An Unintended Kindness
Being overly calculating with one's own kin earned you the pointing of fingers, and once your reputation soured, ostracism and ruin followed close behind.
For that reason, the barbarian merchants could not carelessly cast out even an incompetent business partner, nor could they heartlessly sever ties with a trade connection that yielded no profit. To do so would mean being buried alive in the barbarian world — there was no help for it — but in return, profits barely trickled in.
"I never thought I'd end up keeping the books here, but frankly, it burns my innards more often than not."
Hong-wi found himself suddenly curious about this Wumubin fellow's history. How had a man of Ming origin from Liaoyang come to live among the barbarians? Even if the company yielded little profit, anyone entrusted with the accounts of a trading house at this scale had to be reasonably capable.
"Elder brother, how did you come to be here, under Pushan Hadaru?"
"Ah, well... it's, ah, a long story."
Wumubin answered, hemming and hawing, and Hong-wi nodded and let the matter drop.
Wumubin's eyes glittered as he leaned in.
"You, too... you're no ordinary man, are you? Ah! I don't mean the Sahalcha business. It's true enough that you won over the hearts of the most rustic back-country folk among the barbarians — that alone marks you as no ordinary man. What I mean is, you carry yourself like the son of a fine old house. Compared to these uncivilized barbarians here, your bearing, your manner of speech, your very air are plainly different. However illustrious the Pushan clan may be among the tribes, they're still savages at the end of the day."
Wumubin wrinkled the bridge of his nose.
"Is that how I appear?"
Hong-wi gave an embarrassed smile. So it was — no matter how thoroughly he had learned the customs of the barbarians, it showed. He tucked the observation away in his mind. Hwangseongpyeong was within arm's reach of Joseon, and the spies his uncle Suyang sent could appear at any moment.
"Well, I have my own story, too."
"Heheh, I suppose you would."
"Is the work not finished yet?"
Just as the two were trading these words, Ugunai's voice sounded from outside. Wumubin straightened.
"Eek, that'll be Ugunai. Of all the scarecrows under Pushan Hadaru, he's the only one with a working brain — though even he can barely manage basic merchant errands. Anyway... it's been a pleasure. To meet a man of culture in a place like this — it's been a delight, truly."
"Likewise, I assure you."
Hong-wi and Cha Gyeong-yeon took their leave of Wumubin and stepped outside.
"I heard the story from Jang Hui-sun, but this Pushan company is in worse shape than I expected."
"So it seems."
Hong-wi nodded as well. Cha Gyeong-yeon privately considered that maybe snapping up the barbarian merchants wouldn't prove so difficult after all.
Ugunai spoke up. "As for today's work... Lord Pushan will summon you separately, later. That's how it will be."
Summoned separately...
It sounded very much as though the man meant to hold a grudge. Hong-wi nodded without a word.
As Ugunai turned to go, Hong-wi called out to him.
"Ah — Master Ugunai."
"What is it?"
"I wish to travel to Anchuunbugu, and I wondered—"
"Anchuunbugu, you say?"
A flicker of surprise crossed Ugunai's face. "Where did you hear of that place?"
"I happened to hear of it in Sahalcha."
"Sahalcha, hm."
Ugunai shrugged his shoulders. "To us, that place is a kind of sacred ground — a place held in reverence."
"And yet they must trade with the outside world."
Ugunai cast a suspicious look and scrutinized Hong-wi from head to toe. "Is it your wish to take a share of that trade as well?"
Hong-wi answered only with a nod.
"Ha. Honestly, I can't tell whether you have any sense or none at all. Well, I suppose a man of Joseon can hardly be expected to know the ways of things here."
Ugunai muttered the words half to himself. "Put the thought out of your head. It is not a place anyone may simply go."
With that alone, he turned away.
Cha Gyeong-yeon spoke in a low voice. "It seems he does know of it, at least."
"I thought as much, given it's the Pushan company."
Hong-wi nodded. Even Anchuunbugu would hardly trade with the outside world not at all, and if so, there was no way the Pushan clan — the foremost house of Hwangseongpyeong — could be ignorant of it.
"For now, let us return to that father and daughter. Hui-sun and Ho-in should have been looking after them."
While Hong-wi and Cha Gyeong-yeon had been at Pushan Hadaru's estate, Ho-in and Jang Hui-sun had resolved to take the old man and his daughter to a guesthouse. Hwangseongpyeong had several such lodgings where traveling merchants stayed.
