The Joseon Prince Went To America And Didn’t Return – 43



< Check >

I snickered and raised the corners of my mouth holding onto the wall with my right hand and standing at an angle.

“You want to check for yourself whether or not I have hair on my body?”

“Can’t I?”

It won’t work.

I loosened my tie a little.

“I’m glad. As a man how could I refuse such a pretty woman who approaches me first?”

I slowly approached Selena.

As the distance narrowed her alluring body became more clearly visible.

My mouth is watering.

“It’s beautiful. It’s dazzling.”

“Welcome.”

Good good.

however.

Isn’t there a Korean proverb that says “Even if you knock on a stone bridge try it?”

As I approached the bathtub where she was bathing I took a quick look at Selena for a split second.

Something was strange.

‘It’s strangely out of sync.’

Selena was smiling brightly.

But the body wasn’t like that.

I don’t know if it’s intentional or unconscious but I can tell that I’m shaking slightly.

I could have just said ‘You seem very nervous’ and let it slide but I couldn’t do that because of the other evidence.

‘Now that I think about it your eyes are shaking a lot. It seems like you’re afraid of me rather than welcoming me.’

The posture is also strange.

If you really want me you have to welcome me by leaning your body towards me as much as possible.

But she unconsciously tried to move her body back as far as possible and get away from me.

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‘If I think about it this meeting itself was a bit unnatural.’

I have doubts.

Whether she really wants me willingly or not.

In times like this it’s best to take a quick look around rather than suffering alone.

“Did someone push you to spend the night with me?”

I approached Selena crouched down right next to the tub and whispered in her ear:

If she reacted normally I had to quickly recover so I focused hard.

“Yes? Oh Prince. What did you say?”

“You’re asking who gave you the money separately.”

Selena’s face turned pale at my question.

“What are you talking about Prince? How can you see me?”

Selena is a woman who has proudly rejected Hearst’s playful advances.

If it were true to his nature he would have slapped me in the face and gotten angry at my rude question.

But he was struggling and stammering as if something was pricking him.

As I watched her reaction my vague doubts turned into certainty.

“How much did you get paid? I came here knowing all this.”

“That’s not true.”

“If you tell the truth I will give you twice the amount that the person who bought you offered.”

“….”

I’ve had this experience several times while working as a lobbyist.

There is only one best way in this case.

This can be solved with more money.

Conversely there is no better way to find out who the client is.

“Is that not enough? How about three times that? If you don’t believe me I can write a check here. How much would that be?”

For me a rich person finding out the identity of the person who is trying to get in my way is more important than money.

So I grabbed Selena’s shoulder and took the check out of my pocket.

The eyes were smiling but the face showed signs of change at any time.

Selena was quite intimidated and began to tremble with her mouth shut.

“That’s… I really didn’t say anything else. I just gave him money and asked him to become friends with the prince.”

“Tell me more.”

“Prince Lee Kang told me that he likes women who sing well. He even advised me to develop deep feelings for a woman who is comfortable like my mother.”

what.

Why are you being so specific?

“The prince said that he would give everything to the woman he loved and that he would take my life too. He tempted me by saying that I didn’t want to end this life… and I ended up taking the money. I’m sorry.”

Lee Kang the original owner of the body was a bit weak towards women.

Maybe it’s because I lost my family when I was young.

Or maybe it was because I took after my father’s personality but once I fell in love with a woman I became very dependent on her.

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‘It seems like only yesterday that he was making a fuss about marrying an American and leaving his wife behind in Joseon. Now that I think about that guy Lee Kang he’s thinking back.’

By the way.

If he had given her this advice the client who gave Selena the money must have known Lee Kang the original owner of my body quite well.

Who could it be?

“Do you remember the face or name?”

“that is….”

Selena began to recall her memories with a tearful expression.

“There were two people. One of them had his face hidden in the darkness so I couldn’t see him clearly. The one who gave me the money was an ordinary American man in his 30s.”

The one who hid his face must have been the instigator.

Whoever gave her the money must be a servant.

“The one behind you. Tell me more about him.”

“Oh that’s it. It was so dark that I couldn’t see the face. But…..”

“but?”

“The American who gave me the money said he would meet me again tomorrow to collect the balance. He also gave me some information about the prince.”

“okay?”

I answered Selena with narrowed eyes.

“Let’s stop here for today. Oh Selena! You’ll meet him tomorrow.”

“Yes? Me?”

