Book 1 Chapter 24: When Spring Arrives at the Crossroad (3)
Translator: Hwarang
Editor: Kidyeon
The next day, Song Hwa Rin visited me once again.
âDid you tell your father?â
I could tell from her rash behavior that her heart was uneasy. It seems that Song Wu Kyung is going to make a decision either today or tomorrow.
âNo, I didnât tell him.â
Her face expressed her disappointment.
âEh? Oh well. Iâm sorry that I asked you a favor then.â
She turned around, about to leave.
âYour way of thinking is wrong.â
âWhat?â
âThe more that you prevent someone from doing something, the more that theyâll want to do it. Letâs say that my father were to talk him out of it; it would leave a lasting impression on your father.â
She couldnât say anything back, considering the fact that she hadnât thought that far through.
âNot only that, but it could create a crack in their relationship. You donât want that, right?â
âOf course not. I definitely donât want their relationship to change because of this.â
âTherefore, I think that this isnât the proper way to go about this. We should make your father give more thought to thisâlike giving him a reason to decline the offer.â
âGiving him a reason to decline the offer?
Yeah, youâre right, but ⊠how do we go about finding that reason?â
âHave you looked any further into it?â
âWhat?â
âHave you looked any further into the people involved and the hidden resentment that they bear? Have you found a proper reason to stop these people?â
âWhat do you mean?â She tilted her head and gave me a funny look.
âI decided to look further into it. I learned more about it from our Financial Officer, Elder Jong.â
âWhat did you find out?â
âA couple of months ago they were about to make a big financial breakthrough. However, it suddenly came to a halt.â
âWhat financial breakthrough?â
âI donât know, as there werenât any ways to look further into it. However, I have a feeling that we need to investigate what happened. If we know what happened then, we might know what theyâre up to now.â
âBut we donât have time! My father said that heâll give them his answer today!â
âThereâs a way to look into it before then.â
âHow?â
âBy buying information from the information brokers. This is both the fastest and most reliable way to learn what happened.â
âInformation brokers?â
Her voice was shaky. It seems that sheâs never used an information broker before.
âHowever, to do so, I need some money.â
âHow much?â
âA thousand nyang? Two thousand? Even I donât know. However, Iâm sure that the more you pay them, the more accurate the information will be.â
âAre you crazy? Two thousand nyang is a huge sum of money!â
âIâll leave the final decision up to you.â
Two hours later she came back with the money. I didnât ask her where sheâd gotten it from. Since she was the heir to the Song Clan, getting two thousand nyang shouldnât have been a problem for her.
While we were on our way to the information brokers, I bought two straw hats and cloaks to disguise ourselves with. She mustâve been a bit scared considering this was her first time doing this sort of thing.
She didnât have a good impression of the information brokers, as she thought that they lived in dark places and did dirty things . She thought that they were greedy, dirty people who would try to trick her. It was understandable since she had never used their services before, and there were still people who would try to trick you. However, if the price is right, theyâll give you whatever information you need.
Kang Ho had a few different types of Information brokers. They ranged from private merchants all the way to large broker guilds. However, I knew all about them since the sect that Kal Sa Ryang manages is the information sect.
There are many information guilds in Kang Ho, but the three major information broker guilds in Kang Ho are The Heavenly Net Guild, The Ghostly Eye Palace, and The Thousand Crossroads Guild.
I had already looked into the different information merchants of San Dong, asthere were two things I needed in order to enlarge my Clan: Money and Information.
Without these two things, there was no way for me to enlarge the Clan. Thus, Iâd already looked into the information network of San Dong.
Because of this, I knew where the Heavenly Net Guild was, and took her with me to one of the Heavenly Net Guildâs offices.
When we arrived at the entrance, she was hesitant.
âIâm nervous since this is my first time here....â
âDonât be.â
âWhat?â
âDonât show that itâs your first time here.â
â...Ok.â
After taking a couple of deep breaths and slapping her cheeks a couple of times, she managed to calm down.
A man with a goatee met us. He seemed very uptight, and didnât seem to have any flaws, making him have the perfect appearance for this sort of work.
âWhat sort of Information are you looking for?â
âInformation about the San Dong Merchants.â
Thereâs a price on all information. Just like other merchandise, the price of the information will fluctuate rather quickly. What was a hundred nyang the day before, could very well rise to be a thousand nyang the very next day.
âA thousand five-hundred nyang. Originally it was only worth two hundred nyang, but it just rose a little while ago.
His words werenât without reason. Which meant that this information was worth its price.
Song hwa Rin looked at me hesitantly.
I turned towards the Merchant and told him, âGive us some time.â
âOf course.â
The merchant left in a rather excited mood, as if heâd already sold the information.
âIs this information worth its price?â
âI donât knowâ
You would never know if the information was worth it until you heard it from the merchant.
âWhat would you do?â
âIâd buy it.â
Then she asked me, âWhy?â
âSince it has something to do with my father. I donât want to leave anything to chance when it comes to my family.â
She made her resolution this time and nodded at me.
