Mansion of the Ten-Thousand Gold rchant Guild Leader.
“How are things progressing?”
The Guild Leader of the Ten-Thousand Gold rchant Guild asked as he gazed into the pond in the garden.
“They say Young Master Ha has opened a fabric store near the port.”
“Fabric store?”
“Specifically, one that specializes in selling silk.”
“Silk, huh... That would cost a fair bit.”
Not a bad decision.
rchants often co up the Yangtze River to Wuchang just to get their hands on Sichuan’s fad Sichuan brocade silk, without going all the way to Sichuan itself. A fabric shop could definitely bring in solid profit.
However, stores near the port were in the most bustling, high-rent district. A fabric shop, especially one dealing in silk, would require far more than the startup vouchers he had handed out. How did he manage that?
“They say he’s getting supplied by the store his father runs.”
This Young Master Ha’s father was also a prominent fabric rchant in Hubei Province.
“I told them to start businesses, not help run their fathers’.”
“Well... it seems the shop is doing quite well.”
“If business wasn’t going well when he’s just copying his father, that would be the real surprise.”
“They say the supply of silk circulating through Wuchang has decreased. It appears Young Master Ha’s father is deliberately controlling distribution.”
The chief steward explained that the father was manipulating the market—essentially hoarding—to support his son’s success.
“Hah... How sweet of him, looking out for his precious boy. And what about the others?”
The Guild Leader gave a short sigh, then asked in a tone dripping with sarcasm.
“Well, um...”
The chief steward struggled to hide the cold sweat trickling down his back as he began describing the situation. Young Master Ha’s case was, in fact, one of the better ones.
Most of the others were either leaning on family backing or had seized control of subcontracted businesses run under their family nas.
“Tsk. Useless brats. I told them to run their own businesses, and none of them can seem to step out from under their parents’ wings.”
The chief steward decided it was ti to share the only positive news he had.
“Not all of them are relying on the family. Young Master Gong has opened a tavern.”
“A tavern? Or is he running a pleasure house?”
“Just a simple drinking establishnt, apparently. But it’s doing well, and business hasn’t slowed.”
He told them to start a business, and one went into the booze trade. While it wasn’t as disappointing as the others, the Guild Leader was still unimpressed.
“Fine then. What about Kang Yun-ho? How is that boy doing?”
Without showing any particular expectation, the Guild Leader casually asked about the last of the grandchildren who still remained in play.
“They say he’s working in delivery.”
“Delivery? Did he open an escort bureau?”
“No, sir. He took over a guesthouse.”
“Running deliveries from a guesthouse? Tell more.”
Now that was interesting. For the first ti today, the Guild Leader actually turned away from the pond to look at the steward.
“Well...”
The steward explained everything he had heard and seen in full detail.
“Hahaha! A food delivery business using carrier pigeons?!”
The Guild Leader burst out in hearty laughter at the news of a business he’d never even imagined.
“People are skeptical at first because of the price, but once they try it, they get hooked on the convenience.”
“So, the one who complained the most when I told him to start a business... suddenly rallies the local Joseon people and becos a chairman in Wuchang? And on top of that, he gathers talented individuals and starts a business no one has ever tried? And it’s working?!”
Sure, he had ordered them to start businesses—but wasn’t this kid doing too well?
“I knew he was a promising talent, but I never dread he’d pull off sothing like this.”
“He’s got an eye for the flow of the world. He’s the type who finds his own path within the current.”
He knew how to compensate for his weaknesses. He saw what was missing in Wuchang. He instantly grasped where the money was.
Anyone who aims to make real money must be able to see the world clearly.
This was the kind of rchant prodigy the Guild Leader had always hoped his children or sons-in-law would beco—soone worthy of being called the finest comrcial asset.
For once, the Guild Leader couldn’t hide the thrill of discovering such a rare gem.
“I’ll bring the young lady over right away. But... there’s one issue I should ntion.”
“What is it?”
“I’ve received information that Lady Tang Hwa-rin is being treated as a direct heir of the Sichuan Tang Clan.”
“The direct line? But isn’t she an illegitimate child?”
The Guild Leader already had a rough idea of how Tang Hwa-rin had been born.
“No group values bloodlines more than the martial clans. If they’re treating her like this, it likely ans they’ve chosen her as the Tang Clan’s rising star.”
“So her talent was that exceptional.”
You don’t overco the wall of illegitimacy with talent alone. This ant she was a true genius—one great enough to transcend the discrimination of blood.
“If the Tang Clan is backing her that strongly, your plan may be at risk.”
