The Longevity Banquet (2)
A colossal dragon-head ship floated on the waters off Yantai. More precisely, it was not a dragon's head at all — it was the head of Tam, the demon of Greed.
The creature's body was painted along both sides of the hull. Looking at that ship, Hwangbo Bae thought it was a thoroughly vulgar piece of taste.
"One wrong gust of wind and she'll flip right over."
"That's why I'm putting you on her — so she doesn't. Or are you planning to capsize her yourself?"
Hwangbo Chun said from beside him. Hwangbo Bae hesitated a moment before answering.
"No matter the hour… letting the ship you're sailing go under is a seaman's shame."
"Good. It's because you know that that I trust you with her."
Hwangbo Chun left the vessel in his brother's hands and went to receive the Donghwa Merchant Group's party. Hwangbo Bae set the crew to work preparing for departure.
"How far out are we going, sir?"
"It's marked on the chart. Check it yourself."
"And once we reach that spot…"
"Your job is to steer the ship well. You don't need to know anything beyond that."
"Yes, sir! Understood!"
Hwangbo Bae dismissed the helmsman and scanned the area, checking whether anyone else might have overheard. Fortunately, no one seemed to have.
"Elder Go. You've arrived."
Hwangbo Chun greeted Go Danjun at Yantai Harbor, steadying the old man as he stepped down from the carriage.
"To receive the personal attendance of the Hwangbo Clan Head… it seems I've lived long enough after all."
"What talk is that, sir? Haha."
Hwangbo Chun exchanged greetings with Eunseong and Ak Sun as well. Danjun gazed at the dragon-head ship with something like emotion, walking a slow circuit around its hull.
"Master Go, I've already dispatched other vessels along the shipping routes. We should locate the fleet before long."
"That the Hwangbo Clan Head himself is taking such care — we shall await good news."
Eunseong answered Hwangbo Chun with a smiling face. But Chun knew full well that Eunseong's eyes, fixed on him, were cold as ice.
The moment the fleet was found, Hwangbo Chun thought, he would not leave a single one of those captains standing.
"Come now — it's a fine day. Enough talk of business. Shall we board?"
Fortunately, Chief Manager Ak Sun stepped in to ease the moment. Though he, too, was a man who could calculate a penalty clause and still have room left over.
Hwangbo Chun smiled and guided the merchant party's people aboard. Jinmyung, Yumyeong, and Yeongmyeong chattered past him as they went.
"Come to think of it — Jun-hyung isn't coming to the banquet?"
"He was at the feast at Penglai Pavilion, then skipped out saying he was going to see his fiancée."
"Ha — hyung gets his engagement broken off, and the man himself runs off to meet his betrothed?"
"You should've heard him. Ten years of whining without end. Aigoo… never mind."
Jinmyung steered the conversation away from the broken engagement. Yumyeong, seeming to realize he'd raised a poor subject, turned his gaze out toward the open sea.
"Whoa — looks fit for His Majesty himself. That dragon is magnificent."
Yeongmyeong marveled at the ship. Jinmyung answered at once.
"It's not a dragon. It's Tam — Greed. Don't forget that. Call it a dragon ship and people will die for it."
"R-right…"
"Still — crossing the sea aboard Greed itself. Even the Eight Immortals would envy us."
The three of them boarded. Eunseong and Ak Sun stood watching as the rest of the family climbed aboard.
"The girl still hasn't arrived?"
"There's clearly some trouble on the route with Goryeo — no, with Joseon. The date has long since passed, and still no word of her arrival."
"The name Joseon still sits strangely on the tongue. I feel the same."
Eunseong looked out over the distant water and spoke as if it were nothing of consequence. But Ak Sun was not a man who could fail to understand a father's heart, with a child sent out into foreign lands.
"Come to think of it, the gift His Majesty was sending hasn't arrived either."
After the feast at Penglai Pavilion, Go Danjun's longevity banquet was to continue aboard ship. But Jihyeon, who was supposed to arrive from Joseon, had not come, and they had waited in Yantai all this time for the gift His Majesty was to send.
In the end, nearly a fortnight passed with neither of them appearing, and so they decided to board the ship to mark the final stage of the celebration. Watching the relatives climb slowly aboard, Eunseong spoke.
"Do you know the first principle of investment?"
"Don't put all your eggs in one basket… is that it?"
"Exactly. Stack eggs one atop another and the whole pile becomes precarious. The peril of piled eggs."
"You're uneasy about the entire family boarding a single ship. I don't think it's a good idea either, but…"
"It is Father's wish. As his son, I must follow it."
"The Grand Master once said that if everything in this world turned on rational calculation alone, someone else would have become the Merchant King."
"Haha. Yes — Father will have his reasons. Let's board."
