Chapter 147: Tianjin is Clear After the Rain Today (3)
Chapter 147: Tianjin is Clear After the Rain Today (3)
Surprisingly, Murong Cheong was adapting perfectly to the Dragon Slaying Alliance.
"Pavilion Master. This is Goryeo ginseng, freshly brought in. You must recover quickly."
"Haha, why bring something like this again...? Thank you. I’ll make good use of it."
For reference, ginseng from the peninsula was classified as a spiritual herb strictly managed by the state. In other words, it was a strategic military resource.
Official trade—meaning the small amounts brought by Joseon envoys when they visited the vicinity of Beijing—accounted for the entirety of its distribution.
However, Liaoning was an exception. They obtained it through private trade.
If you’re wondering how private trade could exist between Joseon and the Ming Dynasty, it’s an interesting question. Even in the modern era with its advanced social systems, customs officials were hotbeds for smuggling well into the 90s.
The Murong Family, possessing a fleet that defied the sea ban, were the safest smugglers in all of the Central Plains.
"Have you confirmed it?"
"Hmm? Ah, yes."
Seong Ryang-ha, who had been chatting with Murong Cheong as if meeting a granddaughter, finally snapped out of it and looked at me.
Still fiddling with the wooden box containing the ginseng, he spoke.
"Since we headed for Chongqing, there hasn't been a single trace of the White Lotus Cult within Hebei. This will be the same even if you check through the Sanwol Hall."
"Those people aren't the type to let an opportunity like this slip by..."
What was the reason we all swarmed to Chongqing in the first place?
And why did most of the Hebei Peng Family's martial forces, including the Sanwol Hall and even Peng Ik-jin, lie in ambush within the Peng Family estate?
It was to dangle bait that the White Lotus Cult couldn't possibly refuse. It was a trap designed to pull them out into the open and pull them up by the roots.
Yet, these White Lotus friends hadn't even shown their faces near Northern Zhili. All the assassins left behind to monitor Hebei and Tianjin had failed to detect even a hint of them.
"Tsk..."
"Well, with the Blade Emperor holding the line, what could they possibly do? They likely sensed the danger and backed off."
"The Peng Family and the Dragon Slaying Alliance have never looked weaker than they do now. It’s unsettling that they remain so quiet despite that."
"Those wretches haven't stepped into the light once since the founding of the Ming Imperial Court. They are nothing more than toothless tigers now, so why worry so much?"
That wasn't true. While I wasn't an expert on history, the White Lotus Cult maintained its existence at least until the Qing Empire. If they had the strength to maintain their influence as an underground organization for that long, it was safe to assume that right now was their prime.
It was evident even considering the War of Heavenly Mandate that broke out in the Central Plains after the Northern Yuan were driven out. It was nothing short of a miracle that the Hongwu Emperor was able to defeat the White Lotus Cult back then.
At one point, they truly almost swallowed the Central Plains.
Consider the fact that until the White Lotus Cult Leader, the King of Light Han Lin'er, went missing in Nanjing, the Hongwu Emperor didn't even dare to use a reign title even after pacifying the Hebei region.
In the first place, Han Lin'er was a man grouped together with Wudang’s Zhang Sanfeng and our progenitor Peng Dan-san as the Three Venerables of the World.
Back then, the Three Venerables didn't compete for the title of the best in the world, but the best of all time. The White Lotus Cult was by no means an opponent to be taken lightly.
Why on earth did they miss this chance?
Was the information leaked?
I tapped the table and stopped my train of thought. There was no other possibility.
This was a double trap known only to the Family Head and me, but the Peng Family’s deployment roster itself was organized through the Sanwang Pavilion.
Is there someone in the Sanwang Pavilion who has joined hands with the White Lotus Cult...?
If so, the pieces fit together. When Peng Hyeon-ryang attempted to assassinate me, he was only my current age. He was a mere eighteen years old.
At eighteen, he had just finished the Hegemonic Blade Style and begun cultivating the Hunyuan Thunderbolt Art, slowly taking on the administrative duties of the Dragon Slaying Alliance.
How could Peng Hyeon-ryang have detected and contacted the White Lotus Cult—traces of which even the combined power of the Sanwol Hall, the Hao Clan, and the Assassination Pavilion cannot find—to attempt to kill me with a borrowed knife?
If there is a White Lotus spy within the Sanwang Pavilion, all the questions are clearly answered.
The reason Peng Hyeon-ryang contacted the White Lotus Cult, the reason the White Lotus Cult was able to retreat from Hebei without significant damage, and... the reason they were able to perceive and avoid this trap in advance.
I quickly adjusted my expression. I couldn't let the Pavilion Master know about this.
The Assassination Pavilion was one of the three major pillars of the Dragon Slaying Alliance, and its power was currently greatly weakened. No matter how deep my connection with the Pavilion Master was, there was no telling what action he, as the leader of a single sect, might take.
In this Martial World, there is no such thing as a complete ally.
