Monopolizing Fortunes (82)
Monopolizing Fortunes (82)
"You wouldn't have shoved me into that clearing where I might've died. So there wouldn't have been any danger."
Come to think of it, that was true.
"Anyway, it's good to have, so train hard!"
It sounded like a mother nagging, "I'm only doing this for your own good!" Whether you do something on your own or are forced into it by someone else, if you work hard, the results come out about the same.
Because the Wonhyeong Musang Art that Won Dae-yeon had passed on was such an outstanding internal cultivation method, Do Tong-dal's Internal Energy accumulated quickly.
Within a month he reached one gapja, surprising everyone. And before two months had passed, he stood at the threshold of two gapja.
By that point, he no longer lost easily in sparring matches against Jang Yu-seom or Namgung Seol-rin. A month after that, when he reached three gapja, the matches became dead even.
"The saying 'improving day by day' must have been coined for Coordinator Do. Ha ha ha!"
Jang Yu-seom was genuinely delighted by Do Tong-dal's achievements. In fact, he was happier than Do Tong-dal himself. Do Tong-dal could only think, "What am I supposed to do now that I've become such a master?"
He was a gangster anyway, so being weaker than Jang Yu-seom or Namgung Seol-rin didn't wound his pride.
At this point, expanding the Red Tiger Society's influence beyond Hangzhou seemed far more productive.
"Well? Do you feel like any of the Ten-Thousand-Year Ginseng King's energy still remains?"
The answer to Namgung Seol-rin's question came immediately.
"No."
"An answer that fast is suspicious, you know."
"If my Internal Energy got stronger, I'd be happy too, so why would I lie?"
"Still, you mustn't neglect your training. Internal Energy built up in a rush is as flimsy as a tower built on sand. You have to keep tempering it until it's solid."
"If I work any harder than this, I might drop dead."
"Honestly, all you ever think about is how to slack off."
"Let's take a break for once."
Whether Do Tong-dal's earnest wish got through or not, an excuse to rest appeared. Yang Cheol-jung, the head constable, came by and delivered welcome news.
"Lord Do, former Magistrate Yang Su-pan has arrived."
Since Magistrate Gong Myeong-un called Do Tong-dal "my lord," the officials had all adopted the same form of address.
"What? That insolent fellow came? How dare he show his face in Hangzhou!"
When Do Tong-dal burst out shouting, Yang Cheol-jung, who had come to deliver the news, was flustered.
"Well...... he just suddenly showed up, so I don't really......."
"Whether he comes or not."
Namgung Seol-rin tossed the remark out.
"Go and see him."
"Why should I? He's the fellow who left a pile of shit behind and bolted off to Beijing."
"If you don't go, then you can train with me......."
"I'll go and yank out every hair of that old man's beard! I'll be late, so don't wait up!"
Do Tong-dal headed to the government office with Yang Cheol-jung. He had spoken that way, but his heart was full of gladness.
The incident that Gong So-yang and Gong Myeong-un had caused was not Yang Su-pan's fault. He was only resentful that there had been no word at all in all that time.
Once they reached the government office, they rounded three buildings and headed for the rear garden. But an unexpected sight was spread out in the rear garden.
Yang Su-pan was sitting on the edge of the main hall, and Gong Myeong-un was kneeling in the courtyard with his head bowed.
"Why should I spare your life?"
"I apologize. I... I ignored the Censor's advice and committed a crime worthy of death."
"If you committed a crime worthy of death, then you should die. Do you think a death-worthy crime is called that for nothing?"
"P-please, just forgive me this once."
"You dare throw Tong-dal, whom I cherish like my own younger brother, into prison and still hope to be forgiven?"
Do Tong-dal, who had been watching the scene, opened his mouth.
"You're awfully late with the grandstanding."
To Gong Myeong-un, he had been terrifying, but the moment he saw Do Tong-dal, his face filled with smiles.
"Oh-ho! Our Do Branch Chief has arrived? You must have risen even higher by now?"
"You're the one who's risen, Magistrate Yang. Seeing that they're calling you Censor, it looks like you've secured yourself a seat in the Censorate?"
"Hmph! I'm a Left Censor."
"Oh-ho, a Senior Fourth Rank Left Censor in the Censorate, which they say can bring down even a bird in flight. Congratulations."
"Thank you."
"Now that I've seen your face, I'll be......."
As Do Tong-dal spun around, the startled Yang Su-pan rushed over.
"Now, now! What's this? I came after so long......."
