Pay‑to‑Win King of Martial Arts (Novel) - Chapter 66 - I Always Think of You (4)
Chapter 66 – I Always Think of You (4)
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Translated by Heavenly Cat
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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“Uh, uho, I don’t know. I received it from someone I knew long ago.”
“…”
What kind of nonsense is that.
I looked at Mun Il-ji. Mun Il-ji immediately interpreted what he’d said.
“He says, ‘I don’t know. I got it from a merchant I knew in the past.'”
“Wow. How are you even interpreting that?”
“After beating him enough times, I started to get the gist.”
“How vicious.”
“Try being hit by a gu worm once. It doesn’t amount to even one ten-thousandth of the pain he’s feeling now.”
Mun Il-ji snorted. Merchants travel all across the Central Plains and go through every kind of experience there is, so they can keep eating even with a gruesome sight like this in front of them. Merchants are that kind of people.
Still, the fact that he said he’d gotten it from a merchant rather than some martial artist dressed in black was a slightly puzzling point. Why would a merchant be carrying a gu worm in the first place?
“What merchant? Where and when did you get it?”
“He says it was when he was in Shanxi.”
I frowned. Shanxi. If it was Shanxi, then naturally that was a place dominated by Shanxi merchants.
Shanxi merchants were also closely connected to the Imperial Palace. There was no way the Imperial Palace would have knowingly overlooked gu worms, and I couldn’t make out through what route it had gotten there in the first place.
“If it was when he was in Shanxi, then it would’ve been around five years ago.”
“Five years ago…”
I stroked my chin with my finger. Huizhou merchants are centered around the fifteen Huizhou clans, while Shanxi merchants are made up of four great families.
“What’s the name?”
“”
I didn’t even need an interpretation for this one. Judging from the way he shook his head, it meant he didn’t know. I grabbed that shaking head and forced our eyes to meet.
“Was that merchant’s surname perhaps Jin, Guan, Luo, or Di?”
“Ah, Gua, Guan! It was Guan!”
“It was Guan?”
I looked at Mun Il-ji, and he nodded. Repeated learning really was important for people. After hearing it a few times, I was starting to understand it myself now.
“The Guan family…”
I let out a low murmur. If it was the Guan family, then they were the ones who ran Yunchang Merchant Company. As the company’s name itself made obvious, they were descendants of Lord Guan.
Even among the Shanxi merchants, who placed great importance on trust, they were a particularly exceptional merchant company. Thanks to that distinctive reliability, in my previous life they had maintained a good relationship with both me and Radiant Crystal Merchant Company. As far as I knew, Yunchang Merchant Company was not the sort of place that would become a lackey of the Demonic Cult.
“What a headache.”
If it had instead been Qin-Jin Merchant Company, which made a daily habit of pretending to be armored in trust while stabbing people in the back, I would rather have thought, well, that sounds about right. Hearing the name of a merchant company that had once been close with me in my previous life came as a shock.
That said, the Black Dragon Gate Master wasn’t in a position where he could be lying right now either.
Suddenly I thought of the Company Lord of Yunchang Merchant Company. She was probably receiving heir training about now. She was the only female Company Lord among the Great Houses, someone who, like me, had remained unmarried and obsessed with work well past forty. That was why the two of us had been fairly close.
‘I should go there once.’
As soon as possible. To be honest, if I had learned that some other merchant company was connected to the Demonic Cult, I would’ve simply left it at that. There would’ve been no need to keep pursuing it and needlessly reveal myself first.
But Yunchang Merchant Company had been a friend to both me and Radiant Crystal Merchant Company, so I couldn’t just stand by and watch. There was also the chance they might be framed for the crime of using gu worms and be sentenced to an extreme punishment. At the very least, I wanted to prevent that.
There was no need to get impatient. Even roughly thirty years later, when I died, the Demonic Cult still hadn’t risen openly and was only working through hidden machinations. That meant its preparations were probably still incomplete right now.
“It doesn’t look like there’s anything more to find out.”
I straightened the legs I’d been crouching on to meet his eyes.
“There isn’t anything else you’re curious about now?”
“No. Handle him however you like.”
“That’s my job.”
“True enough.”
As a merchant, one has to value no relation just as much as relation. If something has no relation to me, then I should stop caring about it.
Put another way, I died in my previous life precisely because I failed to distinguish between relation and no relation. The Demonic Cult and I had no connection whatsoever, yet hadn’t that single elixir ended up getting me killed?
Leaving the Black Dragon Gate Master, or rather, the former Black Dragon Gate Master, behind, I left the Black Dragon Gate.
By the time I returned to Radiant Crystal Merchant Company, the eunuchs who had been tearing through the merchant company had already gone home. Jo Chung-heon had stayed behind and was re-sorting the documents that the eunuchs had mixed together.
“You’re back.”
“Yes.”
“Ah. Someone came from the Provincial Administration Commission.”
“Pardon?”
I frowned. When I heard Provincial Administration Commission, the only person who came to mind was that bastard Vice Minister of Revenue I wanted to chew up and kill. Jo Chung-heon seemed to notice that and hurriedly added more words.
