Chapter 13: Princess Peach Blossom
Eun Hwaran's father always said this.
A merchant leaves people behind, and people bring merchants.
In the end, business was about retaining people—so chase promising talent rather than immediate profits.
Words personally left behind by a great tycoon respected by countless merchants.
After his sudden passing, with financial difficulties piling up, those words hadn't really resonated—but now I thought I might finally understand them.
"He's quite the peculiar one."
She quietly watched the boy who was orchestrating the adults while tapping her lips with a fan.
One competent little boy had nearly put a previously struggling business back on track.
The sericulture business, once stagnant, was now smoothly sailing and full of life.
Thanks to that, the Eunseong Trading Company had also gained some breathing room—though the escort issue still remained.
"This must be why Father insisted on bringing in talented individuals."
Eun Hwaran murmured to herself quietly.
But someone responded to that muttering.
"Trading Lord, you mustn’t take that child in."
It was Chief Jin, who had been busily running around lately trying to secure funding.
"Why not?"
"Because Hwang Noya has already taken him in as a disciple. If we poach him now, wouldn't that be a clear act of ingratitude?"
"Hmm."
Eun Hwaran, who had been tempted by greed, nodded as if accepting the logic.
She gazed wistfully at the boy, like a persimmon she couldn’t have.
"Still, it’s a shame. He’d be perfect as the next Head Escort if we raised him right."
He wasn’t even fifteen, but he was already skilled at managing people.
He earned people’s trust through actions rather than words, didn’t hold back on giving advice, and motivated workers through praise.
On top of that, his strength was considerable, and thanks to Noya, his talent in martial arts had already been confirmed.
Truly, he seemed like a prepared candidate for the future Head Escort.
"Textile uncles, take this too."
Dan Mujin skillfully wound the thread around the silk yarn with deft hands and handed it over to the weavers.
"Oh, thank you, young master."
The weavers, who had been interlacing warp and weft to make fabric, accepted it with bright faces.
Eun Hwaran and Chief Jin silently watched the scene unfold.
Eun Hwaran covered her mouth with her fan and shared the assumptions she had been forming all along.
"As expected... He must be a child from the Hao Sect who used to do sericulture in Miryang, right?"
"Yes, it seems that way."
Only that organization could explain such knowledge of sericulture.
The Hao Sect—a faction formed by the lowest of the low.
If there were companies like the Eunseong Trading Company in the light, the Hao Sect existed in the shadows.
"Come to think of it, didn’t something happen recently to the Beijing branch?"
That incident had once caused quite a stir.
No wonder Hwang Noya had asked them not to inquire about his disciple’s background.
Everything seemed to fit perfectly.
The Hao Sect, alongside the Beggars’ Union, was said to be a melting pot of intelligence and information.
Was this what it felt like to discover a gleaming pearl in a sea of sand?
Eun Hwaran looked at Mujin with even greater interest.
"Let’s bring him in, after all."
"No. Please get a hold of yourself."
"Ugh."
Chief Jin spoke firmly, just in case she might go through with it.
"The previous Trading Lord always said: ‘Repay kindness with gratitude.’"
"I know. I’m his daughter, after all."
It was something she had heard so many times from her father that her ears hurt.
You can’t repay someone who helped you for free with betrayal.
Eun Hwaran folded her fan with a click, her face full of regret.
"So, Chief Jin, what brings you to the sericulture chamber? You must be busy."
If it were a simple report, he could have just sent someone.
The fact that he came personally meant something troublesome had happened.
And that turned out to be the case.
Chief Jin silently handed her a letter stamped with a golden toad.
"Again?"
"Again."
They really didn’t know when to quit.
Eun Hwaran rubbed her throbbing forehead as she accepted the letter.
"But this time, the contents were a little different."
"Oh? How so?"
"They said they’d send the fourth young master himself and suggested having a conversation."
"..."
What a persistent man.
When their marriage proposal was vaguely declined, he had the gall to shove it right in their face.
As if to say stalling tactics wouldn’t work on him.
It seemed he was truly determined to take control of the Eunseong Trading Company.
Eun Hwaran let out a deep sigh, as if her head hurt.
"Haa."
***
"Hut! Hap! Heup!"
It was a sunny afternoon with the sun scorching down.
