The Contract — 5
I'd passed the first test of the Mangeum Lord, and my contract dating arrangement with Jegal Hyang was officially established.
Both were welcome news, but the most welcome news of all was that I wouldn't have to lay eyes on that damned old codger for a while.
For a fleeting moment I resolved not to so much as point my head in the direction of the Mangeum Lord's estate until the next repayment assessment—then, having solved one problem, a brand-new one popped up.
"Why do you keep working inside my office?"
The day after my visit to the Mangeum Lord's mansion, in my office. Lim Hayeon had dragged a desk over beside mine and started working alongside me—with a distinctly uncomfortable look on her face, at that.
"Am I bothering you?"
"It's not that you're bothering me. You have your own room, don't you? You were perfectly happy doing your work there until now, so why suddenly in my office?"
"……"
If you have a complaint, say it out loud instead of sticking your lip out. You've been glancing at me this whole time—you clearly have something to say.
So spit it out already.
"What is it? Is this about the marriage meeting, by any chance?"
"It's not that…… but did you really have to agree to hand over the branch store's operating rights?"
There it is.
"If I wanted the Mangeum Lord to stop breathing down my neck while still gaining something for myself, that was the only play available."
"……Still."
Lim Hayeon lowered her head slightly and let the words trail off. I knew exactly why she was displeased. But in that situation, it had been the best move I had.
"I understand you're worried I might let my eye wander to Jegal Hyang over my business and over you. But I have not the faintest intention of marrying that girl."
She must have feared I'd pour all my passion into it, since marrying into the Zhuge Clan would turn my whole life around.
"……Who said anything about worrying?"
A strange crack began to form in the displeased set of Lim Hayeon's lips.
"The Mangeum Lord strong-armed us both into the meeting, sure, but she's a daughter of the Zhuge Clan. It was never going to work out anyway, wasn't it?"
"That's true."
"The only reason I'm in Wuhan is to win back Daseogak and protect you. So don't worry so much."
I declared it to her with the tone of a solemn vow.
"……But she's a different species—no, I mean, no, that's not it."
"Then get back to your own desk."
"I'm going to work with you for a while. Having another person in the same room seems to raise my productivity compared to working alone."
Lim Hayeon said this with a completely eased expression, as if her dissatisfaction had never existed.
"Well, can't argue with that."
So she caught me trying to slack off after passing my test. I had been piling an awful lot of work onto Lim Hayeon lately, I suppose.
I nodded to her and turned to reading the letter brought from the Seocheon Escort Agency. It was about the situation in Yichang.
"Reading the letter from Yichang?"
"Seems Daseogak is running smoothly. The Yichang Seocheon Escort Agency says they've filled out their staffing, and they're providing guards for the bookstore as well as the print shop, so we're not to worry."
I had trained managers in advance precisely so I could set up branches. There had been a minor kerfuffle at first, but thanks to the scholarship students, the Seocheon Escort Agency, and good old Baek Manor's Head Butler, everything was reportedly running like clockwork.
"Let me see that. ……Looks like the Domun crowd doesn't realize I've already left Yichang."
Lim Hayeon's brow creased slightly at the Domun-related news in the letter. After getting thoroughly roughed up a few times they'd toned down their rampaging, but apparently they still showed their faces now and then.
"Which is a good thing. I have some business to attend to, so I'll be stepping out."
"Wh-where are you going?"
"There's somewhere I need to go."
"Don't tell me it's the Mangeum Lord's estate?"
Why would I go there? I suppose it's because that tiresome place has been my only destination every time I've left the house lately.
"I'd rather keep as much distance as possible from that old man. I'm going to a restaurant in Wuhan's entertainment district."
"Why a restaurant? Do you have a meeting? With who? Could it be……"
Lim Hayeon's eyes wavered faintly.
"Have you forgotten?"
She didn't catch on? She's usually so sharp, but sometimes there's an oddly dense patch in her.
"Pardon?"
I opened my mouth to jog her memory, facing her baffled look.
"It's the place run by the Simun Branch Master, isn't it."
The chief of every single attendant in the Hao Sect's Simun division in Hubei Province. The Simun Hyangju, I mean.
"Oh!"
So it finally rang a bell.
I'd originally planned to go alone, but it seemed better to bring the person concerned, so I'd brought Lim Hayeon along.
"You two. The Branch Master is at his work. If you're here for a meal, I'll let him know you've come."
We were shown into a private room, ordered a selection of upscale dishes, and sat down to wait.
Now this is what an authentic wuxia restaurant looks like.
