I Will Start Doing Business In Jungwon From Today [EN]: Chapter 150

Ak Seung-myeong thought he had misheard.

To hear Jo Gwang-yun’s name from the mouth of a court eunuch who served the Emperor.

“E, excuse me, Eunuch. What did you just say…”

Ak Seung-myeong tried to confirm again, but the eunuch pretended not to hear and shouted.

“I will give you ten days. The Wokou [Japanese pirates] subjugation force must depart in ten days!”

The Ak family members who watched this scene were overwhelmed with various emotions: anger, bewilderment, worry. Especially Ak Ye-heun couldn’t grasp the reality of the situation. No matter how much she thought about why she had to go catch Wokou, she couldn’t find a reason.

“Excuse me,” someone shouted at the eunuch. “I don’t understand why our family has to bear military service. We may not have any officials in our family now, but we once produced even a great general. How can you impose such an unfair responsibility on us?”

The eunuch shook his head.

“It’s not military service. That mere conscription is the job of the local magistrate; His Majesty would not issue a personal letter. Didn’t I clearly say? The Emperor is asking for your help. This is the Emperor’s earnest request.”

“A request? Is it okay to take the Emperor’s request at face value? Then is it okay to politely decline with due respect?”

Sparks flew from the eyes of the military officer who came with the eunuch.

“How dare you! Where do you think you are!”

As his hand gripped the sword at his waist, the eunuch raised his hand to stop him.

“Of course. You can refuse a request. However, you must be able to bear the consequences that follow.”

Ak Seung-myeong, who had been silent, burst out at the eunuch’s words.

“It’s not a request, it’s an order. A military order at that! With terrifying threats added. Isn’t that right?”

“Hoo… Ak Family Head.”

The eunuch sighed deeply before speaking.

“I really don’t know how to take this situation.”

“That’s what I should be saying!”

“No, not that… I heard that the Shandong Ak family is a pillar of the orthodox martial arts world [Jianghu]. What is an orthodox martial artist? They are a group of chivalrous individuals who practice justice and righteousness in the Jianghu. Saving the people who are groaning under the brutal exploitation of those vile Wokou is the greatest act of chivalry. Is the Emperor’s request to perform chivalry so unfair?”

Everyone was speechless when the eunuch mentioned chivalry.

“Why does the country turn a blind eye to martial arts sects that privately possess weapons and train warriors who are no different from private soldiers? It is because they are impressed by your noble hearts that practice chivalry and uphold righteousness.”

The eunuch’s voice grew louder.

“If you say you cannot even save the people suffering in pain, it means you are refusing to perform chivalry, and if that is the case, then the country has no need to be lenient. I will ask again. Are you going to refuse the Emperor’s request to perform chivalry? Then put down all your weapons and disband your warriors. If not, we will consider you a group of rebellious traitors raising private soldiers. Do you understand?”

It was a clear threat, but not a single word was wrong.

If they didn’t form a Wokou subjugation force, they would be branded as a rebellious group. Their entire clan would be killed.

Ak Seung-myeong barely managed to open his mouth.

“The Shandong province isn’t the only place with orthodox martial arts. Why…?”

“Ah, even now, the Hwangbo family must have received His Majesty’s request. Wouldn’t it be a wonderful sight if the two prestigious families of Shandong province wiped out the Wokou side by side?”

The Hwangbo family as well?

Both families had to give up their bloodline and secure the sacrifice of their supporting collateral clans.

Ak Seung-myeong recalled the eunuch’s whisper.

All of this was orchestrated by Jo Gwang-yun.

It was hard to believe, but Jo Gwang-yun even moved the imperial family of this country.

Ak Seung-myeong gritted his teeth.

This was an absolutely undeniable request.

The moment they refused, they would be branded as traitors and the path to their clan’s destruction would be opened.

“We will wholeheartedly obey His Majesty’s command.”

Ak Seung-myeong bowed to the eunuch.

