WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Alyo
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Memoir of a Regressor ◈
Chapter 9: Who Is the Master of Cheonhwa Pavilion?
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I stepped outside carrying a heavy pouch. It contained a mixture of gold taels and silver taels. Altogether, it came to roughly 8,900 taels of silver.
Jo Hyeon still looked dazed.
“...I had no idea.”
“What didn't you know?”
“I never thought they'd hand over 8,900 taels so readily... Why did they give it?”
I gave him an odd look.
“How old did you say you were?”
“I turned twenty this year.”
“You aren't that young. I suppose I should explain, then. Why was this money given even after the books were falsified and an absurdly high price was quoted? It's simple. This is a reward from the Jang Clan.”
“A reward?”
“More precisely, it should be called a settlement. The Jang Clan's attempt to interfere with Cheonhwa Pavilion and swallow the Yi Clan's money isn't a small matter.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. If this is brought into the open, it could lead to an all-out conflict between the two clans. Even if the Jang Clan's eldest son belongs to the Emperor Sword Sect, this is fundamentally a fight between clans. They would have to weigh what they stood to gain against what they stood to lose. A backwater clan like theirs can borrow the Emperor Sword Sect's name, but dragging the sect itself into this would cost them dearly. If they care about their eldest son, the wisest course is not to burden him. This money shows that, for now, they don't want to make a bigger issue of it.”
Jo Hyeon scratched his head.
“I don't understand all the details, but it's good for us, right?”
“That's right. Think of it that way. How long have you worked as an attendant?”
“Since I was ten, so ten years.”
“Then you must know Cheonhwa Pavilion's operations fairly well.”
“I do.”
“Good. Gather every employee of Cheonhwa Pavilion before business opens today.”
Jo Hyeon tilted his head.
“The proprietor has changed, and so has the Deputy Owner. Shouldn't introductions be held at least once?”
Jo Hyeon, Deputy Owner of Cheonhwa Pavilion.
Having risen in the world, he beamed.
“Yes, you're right. I'll make sure everything is properly prepared.”
I had reached the Circulation Realm, but my bones and sinews were still lacking.
Before I entered the Four Qi-Cultivation Realms, I had to push my body to its limits.
Jo Hyeon headed for Cheonhwa Pavilion, while I returned to the Yi Clan.
* * *
The Yi Clan's eldest and second sons had gone to wipe out every bandit on Myeongwolsan in order to cover up their own mistakes. Today, they finished the task and returned to the clan.
They had expected a welcome, but what they heard was anything but.
At first, they thought they had misheard.
So they asked again.
The second time, they wondered if they were dreaming.
A bolt from the blue.
It was impossible.
Their youngest brother had reached the Circulation Realm, recovered every last coin Cheonhwa Pavilion owed, and gone beyond that to swallow up the entire establishment?
He had even gone alone to the Jang Clan and returned with 8,900 taels of silver?
What kind of nonsensical bullshit was that?
Yet it was true.
Only a day or two had passed.
Everything had changed in that short time.
More people were beginning to see Yi Do, the son of a concubine, differently. That included Yi Se-geuk, the Clan Head.
This couldn't continue.
It had to be stopped.
The two men were soon summoned by the two wives, and they began devising a plan.
After some time, the brothers emerged together.
Yi Jeong wore a bright expression. Yi Won did not.
“Won.”
“...Yes, Brother.”
“Don't be too disappointed.”
“...”
“In the end, I am the eldest son, and I will become the Young Clan Head of the Yi Clan. You are the second son. No matter what you do, you can never become the Young Clan Head. That is the martial world.”
He was wrong.
The martial world was a place where no one knew what might happen.
“They say the meeting begins around the Hour of the Dog, so go and rest.”
“...Yes, Brother. You should rest as well.”
* * *
Master taught me five martial arts in all.
[Primal Unity Qi Technique], [Ring-Stacking Technique].
Those two were an internal cultivation method and a qi technique focused on building and using internal energy.
Then there were the remaining three.
When Master first explained them to me, he put it this way.
