Tales Of The Nine Dragons [EN]: Chapter 109

Nine Dragons Chronicle (109)

Fifth Prince Ju Young-ho was the fifth son of the current Emperor. He had four older brothers and two older sisters, as well as four younger brothers and two younger sisters.

Born to the Emperor’s third concubine rather than the Empress, he showed promise in both literary and martial arts. However, his malicious nature made him unwelcome in the Imperial Palace.

He had once tormented Hwa-rin, but soon grew tired of her because she was powerless to retaliate, and he lost interest.

The fact that he had left the Imperial Palace and visited Nine Dragons Pavilion was not welcome news for Hwa-rin.

He was gambling with others, and whether he won or lost, it wasn’t easy to come out ahead. Soon, he lost all the money he was allowed to use in a day.

“Go and exchange more money.”

“As I mentioned earlier, you have used all the funds allocated for today’s entertainment, so you cannot play anymore,” Myeong-wol, the guide, told him, citing the rules of Nine Dragons Pavilion. He frowned and turned to the middle-aged man next to him.

“Get rid of this girl. And go exchange more money.”

The middle-aged man stepped forward, took Myeong-wol, and headed to the exchange.

“You’ve worked hard. Take a break. Exchange this for gold notes.”

“Sir, didn’t you just exchange money for gold notes a little while ago? For the day’s limit…….”

“I know. Doesn’t that only apply to one person? Our young master has lost all his money today, so it can’t be helped. But we, who are assisting the young master, have not yet exchanged, so please do it.”

That was a valid point.

The person in charge of the exchange converted ten silver coins into gold notes, which the middle-aged man took to Ju Young-ho.

“They said it couldn’t be done, but they exchanged it after all.”

“It was exchanged against the attendant’s share, not the young master’s.”

“Attendant? Does that mean you can exchange five more times in the future?”

“Theoretically possible, but it depends on what the owner of this place decides.”

Ju Young-ho nodded.

It didn’t matter. He just needed to do what he wanted.

“Okay, okay, let’s start.”

His behavior created a slightly awkward atmosphere, but they started playing again, and Ju Young-ho was soon absorbed in the game, thoroughly enjoying himself.

Hwa-rin, who was observing, frowned as if he had discovered a new problem.

“If several people come together but don’t play together, one person can use the money allocated for several people. In the future, there will be guys who use these tricks to gamble with more money, and there will be guys who exchange money for them for a fee. Should I stop this, or just let it go?”

“It’s better to stop it.”

“Jeez. Can’t you announce your arrival when you get here?”

“You knew I was coming. Why are you pretending not to know?”

“I didn’t know.”

“Really? Then I might be able to beat you, senior.”

“You could die trying. You know I don’t go easy on women.”

“I know. That’s why I almost got beat to death back then.”

“But why should we stop it?”

“If you don’t stop it, the area in front of Nine Dragons Pavilion will be full of beggars.”

“Beggars?”

“Starting with people who have ruined their lives by gambling, people without a fixed job, and even real beggars will line up to help people exchange money and try to get a few coins.”

“Hmm.”

“Then the area in front of Nine Dragons Pavilion will become a garbage dump. They’ll probably fight and go crazy trying to get there.”

What he said seemed logical.

“Then how do we stop it? We can’t stop the guests from coming, and there will be people who bring them from far away.”

“It’s very simple.”

“How?”

“If there are many people in the group, just exchange money for the group as a whole.”

“As a group?”

“A maximum of forty or fifty gold coins, like that.”

“What if they send the people they brought back after receiving the exchange?”

“From the beginning, just lock them in a room and tell them to gamble among themselves.”

“Among themselves?”

“Many people come with their friends.”

“That’s right.”

“Lock them in and don’t let them out. Then someone who has lost money will come out, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Then only send that person out.”

Hwa-rin nodded.

“Eventually, when only one person is left, take him to the exchange, exchange all the money, and send him away.”

“All of it?”

