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Chapter 56
Neither Yang-hwi nor Steward Han felt the need to change locations. Instead, they brought Chu Yongwol directly inside.
After a servant brought tea, Chu Yongwol looked somewhat curious.
“Um, is the Head of the House perhaps too busy with work?”
Back when the contract was first signed, Chu Yongwol had been pressured by Baek Mu-ryang and was forced to yield a portion of the profit margin.
Perhaps due to that memory, she seemed intent on reporting her results directly to Baek Mu-ryang and receiving further instructions from him.
“Unfortunately, the Head has entered seclusion.”
After the banquet, most of the Tang family members who had stayed for a few days to recover from the travel fatigue had departed, leaving only the personnel needed for the elixir production behind.
Baek Mu-ryang had given a few words of instruction to Steward Han and Yang-hwi before retreating into closed-door cultivation again.
‘It’s probably because of Mother.’
The fact that he couldn’t personally treat Jeong In-Hwa, who needed to undergo Qi and blood cleansing, had hit Baek Mu-ryang hard.
He hadn’t shown it outwardly, but Yang-hwi, having spent so much time with his father in his past life, had sensed the emotion clearly.
‘As the head of a family, and as a husband, it’s only natural. On top of that, as the leader of a martial family, remaining at only first-class martial level must’ve felt like a bitter inadequacy.’
Truthfully, being at the first-class level wasn’t exactly weak.
In Akan-hyeon alone, it still put him among the top five experts.
‘But even that is far from enough. The main house is destined to grow farther, reach wider.’
Choosing to focus on improving his martial arts over fulfilling his family head responsibilities?
That, too, was entirely befitting of a Head of House.
After all, a true leader leads not only with authority but with the strength of their martial prowess.
And besides, most day-to-day matters could be smoothly handled by the experienced Steward Han.
‘…Though lately, whenever money’s involved, he does get a bit undignified.’
Like now, for example.
“Miss Chu! Coming all the way to the main house yourself must mean you’ve brought good results, eh? Hehehe.”
‘Mm. Correction. Right now, he’s completely undignified.’
Hehehe…
Steward Han, with his neatly arranged robes and long beard, normally looked like a scholar who had spent decades buried in books.
But now, as he grinned slyly like that, he gave off a sense that something was definitely wrong.
“Come now, speak! How much? Just how much did you make?!”
Centering herself, Chu Yongwol responded, slightly flustered.
“Well, to start with, regarding the contract between the Baek Clan and our The White Scroll Merchant, and the progress—”
Steward Han cut her off.
“Straight to the point, please! How much! Just how much?!”
His fingers bent and straightened nonstop, mimicking the shape of a gold coin.
Wasn’t Steward Han known as a scholarly man in both his youth and now? Where exactly had he thrown away the righteous path of a true gentleman?
Outwardly, he now resembled a gambler going through withdrawal after being banned from the betting halls.
‘Why do I feel second-hand embarrassment for him?’
Deciding he was still the most normal person in the room, Yang-hwi stepped in and looked toward Chu Yongwol.
“Miss Chu, the clan’s finances have been tight lately, so the Chief Steward is understandably anxious. How much profit did we earn?”
Still eyeing Steward Han with some displeasure, Chu Yongwol turned her head and offered a bright smile.
“Hehehe. Prepare yourselves. It’s quite the figure.”
“Quite?”
“We made five thousand nyang of silver.”
“HUH?!”
A strangled shriek rang out suddenly. Yang-hwi and Chu Yongwol both turned wide-eyed toward Steward Han.
“Chief Han!”
His head was tilted all the way back, his posture frozen stiff.
Slowly, his head lowered again.
And then, a single murmur escaped his lips.
“…Ah.”
A blissful smile formed on Steward Han’s face—one that could’ve belonged to an enlightened monk.
Enlightenment. That was unmistakably what this was.
His soul was clearly halfway out of his body.
“Steward Han-nim!”
Concerned, Yang-hwi shouted out, even infusing his voice with Qi.
Light slowly returned to Steward Han’s eyes, which had seemed lifeless a moment ago.
“Bwahahaha! Bwahahahaha!”