“Indeed! The Shandong Ak family is a prestigious family that has not forgotten chivalry.”

The eunuch smiled and clasped his hands together.

“His Majesty has graciously decided to exempt both families from taxes for three years. For the next three years, you will subjugate the Wokou and report the results of the Wokou subjugation to the local county office.”

“Th, three years… !”

The eunuch turned away, leaving behind Ak Seung-myeong, who had lost all his spirit.

“Let’s meet again at the departure in ten days.”

* * *

The entire house was shrouded in a gloomy atmosphere, and no one could open their mouths.

Everyone was watching the head of the family, Ak Seung-myeong, but Ak Seung-myeong only sighed repeatedly and did not offer any solutions or ask for anyone else’s opinion.

After what felt like an eternity, Ak Seung-myeong finally opened his mouth.

“Ye-heun.”

“Yes, Father.”

“When you met Jo Gwang-yun of the Changryong Sect, what did he say?”

“Yes? Why are you suddenly bringing up that person’s story…?”

“Tell me. What exactly did he say?”

“He asked for three months’ time. He said he would send a gift within three months.”

“And he didn’t specifically say what that gift was?”

“Yes. He only repeated that it would be something I absolutely couldn’t refuse… He only said that if I refused the gift, he would withdraw from Shandong province without hesitation.”

“A gift… a gift…”

“Father, what’s wrong?”

Ak Ye-heun felt frustrated as she watched her father constantly muttering the word ‘gift’.

Finally, Ak Seung-myeong stopped muttering and spoke to his family, who were looking at him.

“This is all the work of that bastard Jo Gwang-yun.”

“Yes?”

“What does that mean…?”

As the surprised people buzzed, Ak Seung-myeong raised his hand to silence them.

“When the eunuch delivered the Emperor’s personal letter to me, he quietly said, ‘He asked if I liked Jo Gwang-yun’s gift.'”

“Su, surely?”

“I definitely didn’t mishear. He clearly said Jo Gwang-yun Sect Leader, so there’s no mistake. This is the gift he spoke of, and as he boasted, we couldn’t refuse it.”

The most surprised by the head of the family’s words was Ak Ye-heun.

Jo Gwang-yun’s boasts were so grand that she had secretly expected a precious elixir, a treasured sword, or a secret manual of peerless divine skill that would be difficult to obtain even with a fortune.

If such a gift had come as she expected, she even considered persuading her father. Of course, she would keep the gift for herself.

But her expectations were shattered, and instead, a threat flew in as a gift. A terrifying threat that could turn them into a group of rebels with the slightest mistake. And she was included in that threat.

To spend three years wandering the coast, shedding the blood of the Wokou!

Everything would change in three years.

Although she was a woman, she was confident that her martial arts were not inferior to those of men. She had dreamed of succeeding her father as the head of the family, or if that was not possible, at least mastering the family’s secret martial arts and becoming the real power in the family.

But if she spent three years living a humble life in a strange place, all her dreams would be shattered.

Her dreams shattered, she turned pale.

Regardless of her thoughts, the men of the family began to speak.

“Brother, how could that be? No matter how elusive Jo Gwang-yun is, how could he move even the imperial family?”

“That’s right. He’s just a merchant, no matter how well he pretends. No matter how much money he has, the Emperor wouldn’t be someone who could be moved by money, would he? This is a personal letter written by the Emperor himself.”

Someone shook the Emperor’s personal letter.

“Brother, do you think I’m so old that I can’t hear people’s words properly?”

“It’s not that, but…”

“I don’t know how that bastard moved the imperial family. But the eunuch’s words are still vivid. This is Jo Gwang-yun’s gift. What’s important now is not what method he used. In ten days, our bloodline and the warriors of our sect, who are no different from our family, must set out to catch the Wokou.”

Ak Seung-myeong’s younger brother muttered and then clapped his knee.

