I Will Start Doing Business In Jungwon From Today [EN]: Chapter 88

< Spoils of War 4 >

The inn where Jo Gwang-yun arrived was guarded by about a dozen martial artists.

They bowed their heads when they saw Jo Gwang-yun.

“Anything unusual?”

“No, sir. We’ve rented the entire inn, so there are no people coming in or out.”

“Where is she?”

“Upstairs.”

The expression of the martial artist who answered was strange.

“How is she? Pretty?”

The martial artists’ expressions changed subtly for a moment.

A beauty? It’s beyond that level. It’s a beauty you can only understand by seeing her in person.

Seeing their expressions, Jo Gwang-yun wondered just how pretty she was, and his curiosity and anticipation grew.

Jo Gwang-yun rushed upstairs, took a breath, and opened the door.

The woman was startled to see Jo Gwang-yun suddenly enter without a sound.

“Wh-Who are you?”

No matter how beautiful a woman was, he had vowed never to be surprised, but it was no use.

His memory was hazy, but Jo Gwang-yun had seen quite a few beauties.

The exclusive advertising models of the Life Group had to be the top female celebrities of the time to even be considered.

When filming commercials with such celebrities, he often went to the studio to see them in person.

Under the dazzling white lights and camera flashes, they showed off bodies and beauty of a different dimension, making him feel a sense of alienation.

The woman in front of him now had no dazzling lights or professional makeup. Because of the baggy silk clothes that didn’t reveal her figure, he only saw her face, but he couldn’t close his gaping mouth.

“Hey. I asked who you are…”

The woman recalled that two martial artists were guarding outside the door.

She realized that if a man could ignore the guards and open the door without any restrictions, he was their master.

The woman quickly scanned Jo Gwang-yun again.

Young and handsome. And rich too.

She thought he was a hundred or a thousand times better than the rich old men she had experienced so far. She thought it was a windfall.

The woman immediately bent her knees and bowed her head.

“I am Yang Ryeo-cheong. Greetings, Master.”

‘As expected, she’s a cunning concubine, so she’s quick-witted,’ Jo Gwang-yun thought.

Jo Gwang-yun came to his senses when she greeted him.

“Did you say Yang Ryeo-cheong?”

“Yes, sir.”

Jo Gwang-yun asked cautiously. Having a proper surname meant there were many things to be careful about. If this woman was from a family involved in treason, she couldn’t be used for important matters.

“Did your parents give you that name?”

“No, sir. The first man who took me in gave me that name.”

“Her first man…”

Jo Gwang-yun pulled a chair in the room and sat down with a thud.

“Now, shall we hear your story?”

“Pardon?”

“Tell me the story from when you first came into the world from your mother’s womb until I opened the door to this room. Everything you remember.”

“Why do you suddenly ask about my shameful past?”

“To erase that shameful past cleanly. So there must be no lies.”

“Erase my past?”

“I need to know everyone who knows your identity and who you might encounter in the future. If I can eliminate them, I’ll erase them, and if not, I’ll figure out a way to never let you meet them. Now, no more questions.”

Yang Ryeo-cheong didn’t know exactly what it meant to erase her dirty past, but it was welcome news since it was a past she wanted to forget.

Yang Ryeo-cheong’s past was no different from the lives of countless young girls who were sold for three measures of barley by their parents.

Before her first period, she was in the arms of rich old men, attending to them in bed, and from the time her beauty as a woman began to show, her price began to rise.

At first, she had to serve many men in a shabby brothel, but she moved to a better place each time she was sold.

If she hadn’t caught Namgung Hyeon’s eye at the best brothel in Hapcheon, she might have been destined to become a concubine of the highest officials of Anhui Province, the Dojihuisa [Provincial Military Commissioner] or the Pojeongsa [Provincial Police Commissioner].

Of course, she might not have become a concubine, but she would have had to serve either of them alcohol every night at the brothel.

Jo Gwang-yun wrote down the names of every place she had been without missing a single one.

When the story of how she ended up in the Namgung family was over, Jo Gwang-yun’s expression was not good.

Yang Ryeo-cheong looked at Jo Gwang-yun and regretted telling him too much.

He liked that Yang Ryeo-cheong had lived like a weed.

The rough experiences of her life increased the possibility of improvising out of crises.

But if traces of her rough life remained, she couldn’t be priced very high. She had to be a daughter of a rich family who had been raised preciously in everyone’s eyes.

“How old are you?”

“Seventeen, sir.”

There were three years left until she turned twenty. By then, her beautiful appearance would shine even more.

After thinking for a while, Jo Gwang-yun said to Yang Ryeo-cheong.

“Take it off.”

“Pardon?”

“Take off your clothes. All the way down to your underwear. Don’t wear a single thread.”

At first, she seemed flustered, but soon calmed down. She had taken off her clothes in front of men more than once or twice, so she wasn’t very embarrassed.

And she knew how to please men.

Jo Gwang-yun’s tone of voice telling her to take off her clothes was coercive, but she didn’t rush.

She peeled them off one layer at a time, tantalizingly, teasingly, very slowly.

After throwing off the last piece of cloth, she covered her private parts with both hands while exposing her breasts. Her pure white body was dazzling.

Jo Gwang-yun’s heart beat faster at the sight of her breathtaking body, but he calmed himself down.

He approached her closely and examined her carefully, but never touched her.

Her natural skin tone was beautiful. Even though she had been through many men, it was as clean as that of a young girl who didn’t know men.

After checking the front and back, Jo Gwang-yun nodded. Perhaps because her life as Namgung Hyeon’s concubine was comfortable, she had a little fat on her sides. This much could be easily trimmed.

“Okay. Put it back on.”

Yang Ryeo-cheong was embarrassed once again.