‘Whew. Thank goodness. I thought he was going to pass into the afterlife right there.’
It wasn’t even a joke, his reaction was dramatic enough to make one believe it.
Still, from the look on his face, it seemed his spirit had reattached to his earthly vessel.
“Hehehehehe! Five thousand nyang! And it’s only been three months since master Hwi resolved the issues with The White Scroll Merchant! Five thousand nyang in just three months! Hahahahahaha!”
Correction again—his sanity hadn’t quite returned yet.
Shaking his head, Yang-hwi turned to Chu Yongwol and offered his praise.
“You’ve truly worked hard, Miss Chu. You had, at most, two months of real selling time, and yet you’ve accomplished so much. Remarkable.”
Indeed, even for Yang-hwi, who had absolute confidence in the value of the novel he’d written in a single stroke, thanks to his memories of the future, Chu Yongwol’s performance was impressive.
“How did you do it? We had discussed various sales strategies, yes, but I had expected it would take at least a year for the momentum to really build.”
Their earlier strategy had focused on elevating the book’s value through a high-end, prestige-marketing approach.
Value, by nature, arises only when many desire it. And such a method inevitably takes time.
Yet Chu Yongwol had produced staggering results in barely two months.
“Hehe. The strategy we devised together was to make it a trend, wasn’t it?”
“That’s right.”
“So I made it into a trend. And not just any trend—one riding the back of a tiger.”
“Oh? You lured a tiger to spark a trend, did you?”
As Yang-hwi immediately grasped the whole plan, Chu Yongwol clicked her tongue in admiration.
“As expected, Young master, your insight is truly unmatched. You’re right. The young lady with the greatest influence among the women of Namchang favors me greatly. I used her help.”
In short, she’d borrowed the tiger’s authority to assign value, then turned that influence into a trend among the upper-class ladies.
Once the winds of trend had begun to blow, fanning the flames into a full gale wouldn’t have been too difficult.
‘As I thought. Choosing Chu Yongwol was the right decision.’
No wonder the White Scroll Merchant grew rapidly in the future.
And now that even the interference from the Namgeum Trading Guild had been removed, she’d surely soar to greater heights in this life.
“Ah, right. Young master, have you heard the news about the Namgeum Trading Guild?”
“What news would that be?”
“Remember how you spread those rumors using the spiritual herbs? After that, they went completely bust.”
Chu Yongwol continued, closely watching Yang-hwi’s expression.
“I heard a bunch of martial artists stormed in and started wreaking havoc, and then some righteous swordsman swooped in to save them. The twist? All their capital and high-interest loan contracts were stolen. That’s how it went, apparently.”
She was saying what didn’t really need saying.
It had to be one of two things:
‘Either she’s curious about how much of that was my doing… or…’
Yang-hwi smirked lightly.
“As I said before, all I did was spread the rumor.”
“Is that so? Rumor has it one of the martial heroes who took down the demon-headed one at the Namgeum estate was a young boy.”
“You’re not suggesting that was me, are you? Even if I were a once-in-a-generation genius, I’m still just an eight-year-old child.”
He shrugged and gave an exaggerated shiver.
“Looking back, it was a close call. If I’d run into someone known as a demon… brr. I could’ve gotten a glimpse of the afterlife far too early. Maybe some old master who reversed his aging popped up out of nowhere.”
“Hm. True enough. But you don’t seem particularly affected by Namgeum Trading Guild going under. If you think about it, it all started with your scheme.”
Ah, so this was her real point.
“I couldn’t care less about the collapse of a place that dealt in predatory loans. And what about you, Miss Chu?”
“I feel the same, naturally.”
Confirming that they were both people of firm hearts and firm wills, Yang-hwi and Chu Yongwol smiled at each other.
“Well then, I’ll take my leave.”
“Won’t you stay the night and rest from your journey?”
“You know how it is. Maybe if I had spare time, but these days every day is worth its weight in gold. As a merchant, you have to know when it’s time to rest and when it isn’t.”
She was right, and it was admirable.
The harder Chu Yongwol worked, the greater the Baek Clan’s profits would grow.
“Then allow me to escort you to the gate.”
“I gladly accept the Young master’s escort.”
