The Manor's Welcome
“Gangcheon!”
“Big Brother!”
“Lord of the Manor!”
To be welcomed by someone.
Only now did he understand just how good that could feel.
Their worry for him filled him with gratitude; the relief on their faces at his safe return moved him deeply.
They would have welcomed me like this even if I weren’t the lord of the manor, wouldn’t they?
He didn’t need to ask. One look at Cheongu’s face told him everything.
“You’re not hurt anywhere?”
“Nah. I’m fine.”
“Big Brother! Tell us what happened, quickly! I’m dying of curiosity!”
“You won’t actually die of curiosity.”
“Huh? Ah…”
“Just kidding. I’ll tell you everything. First off—the medicine problem’s solved.”
“Truly?”
“Yeah. I’ll explain it all, so go call the merchant lord too.”
Panseok sprinted off as if he had been waiting for those exact words.
“I’ll be right back—don’t start without me!”
With that he vaulted clean over the wall; the leap alone showed how much his lightness skill had improved.
“Auntie must have worked hard with him.”
“It was fun, actually.”
Considering he had been gone barely a month, Panseok’s progress was astonishing.
“His head’s a little dull, but his body is sharp.”
“He learns fast with his body.”
“So I sparred with him a great deal. Once he grasped the principles of external martial arts, he applied them straight to internal energy and footwork. From now on it’s best to have him memorize with his head and understand with his body.”
“I’m glad you’re here, Auntie.”
Her experience was a treasure beyond price.
“How’s Big Brother Pilseng?”
“I’m right here!”
“Huh?”
Pilseng was limping toward them on crutches, step by careful step.
“Whoa!”
Ja Gangcheon hurried over and took some of the weight off him.
“Big Brother. That’s amazing!”
“I’m going to learn lightness skill too.”
“Of course you are!”
“I’m going to learn only lightness skill like a madman. I don’t think I’ve got talent for fighting, so I might as well get good at running away.”
“Have you forgotten whose son you are? There’s no way you lack talent for fighting.”
“I take after my father.”
Now that his body was improving, the jokes were coming more easily.
“Fine. I’m the best at lightness skill, you know. The moment you can stand on two feet for half a shichen, I’ll teach you right away.”
“I heard that’s not the kind of martial art you just hand out freely.”
Martial artists treasured their arts like their own lives. That made them stingy about teaching. The fewer people who knew a technique, the more valuable it became.
Ja Gangcheon thought differently.
“You’re family. If my people are going to be safe, they need to learn better martial arts.”
“You’re built on a different scale from the start, aren’t you.”
Plenty of reasons to object sprang to mind, yet no one voiced them.
It’s fine if it’s the lord of the manor.
They were here precisely because they liked that sincerity. They took Ja Gangcheon’s goodwill at face value, without twisting it.
Thud. Thud.
A little later a racket rose from far across the manor grounds, and Panseok came vaulting over the wall with a man perched on his shoulder.
“Big Brother. Did we decide not to use doors anymore?”
“Big Brother! I’ve brought the merchant lord!”
“Uncle Merchant Lord’s going to pass out.”
Merchant Lord Jo Pilsung’s face had gone paper-white from the rough ride.
“L-Lord of the Manor. I-I’m so glad you returned sa-safely…”
“Breathe first. Easy now. Relax.”
Only after Ja Gangcheon thumped his back for a good while did Jo Pilsung’s breathing settle. Panseok scratched the back of his head, suddenly sheepish.
“I’m all right now. Truly, I’m glad you’re unharmed.”
“There’s a lot to talk about, so let’s start right away. If I drag this out, Big Brother Panseok might throw me over the wall.”
“I would never! Big Brother!”
“Everyone, to the rear garden.”
The pavilion filled to capacity.
Even little So Cheon was there. Martial artist or not, every soul in the manor wanted to hear Ja Gangcheon’s tale.
“First I got information from the Hao Clan and went to the place where the Chosu Society was gathering.”
From there Ja Gangcheon recounted everything that had happened to him in careful detail. He kept only his meeting with Ak Pungjin secret, judging that too many people knowing would do no good.
“Whoa! So everything’s solved, then?”