I was fully immersed in practicing Whirlwind Steps outside the sericulture chamber.
I’d been kicked out for stirring up dust while practicing inside.
Chak, seureuk, tak.
A strange footwork shifting between stepping and movement techniques.
Hwang Geolgae checked my progress every night, and if I lacked, he’d slap me with thunderous flicks.
Thus, this was also a struggle to survive.
"Ha!"
After getting beaten through Meridian Stimulation, I could now use my internal energy more delicately.
To the point where I could slice up the little speck of Qi I had and use it multiple times.
Chwaak!
I gathered Qi at the tip of my toes and kicked off the ground, my body shooting forward.
Dust scattered in a puff at the same time.
The laborers were right—training outside was a good idea.
"Tch, damn brat. You’re kicking up dust."
But then, from afar, a curse laced with annoyance flew in.
A man walked up, needlessly brushing the front of his silk robe.
He was far enough away that no dust could’ve reached him, but he was picking a fight anyway.
"Do you know what I went through to get this Sichuan silk robe? If even a speck of dust got on it, you’re a dead man."
He looked like one of those greasy playboy types, with pale skin and sleazy brows.
"Young Lord Geum Yado, isn’t today a lovely day for flower viewing? Can’t you overlook a bit of ruckus from a kid?"
His attendant followed behind and tried to calm him down.
But these punks kept calling me ‘brat’ in a way that was really starting to tick me off.
"You little bastard, count yourself lucky... And what the hell is a whelp like this doing in front of such an important business?"
"Maybe he’s the son of one of the workers? Probably just being looked after nearby."
"Tsk, this is a royal enterprise, and the security’s a joke. No wonder—a naive woman’s playing at being a Trading Lord."
"Indeed, she’s so swayed by sentiment that she can’t even distinguish work from personal matters."
"I heard she even turned down my marriage proposal. That cocky wench with nothing but a face to show..."
What a pair of clowns.
Suddenly showing up and making noise like they were beating drums and gongs all by themselves.
Then, perhaps hearing the commotion, the door to the sericulture chamber slid open.
Out came a beauty in a lotus-like silk robe, with black hair tied up and a golden hairpin.
"Young Lord Geum Yado? I believe I already replied declining your visit."
A clear and firm voice.
Geum Yado, briefly entranced, quickly collected himself and responded.
"I declined your rejection. Are you the Trading Lord Eun Hwaran?"
"I am."
"Ah, indeed—your reputation is no lie. The rumor of the ‘Three Flowers of Beijing’ wasn’t false. I, Geum Yado, am truly captivated by your spring-blossom-like beauty."
With a lowered tone and showy gestures, Geum Yado respectfully praised Eun Hwaran’s appearance.
It was like a scholar reciting a poem with scholarly airs.
Having seen this guy’s true colors just now, it was absurd to witness.
"Weren’t you just calling her a cocky wench with only a face to show?"
That single line broke Geum Yado’s smooth theatrics in an instant.
Apparently, he never expected a commoner brat he treated like air to jump into the conversation between nobles.
"Wh-What nonsense! When did I say something like that?"
"I just heard it clearly a moment ago."
I mimicked the exact expression of someone who swears they saw something with their own eyes.
It surprisingly gave off a vibe that made people think, “Ah, this kid really did hear something.”
"You little—! How dare you interfere with grown-up conversations!"
Geum Yado’s face was full of panic.
He looked urgently at his attendant beside him.
A silent plea to shut my mouth somehow.
"Come here! I don’t know whose kid you are, but I’ll teach you how to respect your elders!"
The attendant tried to grab me with both hands to drag me away.
I stepped into Whirlwind Steps and smoothly slipped past his clumsy grab.
The attendant lunged into empty air and tumbled forward.
"...You’re no ordinary brat!"
At the commotion, people from the Eunseong side came rushing out from the sericulture chamber.
"Young Lord Geum Yado, what is this I hear? A ‘cocky wench with only a face’?"
Eun Hwaran shot him a sharp glare like a battle axe.
She looked like she’d split him in half with just her eyes if he didn’t answer properly.
"Of course that’s nonsense...! If you are the Trading Lord of a company, surely you know better than to believe a clueless brat over me!"
He pointed between me, a nobody, and himself, the young lord of Man Geum Trading Post, pleading his innocence.