"That's exactly the problem! That you came after so long! You tossed a piece of shit like that at me and flitted off to Beijing, and then not a single word! I suppose you were so busy playing with your power as Censor that you didn't even notice the axe handle rotting away?"
"No, do you think I stayed away because I wanted to?"
"If you couldn't come, you could at least have sent someone with your address!"
"I'm...... I'm sorry. I thought nothing would happen. Anyway, you resolved it well, didn't you?"
"Of course I did! Do you think I'd lose to shabby people like that? The important thing here is that Magistrate Yang didn't send so much as a single letter for months! Does that mean you don't need me anymore?"
Yang Su-pan hastily waved both hands.
"Not need you? Honestly, maybe I don't. But I don't associate with you out of need, do I? Do you associate with me because you need me?"
Do Tong-dal muttered, "Associate? Who's associating with who? People will get the wrong idea," then continued.
"I do need Magistrate Yang... no, Censor Yang."
"Hm? What for?"
"Are you saying you don't need friends, Censor Yang?"
Yang Su-pan, who had been staring at him, came over and embraced Do Tong-dal.
"I need you more than anyone. Because you're the only person I can call a friend."
"Why are you hugging me? It's disgusting."
"Come on, you like it. Stay still. I'll give you a vigorous hug."
"Get away from me! If you want to hug someone, go hug a courtesan......!"
"Right! That's a good idea. Let's go! To Cheonsangru!"
Do Tong-dal grabbed Yang Su-pan's arm as he passed by.
"What about that fellow?"
Do Tong-dal pointed with his chin at Gong Myeong-un, who was still kneeling with a startled expression.
"I'll leave him like that for about three days. He dared to throw you in prison, so a punishment like this is lenient."
"That's enough. He's already paid the price and reflected plenty, so please forgive him now."
"Your trouble is that you're too soft-hearted. They say a real man has to be ruthless."
Do Tong-dal called out to Gong Myeong-un.
"Magistrate Gong, get up now."
But Gong Myeong-un did not dare move. At that, Yang Su-pan shouted.
"Tong-dal is telling you to get up! Tong-dal's words are my words!"
Only then did Gong Myeong-un spring to his feet. Do Tong-dal spoke to the thoroughly frozen Gong Myeong-un.
"Come along. Since things have turned out this way, you'd better get in the good graces of the Left Censor."
"I...... I don't think I'm in any position to join you."
"Come on, the magistrate of Hangzhou, where our Red Tiger Society is based, is talking so weakly."
Yang Su-pan turned and said to Gong Myeong-un.
"You fool, when Tong-dal offers you goodwill, follow right away. An opportunity like this will never come again."
"Yes? Yes! Understood!"
Gong Myeong-un quickly fell in behind them. When Yang Su-pan had told him to look after Do Tong-dal, he had assumed it was because he had received a lot of bribes. A relationship built on bribes grows distant once out of sight, and is soon forgotten.
So he had paid no attention to the words of the retiring Yang Su-pan. But the relationship between Do Tong-dal and Yang Su-pan was not what Gong Myeong-un had imagined.
'How did an underworld gangster and a magistrate end up with that kind of relationship?'
Then again, what good would it do Gong Myeong-un to know the process? What mattered was the current relationship between those two.
A Left Censor of the Censorate was a high official that a mere magistrate could go his whole life without ever meeting. It was a Senior Fourth Rank post, and moreover belonged to the Censorate, known as the grim reaper of officials.
'I must be loyal no matter what!'
Since Yang Su-pan was someone who would return to Beijing, the person Gong Myeong-un needed to be loyal to was already decided.
It was a little early, but Yeon Ja-yeon welcomed them warmly.
"Magistrate Yang—!"
It was a fervent welcome, as if their dead parents had returned. Not only Yeon Ja-yeon, but all the courtesans and entertainers of Cheonsangru embraced Yang Su-pan.
"Oh-ho! If I'd known I was this popular, I wouldn't have left Hangzhou."
"Then come back now!"
"Yes!"
"Right now it's difficult, but when I retire later, I'll come back as magistrate of Hangzhou. Heh heh heh......."
Do Tong-dal scolded him.
"Do you think courtesans would like an old man reeking of decrepitude?"
Yeon Ja-yeon quickly linked her arm through Yang Su-pan's and said.
"What are you saying? Magistrate Yang will be handsome no matter how old he gets."
"The mistress knows how to judge people. How about throwing away that gangster and coming to me while you have the chance?"
"Should I?"
Yang Su-pan was in a good mood. It felt like returning to his hometown and being welcomed by everyone.
