“If Manager Kang Yun-ho wishes to et with the Guild Leader of the Ten-Thousand Gold rchant Guild, we will halt the seizure.”
Perhaps it was due to the Chairman’s influence being too significant to ignore. The clerk from the Ten-Thousand Gold rchant Guild quickly accepted the proposed diation, almost as if he’d been waiting for it.
It was good that the sudden crisis had been put on hold, but now I had to head to Wuchang—sothing I hadn’t planned at all.
They’d said they wouldn’t give much ti, so I’d have to hurry, grab my things, and depart right away.
Going to Wuchang itself wasn’t a big issue. It was connected to Yichang via the Yangtze River. The real problem was whether it was okay to set aside one problem to deal with another sowhere else.
“I know she’s in there!”
“Hiding a runaway courtesan—have you no sha?!”
As I returned ho after halting the seizure, a group was shouting loudly in front of the print shop’s door.
“What’s going on here?”
“The black-haired bastard? You’re Kang Yun-ho of Daseogak! You son of a bitch! You’re hiding her, aren’t you?!”
One of the martial artists who recognized lunged toward my collar.
Instinctively, just like dodging Im Ha-yeon’s stone, I stepped back quickly.
The martial artist’s arm extended further. Twisting my body swiftly to avoid his hand, I grabbed his wrist and pulled.
“Guh!”
The martial artist, thrown off balance, went tumbling to the ground and got a mouthful of dirt in an instant.
“What do you think you’re doing, attacking without warning?”
Looks like that training with Im Ha-yeon paid off. I asked as if nothing had happened, hiding my satisfaction.
“You’re a martial artist, black-hair?!”
“Sir Kang! Are you all right? They said they ca from so gambling den in Wuchang, yelling to hand over a runaway courtesan.”
The escorts from the Seocheon Escort Bureau arrived belatedly, parting the crowd with startled expressions.
Earlier it was the Ten-Thousand Gold rchant Guild. Now it’s the Hao Clan thugs? What is today, “Trouble Delivery Day”?
My head was pounding from the back-to-back problems, but I didn’t let it show as I stared at the Hao Clan enforcers. Did they actually know Im Ha-yeon was here? Or was it just suspicion?
“What’s the aning of this ruckus in front of soone’s ho? Step away quietly.”
Let’s pretend I don’t know anything. I warned them with a firm expression. One of the Hao Clan n stepped forward with confident strides and stood before .
“Kang Yun-ho of Daseogak.”
Did this guy eat steel for breakfast? His face was covered in blade scars. As he frowned and called my na, he gave off quite the threatening vibe.
“What?”
“Are you going to hide her for the rest of your life?”
He threw the words at like he knew everything.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“If you’re going to hide her, then keep her locked inside forever. Treasure her like a piece of jewelry and do nothing but gaze at her. But if not, then rember—the Hao Clan’s eyes and ears are everywhere.”
“I don’t know about your eyes and ears, but what I do see are a bunch of lowlifes screaming in front of soone else’s house.”
I glanced over at the Hao Clan n, who looked unsure in front of the escort guards, and said it with a sneer.
“Hah! Just like they said. Tell that bitch it’s not too late. If she cos back now, she won’t suffer anything too harsh. But if Lord Domun’s patience runs out, she won’t like what happens next. And neither will the bastard hiding her.”
“What did you just say?”
One of the escorts flinched and reached for his sword the mont he heard the threat.
“Tell that bitch! Even if everything that protected her turns to ash in an instant! Even if the person who protected her ends up looking at her with resentnt—can she handle that?!”
“You’re threatening soone right in front of the Seocheon Escort Bureau?!”
“I—I will withdraw now!”
The man with the blade-scarred face must’ve decided he didn’t want to eat any more steel and quickly backed away, disappearing with his group in a hurry.
If you’re going to intimidate, at least follow through. Don’t just bluster and run. Watching him retreat like that made him look pathetic.
“Maybe I should sprinkle salt or sothing.”
All sorts of scumbags are showing up.
With incidents piling up like this, maybe I should hold a ritual just in case. Maybe place a smiling pig head on the table and do it properly.
Then later I could take the pig head to the butcher and have it boiled for pork slices and eat it with soup. That’s actually pretty tasty.
Now I suddenly want pork soup. I sighed softly and opened the door to the print shop.
“You’re back?”
“Jeez! Can you make a sound when you move?”
Im Ha-yeon popped out from a corner and greeted in a cautious voice, worried soone might hear.
“......”
So she heard it all from behind the door.
She couldn’t lift her head, her expression filled with worry. I guess she’d heard everything that had been said about her. That aloof, catlike attitude of hers was nowhere to be seen.