A combat art, both a cultivation method and a set of forms, that used only Properly Aligned Qi; a movement technique for running swiftly; and a footwork technique for swiftly exploiting an opponent's openings.
A combat art, a movement art, and a footwork art.
The combat art was called [Asura Heaven-Breaking Five Arts].
This combat art consisted of five forms and could only be used by drawing upon Properly Aligned Qi. Its power was beyond imagination. Other martial arts were already formidable when powered by ordinary Properly Aligned Qi, but the Asura Heaven-Breaking Five Arts were in a different league. Its side effects were stronger than expected, so I only brought it out in moments of crisis.
Anyone who saw it.
Anyone who felt it.
Anyone who was there.
Everyone had to die, except those completely on my side. Otherwise, things would become troublesome for me.
The movement art was not quite on the same level as the combat art.
It was called the [Cloud Dragon Eight Forms].
It was a martial art from the destroyed Great Kunlun. Once mastered, it allowed one to change direction eight times in an instant, even in midair.
It was a marvelous movement art, useful both for fleeing and for pretending to flee before launching a counterattack.
The remaining one was the [Heavenly Steed Divine Steps].
That, too, was a martial art of Great Kunlun, and it was compatible with any other martial art.
At its core, it was not simply about slipping into an opponent's opening. It was footwork that maintained the ideal distance for attacking or evading, and I used it constantly.
What I was practicing now was the Heavenly Steed Divine Steps. The Cloud Dragon Eight Forms only showed meaningful results after reaching at least the Four Qi-Cultivation Realms, so there was no point in practicing it yet.
My feet moved without rest. The ground tore apart, and clumps of dirt shot into the air.
I closed in on an imaginary opponent. A sword swept toward me. I jerked my head back. It passed before my nose by less than an inch. My rear foot drove against the ground as the muscles in my waist and arms moved at the same time.
Baaang-!
The air exploded violently.
Had it been a real opponent, their neck would have burst at the very least.
I created two imaginary opponents.
Their swords and fists churned through the air. My feet moved just as wildly, weaving through their attacks. Attacks grazed past me again and again.
I thrust both hands hard to either side.
Baaang-!!
The air on both sides exploded.
Without a word, I wiped the sweat from my forehead.
I had set the illusions' level somewhere between the Circulation Realm and the Twin Sun Manifestation, but it was still uncertain.
I needed spiritual medicine.
A single hundred-year ginseng root would give me about a fifty percent chance of entering the Four Qi-Cultivation Realms. With two, I would have more than a ninety percent chance.
I looked up.
The sun was beginning to dim.
It was about time to wash up and leave for Cheonhwa Pavilion.
“Um, Young Master?”
I turned.
“What is it?”
“...The Clan Head is looking for you.”
My brow furrowed slightly.
Why had he been looking for me so often lately?
“Is it a private audience?”
“...No. He said it is an important meeting and that you must attend.”
I clicked my tongue softly.
Come to think of it, something happened every time a meeting was held.
Could it be?
Had the hundred-year ginseng already been prepared?
After quickly washing up, I headed for the Clan Head's Hall.
* * *
It was the same as always.
The Clan Head was there, with four elders behind him, followed by the two wives, the eldest son, and the second son.
Once again, they looked down at Yi Do, the last to enter, as though conducting an inquiry.
He did not like the arrangement at all, but he let it pass.
He was not a child, and the life Yi Do had lived had been harsh enough for him to take something like this in stride.
The conversation that followed was another matter.
It crossed far beyond the line Yi Do had drawn for himself.
“Today, Jeong and Won wiped out the bandits of Myeongwolsan and returned. Have you greeted them?”
Yi Do answered Yi Se-geuk's question.
“I was busy training, so I haven't.”
“Yes, you have reached the Circulation Realm. That is understandable. I wanted to tell you that the actions of these two have greatly raised the Yi Clan's honor.”
To be honest, the situation itself was rather absurd.
There had originally been no bandits or brigands on Myeongwolsan, not even slash-and-burn farmers. Then bandits appeared. Who had called them there?
Those four people.
The two mothers and the two brothers.
They had no choice but to wipe them all out. Once too many people knew a secret, it was no longer a secret.
