The woman suddenly raised her head and swept up her hair. Then she scratched both earlobes alternately, as if embarrassed.
At the moment, I belatedly found a scar the size of a red bean egg remaining in her two earlobes.
‘That!’
I bet that’s Gampo-cho’s toxic-looking, but it’s gradually disappearing.
‘No way!’
How many Confucian scholars in Hangzhou now wear a do-rag dyed with expensive Gampo-cho?
How many of those men and women will have no sex experience, and how many percentages are there that I will meet one in every 100 such men and women again twice a day?
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh. Come to think of it, we’re seeing each other for the first time today. My name is Namgoong So-so.”
“If it’s Namgoong So-so……?”
“The current master of Namgoong Family, the thunder sword, Namgoong Muryong is my grandfather.”
“……!”
As Namgoong Family was a group who took root in Yangju, northern part, Namgoong Family was a super-large martial art group in Namjikyeseong while Cheonryong Pyoguk holds sway in Zhejiang province
The fact that she is from Yangju is the same as that Confucian scholar.
There was no more doubt.
‘You said you had an appointment. I thought you were a little slow young bumpkin, but I didn’t know you were a lady of the Great Namgoong Family. But Namgoong So-So took the state exam in male attire.’
Now I could see why the men tried to impress her.
The opportunity to get close to Namgoong Family’s girl and especially the direct granddaughter of the current master of that Family does not come often.
No matter what, it was a golden chance to Lee Byung-ryong. The Namgoong Family had very few children, so direct blood has only Namgoong So-so and only her brother, who was called the sword genius.
If he builds a close relationship with Namgoong So-so, he may gain a strong ally called Namgung Family when a war with his brothers happens in the future.
In a word, she is the ultimate in personal connections.
Meanwhile, Namgoong So-so seemed to have no idea that I had noticed her secret.
Perhaps, she had been watching without saying anything is to test if I recognize her.
‘It is said that Namgoong Family is the number one in the martial art world due to their reverse skill, called Boonyeong Chukgol.’
I had a feeling I’d seen her somewhere, but I never thought of connecting with that Confucian scholar. Without Gampo-cho’s toxic reaction, she would never have been recognized.
“I see. This is Lee Jeong-ryong.”
“I know.”
“I’ve never seen you before. You know me?”
“You’re already famous in the adult entertainment district in Hangzhou.”
I just tested her once, but she was good at responding, without faltering.
“Rumors are always exaggerated.”
“There’s no smoke when there is no fire.”
“A small fire may have a great smoke.”
“The fire that burns the whole mountain eventually gets smaller.”
“……!”
This woman is not an ordinary woman.
“But Gongja Jeong-ryong hasn’t said how you would write your answer yet. It’s easy to point out the slightest mistake of others, but it’s hard to develop your own ideas logically. Especially when it comes to topics with no correct answers. What do you think?”
Namgoong So-so’s words gave the men a slight glow of hope. While she was saying their mistakes as if they were insignificant, she pointed out that I had no idea and they felt as if she was on their side.
I realized that I couldn’t get over Namgoong So-so easily, unlike those stupid men.
“If it were me, I’d let it go.”
“Why?”
“Hwabuk area has long been the largest producer of cotton, and it is not new that bandits are swarming every winter. If left unchecked, the bandits, who were the common people at the time of the cotton harvest, will naturally return home. It would be better to pick cotton than to steal.”
“Is that all? Then I’m disappointed.”
“Instead, the government will tax landowners, beggars, and lands heavier than now.”
“What’s the connection with it? Aren’t they the ones who suffer the most from the bandits?”
“The first reason why landowners exploit tenants and workers at a bargain price is that they starve in a bad year or springtime, so they become bandits, and the second reason is that they sell hard-produced cotton without proper compensation and take big profits, and the third reason is that because of the rampant bandits, the business of the Pyoguk is very successful. They pay less taxes than they earn.”
“What are you going to do with taxes?”
“I’ll have to fill the country’s vault. Then a real thief in the name of politicians will steal the property.”
“That means you don’t care about the people and only for the sake of politicians. Why on earth would you do that?”
“So, one or two of them, clean and good officials, even if they are few, will do the necessary things for the people with the leftover wealth.”
“What an inefficient thing it is.”
“That’s politics.”
There was a moment of silence.
They just thought about liquidating or reforming bandits, but no one would have thought about analyzing the causes and phenomena associated with the characteristics of the Hwabuk area of the country, even by reviewing the attributes of politicians.
The men lost their words at my different mindset from them. Jin Geum-bong swallowed dry saliva. Cho Young-young made an indescribably complex expression. Namgoong So-so looked at me for a long time and said with a smile.
“It’s a perfect answer for the judges.”
This woman is really sharp.
I wrote that answer for exactly that purpose. The judges of the exam are all former and incumbent officials, and they are the rulers who covet wealth in the country’s vault more than anyone else.