Every single decoration oozed luxury, and the prices were frankly beyond imagination. Still, I was pleased that the menu consisted of nothing but dishes with a proper old-school wuxia flavor.
"There it is. This is called Qingzhengyu—steamed fish, I'm told. You steam a premium fish, pour boiling oil over it, and season it with every sauce under heaven. I'm looking forward to this."
I gazed at the beautifully plated fish before me with sparkling anticipation as I spoke to Lim Hayeon.
"You know, for someone who isn't from the Central Plains, you seem to like this food more than the Central Plains people do."
Lim Hayeon looked at my face with a kind of wonder.
"It's all foreign food to me. I've never tasted any of it before, so it all feels exciting."
"Ah…… um…… I'm sorry."
Lim Hayeon's face clouded over in embarrassment. Ah—she's remembering the part about how I used to live like a beggar.
"Don't give it a second thought. Let's dig in."
How am I supposed to eat this? It's so fancy I'm momentarily lost. Am I just supposed to pick it up with chopsticks like normal?
"Hold still. If you don't know how to eat it, I'll do it for you."
Seeing me hesitate, Lim Hayeon painstakingly picked out the fish bones with her own chopsticks and placed the flesh on my plate along with some vegetables.
Why are you suddenly being so nice to me?
"Thank you for the mea—"
"My, my! So you two have finally reached the stage of picking bones out of each other's fish?"
The very moment I was about to take my first bite of the fish, the door of the private room swung open.
"Branch Master!"
The man who appeared had a comfortably plump, genial face—the sort of man who looked like he ran a business brilliantly by day and played games with real dedication at home. The Simun Hyangju.
"Sit, sit. I'm busy and have to head out again, so let's not stand on ceremony."
"Yes, sir."
The Branch Master waved away all pretense of formality, pulled out a chair, sat down, and looked at me with evident interest.
"Heh heh. I asked to see your capabilities, and you went and pulled off something quite entertaining. Food delivery by messenger pigeon—I've been a server since I could hold a spoon, and I've never heard of such a thing in my life."
"I'm from a foreign land, so I suppose I just see things a little differently."
"Save the modesty for those righteous-orthodox bastards. Around here, I'm the one on top, so people respect the man who bows his head and gets things done."
"Haha. I'll bear that in mind."
"I hear you've been hiring plenty of Simun kids? Lunch breaks and decent wages, too—apparently some of the servers are lamenting why they weren't born Black Hairs."
The Joseon people I'd hired were members of both my Hometown Association and the Simun division.
Hiring Simun kids who had no work because they were Joseon immigrants boosted their loyalty to me as their Association leader, and made the Simun side look upon me favorably as well.
"It's simply easier to manage and supervise people from your own homeland. If, by any chance, it displeases you, I'll correct it at once."
"It's fine. Who a shopkeeper hires is the shopkeeper's business. You're doing right by them."
"May I ask how things stand with the Domun side?"
He'd said he was busy, so I brought up the main matter quickly.
"As for the Domun lot, we're cutting off their information and feeding them false leads at the same time."
"What sort of false leads?"
"That Lim Hayeon is still in Yichang. Or no—that she abandoned the ruined Kang Yunho and ran off. The kind of information that sows confusion."
"I see."
"They'll be scrambling over there. If their hearts had their way, they'd grab some Black Hair merchant in Wuhan and torture him for the runaway courtesan's whereabouts. But then the reports coming up from Simun show that this particular merchant is a shopkeeper whom the Sichuan Tang Clan has taken note of, whom the Seocheon Escort Agency guards, and who shook up all of Yichang."
Since I was a Simun member too. The Branch Master added a final remark.
"So you mean the Domun would rather not stir up any more trouble in Wuhan than they have to."
Which meant the Domun wanted to avoid drawing more of the Hao Sect's attention onto Lim Hayeon.
"Quick on the uptake. Is this what they mean by a man being better friends with letters than with food?"
"Thank you, truly."
"Thanking me for what? Looking after my own people is a Branch Master's job."
"So you finally acknowledge me as one of your people?"
He'd said: admit me as your own, and I'll help you. That was what the Simun Hyangju had told me.
"You're one of mine, all right. The kind that gives me headaches."
So I'm lacking, am I?
"What more could I do to prove myself?"
"To be recognized by a clan, you need a whole retinue of dependents under you. 'Big Brother, here's how many people serve under me'—a man who says that with his shoulders squared is the kind of fellow it's satisfying to help."
"Then I'll expand the business further."
If he meant I should take more Simun Hao Sect members under my wing, that I could manage. The business needed to keep growing anyway.
