Pay‑to‑Win King of Martial Arts (Novel) - Chapter 43 - Fame (2)
Chapter 43 – Fame (2)
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Translated by Heavenly Cat
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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There was a chill in the external business division of the Zhuge Clan. That was because Zhuge Yan, the deputy hall master of the external business division, had summoned the people of the division.
Whenever Zhuge Yan’s summons came down, the people of the external business division sighed first. That was because she had not once ever summoned them for anything good.
“Who was in charge of the commercial sphere in the Wuhan region?”
“I was.”
The moment he raised his hand and answered, Zhuge Yan’s merciless hand slapped the man across the face. The middle-aged man in charge of Wuhan had his head whipped aside.
“Tell me again to my face what happened to the Wuhan Merchant Association.”
“Within Wuhan, the Wuhan Merchant Association’s market share dropped from eighty percent to sixty percent.”
Once again Zhuge Yan’s fierce palm tore through the air. It was so merciless that the sound of hand and cheek striking together was like a whip cracking.
“Do you not know how big Wuhan is? Before we’ve even recovered all the money fed to the Vice Minister of Revenue, we lose twenty percent?”
“I am sorry.”
In a way, it was only natural that Zhuge Yan was enraged.
Wuhan was symbolic in Hubei because it was the provincial capital. The side that held Wuhan was the true master of Hubei.
Of course, the Wuhan Merchant Association still dwarfed the East Lake Merchant Association in scale, but that was only a structure forcibly created through the intervention of the Vice Minister of Revenue. If the market returned to its natural state again, it was obvious the East Lake Merchant Association would become a powerful rival capable of checking the Wuhan Merchant Association.
“Even the wages of your entire life wouldn’t make up for the twenty percent that flew away from Wuhan. Do you understand?”
“I am sorry. I will again arrange a close meeting with the Provincial Administration Commission.”
Still seething, Zhuge Yan returned to her chair and sat down roughly.
“And what changes if you do? I hear it’s become difficult even to kill off the East Lake Merchant Association.”
“That is true, but…”
“Then it’s right to expand somewhere other than Wuhan. If you sit there wringing your hands over Wuhan, what are you going to get out of it?”
“…I will correct it.”
“Do I really have to work with idiots like this? Think. Use your head.”
Zhuge Yan tapped her own temple with a finger. No one could say anything. Her personality was foul, that was true, but no one could doubt Zhuge Yan’s ability.
In truth, after she took office as deputy hall master, the scale of the external business division had grown at least twice over.
All they had heard from the Vice Minister of Revenue in the Hubei Provincial Administration Commission was that the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate had made it difficult for the Wuhan Merchant Association to monopolize Wuhan. But there was something she did not understand.
“But why did the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief suddenly come to Wuhan?”
“Apparently plague briefly broke out in Wuhan. It seems he came while investigating the cause of the plague’s spread.”
“Then there was no reason for him to interfere in a merchant association.”
“The Divine Physician of Hubei who cured that plague founded a merchant company, and that merchant company entered the East Lake Merchant Association. It seems the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief came to know the Divine Physician of Hubei while commending his merit, and because of that the East Lake Merchant Association was able to breathe again.”
“Then they should have brought the Divine Physician of Hubei into the Wuhan Merchant Association. Why didn’t they?”
“Ah, well, it seems the Wuhan Merchant Association excluded him because they thought he had received special treatment during the process of founding his merchant company.”
Zhuge Yan let out a hollow laugh. She had heard the name Divine Physician of Hubei before.
More than the fact that he had cured people’s illnesses, the fact that he had made a name for himself proved his ability. A man like that should have been taken into the Wuhan Merchant Association by any means necessary. If the Divine Physician of Hubei were on their side, the evaluation of the people of Wuhan would certainly improve as well.
“So what you’re saying is that they just disliked him on a personal level and refused to bring the Divine Physician of Hubei into the Wuhan Merchant Association.”
“They say they did not know the Divine Physician of Hubei had an acquaintance in the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, and did not know he might move politically.”
“That’s just the Wuhan Merchant Association’s excuse. Replace the Association Master. Since an incompetent man is sitting at the top, even things that should work are failing. Check the merchant companies under the Wuhan Merchant Association too, and strip out all the useless ones. Because we’ve been pouring money into them, they’re running things far too loosely.”
“…That is.”
“Why?”
