Luring Him Out
Before launching into the explanation, I tried tossing that question first.
"Ilhong, you remember the Mangeum Money House?"
"Remember? I know where it is, at least."
Hmm. Wrong way to ask.
"Then do you remember the merchant with the goat beard?"
"Of course I remember that bastard."
Yeah. That was the right question.
Just thinking of him made Ilhong scowl and snort in irritation.
"He openly fostered an atmosphere of despising beggars and made our kids suffer for it."
"That goat-bearded guy is the merchant from the Mangeum Money House I just asked about."
"Oh, is he?"
I already knew the whole story from Yangjo and Yangwi. Even Ilhong clearly didn't have every affiliated merchant memorized.
"So why the sudden talk about the Mangeum Money House?"
"Because the target of this commission is holed up deep inside it."
The prodigal son who'd run away from home. He'd come back, joined hands with the Eunseong Merchant Group's enemies, and was scraping at my sworn sister's nerves.
She couldn't focus on work for worrying about it, or so she'd said.
"Then we'll either have to sneak in quietly, or drag him out, right? The commission target, I mean."
"Exactly. That's the real problem."
And for that, we needed information first.
The money houses of the Central Plains piled up vast fortunes and lent them out at usurious rates whenever a debtor in need came calling. Of course their security would be an impregnable fortress. Famous masters would be posted there by the dozen, no doubt.
"So Mujin, who exactly is the commission target?"
What kind of guy was worth the Mangeum Money House wrapping itself around him like that? Jo Harang's tone asked as much.
"Ever heard of Eun Yang-gon? He's the client's disowned older brother, and…"
Jo Harang shook her head blankly. Ilhong's eyes went round.
"I know him. The famous good-for-nothing of the Eunseong Merchant Group. The previous master, Eun Jin-cheong, finally kicked him out because he couldn't take it anymore."
Famous good-for-nothing. Yeah, that was the more accurate description.
"Wait a second. I heard Eunseong recently had a dispute with the Mangeum Money House. And now they've taken in another direct blood relative who can inherit…"
"Exactly what you're thinking. Imagine how much our merchant lord's insides must be burning."
Their intentions were painfully obvious. Leave things alone and something would happen to her—that was why she'd been fretting even in front of me.
"If you're going to get hit, better strike first."
What they called a preemptive defense.
"I get the idea, but the Mangeum Money House is basically an impregnable fortress."
What situation did the wealthy of the Murim fear most? A single master breaking in and snatching away every bit of fortune they'd piled up. That was why every money-house operator in the imperial capital prepared ironclad countermeasures against exactly that risk.
"So we find a way."
A method to quietly extract one person from inside.
Commissions like this always came down to an information war. Someone on the inside who took bribes, someone with blackmail material, a gap in security—something. Dig it up and lure him out. Done.
And where could you dig up that kind of back-alley intel?
"Don't tell me you're going to the Sinbigak leader again?"
Exactly. Come on out, all-purpose Sinbigak leader.
As long as she was around, there was no information in this imperial capital we couldn't learn.
"She said not to come lately—too many eyes, too busy."
"Not my problem. She shouldn't have started playing games with poison if she didn't want to get burned."
"…Okay, fair."
In many ways, she was reaping what she'd sown.
With that settled, we decided to visit Honghwaru once again—our stubbornly persistent connection.
Cha-pung-sa-seon—borrow the wind to sail the ship.
Jeon-ga-tong-sin—money can command even ghosts.
Those phrases hung brazenly in a certain money-house master's office. The lavish ornaments and imposing atmosphere made it clear at a glance that this was no ordinary pawnshop.
"Eun Jin-cheong… Eun Hwaran…"
Geum Hwangdo, the money-house master with jowls hanging heavy, clenched a gold ingot hard enough to leave handprints as he chewed over the humiliations of the past.
"Like father, like daughter. Vile, the both of them."
He had once dreamed of a golden future.
Swallow up merchant groups and escort agencies alike, seize not only wealth but the logistics and influence that spanned all of Beijing, and—through his ties to the Third Prince—rise as the capital's foremost tycoon. That golden ambition had been his.
Then some nobody brat had started meddling, and the whole plan had begun to lurch—until finally Eun Jin-cheong's daughter, Eun Hwaran, had wrecked everything. The Third Prince had even expressed deep disappointment and reprimand over the affair. Just thinking about it made his teeth grind.
So Geum Hwangdo had moved relentlessly to pay it back. He could not live having been wronged. That single phrase had defined his entire life, and at last he had secured a weak point of the Eunseong family.
The door flew open.
A man far gaunter than before—clearly having suffered out there—pushed the door open and stepped slowly inside. Eyes trembling with unease, shoulders hunched, self-esteem scraped down to the floorboards. A pathetic figure utterly out of place amid this glittering room.
And the man looked as if the golden, shimmering interior had already scrambled his wits.
"Well now, how long has it been? Come in, come in, Young Master Eun Yang-gon."
