Chapter 41
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“Oh my, your white sleeves are stained with blue. What a disaster!”
“How did this happen? You’re so careless.”
“It’s because I went to the indigo field earlier. It’s from the fluid the knotweed bugs spat out.”
Remembering those words, Hong-seol had instructed the mice to find the knotweed bugs. And the mice had faithfully carried out their mission.
‘Thanks to that, the mouse family is eating their fill of dried meat, rice, and fruit.’
Hong-seol, who had been glancing at the mice throwing a feast, turned her gaze back to Namgung Muyeong.
“Hmm… It certainly has business potential.”
Namgung Muyeong, who had been examining the knotweed bugs from every angle, crossed his arms.
His attitude suggested he had completely surrendered to Hong-seol’s whims.
“You won’t tell me what this ‘private information network’ of yours is, will you?”
“No. If I told you, it wouldn’t be an information network anymore.”
In truth, it was because she couldn’t let him find out that she was a ‘Beastkin cat’ who could understand the speech of mice.
Hong-seol suppressed a slight prick of conscience and answered.
“This is something other merchant groups would covet, so why entrust this work to me?”
“Because the Elder’s merchant group must have at least one large farm where they grow indigo. If you take a pair of these bugs there to breed, their numbers will multiply in no time.”
Namgung Muyeong’s eyebrows twitched.
“How did you know I owned an indigo farm? Did your informants tell you that, too?”
At that, Hong-seol looked at Namgung Muyeong as if he were being strange.
“No, it’s because the people of the Namgung Clan enjoy wearing indigo-colored clothes. If it weren’t for the Elder’s merchant group, where else would all that fabric come from?”
Namgung Muyeong was left speechless.
‘As expected, this child is a genius…!’
Hong-seol was right.
The color that symbolized the Namgung Clan was every shade of blue.
Among them, indigo was a color loved by those who worked for the Namgung Clan because it didn’t show dirt easily.
The only group in Hefei that could supply that volume was the Muyeong Merchant Group, which owned the indigo farms.
‘To think I have to sit here and watch as that old man, Namgung Ho, snatches up a child like this!’
Namgung Muyeong was dying of frustration.
‘It can’t be helped. If I can’t make Hong-seol my granddaughter-in-law, I’ll just have to make sure I secure a solid profit through business.’
He cleared his throat and spoke.
“Fine. So, are you saying you’ll allow our merchant group to monopolize the dye obtained from the knotweed bugs?”
“Yes, but there is a condition.”
“And what is that?”
“You must supply the dye to the Weaving Guild at half price.”
“Ho-ho, and what does the Muyeong Merchant Group gain from that?”
“The public reputation of being a merchant group that knows how to help those in need, and… um…”
Hong-seol mumbled, uncharacteristically hesitant.
“What did you say?”
Namgung Muyeong leaned in close. Then, Hong-seol said in a tiny voice.
“My… respect.”
Namgung Muyeong’s expression was peculiar upon hearing that.
He looked as if he were smiling, yet also embarrassed.
But the corners of his mouth, twitching as if they wanted to dance, could not hide his true feelings.
Managing to compose his expression, he covered his mouth and said nonchalantly.
“Well, it’s a bit disappointing, but I will accept your condition. But don’t forget that I am the one taking a loss here!”
“Yes, yes! Oh, and there is one more thing I’d like to ask of you.”
After listening to Hong-seol’s whispered request, Namgung Muyeong sighed.
“I’ve raised a tiger cub!”
At those words, Hong-seol scratched her cheek and gave an awkward smile.
“Hehe…”
Of course, she couldn’t bring herself to say, ‘I’m not a tiger, I’m a cat,’ until the very end.
* * *
A voice filled with emotion erupted from Hong-seol’s quarters.
“Thank you, young lady!”
“You have saved the women of the Weaving Guild! I offer my thanks on their behalf.”
While Mrs. Hong bowed deeply, Hong-seol looked elsewhere, feeling strangely shy.
“Thanks to you, young lady, we will be able to… compete with the half-priced fabrics of the Myosu Trading Company.”
At those words, Hong-seol’s eyes snapped open.