“Baekchang Sect, Pungroe Sect, Cheonhyang Sect, Bimuwon, Hanwolbo… Brother! Come to think of it, all of these sects that the eunuch named were sects that had joined the Changryong Sect and then came back to us.”

Ak Seung-myeong nodded.

“Yes. There’s no need to suspect further. Jo Gwang-yun borrowed the sword of the Emperor under the pretext of the Wokou to strike us first.”

There was no time to come up with a plan.

Only ten days. They couldn’t abandon the family and run away in the night, and it was difficult to put someone else in place of their bloodline.

If Jo Gwang-yun started this, he must have made thorough preparations. If even one warrior from the Changryong Sect came to check, the trick of putting someone else in their place would be exposed.

There was no time to meet Jo Gwang-yun again to negotiate.

As everyone racked their brains without a suitable solution, a voice was heard from outside.

“Elder. Great Warrior Hwangbo has arrived.”

The Hwangbo family also had sparks flying like the Ak family. How urgent it must have been for Hwangbo Deuk (皇甫得), the head of the Hwangbo family, to burst through the door and gasp for breath before even hearing a response.

“Fo, forgive my discourtesy… I, I rushed here in such a hurry…”

If he couldn’t even speak properly, it meant he had used extreme lightness skill instead of riding a horse. How urgent it must have been…

“Please sit down. I know what’s going on, Great Warrior Hwangbo.”

Ak Seung-myeong gave up his seat and subtly offered a cup of tea to quench his parched throat.

“Has he already been there? The court eunuch?”

“Yes. It seems the same is true for the Hwangbo family.”

“Yes. He came first thing in the morning.”

Ak Seung-myeong slowly asked him.

“Did the eunuch say it was Jo Gwang-yun’s gift?”

“Then it’s the same here…?”

Ak Seung-myeong nodded silently.

“I, I see…”

The heads of the two families spoke in detail about what had happened today, confirming what the commonalities and differences were.

As expected, the content was the same, only the names were different.

Hwangbo Hwan had taken Ak Ye-heun’s place, and the two were the children who had met Jo Gwang-yun directly.

And the names of the five sects came up, and they were also sects that had joined the Changryong Sect and then turned their backs.

“Great Warrior Ak. What should we do about this?”

Judging by the fact that he didn’t say anything about Jo Gwang-yun, it seemed that the Hwangbo family also believed that Jo Gwang-yun was behind this.

“Time is short. It is impossible to meet Jo Gwang-yun again and renegotiate within ten days. So, let’s form a Wokou subjugation force according to the Emperor’s command and send them out first.”

“Ah, Father!”

Ak Ye-heun let out a scream, but her father shook his head.

“You shut your mouth. Do you think this father would send you to a foreign land for three years?”

Ak Seung-myeong spoke again to Hwangbo Deuk.

“It will take dozens of days to move to the Wokou’s base. We must meet Jo Gwang-yun and renegotiate during that time.”

“Will that bastard try to negotiate with us again?”

“Jo Gwang-yun has held the sword of the Emperor against us, so we must also draw our swords. If we don’t return this matter to square one, our Ak family will strike the Changryong Sect. I believe that Great Warrior Hwangbo will also join us, of course.”

Hwangbo Deuk nodded his head.

“I see. We must draw our swords and point them at each other for negotiation to be possible.”

“If our two families strike the Changryong Sect, that bastard Jo Gwang-yun will also turn back. No matter what anyone says, the Jianghu [martial arts world] must show its strength. Only then will the conversation be easily resolved.”

“Then I will send someone to the Changryong Sect. I will sternly warn them that if Jo Gwang-yun does not appear before us as soon as possible, there will be bloodshed.”

“I am grateful that Great Warrior Hwangbo is sparing no effort.”

Once they had a direction on what to do, they were no longer in a hurry as they had been a moment ago.

But just when they overcame one hurdle, another appeared, and the two men’s minds were complicated.

The thought of going to the sects included in the subjugation force that the eunuch had mentioned and asking them to send out ten warriors each made them sigh again.

End