When he told her to take off her clothes so casually, she had already prepared herself.

In the bedroom of an inn with only a man and a woman, shouldn’t the man embrace the woman when she takes off her clothes? That’s the way of men and women, isn’t it?

Moreover, he scanned her beautiful body with eyes as sharp as thorns. How could he not have lustful thoughts…?

‘He’s really a strange man. Or maybe he’s impotent. Could it be…? Is he just into men?’

Her confused thoughts stopped because of Jo Gwang-yun’s words.

“You’ve taken good care of your body. Not a single scar. You’ve never given birth…”

“I’ve known since I was very young that it’s the only asset I have.”

“Yes. You have to save your only weapon.”

Yang Ryeo-cheong carefully watched Jo Gwang-yun and cautiously opened her mouth.

“Um… Master.”

“What is it?”

“Are you trying to make me your concubine?”

“What? A concubine?”

Following Namgung Hyeon, who brought her into his house as if kidnapping her, he really kidnapped her. It’s understandable to misunderstand.

“I haven’t decided yet. Depending on what kind of person you are, your future will be completely different. It could be a flower path, a dirt path, or maybe even a mud pit. But I will never make you my concubine.”

Yang Ryeo-cheong’s eyes widened.

‘In the world! There’s a man who’s rejecting her?’ She never thought it could happen.

“From now on, you must answer my questions truthfully.”

“Yes? Ah, yes.”

“If you lie now and it’s revealed later, you don’t know what will happen to your life. You must tell the truth, no matter how bad it is. That’s how you’ll live.”

Not knowing why, she nodded first.

“Are you the type who can’t sleep without a man?”

It means she likes men and enjoys pleasure. Having lived the days she has, Yang Ryeo-cheong understood right away.

“No, sir. I miss men sometimes, but I’m not a lewd woman.”

“You’ve never gone to bed without a man, have you? So maybe you don’t know if you’re a lewd woman or not?”

“After coming here from Hwangsan, the only men were the martial artists outside. But I was comfortable.”

“Then can you live without even smelling a man for a year or two in the future?”

She didn’t answer immediately. She was thinking deeply because he told her to be honest.

“I can’t live like a widow for the rest of my life, but if it’s for something important, it’s no problem.”

Jo Gwang-yun’s eyes twinkled. He thought she was quick-witted and quite clever.

“Then what about the talent to drive men crazy in bed?”

“Wouldn’t it be faster to experience it yourself? Hehe.”

Seeing her smile bashfully with her eyes fluttering and her mouth slightly covered, Jo Gwang-yun felt his heart sink.

Even if she only leaked a little of her natural sex appeal, it was like this, so if she was determined to seduce someone, no man would be able to withstand it.

The desire to take off her clothes again and roll around with her passionately soared, but he knew that he should never touch such a great product, so he suppressed it again and again.

If he had the thought that he wouldn’t want to hand it over to someone after having a night with her, he would have to give up the big business.

Jo Gwang-yun hardened his expression and got up from his chair.

As he slowly approached Yang Ryeo-cheong, she showed an even more seductive appearance.

Jo Gwang-yun kicked her in the stomach without hesitation.

“Ugh!”

As he indifferently looked down at the woman who screamed and collapsed, gasping for breath, Yang Ryeo-cheong struggled to stand up and knelt down.

When her breathing returned and she could open her mouth, she said urgently.

“I was wrong. Please forgive me, sir.”

“What did you do wrong?”

“I dared to joke with you, sir.”

“Wrong.”

“Yes?”

“It’s because you leaked a vulgar sex appeal that seduces men.”

“Ah…!”

Yang Ryeo-cheong knew that the man in front of her was too different from the men she had known so far. A woman’s beauty doesn’t work on him. And she also knew the hidden side of him because of his polite tone and behavior.

She had seen it countless times in brothels. A man who kicks a woman until she faints whenever he feels like it.

This man is more than capable of doing that.

“I didn’t recognize you, sir. Please forgive me.”

“I’ll end it here because it’s the first time. But if I see that again, it won’t end with just one kick.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

Yang Ryeo-cheong bowed her head.

“I’ll ask again. What about the talent to drive men crazy in bed?”

“The men who have been through me have never forgotten me. The customers who came again the next day begged the owner of the brothel to let them see me, saying they would pay several times more money.”

If this was true, her value increased even more.

After being lost in thought for a while, Jo Gwang-yun called the martial artist outside.

“We will go to Gyeyang (鷄陽) as soon as the sun rises tomorrow. Prepare a carriage and horses.”

“If it’s Gyeyang, are you talking about the capital?”

“Yes.”

“I understand.”

Yang Ryeo-cheong was surprised to hear that they were going to the capital.

The place where the emperor lives, the biggest city in this country. What on earth is this man thinking?

Jo Gwang-yun warned Yang Ryeo-cheong.

“I said I would erase your past. That also means I will make you completely reborn as a new person. In the future, no one should ever dream that you were a cheap prostitute.”

“Like a daughter of a noble family?”

“That’s right. You will receive proper education in Gyeyang. If you don’t quickly learn what you’re taught, I’ll hand you over to a red-light district. A red-light district where you serve local thugs. Do you know what I mean?”

“Yes.”

Yang Ryeo-cheong’s body trembled.

What’s scarier than death is falling to the bottom. A woman’s bottom is a hell that men can’t even imagine.

In that bottom place, a woman is not human. There are only men who buy chunks of meat and women in the position of chunks of meat who are priced by appearance and youth instead of weight.

“Keep your mind sharp. From now on, your life is in your head. Not your face or body. Do you understand?”

Yang Ryeo-cheong nodded her head like crazy.

< Spoils of War 4 > End