Monopolizing Fortunes (141)
Monopolizing Fortunes (141)
Do Tong-dal let out a deep, weary sigh and spoke.
"Let's think it over for now."
For the moment, getting out of this crisis was the top priority.
"Thank you, Master!"
"Nothing's been decided yet!"
Even at those words, the smile never left Jang Yeon-seon's lips. Ha Su-ran spoke as if the matter were already settled.
"You must be pleased to have taken on such an outstanding disciple."
"I'm telling you, I haven't accepted her as a disciple."
It was a struggle he was waging alone; to Ha Su-ran and Jang Yeon-seon, Do Tong-dal was already their master.
Jang Yeon-seon bought the clothes before he could so much as blink three times. The moment she went in, she came out holding a pink skirt.
At Jang Yeon-seon's remark that "clothes just need to be thrown on," Do Tong-dal nodded, while Ha Su-ran voiced her regret: "Still, if you're buying them, you might as well buy pretty ones."
"I suppose we should part ways now."
Ha Su-ran spoke those words full of reluctance.
"Sis, you still haven't heard Master's answer."
"Answer to what?"
"You confessed that you like him, so you ought to hear his answer to that."
Ha Su-ran's face, visible beyond her veil, flushed red.
"Today, I'll be satisfied with having confessed."
She was afraid of being rejected. She had always looked down on every man in the world, but for the first time in her life she had met someone who made her heart race.
If she let Do Tong-dal slip away, she would never be able to meet any man again.
If she had never known this fluttering of the heart, that would be one thing, but now that she did know it, she hated the thought of losing Do Tong-dal more than death.
"Travel safely."
Ha Su-ran was disappointed that Do Tong-dal left only a perfunctory farewell, but she did not let it show.
"I'll hear your answer to my feelings the next time we meet."
With those words, Ha Su-ran fled as if running away. Jang Yeon-seon, who had been staring blankly at her retreating figure, called out.
"Master."
"Hm?"
Do Tong-dal, who had answered without thinking, hastily corrected himself.
"I said I'm not your master yet."
"Yes, Master."
There was no getting through to her. Because they had spent quite a while outside, by the time they returned to Dongui Martial Hall, the shadows had stretched long.
Two warriors always stood guard at the front gate of Dongui Martial Hall.
As they were about to step through the gate, the guard on the left spoke.
"Where have you been wandering about that you're only coming in now?"
He knew they disliked the Hwangdae Merchant Company people, but this was far too blatant a provocation.
"Just here and there."
Not wanting to engage, he answered half-heartedly and tried to go inside, but this time the guard on the right sneered.
"You're nothing but a freeloader, and now you're off sightseeing too."
Do Tong-dal was quietly suppressing his anger when Jang Yeon-seon flared up.
"How dare you talk like that! We're only here because the Revenge Society told us to be here. Otherwise, we'd have no reason to ever see your faces!"
"Oh-ho! This little brat, where do you get the nerve to—!"
"Little brat? Hey! Do you think the only daughter of the Hwangdae Merchant Company is someone to be taken lightly?"
When Jang Yeon-seon, who could not be restrained, rushed at them, the two guard warriors were flustered. A laugh escaped him in spite of himself.
"You think this is funny? Hiding behind a little brat!"
Do Tong-dal held back Jang Yeon-seon, who was about to flare up again.
"Don't waste your emotions on them. Let's go."
Even as she was being pulled along by Do Tong-dal's hand, Jang Yeon-seon raised her voice.
"Master, those nobodies who couldn't even last one move against you are getting cocky!"
"I told you, I'm not your master yet."
"If you say 'yet,' that means you'll be my master later, right? Then just be my master now."
In that instant, a good idea flashed through his mind.
"If you really want to become my disciple, go get the Company Head's permission."
"My father's permission?"
"This is a decision that sets the course of your life, so of course you need your father's permission."
No parent would permit a green young man she had only just met to become their daughter's master.
"You promised!"
"Of course. But do you think the Company Head will allow it?"
Jang Yeon-seon's answer came immediately.
"Yes."
"He'll allow it... you say?"
"About three days of fasting should do it."
"No, an extreme method like a hunger strike is a bit much. That's too unfilial."
"I have no intention of being filial to my father."
One proverb came to mind far too late. There is no parent who can win against their child.