"Indeed, there is no reason to worry. Regardless, it is a fact that the Ten Thousand Ghosts Alliance has fallen, and the prestige of the Dragon Slaying Alliance has never been higher. Haha."
"Yes, thanks to that, Tianjin is so prosperous right now that it's a problem. I can't even imagine how many spies from the Martial Alliance are among those crowds."
Spring had arrived after the great war. It was the season when the ice of the Grand Canal melted and logistics began to flow in earnest.
It was overwhelming just trying to figure out how many of those countless merchant ships surging up from Jiangnan were spies for the Martial Alliance.
"My relationship with the Martial Alliance Leader is quite special, is it not? I will send an envoy to express my gratitude for his past help, so please rest easy."
"Haha, I don't think there's another martial artist in the Dragon Slaying Alliance with wider connections than you."
We parted ways only after sharing some idle chatter.
After that, my daily routine was extremely monotonous.
During the day, I helped split the work between the Pavilion Master and Elder Peng Gyeon-ho; in the evening, I had dinner with Murong Cheong; and at night, I handled Hao Clan business alongside my cultivation.
You could basically think of me as an office worker working two jobs. And managing my network in between. I was so short on time that even having two bodies wouldn't have been enough.
If it weren't for the Hebei Peng Family's Cleansing the Marrow, I probably would have collapsed from overwork long ago.
I massaged my stiff shoulders and headed toward the inn.
"Lately, I rarely get to go home while the sun is still up..."
Would it have been like this if I had gotten a job in the modern world? I wouldn't know, since I never had one.
Hearing my words, Murong Cheong, who was walking briskly beside me, chimed in.
"Then shall we take a good rest tomorrow? I will speak well to Elder Peng Gyeon-ho. Just trust me. I had tea with the Elder today while you were working!"
"Wait, since when did you get so close to the elders of my family?"
That man Peng Gyeon-ho used the excuse of being busy to drag me into work, so why was he drinking tea with a girl young enough to be his granddaughter?
"Yesterday, the Elder even called me his granddaughter-in-law!"
"No... that's just absurd."
It didn't make me feel bad, it was just absurd.
It seemed like Peng Gyeon-ho just didn't want to work. Was it really okay to leave the acting leadership of the Dragon Slaying Alliance to someone like that?
"Anyway... let's think about that later. My motto is to worry about tomorrow's problems tomorrow."
"Living like a vagabond ends now. I've been looking for a house in Tianjin lately. Inns and taverns aren't good places for a long stay. I'll bring my maids from Liaoning as well."
"Yes, yes, you do that."
I brushed Murong Cheong off and headed to my room.
Now that I was back at the inn, it was time to handle Hao Clan business.
Since I no longer had to worry about Peng Hyeon-ryang's scrutiny, my quarters had long since turned into a Hao Clan branch office.
I had no intention of giving up such a convenient base easily. Why on earth would I look for a house when all the information on Tianjin and the Grand Canal fell into my lap just by sitting still in my room?
"Tsk, the volume of goods from the Jiangnan Merchant Guild has certainly increased."
Which sister was the Jiangnan Hao Clan branch manager again? A bit of an information time lag was starting to creep into our coordination.
It was quite strange, considering that information gathered from the Henan Province branch, which was further away, was actually faster. I wasn't sure if Chief Baek was exceptionally fast, or if I just hadn't built enough rapport with the Jiangnan Hao Clan yet. I needed to go there soon and grease the wheels.
"My Lord, I have brought tea."
"Oh, thanks. Just leave it there."
"Hehe."
Currently, the Black Path and the Orthodox Faction were maintaining an unprecedentedly close relationship.
Not to brag, but it was safe to say this was all thanks to me. It was only natural, given that the direct grandson of the Sima Alliance's largest shareholder had become 'besties' with the Martial Alliance Leader.
Now that the Chongqing Ten Thousand Ghosts Alliance had fallen, the biggest destabilizing factors in the Central Plains could be summarized into three.
The Blood Cult and the Sichuan martial world, where severe information control had begun since the Bloody Incident of Yunnan.
The White Lotus Cult, whose location was impossible to even estimate.
And along with them, the Imperial Court, which had begun reorganizing its institutions.
The Imperial Court and the White Lotus Cult were problems I couldn't touch, so I’d set them aside. If Ju Woo-rin's plan succeeded, the Imperial Court issue would be resolved without me even needing to worry.
As for the White Lotus Cult, it would be good to raid the Sanwang Pavilion... but that seemed to require coordination with Grandfather Peng Ik-cheon. Fortunately, the Peng Family's internal inspection agency was in the same boat as me.
Tap, tap.
I fell into thought while tapping the tea table. As expected, the biggest problem right now was Yunnan.
The Blood Cult was a group that had reached deep into the Chongqing Ten Thousand Ghosts Alliance. Even though the Beggar Immortal, the Sword Immortal, and the Hao Clan Leader had been deployed to handle the chaos in Yunnan, it remained unresolved.
In fact, all three of them had been out of contact for the past few months. All of Yunnan was as silent as if a veil of information had been draped over it.