“The Vice Minister of Revenue didn’t summon you. This time it was the Revenue Councillor.”
“The Revenue Councillor?”
If it was the Revenue Councillor, then it was Hyeong Tae-seong. My expression naturally relaxed and a smile rose to my face. There was only one reason Hyeong Tae-seong would call for me.
It meant it was time to strike back.
***
Hyeong Tae-seong kept moistening his throat. In twenty years of public service up to now, there had never been a time when he had trembled this much. He knew it himself. Internal whistleblowing was, in truth, an enormous gamble.
“Is your throat dry?”
Wang Song, seated in the place of honor, smiled as he looked at Hyeong Tae-seong. Hyeong Tae-seong ended up choking on his tea and coughed.
“Cough, cough.”
“Ah, my apologies.”
Wang Song smiled. Even while looking at that smile, Hyeong Tae-seong didn’t loosen the string of his tension.
Wang Song. The Right Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate. A true power figure of the Censorate, said to be able to bring down even birds in flight. The people of the Provincial Administration Commission likely didn’t even know Wang Song had come. Right now Wang Song had visited the Commission only in the capacity of Hyeong Tae-seong’s personal guest. For the sake of secrecy, he had even come with his bamboo hat pulled down deep over his face. Wearing a bamboo hat was forbidden inside the Provincial Administration Commission, yet for the first time Hyeong Tae-seong had used the authority of his office as Revenue Councillor to silence the mouths of lower officials.
“No, not at all. My apologies.”
“Let’s wait to talk until the Company Lord of Radiant Crystal Merchant Company arrives.”
“Yes. But if this is the shame of a government office, isn’t it a bit improper for even a commoner to know?”
Hyeong Tae-seong found it slightly strange. In the end, the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate had come because of the corruption report Hyeong Tae-seong had made. In that case, it ought to have been enough for him to speak only with Hyeong Tae-seong, yet he was insisting on talking together with the Company Lord of Radiant Crystal Merchant Company.
“Isn’t the Company Lord of Radiant Crystal Merchant Company the sort of person who’d go around spreading this everywhere?”
“Even so…”
“I have my reasons.”
“Yes. Understood.”
The Right Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate was a third-rank office. And the weight of a regular third-rank official in the capital was inevitably different from that of a provincial official of lower fourth rank.
Not much later, a slight commotion could be heard outside. Wang Song smiled.
“He’s here.”
Hyeong Tae-seong nodded. Even in Hyeong Tae-seong’s view, the only person who could attract that much commotion from the people right now was Muk Hui-yeong. A man who had been rising triumphantly after defeating the Wuhan Merchant Association, only to be marked by the Vice Minister of Revenue and the Eastern Depot and immediately cast down into ruin. Especially in the Revenue Office, where the Vice Minister of Revenue who had bad blood with Muk Hui-yeong was present, the uproar would’ve been all the greater.
“Muk Hui-yeong.”
Sure enough, someone knocked from outside and a single man entered. As befitted a merchant, his expensive clothes and easygoing impression stood out right away. Muk Hui-yeong briefly looked up at the ceiling above Wang Song, then turned his gaze back.
“It’s been a while.”
“Right Vice Censor-in-Chief, have you been well?”
“As for me, there’s no reason not to be. Usually it’s the people who see me who end up not doing well.”
“Fortunately, I’ve been doing quite well.”
“Haven’t you been doing badly? I looked into the news from Wuhan, and it seems you’ve been having quite an ordeal.”
Muk Hui-yeong merely gave a hearty laugh. Hyeong Tae-seong inwardly thought the young man was truly remarkable. Frankly speaking, he thought that the Vice Minister of Revenue dragging even the Eastern Depot into this had been a foul move. Under such circumstances, anyone would have reason to explode with resentment and speak of their grievance, but Muk Hui-yeong simply laughed it off like this. As always, he was a man with a kind of seasoned slickness and maturity utterly unsuited to his young age.
“It’s been a while for me as well, Lord Hyeong.”
“Yes. It has been a while.”
Since there was an elder seated in the place of honor, the two ended their greeting briefly. As he sat down, Muk Hui-yeong lightly swirled the teacup in front of him.
“The tea has gone quite cold. I hope I haven’t come too late.”
“You must have come the moment you heard, so it’s no matter.”
“That much is true. I came running immediately.”
“For someone who ran here, you don’t seem to be sweating.”
“If a martial artist sweats from running this little, he ought to go back to training.”
“Weren’t you a merchant?”
“I’ve decided to accept being both. It would be a bit of a waste for a person like me to do only one thing.”
“That’s not a bad way to think.”
Wang Song burst into hearty laughter. Seeing Muk Hui-yeong answering so casually before Wang Song, Hyeong Tae-seong inwardly clicked his tongue. Yet whenever the young man revealed ambition like this, he also seemed like a youth. He truly was someone with many different sides.
“Do you know why I summoned you?”
“Right to the point?”
“Aren’t we all busy people?”