The Branch Master nodded with clear satisfaction at my words.
"Keep doing what you've been doing. It's my treat today, so eat well before you go—these things are good for the body. Might even manage it three times tonight. Or no, since you're a Black Hair, can you manage more?"
The Simun Hyangju said this to Lim Hayeon with a mischievous grin.
"W-we're not like that!"
"Oh, aren't you? Deboning each other's fish in front of everyone—quite the eyesore, I'd say."
"Th-that was a private room……"
"So if it hadn't been closed, you wouldn't have done it?"
"……"
"The kind of couple who picks bones out of fish by day becomes the kind who takes off each other's clothes by night. That's just how it goes."
"I will treasure Hayeon and protect her until the day I'm acknowledged."
I leapt in to support Lim Hayeon, whose face had gone from flushed red to an alarming shade of purple.
"Right. And if word gets out that the treasure of Usan Gyobang ran away from home and her body can no longer be satisfied by anything but a Black Hair, the Gi-mun and the Domun alike will be frothing at the mouth. So once you've caught her, you'd best never think of letting go."
"Mmph……"
"Hahahaha! Well, I'm off—busy, as I said. When the time is right, I'll send word."
"Thank you. Safe travels, sir."
"Ah! I nearly forgot something important, coming all this way."
The Branch Master halted his exit and turned back to us.
"Yes?"
Something more important than news of Lim Hayeon?
Could something have gone wrong somewhere?
The Branch Master, his face suddenly grave beyond measure, drew out a small slip of paper and addressed us.
"What'll you have for dessert? There's vanilla ice cream and green tea ice cream on the menu."
I chose the green tea ice cream.
"I like how brisk the Simun Branch Master is. Nothing like that certain old man I know."
"You are Deputy Gwak's proxy, after all. As far as the Simun Hyangju is concerned, someone sent by his own right-hand man deserves the treatment of one."
Lim Hayeon added that it was extremely rare for a regional head to extend a proper salute to a mere deputy.
"He did seem to think I was untrustworthy for a deputy, though."
"Haah. Do you have any idea what a Hao Sect Hyangju is? The way he treated you—the other Hao Sect members would have been thunderstruck if they'd witnessed it."
"I assumed it was just his nature, since he was so easygoing with me. If he's going to be that generous, he might as well solve the Domun problem quickly too."
"From the Simun's perspective, clashing with the Domun is inevitably awkward. Still, I understand now why the Domun can't pinpoint our location."
"The Simun's capabilities seem even better than I thought."
Perhaps because the Branch Master half-acknowledged me as one of his own, he seemed to be extending us a degree of consideration.
"Our range of movement is narrow. It's not like we're visiting gambling dens, or the courtesan quarter, or riding around in carriages. The only people who could report on us are the inn servers—and the information on every server is clutched tight in the Simun Hyangju's hands."
"So we can carry on with the business in peace for a while. Though the problem is that winning the Branch Master's full acknowledgment won't be managed by adding just one or two more inns."
I'd apparently need to become a sturdy pillar keeping a whole retinue of Simun Hao Sect members fed.
"Don't you have one option open to you?"
There was something oddly sharp in Lim Hayeon's voice.
"You mean the Daseogak branch? It's not opening right away, and the branch has to establish itself before profit distribution can begin. I'm afraid that will take too long."
With no telling when the Daseogak branch would actually be handed over, simply waiting around felt awkward as well.
I walked back toward the inn alongside Lim Hayeon, who remained stubbornly silent.
"How many times do I have to say it—he's not here!"
What was going on? When we arrived at the inn, several men in constable's garb with hard, menacing faces were already inside.
"What seems to be the matter, officers?"
"We're from the magistrate's office."
"The magistrate's office? For our inn?"
What was this? I'd paid my taxes properly, secured every permit I needed. Surely they hadn't come fishing for a bribe?
"No. We weren't waiting for your inn—we were waiting for you, Kang Yunho."
"What business do you have with me?"
"We've come to verify a matter as part of an investigation. Do you know a man called Heo Song?"
The constable had the man beside him lift a brush, then mentioned a name I knew all too well.
"Heo Song? You mean the Heo Song who opened Mangeum Seogo?"
"That's right."
"Did Heo Song file some accusation against me?"
Was this his petty, spiteful way of dragging the authorities into a grievance? If the Mangeum Lord heard about it, he wouldn't let it slide. How pathetic.
But what came out of the constable's mouth was entirely unexpected.
"It's not that. He was found dead."
"Pardon?"
"Heo Song's body was discovered in the early hours of this morning."