"Yes."
When Eunseong and Ak Sun finally stepped onto the deck, Hwangbo Bae and Hwangbo Chun locked eyes and nodded.
"We sail! Raise the anchor!"
At Hwangbo Bae's shout, the crew moved as one. The enormous ship drew slowly away from the harbor.
"Jun-rang, what are you writing so intently?"
Ak Jun was staying at an inn in Yantai. Inside the guest room, a woman lay upon the bed.
Any ordinary man would have found it nearly impossible to keep his composure at the sight of her. Her beauty was not the point.
The coquettish voice with which she called her man, the fragrance of her body that filled the room — few men could have refused either. But Ak Jun, even after hearing his fiancée's words, sat quietly at the desk and continued writing his letter.
"Hongmae. You're awake. I was drafting a report."
"Didn't you finish all the reports on the way here?"
"Training with my lord left me a little behind… I would have liked to savor Hongmae a while longer, but it couldn't be helped."
"Turn around. You said you'd only hold my hand and sleep…"
The woman rose from the bed and reached for the clothes hanging nearby. Ak Jun smiled faintly as he wrote.
"The people who need to receive this report are all sailing out today. Diligent of them."
"Heh… the early bird… gets to see the beautiful scenery."
"Jun-rang…?"
Her voice rose a fraction. Ak Jun wondered if he had crossed a line.
"The sunrise. I meant the sunrise. I wanted to watch it rise over the sea with Hongmae."
"You always do have a way with words. Shall I bring some tea?"
"I'm nearly finished — why don't you go order breakfast? I'll follow shortly."
"All right, then."
She finished dressing and left the room. Ak Jun watched her back for a moment, then took up the brush again.
The woman's name was Beom Myohong. The Beom family was one of the merchant houses of Jinan, running a cloth shop in the city's market.
When the Donghwa Merchant Group relocated to Jinan, Ak Jun met Myohong for the first time. The group had purchased several storefronts, and the Beom cloth shop stood next door to them.
Young Ak Jun, touring the market with Ak Sun as the shops were being managed, would often cross paths with Myohong playing at the side of the cloth shop. The two of them gathered to play often, and so the Ak and Beom families became bound by that acquaintance.
Of course, after he left for Chang'an with Jinmyung, their connection continued only through letters. But Myohong fell for the grown Ak Jun's face all over again, just as she had in childhood.
Despite her father's objections, Myohong had come from Jinan to Yantai to see him. And the night before, the two of them had confirmed their love for each other.
Myohong washed briefly and ordered breakfast sent up to the room, then climbed the stairs again.
Unlike the night before, she found the people inside the inn a little strange. The thought slipped out of her mouth unbidden.
"Is it because it's the last day of the longevity banquet? There are so many people."
"What was that, Hongmae?"
Ak Jun asked as she entered, murmuring to herself. Seeing that the letter he had been writing was gone from the desk, she threw her arms around him at once.
"W-what are you doing?"
"My goodness — this is my room, and I'm embracing my own man. Why? Last night you…"
"Th-that's enough of that. What do you mean, so many people? The banquet is nearly over — shouldn't everyone be leaving by now?"
"I know. Now that you mention it, they did seem to be heading somewhere. Maybe because of the banquet — there were quite a few people in silk clothes, too."
"Are you sure you didn't missee? Anyone rich enough to wear silk wouldn't be staying at a place like this."
They had chosen a shabby inn to stay out of the adults' sight. They could not avoid every guest who had come for the longevity banquet, but when they had checked in the day before, the only guests in silk had been the two of them.
"My — have you already forgotten what goods I sell?"
"True. Hongmae would never mistake silk. Still — odd."
Their curiosity was forgotten at the sound of the waiter's voice. Outside the door, the waiter had come with their breakfast.
Myohong startled and pulled away from Ak Jun; he burst out laughing at the sight of her. The waiter set the food on the table with a startled expression of his own.
Ak Jun ate breakfast with a still-glaring Myohong. It was a simple meal compared to the succession of feasts, but he thought it tasted better than any delicacy under heaven.
"Come to think of it — is Hongmae any good at cooking?"
"Me? Mother gave up on me long ago."
Ak Jun stared at her in open surprise.
"Our family eats at the market. Meals at home are rare, actually. When old Man pulls his cart out in the morning and you grab one of his dumplings on the way to work — nothing tastes better."
"Haha. So old Man is still going strong. I hope we can get back to Jinan soon."
"When we go back, I'll show you around the market."
"I'll look forward to it."
Ak Jun shared breakfast with Myohong. He felt a little sorry toward Jinmyung for thinking it, but it was a far more satisfying morning than any meal he had shared with him over the past ten years.