Geum Hwangdo slapped the dejected man's back with hearty force and laughed as if genuinely glad to see him. Eun Yang-gon sat down, still dazed by the unexpectedly warm welcome. Then his eyes went wide at the fragrant assault of the lavish feast that followed.
"Th-thank you. I never expected this kind of reception…"
He must have been starving; he buried his face in the food at once and began wolfing it down. A man who clearly had no idea how to handle such hospitality.
"Heh heh, no need for thanks, my friend. You accepted my request to come so readily—I'm the one who should be grateful."
"W-well… You've always treated me well, Master Geum. Yes…"
"I have, haven't I? That old bastard Eun Jin-cheong used to scold you so viciously it made my heart ache. What's wrong with a grown man enjoying a little pleasure now and then?"
"Y-yes… Exactly."
In truth, long ago, after clashing repeatedly with Eun Jin-cheong's unbending nature, Geum Hwangdo had taken revenge by luring the man's son into gambling and the pleasures of wine and women. He had exploited the way Eun Jin-cheong favored and protected his daughter Eun Hwaran, driving a vicious wedge between father and son. The man before him had become Eun Jin-cheong's aching finger.
"S-so I heard the rough outline. What exactly do you intend to do?"
"What do I intend? As you know, that bitch Eun Hwaran has already swallowed the entire merchant group whole—while you, the eldest son and true blood of the Eunseong family, still have two perfectly good eyes open."
Geum Hwangdo looked like a toad but flicked his tongue like a snake.
"B-but… she kind of had her reasons…"
"Nonsense! Snap out of it. That weak character of yours is exactly why you've lived as a wandering beggar all this time instead of enjoying what was yours."
Spineless to the core. Timid, no guts. Still, if a man like this sat in the Eunseong Merchant Group master's seat, he'd be easy to work like a puppet. He'd probably hand over the important businesses on a platter.
"You're right… I've really suffered…"
Eun Yang-gon's voice turned tearful with self-pity.
"Yes. And whose fault is that? Who cast you out?"
Wine could heighten the mood and ripen the spirits—but drink enough of it, long enough and often enough, and reason clouded and a man turned into a fool. At Geum Hwangdo's transparent leading question, Eun Yang-gon's finger trembled as he pointed in the direction of the Eunseong Merchant Group.
"Yes. That's it. That's the posture. I'll help you reclaim everything you've lost. You have nothing left to lose now, do you? Trust this Geum Hwangdo."
"I-is that so? But in what way…"
"Simple. If that troublesome Eun Hwaran simply vanishes from her seat… the sole remaining direct blood of the Eunseong family is you, is it not?"
The late Eun Jin-cheong's inheritance would pass to the remaining bloodline. That was the capital's solemn law. If Eun Hwaran disappeared, the Eunseong Merchant Group and Eunseong Escort Agency would plunge into chaos. Then he would send this man in to nibble away at those golden businesses piece by piece.
Of course the fellow looked a bit dim right now, so they'd have to fix his clothes and appearance and send him looking halfway respectable.
"Me… master of such a vast merchant group…? That… sounds rather appealing… But when you say my sister vanishes, you don't mean k-kill her, do you…?"
"Nonsense! Why speak of such ugly things? She'll simply be cast far away, the same way you once were. Do we look like the sort of people who'd do that?"
"R-right, of course. I understand."
"Of course you do. Your opponents are the same father and daughter who once coldly cast you out. You need to steel your heart."
"Ahem."
"Or else… you can simply repay every last gambling debt, wine tab, and sum you blew on women that you still owe our Mangeum Money House."
"…"
No one in the world lent money for free. Especially not a money house—there was always a darker design. Lending to this hopeless drunk who clearly had no means of repayment had all been groundwork for a far greater profit.
"You probably couldn't handle it, could you…?"
Geum Hwangdo bared his yellowed teeth in a smile that invited him to picture that dreadful future. Eun Yang-gon's face drained of color.
"Conduct yourself wisely. Things can't get much worse from here, can they? So decide—will you take revenge and seize a fortune, or will you keep living like a beggar until you die alone? The choice is yours."
With that, Geum Hwangdo waved him out. Eun Yang-gon left with his head bowed. Outside the door a servant announced that wine, food, and courtesans for pleasure were ready, and the man brightened at once.
"Honestly."
It was a product of his own making, yet Geum Hwangdo still found it absurd.
"'Tiger father, dog son,' they say."
If both son and daughter had been capable, he would have found no gap to exploit. But Eun Jin-cheong's rigid nature had created a rift between father and son, and Geum Hwangdo had driven into it with perfect clarity.
"Eun Jin-cheong, watch from the underworld. Watch as that century-old great tree of yours slides into my belly."
Geum Hwangdo's yellow smile spread. His endlessly greedy eyes gleamed more sinisterly than ever before.
Even after stopping by Honghwaru and making contact with a Haomu Gate officer, we ultimately obtained no useful information.
All we heard was Sinbigak Leader Il-hye-hyang's remark that the Mangeum Money House was uniquely fortress-like among money houses, packed with masters, and that a stealthy infiltration would only be possible for someone on the level of the Shadowless Divine Thief.
