Jang Tae-sang is the wealthiest man in Gyeongseong and the master of the city’s biggest pawn shop, the House of Golden Treasure. Anyone who needs anything in the Bonjeong district — money, objects, or even people’s lives — must go through him. Under threat from the Japanese police commissioner Ishikawa, whose beloved Korean mistress is missing, Tae-sang crosses paths with the sleuth Chae-ok and finds an entirely different kind of life awaiting him.