Chapter 39: The Beginning Of My Banquet (1) (1/2)
Chapter 39: The Beginning of my the Banquet (1)
Translator: hwarang
Editor: Kidyeon
The banquet took place at the Yang Clan’s manor; it was the same place that the meeting with all the Clan Leader had been held.
I arrived at the Yang Clan Manor hours before the banquet even started. I proceeded to meet with Jung Yeo in the secret room beside Ma Jung Soo’s bedroom. Showing the talisman he gave me last time let me bypa.s.s all of the guards.
“Is there some sort of treasure vault that he’s using right now?”
“Yes. There’s one inside of his bedroom.”
“Is it pa.s.sword protected?”
“Yes. If you enter the wrong number three consecutive times, it will lock itself for a day. After that, the key smith will have to come and open it.”
“So he must’ve changed the pa.s.sword...”
“Indeed. He asked me to tell him the original pa.s.sword, and how to change it. He naturally changed it.”
“How big is the vault?”
“It’s attached to the wall. If you’re asking whether or not you can simply take the entire vault, it’s impossible. The vault itself is also made from reinforced steel, making it impossible to cut open—even with sword-ki. And if you do forcefully attempt to open it, it will set off an alarm.”
“Is there any possibility that he’s entrusted his money to a bank?”
“That’s extremely unlikely, as neither he nor any member of his party have visited any banks. I’ve had my men observing their movements.”
It seems that there were a lot of watchful eyes that would’ve noticed one of them enter a bank.
“So their money should be in the treasure vault.”
“I believe so.”
He’d probably predicted where I was going with this, but I still stated my intentions, “I’ll tell you the truth Jung Bangju. I plan on robbing him of everything that he owns.”
Jung Yeo gave me a light smile. “You’re truly incredible.”
Rather than worry, he was showing awe. It seems that I was the one who was worried.
“If my plan succeeds, you might be in a tough spot.”
This would happen in the Yang Clan’s manor, after all.
“He’ll never doubt me, don’t worry. I’ll be with someone who can confirm my alibi.”
“I don’t have any plans yet. I’m waiting for an opportunity to appear at today’s banquet, as he won’t be in his room during that time.”
“I believe that you will succeed.”
I proceeded to ask him something else, “Is there any other way to get into his room than through the main door?”
With a mischievous smile on his face, Jung Yeo asked me, “Do you know what kind of person the previous gaju was?”
The previous gaju was someone that I had personally killed with my own hands, Yang Gi Chul. He was someone that had been full of greed and doubt.
“He prepared many hidden corridors, just in case he needed to quickly escape. As such, there’s a hidden corridor that leads directly to the guest pavilion. It’s made so well that, unless you’re a professional, you wouldn’t ever be able to find it. You could even escape from a room full of people without any of them even noticing you leave. There’s a pa.s.sageway to the outer shed in that corridor.”
He told me where the exit was, as well as where the outer shed led to. Thankfully the outer shed wasn’t that far from where the banquet was taking place at. However, I told him to place a cart in the corridor for easy transportation, just in case. My greatest concern was the combination for the safe. Without the combination, all of my preparations would be useless.
How could I find that out?
The banquet was grand. There was good food, wine, and even veteran musicians and dancers performing. I hardly saw banquets as grand as this even as the Mengju. The reason that Ma Jung Soo was holding such a grand banquet was quite clear: He wanted to show off to others. This definitely because the quality and size of a banquet has an influence on others.
If you thought about it, the Mengju Pavillion was the same. The exterior was ridiculously large and expansive. It was quite a walk from the entrance to the Master’s Chair. It was mainly for security, but there were other reasons, such as intimidating the enemy, and magnifying the status of the Mengju. This banquet was similar.
There were many youths gathered at the banquet hall. There were some new faces, but I’d met most of them during the banquet that was held at my house. I stayed hidden within the crowd and observed Ma Jung Soo. He really dealt with the heir well. He investigated everything about them, starting with what type of personality they had, what they liked, what their family situation was like, etc. Since he knew everything about these twenty-something year old youths, he was putting on a show by acting all glorious at one point, and then humane the next, catching their attention with his antics.
From the position of those that had been invited, they had to look good in front of Ma Jung Soo. They’d arrived at this banquet in a nervous mood, but since it was fun, magnificent, and the host was treating them well, they obviously became both less nervous and less vigilant.
Ma Jung Soo even started forming brotherly relations.h.i.+ps with a few of the heirs. They were the young masters of the Clear Tree Clan, Nine Dragon Clan, Western Saber Clan, as well as a few other clans that he’d already made some secret agreements with. I honestly thought this was a really clever move. Since Ma Jung Soo favored these few, others were influenced. It’s said that the human heart is as fickle as a feather. Even though they might not want to be too friendly with Ma Jung Soo, if they saw others forming brotherly relations with him, they wouldn’t want to be left behind. And if they weren’t chosen today, they’d have to report it to their fathers. What parent wouldn’t want their child to do their best to get close to Ma Jung Soo? Either way, this was a perfectly calculated action.
I had a strong desire to tell these youths that, if you form a brotherly relations.h.i.+p with a good person, that person is doing it so that they can maintain that relations.h.i.+p; however, but if you form a brotherly relations.h.i.+p with an evil person, that person is doing it to use you.
Si Gon was always near Ma Jung Soo. It seems that Si Gon is in charge of personally guarding him. He’s stayed vigilant the entire time. However, Old Man Flower Fan and that mysterious woman are nowhere to be seen. As such, just in case, I decided to check out the window, but they were still gone. It seem that Si Gon is always near Ma Jung Soo to protect him, while the other two are moving independently.
I gathered every sc.r.a.p of information that I could about him.
Even though I tried my best to stay out of his line of sight, he still managed to find me. He casually approached me and greeted me in a friendly manner, “Byuk-Kongja, how have you been?”
I awkwardly smiled and replied, “Have you been well?”
Neither of us had any friendly intentions.
After our greeting, he said something as if he’d suddenly remembered something, “Ah! I heard that Miss Song is bedridden today.”
“Yes, I know.”
“I heard that you beat her up?”
When I heard this, I became certain. He definitely had an interest in Song Hwa Rin, considering the Song Clan would never have told him the details. He’d investigated everything about her.
It was a good thing that I’d made her bedridden.
“For what reason did you do that?”
This punk. First he rips others off, and now he want to take other’s women? He plans on doing everything that he wants here, eh?
I had to forcefully hold back my itchy hands. I really wanted to kill him with a single stroke of my blade right now. But rather showing my anger, I smiled. “Well… it somehow happened.”
I wonder how much he knows about me. He most likely has all the basic information about me—about how I’d been nothing better than sc.u.m until now.
“Alright. I’ll tell you the truth. She brought up the word ‘divorce’.”
Since the rumors have already spread, he definitely already knows about them. But I acted as if I was revealing a big secret. “She and I have been engaged since birth. And yet, she dared to say something such as ‘divorce’? That’s unforgivable.”
This was the most reasonable excuse that I could think of.
Then I added, “The last time I got drunk, I had a bout with her, but I ended up losing miserably. Of course, it was because of the alcohol. However this time, I made sure to discipline her when I got my revenge.”
He probably know up to here. Anyway, this was a perfect way for me to hide my true intentions. And in his eyes, I might have gotten some points for disciplining his women.
“Hahaha, I think you were quite successful in your revenge. I heard that she took lessons from an expert.”
“Either way, she’s just a girl.”
“Hahaha. It seem that you’re a man, my brother. A true man.”
“That’s just how I am.”
“Well brother, let’s have a meal together one day; so that you can surprise your brother’s eyes.”