual beasts did not eat gold and silver.
“In any case, they are ownerless items.”
“I guess so.”
As we were talking, Geum-ryeong showed a strange reaction.
Instead of drooling like before, she was tilting her head from side to side.
It seemed as if she sensed something valuable buried in the snow, but she wasn't sure.
Could it be?
I said to everyone.
“Let's dig here.”
“Yes.”
We took shovels and began digging. This time, we had to dig quite deep.
How deep did we dig?
Thud.
Something hit the shovel.
From then on, we dug carefully.
But we couldn't see anything.
All we could see was something hard.
Then, Miss Seo Hyang said in a trembling voice.
“There's something there.”
“What?”
“That... It looks like it's covered with something like a cloth... Is it just me who can see it?”
“I think so.”
At my reply, Seo Hyang jumped down from above. She took the shovel from my hands and dug a little to the side of where we had been digging.
Then, she lifted something up with both hands.
At that moment, we all opened our mouths in amazement.
What had been hidden was now revealed.
There were all kinds of things there.
There were treasures, small boxes, scrolls, and weapons.
It was a truly enormous amount.
And on one of the small boxes was written a message.
“To my son, Myeong-hyun, the Palace Head of Seolpung Palace.”
I bit my lip.
This was something the Palace Head of Seolpung Palace had left for his son.
We had found it.
Was it my intuition that I had to find this box?
I took out a gold coin from among the items and gave it to Geum-ryeong.
“Here, this is yours.”
“What?”
She looked at me as if to ask why I was giving her only that.
“Geum-ryung? Think about it. I said I would give you some pocket money, but I didn't promise how much, did I?”
“Kui... Kui...”
Geum-ryung looked confused.
“And you ate a lot today. You already ate Geumwonbo and Geumja, didn't you? You'll get an upset stomach if you eat too much.”
Um... Can Han Ho-so get an upset stomach?
I don't think so, but just in case...
“Anyway, let's eat this today. And move everything here to my bag. Can you do that?”
Geum-ryung nodded.
After moving everything to my bag, all that was left was...
We had to climb out of the snow pit we dug.
My bodyguards were all top-notch warriors, so they climbed up easily.
And Pal-gap also seemed to have improved a lot, so he climbed up without difficulty.
However, Seo Hyang was not yet skilled enough, so I had no choice but to carry her up.
“I guess I came down for nothing.”
“No, that's not true. Who else could have found those things but you?”
I lifted Miss Seo Hyang with both arms.
Miss Seo Hyang's face turned red, and I smiled.
From this angle, she certainly looks beautiful.
Gasp! What am I thinking...
I shook off my thoughts, jumped up from the ground, and set her down gently.
Somehow... her plum blossom scent seems to linger on my body.
.
.
.
We returned to the Ice Palace Inn.
It was already dusk, and evening had fallen.
I headed back to the Northern Sea Ice Palace with Miss Seo Hyang and Palace Head Bing Hae-rin through the misty gate.
Then we headed straight for the Palace Head's quarters.
“Come in.”
As expected, she knew we had come.
We entered, and the Palace Head invited us to sit down.
“How did it go?”
A faint look of anticipation appeared on the Palace Head's face.
I smiled confidently and said,
“I found it.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
I stood up and opened the bag.
Then I took out everything I had found today and laid it out in front of him. I didn't know which of those items the Palace Head was looking for.
The Palace Head rummaged through the items I had taken out.
After rummaging for a while, his hand stopped at one item.
In his hand was a very old box.
The box was so old that it looked like it would break at any moment, but the Palace Head held it carefully, as if it were very precious.
Then he sat down on the spot, placed the box on his knees, and carefully opened the lid.
When the lid was opened, several old pieces of paper and a blue jade pendant were revealed.
The jade pendant was very ordinary, without any craftsmanship.
The Palace Head looked at it with a fond gaze.
What is so special about that pendant that he is looking at it so fondly?