'Damn it!'
* * *
Jang Bu-ok surrendered not in three days, but in one. Jang Yeon-seon had often been stubborn before, but this time her stubbornness carried the clear resolve not to break even if it meant starving to death.
"I cannot fathom what you see in Warrior Bae that makes you want to become his disciple. You do know that once a master-disciple bond is formed, it cannot be undone?"
"I know."
"Do you have no intention of giving up this stubbornness before it's too late?"
His final attempt came to nothing against Jang Yeon-seon's resolute shake of the head. Jang Bu-ok ordered Seo In-sik to summon Do Tong-dal.
The face of Do Tong-dal as he entered the room was none too pleased.
"You wish to form a master-disciple bond with Yeon-seon?"
Do Tong-dal looked at Jang Yeon-seon, who was beaming, and let out a long sigh.
"So the Company Head couldn't dissuade her."
"Was this not what you wanted?"
"Why would I create such a troublesome matter for myself?"
"Calling my daughter troublesome is a bit..."
Do Tong-dal asked tentatively.
"Do you have any intention of trying to persuade your daughter again?"
"No parent can stand by and watch their child starve."
"Surely she wouldn't actually starve to death."
"You say that because you don't know Yeon-seon yet. She'll go at least to the brink of starvation. How could I bear to watch that?"
"You would truly accept me, someone whose background you don't even know, as Yeon-seon's master?"
"I do know your background. Let me ask just one thing of you. Teach Yeon-seon only martial arts. Teach her nothing else."
Jang Bu-ok said that because of Ju Pyeong-seon.
—Bae Cheong-dong's martial arts are certainly outstanding. But his character is far removed from his martial arts. If divided into upper, middle, and lower, he would be at the very bottom. Therefore, if he becomes the young lady's master, he must teach only martial arts. That is the essential condition for not ruining the young lady's life.
That was why he had set such a condition for Do Tong-dal. Do Tong-dal, looking at Jang Yeon-seon, let out another sigh. The sigh was so deep it seemed the floor might cave in.
"I don't even want to teach her martial arts."
Jang Yeon-seon spoke.
"You promised that if I got Father's permission, you would become my master."
"I believed the Company Head wouldn't give permission."
"You promised you wouldn't lie to me."
Since he had made a promise, there was no room left for choice.
"Prepare yourself. It'll be hard enough to kill you."
"Don't worry. I'll never give up."
Do Tong-dal thought, 'I'll work you until you quit.' That was why he postponed the formal establishment of the master-disciple bond by a month.
If Jang Yeon-seon gave up within a month, the master-disciple bond would naturally dissolve.
"Then I entrust my daughter to you."
Jang Yeon-seon spoke.
"Father, a master is equal to one's parents. So you shouldn't speak down to him."
"Hm? But Warrior Bae Cheong-dong's age aside, you haven't formally established the master-disciple bond yet, have you?"
"If the emperor is young, is it all right to speak casually to him?"
"Well, no, but..."
"And the ceremony has only been postponed. He is already my master. What parent disrespects their child's master?"
He had no choice but to concede Jang Yeon-seon's logical argument.
"Very well. From now on, I will treat Warrior Bae with courtesy."
"Please do."
Jang Bu-ok spoke to Do Tong-dal.
"Please take good care of my daughter."
"Company Head, you certainly have your hands full."
"All parents raising daughters are the same. Ha ha ha!"
Do Tong-dal and Jang Yeon-seon bowed to Jang Bu-ok and left the room.
"Master."
Do Tong-dal had no choice but to answer, "Yeah." At that, Jang Yeon-seon called "Master" again.
"Why do you keep calling me?"
"The word 'Master' just rolls off the tongue and feels nice. Hehe!"
"You'll come to hate me soon enough."
"That will never happen!"
* * *
"I hate you, Master!"
Jang Yeon-seon's face was drenched in sweat and looked ready to burst into tears at any moment. But Do Tong-dal did not let her out of the horse stance.
"The foundation of all martial arts is the lower body. For training the lower body, there is nothing better than the horse stance."
"But half a shichen is... too much!"
"If it's hard, you can quit right now."
"Don't even dream that I'll quit!"
"Seeing how loud your voice is, I could keep you at it a while longer."