“That’s the only way to prevent tricks. Who would give their money to someone else and try to gamble with that person? Right?”

“That’s true, but…….”

“There will be some trial and error for a few months, but if you do that, no one will use such tricks in the end. But who is that person that you’re so anxious about?”

“Do I look anxious?”

“That’s how it looks to me.”

“He’s one of the most difficult people to deal with in the Central Plains [the central region of China, often associated with the Han Chinese heartland]. So I’m seriously worried right now.”

Namgung Soo-yeon looked at Hwa-rin.

“Shall I bury him for you?” [A euphemism for killing someone.]

Hwa-rin was startled, as if his feelings had been discovered, but if he allowed that, the Namgung family would be ruined, so he had to deal with it himself.

“No, no one in the world can touch that guy except me.”

“There’s someone like that?”

“He’s right there.”

Hwa-rin frowned, pointing at Ju Young-ho.

He must have already lost all the exchanged gold notes, as the middle-aged man was about to go to exchange again, so Hwa-rin sent a telepathic message.

―That’s enough. What are you doing causing trouble in someone else’s business?

The middle-aged man was startled to hear Hwa-rin’s telepathic message.

Meanwhile, Seo Dae-young approached them and bowed to the middle-aged man.

“I’m Chief Seo. Senior, do you know these people? Judging by their reaction, the warriors seem to know Chief Seo as well.”

If Chief Seo knew them, it also meant that Hwa-rin was likely to know them as well.

“Who are they?”

“He’s my brother. I have eight older brothers, and he’s the fifth.”

Namgung Soo-yeon looked at Hwa-rin’s face once and then at Ju Young-ho’s face.

“They don’t look alike.”

“I take after my mother. That brother takes after his mother too.”

Hwa-rin answered Namgung Soo-yeon’s question without hiding anything.

“So, you have different mothers?”

“That’s right. My father has five concubines besides his legal wife. By the way, my mother is dead.”

Namgung Soo-yeon’s expression changed slightly at the mention of his mother’s death, but then returned to normal.

“I see. But how great must your family be to have six wives? My father only has two.”

“Just think of it as a family three times greater than yours. That’s easy, right?”

“Tch.”

―Lord, you need to come down. I can’t do anything about the Fifth Prince.

Hwa-rin frowned at Seo Dae-young’s telepathic message.

“That guy is useless even though he gets paid a lot of money. Seriously, he can’t handle something like this and calls me?”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Hwa-rin disappeared and reappeared behind Seo Dae-young.

“Should I ask senior to teach me that too?”

Every time he saw such movements, he always thought that he looked like a ghost rather than a person.

“It’s been a while, brother.”

Hwa-rin bowed slightly to Ju Young-ho.

“You are…….”

“Have you already forgotten me? You used to play with me like a toy when I was young.”

Hwa-rin subtly revealed his killing intent while speaking.

“Insolent! How dare you…….”

The escort warriors behind him felt Hwa-rin’s killing intent and drew their swords, but Hwa-rin said nonchalantly.

“Put it away!”

At that moment, with a light thud, the warriors who drew their swords fell to the floor.

“Trying to die by drawing your sword here. Commander Hwang, how are you managing your subordinates?”

“Th, that’s…….”

The middle-aged man called Commander Hwang stammered at the sudden turn of events.

‘It was said that Commander Seo’s martial arts were famous even in Dongchang [a powerful eunuch-led secret service during the Ming Dynasty], but he wasn’t at this level even when he left the Imperial Palace.’

“The education of the juniors these days is a mess. Should I go back and fix the discipline again?”

“No, that’s, well, that’s…….”

While Commander Hwang was stammering, Hwa-rin said to Ju Young-ho.

“It’s been a while since we met. How about we move to another place and have a drink, brother?”

Ju Young-ho realized that Hwa-rin was no longer the weak boy he had bullied in the past, seeing Hwa-rin revealing his killing intent and threatening him to drink.

“I thought it was strange that you suddenly disappeared from the Imperial Palace, but you were working in a place like this?”