Hyeong Tae-seong tensed up again. The one reporting corruption was Hyeong Tae-seong, yet Wang Song seemed more interested in Muk Hui-yeong.
“As a commoner, it is admittedly burdensome for me to involve myself in the affairs of a government office.”
“Then you may leave.”
“But if one bears that burden and still steps forward, that is how one becomes a greater man. If one only keeps avoiding burdens because they are frightening, then one remains nothing more than an ordinary person.”
“So it seems you want to become a great man.”
“I am still lacking, but yes, I dare to say that I do.”
Muk Hui-yeong wore a calm smile.
“To answer your question, Right Vice Censor-in-Chief, it seems to me that you wish to bury Vice Minister of Revenue Jin outright.”
“And what makes you think so?”
“If that weren’t the case, there would be no reason for you to summon me, a man who has become his enemy.”
“Correct.”
Wang Song’s eyes shone. Muk Hui-yeong’s eyes shone in turn. Hyeong Tae-seong still lacked the experience to insert himself into their conversation.
“It seems that the corruption itself is not all that important to you.”
“From the Censorate’s standpoint, that is only a pretext. What kind of organization do you think the Censorate is?”
“Outwardly, it is an institution that uproots the corruption of officials in order to create a better state.”
“And inwardly?”
“An institution directly under the Imperial Palace that restrains officials’ factions and maintains balance among them.”
“Excellent. Then I was right to summon you.”
Only then did Hyeong Tae-seong realize something. From Wang Song’s perspective, summoning Muk Hui-yeong had also been a gamble. If Muk Hui-yeong hadn’t left a deep impression on Wang Song when the two first met, this summons would never have happened.
“Vice Minister of Revenue Jin is no more than chaff. It is nearly impossible for a Vice Minister of Revenue of Hubei’s Provincial Administration Commission to exert influence all the way to the capital.”
“So you’ve essentially come because of the Eastern Depot.”
“If it weren’t for the Eastern Depot, I wouldn’t even have come in person. At most I would’ve sent a single Investigating Censor. In the end, the Vice Minister of Revenue has tightened the noose around his own neck.”
As the secretive discussion began, their voices naturally dropped lower. Muk Hui-yeong rolled his eyes upward.
“There’s a qi curtain raised here, isn’t there?”
“Of course.”
“You have a guard martial artist present. I didn’t even notice his presence.”
“Don’t lie. You looked at the ceiling the moment you came in.”
“Haha. Was I caught?”
“People of the Censorate are bound to accumulate grudges and grudges. If we don’t go about with guards like this, it would be troublesome.”
“That’s understandable.”
Certainly, even to Hyeong Tae-seong it felt as though the flow of air had changed somehow. Of course, since he wasn’t a martial artist, he had no way of knowing whether it was a qi curtain or something else.
“In any case, the Eastern Depot’s momentum right now is no trifling thing. Traditionally the Embroidered Uniform Guard dominated the Eastern Depot, but now the opposite is true, and the Eastern Depot is overpowering the Embroidered Uniform Guard.”
“Is that so?”
“There are several factions within the Imperial Palace, but the conflict between the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot is what the Censorate considers most important. It can’t be helped, since they handle information and possess force.”
“That makes sense. So you’re planning to bundle together the Vice Minister of Revenue and the Chief Director of the Eastern Depot and send them both away in one stroke.”
“That’s right. Of course, I hold no personal grudge against the Eastern Depot. I am merely doing what a man of the Censorate ought to do.”
Listening quietly, Hyeong Tae-seong felt slightly afraid. He had only wanted to reveal corruption, yet wasn’t it beginning to look as though he would be dragged into factional conflict among central officials?
If even a fourth-rank official like him was trembling like this, then Muk Hui-yeong, who was nothing more than a commoner, was simply smiling. His nerve wasn’t merely great. At that point, it was practically nonexistent.
“I did come after working out a rough plan. We will connect the corruption and bribes committed by the Vice Minister of Revenue to the pressure put upon Radiant Crystal Merchant Company, and then connect that pressure on Radiant Crystal Merchant Company to the Eastern Depot.”
“That isn’t greatly wrong.”
“In truth, it’s speculation. There is a correlation between the two, but it would be hard to say that the Eastern Depot is connected to the side that received the bribes. Still, words can be made up however one likes.”
“That is true.”
It was the same method the Eastern Depot had used when it froze Radiant Crystal Merchant Company based on nothing more than supposition. The Eastern Depot would end up hoisted by its own petard.
“But there is a problem.”
“What is it?”
“The Eastern Depot will naturally raise an uproar and scream in protest, won’t it?”
“It will. But pressing through that is the Censorate’s work, so you needn’t concern yourself.”
“I’ll help you.”
At Muk Hui-yeong’s words, even Wang Song’s eyes widened, not just Hyeong Tae-seong’s.
“And how exactly do you intend to help?”
“Haven’t people said it since ancient times?”
Muk Hui-yeong brought a finger to his lips.
“The dead tell no tales.”
The smile still lingering on Muk Hui-yeong’s face was cold. Very cold.