109. Seungdeok Manor (4)
Seungdeok Manor (4)
109. Seungdeok Manor (4)
Lee Eun-ha.
I liked her too. I already had three wives, but she was the one who suited the image of a wife best—she cooked my meals, sewed my clothes, and managed all my household affairs. Besides, she was from Joseon, so her way of thinking was most similar to my own, and I had felt a connection with her many times. Even if Jeong-hyang hadn't pushed me, I couldn't help being drawn to her. But before I could even open my mouth, she coldly cut me off.
"Don't get any strange ideas. Even if you tell me you like me now, I have no intention of throwing myself into your arms. You've grown attached to me, but beneath that feeling lies compassion, not a burning passion. You see me as a pitiful woman who needs your protection. I'm not saying that's bad. Every woman wants a kind, strong man to protect her. But this is about my feelings. As long as I feel indebted to you, I won't become your woman."
On one hand, conveying her pure affection, and on the other, boldly stating she wanted to be an independent individual—that was Lee Eun-ha. In a past life where transportation was incomparably more developed than now, I hadn't even been able to travel abroad once by the time I turned thirty. Part of it was money, but I was genuinely scared of going overseas without decent language skills. This life was the same. Without the excuse of fleeing the family estate for studies, I never would have been able to leave the Baek Clan Estate. Yet here she was, in the 15th century, even younger than Cho-ryeong was now, pioneering her own life by coming to the Central Plains where she didn't even speak the language. Her powerful vitality, which shone far more dazzlingly than Jeong-hyang's beauty or Son Yeong's talent, had completely stolen my heart. But precisely because of that, I respected her and decided to wait a little longer until she sorted out her feelings.
"It won't take long. Ever since I took on the name Medicine Immortal, I've been becoming a proper person who can really stand by your side."
"Now that I think about it, you used to hate the Steward title so much, but you don't seem to have any resistance to the name Medicine Immortal?"
"I've received far too much from Master. Even the courage to confess to you so openly just now came from her. After all that, refusing to inherit the name Medicine Immortal would be inhuman. Senior Sister Son probably feels the same, but she still believes her achievements are unworthy of the Moon Immortal name, so she is waiting a little longer. What about you? You're about to become a first-rate expert. Don't you intend to inherit Flame Emperor's name?"
"With a senior sister who practices the Shennong Art beside me, everyone might become confused if I used the name Flame Emperor. Flame Emperor was originally a title of Shennong, after all. Besides, my martial arts have already diverged from Master's. My internal art is still the Flame Blossom Art, but the Solar Sword Art has been transformed completely. It now contains Reverend Heo San's Taiji and Wuji, and Layman Geo Am's Heavy Strike. Those old men are sincerely enjoying mixing their martial arts in ways they never could have attempted while alive."
Lee Eun-ha smiled warmly. She was the only woman in Yeongsan Sect who cultivated Yang energy rather than Yin. That warmth seemed to radiate outward.
"We'll both have to keep working hard. Still, I feel better now. When I said I liked you, you were about to say you liked me right back, weren't you? For now, that's good enough. While I sort out my feelings, just wait a little. Embrace Master, the Senior Sisters, and all the other women. One thing's for sure: I'm a woman of your tastes too."
"My... my tastes?"
"Yes. Master, Senior Sister Jeong, Senior Sister Son. And Hwa-ran and Madam Hong. They're all lewd women, aren't they? I'm still a virgin, but I'm quite a lewd woman myself, so you can look forward to it."
Lee Eun-ha hummed a song from her homeland and tidied the medicine hall. Not that I specifically had those tastes, but thinking about it... from Gyeong Su-yeon to Murong Rin, not to mention Hwa-ran and Madam Hong. The masochistic pervert Master, the anal pervert Jeong-hyang, and recently, Son Yeong, who was pioneering a new fetish with that outdoor sex the other day. Maybe she was right—perhaps I really did like perverted women.
Five hundred taels of gold from the elders, plus another hundred for treating the household members' burns and bruises. We had obtained six hundred taels—twice the three hundred we expected. Such an excessive treatment fee would ordinarily have been unthinkable, but in truth it was war reparations politically packaged by the Peng Clan Head. If he openly admitted defeat and paid compensation, the Peng Clan, which had begun an unjustified fight and lost miserably, would become the laughingstock of the world. Instead of allowing it to appear that Yeongsan Sect had forcibly seized Seungdeok Estate, he made Peng Gang and Peng Seok independent, fashioned them into something resembling a new Peng branch, and had them choose to follow Yeongsan.
It was only a superficial settlement and changed nothing about the outcome, but in a martial world that prized honor and justification, the Clan Head handled it wisely. Perhaps the Peng Clan's true strength showed not when they arrogantly threw their weight around, but in how they cleaned up after defeat. It differed sharply from Murong, whose very arrogance displayed its power.
