Chapter 12

One

Everyone's attention was drawn to Yushinyun.

However, Yushinyun completely ignored their gazes.

He walked into the room as if nothing was wrong.

“……!”

He plopped down into the empty seat reserved for the leader, which was at the highest position.

Everyone was taken aback, but no one dared to speak up against Yushinyun, who sat with his legs crossed so confidently.

'What's wrong with this guy?'

Sowun Pavilion's Motae-gil looked at Yujinxiang with a look of disbelief.

Then, Yujinxiang sent a secret message to Motae-gil with a sinister gaze.

In the next moment,

Motae-gil began to lash out at Yushinyun.

"Master Yil! How dare you sit so casually in the leader's seat! What a disrespectful act! Moreover, you are late for the Qingyun Hall meeting, where important matters of the escort agency are discussed, and you haven't even apologized to us. Isn't this a sign of extreme disrespect?"

Motae-gil faithfully followed Yujinxiang's instructions to find fault and humiliate Yushinyun.

He recalled the usual weak and timid Yushinyun and expected him to tremble and move from his seat.

However,

Yushinyun only met Motae-gil's eyes with a gaze as cold as the snow of the Northern Sea.

"Since I'm here, what's the problem?"

Motae-gil was startled by the piercing gaze but quickly regained his composure and raised his voice again.

"No, can you call this speaking?"

Just then,

Yushinyun's chilling voice, as if exhaling cold breath, called out to him.

"Master of Sowun Pavilion."

"…Yes?"

When Yushinyun quietly called out his title, Motae-gil was once again taken aback, as he had never seen Yushinyun act this way.

Then Yushinyun continued.

"Better to pull yourself together. Do you think I'm in a position to be scolded by someone like you for such a trivial matter?"

"…!"

Silence filled the room.

Curiosity, surprise.

Embarrassment, contempt.

Numerous emotions were directed at Yushinyun simultaneously.

Yushinyun's actions reminded everyone of a fact they had forgotten.

Due to his long absence due to illness and death, everyone had forgotten this fact.

That is,

Although Yujinxiang held the real power, Yushinyun was still the legitimate heir in the official line of succession for Baegun Escort Agency.

Yushinyun's words were a rebuke to maintain proper hierarchy.

"Why are you silent?"

"Ah, no, not that. If you wish, it can be that way. Well, it might not be a problem…"

Motae-gil, clearly flustered, glanced at Yujinxiang nervously.

"Can't we make an exception this time?"

It was Yujinxiang who spoke.

Everyone's attention turned to him.

He smiled kindly and continued.

"Brother, your memory is not fully recovered, and you are physically unwell, so you couldn't help but arrive late. Moreover, it must be difficult for you to move around due to your condition, so let's just let it go."

Though his words seemed to be considerate of Yushinyun, they were actually a way to undermine him, suggesting that he was neither mentally nor physically in good shape.

"Indeed, that would be best. As expected, your character of caring for your brother is truly exceptional, hehe."

Motae-gil, who seemed to have come back from the dead, praised Yujinxiang again for his concern for his brother.

However, the atmosphere in the room remained cold.

At that moment, Yushinyun slightly bowed his head to acknowledge Do Jin-woo, who was looking at him with a surprised expression.

Do Jin-woo's eyes showed a ripple of emotion.

"Since things seem to be settled, shall we begin the meeting?"

Gwak Jusan stroked his beard and spoke.

Yushinyun naturally ignored the overtly hostile gaze directed at him.

"As you know, Jinjia Manor visited us unexpectedly today. I believe they have come here with two purposes."

Everyone focused on Gwak Jusan's words.

Yushinyun also decided to listen quietly.

"The first is to express their intention to stop the regular escort missions."

Unlike the branch managers, who had anticipated this, the deputy managers who accompanied them let out small sighs.

'This day has finally come.'

Escort missions, which are the main source of income for the escort agency, are divided into short-term and regular missions.

While short-term missions are one-time requests, regular missions are a continuous source of income and are therefore very important.

During Baegun Escort Agency's heyday, they handled dozens of regular missions simultaneously, but now they could barely maintain ten.

The regular missions from Jinjia Manor accounted for a significant portion of the agency's total revenue.

The departure of Jinjia Manor would undoubtedly deal a significant blow to Baegun Escort Agency's finances.

"Why are they ending the regular missions that have been ongoing for over ten years?"

Nodae-ung spoke.

Gwak Jusan glanced at Do Jin-woo and then answered.

"In fact, for several years, Jinjia Manor has been actively complaining about the abilities and lax attitudes of the guards handling the regular missions."

"But what…"

Nodae-ung showed a look of disbelief.

This was because the regular missions for Jinjia Manor were handled by Baegun Pavilion, which was known for having the most experienced and dedicated guards in the agency.

No organization had ever complained about Baegun Pavilion's missions.

However, whether this was true or not, the mere fact that such a complaint was made was a difficult situation for Do Jin-woo.

"I don't think the Baegun Pavilion, led by Deputy Leader, made any mistakes. There must be another intention behind this."

Gwak Jusan, pretending to defend Do Jin-woo, said something he didn't truly believe.

At that moment, Motae-gil continued.

"According to our informants, Jin Chang-jin, the head of Jinjia Manor, has been frequently meeting with people from Huangluo Escort Agency."

If this information had been shared first, the previous story would have been unnecessary.