He said that, but Do Tong-dal was inwardly stunned. When first attempting the horse stance, even a sturdy man finds it hard to last more than half a ke.
Yet Jang Yeon-seon had held the stance for half a shichen. Trembling all over, she still endured to the end, and the sight was pitiful.
'What does she plan to become when she grows up, with stubbornness that strong? Tsk tsk tsk...'
In the end, Jang Yeon-seon could not hold out much longer and fell flat on her backside.
"M-my legs...!"
Do Tong-dal hurriedly worked out the cramp in Jang Yeon-seon's legs.
"If your thighs get thick, it'll be hard to find a husband later."
"Then I'll just live with you, Master."
"I have no intention of living with an old-maid disciple who can't get married."
"Hmph!"
Jang Yeon-seon's sweet rest did not last more than a ke.
"Next is blade-art training."
"What? More training?"
"If you don't want to, then don't."
"Who said I don't want to!"
Jang Yeon-seon sprang to her feet, dashed off, and came back carrying two wooden blades.
"What I'm going to teach you from now on is the Three Talents Blade Art. It's a common martial art you can find anywhere that sells martial arts manuals."
"You're passing on that kind of third-rate martial art to me?"
"The Three Talents Blade Art is the most basic of blade arts. If you try to run before you can walk, you'll spend your whole life falling down. From now on, do a thousand cuts, a thousand thrusts, and a thousand downward strikes every day."
Jang Yeon-seon's mouth fell open, and she asked as if groaning.
"You're trying to kill me, aren't you?"
"If you don't want to die, quit."
"At least show me a demonstration."
Do Tong-dal first demonstrated the cut. In the wooden blade that moved from left to right, there was no special technique or immense force to be felt.
"That really is simple."
"Once you try it yourself, you'll see it's never simple."
Jang Yeon-seon picked up the wooden blade and took a deep breath. She had called it simple, but the way she prepared for the cut was utterly serious.
Her expression alone showed that she did not take martial arts lightly.
Jang Yeon-seon swung the wooden blade vertically. For a first attempt, it was decent, but no praise came from Do Tong-dal.
"The tip of the blade is wobbling. It has to move like a line drawn with a ruler."
Jang Yeon-seon swung the wooden blade again and again, and each time Do Tong-dal's scolding rained down.
She could have made the excuse that of course she was clumsy since it was her first time, but Jang Yeon-seon silently kept moving the wooden blade.
The place where they trained was a small rear garden not far from the lodgings, and naturally it was a place anyone from Dongui Martial Hall could pass through.
Several warriors passed by, saw Jang Yeon-seon's martial arts training, and jeered.
"Oh? Looks like they're training in blade arts over there."
"Heh heh heh, she's dancing. That's not blade art; it's lawlessness."
"Still, she's pretty serious about it, isn't she?"
"That's what makes it funnier! Ha ha ha!"
They exchanged remarks of that sort, then quickly lost interest and left.
Do Tong-dal paid no mind to the nonsense, and Jang Yeon-seon focused on her training as well.
When Jang Yeon-seon had completed the full thousand cuts, Do Tong-dal spoke.
"After a ke of rest, a thousand thrusts."
He would have liked her to give up around now, but no such thing happened.
Jang Yeon-seon plopped down, drank some water, and wiped the flowing sweat with a towel.
"By the way, mist— no, Master."
"What?"
"When are we leaving Dongui Martial Hall?"
"You don't like it here?"
"Who would want to live surrounded by idiots? Can't we just smash all the Dongui Martial Hall idiots? Holding it in is making my insides boil over."
"The time will come soon, so wait patiently."
* * *
As Do Tong-dal finished bathing at the bathhouse by the well and was about to enter the building, someone called out to him.
"Warrior."
It was Jeong-so, who attended Go Seon-hwa.
"The young lady asks to see you for a moment."
Since it could not be Jang Yeon-seon, the "young lady" referred to Go Seon-hwa. There was no way a servant would use such a form of address on her own; Go Seon-hwa must have instructed her to call her that.
'Has she left the Company Head not only in heart but in body as well?'
Do Tong-dal was about to refuse, then changed his mind. Unless she was the daughter of someone of fairly high rank within the Revenge Society, she would not receive such treatment.
So there was surely information to be dug up.
"Refusing a beauty's invitation is no way for a man to behave."
* * *