Zhuge Yan’s fierce gaze turned toward the man in charge of Wuhan. He immediately lowered his head.
“It shall be done.”
“Good. And find out who this Divine Physician of Hubei is.”
“Ah. We looked into that a little.”
The man in charge approached Zhuge Yan and handed her a sheet of paper. As she unfolded it and read, Zhuge Yan frowned.
“Muk Hui-yeong?”
“Yes.”
“As you can see, he is a lay disciple of Wudang, but for some reason he has a main-sect disciple of the Myeong generation attached to him. He was neither a merchant nor a physician to begin with. That seems to be why the Association Master let down his guard.”
Zhuge Yan stared over the paper at the man in charge for a long moment, then dropped her gaze back to the paper. However she looked at it, it was him. That rude lay disciple she had met in Xiangyang.
The name was unusual, being a lay disciple of Wudang was too rare a coincidence to overlap, and on top of that he even had a main-sect disciple of the Myeong generation with him. That was evidence that could not be denied.
“If we could perhaps draw the Divine Physician of Hubei onto our side, then it seems the Wuhan Merchant Association might be able to recover its market share. Shall we try recruiting him? Since he’s a lay disciple of Wudang, he probably won’t become hostile to the Zhuge Clan…”
“No.”
Zhuge Yan cut him off.
He was already someone she had had investigated anyway. She just had not expected him to become useful like this so quickly. And these fools did not look capable of handling him properly either.
“You lot just clean up the Wuhan Merchant Association.”
Zhuge Yan braced a hand on the desk and stood. It felt like it was about time for her to go to Wudang once.
***
“We’re finally back!”
Myeong-gyeong spread his short arms wide and drew in a deep breath. For some reason, I too felt the ease of having returned home. In fact, it would have been strange otherwise. After all, my second life had begun from Wudang.
“Indeed.”
“Now I have to practice martial arts like crazy.”
“You worked hard even while we were outside.”
“I have to work even harder. Junior Brother. We might become the masters of the Taiji Wisdom Sword, you know.”
“The master of the Taiji Wisdom Sword, huh. So even the main-sect disciples can’t all learn it?”
“They say it’s such a supreme martial art that even if it’s taught, not everyone can learn it. That’s why they select a few people and teach only them.”
So Immortal Cheong-hwa was a genius who had inherited the Taiji Wisdom Sword. Well, to make a name that great, he naturally would have to be a genius.
When we reached the middle of Wudang Mountain, I could see people of the Myeong generation guarding the main gate into Wudang.
“Senior Brothers! We’ve returned!”
Myeong-gyeong waved and walked over to the Myeong-generation men. They seemed to be around second-generation disciples.
They smiled when they saw Myeong-gyeong, but when their gaze fell on me, their expressions hardened. It felt oddly cold.
“Ahem. You are the lay disciple Muk Hui-yeong, yes?”
“Yes.”
Because the second-generation disciples were close to me in age and I had no connection with them, we used mutual honorifics. Perhaps that was why there had always been some awkwardness, but now it felt even stranger.
“There was a summons to the Three Purities Hall. Once you return, you are to come there immediately.”
“The Three Purities Hall?”
“That is correct. It is by order of the Sect Leader.”
And not just that, it was an order from the Sect Leader. It was only natural to feel tense when someone high above called for you.
“May I ask what for…”
“We do not know that either.”
I tried asking lightly, hoping to get at least some hint, but they truly seemed not to know. Myeong-gyeong, feeling the same unease as I did, asked,
“What did you do wrong?”
“What would I even have done wrong?”
“Maybe they found out you peed on the Three Purities Hall building.”
“I’m not a child like you, Senior Brother.”
“I-I never did that to the Three Purities Hall, you know?”
Then that meant he had done it somewhere else. It seemed likely he would explode if I pointed that out, so I did not say it.
Leaving the worried Myeong-gyeong at the Hall of Exhausting the Way, I went to the Three Purities Hall. Azure Cloud Steps had improved a great deal during the outing as well, so climbing the cliff was easy.
When I reached the top of the cliff, a face I did not particularly want to see was standing there with a smile.
“Immortal, no, Master.”
“You took your time getting here.”
The man standing there with his arms folded and looking down at me was Immortal Cheong-hwa. Dusting off the dirt I had picked up climbing the cliff, I answered,
“I had a lot to do.”
“I’m sure you did.”