After watching Chu Yongwol ride off in her carriage, Yang-hwi returned to Steward Han’s quarters.
“Heheheheh. Five thousand nyang… Five. Thou. Sand. Nyaaang!”
Steward Han was still grinning like a madman, fiddling with the money pouch that held fifty gold taels.
‘Wait. Didn’t he say he needed two thousand nyang right away? That leaves three thousand.’
Five thousand silver nyang—even on the cheaper side—was enough to open an entirely new business.
But if you subtract two thousand, the leftover three thousand becomes just awkward to allocate.
So wouldn’t it be most efficient to keep about a thousand nyang in reserve and quickly use the rest?
‘…If we spend more on better materials, the resulting elixir should also be far more potent.’
“Steward Han-nim.”
“Bwahaha! Speak, Young master!”
“Well, I was thinking—maybe we could allocate about two thousand more nyang for the elixir materials—”
“Yooouunng Looorrrddd Hwwiiiii!!”
The thunderous lion’s roar from the old man with no internal energy echoed throughout the entire Baek Clan Estate.
* * *
It had already been a month since most of the Tang Clan members departed, leaving behind only the Poison Medic Division unit to begin elixir production.
Recently, Yang-hwi had been increasing the intensity of internal energy training while also mentoring his two younger siblings.
“Slowly now. There’s no need to rush. What matters is stability. The essence of this technique lies in firmly channeling your energy.”
Normally, his siblings would’ve responded with their usual lively voices. But today, they remained silent and focused.
Naturally so. Speaking during internal energy training was akin to inviting deviation of mind and Qi, a condition cultivators dreaded.
“Now, let’s form the mental image. The flow of Qi released from your lower dantian. Some compare it to rivers or streams, but our clan’s Heavenly Harmony Art is different.”
While circulating Qi through the body’s meridians, there was only one mental image the Baek Clan should hold in mind.
The hawk.
“Heavenly Harmony Art. It unifies all the forces beneath the sky into one harmonious current, nourishing the root. But how can a hawk achieve such a feat?”
The answer was simple.
“Hoo, sss.”
“Sss—haaa…”
As he listened to the rhythmic breathing of his siblings, Yang-hwi continued his explanation.
“Think of a mother hawk. Its sturdy wings that pierce the sky are used to shelter its eggs and young. It embraces all. Everything rests beneath its wings.”
Calling himself the best of all past and present might sound arrogant, but Yang-hwi had no shame in doing so. His perception was acute, precise—he now focused it entirely on Baek Heon-So and Baek Yeon-Yeon.
While even he couldn’t literally sense the flow of Qi inside their bodies, he could read how the surrounding natural energy was entering them and blending with their own.
‘Both of them are doing well.’
The first stage of Heavenly Harmony Art.
At this stage, building a solid foundation was everything.
More specifically, it was about perfecting a unique energy flow known as Heavenly Harmony energy—an energy signature exclusive to the Baek Clan’s technique.
‘Once you both overcome this phase, your growth will accelerate rapidly, little ones.’
Just as Yang-hwi was smiling with satisfaction—
Baek Heon-So opened his eyes first, followed shortly by Baek Yeon-Yeon.
“Well done, both of you. Not just Heon-So, but even Yeon-Yeon can now circulate your Qi through the full cycle.”
“Thank you, Hyung-nim! It’s all thanks to you!”
“Me too! Thank you! When you teach us, martial arts feel so easy and fun!”
Of course, it’s fun. He poured his heart into tailoring each lesson to their level and making it enjoyable.
“Let’s keep working hard and having fun, okay? Now then, once more from the top…”
He was about to begin the next round of training when a voice cut across the training yard.
“Young master Hwi.”
The voice belonged to the vice-division leader of the Poison Medic Division—the Tang Clan’s specialized alchemy group.
“Phew. It’s been a while.”
This vice-leader had practically locked himself away in his quarters for the past month, completely focused on the elixir process.
His appearance now could only mean one thing.
“Vice-Leader, don’t tell me…”
“I believe you’re right.”
An elixir brewed from four roots of Thick ginseng and a staggering investment of four thousand nyang.
At long last, the elixir was complete.
---The End Of The Chapter---
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