Perhaps thinking that he couldn’t show a weak side, he straightened his shoulders and spoke to Hwa-rin.

“I just thought it was safer than inside the Imperial Palace, which is full of people trying to kill me.”

Namgung Soo-yeon tried to eavesdrop on the conversation between the two, but Hwa-rin used his internal energy to prevent the sound waves from leaking out, so she couldn’t hear their conversation.

“What are they saying?”

Namgung Soo-yeon was frustrated with the current situation and tried to move closer to them, but Hwa-rin’s telepathic message pierced her ears.

―Stay there. Don’t move any further.

Namgung Soo-yeon stopped as Hwa-rin warned her. She felt that if she ignored his warning and moved, her head could fly off.

Because she had been watching Hwa-rin all this time, she could tell by feeling whether he was speaking sincerely or joking.

He didn’t care much if she did what she wanted with the words he said as a joke, but if she ignored the words he said sincerely, she would pay a thorough price.

Because of that, she had been beaten up a lot by Hwa-rin while serving in the military, and she had almost lost her head.

“This is a business. So, let’s move to another place. Let’s go to Nine Dragons Pavilion and have a drink while sharing the stories you’ve been curious about.”

“What if I don’t want to?”

“Then you die, brother.”

It was very simple and clear.

The moment he heard the word ‘die,’ Ju Young-ho felt like Hwa-rin would really kill him if he said one more word there.

“Th…… That’s right. Let’s do that.”

“I’ll take care of my brother. Chief Seo, go have a drink with your former colleagues somewhere.”

“I will.”

Hwa-rin was about to take Ju Young-ho out, but Commander Hwang blocked him.

“Ninth Prince…….”

“Get out of the way.”

Kudadadang!

Commander Hwang fell to the floor like the other Dongchang escort warriors.

“Why are you trying to interfere with the reunion with my brother after a long time? Is that how the commander taught you?”

“I’m…… I’m sorry.”

“Brother, let’s go.”

Hwa-rin took Ju Young-ho out of Orchid Pavilion and moved to Nine Dragons Pavilion, and Seo Dae-young took Commander Hwang’s hand and helped him up.

“If only you had been careful with your words.”

Commander Hwang was dumbfounded by the sight of Seo Dae-young giving medicine after giving the disease [offering help after causing trouble], but he tried to understand because of the situation.

“He’s not the incompetent Ninth Prince from the past. And the Ninth Prince hates people from the Imperial Palace pathologically. If only people from the Imperial Palace had come without the Fifth Prince, they would have been carried out as corpses.”

He was about to get angry at the words that they would be carried out as corpses, but he had no choice but to swallow it inside because he knew that Seo Dae-young’s martial arts had reached a level that he could not reach.

“Let’s go with me. There’s a place called Yowha Pavilion right above here.”

“Yowha Pavilion?”

“Isn’t it a strange place from the name? It’s an amazing place, so you won’t regret entrusting your life there today. And you two!”

Seo Dae-young pointed to the female escort warriors.

“Go to Nine Dragons Pavilion in a quarter of an hour and find out where the lord is, and then wait in front of the room.”

“Both of us?”

“Why? Are you into women? Then let’s go together.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Then go up and wait, and if the two of you need anything, prepare it right away and bring it into the room. Don’t let the courtesans handle it; bring it yourself.”

“I understand.”

The reason why Seo Dae-young sent the two of them up to Nine Dragons Pavilion was simple.

The place where they were going to have a drink was a place where they didn’t call male prostitutes, so it was because they might spoil the atmosphere if they went together.

“Do well. If I hear the lord’s dissatisfied voice later, you’ll die.”

“I…… I understand.”

“Commander Hwang, let’s go. You three, follow me.”

Seo Dae-young left Orchid Pavilion with only the men among the Dongchang escort warriors.

“Haa…….”

When a sigh escaped the mouths of the two women, one woman approached them.

It was Namgung Soo-yeon.

“You two there. Shall we have a conversation?”