“Over one worthless wench, will you truly take my li… take my life? Please, withdraw your anger.”
“One worthless wench?”
At a wave of the Grand Madam's hand, the maidservants hurriedly withdrew. The emaciated Grand Madam, who normally never moved, came trudging over like a living corpse and stood before me.
“She is more useful than you. Far more.”
A frigid tone.
Hmm, I have to grant the Grand Madam her eye for people.
Seol Ha was outstanding, after all—
I twisted my face, imagining what sort of expression Geon A-seong would have worn.
He would have shown his childish pride all over it.
“…….”
“If you did not wish to die, you should have done as this mother told you and caused no trouble. Is it right to snatch at prey this mother covets? Because of you, there is now no telling which way that child will bolt.”
I trembled all over, feigning fear.
Considering that if it came to it, I would move on to another plan.
But my instinct was telling me not to move so readily.
I waited and watched.
“If you truly do not wish to die, bring me a result. Prove that you are useful before you are my child, and I shall bury this matter. If not, you will pay the price for killing Geon Gon, who ought to have been kept alive longer.”
It struck me anew.
I rather liked the Grand Madam's approach to handling matters.
Child or not, whatever obstructed her aim got cleared away first.
Now that I looked, her way of handling things was to my taste.
“I… I shall give it everything I have.”
“I give you fifteen days.”
“…….”
“Withdraw. I do not wish to look at you.”
I scrambled out of there, making sure the Grand Madam saw it.
***
My death was unexpectedly quiet.
Even when the next day came, no one put talk of my death in their mouth. There was no particular movement to hold a funeral for me either.
It was the Grand Madam's doing.
Perhaps it had been decided to bury it as an accident; the debris of the burned quarters was cleared away and Geon A-seong's corpse, disguised as me, was collected.
I had expected it, and it was no blow at all.
The Golden Manor had never been my family to begin with.
In the meantime I returned to my quarters.
The second son's quarters.
Much better.
I leaned back into a chair of fine wool that swallowed half my body the moment I sat.
From wall to ceiling it glittered with silver.
It was certainly more comfortable and splendid than my own quarters.
But it was quiet.
Perhaps because Seol Ha, who had silently kept to my side, was not there.
I had decided not to see Seol Ha for a while.
Instead I had told her to act as though she were throwing herself into training to hold down her grief.
After that, the Grand Madam would place Seol Ha under her own command in order to use her directly.
If she kept receiving full support.
Seol Ha would go on growing as steeply as she was now.
Until she met the wall.
To be able to help her before then, I too had to be ready.
Now then, with the second son's position in hand, shall we play this properly?
***
Within the Golden Manor there were various posts and organizations, and the Chairman's sons each had one business they took charge of.
Except me, the concubine's child.
In any case, naturally the manpower that went with the business one took charge of came under one's command as well.
The second son, Geon A-seong, managed the cloth shops and the luxury goods that spread out to every region.
The clients were mainly renowned high officials, martial artists and great fortunes.
The organization within the Golden Manor that oversaw all of it was the Golden Blossom Division.
“Bring me the recent transaction ledgers.”
At my order, the Golden Blossom Division's Chief Steward entered the room.
The old man by the name of Jun-pyo greeted me with proper courtesy and then handed over the register.
I already knew every side of this man.
He was the fellow who, under the Grand Madam's tacit consent, served to create Geon A-seong's private funds inside the Golden Manor.
The true power within the Golden Blossom Division.
The problem was that the second son was not the only place this man had a foot.
He was one who took secret orders from the eldest son on the side, watching and making use of the second son's movements.
“The ledgers are here.”
I took the ledgers half-heartedly and raised my eyes.
“You've heard the rumor, haven't you? I went and killed that bastard Geon Gon dead.”
“I marveled at your bold choice.”
“Right? But he's left me in quite a bind. The bastard's a nuisance even dead.”
“…….”
“Anyway, I'm pressed for time. I have to show Mother some kind of result. Well, is there anything usable?”
The second son had done nothing but play polo on the polo field, chase countless wenches and drop by the underground gambling den he had secretly set up.
I had to tap this man to learn what there was to put toward the things I needed.
Jun-pyo slid closer and lowered his voice.
“How would it be to purchase land with the funds you have set aside at the underground gambling den?”
“Land?”
I asked as though I did not know.
“The funds you have gathered amount to a fair sum. Enough to buy up a thousand pyeong or so of land on the outskirts of Chengdu.”
“And do what with it?”
“It is information obtained today. They say a Seven Star Elixir Ginseng has been found near Mount Quan, east of Chengdu. Buy up the place where it was found and the surrounding land in advance, and when the rumor spreads, clear it out.”
He meant to drive up land prices with a false rumor and take a fat profit.
Not bad.
The important thing was that I had not taken over the second son's seat just to win the Grand Madam's approval.
Though outwardly it had to look that way.
“That's too weak. I need to show Mother something more striking.”
“Then what sort…….”
“Shake every last coin out of my gambling den. I mean scrape together every bit of money I have and don't have, right now. Sell off everything in this room that can be turned into money, all of it.”
“And after that…….”
I could feel Jun-pyo, who had carried an air of ease built on his own accumulated experience, growing flustered at my sudden reaction.
What of it—
This man was not even included on the list of talents I would assemble.
In any case, the Golden Manor would later collapse from the many affairs of a chaotic age.
It would simply be cleared away in advance by my own hand before then.
“Bring it to me. In Yellow Note Exchange promissory notes.”
The Yellow Note Exchange was an exchange house under the Golden Manor.
Even for Jun-pyo, moving that much money and converting it into promissory notes was likely to draw the Grand Madam's notice.
He seemed to be worried about that.
“I'll speak to Mother myself, so don't concern yourself with anything else and do as I say. Do you understand me?”
