Monopolizing Fortunes (210)
Monopolizing Fortunes (210)
"First, send a messenger pigeon asking them to track Jeong Hwa-yeong's movements. I'll go and judge whether it's possible or not."
"Will do. Heh heh heh...... I'd like to see you in disguise sometime. Then again, if you dressed as a woman right now, you'd make a peerless beauty......."
Under Do Tong-dal's fierce glare, Yang Su-pan cut himself off with, "I'd better stop there."
"Oh, right! And once this messy business is wrapped up, I'll set the date for selecting Her Majesty the Empress. Keep some time free then."
"What? Why do I need to keep time free for selecting an empress?"
"You'll have to read the faces of the candidates to judge which young lady is suitable to be Her Majesty the Empress."
"Why do I have to do something like that too!"
"It's a request from His Imperial Majesty. He says he has no eye for women, so he'll select whichever young lady you choose as Her Majesty the Empress."
"Damn it! Tell him to pick his own woman! Honestly, they make me do all sorts of things!"
"It's good for both sides. If word gets out that you can exert influence over the selection of Her Majesty the Empress, you probably won't even be able to enter your house because of the wealth piled up in front of your gate—you'll have to sleep on the street. Since you'd never make a wrong decision over bribes or anything like that, His Imperial Majesty gets an excellent empress and you make money. Isn't it good for both of you?"
Money coming in was always welcome. No matter how high one's martial arts, money didn't earn itself.
"Well, I'll think about that when the time comes. But it has to be after everything is finished. This matter could be more complicated than the Revenge Society affair."
"No matter how complicated, you'll sort it out."
Yang Su-pan's faith in Do Tong-dal was almost religious. He believed unconditionally, and that was why he unhesitatingly asked even for the empress selection.
At Do Tong-dal's thin sigh, Yang Su-pan asked.
"Why? Do you have some worry?"
"Talking about the empress selection reminded me that I've got my own problems."
Do Tong-dal told him about the stubbornness the Second Imperial Princess was displaying. The reason Yang Su-pan couldn't lightly say, "Just marry her," was that he knew Do Tong-dal already had women he could not part from.
"If Her Highness the Second Princess insists, it will be hard for His Imperial Majesty to refuse as well. Honestly, His Majesty might even welcome you becoming Prince Consort. But if you become Prince Consort, you can't marry other women...... It's a truly awkward situation."
"That's why I'm seeking a way."
"There's a way?"
* * *
"You go first, Sis."
At Ha Su-ran's words, Yeon Ja-yeon, who had been lifting her wine cup, asked.
"Go first with what?"
The answer to the question came from Namgung Seol-rin.
"Marriage to Tong-dal."
Before meeting Yeon Ja-yeon, Namgung Seol-rin and Ha Su-ran had already coordinated their words. Namgung Seol-rin had enthusiastically agreed with the opinion Ha Su-ran put forward.
"M-marriage? No, what's this all of a sudden...... And rather than me, it would look better for you two to go first. If he marries a retired courtesan like me first, it'll damage Young Master Do's reputation."
Namgung Seol-rin flared up.
"What are you saying? For a mere thug, Sis Ja-yeon is more than he deserves. Honestly, who was it that recognized Tong-dal back when he had nothing but a single ball to his name?"
Ha Su-ran agreed as well.
"That's right. You, Sis, are the one who can truly be called Young Master Do's original wife."
"Tong-dal already said so himself, too."
"Back then it was just a joke......."
Namgung Seol-rin cut off Yeon Ja-yeon's words.
"Joke or not, if Tong-dal thinks so and we think so too, then that settles it."
"I'm truly grateful that you two say that, but I don't think this is right. Honestly, Young Master Do isn't just some thug now. No matter how much he calls himself a thug, what about his standing in the imperial palace or the martial world? I don't want it because it's too much pressure. One of you two go first. I'll just quietly tag along at the end."
Yeon Ja-yeon truly thought so. She knew Do Tong-dal cherished her. She was also deeply grateful that he thought of her as his original wife. And that was precisely why she could not enter as the first legal wife.
She believed that if a mere pleasure-house owner became the first legal wife, it would damage the reputation of Namgung Seol-rin and Ha Su-ran, who would marry afterward.
The two insisted that Ha Su-ran should go first, and Yeon Ja-yeon's stubborn refusal to accept that clashed for a long while.