Pairing Kang Yun-ho with the Guild Leader’s granddaughter.
Not that the Guild Leader intended to steal the granddaughter-in-law of the Baek Family’s head, but still. It wasn’t ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) as if a man having multiple wives was considered a flaw.
But the real issue was: who would be the main wife?
And that’s exactly what the chief steward was worried about.
“It’s fine.”
The Guild Leader replied firmly.
“But—”
“If we pair him with a woman from a family even the Tang Clan wouldn’t dare slight, that settles it.”
The Guild Leader had a daughter who had married into a family so powerful that even the almighty Tang Clan wouldn’t look down on it.
-----------------
Hubei Province. Yungjung.
A large mansion in a village occupied by an entire extended family.
A middle-aged woman stord down a corridor, eyes blazing and brows deeply furrowed. Her beauty, which seed too youthful for her age, did nothing to soften the harshness of her expression.
“She skipped the eting again?! What the hell were you all doing?!”
She shouted at a servant beside her.
“Sh-She was definitely in the carriage when it left... But when we opened the door, it was just a wooden dummy dressed in the young lady’s clothes!”
“She’s getting better at this every ti! Where is she?!”
“She’s in the annex.”
With over a dozen servants behind her, the woman stord toward the annex.
“I’m a person too, you know! A person! I trusted you this ti!!!”
She threw open the annex doors, shouting loud enough for everyone inside to hear.
“Sh-She’s in the innermost room.”
The servant pointed to where the daughter was.
With each step, the woman’s anger swelled.
“I got married at sixteen! To your father, who couldn’t even hold my hand! I supported him until he beca the head of the family! Your sisters are all married! Even your brothers! Why are you still holed up in this house?!”
“She’s not here!”
A servant rushed out of the room, pale-faced.
“I know you’re listening!”
The mother roared, knowing her daughter was sowhere close by.
“If you hate matchmaking that much, prove your worth like your poet sister! Or at least bring ho a man you like! Didn’t I tell you that?!”
“We’ll search the area.”
The servants quickly began checking room after room in the annex.
“You do nothing but stay inside, only doing what you want! Sleep when you want, wake up when you want! What, do you think so fantasy novel man is just going to walk into your life?!”
“She’s not in her usual hiding spots!”
“That little brat! Check everything! Under the well! The wardrobe! The chests! Last ti she hid under the kitchen furnace! I swear I’ll tie her up and march her to the next match myself!”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“And if any of you helped her hide, you’ll be kicked out with her!”
“Understood!”
“Then get moving!”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Everyone, from servants to guards, began turning the annex upside down at the order of the household’s mistress.
-----
“Did she leave?”
After what seed like an all-out military operation that could have flushed out even a rat in the mansion—
“She’s gone. We saw her sneak into the luggage compartnt of the carriage that brought the letter from her grandfather.”
“Hmph. With nowhere else to hide, that was the only place left.”
No matter how clever you think you are, you’re still under your mother’s roof. The middle-aged woman chuckled as she read the letter sent by her father—the Guild Leader.
It ntioned succession in the Ten-Thousand Gold rchant Guild and a young man he had personally selected.
“Are you sure this is okay? She barely ever leaves the house...”
“My father will assign soone to look after her. It’s fine.”
“I’m just... not comfortable with the man being a black-haired barbarian. Letting one of our family’s daughters...”
“My father vouched for him.”
The woman—Jang Yeong-yeong, daughter of the Guild Leader—gave the warrior a cold stare.
“Forgive ! I have shad the na of the Ten-Thousand Gold rchant Guild!”
The warrior imdiately dropped to his knees and bowed in apology.
“It doesn’t matter if she doesn’t like him. She needs the experience.”
“Yes. I hope she finally learns sothing from the real world.”
“Hahaha. All she rembers from festivals is her grandfather doting on her—of course she walked right into this trap.”
Jang Yeong-yeong chuckled, thinking about her daughter, unaware she had stepped into the snare herself by climbing into that carriage.
She won’t be able to run away this ti. Surely she wouldn’t shut herself in again—not outside the house.
With a bittersweet smile, Jang Yeong-yeong hoped her daughter would finally bring ho a man this ti.
Her father had praised him so highly—he must be decent. Though frankly, she expected her daughter would be the one to reject him.
But the man wouldn’t dare say no once he heard the family na of the girl.
Because the family Jang Yeong-yeong had married into... was the Zhegall Clan, the most prestigious martial family in Hubei Province.
A family known for turning the impossible into reality.
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