Chapter 24: When Spring Arrives At The Crossroad (3) (2/2)

“What would you do?”

“I’d buy it.”

Then she asked me, “Why?”

“Since it has something to do with my father. I don’t want to leave anything to chance when it comes to my family.”

She made her resolution this time and nodded at me.

When the merchant came back, she directly gave him one thousand five-hundred nyang.

“We’ll buy it.”

“Good. I’ll tell you about it then.”

I asked him which Clan the San Dong Merchant was going to work with

“A couple of months ago, the San Dong Merchants were in the middle of making a deal with the Yang Clan.”

“The Yang Clan?!”

We were both surprised. This was a name that we weren’t expecting.

A couple of month ago means that Yang GI Chul was still the Gaju of the Yang Clan.

“As you know, it’s harder for a Merchant Guild to enter the Murim than a Clan.”

“So they were going to trust that the Yang Clan would become bigger, and force their way into the Murim....”

“Yes. During the process, they had numerous conflict with other merchant guilds. And if things went their way, there was going to be an even larger conflict.”

This was a surprising piece of news that had never spread.

“But ever since Yang GI Chul died, the San Dong Merchant guild have received some backlash, and the new Bangju of the Yang Clan has cut all ties with the Merchant guild. Therefore, the formation of the San Dong Alliance was postponed.”

“And what were the other merchant guild’s reactions?”

“They, of course, are waiting for an opportunity to take revenge. This concludes the information about the San Dong Merchant guild.”

If this information hasn't been any useful to us, he wouldn’t have made the price a thousand five-hundred nyang. Thus, she didn’t complain about the price.

After listening to everything that the information merchant had to say about the San Dong Merchant guild, she became angry.

“Everything the San Dong Merchant guild said was a lie. They were just using us to divert the attention away from the other merchant guilds.”

I nodded in agreement with her.

“You’re completely right. They were using the San Doing Alliance as an excuse to get under the radar of the others.”

Because Song Wu Kyung was focusing his attention on the creation of an Alliance, he hadn’t paid much attention to the San Dong Merchant guild. He hadn’t understood their true intentions.

“…scary”

“Yes, it is very scary.”

She must have been pretty shocked. She never thought that Kang Ho-In would scheme this much.

“You should hurry and tell your father about this.”

She turned back towards me and said, “Thanks.”

“You bought the information with your money. There’s no need to thank me.”

She left after giving me a second glance.

Even though I had some feelings for her, the true reason I had helped her was because of my father. I truly wanted to protect his and her father’s relations.h.i.+p.

Song Wu Kyung declined the offer from the San Dong Merchant guild. I’m sure he declined it in a nice way that didn’t reveal his hands.

After that, both Song Wu Kyung and Song Hwa Rin visited our house.

Song Wu Kyung gave thanks with everyone present.

“Thanks to you, we were able to discover what they were scheming.”

“No, it’s not like that. It was Rin-ee who found out about it. I just escorted her.”

“That’s not what I heard. Without you, this situation could’ve become quite complicated.”

It seems that Hwa Rin had told her father that everything that happened was because of me.

Song Wu Kyung grabbed my hand. His hand was full of callouses, but warm.

“Thank you very much.”

I could feel his true feelings though his eyes.

I had only helped him because of the close relations.h.i.+p that he and my father shared.

“No, all the credit should to go Rin-ee.”

I gave her all the credit to the end.

Since Hwa Rin remained silent, I didn’t know what she was thinking.

Then Song Wu Kyung said to my parents, “We were able to escape this calamity thanks to our son-in-law. Thank you very much.”

My parents couldn’t hold back their excitement either.

I could that my father was especially proud that I had help Song Wu Kyung avoid this crisis. However, he wasn’t the type to boast about me.

“This all happened because Rin-ee was able to gather enough money.”

My father added more as a compliment, “You have a very good daughter.”

Afterwards, Song Wu Kyung looked at me and Hwa Rin couple of times and said, “Now that I look at you two, it truly seems that you two are match made in heaven!”

My mother didn’t miss the chance either. “Yes, they complement each other well.”

It felt like they were going to hold a marriage ceremony tomorrow, so I took Hwa Rin and left the room. That was how we were able to get out of that.

I was surprised that everything that happened was related to me. If I hadn’t killed Yang Gi Chul, this wouldn’t have happened. If I hadn’t died, there wouldn’t be any of this nonsense about Alliances.

This was the first time Hwa Rin apologized to me as sincerely as she did. “I’m sorry that I asked you for this kind of favor, when I was the first one to cancel our engagement.”

Then she lowered her head and said, “Thank you. Really.”

I gave her a light smile since I didn’t have any significant feelings for her.

If it was the younger me, I would’ve wanted to chase after her and make her mine simply because of her beauty. I wouldn’t have been able to control my emotions and wouldn’t have cared about anything else in the world. I’d have caused a scene just like Byuk Lee Dan had. But I was someone who’d lived seventy odd years. I understood her all too well. I understood why she’d wanted to cancel our engagement, and how she wanted to help her father.

“Like I said before, this is something that you did.”

She turned and looked at me. When I waved at her, she gave me a little smile and quickly left.

I was rooting for her springtime of youth.

Praying that she’d achieve what she wanted to achieve.

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