The Long-Awaited Harvest (7)
Maetak Madam and I discussed the additional terms and added them to the contract.
Once we'd both signed and stamped it, I paid her right there with a bill of exchange.
"But both Cheongpa Madam and you seem reluctant to leave your establishments. Honestly, isn't a thousand silver taels enough to live comfortably for life?"
Maetak Madam replied to my question.
"That's her place—she cherishes that pavilion like nothing else."
Well, she had built Cheongpa Pavilion with her own hands, after all.
"Then what about you, Maetak Madam...?"
"I was sold here at ten years old and saved up to buy this brothel. It's everything I have—where else would I go?"
Both women were remarkable, I thought.
For a courtesan to amass enough wealth to build or buy a brothel was no small feat—impossible for an ordinary person.
"Still, handing it over to someone like me must feel bitter."
"It stings a little, sure. But I have a duty to keep this place running, and if I can't fulfill it, I have no choice but to pass it to someone who can."
She smiled faintly.
"On the flip side, it's a relief to shed this heavy burden."
I handed her a bill for five hundred silver taels.
"Here— this should cover your living expenses through the year."
"Pardon?"
"The thousand taels I gave earlier was for acquiring the brothel. This is yours personally."
"Oh! I'm rich!"
I smiled back at her delight.
"Since I'm taking over the brothel, it's only right I provide separate operating funds."
"I'll do my utmost to run it well."
With Chuwol Pavilion now in hand, I returned to Cheongpa Pavilion with my head high.
"Welcome back, sir."
The Seo-u Warrior stationed there greeted me with a cupped-fist salute.
"Looks like even more people are lining up to sell information than before."
"Yes, sir. Word's spreading now that folks are actually getting paid in rice."
"I see."
The Haomen Hangzhou branch leader must be sweating bullets, blood draining from her face by now.
When will she finally swallow her pride and come bow to me? I hope it's not too late.
Haomen Hangzhou Branch.
"Here's the performance report for submission this time."
The inner steward handed the report to Branch Leader Yeon-yeon, who took it, opened it, and scowled deeply at the contents.
"......"
Dismal results.
Though Haomen branches operated independently, they still fell under the main sect's oversight, requiring monthly performance reports to headquarters.
If this went up as-is, headquarters had only one recourse.
Replace the branch leader.
That's when the inner steward spoke to her.
"Branch Leader, if I may—our Hangzhou branch isn't fulfilling Haomen's role at all right now."
"......"
The implication was clear.
Apologize to Eun Seo-ho.
The inner steward glanced at her wrist and gave a wry smile.
Her wrists were adorned with flashy gold bracelets.
A branch leader should sell her own jewelry for the branch's sake...
They'd already sold off most of the branch's assets, yet her personal trinkets remained.
She was never cut out to be branch leader from the start.
What good was talent if her capacity was smaller than an ordinary disciple's?
"Also, reports say Eun Seo-ho, the young branch head, has acquired four more pavilions and brothels around Seho."
"What?"
Yeon-yeon yelped in shock.
"Four more?"
"Yes."
"Does he have money rotting away? Where's it all coming from...?"
"As you know, Eunhae Merchant Group ranks twenty-fifth among the Hundred Great Merchants of the world. It's one of the fastest-growing lately—surely they have the funds."
"......"
Yeon-yeon fell silent.
She'd known this from the start when gathering intel on Eun Seo-ho—the scale of Eunhae Merchant Group.
In hindsight, her failure to investigate him properly was the root of this mess.
"Anyway, we'll submit the report as-is."
Chewing her nails in anguish, Yeon-yeon looked up at the inner steward's words.
"Inner Steward, if we send this up, I'll be ousted on the spot."
"I know."
"You know, and you'd still submit this crap?"
"What else can we do? This is reality."
"Fix it."
The inner steward's eyes widened, then he shook his head firmly.
"Pardon? Falsify it now? Absolutely not!"
"Then what? If I'm done, you're done too! You think I'll let you off?"
"Even if I did, do you think headquarters won't notice? Anyway, I won't do it. Just kill me!"
"What? You bastard!"
"That's why you should've apologized sooner! Who dragged this out over pride and caused this disaster?"
"You..."
"We have nothing left to sell, can't even pay the disciples' stipends—what are you doing now?"
The inner steward's pent-up frustration erupted.
"Is a branch just the leader sitting pretty? Shouldn't you make it run somehow?"
"How dare a mere inner steward lecture the branch leader—"
"Shut up and listen!"
He bellowed.
"All greed, no substance! And stop calling everyone 'bastard'! I'm not your bastard—I'm older than you!"
"You... you..."
Stunned by the inner steward's rebellion—he'd always nodded along meekly—Yeon-yeon faltered.
He pulled a paper from his robe and slammed it on the desk.
Thud!
It was a letter of resignation.
"I resign! And I'm leaving Haomen!"
As he stormed out, Yeon-yeon clutched her head and screamed.
"What the hell am I supposed to do?!"
She fumed for a while, calming her rage, then stood.
"This is all that bastard Eun Seo-ho's fault."
She yelled outside.
"Anyone out there?"
"Yes, you called?"
"Prepare for an outing. I have somewhere to go."