Then Namgung Seol-rin suddenly shouted.
"If we keep yielding like this, we might end up making the porridge and feeding it to the dog!"
The porridge was Do Tong-dal, and the dog was the Second Imperial Princess.
"Ah! I don't know! Then let's just all three do it at once!"
Namgung Seol-rin's ears perked up at the opinion Ha Su-ran had blurted out as a random remark.
"Oh? Sis, that's a good idea."
"What is? All three doing it at once?"
"There's no reason we can't, is there?"
"Is that really allowed?"
One groom and three brides would certainly make for a strange picture. So Ha Su-ran and Namgung Seol-rin looked at Yeon Ja-yeon.
They had spent their whole lives brawling in the martial world and were complete novices in such matters. Yeon Ja-yeon hedged, saying, "It's not as if such marriages don't exist at all."
Namgung Seol-rin clapped her hands.
"Then that's settled! If we keep putting it off day after day and the Second Princess suddenly snatches Tong-dal away tomorrow, we're completely fucked!"
Ha Su-ran also replied, "That's right. It can be done."
"Still, shouldn't we ask Young Master Do for his opinion on this?"
Namgung Seol-rin waved her hand dismissively.
"We just need to notify him. I'll do that, so let's hurry up with the wedding preparations."
"Of course I'll be the one to handle that."
At Yeon Ja-yeon's words, Ha Su-ran replied.
"Still, we should help you."
"You two should help Young Master Do. If I can't even do this much, I'll seem like too useless a person."
"Don't say that. Just by existing, Sis, you are a source of strength for Young Master Do and for us."
"Ho ho ho! Saying that to this retired courtesan, I'm grateful even if it's just empty words."
In the end, they planned a wedding with one groom and three brides.
* * *
"Is that really all right?"
Do Tong-dal's expression upon hearing Namgung Seol-rin's story was unexpectedly calm.
"It's not as if such cases don't exist at all. Though they're rare."
"Then let's do it that way. Let's do it as soon as possible. Before the Second Princess meets the emperor and causes trouble."
Becoming Prince Consort was a path Do Tong-dal wanted no more than the three women did. At those words, the suspicion of "This bastard, even if he pretends not to, isn't he secretly lusting after the Second Princess?" cleanly flew away.
"Let's do it within two days."
Namgung Seol-rin was startled by Do Tong-dal's words.
"It's not a child's birthday—how do you prepare a wedding in two days?"
"Otherwise it might end up being months, or years, later."
"No matter how much a hidden faction has appeared, surely we'd have time for our own wedding."
"I have to go kill the emperor's uncle, a man called Prince Yeongun."
"I heard about that from Sis Su-ran too. Wait! This is something we should all discuss together."
Namgung Seol-rin immediately called Yeon Ja-yeon and Ha Su-ran. The two reacted with bewilderment: "What? We have to prepare a wedding within two days?"
Yeon Ja-yeon spoke.
"I understand that killing Prince Yeongun is urgent, but two days is too tight for wedding preparations."
"The barbarian invasion isn't far off."
Even Do Tong-dal did not know the exact date. They could invade today, for all he knew.
"Our wedding is important, but it's not as important as a war."
They were not so out of their minds as to think a wedding was more important than a war.
"In the end, it's a question of doing it within two days or waiting months or years."
At Yeon Ja-yeon's muttering, Namgung Seol-rin said firmly.
"Within that time, the Second Princess will definitely snatch Tong-dal away. Let's have the wedding the day after tomorrow."
"Really?"
"What does formality matter? If we drag it out and the Second Princess snatches him, regretting it then will be useless."
Ha Su-ran nodded in agreement.
"That's true."
"But guests have to come from the Northern Unorthodox Alliance and the Namgung Clan. And from the Righteous Chivalry Sect too. Will the guests be able to arrive in time?"
That was the biggest problem, but Namgung Seol-rin spoke as if it were nothing.
"If we really feel it's lacking, we can hold a grand one again later. The more feasts, the better."
To get from Anhui Province to Beijing, one had to pass through Shandong Province and Hebei Province. No matter how fast one employed the Lightness Art, it was two days, and factoring in the time for a messenger pigeon to fly, it was impossible for Namgung Seol-rin's parents and Namgung Cheol-hyeon to attend the wedding from the Namgung Clan.
