“You want to work at Daseogak?”
Did she hear that right? Im Ha-yeon couldn’t believe her ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) ears and asked the Yichang Hao Clan branch leader again.
“One person needs a job, another’s looking for staff. Isn’t that a perfect match?”
The guy who ca asking for help finding staff. The guy who should’ve been treated like a VIP because of the Black Coin but ended up getting threatened instead.
The branch leader saw a way to fix the awkward tension caused by misunderstanding and solve both their problems at once with a neat little trick.
“I don’t want to.”
Of course, it was only a neat trick in his mind.
“You need money, but you’re a runaway courtesan, so you can’t go back to that work. You don’t want to do anything else you can do, and now you’re jobless.”
The branch leader tried to coax her, seeing the incredulous look on her face.
“I’m an aspiring writer, thank you very much.”
“Which ans you’re unemployed.”
“......”
Im Ha-yeon was at a loss for words after that brutal jab.
“Just hear out before you shoot it down.”
“What’s there to hear?”
She pouted, clearly not interested.
Who does she get this from? The branch leader thought of his old friend he hadn’t seen in over ten years as he continued.
“It’s not like you’re loaded, printing dozens or hundreds of books and walking into a bookstore like, ‘Hey, put my book on your shelves and if it sells, let’s talk contracts.’ Right?”
“Right.”
“You’re not so famous scholar with mad writing skills either. You haven’t published books and gotten stores begging for your next one. Right?”
“Right...”
“So what, you think you can just waltz in with one book, ask a store to cover the printing costs, promote it, handle the leftover stock, and pay you too? You’d be lucky to walk out without getting salt thrown in your face.”
“...Yeah.”
Her confidence shrank more and more with every cold dose of reality.
“And yeah, so stores do back writers, but most only push books that are already big sellers, you know that?”
“I know...”
Becoming a writer felt impossible. Reality hit hard, and she lowered her head.
“But Daseogak is different.”
“Different how?”
“You know about Ho-pil, so I won’t explain that, but Daseogak has been backing local writers in Yichang for decades, way before Kang Yun-ho showed up and started supporting Ho-pil.”
Tang Hwa-rin’s grandfather, the old head of the Baek family, had supported tons of talented writers over the years.
So of those writers put out decent books thanks to that support, but honestly, most of it was basically charity.
Kang Yun-ho suddenly showed up in Yichang and found this rookie author Ho-pil.
People didn’t question it too much because the Baek family had a long-standing reputation for sponsoring writers.
“Daseogak supports new writers?”
“Yeah. It’s famous for that around here. And now the store is run by a guy who calls Murong Shintu his sworn brother. Think he’s gonna ignore his sworn brother’s daughter if she asks to publish a book?”
“You want to go beg that Kang guy to publish my book?”
“Exactly. And sure, publishing costs a lot of money. He’s not gonna do it just because you’re Murong Shintu’s kid. You’d have to work at Daseogak, prove yourself, get close to him.”
“......”
She stared at the branch leader like, You’re really waiting for to nod to this?
It made way too much sense. But if she did that, she’d have to bow her head to Kang Yun-ho. She crossed her arms, scowling in silence.
The branch leader glanced sideways, catching how that arm-crossing of hers, even without trying, highlighted her figure—and then he said,
“While you’re working there, throw in a little smile, cross your arms like now when you’re close to him, let him sneak a peek at so cleavage...”
“C-cleavage?! What the hell are you saying?! That’s what low-class courtesans do! I was trained as a refined courtesan!”
Refined courtesan, trained in song and dance—not selling their bodies. Im Ha-yeon jumped, face flushed, dropping her arms.
“You must’ve learned a little charm though, right? Just use so of that courtesan skill. Who knows, maybe you’ll show more than just cleavage. Heh, Kang might end up calling your father father-in-law soday.”
The branch leader laughed like it was nothing, even with her glaring at him like she wanted to kill him.
“Uncle Kwak!”
“Ah, shut up. I’m the Yichang Branch Leader here. Call Branch Leader.”
“Branch. Leader. You know how much I hate that man, and you’re talking about father-in-law and crap?!”
Her eyes blazed with hatred as she spoke about her father, Murong Shintu.
“He must’ve had his reasons.”
“Yeah, sure. Just like every other bastard who dumps a courtesan. He dumped my mother too.”
Her voice dropped, a mix of anger and sorrow.
It’s a tale as old as ti.
Her mother, Im, was a well-known refined courtesan in Wusan. Murong Shintu, a famous thief in the martial world.
To a courtesan, there’s no such thing as dirty or clean money—it’s all precious. Murong Shintu fell for her, spent cash like water in the pleasure houses.
Sell your songs, not your body.
A saying among the refined courtesans. But if that really held, it wouldn’t have needed to be said.
Im fell for him and gave in. He took the top courtesan of Wusan.
And then ca a child.
“He just had the wanderlust bad, that’s all.”
The branch leader tried to throw in sothing, defending the guy who wasn’t even here.
“Right. So bad that he wasn’t even there when I was born.”
If he’d been the type to stick around just because he had a kid, he wouldn’t have been called Murong Shintu in the first place.
She spat the words like venom.
“You’re misunderstanding. He taught you his martial arts because he saw you as his child.”
