A sort of amusement that began at some point among the noblewomen of high-ranking officials and aristocrats.
The rules were simple.
The time limit: one month.
The noblewomen would take turns, and when it was their turn, they had to procure the item that the previous woman had named.
If they couldn't obtain it, they had to treat the other noblewomen to an extravagant meal.
And if the item wasn't obtained, the next woman in line had to try to find it instead.
There were no restrictions on what the item could be, but the task always turned out to be something difficult to acquire.
After all, the real purpose of this amusement was to take turns hosting lavish feasts.
The harder it was to get the item, the more exciting the game became.
But if someone did manage to get it, that noblewoman was treated like an empress among the others for a whole month.
In other words, it was a game that could be laughed off even if one failed.
However, things started to spiral when this became a matter of pride among the noblewomen.
In the race to find increasingly difficult items, countless people were mobilized and unreasonable actions were taken.
Because of the frivolous pride battles among noblewomen, countless commoners ended up suffering.
Eventually, the Emperor issued a royal decree banning the activity after receiving a petition from the academy.
But for now, this amusement hadn't yet overheated.
And the item that Song Jangju had just mentioned, would be obtained by a noblewoman six months later.
The name of that item was the Self-Dancing Doll.
The popularity of the Self-Dancing Doll spread across the region in an instant, and everyone threw money around trying to get one.
The merchant group that sold the Self-Dancing Doll made an absolute fortune.
Song Jangju said,
"Do you think you can obtain it?"
Father looked slightly troubled. But turning someone down directly to their face wasn't the polite thing to do.
So he answered gently,
"I'll do my best to find it."
"Please, I must have it by the end of this month."
With that, Song Jangju requested again and left the reception room, and Father accompanied him to see him off.
Only now did I begin to understand the full story of Song Jangju's downfall.
He must have gone to great lengths to obtain the item that the Chief Inspector's wife wanted.
More precisely, the item his wife wanted.
And the Chief Inspector was known to cherish his wife deeply. If Song Jangju had succeeded in getting the doll, the Chief Inspector might have been grateful enough to turn a blind eye to Song Jangju's corruption.
But Song Jangju failed to obtain the item, and because he had fallen out of favor, he was ruined.
We remained in the reception room, waiting for Father, who had gone out briefly to see Song Jangju off.
"I was wondering when it would come up. And now, here it is."
At Yeo Chang-Ui's words, I let out a soft chuckle.
Yeo Chang-Ui already knew that the noblewomen's amusement involved a self-Dancing Doll.
And he also knew that Song Jangju was trying to find that item.
Which meant, in other words, that Father already knew too.
'He's really good at acting.'
Chief of Internal Affairs Yoo So-Ak shook his head like he had a headache.
"A doll that dances on its own every hour! Where on earth are we supposed to find something like that..."
"It won't be easy, but we'll have to look in every direction. Otherwise, we'll suffer damage too."
At my words, Chief Yoo replied,
"You understand well, Young Master. Song Jangju is one of our key clients. If he goes down, the damage to our merchant group won't be small."
As he said, Song Jangju's downfall wasn't exactly welcome news for Eunhae Merchant Group.
He was a major landowner in this region, and the amount of grain he supplied was no small amount.
But to me, it didn't feel that serious—since I already knew we'd manage to handle that blow surprisingly easily in the future.
'More important than that…'
I recalled a day from the future I had experienced.
That day was the gathering of representatives from the Hundred Great Merchant Groups of the world.
I had attended the meeting with Father and my eldest brother.
There, I had met the Merchant Lord of the Jingyeon Merchant Group, which had risen to one of the Hundred Great Merchant Groups thanks to selling the Self-Dancing Doll.
It just so happened that the topic of the Self-Dancing Doll came up, and that merchant lord, drunk on strong liquor, happily began to boast.
"Ah, that young kid had such gifted hands! He'd whip up strange and wondrous creations just like that!"
"Where in the world did you find such a craftsman?"
"You know, that place—near the pass that connects Hubei Province to Gangseo, there's a village where a big market opens."
"Ah!"
"And I presented the Self-Dancing Doll to her, you see."
That merchant thus earned the favor of the Chief Inspector's wife who governed Gangseo Province and made a fortune through that item.
In the future I had experienced, that craftsman belonged to the Jingyeon Merchant Group, but this time, I intend to make him one of the Eunhae Merchant Group.
This isn't stealing someone else's artisan.
It would make that artisan happier this way.
Even though he was the creator of that item, he never got to live happily. Instead, he was forced to work night and day until he died from overwork.
After that artisan's death, and with no more dolls being made, the Jingyeon Merchant Group quickly collapsed. Their merchant lord wasn't particularly gifted, and the group didn't have a solid foundation to begin with.
They somehow limped along for a while, but within six months, they completely crumbled.
I was the one who destroyed them.
Curious how they had recruited the craftsman, I had commissioned Haomoon to investigate.
Through them, I learned how the group had coerced and exploited the artisan.
They had kidnapped his family and tortured them right in front of him.
And if he failed to make a new item to the noblewoman's satisfaction, they would threaten and torture his family again.
Imagining how deeply that artisan must have blamed himself, suffered, and shed tears of blood—just the thought that a group like Jingyeon Merchant Group was one of the Hundred Great Merchant Groups disgusted me.
People say there's nothing money can't do, but still—this was too much.
Money may be heartless, but it exists for people.
Those who did such things were no longer human. They didn't deserve to hold money in their hands.
My brothers were enraged too, and I began to plan to rescue that artisan.
But before I could carry out that plan, the artisan died.
I tried at least to save his family from the group's hands, but by then, they had already killed all of them to silence them.
I was wracked with guilt.