'Hangzhou really is the best.'
Do Tong-dal and Yang Su-pan were both in good spirits, and Gong Myeong-un did his utmost to liven up the mood for the two of them.
Everyone was reasonably drunk, and just as the atmosphere was ripening, Gong Myeong-un sprang to his feet.
"I shall perform a mask dance."
Gong Myeong-un put a wooden bowl over his face. There were no holes in it, so he couldn't see ahead, but that didn't matter.
Gong Myeong-un tied up his clothes at the waist, pulled off a courtesan's skirt and put it over his head, and began dancing with great bouncing steps, sending everyone falling over backward.
"Puhahaha—! That fellow is really entertaining! What did he do before becoming magistrate!"
"Heh heh heh heh...... It's like a precious talent took a wrong turn in life!"
"Ho ho ho! I want to recruit him into our pleasure house!"
They were in the middle of enjoying themselves when a crash! sounded from outside. A pleasure house was originally a place with many quarrels.
But word had spread that Cheonsangru was a place Do Tong-dal especially cherished, so thugs didn't even dare think of causing trouble there.
"If I tell this bitch to strip, she should strip! Why so much yapping!"
"S-sir, Cheonsangru is not that kind of place."
"It's not even national law. If it's just some pleasure-house rule, I can change it as I please!"
A thick voice followed.
"Sir, I don't know what the matter is, but it will be troublesome if you act like that here."
It was the voice of a Red Tiger Society gangster dispatched to Cheonsangru.
"What are you?"
"I belong to the Hangzhou Red Tiger Society......."
"A gangster?"
"That's right...... urk!"
The answer ended in a groan.
"A damned thug dares step forward before us!"
The sounds of blows and screams rang out continuously. From the sound of it, the Red Tiger Society gangsters were being beaten one-sidedly.
And then, with a crack!, the door to the room they were in shattered and flew apart. The gangster who had broken the door collapsed to the floor and lost consciousness.
A man entered the room. The man, with thick eyebrows and round, glaring eyes, grabbed the unconscious gangster by the collar and punched him in the face.
"You! What do you think you're doing!"
Unexpectedly, the first person to step forward was Gong Myeong-un. At Gong Myeong-un's shout, the round-eyed man looked Gong Myeong-un up and down.
"What are you?"
"I am the magistrate of Hangzhou!"
He had expected the round-eyed man to kneel at those words alone. But the round-eyed man let out a snicker.
"Looking like that, and you call yourself the magistrate of Hangzhou?"
The wooden bowl was caught on his chin, and he still had the courtesan's skirt over his head. Gong Myeong-un threw off the bowl and skirt and stood up straight.
"No matter how I look, a magistrate is a magistrate! And who are you people, to dare run wild here!"
At that moment, a new figure appeared. It was a man with thin eyebrows and eyes that slanted sharply to the sides.
"The magistrate is making a spectacle of himself in a pleasure house looking like that. Hangzhou must be running smoothly indeed."
"Y-you bastards dare!"
"If the magistrate looks like that, he ought to know to be ashamed! Can you still call yourself an official who looks after the people when you behave like this!"
Gong Myeong-un did not back down either.
"I'm still better than you lot, who harass courtesans and beat the people who try to stop you! From the look of it, you're no ordinary commoners, and the fact that you won't reveal your identities means you've got something rotten to hide!"
"You'd be better off if we didn't reveal our identities."
"Hah! Once you're dragged to the government office, your identities will be revealed anyway!"
"How dare a mere magistrate try to arrest us!"
"So I'm asking who you are! You sons of bitches!"
The curses had probably come out because he was drunk. The two men's faces hardened.
"We are commissioners serving the Inspector of Zhejiang Province."
"What did you say?"
"I'm Commissioner Yang Un-ha..."
The round-eyed man pointed at the slant-eyed man and continued.
"This is Commissioner Baek Sa-min."
Hic!
He hiccuped in shock. An inspector was a senior third-rank official responsible for a province's criminal justice under the Jehyeong Surveillance Commission, while a commissioner corresponded to the Senior Fifth Rank.
It was a higher post than a magistrate, which corresponded to the Junior Sixth Rank, and an inspector, who oversaw a province's punishments and prisons, could not have their standing measured by rank alone.
If the Censorate was the grim reaper of the central government, the inspector could be called the grim reaper of the provinces.
"What do you think the inspector would say if he learned that the magistrate of Hangzhou was drinking in a pleasure house looking like this?"
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