“Yes. I need to know who that person is. If you’re nervous and feel like you’re going to make a mistake try to keep your mouth shut in front of him as much as possible. Just take the money and documents with an annoyed expression and come back. If you take my handkerchief here he’ll believe you.”

Selena hesitates.

I waved my checkbook and tried to seduce her in reverse.

“Don’t you need money? I think you with your pride are here because of money.”

* * *

I slept in the room where my companions Aaron and Max were staying.

Because I couldn’t possibly spend the night in the same room as Selena.

“Maybe it’s because my younger brother got sick recently. I heard he’s spending a lot of money on hospital bills.”

Aaron tells Selena about his secret.

Then Max jumped.

“Yeah but that’s true bro. Selena is a bad girl. She dared to use me.”

“I think so too. It’s just that she has her own circumstances.”

“Where can you find someone who has no circumstances? Brother you too. You’re really kind. Be careful with women.”

I was chatting with the Irish brothers about last night’s events at the coffee shop on the first floor.

Then Selena appeared in the hotel lobby.

After checking out she started to slowly move out.

“Please take care of me.”

“Just leave it to me. I’ll be back in a jiffy.”

You can’t walk around freely in San Francisco.

Because surprisingly many people recognize my face.

So Aaron will be following Selena instead of me.

“Boss. I can vouch for your stalking skills so don’t worry too much.”

With Max.

I had coffee at the Central Hotel.

Do that for three hours.

“boss.”

“You came? Yes. The guy who asked her. Did you find out his identity?”

Aaron quickly answered my question.

“As the boss said Selena was talking to a white man in his 30s.”

“okay?”

When I showed my disappointed expression he spread out his right index finger.

“It doesn’t end here. I continued to follow that man.”

“So? Where is his next destination?”

When Aaron started to talk I urged him on.

Then Aaron frowned and blew out hot breath.

“It was the Japanese consulate in San Francisco.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I saw it with my own eyes.”

this.

Looks like they’re finally starting to move.

I bit my lower lip and continued to listen to the information Aaron brought up.

“After about 30 minutes I left the consulate again. The next place I stopped by was….”

* * *

When people in San Francisco eat dinner people in Tokyo Japan eat lunch.

Ito Hirobumi who had just started his afternoon work in his office frowned while reading a report on the table.

“Call Fujiwara and his men.”

“Yes Your Majesty.”

15 minutes after Ito Hirobumi issued his order.

Fujiwara entered Ito’s office sweating profusely.

He must have been running he’s out of breath.

Ito Hirobumi looked Fujiwara up and down and showed his discomfort.

“This report. You’ve read it right?”

Ito Hirobumi asked slamming a thick stack of documents down on the table.

At the bottom of the front page of the report the name ‘Nagato Tomori’ was written in the author’s column.

A person who is in a rivalry with Fujiwara.

That’s why he clenched his fists and bowed his head to Ito.

“Yes that’s right.”

“I’ve been thinking about this lately…”

Ito Hirobumi walked to the window with his luggage on his back.

He began to hum looking at Mount Fuji in the distance.

“I wonder if I made a wrong choice. I should have tied that guy Lee Kang to Tokyo somehow.”

Fujiwara strongly supported Lee Kang’s trip to the United States.

He wiped away the sweat and tried to reassure Ito Hirobumi first.

“Your Excellency Prime Minister Cho. Don’t worry too much about the second prince of Joseon.”

“Do you still say that after reading that report?”

“….”

“It’s written in detail about how Lee Kang is running wild in the United States. I heard that the American media is also reporting on Lee Kang’s activities quite a bit.”

“I just got lucky and made a lot of money. The American media which loves money probably covered it in a big way.”

Fujiwara slapped Sakamoto’s ribs as he stood next to him.

Then Sakamoto continued Fujiwara’s argument.

“That’s right. Moreover all the newspapers that mentioned Lee Kang are based in California. At best he’s only a little famous in a certain region. So Your Excellency you don’t have to worry too much about it.”

Sakamoto just returned from his stay in the United States last month.

He confidently reported the relevant information to Ito as he was confident that he knew the local situation better than anyone else.

“Furthermore the capital of the United States is Washington. He may be quite famous in California but in Washington no one knows who Lee Kang is. I can guarantee this with my life.”

Fujiwara who was afraid of Ito’s scolding continued his argument as soon as Sakamoto finished speaking.

It was to avoid giving Ito a chance to speak.

