Geon Pyeong (2)

Contract deeds and promissory notes stamped with the seals of the great money houses lay spread across the table. Hall Master Bang came forward as their representative, sat down opposite me, and we set to discussing the settlement.

"The sum you named, Young Master, comes to roughly two coffers of gold, but in notes we've only managed to scrape together about one. Mortgaging ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Union's assets in a single day is... well..."

"Difficult, I imagine. And so?"

"We sold off some of the inns we hold, yet we still couldn't raise the remaining coffer. If you would grant us time, the rest could be paid in installments..."

"Why take the hard road when an easy one is sitting right in front of you?"

"..."

"The White Spirit Tree land in your hands ought to be worth a great deal of money here in Lanzhou. Carve it into shares and sell them off to the men already drooling over it, and the funds would come together, wouldn't they?"

"If we do that, the Union will be hard-pressed to keep itself standing..."

"Precisely. You'll still have mouths to feed among the men under you, and if you mean to claw back the money that walked out the door, you'll have to drive the price of White Spirit Tree bark up sharp. The King of Hell Stronghold will go right on running on coin earned from selling that bark."

"Yes. We're grateful you understand..."

"That is exactly what I want."

"..."

"If you were prepared to skin me, you should have been prepared to pay the matching price when you failed. Am I wrong?"

"..."

"As of this moment, I will take ownership of the White Spirit Tree land in place of the funds you cannot produce."

Hall Master Bang had no real way to refuse. His head dropped.

"Split the land into shares and open a public auction. Handle the matter cleanly, and I'll peel off a portion of what the auction brings in and give it to you."

"You're truly going to sell? If it comes to that, we could operate the White Spirit Tree land ourselves..."

"No need. I'm selling."

As far as I knew, that land would before long crash all the way to the bottom in any case. The groves, found until now only in Lanzhou of Gansu, were about to start turning up in other parts of the province as well. In other words, the price stood at its peak right now.

And the Dragon Iron Union was in no position to fuss over hot rice or cold. They had no reason to refuse — not if they wanted to scrape together even a few coins toward staying alive.

"Understood..."

"Any moneyed notable living on Lanzhou soil will bid, and bid heavily, so you'd do better taking the price through an auction. Until then, I'll remain here a while."

I flashed a grin, gathered up the notes, and stepped out through the door. A crash followed from inside the room — not once, but for a good long while, the sound of everything within being smashed to pieces.

"Aaaagh!!!"

A shriek came with it, packed full of irritation.

The heart of Lanzhou was in quite an uproar. Wang Baek had done his work properly. As a reward for carrying out the errands I'd set him, I handed over enough coin to buy an ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠inn; he swore his loyalty with tears streaming, so I got out of there at once.

The rumor, in any case, ran like this.

And in truth, once the bark was given out through the medical halls and the market streets with nothing asked in return, a great many people sang Jegal Rin's praises. Another rumor circulated on top of the first.

That one had been spread by the Union's own leadership, quite apart from any intent of mine. Reckoning that Cheong Ya's death might stir the Union's enemies, they had busied themselves covering it up. From where I stood, the result was rather convenient.

While the streets grew noisy, I took a modest dinner with Seol-ha on the second floor of the inn.

"They said the vegetable stir-fry here was exceptional, and it really is. A flavor I never even got to taste in Chengdu."

"Truly. Even after being fried, the vegetables are fresh."

"Right?"

This, now — this was happiness. A hum was just about to rise of its own accord when Seol-ha turned to me.

"By the way, Young Master."

"Mm."

"Why did you spread the White Spirit Tree under Jegal Rin's name, of all people? She was the one trying to inflict a loss on you."

"First, raising Geon A-seong's reputation would do me no good whatsoever. Second, Jegal Rin wanted this affair kept hidden, didn't she? In more ways than one."

"Yes."

"Well. She won't be able to hide it now."

Seol-ha smiled with her eyes.

"That's true."

"Even so, she ought to be grateful to me. She came away with fame rather than profit. And thanks to that, I can send him the ample funds I picked up this time."

Through this affair I was able to send Baek Mun-gyu the money I owed him, and send it generously. No — in truth, far more than I had originally aimed for had landed in my hands. Competition among the notables of Lanzhou had sold off the auction shares in the White Spirit Tree land with clean success, and thanks to that I held a sum on the order of two cartloads of gold ingots. A windfall large enough to buy two hundred fine horses in a single stroke.

Because of it, the Dragon Iron Union, which had boasted a massive scale even within Lanzhou, slid into the process of shutting its gates for good. Of the seven hundred or so who had lived under its roof — martial artists, attendants, and the rest — the majority fled a Union from which they could no longer expect so much as next month's wages. The King of Hell Stronghold and the White Horse Merchant Group, both run until now on the coin in hand, had to be folded, and of the inns they held, only two remained. The hall masters still left were already stirring the air of an internal feud, each reaching for whatever property had not yet vanished.

"They'll spill a little blood trying to grab a share of everything left in the main compound and the merchant group — furnishings, carriages, horses, all of it. And as that goes on, the name of the Dragon Iron Union will gradually be forgotten in the murim."

"You anticipated even that far?"

"More or less. Now I only need to send this money to Baek Mun-gyu."

Setting aside the portion that had to be delivered to Jegal Rin, I had taken the rest split three ways: notes from the Seongho Money House, a great exchange with its footing not only in Lanzhou but across Gansu and Shaanxi alike, and notes from two major money houses in the Guizhou and Hunan regions.