To be honest, to prevent normal people from turning into a bandit, they can squeeze the landowners so that peasants can benefit more than now.
Even if it is not perfect, it will greatly reduce the number of people turning into bandits.
But the politicians have no intention of doing so. How much wealth do landlords secretly give to them every year, and will they give up and work to feed the peasants?
I only offered a way to exploit landlords one more time under the guise of taxes while receiving black money.
From the point of view of politicians, they think that if they pick such a man like this and put him in a government position, he’ll fill them up all day long.
But while those stupid men don’t even understand what they mean, Namgoong So-so saw it exactly.
“It was an impressionable conversation. If I have a chance, I’d like to talk more with you next time.”
Jin Geum-bong and Cho Young-young’s eyes widened. Men were simply the incarnation of jealousy and looked alternately at me and Namgoong So-so.
No matter what anyone says, it was Lee Byung-ryong, the host of the group, who was the most upset at this moment.
He tried to humiliate me in front of Cho Young-young while calling me passing by, but he suffered the humiliation of being humiliated.
“It seems too noisy here, so let’s all move and have a drink. Of course, I’ll buy it. Go down there first and wait. I need to talk with Jeong-ryong.”
The men, who had already needed an excuse to run away, quickly got up and disappeared.
Cho Young-young and two women, no, Namgoongsoso and two women, also followed them.
+The quick-witted Iron Tower dragged Jang-sam down with half-force. As a result, only Lee Byung-ryong and I were left on the third floor.
“Did you eat something wrong?”
“I just ate the leftovers.”
“You idiot!”
“Your words are too much. What do you mean by stupid?”
“Shut up! There is no one in Hangzhou who doesn’t know your face, but everyone knows the rumor that the 4th Gongja of Cheonryong Pyoguk had jumped into the West Lake and tried to die. When it’s not enough to stay quiet in the house, you walk around like this and humiliate the family?”
“You’re the one who just dragged me here, brother.”
“Who is your brother? The blood of a low-life servant girl.”
At the moment, I felt an awful murder. I could stand any curse and hate on me.
But she is already dead, and even if he didn’t have a single drop of blood from her, she was his mother…….
“Bite your molars tight.”
“Are you trying to hit me, a grown-up?”
“Why, are you already frightened?”
Oh, my God!
Lee Jeong-ryong, have you been hit by that asshole so far? So, you jumped into the lake without even thinking about fighting over Cho Young-young? Tamed by fear and violence?
I couldn’t take it any longer. Lee Byung-ryong is already at the threshold of the first-class fighter. To die anyway, I killed that man even with words at the end to feel less unfair.
“Do you know why Master of Soohyang Family chose my third brother and asked him to marry? There’s a big brother and a second brother who are already in the age of getting married.”
“They’re supposed to be…….”
“They originally declared that they would marry late. But it’s kind of a resolution to focus on the business of Pyoguk for the time being. Like a virgin says she won’t marry. Did you believe it is true?”
“What the fuck are you trying to say?”
“It’s because the master of the Suhyang family knows that he cannot take the eldest and the second oldest as his sons-in-law easily. Because he would have been humiliated if he proposed. That’s why he chose you. I can say that acorns were good till bread was found…….”
“Why, why are you talking about that all of a sudden?”
“Everyone in Hangzhou knows it, and even your friends know it, but I think only you don’t know it. Oh, and there’s something else you don’t know.”
“……?”
“You are also a concubine’s child.”
“You crazy bastard!”
The palm of my hand is flying in a moment.
My body reacted before my brain runs. I pulled one leg reflexively and bent my back. Lee Byung-ryong’s palm was blown away by the wind.
Oh, this is working!
“Does this bastard avoid it?”
The other palm flew in. I dodged this time again desperately.
“What?”
I also managed to avoid his third slap.
“Let’s see how you can avoid this!”
Lee Byung-ryong must have tried to finish with a slap at first. But when I avoided it three times in a row, he got tempered so fast that his eyes were turned upside down.
The palm turned into a fist. The fists, who flew in with a bang, scraped my jawline by a hair’s breadth. My jaw was tingling even though I just brushed it.
Another fist that popped out immediately.
For a moment, it seemed to tear the air in front of me like a dragon’s claw coming through the clouds.
It is Dragon fist, the family vision martial art of the Cheonryong Pyoguk.
If you get hit on the face, your teeth, as well as your jawbone, will be smashed.
I’ve seen Lee Byung-ryong, who turned 30 years old in my previous life, smashing the head of a runaway bull with a single blow.
‘You son of a bitch is trying to kill me!’
Surprised, I stepped back one after another.
Each time, Lee Byung-ryong, who was full of mad, followed me like a shadow and punched me, and every time, the air was torn apart.
But, uh…….
‘Why is it so slow?’
I don’t know what happened to me, but Lee Byung-ryong’s fists seemed clear as if he intentionally showed slow movements. As a result, I was able to avoid it by moving back as much as I could.
‘If possible, I might hit him.’