“Isn’t the colonization of Joseon progressing smoothly according to Your Majesty’s plan? No matter how much Lee Kang struggles he will never be able to stop it.”

Ito who had been talking with his back to them and looking outside soon turned his gaze back to them.

Then he spoke to the two men in a slightly more relaxed tone than before.

“You are right. No one can stop my plan unless he is a god.”

“you’re right.”

Ito snapped his fingers and raised the end of his voice slightly.

“But you know I’m strangely nervous. I feel like if I leave things open I’ll get into big trouble someday so I’m a little worried.”

Ito picked up one of the reports on the desk.

Then he threw it to them and started telling them stories.

“Even Americans are wary of Lee Kang. I heard that they contacted our consulate first. I heard that they were trying to bring in the first Asian to a famous social gathering or something… I heard that they are a very influential group.”

Fujiwara and Sakamoto were flustered by Ito’s question and poured out their guesses.

“I’ll drop it. Who are they?”

“That’s right. Moreover Lee Kang is Korean. He’s not Japanese either. Do you think they’ll accept him as one of their own?”

“That may be true but the report here is different. They said that since there was a high chance of it passing they requested the consulate to repatriate Lee Kang to his home country. That’s what it says in Nagato Tomori’s report.”

“….”

“….”

“We’re getting quite a bit of help from Iza. We’re combining our information with the information Iza passed on to exploit Lee Kang’s weaknesses.”

The information that Lee Kang is weak towards women is information that the Japanese have already researched in advance.

But there’s a woman named Selena who often works at the Bohemian Club.

The information that she looked similar to the woman Lee Kang had met before was obtained from an anonymous American.

Ito mentioned this and warned the two men.

“What were you guys doing while Nagato was working so hard?”

“….”

“….”

“Your mouth is open so speak.”

Fujiwara closed his eyes once and opened them again then began to tell Ito Hirobumi his plan.

“In fact he released his subordinates to spy on the King of Joseon.”

“The King of Joseon?”

“Yes. It seems like they’re trying to do something to avoid our eyes.”

Ito opened his eyes wide and urged her to continue talking.

Fujiwara then began spitting out information that he had not yet written a report on.

“The King of Joseon sent a man to America two months ago. We focused on finding out his identity and purpose.”

“So what’s the result?”

“We haven’t yet figured out who sent it but we have figured out one purpose.”

“What is it?”

“Didn’t about a thousand Koreans immigrate to Mexico before?”

“Ah… that fraudulent immigration thing?”

“Yes. I think they sent someone to resolve this.”

Even though his diplomatic rights were taken away the Joseon king ignored it.

Ito smiled faintly and thought of Emperor Gojong’s face.

“I have to seize the opportunity to bring him down. He’s so annoying.”

“Do you intend to make the crown prince the next king?”

“Yes. After that the third prince of Joseon will be officially announced as the next successor.”

Ito Hirobumi frowned as he thought of Lee Kang still looking displeased.

“After this I must somehow summon that bastard Lee Kang to Joseon. Whether it be by using a woman or using my father’s illness as an excuse. I must do whatever it takes to make him return to Joseon.”

“yes.”

Fujiwara and Sakamoto were just about to turn around and leave the office.

at that time.

Ito Hirobumi summoned Fujiwara as if a good idea had occurred to him.

“And the Koreans.”

“Yes Your Excellency the Prime Minister.”

“Their immigration to the Americas has been increasing rapidly recently… Is this also because of Lee Kang?”

“Yes I think so too. Thanks to him the immigration environment has improved tremendously.”

“We should gradually ban immigration. We need to start with the media first in case there is a backlash.”

“What if it’s pre-work?”

“Let’s report on that incident I mentioned earlier in detail. We’ll use this as an excuse to ban the immigration of Koreans.”

“Oh yes.”

“Let’s start with the Hwangseong Shinmun and the Imperial Shinmun.”

Fujiwara looked a bit troubled.

“If it’s the Hwangseong Shinmun and the Imperial Shinmun aren’t they run by Koreans? Would they listen to us? You should look into other newspapers…”

Ito tapped his temple and clicked his tongue.

“Tsk tsk. Didn’t you try to persuade a few reporters last time? You should have used it now not when. Furthermore that incident actually happened. If they just reported the facts without fabricating anything Koreans would be wary of immigration.”

“Ah! I guess that’s true living as a slave in a faraway land.”

“Yes. Release people to fool the Korean people by telling them that the same thing is happening in America.”

“Yes Your Majesty.”

< Check > End