“I have no intention of ever looking at you with resentnt.”
It’s not your fault.
Her sleeves and face were still smudged with ink, probably from working all day. She looked completely lost, and I felt a pang of sympathy.
“Hey...”
“Let’s go inside and talk.”
We have a lot to discuss.
-------------
“Daseogak is going to be taken by the Ten-Thousand Gold rchant Guild?!”
I gave Im Ha-yeon a summary of what had happened today.
“It hasn’t been taken yet.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m thinking of going to Wuchang to see the Guild myself.”
No matter how you slice it, what happened today was far from normal. Even if the Guild had purchased the debt, showing up and trying to seize the store without warning was absurd.
I needed to see the creditor face to face—as debtor and creditor—to figure out what their aim was.
“You’re going to Wuchang alone?”
“I asked the Seocheon Escort Bureau, but they said guarding both the print shop and at the sa ti is impossible. Taking a boat there alone won’t be a problem, so I’ll just go quickly and return.”
The Yichang branch of the Escort Bureau, despite its na, still didn’t have many staff yet.
Since I could make the trip by boat alone, it made sense to prioritize Im Ha-yeon’s safety. I declined the escort despite the Seocheon branch manager strongly urging to accept it.
“......”
Maybe she sensed my consideration. Im Ha-yeon furrowed her brow and wore a pained expression.
“Don’t get any strange ideas. Just stay here in the print shop and rest for now.”
“...No.”
“What do you an?”
“Let’s go together. To Wuchang.”
************
Daseogak could disappear.
In such a situation, she couldn’t just keep being protected forever.
Im Ha-yeon looked at Kang Yun-ho with eyes full of determination.
“If you go to Wuchang, you could get caught. Even with escorts, no one can predict the unexpected. I’ll go alone.”
“What if Jeon Gil-san... that bastard tries to harm you? Isn’t he just the kind of guy who would?”
“......”
Kang Yun-ho couldn’t deny it so easily.
“Sigh. See? You’re not carrying just on your shoulders.”
Im Ha-yeon let out a soft sigh and gently took his wrist with both hands. Physical contact—sothing she’d learned was a subtle way for a courtesan to flirt with a man she liked.
Feeling a man’s wrist for the first ti in her life, her heart pounded, but she barely managed to steady it. She looked up into his eyes, filled with worry.
The wicked rchant, Kang Yun-ho.
Back in ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) Wusan, she had misunderstood him as a greedy rchant. But what had she seen since coming to Yichang?
He gave lunch and break ti to starving employees. He clothed them in silk they’d never have dread of wearing. He gave struggling scholars the courage to carry on. He gave them dreams for the future.
“If all you’re doing is eting the Guild Leader of the Ten-Thousand Gold rchant Guild, then there’s no need to take .”
“And if it doesn’t end with just eting him? What if you end up needing soone who can manage ledgers, move quickly, deal with custors, and do anything you ask for, when you need it?”
“You don’t have to put yourself in danger for my sake.”
“You don’t have to put yourself in danger for my sake either.”
Im Ha-yeon fired back the sa words he’d just said.
“......”
“Just like you, my dream also lies with Daseogak.”
It had been a dreamlike few months.
She wanted to shed her identity as a courtesan. She wanted to live like an ordinary woman.
She wanted to do what she loved, dream dreams of her own choosing. She wanted to make ordinary friends—not other courtesans—and laugh over trivial things.
And sowhere along the way... she t a strange man who sohow kept bothering her mind...
Im Ha-yeon smiled faintly at the absurd thought, then looked up at Kang Yun-ho in silence.
“I’ll protect that dream for you. So please wait.”
Im Ha-yeon shook her head quietly at Kang Yun-ho’s words.
“The Hao Clan has already figured out I’m here. If I keep hiding, things will only get worse for both of us.”
Help during hard tis. Lend an ear in sorrow.
He was the kind of man who would help no matter what. But her desire to be with him was still a desire.
If she stayed, it might end up burning down everything he had.
His shade had been comforting, but now it was ti to step out of that shade and walk beside him, holding his hand.
“There’s no need to give up.”
“Who said I was giving up?”
Im Ha-yeon flashed a smile so dazzling it nearly drove Kang Yun-ho mad, then walked to the window. Her cheeks were flushed, but Kang Yun-ho simply thought the room must be warm.
“Then?”
“I’m not giving up on dreaming either.”
Im Ha-yeon opened the window and reached out her hand. A dream fluttered into her palm.
A homing pigeon had arrived from the Yichang branch of the Hao Clan.
************
“It looks like the Domun bastards pulled a trick to take over the Wusan branch head position.”
The Yichang branch head of the Hao Clan began laying out the intel that had arrived from Wusan.
