Chapter 69
“Provincial Lord, this humble girl will pour you a drink first.”
“No, I will pour it for you.”
“Haha, I’m not going anywhere, so take your time.”
Just how long had it been since he drank with beauties on both sides?
The position of Provincial Lord overflowed with wealth and power. Even so, the number of times Yi Gaseong had drunk so luxuriously could be counted on one hand.
It was precisely because of his honor.
The position of Provincial Lord was one all the Common People of Hunan Province looked up to. And was it only the Common People of Hunan Province who watched him?
There were officials dispatched from the Central Government, and the provincial lords of adjacent cities as well.
It could truly be seen as a position surrounded by open eyes and ears.
But right now, he had rented out the entirety of Maehyangru, and there are no other guests except him and the staff.
Furthermore, this was a Courtesan House managed by Haomun. Haomun was extremely thorough when it came to maintaining secrecy, so there was no worry about the current situation leaking outside.
Truly, all he had to do right now was enjoy himself.
“Haha! I feel really good today! Now, pour me some more.”
Caught up in the entertainment after such a long time, he had somewhat forgotten that this gathering was meant for a meeting with the Green Forest General Stronghold Master.
After drinking frantically like that for about the time it takes to eat a meal…
“Provincial Lord, the Green Forest General Stronghold Master is entering.”
“Uh…”
…An Attendant, who was slightly disheveled from the intoxication, came and announced this to him.
‘This appearance is a mess…’
Originally, he was not someone lacking in self-control.
But at that moment, it was his first time drinking in a long while, and with the courtesans sitting next to him aggressively throwing themselves at him, he lost his mind a little.
‘Man, I almost embarrassed myself in front of a lowly fellow.’
Yi Gaseong told the Attendant to wait a moment and then straightened his appearance. Before long, he was able to restore his look to something similar to when he first arrived here.
‘My clothes are a little wrinkled and my headpiece is slightly askew, but this much is fine…’
Anyway, the person he had to deal with was the General Stronghold Master of the Green Forest right now.
What was the Green Forest? Wasn’t it just Bandit bastards anyway?
Having grown up preciously, he had never witnessed the existence of a Bandit in his life, but he could roughly guess its appearance through books.
‘Burly men draped in tiger skins.’
Compared to that rough appearance, Yi Gaseong thought his current state was no different from that of a Daoist immortal, even if he was slightly disheveled.
But the moment the door opened…
“Tell him to enter.”
“Yes.”
Slide-.
‘…Huh?’
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Provincial Lord. I am Muyeon, serving as the Green Forest General Stronghold Master.”
…Yi Gaseong momentarily doubted his own eyes.
‘Did I mishear because I’m drunk? The person who just walked in is… the Green Forest General Stronghold Master?’
Neatly groomed hair tied back, clean and white skin, a body line that looked somewhat slender but revealed fine muscles, and clean, high-quality clothing.
Above all, that handsome appearance that would have easily earned him the title of a nation-toppling beauty had he been born a woman…
Wasn’t it a Handsome Young Master of the Righteous Faction who had walked into the wrong room, rather than the Green Forest General Stronghold Master, with this level…?
He was momentarily dazed by the completely unexpected appearance of the Green Forest General Stronghold Master, but he couldn’t just ignore the greeting, so Yi Gaseong quickly snapped back to his senses and returned the greeting.
“…N-Nice to meet you. I am the Hunan Provincial Lord, Yi Gaseong.”
“I am deeply moved to meet the great elder who works tirelessly day and night for Hunan Province.”
Furthermore, the General Stronghold Master was even polite. Naturally, when a good-looking person is also polite, it warms the heart.
Yi Gaseong almost felt such an emotion toward the General Stronghold Master for a moment before hurriedly coming to his senses and taking a seat.
“S-Sit down. Let’s talk while seated.”
“Then excuse me.”
Every single movement of the General Stronghold Master was calm and light, almost like the demeanor of a woman. Yi Gaseong, who had expected a burly, manly man to arrive, couldn’t help but be flustered.
Above all, his attire.
Yi Gaseong was also wearing clothes befitting the dignity of a Provincial Lord, but he was in a slightly disheveled state from chugging alcohol just moments ago.
He might have thought this level of wrinkling was nothing in a drinking setting, but seeing the General Stronghold Master’s clean and neat attire somehow made him feel like his class had dropped significantly.
However…
“Provincial Lord, may this Subordinate offer you a drink?”
“…S-Sounds good.”
Whenever Yi Gaseong felt such a sense of defeat, Muyeon treated him politely, lowering himself as if he were someone beneath Yi Gaseong.
‘This person…, is quite… decent…’
Yi Gaseong almost felt his heart sway while looking at Muyeon like that, until…
“Ah, the alcohol you are drinking right now is too trivial for a Provincial Lord to consume. Here is a more expensive liquor…!”
“Ah, no need…!”
…He was able to regain his senses in an instant.
‘I almost fell for it.’
