Chronicles of the Lazy Sovereign Novel - Chapter 17

Chapter 17

That night.

“Hahahahahahaha!”

In the hut called the Beggar Sect Branch, Jang-il hugged the coins and burst into a crazy laugh.

Hahahahaha! To think that half-year operating expenses of the Beggar Sect Branch would be reduced in just half a day! A god of fortune has arrived, a god of fortune has arrived!

Wei Yan-ho’s cheeks swelled.

“Make a person a beggar!”

The good is good, isn’t it? Come on, eat, eat! Eat all you want!

Jang-il made a great decision and stopped at a famous tavern in Kaifeng to buy a lot of high quality food.

It was a luxury I could not normally even imagine, but there was no reason why I could not give this great reward to Wei Yan-ho, who had earned half the operating expenses of a year in just half a day.

“Uf, all this is because of that fucking senile old man!”

Wei Yan-ho squeezed his teeth.

He had lived five years without being able to pluck a single blade of grass to eat.

It had somehow remained with Baek Muhan’s inner core, but Baek Muhan had literally provided only the energy needed for training.

Thanks to that, after five years, Wei Yan-ho had become a walking skeleton.

He wanted to protest saying that he was not a beggar, but when Wei Yan-ho saw the mirror that Jang-il had brought him, he ran out of words.

To think that seeing his own face would make him want to cry!

The second son of the great Guangdong Wi family being a beggar! A beggar! Heuk! Mother! If my mother knew this, Guangdong would become a sea of tears.

Jang-il laughed and patted Wei Yan-ho on the shoulder.

Kuhahhat, don’t be modest and just eat.

“Sigh.”

Wei Yan-ho complained but inhaled the food Jang-il had bought.

The food in the world that he ate five years later was so delicious that it made him cry.

Wei Yan-ho served food as if he were a person with a hole in his stomach.

“… Eat a little slower.”

“Wow-wow-wow-ah-uh-wow.”

“…What did you say?”

“Ahm mer-gung-eh mang-ih-ih-ih mang-ah-uh”.

“Huh?”

“Ah!”

Wei Yan-ho swallowed the food in his mouth and opened his mouth.

“Don’t make me talk while I eat!”

“I’m sorry.”

Wei Yan-ho emptied the bowls like a storm, then grabbed his swollen belly like a balloon and lay on the ground.

“Ah, now I feel like I could live.”

“…How long were you hungry?”

“Five years?”

“People die if they go hungry for only a month.”

“I tell you it’s true.”

“Well, you probably wouldn’t look that way for having just been hungry for a month or two.”

Jang-il smiled.

“Well, anyway, it’s fine. You’re a god of fortune who came to me!

“I won’t do it tomorrow”

What does that mean?

You made a lot of money, didn’t you?

“……”

“If you won so much, now give me information.”

“Even so, a promise is a promise…”

“After we do it until tomorrow, is it okay if I go around telling people I’m not your father?”

“Oh…”

Anyway, I’ll be leaving soon, but you’re different, since you have to keep begging, right?

Jang-il raised both hands and made a performance.

Kuha, you’re pretty smart for what I thought.

Jang-il snapped his lips.

“So what do you want to know?”

“A list of great famous scholars and where they live, in addition to their hobbies and specialties.”

“Well, that’s not hard.”

“A list of famous blacksmiths and where they live, in addition to their hobbies and specialties.”

“Well, that too.”

“And famous…”

Besides that, dozens of other places, hobbies, specialties, lifestyles, personalities and things like that came out of Wei Yan-ho’s mouth.

“All that?”

– It’s not hard, is it?

“None is too difficult… but the number is a little…”

“A man shouldn’t say two things with one mouth, right?”

“Wow.”

Jang-il scratched his head.

I thought you were a god of fortune, but you were a god of disaster. Anyway, as I made you a promise, I’ll find out for you. It’ll take a little while, so come back after seven days and seven nights.

Faced with Jang-il’s kind explanation, Wei Yan-ho smiled widely and responded.

“I have nowhere to go.”

“Huh?”

I don’t have anything to do either, so, well, I’ll wait here.

“Are you going to wait here?”

“Isn’t that right?”

“No, there’s no reason it’s not right. Then do it.”

And Jang-il repented of those words after only a few days.

“Head of Branch B!”

The next day, problems arose immediately.

“Why?”

“E-it’s a big problem.”

“What is it?”

Well, I think you should come and see him!

What do these fucking beggars have to make such a fuss?

Jang-il casually followed the young beggar.

Then he rubbed his eyes.

“Huh?”

The beggar who had helped him to beg the day before was lying on an extended mat and copper coins were piled up in front of him.

“That…”

On the contrary, the Beggar Sect beggars who were begging on the opposite side were being scolded.

“You have perfectly healthy limbs!”

Where do you guys, who don’t even look like beggars, try to beg for a living? Get lost!

Everything in the world is relative.

When a true Mendigo appeared among Mendigos, the beggars who had been surviving until then seemed very clean and robust.

The nice aunt in the kitchen of the Seonhwa pavilion, who until yesterday had felt sorry for them and at least had given them cold rice, was now breaking their bowls with cold eyes.

How could people change so suddenly?

But you can’t blame them.

Even in the eyes of Jang-il, the beggars along with Wei Yan-ho did not look like beggars. They looked like strong men capable of plucking out the zelkova that looked nearby with both hands.