“More than solved. If we’re receiving medicinal ingredients straight from the Chosu Society, things are far better than before. Quality, price, and volume—there won’t be any shortage.”
One glance at the merchant lord’s face showed just how fine an achievement this was. Building a deep connection with the Chosu Society’s leader was an enormous gain as well.
“What about the expansion of the distribution business?”
“We’re moving aggressively. We’re focusing hard on the markets in Jiangxi, Henan, and Hebei, and merchants who haven’t been able to get goods are flocking to us—response has been excellent. Some inland Shandong merchants are even buying while deliberately hiding their identities.”
Cheongu picked up the thread.
“The Shandong Merchant Guild overreached. That’s the problem showing itself now.”
“Exactly. Complaints about the Shandong Merchant Guild are already rising in the Gyounam market. They’re furious because they’re about to lose their entire distribution network to us.”
A merchant guild lived or died by trust.
Ice distribution in particular carried high margins; cutting it off unilaterally was a grave insult. It was no exaggeration to say trust had been completely shattered.
Thanks to that, the Donghae Merchant Guild—which produced its own ice—had been able to absorb the existing distribution networks in bulk.
“Good. This time don’t cut them any slack. Push hard.”
“I will do so.”
Jo Pilsung’s face was wreathed in smiles; he clearly wanted to race back and spread the news to the guild at once.
“You can go now.”
“Yes. Thank you, Lord of the Manor.”
People finished the remaining refreshments and began to scatter—when a voice stopped them.
“Lord of the Manor. Once you’ve rested from the journey, please give me a little of your time.”
It was Song Jain.
“I’m fine right now. Coming home seems to have wiped the fatigue away.”
“Then let me offer you a cup of tea. Chief Manager and Panseok, you come in as well. You’ll hear about it eventually anyway.”
A short while later Song Jain herself steeped tea with a pot of hot water.
Even the three men, none of them skilled in the tea ceremony, were startled by the fragrance that spread.
“A cool floral scent.”
“I blended chrysanthemum and mint. It’s a secret of Poison Valley.”
“Whoa! So do we have to take Poison Valley’s antidote pills after drinking this?”
“You’ll know once you try it.”
Song Jain smiled briefly, then began her story.
“I first entered Poison Valley when I was six. To an orphan of the world, it was the only haven I had. But Poison Valley had been cut off from the world far too long. Acts that should have made heaven and earth rage were treated as the most ordinary things.”
Sickening healthy people and experimenting on the living were considered natural. People kidnapped or sold into slavery were regarded as nothing more than test subjects.
Masters poisoned their disciples to research antidotes; they even released poison into small mountain villages.
Research results piled up quickly, yet that twisted competition led to internal schism.
“Poison Valley no longer had any reason to exist. I had to end that fighting. After many twists and turns I killed those who had been my masters and took the seat of Valley Master. Then I declared the dissolution of Poison Valley to the survivors.”
Barely thirty remained alive.
“I erased every record of them. Originally I meant to shoulder everything myself and go to the underworld. I was already heavily poisoned, after all.”
She had been thirty-five then.
“That was when I met my husband, and he saved me. After that… well, you all know the rest.”
For a life so full of misfortune, the explanation was very short.
“Kh-hhk!”
The one who suddenly burst into tears was Panseok.
At his honest emotion Ja Gangcheon could no longer hold back either; he pulled Song Jain into a firm embrace. Cheongu said nothing, but discreetly wiped the corner of his eye, pretending not to cry.
Their reaction left Song Jain flustered.
These young people are comforting me.
It was unfamiliar.
Apart from her husband, no one had ever held her like this.
“How much it must have hurt. I can’t even imagine.”
Even though he himself carried a harsh past, Ja Gangcheon first empathized with another’s pain.
That pure heart touched Song Jain once more.
“Thank you.”
Emotion surged up in her. Yet she had enough experience to control mere tears.
“Thank you, all of you. I’m receiving the full reward for my hard life right here.”
She composed herself and changed the atmosphere.
“Now I want to earn my keep a little.”
“Earn your keep?”
