Chapter 118
Chapter 118
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 118
Chapter Title: The Value of Real Estate (7)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Geum Do-myeong's explanation was as follows.
Yesterday afternoon, not long after I had visited the Hanzhong Merchant Guild, most of the merchants belonging to the guild headed there.
Eager to conduct their business in a stable location, they insisted on purchasing the land, even if it meant paying a high price.
The problem was.
“Guild Master Yeo opposed it to the very end.”
Yeo Dong-jo had vehemently opposed the purchase.
That was when a man named Mo Geuk appeared.
He was the Head Merchant of the Hanzhong Merchant Guild, a figure respected by all.
He had recently been imprisoned in the guild's cellar due to a conflict with Yeo Dong-jo, but had apparently managed to escape with someone's help.
In front of the numerous merchants, he produced evidence of embezzlement—obtained from who knows where—and accused Yeo Dong-jo.
Naturally, Yeo Dong-jo vehemently denied it, but Mo Geuk immediately revealed to the world not only that the guild's account at the Myriad Gold Bank was empty, but also that not a single coin of the wealth that should have been safely stored in the guild's cellar remained.
The guild's operating funds, amounting to five hundred thousand nyang, had vanished.
The Hanzhong Merchant Guild was a coalition of merchants.
In modern terms, it was closer to a cooperative like a credit union, so the disappearance of the guild's operating funds was the same as the disappearance of its members' assets.
Realizing the situation had turned against him, Yeo Dong-jo tried to mobilize the warriors staying with him as retainers, but they simply sheathed their weapons and watched, making no move to save him.
The relationship between a retainer and their host was a simple contract, not a bond of loyalty to be followed to the death.
Thus, his shields vanished, and the enraged merchants charged toward Yeo Dong-jo.
Given the flimsy moral standards of the Central Plains, the only end for someone who embezzled hundreds of thousands of nyang was death.
However, Yeo Dong-jo did not lose his life.
A master appeared from nowhere, snatched him away, and fled.
Hearing all this, I was at a loss for words.
“...And you expect me to believe that?”
“What else can I do? It’s the truth.”
I mulled over the unbelievable news for a moment, but it was too early to give up hope.
The Gold Dragon Hall, being in a symbiotic relationship with the Hanzhong Merchant Guild, could still step in.
“If the Gold Dragon Hall helps…”
“They won’t. As of today, our Gold Dragon Hall has decided to sever ties with the Hanzhong Merchant Guild.”
Look at them, cutting ties the moment the cash flow gets tight.
Whether it's the modern world or the martial world, I guess bankers are all the same cold-hearted bastards.
“Then why did you come all the way here?”
“I came to give you some advice.”
“Advice?”
Geum Do-myeong replied with a cold smile.
“The Shanxi Merchant Guild will not be purchasing your land. The same goes for the Hui Merchants.”
“...Did you pressure them?”
“I won’t deny it. With the Hanzhong Merchant Guild in this state, we now need your land.”
Then, Geum Do-myeong got to the point.
“If you’re willing to sell it for fifty thousand nyang, let me know.”
‘Wow, what a stab in the back.’
My head tingled as if I’d actually been struck.
But with no immediate solution in mind, all I could do was watch his departing back.
* * *
Not long after Geum Do-myeong left, Yu Hwa-ryang of the Shanxi Merchant Guild came to see me in person.
“...My apologies.”
“It can’t be helped.”
“I will be sure to repay the debt I owe you for this matter in the future.”
“It’s alright. If you’re really sorry, just buy me a drink sometime.”
“Of course.”
With things having come to this, contacting the Hui Merchants would be pointless.
Of course, I couldn’t just take this lying down.
Clutching my aching head, I went to find Jeok Hwa-ran.
She was the one who had recommended I receive the land as a reward.
Thinking back now, there were more than a few strange things.
I admit it was the most valuable option among the rewards I could have received at the time.
But could she really have been unaware of a problem like this? Especially the Red Dragon Hall?
Moreover, things were strange even after I arrived in Hanzhong.
‘Going to the Myriad Gold Bank because she didn't know the land's location made no sense.’
At the time, I brushed it off, thinking, ‘It’s possible she really didn’t know,’ but my conversation with Jeok Hwa-ran that followed felt odd.
‘The Hanzhong Merchant Guild is a major client and business partner of the Myriad Gold Bank. They’ve likely already sent someone to the guild by now. If you wander around in the meantime, you’ll just be watched and won’t gain anything, right?’