Soon, geared up, she headed out—to the dingiest alley in Hangzhou, called Rat Hole.
She knocked on the third building. A small hatch in the door opened.
"What do you want?"
"I need someone erased."
"Target?"
"Eun Seo-ho. Young branch head of Eunhae Merchant Group."
Silence hung briefly.
"Impossible."
"What?"
"Who do you think keeps Hangzhou fed? Erase him? Get out! Touch him, and we'll kill you first!"
Slam!
The door shut roughly. Yeon-yeon blinked in stunned disbelief.
I patted my full belly.
Was it from acquiring five pavilions and brothels around Seho?
Or from the dinner I'd just eaten?
Or maybe the visitor who'd come to see me.
"So, where is the guest now?"
"I brought them to this floor."
The errand boy Dong-a guided me up, and there sat a middle-aged man sipping tea at a table.
Dong-a had tipped me off to his identity.
Hwang An, inner steward of Haomen's Hangzhou branch.
As I approached, he rose and saluted with cupped fists.
"Greetings, Young Branch Head."
"Pleased to meet you. As expected of Haomen's inner steward—you recognize me without introduction."
"Of course. You're quite famous in Hangzhou, Young Branch Head."
He continued.
"And I'm no longer Haomen's inner steward."
"Pardon?"
No longer Haomen's inner steward?
"An hour ago, I was. But I submitted my resignation and left."
"Ah, I see."
So he'd quit and come straight to me within the hour?
I couldn't help a dry chuckle at his resolve.
And I could guess why he'd come.
"That's why I'm here."
Thud.
He dropped to his knees before me.
"Please employ me!"
Just as I thought.
"I understand if you're taken aback. But I'm useful."
He eagerly detailed his experience.
Watching him, I chuckled inwardly again.
For an inner steward to bolt like this meant rock bottom.
Yet the branch leader still wouldn't come apologize?
Regardless, his arrival was a boon for me.
Cheongpa Madam and Dong-a both praised Hwang An as an exceptional administrator.
Now that I owned Cheongpa Pavilion, they had no reason to lie—solid intel.
Kicking away talent like this? Not the mark of a good merchant.
I leaned down, took his hand, and said,
"No need to say more. How could I not know Inner Steward Hwang's abilities?"
"I'm grateful, sir."
"You look gaunt—must've been tough times."
"I won't badmouth my former master, but... yes."
"Good. You're hired."
"Really?"
"Yes."
I nodded.
"Let's negotiate your stipend."
And so Hwang An began working under Cheongpa Madam.
From him, I gleaned key info.
The most crucial: Branch Leader Yeon-yeon had tried to falsify the report to headquarters.
Would someone scheming that even let the inner steward resign without tampering further?
No chance.
Thanks to this, I could plan to oust her in one fell swoop.
"Jin Yu Warrior."
"Yes, sir."
"Are there any Haomen disciples here in Hangzhou?"
"Not the usual info peddlers, I take it."
"Right."
I meant direct disciples from Haomen headquarters, not branch members.
Not like the courtesans or errand boys hawking info.
Headquarters disciples were highly skilled in martial arts and concealment.
But Jin Yu Warrior, at Flesh Cutting realm, excelled at spotting the hidden.
"Yes, there is one like that. Sold info at Cheongpa Pavilion recently."
A noodle shop in Hangzhou.
Once staffed by five, now only two errand boys remained.
Business had plummeted that much.
They bustled about, wary of the owner's glare. Then a group entered.
"Welcome!"
"Sit wherever's comfortable."
Five in total.
One errand boy perked up—he recognized them.
Number Sixteen of Haomen headquarters, part of the Lord's direct unit: the Hundred Eyes and Ears.
Hangzhou's star, Young Branch Head Eun Seo-ho, with ex-branch inner steward Hwang An. What's their business?
As Number Sixteen puzzled, Eun Seo-ho and Hwang An chatted.
"This the place famed for the best West Lake Vinegar Fish in Hangzhou?"
"Yes, exactly."
West Lake Vinegar Fish: steamed freshwater fish in tangy-sweet sauce, a signature from fish-rich West Lake.
"Thanks to you, Young Branch Head, I get to enjoy this delicacy."
"Nonsense. You introduced me to a great spot."
"You haven't even tasted it yet."
"I trust the eye of a former Haomen inner steward."
Number Sixteen's ears pricked.
Former Haomen inner steward? Former? He quit?
Composing himself, he took their order and served the dishes one by one.
"Resigning like that—must've been a hard call."
"It was. But no choice. She even wanted to falsify the headquarters report. I don't want to die."
"I get it."
"You welcoming me like this? Best decision ever."
Falsifying headquarters reports was a capital crime.
Number Sixteen's eyes gleamed coldly as he eavesdropped.
Here I was at the noodle shop.
One of the errand boys was subtly focusing his senses on us.
The one Jin Yu Warrior mentioned—who'd sold us info.
That said, this West Lake Vinegar Fish... delicious.
Better than the spots I'd loved in my past life.
Which meant this place had gone under back then too.
So, time to acquire it.
And seeing that errand boy's meaningful expression at our words, our ploy was working.
She should've come apologize sooner.
Too late now.