He still seemed to believe he could salvage the situation.
"Trading Lord of a company? Earlier, didn’t you mockingly say she was a naive woman unfit to be a Trading Lord?"
"You little rat! I’ll rip you apart—!!"
Clearly rattled by the performance of Dan Mujin’s signature red pepper powder.
Eventually, Geum Yado exploded.
His rage reached the limit, and he forgot his dignity and charged at me, swinging a fist.
But then, a sharp voice rang out as a fan was thrust between us.
"Young Lord Geum Yado! What are you doing, attacking a child? Stop this instant!"
Taken aback by the unexpected interruption, Geum Yado had no choice but to halt his furious charge.
"Trading Lord Eun Hwaran, surely you’re not actually believing that grimy little kid!"
Geum Yado was outraged that no one treated the Fourth Young Lord of Man Geum Trading Post like this.
He couldn’t believe he was being treated like this because of a mere child.
"Of course I believe him. This child is a core member of our trading company."
We had a kind of guanxi, after all.
She had once entrusted me with full authority over the sericulture chamber.
That guy didn’t know that, so of course he couldn’t make sense of the situation.
"Young Lord, our company is currently preparing for the royal evaluation and extremely busy. Would you kindly stop making a scene and leave?"
Her tone was polite, but Eun Hwaran’s voice was cold as ice as she effectively issued an expulsion.
Her expression said she would never forget the insults directed at her.
"Surely your company needs help, since the Sericulture Officer hasn’t arrived?"
When Geum Yado mentioned the missing sericulture officer, Eun Hwaran’s brow twitched briefly.
Geum Yado pressed her again, as if wondering if she would regret this.
"Are you sure you want to treat me like this? What if you need something later?"
"...That too is for us to handle. As an outsider, please refrain from interfering any further."
It was a clear statement cutting off ties, including the marriage proposal.
"Hmph, fine. Let’s see how this turns out."
Seemingly realizing there was no more hope, Geum Yado snorted and turned away.
The cold stares from the trading company’s people followed the two of them all the way past the gate.
"...Well, that seals the split with Man Geum Trading Post, Trading Lord."
And now, a middle-aged Chief approached and spoke.
"We were planning to reject them anyway. Now we have the perfect justification and saved ourselves the trouble."
"True enough."
Chief Jin nodded briefly in agreement.
"And besides, we have something far more reliable than someone like that."
"...That’s certainly true."
After that exchange, the two of them turned their eyes toward me.
Softly.
Staring continuously, with a burdensome gaze.
"..."
Say something already.
Since the sun was starting to set, I used training as an excuse and ran away from the spot.
***
"Ah."
Crash!
"That damn bitch!"
The man with the greasy eyebrows was smashing everything in the office in a fit of rage.
Expensive Boshan glass ornaments, high-priced accessories—everything was shattered in his hands.
After a while, having destroyed enough, he eventually leaned both arms on the desk and gasped for breath.
"...Have you calmed down a bit, Young Lord?"
His attendant brought him a cup of water and asked cautiously.
Usually, it took another two hours of rampaging before his rage would subside, so this seemed strange today.
"Heh, heh heh."
And then Geum Yado suddenly started laughing.
Watching this, his attendant couldn’t help but wonder if the man had finally gone mad.
"...If I may ask, Young Lord, what is so amusing?"
In response, Geum Yado slammed down the cup of water he had just sipped.
"Isn’t it funny? I can see their future."
Hearing that, the attendant wondered if his upper dantian had cracked open and granted him clairvoyance.
He could see the future of Eun Hwaran and the Eunseong Trading Company?
"Eunseong will fail the gold assessment. No matter how many silkworms they raise or how many bolts of silk they produce, it’ll be useless."
His voice was quite confident. That meant he must have had a reason.
"Because the official overseeing the gold assessment is our man. She stepped into the Imperial shadows without knowing anything."
Of course, in the business world where the weak disappear, she might have entered with some degree of resolve to survive.
At least, that was the case for the late Eun Jincheong, Trading Lord of Chunhui Tycoon.
But he died suddenly, leaving behind only that brat of a girl.
"So let’s wait and see..."
When the time comes, I’ll make her cry and beg. She’ll have no choice if she wants to save her company.