"You deliver them, sister. Once Baek Mun-gyu has the notes, he'll split the funds and move them as he sees fit."

"It's far more money than he asked for. You're going to entrust all of it to him?"

"Right now there is no safer investment than leaving it with him. He'll have come to understand my intent, and he'll accept it."

"Yes. I'll proceed as you said."

"Mm. Meanwhile I'll be back at Golden Manor. I still have the rest of my dealings with Jegal Rin to finish."

Seol-ha nodded, then smiled at the emptied bowl.

"You've already finished? Have another bowl."

I grinned.

"No. I'm full even without eating."

It was true.

The moment I returned to Golden Manor, sure enough, Jegal Rin was waiting. She would have had her ear pressed flat to the rumors out of Lanzhou, and so she would have heard news of herself sooner than anyone. Naturally, a reckoning from the Jegal Clan was something she would soon be unable to avoid. Perhaps that was why her face had gone red, anger held down with visible effort. The corners of her mouth twitched as she forced a smile.

"How remarkable."

Having hauled a look of calm back onto her face, she gave me a light round of applause.

"I'm impressed. Releasing every bit of White Spirit Tree you held. I can't say what you were thinking, but since you've disposed of all of it, I suppose it's fine even if you claim you have no payment to give me. You'll have to repay fivefold, as you pledged, won't you?"

"The term we pledged isn't up yet, is it? Didn't you say one month?"

"I heard you gave the White Spirit Tree away for nothing. How could I sit still? Even if the term isn't up, I need to hear how you mean to recover the funds."

Jegal Rin's eyes were busy, the look of someone trying to confirm what tie the news of the Dragon Iron Union had to me. She would have heard nothing useful from Wang Baek, thoroughly won over as he was, and the fact that the matters turning around me refused to go as she wished seemed to be boiling her from the inside. She folded her arms and watched me, plainly desperate to hear, from my own mouth, that I could not pay at once.

"I understand completely. Of course that's how it should be."

"..."

"Your color doesn't look very good, so I ought to hand it over quickly. They do say that once a fortune sits in your hands, most fits of pent-up rage are cured."

"You don't mean..."

"The money I agreed to return comes to seven hundred and fifty taels, reckoned in silver. I had it loaded onto the carriage you brought, so you may take it as it stands."

"..."

"Ah, and out of gratitude I tucked in about ten taels more, so you should feel quite well lined."

"What on earth did you do? Did you borrow the money from your mother?"

"No."

"Then how?"

"Judging by your ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠complexion, young lady, my little bonus moved you so deeply that words have failed you."

"That's not it!!"

Her voice climbed.

"I'm asking how you, all by yourself, pulled off what even I couldn't!"

"Didn't you say you gave up because you were minding your family's mood?"

"That was..."

"I had no need to mind Golden Manor's mood. And when I saw how things stood in Lanzhou, a chivalrous heart simply welled up — what was I to do? I gave it away for free."

"Then where in the world did this money come from!?"

"I'll leave that to your imagination."

"Did you threaten the Dragon Iron Union without so much as a just cause and rip the money out of them? If you did, this isn't a matter an orthodox house can simply let pass."

"And so?"

"If you don't explain it so that it can be properly understood, I'll report the situation to my clan and have them investigate what you've done."

"Hmm. If that's the line you're taking, it can't be helped. Then I, for my part, will make use of Golden Manor's connections, pass word to the Sichuan Tang Clan about your cornering scheme, and tell them you even tried to swindle me with White Spirit Tree. There are plenty of ways to prove it."

Orthodox bastards go mad for reputation, and so they fear public humiliation and disgrace above all else. Jegal Rin was no exception.

"..."

"The pride of the Jegal Clan's head will be crushed. Thoroughly crushed. Your road to marriage will be blocked quite badly as well. Even I wouldn't want to take as a bride a clan princess trailed by worthless scandal of this sort. For a martial house on the order of the Five Great Clans, a political marriage is a matter of grave weight."

Even setting aside the reason I had just given, the affair of the Dragon Iron Union offered the Jegal Clan not a single profit worth having, however many investigation parties they dispatched. The White Spirit Tree shares were already divided among a host of groups, and thrashing the Union would only drag its rotten conduct into the light.

"Ah, and let me offer one piece of advice."

Jegal Rin shot to her feet, unable ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to answer. I rose as well and closed the distance.

In an instant the mute point and the paralysis point were sealed, and neither her mouth nor her body could so much as stir. Her eyes trembled. For Jegal Rin, who had always acted cocky on the strength of her backing alone, this would be a first. At the same time I drew the spirit pearl from her treasure pouch and held it up where she could see it.

"Don't ever bring that paltry Soul-Enthralling Art out in front of me again."

As the pearl cracked and burst apart in my hand, fury and bewilderment shot bloodshot through her eyes. Understandable enough. It would have been one of the treasures counted on a single hand even within the Jegal Clan.

"You'd do well to throw away the fantasy that that fine background of yours can guard your life whenever you please."

Beneath the lethal point I crushed down with a fingertip, her eyes were pressed flat by terror.

I released my energy in earnest. Meeting my eyes, Jegal Rin dropped her gaze in fear.

Trembling uncontrollably, Jegal Rin finally wet herself. I shook my head and left the spot. I had pressed the points only hard enough that they would loosen again soon; there was no reason to stay and keep facing her.