“No, you can’t!”
“Pardon?”
“Just barely competing isn’t enough. You have to win completely! Elder, please show them what we prepared.”
Namgung Muyeong let out a laugh.
This little brat was treating him like a subordinate now. But even that was so cute, he couldn't do anything about it.
“Very well.”
Namgung Muyeong gestured as if resigned.
Then, the man standing behind him brought out another porcelain bowl.
It contained a red dye. Mrs. Hong seemed to recognize what it was.
“Is this… dye made from cochineal insects?”
At that, Hong-seol’s eyes brightened.
“Yes! But this is a slightly special cochineal dye.”
Hong-seol picked up an empty teacup from the tea table.
She used her fingers to add a little bit of red powder and blue powder, then added water and stirred it around.
A moment later, a beautiful, delicate violet color appeared in the teacup Hong-seol held out.
“Unlike regular cochineal dye, they say this one mixes well with other dyes.”
This, too, was something Hong-seol had recalled from the conversations of the maids back at the Myo Clan.
She had witnessed a bird peck at both a cochineal insect and a knotweed bug at the same time, and apparently, an impossibly beautiful violet color had come out?
Of course, it was the Muyeong Merchant Group that had processed the cochineal dye so it would mix well with other dyes.
“…”
A dazed Mrs. Hong took the bowl filled with the violet liquid from Hong-seol.
As the afternoon sunlight sparkled on the water, the color looked almost divine.
Hong-seol said cautiously.
“I thought you would need a new product to make up for the losses from not being able to sell the iris silk.”
“I have no intention of selling this anywhere other than the Weaving Guild. Though it’s all because of this little one’s request.”
Namgung Muyeong added a word.
“…”
Even though everything seemed to be resolved, Mrs. Hong remained silent for a long time, making Hong-seol worried.
“Is it… not to your liking?”
“Young lady!”
Suddenly, Mrs. Hong prostrated herself on the floor. The seamstress standing beside her also followed her master and prostrated herself.
Hot tears fell from the eyes of the two women, wetting the floor.
“We will never forget this grace of saving our drapery and the Weaving Guild. Whenever you need us, young lady, we will be the first to run to your side.”
Surprised by the sight, Hong-seol felt a lump in her own throat.
“I am the one who is grateful… that you stepped forward to help a good cause like the Weaving Guild.”
Hong-seol was truly thankful to Mrs. Hong, who had taken in girls like her who had nowhere else to go.
Meanwhile, the man standing behind Namgung Muyeong ground the ink and finished the contract.
It stated that for the next ten years, the knotweed bug dye would be supplied at half the market price, and the special cochineal dye would be supplied exclusively.
Mrs. Hong signed the contract with trembling hands.
Only after bowing several more times did Mrs. Hong and the seamstress depart.
Namgung Muyeong sent his subordinates away first and remained behind.
“I should have a leisurely cup of tea with you before I go. You can at least do that for me, right?”
“Of course!”
At Hong-seol’s words, the maid Maeran headed to the Changcheon Pavilion kitchen to prepare the tea table.
“The business with the Weaving Guild is finally over.”
It was just as Hong-seol was finally letting her guard down.
“Young lady, young lady!”
Maeran, who had gone to the kitchen, suddenly rushed back inside.
Her face was flushed, as if she had urgent news.
“Maeran, what’s the matter?”
“Th-the Head of the Medical Hall has returned, young lady!”
The Head of the Medical Hall—could that be the mother of Heuk, Baek, and Jeok?
At the news that Bing Yuhwa, whom she had only heard of in rumors, had returned, Hong-seol tensed up.
“The Clan Lord says to bring the young lady to the Hall of Medicine. She wants you to greet her.”
“The Hall of Medicine? Right now?”
“Yes, you must go immediately.”
“W-what about Namgung Ho? Is Grandfather going too?”
“The Grand Patriarch is away.”
“Is that so? W-what should I do?”
Seeing Hong-seol fidgeting, Namgung Muyeong let out a hearty laugh.
“Hong-seol, even for you, it won’t be easy to win over the Head of the Medical Hall.”
At those words, Hong-seol’s small body stiffened even further.
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