“A trick by Domun?”
“‘Kill with a borrowed knife’ tactic. In Wusan, the Gimun faction was stronger than the Domun. So they instigated others to get rid of Gimun and then took everything for themselves.”
“Is this how the Hao Clan does internal faction warfare?”
So the Domun gamblers in Wusan crushed the courtesan faction and claid the branch leadership? What was the operation code na—‘New Wusan’?
“That’s ridiculous! Can’t we just inform Wuchang and resolve this?”
Im Ha-yeon refuted my sarcasm with a raised voice and turned to the branch head with hopeful eyes.
“There’s clear circumstantial evidence and suspicion. But the problem is—we don’t have decisive proof.”
The Yichang branch head clenched the paper with visible frustration.
“What!”
“For the money we paid, this intel isn’t worth it.”
I was the one who requested the Wusan intel. And now he says they didn’t find conclusive evidence? Then I just threw my money away.
I glared at the branch head like a pri contractor staring down a subcontractor who missed the deadline.
“No refunds! But I did dig further. Recently, several branch heads in Hubei have quietly been replaced. All of them, for various reasons—but every last one of them is from Domun.”
So it’s not just Wusan?
“That’s really suspicious. But without hard proof, what changes by going to Wuchang?”
“No.”
The branch head walked toward with a serious expression.
“What?”
“There’s a way to make a change even without proof.”
SMACK!
My gaze, which had been fixed on the branch head, whipped sideways at a 90-degree angle.
“What the hell?!”
Did this bastard just slap ?
Sure, every subcontractor dreams of smacking their abusive boss... but did he really just do that to ?
Unforgivable. I channeled my internal energy into my right hand, aiming for the branch head’s cheek. I swung my palm, ready to harvest a few of his corn-white teeth.
“ARGH! Are you out of your damn mind?!”
He dodged? The branch head recoiled in horror and instantly stepped back.
“What the hell is wrong with you?! Why are you slapping out of nowhere?!”
“Ha, damn. With that temper of yours, it’s no wonder they call you that guy’s brother... whatever. Take this.”
The branch head looked at with an exasperated face and handed sothing from inside his robes.
“What’s this?”
A coin shaped like a sword?
“It’s the Iron Token of Simun. As of today, Kang Yun-ho belongs to the Hao Clan’s Simun Division. Furthermore, you are appointed as the acting branch head of Yichang’s Hao Clan.”
So the slap was so kind of initiation rite? What are you guys, dieval knights?
“Who gave you the right to induct into the Hao Clan? Stick your cheek out. I’ll return the favor.”
“It had to be done. Only mbers of the clan can interfere in internal matters. If you want to save your sworn brother’s daughter, this is the only way.”
The branch head looked at with deadly seriousness as I relaxed my shoulders.
“What do you an?”
“Seems like this whole affair is connected to Domun’s faction that oversees gambling in Hubei. Since Im Ha-yeon is part of the Gimun, it’ll be hard to raise accusations against them through their own chain of command. You’ll need another faction’s power. So take the Iron Token and deliver it to the Simun Chief in Wuchang.”
So the Yichang branch head used to be a shopkeeper, huh?
In the Hao Clan, each region is divided by job functions under titles called ‘Hyangju’.
The Hubei Courtesan Division Chief oversees all the courtesans under the Hao Clan in that province. And their rival is the Gambling Division Chief.
Since a one-on-one accusation wouldn’t work, he’s telling to mobilize the Simun—an organized group of attendants/bodyguards.
“Once this is over, I’m quitting imdiately.”
I grumbled while rubbing my cheek.
“It didn’t even hurt that much. Quit whining... Just do your best and send regards to the Simun Hyangju.”
It hurts in my heart, you bastard.
-------------
“All set?”
“Let’s board the boat.”
No need to waste ti on delay—this would be a frontal breakthrough.
The very next day after the Ten-Thousand Gold rchant Guild ca knocking, I entrusted Daseogak to the Chief Steward and the administrators and boarded a boat with Im Ha-yeon.
The ship departed in no ti, and soon Yichang was just a tiny dot behind us.
“Let’s solve this together and co back together.”
“Of course.”
I answered Im Ha-yeon’s worried voice with firm resolve.
Could I save Im Ha-yeon’s fate?
What did the Guild Leader of the Ten-Thousand Gold rchant Guild want from ?
Everything would be revealed once we arrived in Wuchang.
“But before we left... why did you stop by Daseogak again?”
Im Ha-yeon asked curiously as the river wind blew through her hair and I struck a gallant pose.
“There was sothing I just couldn’t leave behind at a ti like this.”
[This is Ho-pil....]
“It exploded again!!!! Damn it!!!!!!!”
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