The Ruler of Darkness

In the middle of the night.

At the Luoyang Sword House, in the office of the 4th Young Master.

“…It’s finished.”

After stamping the final document, the 4th Young Master collapsed onto the desk.

A literary official, who had been half-asleep waiting, took the document and staggered away.

The chamberlain had already fallen asleep in a corner chair.

The last thing she did was to hold a simple surprise celebration for the 4th Young Master to mark ‘The Eldest Young Master’s Retreat Cancellation’.

Considering she was a commoner without any internal energy, it was impressive she managed the intense workload of nearly a week.

A middle-aged woman sitting opposite the 4th Young Master’s desk stretched.

4th Young Master responded with his head buried in the desk.

“…Indeed.”

The middle-aged woman shook her head.

“It was tougher than when I had to deal with an emergency on the day I gave birth to my adorable twins.”

“…That’s an analogy I can’t understand.”

The woman, maintaining her firm figure from her maiden days, was one of 4th Young Master’s closest strategists.

She put her glasses back on and began reviewing the documents again.

“By the way, awarding the Sword House Plaque to that information broker, master of Crescent Moon Pavilion, was an excellent decision.”

“…Without her, we could never have met the deadline.”

A mischievous gleam appeared in her sharp eyes.

“When do you think the 2nd Young Master’s faction will realize they’ve been outplayed?”

The 4th Young Master lifted his head.

A playful smile appeared on his lips.

“…Probably about now?”

* * *

At 2nd Young Master’s faction Headquarters, in the Office of Chief Strategist Choi.

“Chief Strategist Choi! We did it!”

Chief Strategist Choi’s closest aide burst into the office.

“Hmm?! Is there another reason to celebrate?!”

Chief Strategist Choi, who had been emptying a giant barrel of wine brought from the south with his subordinates, was celebrating their victory over the Eldest Young Master.

“Yes! It’s a report from Great Immortal Merchant Group! The ‘Egg Planting’ in the proposed business sites of 4th Young Master at Hodu Village has been successful!”

The heavily intoxicated subordinates rose from their seats and clapped vigorously with fierce enthusiasm.

“Just as I thought! I knew it would succeed! No matter how much 4th Young Master threatened the landowners, they couldn’t resist the allure of more money!”

This spelled a fatal problem for the 4th Young Master’s business venture.

As they proceed with their project and start buying the land, they’ll discover the plots where they ‘planted the eggs’ and despair.

“They should’ve initially offered a large advance payment and tied them down with overwhelming penalties for breach. But then again, that wasn’t an option for them with their limited funds. Hahaha!”

“The 4th Young Master’s project will be shaken right from the start!”

“This will thoroughly spoil the Eldest Young Master’s first move!”

Everyone cheered in triumph.

Eventually, if 4th Young Master requests mediation, the Luoyang Sword House’s Business Support Team would step in.

In the end, they would have no choice but to sell back the lands they ‘planted the eggs’ on, as per 4th Young Master’s request.

However, this would force significant time and cost burdens on the 4th Young Master’s side.

Chief Strategist Choi scooped up more wine, asking.

“Great! That’s fantastic! How much did they end up buying?”

“Apparently, we’ve achieved five-tenths of our target!”

Once again, the subordinates erupted into near-screams of jubilation.

However, Chief Strategist Choi froze with a ladle in his hand.

“…How much did you say?”

“Five-tenths! It’s a tenth of the total planned area!”

“…They bought that much land at once? In just one day? From multiple landlords?”

It was then that some began to sense something was amiss and gradually stopped cheering.

“What has been the 4th Young Master’s reaction?”

“…There hasn’t been any particular report yet.”

Chief Strategist Choi’s face, flushed red, began to tremble.

“Something’s wrong, something’s off! Tell Great Immortal Merchant Group to halt the transactions immediately!”

“…That would be impossible.”

“What?!”

One of his closest strategists replied with a grim face.