But a problem arose. Perhaps the tension had drained from him at last — the old man lost consciousness and collapsed.
The girl screamed in fright. "Father!"
"Goodness, he's burning like a coal. Here, my good elder! Come back to us, please!"
Ho-in shook him, but the old man could not properly come to his senses. In his urgency, Ho-in hoisted the unconscious man onto his back and shouted, "Elder brother Hui-sun, where is the nearest guesthouse?"
"Right there — we've nearly arrived..."
Jang Hui-sun was flustered too. When the guesthouse keeper saw the party carry the old man in, he came rushing out, spouting some tirade or other — apparently protesting loudly that no sick man could be brought under his roof.
Jang Hui-sun ran ahead and had a few words with him, and after grumbling a few more rounds, the keeper finally nodded.
"Damn jackal," Jang Hui-sun muttered. "He's charging several times the usual room rate... Says we're to bring in our own food and firewood, too."
Ho-in nodded and carried the old man inside. The girl bowed her head through her tears.
"Thank you, my lord, thank you... you are our savior."
"Save your thanks for later. When did your father first fall ill like this?"
"He has always suffered from a lung ailment."
"We'll need a physician to take his pulse and prescribe some medicine... Elder brother Hui-sun, are there no physicians here in Hwangseongpyeong?"
Jang Hui-sun looked troubled. "The medicine I can manage somehow, but a physician — I don't know that there's one to be had in Hwangseongpyeong. From what his daughter says, and the look of that cough, it's plain as day the old man's ailment is no matter of a day or two."
Just as Ho-in was about to reply, Hong-wi and Cha Gyeong-yeon stepped in.
"How is he?"
"We'll need to bring a physician."
At Ho-in's words, Hong-wi turned to Jang Hui-sun. "Hui-sun, I'm sorry — what was meant to be hospitality has turned into toil. If I may trouble you further, could you fetch a physician from across the river?"
"I'll look into it."
Jang Hui-sun answered readily. At that, Cha Gyeong-yeon rolled up his sleeves.
"Until Hui-sun returns, allow me to look after him."
"What — Gyeong-yeon, you're telling me you've worked as a physician too?"
Cha Gyeong-yeon nodded at Jang Hui-sun's question. "I lived as a wanderer for years, so I know my way around herbs to some degree. Of course I fall far short of a properly trained physician."
"Ha, what a fund of talents you have."
"Now, enough chatter. Let's have a look at him."
Cha Gyeong-yeon took the old man's pulse. He claimed to have never been formally trained in medicine, but at the very least his bearing made a convincing show of it. He tried to take hold of the old man's grimy, calloused hand, but found it difficult to grip.
So instead he examined the old man's fingernails. They were stained a dull, sooty black. At first he thought it might be dirt and dust, but it was closer to a discoloration — something dyed into the nail itself.
"...Now this is interesting."
A strange expression surfaced on Cha Gyeong-yeon's face.
"What is it? Is something wrong?"
"No. It's just... there's something a little unusual here, but the illness is not grave."
At those words, the girl let out a long breath of relief, and Ho-in gently patted her bony shoulder.
"He has plainly gone a long time without proper food," Cha Gyeong-yeon said. "With rest and nourishment, his strength should return. The cough, though, looks to be a stubborn old ailment — that will need a physician's medicine in earnest. For now, brewing him some honeysuckle should bring improvement."
"Thank you, my lord."
The girl, whose face had been a portrait of grief, bowed again and again.
Cha Gyeong-yeon nodded to her, then turned to Jang Hui-sun. "Hui-sun, can you get your hands on some honeysuckle first? It shouldn't be hard to come by."
"I'm no herb-seller, but it won't be difficult. I can likely find it here, and if not, I'll fetch some from across the river. I'll look for a physician as well."
"I'm counting on you. I'll bear the costs myself."
At Hong-wi's words, Jang Hui-sun laughed. "Well now — an unexpected good deed for the day."
"Ho-in, you should go and fetch the rice, the food, and the firewood... hm, the keeper's here already."
At some point the guesthouse keeper had come shuffling in, clearly angling to collect his inflated room fee. Hong-wi approached him, drew a wooden tally from his breast, made his cipher mark upon it, and handed it over. Taken to Hwang Ga's warehouse, that tally could be redeemed for rice, cloth, or anything else exactly as inscribed.
The keeper nodded and disappeared. Meanwhile, the girl bowed to Hong-wi over and over.