At that tone that said how ridiculous, I flinched. There was no way he knew everything I had done outside, was there? I had made sure to keep Myeong-gyeong’s mouth shut, and Myeong-gyeong had not even met Cheong-hwa.
“Ahem. The Sect Leader summoned me, so I will be going in now.”
“Let’s go together. I, your master, was summoned as well.”
“Is that so.”
For some reason, my sense of unease rose even further. I walked down the corridor with Cheong-hwa toward the Sect Leader’s room.
When I opened the door, the sharp gaze of Cheong-ui, the Sect Leader, greeted me.
“You’ve come. Was your outing enjoyable?”
“Ah, yes. It was all right.”
“It must have been. You did what you wanted to do.”
“What I wanted to do?”
“You founded a merchant company, didn’t you?”
At those utterly natural words, I coughed. Founding a merchant company was not, in itself, something wrong.
Even so, the reason I had covered Myeong-gyeong’s mouth and even coaxed him had been because I thought it would create needless noise. Of course, that had all become meaningless now.
“I told you that you need to focus on martial arts…”
Cheong-hwa spoke through gritted teeth and a smile. This was exactly the kind of noise I had wanted to avoid. I had not wanted people who told me to focus on martial arts to start having fits. Cheong-hwa was the representative example.
“What does it matter what a lay disciple does? That is exactly why he refused main-sect disciple status and chose to be a Registered lay disciple.”
“That is true, but…”
Thankfully, it was Cheong-ui, the Sect Leader himself, who defended me instead. Right. I was blameless. There was not a single thing I had done that pricked my conscience.
“But that fellow went out saying he was going to see his father. In the end, he didn’t see his father at all and only went and founded a merchant company.”
That point did sting a little. But I was a battle-hardened merchant. A small lie like that could not wound my by-now blunted conscience.
“Schedules are always subject to change.”
After a dry cough, I immediately counterattacked.
“But do you normally monitor every movement of a lay disciple when he goes out like this?”
“It was not surveillance. Someone simply told us.”
“And who told you that?”
“Miss Zhuge Yan of the Zhuge Clan paid us a visit.”
“Ah, that…”
For a moment, all sorts of curses boiled up in my throat, but fortunately I did not spit them out. I was a person who knew how to exercise restraint.
“She is a very clever and beautiful young lady.”
“She is. Miss Zhuge also said you were clever and handsome.”
“Did she now?”
That was not something I could understand. Cheong-ui was not a man to invent such words. Zhuge Yan had to have some motive for saying them. I was sure from the beginning that the very act of her coming to Wudang had impure motives.
“Miss Zhuge praised you so much. I heard you cured the plague in Wuhan and even earned the sobriquet Divine Physician of Hubei.”
“I was only fortunate.”
“No. As a disciple of Wudang, it was conduct worthy of being a model. You did very well.”
“Thank you.”
Hearing praise from the Sect Leader did feel good, but at the same time, the unease in my heart grew. Was it really possible Zhuge Yan had come and done nothing but praise me? No way.
“If one has such an upright heart, then what does it matter whether he founds a merchant company or does anything else? Cheong-hwa.”
“That is correct.”
Cheong-hwa nodded as if he acknowledged that much as well. Even so, I felt I ought to thank Zhuge Yan for at least telling them about my activities in Wuhan.
After the gilding on my face was finished, I cleared my throat. Now that I had heard the good news Zhuge Yan brought, it was time to hear the bad news.
“But Miss Zhuge would not have come to Wudang merely to deliver that message.”
“Correct. As it happens, the Zhuge Clan has invited the younger generation of Wudang.”
“Invited?”
“Yes. They say it is to promote fellowship among the famous orthodox forces of Hubei. We occasionally have such exchanges with the Zhuge Clan.”
“Am I included in that?”
“It seems Miss Zhuge especially asked that you absolutely be included. She said she very much wanted to see the Divine Physician of Hubei.”
It seemed she had completely left out the fact that we had already met in Xiangyang. One way or another, Zhuge Yan wanted to call me to the Zhuge Clan. The other younger generation members had nothing to do with it.
“I see.”
“You have just returned from a long outing, so your own will is what matters most. If you are tired, you do not have to go.”
“No.”
I smiled. It was not the Divine Physician of Hubei Zhuge Yan wanted to see, but the Company Lord of the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company.
“I should go.”
When a Company Lord is called, he goes. Whether by enemy or ally.