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Episode 53: Bright Flower Pavilion (3)

The place Jin Myeong moved to with Im Sa-gyeong was Seongharu, a famous water tower in Dongting Lake.

“There are definitely a lot of people.”

“Yes.”

“You should have observed it and tried to imitate the good points.”

Instead of answering Jin Myeong’s words, Im Sa-gyeong hurriedly approached the waiter, who was moving busily.

“Ah, Your Excellency is waiting at the very top.”

Whether it had already been decided or not, the waiter recognized Im Sa-gyeong.

“Let’s go.”

Jin Myeong quietly looked around the crowded courtyard and then started to follow Im Sa-gyeong upstairs.

“Welcome.”

As they followed Im Sa-gyeong up to the top floor, a young woman greeted them.

“I heard that you wanted to meet me through Master Im.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“I heard that the disciples of the Heavenly Demon were moving around here and there, but I never thought that the Divine Demonic Fang would come here.”

Although Jin Myeong didn’t even reveal his name, she immediately figured out his true identity. It wasn’t called the Hao Clan for nothing.

From the moment they entered Hunan, or more precisely, from the moment they moved in the Heavenly Demon Sect, the Hao Clan had been aware of them.

“My name is Oh Seon-ha, and I am the branch manager of the Hunan branch of the Hao Clan.”

Jin Myeong smiled as he looked at the person who was leading the conversation.

“These days, High Demon Pavilion… Oh, I’m sorry. I heard it’s changed, Bright Flower Pavilion, right?”

Jin Myeong couldn’t help but laugh when he heard the name Oh Seon-ha.

“So, what’s going on?”

“Can I possibly borrow a courtesan?”

“…The Hao Clan’s people are not objects.”

Oh Seon-ha grimaced, as if the word “borrowing” offended her.

“I apologize. I chose the wrong words.”

Oh Seon-ha nodded at Jin Myeong’s apology and soon became lost in thought.

“To be exact, it would be better to say that I would hire them for Bright Flower Pavilion.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. We will pay the wages as well. It would be nice if they have some skills.”

“Skills?”

She made a surprised expression at the fact that her beautiful appearance and the sexiness that seduces men were not there.

“Playing an instrument, dancing, poetry, or just being able to make others feel comfortable in conversation. Anything is fine.”

Only after hearing that did Oh Seon-ha realize that the famous painting that Jin Myeong was trying to create was not an ordinary red-light district painting.

“If that’s the case, it won’t be much.” Even though there were many courtesans in the Hao Clan, there weren’t many who had the skills that Jin Myeong was talking about.

In fact, if you have that kind of skill, you’ll often do something other than being a courtesan.

“It’s okay if you’re not good at it. We’ll train you on this side too.”

Oh Seon-ha nodded readily at Jin Myeong’s words.

“As I said before, don’t expect too many people. There might not even be ten.”

“It’s unfortunate, but there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Ten people is a number that even Jin Myeong could not have predicted. He thought they could hire at least thirty people.

“Of course, if there are a lot, you can bring more.”

“Please.”

“But what about those who have the skills but have only recently become courtesans?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

If he was running a standard brothel, he would have refused inexperienced ones. But what Jin Myeong was trying to do now was not about experience.

“Okay, I’ll look into it and send the suitable children to Bright Flower Pavilion.”

“Thank you. But it won’t be free, right?”

“Of course.”

Even though it was Jin Myeong who hired them, in the end, they were also receiving help from the Hao Clan.

“Should I pay you some money?”

“Money is okay.”

Jin Myeong had planned to end it simply with money, but when Oh Seon-ha refused, Jin Myeong frowned.

“Can you do me a favor?”

“I think that would be too much of a loss for me.”

This was especially true because Jin Myeong had no idea what the request was.

“I wouldn’t ask you to do something so ridiculous. If it’s something you can’t grant, then feel free to decline.”

“It’s still the same.”

Although he could refuse Oh Seon-ha’s request, it was only when it was beyond Jin Myeong’s ability. If it was something Jin Myeong could do, he would have done it, but in the end, it was he who suffered a loss.

In exchange for simply selecting a few people, you get the opportunity to command the Sixth Disciple of the Heavenly Demon.

“Instead, I will lend you the information power of the Hao Clan’s Hunan branch.”

“That’s not bad.”

As it is a Hunan branch, information from Hunan will naturally be the main focus, but eventually information from other regions will also come in. Even if there were information groups in the Heavenly Demon Sect, Jin Myeong could not use them as he pleased.

Moreover, if they were to contact the Main Sect, it would take a long time to obtain that information. Jin Myeong readily accepted Oh Seon-ha’s conditions, believing that the Hao Clan’s information would be faster and more accurate in the Central Plains.

“When are you going to ask me for a favor?”

“I have nothing to ask of you right now.”

“But you’re saying that’s the condition? How long do you think I’ll be here?”

If Jin Myeong finishes his work here and returns to the Heavenly Demon Sect, this promise will ultimately become void.

If that happens, it will end with just granting Jin Myeong’s request and giving him the information for free.

“But I can’t give up the opportunity to use Jin Myeong, the Divine Demonic Fang, right?”

“Is that so? Do whatever you want. But as I said before, it has to be within my capabilities.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not asking you to betray the Heavenly Demon Sect or kill the leader of the martial arts world.”

Jin Myeong was able to leave Seongharu after completing a fairly satisfactory transaction.

“I guess Young Master Jin’s fame is greater than I thought.”

“What are you talking about?”

Yang Jeon, who had been listening to the conversation between the two people without saying anything, said, “I never thought that the Hao Clan would put forth such a condition in order to establish a friendship with Young Master.”