“They would have already completed the payment of the advance.”

“Didn’t we delegate full authority to the Great Immortal Merchant Group for a quick and flexible on-site response?”

“Great Immortal Merchant Group was to use their operational funds first according to our instructions, and then bill us later, right?”

The color drained from Chief Strategist Choi’s face.

Just then, the office door burst open.

“Chief Strategist Choi!”

It was Han Myeong-hwi, his face pale as a ghost.

“There’s something wrong! The master of Crescent Moon Pavilion has the 4th Young Master’s Sword House Plaque! There’s something we don’t know! We must stop all operations in progress immediately! A comprehensive reevaluation is necessary!”

“…It’s too late.”

“What did you say?”

“It’s already too late…!”

Chief Strategist Choi vomited on the spot.

In the frozen silence of the office, only the sound of Choi’s retching echoed hollowly.

* * *

At the Luoyang Sword House, in the 4th Young Master’s office.

The woman sitting opposite 4th Young Master, known as the ‘Red Widow Spider of the Tang Clan’ and commonly called ‘Red Poison Master’, smirked bitterly.

“A complete change of business plans in just one week.”

The 4th Young Master chuckled.

“They probably never imagined, did they?”

“Even if I were on their side, the outcome would have been the same. Caught off guard.”

“A perfect decoy strategy.”

“No matter how many personnel they have, they are bound to reach their limits in such a situation.”

Red Poison Master licked her lips.

“Tracking the rumors about the Eldest Young Master, understanding the incident he caused in the inner court, and even

the issues surrounding the Eldest Young Master’s seclusion.”

“Given they couldn’t reduce the manpower allocated for dealing with the existing third prince, they must have tasted hell for a week as well.”

“Moreover, we had just recently eradicated all their spies from within our ranks. They had no way to track our movements.”

The 4th Young Master grinned slyly.

“In that time, we successfully shifted our plans to a bigger and better business site.”

“Master of Crescent Moon Pavilion also did more than her part. She nearly settled all the contracts for the new business site without being exposed to the 2nd Young Master’s faction.”

“Considering we got the Sword House Plaque and a whole gallery, it was a bargain.”

“Come to think of it, she was also introduced by the Eldest Young Master, wasn’t she?”

The 4th Young Master was about to laugh out loud but lowered his voice seeing the chamberlain deeply asleep.

“If my eldest brother hadn’t stepped in, the new business site would have been unthinkable from the start.”

“…The Eldest Young Master showed interest in that area, not Hodu Village, from the day we announced the business plan, right?”

The 4th Young Master smacked his lips.

The boy recalled that day.

He was excited to meet his eldest brother after a long time.

That very moment when he unveiled the tent to explain the Yongbong local branch and to show the business site.

The Eldest Young Master was clearly looking at the area now designated as their new business site, not Hodu Village.

* * *

“Ah, the area the Eldest Young Master is looking at now is not our planned business site.”

“That’s one of the largest slums in Luoyang.”

The 4th Young Master laughed heartily.

“That place, even if it’s not us, no one dares to touch.” 

* * *

“At that time, I simply thought the eldest brother was mistaken…”

“It’s hard to imagine the Eldest Young Master, who runs a charity, confusing the location of Hodu Village with Luoyang’s largest slum, one of the ‘Five Evils,’ the ‘Valley of Sin’. Moreover…”

Red Poison Master rummaged through the desk and pulled out a thick bundle of documents.

“This draft of the business plan change was also provided by the Eldest Young Master.”

“Right.”

She sighed as she flipped through the documents.

“Without this draft, it would have taken ages just to conceive a plan change.”

“Everyone would have been scrambling, it would have taken at least two weeks, right?”

She placed the heavy bundle back on the desk.

“Even master of Crescent Moon Pavilion selling business information to trustworthy people and the amount they invested first can’t be ignored.”

“With that money, we were able to establish a new branch of the charity in the temple in the Valley of Sin, owned by our grandmother.”