“Yow”

“…”

Jang-il trembled at this situation.

“A true god of disaster has taken over us!”

Because of that beggar bastard, we can’t beg. Everyone who has seen him, even once, is breaking all our beggar’s bowls.

“Even Gong-sang, who has no legs, went to beg and beat him and threw him out!”

“Even Gong-sang…”

If even Gong-sang, the myth and legend of Kaifeng’s beggar world, had his bowl broken, it would not be a matter of any serious concern.

At this rate, they would have to use yesterday’s operating expenses as maintenance expenses.

So that beggars have to spend money to eat and live!

That would be momentous and, before that, it was a matter of pride as members of the Mendigo sect.

It’s a matter of pride! You’re beggars too! Don’t give up just because your bowls broke a couple of times, put passion on begging!

Even the maid of the house of the khaki tree poured cold water on the beggars who went begging.

“L-the maid of the house of the khaki tree?”

Wasn’t she the warmest woman in Kaifeng?!

She cried even if the wind blew and the leaves fell, and if she saw a dog limping, she would shed tears like chicken droppings and take him home to take care of him. What a big-hearted woman!

The pear-flowered maiden that Jang-il had kept in a corner of her heart and appreciated in her thoughts had poured cold water!

“What did she say?”

“He said that if they were once again prowling, next time he would pour water on them with excrement.”

“Wow.”

Jang-il fired his first love with a single tear.

Rama’s boss, we must stop that beggar! At this rate, we will starve to death!

Beggars starving in Kaifeng!

It would be something for history books.

Regardless of whether Jang-il was making a fuss or not, Wei Yan-ho fell quietly and scratched his belly. At first it was embarrassing, but once he tried, this activity made him feel great.

Without doing anything, just lying down and taking a nap, the money would accumulate in abundance.

After having properly collected that money, if I went back to sleep, the money would accumulate again.

If I could, I’d want to settle down like this and make money real quick.

“Winning money is not a big deal either.”

At this rate, even before a month passed, I would have enough money to prepare a large mansion.

“The beggars really made money easily and comfortably.”

Wei Yan-ho casually said things that would make beggars cry if they heard them; beggars who barely managed to get a piece of cold rice to eat while they were covered with straw mats and frozen in the cold winter days.

Jang-il pounced on Wei Yan-ho.

“What are you doing!”

“Yes?”

“What are you doing!”

Didn’t you tell me to learn to beg?

“…uf, get up quickly!”

“I don’t want to.”

You said you’re not a beggar!

Wei Yan-ho shared a new revelation with Jang-il.

On second thought, if you have no money, you are a beggar; there is no specific category for beggars. So I guess I am a beggar. I have no money and I have nowhere to go…

“Now you have money!”

Jang-il was so desperate that informal talk came out naturally.

“Well, more money is always better.”

At this rate, we will all starve to death. You must know what business ethics is! Don’t do this and come to my quarters! Aren’t you hungry?

“Well, that’s true…”

You’ve got to eat while you’re begging!

“All right, I’ll sleep a little more first and then I’ll eat.

If you sleep like that on the main street, you’ll get hurt. Come to my hut. Wouldn’t it be more comfortable to sleep in the shade?

“I sleep well anywhere.”

You’ve never been in such a comfortable bed?

Anyway, there’s no bed there. What bed would there be in a beggar’s den? There’s probably just some coarsely stretched straw mats. I’ll stay here.

Jang-il got serious.

What are you talking about?

Head of branch office!

A bed, buy a bed!

What, a bed?

Yes, a bed, the most expensive, the softest, so comfortable that you can’t get up once you lie down!

“But the money…”

I’ve got money in my bag, so buy it quickly!

“Yes, I understand!”

There’s a bed, isn’t there?

Jang-il was desperate, but Wei Yan-ho was indifferent.

“Well, it’s true… but I’m hungry too. I’ll make money here and buy food.

Food? Why would you buy food with your own money?! If you are in the hut, we will beg you and offer it to you!

“Even so, since I’m a beginner beggar, it’s hard to live by eating the cold rice I get begging.”

Cold rice? Who? What beggar bastard dares to give you cold rice?! Gong-jin!

“Yes, Head of Branch!”

Go to Chwiwol Pavilion and ask them to pack the highest quality food! The first five servings! No, ten servings! The highest quality…

Head of branch B, the money…

“It’s in the bag, you beggar bastard!”

Yeah, yeah, got it!

Jang-il dried his cold sweat and talked to Wei Yan-ho. He felt he was going to die of frustration.

Come on, come quickly to the cabin, he’ll be waiting for good food when you get here.

But Wei Yan-ho was in no hurry.

And unfortunately, Wei Yan-ho was the type who, once he put his back on the floor, could not lift his body easily.

“Hmm… That’s annoying.”

“Huh?”

It’s a bit far to get to. lt’s annoying to get up, so I’ll sleep first…

“Jong-du!”

“Yes!”

“Go get a cart!”

“Do you mean a car?”

We’ve got to load it up, hurry up and get a wagon!

“…yes.”

– Come on, come on, you don’t have to move a finger!

“Well, if that’s the case…”

Wei Yan-ho smiled widely.

Jang-il, who felt that smile somehow looked like an evil spirit, trembled.

A true god of disaster had descended upon the land of Kaifeng.

—