At my insistence, Jun-pyo rolled his eyes and asked.
“Might I ask your innermost intent, what it is you are considering? To move funds of this size, there must be a reason…….”
“I said I'd speak to Mother separately, so whose face do I still have to read? Are you ignoring what I say?”
Sweating, Jun-pyo hurriedly bowed his head.
“How could that be? I merely wished to be of help to the Young Master's innermost intent…….”
“Just do as you're told. Don't test my temper. Shall I burn you too, where neither rat nor bird will know of it?”
When I threatened him in a violent tone, Jun-pyo hastily made a show of obedience and left.
Geon A-seong had been so violent-tempered and overbearing that speaking and acting however the mood took me required no great justification, which made it easy.
Just then there was a commotion outside.
MURMUR, MURMUR—
“What is it?”
Along with my question, a giant a full head taller than me kicked the door open and stepped in.
“Your eldest brother arrives and you don't even come out to meet him?”
The eldest son, Geon Pyeong, appeared with his square jaw stubbornly set and a savage air about him.
So we finally meet—
Of the Geon brothers of the Golden Manor, the one who had regarded me as the most worthless had appeared before me.
***
Geon Pyeong, feet up on the table, glared piercingly at me seated across from him.
“I wondered why a bastard mad for polo didn't show at the polo tournament, and it turns out you did something quite admirable?”
“What's it to you?”
Normally not even Geon A-seong could hold himself upright against Geon Pyeong's ferocious air. I imitated Geon A-seong, avoiding his eyes as much as possible.
“Heh heh. On any other day I'd have beaten you soundly to fix those manners of yours.”
“…….”
“Today I'm in a fine enough mood, so I'll let it pass. Thanks to you, an aching tooth has come out.”
He seemed rather delighted by my death.
Sadly, I am perfectly alive.
“The Chief Steward went out in a cold sweat just now. What were you badgering him about this time?”
“Mother says she's going to kill me.”
“What?”
“She said if I don't show a proper result she'll take my life for killing that bastard Geon Gon!!!”
“Oh, how fortunate. Once you're dead, the only one left worth minding is the third?”
“Isn't that going too far?”
“What great brotherly love is there between you and me?”
I frowned.
“What did you come for?”
“I came to check what you were up to, and to make you an offer.”
“An offer?”
“That wench Seol Ha you covet.”
“…….”
“I've decided to place her under my command. From the look of it, she can be put to more useful work under me than under you going forward.”
Perhaps a natural thing.
For the eldest son, Geon Pyeong, who had the succession contest in mind, recruiting talent was as routine as breathing and eating.
“She won't do, will she?”
Heh—
Geon Pyeong sneered at me.
At Geon A-seong, to be precise.
“You've no authority to decide in the first place. Mother has already permitted me to take her under my command, and you're merely being informed.”
“Brother or not, there's no way Mother permitted it meekly. Seol Ha is talent Mother covets too.”
“Oho?”
“Mother must have told you to seek my consent. She's the sort who puts us to the test without end. She'd tell you to persuade me and bring back my agreement. I don't know why, but…….”
I grinned.
“You came yourself because you need my help. Isn't that right?”
Geon Pyeong's face hardened.
“Not bad. Have I underestimated you too much? You are of our clan's bloodline, after all.”
“So?”
“There's that thing you've been coveting from me, isn't there?”
When I said nothing, Geon Pyeong explained on his own.
“The treasured sword I received directly from Father, the Moonlight Sword. A treasured sword with Dark Heaven Stone mixed into it, said to be worth a thousand gold without regret. Don't ask for more. This is already generous.”
I shook my head at him as he laid on the threat.
“It doesn't whet my appetite. I'll pass on that.”
“What? Has this one really lost his mind?”
Irritation seeping in, Geon Pyeong let his ferocious air out.
“Don't push it. Don't get beaten by your brother until you're begging to be spared.”
“Dying by Mother's hand or yours is much the same. And if I die, you won't get what you want.”
“Your spirit's up today, is it? The nerve. So what is it? You're saying there's something else you want?”
“Just now I gave the order to convert every asset I own into the Manor's promissory notes.”
“What? Bwahaha. You've gone completely mad. Why, are you off to enter a temple now?”
“What do you think I'm going to do?”
“What could the likes of you do? If you weren't my brother, you'd have croaked at my hands like that bastard Geon Gon.”
I calmly drove a dagger into Geon Pyeong as he sneered openly.
The thing Geon Pyeong hated most, having what he owned taken from him.
“Brother, you've no funds on hand right now, have you? You spent it all lately bidding for the silver mine's excavation rights.”
“…….”
“What do you think happens if, at a time like this, I lock up the cloud-binding cloth materials that control moisture in winter transport, along with the cheap cloth? It'd be a fatal blow to you.”
And no wonder, since the business rights Geon Pyeong held were minerals, salt flats, weapons and the like, businesses where transport was essential.
Delicate minerals in particular had to be shielded from winter's damp and cold.
GRIN—
Sensing something wrong in my smile, Geon Pyeong went past irritation and loosed a shout laced with fury.
“Silence!! Where do you get the nerve to challenge your brother! Shall I beat you like a dog? Do you think Mother will plainly leave you to this? It's a matter that would harm this Manor!!”
To him, gripping me by the collar, I answered with laughter on my face.
“Instead it'd become a picture of you getting your hide tanned by me and running to Mother for help. That leaves a striking impression, doesn't it? Isn't this the sort of thing Mother wanted from me?”
Now the eldest would have no choice but to accept my offer.
What remained was to extract from the eldest the thing I absolutely had to have in hand at this point, while the Golden Manor still existed.
Because the eldest was the one holding it.
Though this bastard would not even properly know its true worth.