“If it weren’t for the charity and the Fairy Faith, shifting the business plan to the Valley of Sin would have been impossible.”

“Exactly.”

“And already more than dozens of famous personalities inside and outside of Luoyang, introduced as acquaintances of the Eldest Young Master, have promised substantial investments.”

“It’s likely to keep increasing, isn’t it? The eldest brother’s connections are no joke. When they hear he has ended his seclusion…”

The 4th Young Master clicked his tongue.

“The amount we’ve already secured in investment promises exceeds the final target amount of the previous plan.”

“The scale of the project has grown that much.”

Red Poison Master scratched her head fiercely.

“It’s been about a week since we first presented this plan to the Eldest Young Master, right?”

The 4th Young Master casually replied.

“It must be the eighth day now.”

She finally exploded in frustration.

“Does that even make sense?!”

The chamberlain woke up with a start.

“Oh my! I must have dozed off.”

The 4th Young Master hurried to help her as she staggered to her feet.

“Yes, yes. Now that the work is done for today, you should go rest, chamberlain.”

“No, I should stay until the master retires…”

“No, no. I’ll ask someone else, so please go ahead.”

Reluctantly, the chamberlain left, but knowing her nature, she would meticulously check the maids filling in for her before going to bed.

“Ah! Why are you suddenly yelling like that?!”

Ignoring the 4th Young Master’s burst of anger, Red Poison Master jumped up from her seat and exclaimed.

“It’s unbelievable, isn’t it?! Just one week! But in reality, when we received this draft, it had been only three days since you explained the project to the Eldest Young Master!”

She slammed her hands on the desk.

“And then he went into the inner court! Stirring up the entire Sword House by himself! Pushing the 2nd Young Master’s seemingly endless information network to its limit!”

“Ca, calm down…!”

She tore at her hair in frustration.

“Do I look calm to you?! While resolving his own fate-sealing seclusion, did the Eldest Young Master simultaneously handle several things from behind the scenes?!”

The 4th Young Master just shrugged his shoulders.

“That’s what I’ve been saying all along. People like us can’t understand the Great Peng.”

At his response, Red Poison Master trembled all over, frothing at the mouth.

“I thought it was just an exaggerated metaphor back then!”

The 4th Young Master clicked his tongue.

“Stop getting angry and go get some rest. Starting tomorrow, we begin the thorough cleanup of the Valley of Sin.”

Indeed.

It was still only the beginning stages of the plan. 

Even Red Poison Master, who was picturing the mountains they still had to climb, showed some signs of composure.

“…You’re right. Just dismantling and reorganizing the criminal organizations entrenched in that valley of sin will take several months.”  

“Yes. Even with the charity house’s help, distinguishing the poor from the figures of the underworld…”

Red Poison Master sighed.  

“It’s like trying to separate ink once mixed into water.”

“Indeed. So…”

Just then.

“4th Young Master! Urgent news!”

The permitted messenger practically tumbled into the office.  

“An urgent report from the reconnaissance unit! The criminal organizations located in the valley of sin…! The organizations…!”

Unable to properly speak between labored breaths, the messenger was snapped at by Red Poison Master.

“What happened to the underworld organizations?!”

Disoriented under his breath shortage, the messenger’s face had turned blue. His chaotic gaze turned to them.  

“Th, that is… All the underworld organizations situated in the valley of sin have vanished…!”

It was news that made the listeners doubt their own ears.

“What did you say…?”

“What nonsense are you spouting! Report in detail!” 

“Th, that is… the reconnaissance unit is still investigating the details…”

“There must be something! What is it?!”

Pressured by Red Poison Master’s intimidating tone, the messenger urgently exclaimed.

“Sovereign of Dark Heavens!” 

The messenger hurriedly continued.

“While not confirmed information, the appellation ‘Sovereign of Dark Heavens’ has frequently surfaced around the scene!”

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