If only I had found out a little earlier—then that artisan and his family wouldn't have died.
And so, to avenge him, I destroyed the Jingyeon Merchant Group.
And that resolve has never changed.
That's why, before he suffers and dies, I must get that artisan first.
Someone with such talent deserves to be treated accordingly.
And while I'm at it, Eunhae Merchant Group can profit too.
Truthfully, I had planned to recruit that artisan a little later.
But now that things have turned out like this, it's as if something unknown is telling me—
To act right now.
The problem is...
That artisan lives in Gangseo Province.
Of course, even within Hubei, Sungyang District, which bordered Gangseo, wasn't too far from the province.
However, since I was still only fifteen years old, it wasn't a place I could go without Father's permission.
How could I get to Gangseo Province?
As I pondered, a good idea suddenly came to mind.
I decided to sacrifice my holiday for the sake of that artisan, the one who would otherwise die from overwork under Eunhae Merchant Group.
***
After seeing Song Jangju off, Eun Gil-Sang, the Merchant Lord of Eunhae Merchant Group, returned to the reception room and sighed.
"A doll that dances on its own at a specific time…"
It was an item he had never even heard of until now.
'The woman who gave such a task, the one trying to obtain it, and the fool offering to help—none of them are in their right mind…'
Of course, this he only thought to himself.
As the Merchant Lord of Eunhae Merchant Group, Eun Gil-Sang was meticulously observing the political climate, so he had already grasped the situation.
He knew that Song Jangju had fallen out of favor with the Chief Inspector of Hubei, and that he was now desperately searching for the self-Dancing Doll.
Song Jangju had not reported land for taxation—not likely a mistake.
'He should've known when to stop skimming. And what a laughable man, only coming to us after trying everything else.'
He probably didn't want the matter to go public or suffer any losses, so he had tried to handle it all on his own.
Eventually, he had no choice but to knock on Eunhae Merchant Group's door.
Sigh… troublesome.
On top of that, he must have requested help not just from Eunhae Merchant Group, but from all his other connections too.
Song Jangju's downfall would be unfortunate, but it wouldn't be ideal for someone else to help him either—because then their grain trade with him might shift elsewhere.
'Still, if even he couldn't find it using all his methods, how are we supposed to…'
Lost in such thoughts, Eun Seoho called out to him.
"Um, Father. I have something to tell you."
"What is it?"
"I'd like to visit Gangseo Province during the Winter Solstice holiday."
Gangseo Province?
Faced with the sudden request for a trip, Eun Gil-Sang couldn't help but ask for a reason.
"What's the reason? Don't tell me you're simply going for a little pleasure outing..."
"I want to see the marketplace in Gangseo Province with my own eyes."
Eun Gil-Sang stared quietly at his son.
Lately, his third son had been acting strangely.
A child prone to frequent illnesses had suddenly become healthy.
The boy who used to hunch over books now had a straight posture.
And his practical skills—there was nothing to criticize.
Though Eun Gil-Sang had brought him in himself, even the picky and difficult Yoo So-Ak had taken him on as an assistant.
After returning from Lotus Courtesan House, Yoo So-Ak had said this:
"How did the Young Master know exactly which parts of the ledger held the evidence of House Master Baek embezzling money?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"The ledgers the Young Master reviewed were very well fabricated. Chief Manager Seo Soochang did a masterful job."
"Is that so?"
"Yes, even seasoned merchants would've struggled to detect the embezzlement."
"…"
"It seems the Young Master's capabilities far exceed what I had originally assumed."
Hearing that, Eun Gil-Sang reviewed the Lotus Courtesan House's records again, and just as Yoo So-Ak had said, it was true.
'Now that I think about it, Seoho even proposed a use for the courtesan house that we hadn't thought of. Does he possess true merchant talent?'
On top of that, Eun Seoho had recently started learning martial arts.
He had insisted on learning from someone other than Go Ilpyung, the Chief of External Affairs, so Eun Gil-Sang had instructed Go Ilpyung to check him out.
And what he said upon returning:
"Young Master Seoho has a physique suited for Ice Arts. Therefore, the only one who can properly teach him is Mr. Gwak."
"Is he not suspicious?"
"No. While I can't tell you everything about Escort Leader Gwak, he is someone worthy of trust."
"Is that so…"
"Young Master Seoho is quite lucky. If he had started training with a Yang-type cultivation, he could've been in danger."
"Danger's a strong word… You would've noticed before that happened, surely."
"No, sir. I only understood after hearing the details. If not for this incident, I might have just gone ahead and taught him my own martial arts."
"This is getting more and more intriguing. I need to meet this Escort Leader Gwak. Arrange a meeting."
"Understood."
And so, Eun Gil-Sang met Escort Leader Gwak.
Truth be told, he had seen Escort Leader Gwak several times before. He was the Leader of Prosperous Escort Agency, which had a contract with Eunhae Merchant Group.
Every time he saw him, he had seemed not quite an ordinary man.
Although, based on the information Eun Gil-Sang had gathered, there was no trace of Escort Leader Gwak's life before settling in Hubei Province.
Still, Eun Gil-Sang's intuition, sharpened through years of experience, was telling him something.
Gwak Myung-Hyun was no ordinary escort captain.
"Gwak of the Prosperous Escort Agency greets the Merchant Lord."
"No need for such formalities. One doesn't bow deeply to the father of one's disciple."
"Then I shall refrain."
"So you've agreed to be my son's master?"
"Yes, I have."
That day, they exchanged many words, and with that, Gwak Myung-Hyun officially became Eun Seoho's martial arts master.
Recalling that day, Eun Gil-Sang looked at his son.
'What could have drawn such a powerful figure to agree to become Seoho's martial arts teacher?'