She’ll regret all those words she spat out earlier.
"And I’ll catch that cocky brat too and make him pay."
He had seen with his own eyes the logistics, manpower, and influence of the Eunseong Trading Company.
He’d have to seize it all.
Even after tarnishing their credibility with strange rumors, their wagons were still stacked with cargo and ready to spread across the world.
Geum Yado thought he was beginning to understand why his father, Geum Hwangdo, had told him to acquire the trading company by any means necessary.
If the trading post was a stagnant lake, the trading company was a flowing river.
If he could obtain both Man Geum’s financial power and Eunseong’s commercial influence, he would be unrivaled in the Beijing business world.
"Who knew that staying single and fooling around with courtesans until now would come in handy?"
Since childhood, he had roamed brothels and, unlike his older brothers who had inherited stable businesses, he had never been passed down a proper enterprise.
Truly, you never know what life will bring.
"Hehehe."
And that’s why Geum Yado could now endure the humiliation he suffered from the trading company.
A man in a blue official robe walked through a garden where peonies bloomed in full splendor.
Every time he passed, neatly dressed maids of the Princess Palace bowed low and greeted him as Second-Rank Eunuch, Cheonsugong.
"Where is Princess Peach Blossom?"
Cheonsugong stopped a gatekeeping guard of the vast palace and asked.
The guard looked up at him, puzzled, and asked in return.
"I believe Her Highness is enjoying tea in her inner quarters. Is there something urgent?"
"I must see her at once. Open the gate."
The imperial capital Beijing was a den of suspicion and darkness.
While martial artists protected themselves with their strength, eunuchs had to rely on schemes and plots to survive.
That’s why they extended their feelers of information as far as possible and tried to hear everything.
And today, Cheonsugong had rushed here after receiving just such a troubling report.
To protect a noble figure from the dirty court intrigues.
"Even for you, Cheonsugong, showing up without notice like this..."
"This is urgent. Her Highness will understand."
"...Understood."
Knowing that the Princess cherished this eunuch dearly, the guard judged it unwise to cause friction and withdrew his spear.
Cheonsugong then quickly moved toward the inner quarters, forgetting all formality.
"I’ve thought it strange since the moment Eun Jincheong fell."
He was over sixty now. They said it was illness, and he wasn’t sure at first, but seeing how things unfolded, he began to suspect court conspiracy.
The Princess had just helped grant the sericulture business license and opened trade, and immediately after, he collapsed—wasn’t the timing suspicious?
And the Sericulture Officer who supposedly never arrived.
It was clear that someone in the court had schemed to block the Princess’s influence and bind her hands and feet.
"Your Highness, it is Second-Rank Eunuch Cheonsugong. Forgive the intrusion, but I come on urgent business. May I enter?"
Cheonsugong bowed his head as he knocked on the door of the inner chamber.
A short silence followed, as if the person inside was surprised by the sudden visit.
"I grant permission."
A soft but dignified voice answered.
Creak.
Cheonsugong carefully opened the door.
Inside, a gentle aroma of tea filled the room.
A noble lady was enjoying a tea ceremony, a single leaf floating in her cup.
The silk robe woven in Sichuan shimmered under the sunlight, but even its rainbow hues couldn’t overshadow her beauty.
A fair and graceful jade-like face. One might think, so this is what it means when they say a beauty can topple a nation.
"I pay my respects to Princess Peach Blossom."
Suppressing the unnecessary thoughts stirring within, Cheonsugong lowered his gaze and bowed deeply.
"Yes, Cheonsugong. What urgent matter brings you to me?"
The Princess's eyes curved like a crescent moon at the sight of a familiar face.
Despite the rudeness of such an abrupt visit, she did not blame him.
She assumed there must be a reason.
It was this kind and wise nature that made Cheonsugong choose to follow her, even though she was a woman.
"Forgive me, Your Highness, but the reason I came is..."
But this palace was a place where suspicion and malice bloomed endlessly.
To protect her purity, someone had to dirty their hands in the shadows, and that person had always been Cheonsugong.
"Because I’ve detected a sinister movement targeting Your Highness and the Eunseong Trading Company."
Her delicate, fair hand stopped stirring the tea upon hearing the word “threat.”
A deep concern bloomed on the Princess’s peony-like face.