“The Hao Clan does not belong to any of the Orthodox, Unorthodox, or Demonic factions, so it would be better to somehow establish friendship with the strong.”

Since they didn’t belong anywhere, their life was at risk when handling dangerous information. So, by any means necessary, they were trying to seize this opportunity to build a relationship with a Master Martial Artist.

Oh Seon-ha also had that kind of mindset, so she was able to put forward conditions that were disadvantageous to her without hesitation.

“You call me strong.”

“Aren’t you quite an expert?”

“That’s true. I still can’t believe it though.”

Yang Jeon had been watching over Jin Myeong since he had not yet properly learned martial arts. He thought Jin Myeong would never learn martial arts and would end up drinking alcohol every day, but he never thought this day would come.

“I wanted to take his property when he died.”

“Stop talking nonsense,” Jin Myeong, who returned to Bright Flower Pavilion after babbling nonsense and boasting, immediately called the Four Flowers.

“Is there anyone among the former courtesans you would like to bring in?”

Even with the Hao Clan’s help, Jin Myeong thought that there was a shortage of courtesans.

“No one will want to come.”

The Four Flowers shook their heads without hesitation.

“Even if I give a lot of money?”

“That……”

The Four Flowers could not easily answer that question. Even so, they were secretly checking Im Sa-gyeong’s expression.

“I guess something happened?”

“Oh, no.”

Im Sa-gyeong shook his head desperately at Jin Myeong’s question.

Jin Myeong’s voice pierced into the ears of Im Sa-gyeong, who was glaring at the Four Courtesans with a resentful expression.

“I didn’t care back then because you were the owner anyway, but not now. If you mess around for no reason, I’ll cut you off.”

“Oh, I understand.”

Jin Myeong didn’t say what he was cutting, but Im Sa-gyeong could tell the general idea. Jin Myeong looked at the Four Flowers again, ignoring Im Sa-gyeong, who nodded desperately in response.

“First, contact them. Don’t worry about money. Instead, like I said before, contact people with skills.”

“Yes. I’ll look into it.”

When the Four Gentlemen withdrew, Jin Myeong looked at Yang Jeon.

“First, we’ll make the first floor like a regular guest house or a bar. Then we’ll make a stage there and perform.”

And from this floor onwards, Jin Myeong was thinking of making private rooms. It can be used by people who want to drink quietly or when they want to drink with friends.

“The higher you go, the more expensive it gets.”

“Um. How much do you plan to price it?”

“I’m thinking about it. Anyway, we’ll build it up to six floors, and we’ll use the top floor.”

Jin Myeong began to tell Yang Jeon about the building’s concept.

“There are five private rooms on this floor, three on the third floor, and two on the fourth floor.”

The last five floors are planned to have only one private room. Jin Myeong plans to decorate it in the most extravagant way possible.

“It might cost more than you think.”

“Use this.”

Yang Jeon accepted what Jin Myeong handed him and looked surprised.

“Isn’t that a Night Luminous Pearl?”

“That’s right.”

First of all, there were the Night Luminous Pearls brought from the cave where Jin Myeong had acquired martial arts. He hadn’t had any reason to use them in a while, but now he felt like he needed to.

“I think the money Sect Leader gave me might not be enough.”

“Where on earth did this come from?”

“If you tell me? I can’t get it now.”

“Young Master, now I see that you are very rich.”

Yang Jeon now understood why Jin Myeong so easily used the thousand nyang of silver given by the Heavenly Demon for Bright Flower Pavilion.

Looking at Jin Myeong, it seemed that the Night Luminous Pearl he had just given him was not all there was.

“Now the real problem is the courtesan.”

In the end, since it was a courtesan incident, the courtesan had to be resolved.

“The courtesans also need to rest, so we need about thirty of them.”

“It would be nice if the Hao Clan could provide it, but I don’t want to expect too much.”

Jin Myeong sighed and got up from his seat.

“I guess I should take a look around here.”

“Are you planning to go and see for yourself?”

“That’s right.”

“Shall I go too?”

There was a hint of anticipation in Yang Jeon’s eyes. They came to Dongting Lake but couldn’t even look around properly. Yang Jeon had intended to take this opportunity to look around, but Jin Myeong shook his head coldly.

“You can look around later. For now, just find someone to build this place.”

“…Okay, I guess I’ll have to go back to the Hao Clan.”

He was thinking of using the Hao Clan’s information power to find a good person.

“Then I’ll go.”

“If it’s okay, can I come with you?”

As Jin Myeong was about to go out, Shin Ye-hyang’s voice was suddenly heard.

“You want to go out?”

“I feel suffocated from being here all this time.”

Shin Ye-hyang was currently the most ambiguous person in Bright Flower Pavilion.

Yang Jeon was in charge of all major and minor affairs, and Gu Ja-hong was in charge of training and protecting the Mak brothers. But Shin Ye-hyang really didn’t do anything. For some reason, it wasn’t easy to command her like Yang Jeon or Gu Ja-hong.

“Okay. Let’s go together.”

Jin Myeong headed to Yueyang with Shin Ye-hyang. After arriving at Yueyang, Shin Ye-hyang kept looking around with an indifferent expression.

‘I guess I expected more than I should.’

Jin Myeong thought Shin Ye-hyang wasn’t interested in this because her expression didn’t change, but it seems he was wrong. Jin Myeong continued to look around, having discovered a new side of Shin Ye-hyang for a moment.

‘I can’t just grab her and ask if she wants to be a prostitute.’

When Jin Myeong actually went out to look for it, he had no idea what to do. Jin Myeong had no choice but to walk without a destination in mind.

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