“I can’t just sit around eating free meals, can I? I was wondering how to pay my way when the Lord of the Manor solved my dilemma.”
“I did?”
“The Chosu Society. If I can receive medicinal ingredients from them, I can truly earn my keep.”
Come to think of it, she had been the first to mention the Chosu Society.
“I want to create new Deungmyeong Medicines.”
The unexpected words briefly froze everyone’s thoughts—until Cheongu grasped it first.
“Ah! Poison Valley!”
“Chief Manager, what about Poison Valley?”
“Across the entire Central Plains, where do they make the finest medicines?”
At that question every head lit up.
“Ah. So that’s why you said you could research the pills…”
When they first met Song Jain, she had declared she would research Deungmyeong Medicines.
Where had all that knowledge come from?
At the time they had believed it was her physician husband’s knowledge, but in truth it was the knowledge of Poison Valley.
“I’ve gained a great deal of insight from the Chosan Medical Texts. Combined with Poison Valley’s knowledge, I believe excellent results will come.”
Then Song Jain spoke with a distant gaze, as if offering a prayer.
“Now I want to make medicine that saves people.”
Who could refuse such sincerity?
“Do as much as you like. I’ll gratefully accept your keep.”
“Thank you, Lord of the Manor.”
It was the moment the greatest pharmaceutical knowledge in the Central Plains gathered into one place.
April, when the days grew steadily warmer.
Clang!
A tremendous racket erupted inside the secret pleasure house run by Gu Donggu.
A table of delicacies lay overturned and scattered; the courtesans trembled, too terrified even to flee.
“What did you just say?”
Gu Donggu, bent nearly double at the waist, kept his mouth shut while sweat poured down his face.
“I told you to say it again!”
Clang!
A flying plate smashed against Gu Donggu’s head and shattered.
“The merchant lords of Gyounam went to the Donghae Merchant Guild to request ice. But the Donghae Merchant Guild refused them, so the merchant lords are holding a meeting…”
Simply going to the Donghae Merchant Guild meant they intended to ignore the Hwangbo Merchant Guild’s orders.
“So what can those worthless bastards even do by gathering?”
“They will most likely demand compensation from the Shandong Merchant Guild.”
“Crazy bastards!”
Hwangbo Taeseong’s irritation peaked.
“Not a single one of you—this one or that one—does anything right!”
He hurled everything within reach, so Gu Donggu’s body was soon stained with liquor and food.
Stupid bastard. And what exactly have you done?
Originally, while the Shandong Merchant Guild blocked the supply of medicinal ingredients, Hwangbo Taeseong had planned to shake Deungmyeong Manor.
The goal was to goad Ja Gangcheon into losing his temper and crossing the line first—yet far from achieving that goal, he had never even seen the man’s face.
No matter how much he harassed them, the Donghae merchant lord never reported to Deungmyeong Manor; when word finally had to be sent, the lord of the manor had already left the manor.
So he deliberately picked fights at the harbor with the labor chief and a few others.
The result?
Song Jain stepped forward.
At that sight Hwangbo Taeseong had tucked his tail and gone into hiding—which was exactly his present state.
Because he heard curses and lectures from Shandong Merchant Guild Lord Hwangbo Jeong every day, Gu Donggu and the courtesans had become the only outlets for his temper.
Strip away the Hwangbo bloodline and there’s nothing left of the man.
There was a reason he had been the first to drop out of the Hwangbo Clan’s succession struggle.
Yet that very status as a Hwangbo Clan scion was something Gu Donggu desperately needed.
“Young Master. A large quantity of medicinal ingredients was delivered to Deungmyeong Manor today.”
“What!”
As Hwangbo Taeseong prepared to throw another cup, Gu Donggu hurriedly continued.
“The Donghae Merchant Guild has now found a way to save itself. Therefore we must block people, not wealth.”
“What dogshit are you about to spout this time!”
“There is a Donghae Merchant Guild labor office at the harbor. The labor chief there is a man named So Yeondok, originally of the Black Society.”
“So?”
“How many people could there be who hold a grudge against the Black Society?”
Hwangbo Taeseong, who had been raging, paused.
“Continue.”
He showed interest in Gu Donggu’s words.