I heard the Martial Alliance was actively responding, but no information had been transmitted since then. Even Chief Baek couldn't access all the news within the Alliance, and most operations in the Guangxi and Yunnan regions were being handled directly by the Alliance's Chief Strategist's Office.
The Zhuge Family Head was in the Chief Strategist's Office. It meant he had taken Yunnan while the Alliance Leader was focused on Chongqing.
You could say they had fairly exchanged moves in a grand game played across the entire Central Plains. In exchange for the Alliance Leader tearing away a portion of the Black Path Demonic Alliance, the Zhuge Family Head had seized the opportunity to take control of the Alliance's influence in the Yunnan region.
"It's a mess..."
"My Lord, I have brought some refreshments."
"Oh, thanks. Just leave them there."
"Hehe."
The Zhuge Family belonged to the Jiangnan White Forest Association. In that case, should I assume the entire Jiangnan White Forest Association had fallen under the Zhuge Family Head's command? I wasn't sure about the others, but if even the Namgung Family had joined that side, would there be a chance?
It would have been much better if that guy Zhuge Yeon-seon were here. I knew too few people in Jiangnan to make a judgment. It seemed I needed to meet the Jiangnan Hao Clan branch manager soon.
"I'm not sure about Shandong, but is there a way to get to Jiangnan...?"
"If it's Jiangnan, couldn't you just follow the canal?"
"I can't exactly take a Dragon Slaying Alliance ship to Yingtian Prefecture in Southern Zhili."
"Couldn't you just hitch a ride on a ship from the Jiangnan Merchant Guild?"
"How am I supposed to know which of the Jiangnan guilds aren't spies for the White Forest Association?"
"Hehe, isn't there the Heavenly Merchant Guild?"
"Hmm... that's true, but..."
The Jiangnan Heavenly Merchant Guild. There was no way Hwa-yeong would be holding hands with the White Forest Association. She would help me immediately if I asked.
But how should I put it... wouldn't it be a bit problematic to get any more deeply involved with the Heavenly Demon Cult? I was scared of the Heavenly Demon, and I was scared of Hwa-yeong...
It seemed the family was seriously pushing for a marriage alliance with the Murong Family right now, and if that was approved, I had no idea how Hwa-yeong would react.
"It's better to avoid owing a debt to the Heavenly Merchant Guild. We have to see how the marriage alliance between the Murong Family and the Peng Family turns out."
"Huuuum... Is that so...?"
"That's how it is. If I were in Hwa-yeong's position, I might want to kill me right now."
How would Hwa-yeong react if she found out that the guy who broke off their engagement and ran away saying he wasn't interested in marriage was now considering a marriage alliance with a direct descendant of the Murong Family?
I didn't think Hwa-yeong's feelings for me were romantic, but I couldn't afford to add any more 'regret-misery-obsession' tropes to my life. It was better to cut things off without giving her any false hope.
And so.
Slurp.
It was a tea I was tasting for the first time. When I looked away from the pile of documents, I saw a floral tea I hadn't seen before.
The scent was lovely. Was it iris?
Iris.
Iris...?
"Hehe, My Lord."
My head came to a dead stop.
The hand holding the teacup felt like it was turning to stone. Unconsciously, I reached for my sword hilt.
Dammit, I left it by the bed.
To be honest, the Peng Family blade was too large to comfortably lean against the tea table. Besides, there was no way I could be ambushed on the top floor of the Hao Clan branch, and I thought no one would dare attempt an assassination here while the Assassination Pavilion was scouring the area with hawk-like eyes.
Damn the Assassination Pavilion. If I ever trust you guys again, my name isn't Peng.
Incompetent fools.
"My Lord, there seems to have been a deep misunderstanding."
"What... what do you mean by that...?"
"This humble one has no intention of harming My Lord."
Whiz— Bang!
The world outside the window was dyed in bright colors. It was the Tianjin fireworks display, resumed for the spring season. This city of love and peace was originally a kind of Unorthodox Faction theme park that maintained a festive atmosphere regardless of the season. Fireworks and parades were naturally staples of a theme park.
"Lift your head."
At those words, my head rose of its own accord. I hadn't even used martial power, yet it moved involuntarily. Like a puppet on a string—
Intent...?
Did you just use Intent?
"Finally, as promised, we are watching the fireworks in Tianjin together."
Hwa-yeong was leaning against the window frame, smiling as brightly as a freshly bloomed flower.
"When... when did you arrive...?"
"Hehe, I arrived this afternoon."
"Why didn't you look for me right away...?"
"This humble one did not wish to disturb the moment My Lord was devoted to his duties. Unlike that tactless girl, I know how to keep my place."
And so, she said, licking her lips briefly.
"Since it is now late and you have finished your work, may I assume that it is now my time?"
She approached very slowly, and with a graceful air, she reached out and lightly placed a finger on my chest. This seemed to have become a habit for her.
Whiz— Bang. The fireworks exploded once more.
With that brilliant light at her back, Hwa-yeong's eyes sparkled a deep, vivid red.