Gwak Jusan's intention to undermine Do Jin-woo was clearly evident.

"Are they switching to our competitor, Huangluo Escort Agency? This is going too far! These ungrateful bastards!"

Nogun-ho's face turned red with anger.

However, no one tried to calm him down, as most shared the same thoughts.

The relationship between Jinjia Manor and Baegun Escort Agency had been ongoing for a long time.

Back then, Baegun Escort Agency was at the height of its power, and Jinjia Manor was just a small, new merchant group.

Yuhoyul helped Jinjia Manor by accepting a much lower fee, which led to their successful large-scale business and current prosperity.

Now, with the situation reversed, Jinjia Manor was openly switching to Huangluo Escort Agency, a competitor of Baegun Escort Agency.

The members of Baegun Escort Agency found this despicable.

Moreover, the fact that Huangluo Escort Agency was now considered superior to Baegun Escort Agency in public opinion made them even angrier.

Despite the prolonged complaints and curses, no one could suggest a way to stop them.

"And the second purpose they have come for is…"

Just as Gwak Jusan was about to introduce the next topic to break the deadlock,

The outside suddenly became noisy.

Everyone's attention turned to the closed door.

"Miss Jin Mihyo of Jinjia Manor is entering."

A guest suddenly entered the room.

Two

Jin Mihyo entered the room with Fang Haili and his bodyguards.

This made a vein pop on Nodae-ung's forehead.

While it was acceptable for Fang Haili to enter, it was customary for the bodyguards to wait outside.

Bringing the bodyguards inside was a sign of distrust and rudeness.

However, Nodae-ung only frowned and remained silent.

Do Jin-woo was also quietly observing the situation.

"It's been a long time since I've seen you, Masters and Deputy Leader. I hope you have been well."

Jin Mihyo bowed, exuding a refined and delicate beauty.

She looked at Yujinxiang, Do Jin-woo, and Yushinyun in turn.

For some reason, Yushinyun's expression slightly contorted before returning to normal.

"Nothing much has happened to us. We are the same as always, hahaha. By the way, you look even more beautiful."

Yujinxiang responded.

His eyes betrayed a sinister intent.

"Thank you for the compliment."

As Jin Mihyo's face slightly reddened, Nogun-ho, who had been smirking, spoke sarcastically.

"Seems like you had urgent business. We had instructed the tea room to serve good tea, but you came here before it even cooled down."

This was a veiled reprimand for barging in without waiting for their meeting to end.

Fang Haili gave a sardonic smile and responded.

"Hehe, I apologize. The tea room was too cramped compared to our manor, so we couldn't bear to wait."

"…!"

The people in the room all showed angry expressions at this blatant disregard for Baegun Escort Agency.

However, Fang Haili ignored their gazes and immediately got to the point.

"Since you seem very busy, let's save time and get straight to the purpose of our visit."

"Go ahead."

Do Jin-woo spoke softly.

"We are grateful for the past, but we are sorry to say that Jinjia Manor will be terminating all current transactions with Baegun Escort Agency, including the regular missions."

"…!"

Everyone in Baegun Escort Agency was shocked.

While the termination of regular missions was expected, the decision to end all transactions was unexpected.

"Can you really announce such a major decision so abruptly without any prior notice!"

Kuung!

Nodae-ung, unable to contain his anger, slammed his hand on the table and shouted.

"Heh, please understand our position. The head of our manor said that a group with a long-term absence of its leader is bound to have cracks. How can we entrust our missions to such an unstable group?"

To think that Jinjia Manor would treat them this way.

Everyone was still too agitated to calm down.

At that moment, Yujinxiang sighed and spoke to Fang Haili.

"…Sigh, is the head of your manor's decision already firm?"

"Well, if the issue I mentioned earlier is resolved quickly, the head might change his mind."

His words caused a murmur among the crowd.

'Of course, we can't leave the leader's position vacant indefinitely.'

'If this continues, all regular missions might be terminated, starting with Jinjia Manor.'

'Then who will take the leader's position…?'

'Naturally, …'

Jinjia Manor was subtly putting pressure on the selection of the new leader of Baegun Escort Agency.

Yujinxiang and Fang Haili's eyes met in the air.

'So that's it.'

Do Jin-woo finally understood why Jinjia Manor had made this sudden visit and was putting pressure by threatening to terminate transactions.

There was definitely some kind of deal between Jinjia Manor and Yujinxiang.

"Still, out of respect for our past relationship, we will give you a two-week grace period."

The members of Baegun Escort Agency were speechless at this pretense of doing them a favor.

"And finally, I have something to say about the engagement between Master Shin Yun and Miss."

Fang Haili brought up the second purpose.

Everyone had the expression of 'here it comes.'

It was clear that Fang Haili was going to talk about the annulment of the engagement between Yushinyun and Jin Mihyo.

"Ah, wait a moment!"

At that moment, a voice interrupted Fang Haili.

He turned his head to see Yushinyun looking at him with a bored expression.

What was he going to say at this moment?

Was he going to beg not to be abandoned?

'You idiot, even after coming back from the dead, you still can't let go of your first love!'

Yujinxiang looked at him disdainfully, a sneer on his face.

"What is it, Master Yil?"

"Since we're talking about the engagement…"

But then,

Yushinyun, who had been quietly observing the situation, met Jin Mihyo's eyes and said something no one expected.

"I want to annul the engagement with you."

Everyone's faces were filled with shock.

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