Ha Su-ran came up with an ingenious solution.
"We can just hold the wedding at the Righteous Chivalry Sect. Then they can come from the Namgung Clan in a day, can't they? And from the Northern Unorthodox Alliance too."
Yeon Ja-yeon's face brightened as well.
"That's a good idea. If we leave right away, we can arrive by dawn today."
If they used the Lightness Art, they could get there even earlier, but Yeon Ja-yeon had to ride in a carriage.
While the three women made their plans like that, Do Tong-dal just sat there like a sack of barley. He deliberately did not voice the thought, "Can't we just do the paperwork and hold the ceremony later? It's just a formality anyway."
Because he knew that at that moment, Namgung Seol-rin's palm would smack him on the back. They chattered on about the wedding preparations for a long while, and then the words "What about the first night?" came out of Namgung Seol-rin's mouth.
At that, Ha Su-ran said.
"Naturally, Sis Ja-yeon."
"Right. The original wife goes first."
"No. You two have yielded so much to me, so it should be one of you two."
"The saying 'respect your elders in order' exists for a reason."
"Are you making fun of me for being old?"
The saying "Even cold water has a top and bottom, and even shit-water has waves" came up again. In any case, while they went back and forth over the first-night issue, no one asked Do Tong-dal for his opinion.
The thought "Is this really my wedding?" came to him naturally.
"Young Master Do, you brought back ten go from your trip to the Southern Barbarians this time."
Yeon Ja-yeon said.
"As far as I know, it was twelve."
Ha Su-ran asked Do Tong-dal.
"You told me it was ten."
"What? Ah, w-well...... ten is right."
Yeon Ja-yeon revealed the truth.
"Originally it was twelve, but two died on the way, so it's true that he brought ten."
Namgung Seol-rin scolded him.
"You sly bastard, you cut down on something like that?"
Yeon Ja-yeon smiled softly.
"If it's twelve, there's no need to worry about the first night. Right?"
Smiles similar to Yeon Ja-yeon's appeared on the lips of the other two women.
"N-no, still, that's not......."
"Young Master Do has no right to speak."
"Right. You just keep your place that day."
"Yes."
Do Tong-dal thought.
'The greatest master under heaven, my ass. It's completely useless.'
* * *
"What do you mean? Tong-dal is holding his wedding the day after tomorrow?"
Yang Su-pan, who was giving the answer to Ju Hyeong-seon's question, was just as taken aback.
"He came by out of the blue today and said he's holding the wedding at the Righteous Chivalry Sect the day after tomorrow, and that if I'm busy, I don't have to attend."
"It must be a joke, right?"
"With Tong-dal, a joke is only a joke if it doesn't sound like one."
"Then he's really getting married the day after tomorrow? To whom?"
"Your Majesty must know Mistress Yeon, surely?"
"Of course. But to think he's really marrying Mistress Yeon. Should I say it's just like Tong-dal?"
From the fact that he never abandoned the pleasure-house owner twelve years his senior, one could see Do Tong-dal's character.
"Your Majesty has not met her, but there is a daughter of a martial clan called Namgung Seol-rin."
"I know. The clan name was Namgung, wasn't it?"
"You possess extensive knowledge of the martial world."
"Oh, come now. Still, I at least know the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Clans."
"You would naturally know the Northern Unorthodox Alliance. There is someone called Ha Su-ran who holds the position of Strategist there."
"A strategist is usually a man's role, so if she's a woman, she must be remarkably intelligent."
"She doesn't match Tong-dal, but she seems to be acknowledged as a genius. And she also holds the title of the greatest beauty in the martial world...... no, the greatest beauty of all time."
"The greatest of all time? Ha ha! A mere woman of the martial world holds a name that even Hang'a or Xi Shi never possessed?"
"From what I've heard, of a hundred men who have seen Ha Su-ran's face, all hundred fall ill with lovesickness. And among them, dozens are said to have taken their own lives after failing to win Ha Su-ran's love."
Ju Hyeong-seon wore a surprised expression.
"At that level, she must truly be a beauty capable of toppling a kingdom. Have you seen this woman's face, Lord Yang?"
"I saw it briefly, but unfortunately it was a disguised face. They say she had disguised herself to look ugly, but even that alone made her quite a beauty."
"I'm curious, but seeing her might stir desire, so it's best not to look. But why did you bring up those two women?"
* * *