Isn’t it strange that a woman who knew this would go to the Myriad Gold Bank specifically to ask for the land’s location?
At the time, I didn’t want to suspect her when she was doing her best to help, so I let it go.
But now, with my head throbbing from the repeated betrayals to the point of breaking, I couldn’t do that anymore.
When things get tangled, the fastest way to solve them is to go back to the beginning.
“How dare they touch my future husband’s assets!”
Jeok Hwa-ran responded in an exaggerated tone when I told her what had just happened.
A strange word was mixed in there, but I forced myself to ignore it and asked.
“Don’t you have anything to say to me?”
“Pardon? What do you mean all of a sudden…?”
As expected, she feigned ignorance.
But I saw it.
The lie lingering in her eyes.
“Hwa-ran.”
“…”
“Do you remember what my nickname was back in the Heaven-Ascending Pavilion?”
“...The Judge of Truth and Falsehood.”
For the record, during my time at the Heaven-Ascending Pavilion, I was famous for being a living lie detector.
Having mastered the advanced deceptions of the modern world, there was no way I couldn’t see through the lies of the medieval martial world.
Thanks to that, I was given the moniker ‘The Judge of Truth and Falsehood,’ combining the characters for true (眞) and false (假).
As the past came back to her, Jeok Hwa-ran began to break out in a cold sweat.
I delivered my ultimatum.
“Tell me now, and I’ll let it go. But if you don’t, you will never see me again.”
Jeok Hwa-ran squeezed her eyes shut and answered.
“M-My grandfather told me to recommend the land in Hanzhong!”
The Red Dragon Hall Master?
“Tell me. From the beginning, in detail.”
“At first, I recommended it with a pure heart, for your sake…”
Jeok Hwa-ran calmly continued her explanation.
“I found out there was a problem with the land when you took your leave. That’s why I followed you so late.”
“Then why did you pretend not to know even after coming here?”
“That’s… because I enjoyed wandering around with you… And my grandfather told me to feign ignorance.”
“The Red Dragon Hall Master? Why?”
“Th-That’s… because we’ve been losing to the Gold Dragon Hall in recent power struggles…”
‘A power struggle.’
It meant the Red Dragon Hall had used me to land a blow on the Gold Dragon Hall.
After all, the Hanzhong Merchant Guild was one of the Gold Dragon Hall’s biggest clients.
“…”
“I-I’m sorry, senior. I didn’t have any bad intentions.”
She was probably right.
She likely had no ill intent.
In fact, thanks to her recommendation, I was able to receive a reward worth many times its initial twenty thousand nyang value.
Even if I sold the land to the Gold Dragon Hall, I’d get fifty thousand nyang—two and a half times my originally intended reward.
Honestly, it didn’t feel great being used as a pawn on a chessboard, but that wasn’t what mattered right now.
“The Red Dragon Hall Master… can you call him?”
Solving the problem came first.
Nod.
Jeok Hwa-ran gave a small nod.
“…I should be able to. Grandfather is also very interested in this matter.”
“Then I have a favor to ask.”
There was no rule saying I had to be the only one used as a pawn. Since it had come to this, I might as well make use of them too.
And so, three days later.
The Red Dragon Hall Master, having traversed a thousand li in an impossibly short time, appeared before me.
“Things have gotten properly tangled, I see. Now that I’m here, you need not worry. I’ll make you a wealthy man.”
Seeing the face of the Red Dragon Hall Master, Jeok Sa-jung, who promised to resolve the tangled mess, instantly lifted my foul mood.
Indeed, of all cures, financial therapy is certainly the most effective.
“Aigoo! To think you’d go to such trouble for this unworthy soul…”
“Heh heh, your fortune will soon be Hwa-ran’s, will it not?”
“...I don’t think so?”
What was he talking about? A man’s financial independence is something he must protect at all costs.
Besides, I had zero—not even 0.1 grams—of intention of marrying Jeok Hwa-ran.
However, despite my bewildered reaction, the Red Dragon Hall Master paid my words no heed.
“No need to be shy. Relations between a man and a woman are bound to progress in an instant.”
He simply exuded an aura as vast as a mountain, radiating confidence.
‘Well, whatever.’
So what if he was mistaken?
He was this reliable, after all.
“So, you want me to negotiate on your behalf?”
“Yes. Since it has come to this, I intend to take the entire guild.”