He had almost completely lost his heart over just this much.
He shouldn’t be deceived by appearances. No matter how neat, polite, and handsome the man in front of him was, on the inside, he was nothing more than the Captain of a Bandit Group that tormented the Common People.
“Let’s pause the drinking and talk first. What is the reason you invited me here?”
“…”
Yi Gaseong regained his cold rationality and snapped coldly, as if telling him to speak his piece if he had anything to say.
Muyeon smiled brightly and answered upon seeing that.
“As expected, I simply cannot beat the Provincial Lord’s heart that cares for Hunan Province. Then I will state the agenda immediately. You must have received contact from the Murim Alliance as well, Provincial Lord, haven’t you?”
“…That’s right.”
It was practically a notification rather than contact, but Yi Gaseong had recently received the Murim Alliance’s intention to withdraw from Hunan Province.
“The Murim Alliance acknowledged our Green Forest’s territory and withdrew from Hunan Province. Therefore, our Green Forest wished to offer its greetings to the Provincial Lord, the great elder of Hunan Province.”
“…Haha, Hunan Province is the Green Forest’s territory, you say.”
Bang!
Yi Gaseong made his expression as terrifying as possible for a moment and slammed the drinking table. Then he continued his words sharply.
“Even if you use the grand name of Green Forest, in the end, you are nothing more than a Bandit Group. Do you think I, the Provincial Lord, would tolerate a Bandit who persecutes the Common People becoming the Master of the Hunan Murim?”
This current display was Yi Gaseong acting strong on purpose for the sake of Gaining the Upper Hand. But Muyeon, seeing that, smiled softly as if it were nothing and…
“Haha, saying the Green Forest persecutes the Common People seems to be a misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding?”
“Please take a look at this.”
…He pulled something out of his embrace.
It was a clean book, and Muyeon handed it to Yi Gaseong while explaining.
“This is an Official Report written by the Murim Alliance after inspecting our Green Forest.”
In truth, it was a report written by a Murim Alliance spy that had been copied over and disguised as an Official Report, but there was no way for Yi Gaseong to know that.
Yi Gaseong received the book and read it until…
“Hmm…”
…His eyes widened slightly.
Inside, there were only records positively evaluating the Green Forest.
“Now, please read this as well.”
And while Yi Gaseong was reading the book, Muyeon pulled out something else again and handed it over.
“…What is this?”
“This is a document Haomun investigated and wrote down regarding the potential benefits Hunan Province will gain from our pioneering the Mountain Path this time.”
“…!”
Haomun were originally people quick with calculations and skilled in the money trade. Hearing that it was written by such people, Yi Gaseong hurriedly opened and read it as well.
And then…
“…Are you saying the pioneering of the Mountain Path is this beneficial?”
“There might be a slight exaggeration, but there is not a single inch of falsehood mixed in.”
…After reading it, he couldn’t help but be surprised on a completely different level from that of the Murim Alliance’s report from just before.
If things went exactly as written here, Hunan Province would also become a Prosperous Region on par with Anhui Province, Shaanxi Province, Hubei Province, and Sichuan Province within a few decades.
“The fortune of Hunan Province is also the fortune of the Hunan Provincial Lord. If Hunan Province develops, the Central Government will also evaluate you highly, Provincial Lord.”
“…”
That was a matter of course.
After all, the duty of the Hunan Provincial Lord, when it came down to it, was to make Hunan Province a well-fed and Prosperous Region.
If he could just carry this out well…
‘…I could aim for a position even higher than Provincial Lord.’
At this, Yi Gaseong couldn’t help but fall into deep thought.
“You seem to have a lot on your mind.”
“…”
The Murim Alliance viewed them favorably, the Common People evaluated them positively, and if they were left alone, there was room to revive Hunan Province.
From this perspective, it was a condition that required no hesitation.
However…
‘Why does it have to be the Green Forest, why of all things…!’
…Because of the name of the Green Forest, Yi Gaseong couldn’t easily open his mouth.
Muyeon stared at that sight for a moment before gesturing to the Attendant guarding the door. Seeing that, the Attendant headed outside and then…
“…What is that?”
Someone brought in a massive box.
As Yi Gaseong expressed his doubt while looking at the box that seemed large enough to fit several sacks of rice…
“…It is my meager sincerity. I hope it will be of help to your decision, Provincial Lord.”
…Muyeon merely smiled.
‘Don’t tell me…’
Yi Gaseong was not a tactless person either.
Looking at the box that had somehow arrived right in front of him, he swallowed his saliva.
“Please open it.”
“…”
At Muyeon’s permission, Yi Gaseong placed his hands on it without delay and inside the opened box…
“Eh?”
…There was nothing.
Did he see it wrong? Or was it hidden somewhere? He examined every nook and cranny, but as expected, there was nothing inside the box.
‘This son of a…’
Realizing in an instant that he had been toyed with, Yi Gaseong shouted in a voice filled with anger.
“You bastard! How dare you mock me!”