In the end we had to turn back empty-handed.
So, following the pavilion master's plea not to cause trouble if anyone saw us, we tried to slip out of the courtesan house under cover of night—
"About the promise last time… I can trust it… right?"
Whispers of women reached me from behind. Ilhong, who had been dawdling instead of following, seemed to be talking with Il-hye-hyang.
"Of course… That man who will become a great master… I have him firmly in hand… He can't escape my charms…"
At Ilhong's words, Il-hye-hyang seemed to shoot a half-doubting look in the direction I had gone.
What exactly did she have "firmly in hand"?
"If you trust me and follow… at the very least there will be no betrayal… Even without Upper and Lower Commands… Heuk Jin-jo will be driven out."
Sounded like the usual talk of Haomu Gate's mysterious masters and Heuk Jin-jo.
"Yes. I will follow…"
Apparently she was receiving a loyalty oath as the next Haomu Gate master. I spoke to Ilhong as she finally emerged with a look of relief.
"What can't he escape from?"
"…Eek!"
She clearly hadn't expected me to wait instead of coldly leaving first as usual; she jumped out of her skin. She was so startled she started hiccupping.
"Ah, it's nothing. L-let's hurry and share the intel with Miss Jo Harang."
She stammered, then unfurled the lightfoot skill she'd learned from Hwang Geolgae and shot off ahead.
"What a goof."
Even when she schemed, it was pure small-time villainy. Thinking how utterly trivial it was, I linked up with Jo Harang, who had been waiting at the office.
We laid out what little we'd learned, put our heads together—and unfortunately produced no new ideas. Jo Harang's brain didn't exactly spin at lightning speed either, same as the rest of us.
"So even infiltration with a human-skin mask is hard?"
"Yes. Ever since they brought Eun Yang-gon inside, they thoroughly check every visitor—prodding faces and so on—to make sure no one is using disguise arts."
Ilhong nodded as she answered Jo Harang's question. If you planned to swallow one of the Ten Great Merchant Groups and an escort agency at the same time, that level of security and thoroughness was apparently mandatory.
"Mujin, can't you just smash through the front gate like you did in Sichuan?"
Jo Harang asked the carefree question while chewing on a filling-less bun. She was fiddling with her greatsaber, saying that this time she—a Transcendental Peak master—would join in, so it ought to work somehow.
Causing that kind of large-scale uproar right in the middle of the imperial capital…
I'd thought it ever since she knocked down the academy wall: this woman was rough around the edges in every possible way.
"You want high-ranking people marking us? Don't."
Whether we could push through like at the Sichuan Tang Family Manor was secondary. That place was the Mangeum Money House, connected to the Third Prince. And Geum Hwangdo held the money—he would have a spiderweb of connections in the court beyond just that prince.
We had only just finished paying off our debts and put down full roots in Beijing. We'd spent a fortune opening the office; we couldn't run. Getting marked by the court this early was a terrible idea.
"So if we could just quietly lure out that Eun Yang-gon without a fuss, it'd be perfect. Hmm… What does the guy like?"
"Wine and women."
The moment I heard it, I thought: what a simple life the man lived.
Wine would be plentiful enough inside the Mangeum Money House itself. But weak to beauties…
Even Dong Zhuo and Lü Bu had ultimately ruined everything by falling for a woman.
I silently looked back and forth between Ilhong and Jo Harang.
"…What? Is there something on my face?"
When I stared straight into her eyes, Ilhong flustered, wondering what was wrong.
"Sigh. Never mind."
One was a kid who still couldn't drop her male disguise; the other was pretty but acted like a tomboy. No matter how I looked at it, neither seemed capable of delicately luring someone.
"…What was that just now?!"
"Mujin, that look just now felt weird to me too. Explain."
"I said it was nothing."
I shrugged as if wronged. I'd given up on my own without saying it out loud—why were they getting upset?
But while fielding their protests, a person perfectly suited to this mission suddenly came to mind.
"Ah, right. Ju Wolay. She might be able to pull it off…"
I'd heard she was busy these days, but maybe she'd grant the favor just once.
The moment I mentioned that woman like some ultimate trump card, both Ilhong's and Jo Harang's eyes narrowed sharply at the same time.
"Mujin, I'll do it."
Jo Harang stepped forward, declaring she would take on whatever the mission was—without even knowing what it was.
"Do what?"
"Whatever it is, I'll do it instead. So don't go looking for busy people."
She needed to stick to things that suited her. Just swing that savage greatsaber like usual—what was she talking about?
"No, it's fine. There's a proper person for the job, so if I just ask—"
Crack!
One knife-hand strike split the table like a gourd. She'd only brushed it, yet the force was that strong. Truly a beast of Mount Song.
"I said I'll do it."
"F-fine."
If a Transcendental Peak master wanted to do it, then she would do it.
And just like that, the personnel for infiltrating the Mangeum Money House seemed to have been decided.