When the merchant came back, she directly gave him one thousand five-hundred nyang.
âWeâll buy it.â
âGood. Iâll tell you about it then.â
I asked him which Clan the San Dong Merchant was going to work with
âA couple of months ago, the San Dong Merchants were in the middle of making a deal with the Yang Clan.â
âThe Yang Clan?!â
We were both surprised. This was a name that we werenât expecting.
A couple of month ago means that Yang GI Chul was still the Gaju of the Yang Clan.
âAs you know, itâs harder for a Merchant Guild to enter the Murim than a Clan.â
âSo they were going to trust that the Yang Clan would become bigger, and force their way into the Murim....â
âYes. During the process, they had numerous conflict with other merchant guilds. And if things went their way, there was going to be an even larger conflict.â
This was a surprising piece of news that had never spread.
âBut ever since Yang GI Chul died, the San Dong Merchant guild have received some backlash, and the new Bangju of the Yang Clan has cut all ties with the Merchant guild. Therefore, the formation of the San Dong Alliance was postponed.â
âAnd what were the other merchant guildâs reactions?â
âThey, of course, are waiting for an opportunity to take revenge. This concludes the information about the San Dong Merchant guild.â
If this information hasn't been any useful to us, he wouldnât have made the price a thousand five-hundred nyang. Thus, she didnât complain about the price.
After listening to everything that the information merchant had to say about the San Dong Merchant guild, she became angry.
âEverything the San Dong Merchant guild said was a lie. They were just using us to divert the attention away from the other merchant guilds.â
I nodded in agreement with her.
âYouâre completely right. They were using the San Doing Alliance as an excuse to get under the radar of the others.â
Because Song Wu Kyung was focusing his attention on the creation of an Alliance, he hadnât paid much attention to the San Dong Merchant guild. He hadnât understood their true intentions.
ââŠscaryâ
âYes, it is very scary.â
She must have been pretty shocked. She never thought that Kang Ho-In would scheme this much.
âYou should hurry and tell your father about this.â
She turned back towards me and said, âThanks.â
âYou bought the information with your money. Thereâs no need to thank me.â
She left after giving me a second glance.
Even though I had some feelings for her, the true reason I had helped her was because of my father. I truly wanted to protect his and her fatherâs relationship.
***
Song Wu Kyung declined the offer from the San Dong Merchant guild. Iâm sure he declined it in a nice way that didnât reveal his hands.
After that, both Song Wu Kyung and Song Hwa Rin visited our house.
Song Wu Kyung gave thanks with everyone present.
âThanks to you, we were able to discover what they were scheming.â
âNo, itâs not like that. It was Rin-ee who found out about it. I just escorted her.â
âThatâs not what I heard. Without you, this situation couldâve become quite complicated.â
It seems that Hwa Rin had told her father that everything that happened was because of me.
Song Wu Kyung grabbed my hand. His hand was full of callouses, but warm.
âThank you very much.â
I could feel his true feelings though his eyes.
I had only helped him because of the close relationship that he and my father shared.
âNo, all the credit should to go Rin-ee.â
I gave her all the credit to the end.
Since Hwa Rin remained silent, I didnât know what she was thinking.
Then Song Wu Kyung said to my parents, âWe were able to escape this calamity thanks to our son-in-law. Thank you very much.â
My parents couldnât hold back their excitement either.
I could that my father was especially proud that I had help Song Wu Kyung avoid this crisis. However, he wasnât the type to boast about me.
âThis all happened because Rin-ee was able to gather enough money.â
My father added more as a compliment, âYou have a very good daughter.â
Afterwards, Song Wu Kyung looked at me and Hwa Rin couple of times and said, âNow that I look at you two, it truly seems that you two are match made in heaven!â
My mother didnât miss the chance either. âYes, they complement each other well.â
It felt like they were going to hold a marriage ceremony tomorrow, so I took Hwa Rin and left the room. That was how we were able to get out of that.
I was surprised that everything that happened was related to me. If I hadnât killed Yang Gi Chul, this wouldnât have happened. If I hadnât died, there wouldnât be any of this nonsense about Alliances.
This was the first time Hwa Rin apologized to me as sincerely as she did. âIâm sorry that I asked you for this kind of favor, when I was the first one to cancel our engagement.â
Then she lowered her head and said, âThank you. Really.â
I gave her a light smile since I didnât have any significant feelings for her.
If it was the younger me, I wouldâve wanted to chase after her and make her mine simply because of her beauty. I wouldnât have been able to control my emotions and wouldnât have cared about anything else in the world. Iâd have caused a scene just like Byuk Lee Dan had. But I was someone whoâd lived seventy odd years. I understood her all too well. I understood why sheâd wanted to cancel our engagement, and how she wanted to help her father.
âLike I said before, this is something that you did.â
She turned and looked at me. When I waved at her, she gave me a little smile and quickly left.
I was rooting for her springtime of youth.
Praying that sheâd achieve what she wanted to achieve.
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