“I will fill the inside of that box with standard silver taels to the brim.”
No, he tried to shout.
“…What?”
Is this box filled to the brim with standard silver taels?
When Yi Gaseong heard those words, all of his thoughts and actions stopped.
‘Silver taels in this massive box…?’
The Murim Alliance guys never openly offered bribes like this. However, since it was the Unorthodox Faction guys this time, he had expected them to show some level of sincerity.
‘But to be this generous…’
“Every month.”
“…Huh?”
“Every month, I will fill that box with silver taels for you.”
“…”
Hearing those words, the Provincial Lord truly froze like a stone statue. And Muyeon gently held his hand, approaching such a Provincial Lord.
“Then I look forward to working with you from now on, Provincial Lord.”
* * *
Two shichen later.
Having drunk a ton of fine liquor and passed out, the Provincial Lord boarded the carriage Completely Drunk.
But even so, he didn’t forget to send me a final farewell.
“Muyeon, Younger Sibling-!! I…, had so much fun today-! You absolutely must not forget that we became sworn brothers today…?”
“Of course, Provincial Lord.”
“Not Provincial Lord…! Elder brother! Call me elder brother…! Younger Sibling, Muyeon…! Hic…, ah, I’m drunk.”
“Understood, elder brother.”
“Our little brother… Do everything you want to do from now on, okay? Huh? This elder brother will back you up to the end. Got it!”
“Thank you, elder brother.”
“Ugh…, then I’ll be going now…”
I smiled as I pushed him into the carriage. It was a smile that came from the bottom of my heart.
“Take care on your way back, elder brother!”
And then I saw him off, waving my hand until the carriage left.
Before long, after the carriage had left…
“…Wasn’t that too excessive?”
…Munseok, who had been watching all of this, appeared behind me and spoke in a voice mixed with concern.
“…Do you know how many silver taels the tribute you promised to offer that man amounts to every month? Why on earth would you go that far…”
Munseok had an expression as if he couldn’t understand my decision. I merely answered Munseok indifferently.
“Because that person is the Provincial Lord.”
“Even if he is the Provincial Lord, in the end, he is an Official. As long as you don’t cross the line, he won’t interfere in Jianghu affairs… Wait a minute, are you perhaps?”
While speaking, Munseok glared as if he had noticed something.
“Are you planning to cross some sort of line?”
I patted Munseok’s shoulder and laughed.
“Now there really are a lot of things Haomun needs to do for me.”
“…What else?”
“Haomun does moneylending too, right?”
“…!”
I continued speaking to Munseok, who had momentarily stiffened.
“If you have any funds that can be used, liquidate them all and gather them. Hunan Province is going to develop now…, and the number of people wanting to borrow money will increase exponentially.”
Saying so, I looked up at the towering Maehyangru building.
As Hunan Province develops, old things will disappear and new things will line the streets from now on. This is just like the Maehyangru I am looking at right now.
But building new structures and renovating like this costs a lot of money. However, there is no place in Hunan Province with enough cash to lend to others, except for Haomun.
“The people here have only lived quietly, so they’ll be insensitive to things like contracts. You know what I mean, right? Haomun is good at that sort of thing, putting unfair clauses in contracts.”
“…Are you telling Haomun to engage in Usury right now?”
“You say that as if you’ve never done it before. But what I want isn’t high interest; it’s shares.”
“Shares…?”
“Yeah, shares. You lend them money, and in return, you put in a clause that takes half of their shares if they can’t pay it back, so that the Green Forest can also become a Co-owner of the businesses.”
“A Co-owner…, most people wouldn’t be willing to accept that… Wait.”
Munseok asked me with his eyes mixed with surprise and bewilderment.
“Then perhaps the reason you fed the Provincial Lord such an excessive bribe was also…”
“…”
When moneylending occurs, there will definitely be Common People who feel some injustice in the contract and go to the authorities.
“If any problems happen to arise, our 'Sworn Elder Brother' will handle them in a Fair and Just manner.”
“…I didn’t see you that way, but you’re a truly scary person.”
I merely laughed at Munseok’s words.
Honestly, I have no intention of stealing all the Common People’s businesses through this. I just want to get deeply involved and establish the Green Forest’s dominion down below the mountain as well.
“Don’t take too high an interest rate. And don’t think about taking away their livelihoods. Just make sure the people living in Hunan Province feel that they are all living under the name of the Green Forest.”
“No, but why are you trying to take the credit for the Green Forest when you used Haomun’s money…?”
“Should I take out the ring again?”
“…When the Sect Leader returns, I’ll have to tell him to take that ring back first.”
“I’ll share the profits with Haomun, so don’t worry too much.”
I threw my arm around the grumbling Munseok’s shoulder and went back inside.
Whatever the case, if this plan succeeds well, the Green Forest’s sphere of influence will expand to the bottom of the mountain as well.
If that happens, Hunan Province will become One Mind, One Body with the Green Forest, whether it wants it or not.