All that remained were Seungdeok Manor's founding ceremony and the Manor Head's inauguration. Hwangseong, who had been idle for some time, was delighted that Yeongsan Sect had defeated the Peng Clan and gained a genuine subordinate force rather than bandits like the White Tiger Sect. He poured his whole soul into making both ceremonies magnificent. Hwangseong was a master of ritual, while Madam Hong, as the daughter-in-law of a prestigious clan, was a master of preparing events. On the splendid stage they created, Hwangseong entered my body and began the rite with the majesty of a heavenly god. His ceremony excited even me, the one lending him the body. At intervals I moved on my own, burning talismans scattered through the air with Flame Qi and adding flourishes that elevated the rite even further.
"Peng Seok. Even if you have no grand ambitions for Yeongsan Sect, we walk the righteous path and closely care for the lives of the common people around us. Do you wish for your Seungdeok Manor to join us in accordance with Yeongsan's will?"
Even my master, who had learned the rites quite well, was dressed in full Daoist robes she normally never wore and spoke to Peng Seok with a solemn expression.
"Yes. I shall follow."
"We are a Daoist Sect that studies the Dao, but you are not of our Daoist Sect. However, as chivalrous heroes of the secular world, will you aid many people and ceaselessly train your martial arts?"
"Yes. I shall follow."
"Peng Seok. As the first Manor Head of Seungdeok Manor, will you oversee the manor's household, strictly punish transgressions, and fairly reward those who achieve meritorious service?"
"Yes. I shall follow."
"Take this. This is now the saber of Manor Head Peng. Use it as the divine artifact of your authority and show its prestige to the world."
"Thank you, Sect Leader."
I bestowed a saber I had made by pouring in nearly as much effort as I put into our Yeongsan Sect's swords, and with that, the inauguration ceremony finally ended. My master, who had a quick mode switch, instantly returned to her usual self and sighed as she spoke.
"They say it's a traditional ritual, but this feels so strange. Great Hero Peng—no, Manor Head Peng is already a gentleman known throughout the world, and to tell a Top Hundred Master to train his martial arts...? It was so embarrassing I thought I'd die."
My master said this, her face turning red.
"It was a wonderful inauguration. I could feel once more that Yeongsan Sect is not just an ordinary martial sect of profound martial learning, but a true Daoist family."
Peng Seok spoke with a benevolent expression and looked thoroughly satisfied. After yielding the heirship to his older brother, the Clan Head, Seungdeok Manor had felt much more like home to him than the main clan. He had received a priceless great saber forged by me, and the superior he would serve in his old age was a kind and humble woman. He could hardly have been more pleased.
My master truly had the talent of a leader. She was gentle, polite, and kind, but thinking about it, even I had been dragged around by her forcefulness in matters like Yin-Yang Art training or the Jeong-hyang issue. She seemed extremely easygoing, but once I came to my senses, I had already been following her. It wasn't just me—Byeok-geum and Ban Ho-jeong were the same.
"Brother. Doesn't this seem a lot different from our ceremony?"
Seungdeok Manor's founding ceremony had happened very suddenly. So the only guests were Byeok-geum, the White Tiger Sect Leader under Yeongsan Sect, and Ban Ho-jeong, the Deputy Sect Leader and Yeongsan Lodge Master. Watching the splendid founding and inauguration, and especially that treasure-like saber any martial artist would covet, Byeok-geum let out a slightly wistful remark.
"Are you and Manor Head Peng the same? Did you ever make the Top Hundred Masters?"
"I'll be there soon. My Heavenly Astral Internal Art is already at the Third Stage. Just one more step in a genuine peerless divine art and the dimension of internal power changes completely, you know? But brother, have you decided to just give up hiding your internal energy? You used to only let less internal power show than me, but now you're not even bothering to hide power close to a first-rate level?"
I had no talent for hiding internal energy. That was something only first-rate experts could do. This was my internal power that had genuinely grown since leaving Yeongsan. Before I knew it, I had already surpassed Byeok-geum.
"Brothers-in-law. I've set the drinks table, so please come inside."
Hong Seon-hwa approached us with a winsome smile. At her words, Byeok-geum asked with a dumbfounded face.
"Brother-in-law? Me too?"
"Of course. You're our eldest brother's younger brother, are you not? Please look after Peng Gang—no, our Junior Manor Head—from now on."
Byeok-geum stared at Madam Hong's teasing words as though he might faint. The children of prestigious clans he had met in his Green Forest days were terrifying people who hunted bandits like nameless mobs. Yet even after leaving the clan, this granddaughter-in-law of the great Peng Clan Head was calling him brother-in-law, and he had no idea how to respond.
"Second Brother. You see, there are a few prides in Hebei. The sixth is the Jinju Eon Clan, and the fifth is the Hebei Peng Clan. The fourth is our Seungdeok Manor, and the third is Gangyi Pear Wine. Since you've come all the way to Hebei to find your little brother, you must taste the Gangyi Pear Wine."