Yi Do instinctively felt something was wrong.
He did not care about raising the clan's honor or any such thing, but why bring this up here and now?
What was the point of those words?
Yi Se-geuk spoke.
“I heard that you intend to manage Cheonhwa Pavilion.”
Whether he had heard it from the General Steward or the two women over there, Yi Do did not care.
“But can you truly do it?”
He had not cared about the rest, so he had remained indifferent. This was different.
“I don't understand what you mean.”
“Yes, I was being too indirect. What would you say to entrusting the management of Cheonhwa Pavilion to the eldest son here?”
Yi Do's brow creased sharply.
“I heard that you plan to make a mere attendant the Deputy Owner, leave the proprietor's position vacant, and operate the place with yourself as the one truly in charge. Is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“But Cheonhwa Pavilion is no small pleasure house. How could a mere attendant sit in the Deputy Owner's seat? Now that Cheonhwa Pavilion belongs to the Yi Clan, it is only right that someone from the Yi Clan be dispatched to manage the staff beneath him.”
Yi Do listened in silence for the moment.
“So I intend to install Yi Jeong, the eldest, as proprietor of Cheonhwa Pavilion and appoint Chief Steward Yang to assist him. Chief Steward Yang has previously run a pleasure house and, though it was small, also managed a trading company. What do you think?”
Yi Do said nothing.
One person could not endure that silence.
It was Lady Sang, the first wife.
Lady Sang shouted furiously.
“You brat! The Clan Head asked you a question. How dare you keep your mouth shut!”
Yi Do turned his gaze to Lady Sang.
His lips parted.
“Do you not remember what I told you before?”
“What?”
“The Clan Head of the Yi Clan and I are speaking. Why can't you tell when you should and shouldn't interrupt?”
“This brat's manners... Have you become so full of yourself now that you've reached the Circulation Realm?”
“I see very clearly. Too clearly, in fact. Father.”
“...Fine. Speak.”
“What do you think you're doing?”
“...What... What did you just say?”
Yi Do took a step forward.
“Who acquired Cheonhwa Pavilion?”
Silence fell over the room.
“Who went to the Jang Clan and brought back the silver taels?”
“...”
“I did those things. With my own strength, by myself. What exactly did Eldest Brother do for you to hand my property over to him?”
This time, Yi Jeong stepped forward.
“Little Brother. I understand perfectly well that you are unhappy, but didn't you say it yourself? That none of us owns anything personally, that everything belongs to the Yi Clan.”
“Yes. You remember well. But it seems you misunderstood.”
“What?”
“I said that although none of it belongs to us personally, we may clearly assert ownership over what an individual has built with their own hands. Did I not?”
“So Cheonhwa Pavilion is yours?”
“Of course it is. Then does Cheonhwa Pavilion belong to you, Brother? According to the contract, it must clearly state that Cheonhwa Pavilion is being transferred not to the ‘Yi Clan,’ but to ‘Yi Do.’ Are you going to ignore that?”
“...I am the one who will lead this clan in the future. The contract can be revised, and even without revising it, all you need to do is transfer ownership to me. Wouldn't it be easier if you thought of it as the youngest brother giving his elder brother a gift?”
There was no need to answer that. Yi Do looked at Yi Se-geuk.
“Tell me clearly. Is all this your will, Father?”
“...”
“I mean, set aside everyone whispering in your ear and everyone who does nothing but flatter you. Is this a decision you, and you alone, made as Clan Head of the Yi Clan?”
After hesitating for a moment, Yi Se-geuk nodded.
“Yes, it is my decision. Yi Do, I know what you have accomplished, but this is the time for you to focus on martial arts. Leave the management of a pleasure house to someone else and devote yourself to that.”
It was nothing new, but Yi Do had no allies in this clan.
He looked at them one by one.
Yi Jeong. Lady Sang. The four elders. Yi Won. Lady Yun.
And finally, Yi Se-geuk.
Slowly.
A remarkably gentle smile formed on Yi Do's lips.
“Yes. Do as you wish.”
Yi Do turned away.
His face was far too cold.
Like someone who might set something on fire.
Footnotes:
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