"Thank you — truly, thank you. How could we ever repay the kindness of saving us?"
"I did not do it expecting repayment, so give it no thought. How could anyone watch his own countrymen fall upon hard times and pretend not to see?"
The girl lowered her head. Just then the old man, having at last regained his senses, spoke in a cracked voice.
"I... I have no talents to offer, but the kindness you have shown in saving my daughter, I swear I shall repay it."
"Say no more of it. No decent man could simply stand by."
"Forgive me... I haven't even asked the name of my benefactor."
"Ah, of course."
Hong-wi nodded. "I am Joseon-born like yourselves, but I have my reasons for going by a barbarian name. Call me Temusi-i. The one who took his pulse is Cha Gyeong-yeon, and this is Jeon Ho-in. That man there is Jang Hui-sun. Now — your names, old father and daughter, if you would."
"My father's family name is Cheon — his given name is Sun-cheol. And I am called Yeon-bi."
Yeon-bi answered with careful formality, and Hong-wi nodded.
"Cheon Sun-cheol... I see. You said you came from Muchang, did you not?"
"Yes, that is right."
There was something slightly stiff in her response, and Hong-wi's curiosity stirred. Muchang Fortress had been judged not worth the cost of its garrison years ago, with barely any strategic value to justify it. What business had this father and daughter living in a place like that? Could they have committed some offense and gone into hiding?
Yeon-bi must have sensed his suspicion, for she shook her head firmly.
"Our family has never once done anything to harm another soul."
"I wasn't suggesting you had. Truth be told, we, too, were driven from Joseon without a place to set foot. Whatever the circumstances, we are all in the barbarians' land now — our own people ought to look after one another. It's simply what any man owes another."
Yeon-bi bowed deeply to them all. "We are deeply grateful to each of you. This debt we will surely repay."
Hong-wi turned to Ho-in with fresh instructions. "Go to Hwang Ga's warehouse and bring back what we need. We must get some porridge into the old man — and see that this girl has a proper meal as well."
"Leave it to me."
"It seems we cannot leave this father and daughter alone for a while," Cha Gyeong-yeon added. "Pushan Hadaru or Lee Go-nap-hap may yet try to do them harm. What say we have Ho-in watch over them for the time being?"
"A fine idea. Ho-in, would you do that?"
"I will. Count on me."
Ho-in answered gravely, then gazed at the old Cheon with pity in his eyes — as though he were seeing before him his own father, old Jeon Jung-jae, struck down without warning all those years ago.
Meanwhile, Cha Gyeong-yeon tended the old man. Old Cheon's feverish consciousness drifted in and out, surfacing and sinking again. His parched lips trembled as he murmured, "How am I ever to repay this kindness..."
"Recover your strength first. Only then can you repay anything."
"You have saved not only my life but my daughter's as well. There is nothing I would not do for my benefactor..."
"Now, now — none of that. See to your own body first, I say."
Cha Gyeong-yeon paused for a moment before adding, "...As it happens, there will come a time when we have a favor to ask of you, old father."
The old man nodded with effort, then slipped back into unconsciousness. Cha Gyeong-yeon smiled quietly to himself.
Just then, Ho-in came back inside. "I've got everything needed for now."
"That was quick. Well done. First we should get some porridge into him."
"Right you are."
Ho-in turned to go, then hesitated. He looked back and forth between the unconscious old Cheon and Cha Gyeong-yeon.
"What is it?"
"Well... it's about His Highness saving this father and daughter."
Having confirmed that the old man was truly unconscious, Ho-in went on. "It seems you don't look on it very favorably, elder brother."
"Ah... that. Honestly? You're right. At first I wondered if His Highness wasn't being far too rash."
At Cha Gyeong-yeon's answer, Ho-in's face darkened into a scowl.
"Please, don't say such things. His Highness surely did it out of the purest of intentions."
"I know, I know. If the man involved hadn't been Lee Go-nap-hap... but here's the thing."
Cha Gyeong-yeon gave a shrug of his shoulders. "You know the old saying — do a good deed and fortune finds its way to you? Not that a good deed should ever be done for a reward, of course."
"Elder brother, what on earth is that supposed to mean?"
Ho-in tilted his head at the cryptic remark.
"It means an act of kindness done without intention may yet come back around as something good. Wait and see — you'll understand soon enough. Now go boil some water for a compress."
"...Understood."
Tilting his head in puzzlement, Ho-in went back outside. Cha Gyeong-yeon wore an unreadable smile.