“Because I had talent.”
一 You’re my child, and with such strong bones! I’ll teach you martial arts from today.
She saw him more when he wasn’t there than when he was. She rembered the mont he said he’d train her.
“When a kid’s that gifted, of course he taught you with passion.”
“I just wanted to see my disappearing father’s face a little longer. That’s why I worked so hard.”
She thought of her younger self.
When she trained in martial arts, he was there. When he was there, her mother smiled.
Harder. And harder still.
She trained relentlessly, just to keep him from leaving, just to see her mother smile.
“Why the hell did he vanish anyway?”
Branch Leader Kwak sighed, giving up defending a friend to this girl who wouldn’t budge.
“Probably lost interest. That’s what n who chase courtesans do—they run.”
One day, Murong Shintu just stopped coming to Wusan. They didn’t know why he didn’t co back. Then, news of the Hao Clan rebellion reached them.
Misery never cos alone.
Murong Shintu’s news stopped. Her mother died soon after. A courtesan’s child is born low and stays low. Normally, she would’ve ended up an orphan, begging or worse.
Because of her mother’s connections, she did nial work in Hao Clan, eventually joining the guild for refined courtesans.
He was alive? Then why didn’t he co for ?
Was he dead? Or had he abandoned them?
Murong Shintu stopped coming before the rebellion, so she couldn’t be sure. But now she knew.
He abandoned them.
Anger rose, bubbling like water set to boil. That little girl who once clung to hope—that maybe he was alive, maybe he’d co back for them—felt pathetic now.
You left us after all.
The world may praise him as Murong Shintu, but to Im Ha-yeon, he was nothing more than an irresponsible thief who couldn’t even take care of his own woman.
“So, are you giving up on working at Daseogak? Look, Kang Yun-ho might get called a crooked rchant for his flashy sches, but he’s not a bad guy.”
At the ntion of Kang Yun-ho, Im Ha-yeon couldn’t help but picture him.
It was humiliating to realize she’d accepted help from soone she disliked. Before she knew his identity, she’d even thought he was like Tang Jeong from Storm of the Tang Clan.
A benefactor, yet a crooked rchant. It felt like looking at him—kind on the surface, but truly a villain; a father, but also an enemy. That sa twisted feeling.
There might be no real reason for her not to ask Kang Yun-ho for help. But he was Murong Shintu’s sworn brother.
Getting help from him would be no different than getting help from her father.
Im Ha-yeon didn’t want anything from the man who abandoned her.
“I don’t want help from anyone connected to that man. And... I actually have a way to succeed as a writer on my own.”
She couldn’t just keep rejecting the branch leader’s good suggestion. So, Im Ha-yeon decided to share her plan.
“What way?”
The branch leader looked at her curiously.
Why Yichang? There were Hao Clan branches in other cities—why co here?
Because she liked Storm of the Tang Clan? Because she wanted to visit Daseogak?
Because she knew the branch leader here?
No. She wanted to be a writer. And in Yichang, even a broke, unknown writer could suddenly beco famous.
Im Ha-yeon finally opened her mouth to reveal her real reason for coming to Yichang.
“I’m going to submit my work to the Yichang Literary Society’s New Writers Event.”
*******
Risking my life just to hire a staff mber? If I’m gonna bet my life on sothing, it should be the future—not this nonsense.
I fidgeted with the Black Coin in my pocket, standing in front of Daseogak.
“Hello! Manager Kang, are you in? Are you away?”
Who’s that? Two people were knocking at Daseogak’s door.
“Brother! Are you really back?”
“I told you, didn’t I?”
“What if it’s just an illusion from praying too hard...”
“Hah! Didn’t you hear what the other mbers of the Daseo Literary Society were saying?”
That voice... I know that voice.
“Scholar Hwang?”
As I got closer, I saw it was Scholar Hwang from Daseo Society, along with his younger brother—the one who’d been doing months of ritualistic nonsense over my return.
“Manager Kang! You must’ve just returned from so trip!”
“Yes, I had a lot to take care of for the reopening. It’s been a while, brother of Scholar Hwang.”
So is the Most Beautiful Woman in Sichuan the main wife, or is it Hubei’s Top Courtesan? What are these two doing here, stirring up the Main Wife War in front of Daseogak?
“It’s been a while. I brought so walnut cookies to celebrate your safe return.”
“You didn’t have to, but thank you.”
I took the small paper bag he handed . Still warm. I’ll share these with the Tang family people later.
“So, what brings you here? If it’s about Daseogak, the reopening might take a little while.”
“We’re not here today as Daseo Society mbers, but representing the Yichang Literary Society.”
His younger brother spoke to with a respectful tone.
“Co again?”
Not Daseo Society, but Yichang Literary Society?
The Yichang Literary Society—that’s the one chaired by a forr imperial scholar from the Hanlin Academy, who used to advise the Emperor and compile royal texts.
They’re the ones who praised Storm of the Tang Clan so highly that now no one in Yichang doesn’t know it. They’ve got real influence.
What’s this about?
I looked at them curiously, and Scholar Hwang bowed his head and made a request I never expected.
“Please, be a judge for the Yichang Literary Society’s New Writers Event.”
Reviews
All reviews (0)