Byeok-geum just stared blankly at Peng Gang's words, though he was a smooth talker himself—Peng Gang was on another level.
"Brother. Is this guy messing with me right now?"
"No way. Things just turned out this way while I was staying in Hebei. If you really are my brother, then that guy is your little brother too. He wants to talk to you about business later, so treat him well."
"Business? What would an ignorant oaf like him know about that?"
Ban Ho-jeong immediately popped out the moment she smelled money.
"You must be the Deputy Sect Leader? We need to wrap things up out here, so let's go inside and talk."
Byeok-geum was bewildered by the attitude of Peng Gang and his wife, while Ban Ho-jeong, regardless of that, only showed interest in the money. So the five of us entered the room Hong Seon-hwa had prepared.
"You really do live long enough to see everything. To think I'd be treated like this in a manor of the Peng Clan. Sheesh."
Byeok-geum sat at the drinks table, still wearing a dazed expression.
"Seungdeok Manor is large, but we have very few household members. We've set up a room for Second Brother as well, so please use it comfortably anytime. Aren't we family?"
Peng Gang poured my drink, and even Byeok-geum's, as he spoke.
"Are you serious? I'm the White Tiger Sect Leader, but I was originally the White Tiger Fortress Chief. I lost count of how many times you people subjugated me and forced me to abandon my stronghold and run."
The White Tiger Fortress had been located in Liaoxi, very close to the Peng Clan, and had been attacked countless times. Well, the fact that they managed to survive even those military-unit-like invasions meant they were worthy members of the Eighteen Green Forest Strongholds.
"I am no longer part of the Peng Clan. Just as you are no longer of the Green Forest, brother. When I heard from our eldest brother that the White Tiger Sect Leader was my second brother, I can't tell you how happy I was."
"Why? Because you wanted to learn some banditry?"
Byeok-geum was sharp. He realized Peng Gang was sincere and snorted as he spoke.
"No. I want to work with you on that business of yours. You've expanded your business from Yeongsan to Seongsan now, right? Since Seungdeok is also Yeongsan Sect's territory now, how about expanding it here as well?"
"From Seongsan to Seungdeok? We'd have to set up at least ten inns."
Ban Ho-jeong beamed at Peng Gang's words.
"Furthermore, there's a new White Tiger Fortress that has settled on the road to Seungdeok in your place, Second Brother. Countless people from Liaoning and Hebei have to take detours to avoid that shortcut. This isn't just a simple escort service and inn business. We'll monopolize a new trade route between Liaoning and Hebei."
Byeok-geum and Ban Ho-jeong fell silent at Peng Gang's confident declaration.
A trade route—that was the greatest business in the minds of Central Plains people. Even in the 21st century, those Chinese bastards proudly held up the Silk Road and tormented the world with a ruthless business called the Belt and Road.
Peng Gang—this bastard had really drawn a grand design. If nothing had gone wrong and he had seized this trade route, he would have obtained enough leverage to become the Young Clan Head.
I had absolutely no idea. It hadn't even crossed my mind that the reason the elders had all come rushing over the moment Peng Gang joined Yeongsan Sect was for something this huge. They hadn't known much about Yeongsan Sect, but the Clan Head had yielded Seungdeok Manor and the influence over this area. In that situation, if the White Tiger Sect of Liaoning had really joined hands with Peng Gang, he would have gained an incredible amount of power.
"I have some funds. I also have sufficient connections in the Hebei commercial network. Second Brother, with your White Tiger Sect's expertise in mountain road construction and mountain warfare experience against the Green Forest, and our eldest brother's renown to swat away the pesky flies that will inevitably show up to sabotage a big project like this... this really will be an easy job."
"Wow. You really are smart, aren't you? Do they teach stuff like that in the Peng Clan?"
At Byeok-geum's admiring remark, Peng Gang smiled and answered.
"The Peng Clan has produced many martial artists and military officers, so people think of us as a bit crude, but the military examination actually tests a great deal of scholarship. High-ranking officers command battlefields, after all. The Peng Clan even maintains an academy that other great clans don't possess."
"Good. But remember this. Just as your pride in the Peng Clan remains even after leaving it, I still carry the Green Forest within me. In the Green Forest, ‘brother’ is not a word spoken lightly."
"It's the same in the Orthodox Faction."
Byeok-geum laughed heartily at Peng Gang's natural attitude and raised his cup. Ban Ho-jeong, who had even used a mental abacus in the air to finish some calculation, began laughing with immense joy as well. So this was why kids from wealthy families were different. When Peng Clan Head himself had said this gift was not just a manor but a domain, we hadn't been able to think of anything at all. But Seungdeok Manor was a true treasure, hiding value that defied imagination.