It was a judgment call: rather than let the Gold Dragon Hall bastards swallow the guild whole, it was better for me to have it.
“Hoh, managing money is no easy task.”
“With the financial power and information network of the Red Dragon Hall, I believe it is more than possible.”
“And what reason do I have to help you with that?”
“Since you deceived me into coming all this way, shouldn’t you take responsibility to the end? And.”
I looked Jeok Sa-jung straight in the eye and continued.
“While you’re at it, since you’re taking down those Gold Dragon Hall bastards, it would be good to create a solid, profitable investment. Isn’t this what they call killing two birds with one stone?”
Hearing my answer, Jeok Sa-jung’s eyes widened.
“Puhat. Mwahahahaha.”
He let out a booming laugh that shook the heavens.
“Well, you’ve hit the nail on the head. What do you all think?”
At his question, the Blood Fiends who had accompanied him nodded.
“With no current outlet for the Hall’s surplus funds, this seems like an excellent plan.”
“Squad Leader Jin is truly astute. His martial arts are also impeccable, making him a perfect match for Lady Hwa-ran!”
No, that’s going a bit too far…
In any case, Jeok Sa-jung accepted my proposal.
He agreed to go to the Hanzhong Merchant Guild and negotiate in my stead.
I waited at the inn for two hours.
Thump, thump.
Jeok Sa-jung returned with the Blood Fiends of the Red Dragon Hall.
“How did it go?”
“Heh heh, you’d better treat Hwa-ran well from now on.”
With a confident air, he tossed a golden plaque to me.
In the center of the plaque, the words ‘Hanzhong Merchant Guild’ were embossed.
Seeing it, Jeok Hwa-ran helpfully chimed in.
“That’s the golden plaque that symbolizes the Guild Master of the Hanzhong Merchant Guild!”
It was true. Jeok Sa-jung had brought back the entire Hanzhong Merchant Guild, just as I had proposed.
And that wasn’t all.
He had even prevented the departure of its affiliated merchants.
“There will be no merchants leaving.”
“Pardon? I was prepared for some to leave…”
“Heh heh, when the great Red Dragon Hall itself steps up to help, what kind of madman would dare to leave?”
“...I-I see.”
He was half right and half wrong.
They probably didn’t leave out of fear that if they abandoned the great Red Dragon Hall, they might meet an untimely death somewhere.
Still.
“Thank you for your help.”
There was no denying it was a good outcome.
“Just treat Hwa-ran well in return, I tell you.”
“…”
A short while later.
On the pretext of getting some air until the meal arrived, I stepped outside, and Myo Hyang followed me.
“This turned out well.”
“Hm?”
When I questioned her sudden remark, she quickly explained.
“I’m talking about the Hanzhong Merchant Guild. I looked into it, and the guild’s annual profit was close to thirty thousand nyang. That’s the net profit after covering expenses and paying dividends to the investing merchants.”
“…”
“Of course, due to the guild’s complicated internal affairs, it will be difficult to see a profit right away, but if it’s managed properly, the revenue will surely increase.”
“How?”
As if afraid someone might be listening, Myo Hyang leaned her head toward me and whispered.
“I checked the ledgers, and it seems the Gold Dragon Hall was taking an excessive amount of profit under the guise of investment dividends. Just by correcting that, you can earn at least ten thousand more nyang a year. And if you fix a few other unreasonable systems, the effect will be even more certain.”
Her story was plausible, and I found myself nodding.
‘If it goes as Myo Hyang says, it’s not bad at all.’
It meant I could earn forty thousand nyang a year.
But amidst all this, a question arose.
“How did you check the ledgers? Yeo Dong-jo must have kept them hidden away…”
“With the help of So-so’s adoptive father, Elder Yuk, I stole… no, I acquired them. I also freed Head Merchant Mo Geuk in the process. But then the Head Merchant suddenly walked out with evidence of Yeo Dong-jo’s embezzlement. Thanks to that, a schism broke out in the Hanzhong Merchant Guild.”
“What?”
My eyes widened in spite of myself.
Didn’t that mean Myo Hyang was the one who had delivered the final blow to the Hanzhong Merchant Guild?
She laughed as if she found it amusing and said.
“This is a secret, okay? Got it?”
Looking at her bright smile, another question occurred to me.
‘Wait, then was she the one who rescued Yeo Dong-jo, too?’
A chill ran down my spine.
“What are you doing? The food should be ready!”
Her bright voice calling out to me felt strangely cold.