My Dad Is the Strongest Under Heaven
Chapter 22
“What do you think you are doing?”
Peng Mugang asked with a hardened expression as Yeo Woonhwi bowed his head without warning.
Yeo Woonhwi lifted his head and answered.
“If the day ever came when I could see you, I wanted to offer a sincere apology like this.”
“Does that mean you regret it? The choice you made back then?”
“No. That is not it.”
“Hm?”
At an answer entirely contrary to his expectations, Peng Mugang’s brow twitched, and his presence shifted.
Though slight, it was a change in pressure enough to turn any ordinary person pale.
Yet the scholar Yeo Woonhwi, who supposedly knew not a lick of martial arts, continued speaking with an utterly unbothered demeanor.
“I do not regret the choice I made that day. Then as well as now, my wife is the reason I live. And now we have our daughter, Yul-i, as well. Thus, even if I were to return to that day, I would make the exact same choice. In order to protect my love with my wife, I would ultimately leave this place once again.”
“Then what was that about offering an apology?”
“That was regarding the worry and grief the two of you suffered on account of our actions, regardless of the reasons.”
Peng Mugang narrowed his eyes at Yeo Woonhwi.
Somehow… he felt completely different from the Yeo Woonhwi he remembered.
The man he had seen that day… was a fellow who had been unable to raise his head before him, let alone speak.
“…You seem to have changed.”
“Do I?”
Yeo Woonhwi gave a soft smile.
“If it is to protect my family, I am willing to endure anything. That is what it means to be the head of a household.”
“…….”
“I am sure you are wondering why we have returned.”
He was right. Peng Mugang had yet to hear their reason for returning.
To say they merely regretted the past… neither his daughter nor this man appeared that way.
“To speak candidly, what we desire is neither wealth nor fame. Please, only accept us so that we may live within the Peng Clan.”
“What shameless words.”
“Yes, I know it must sound that way to you. But I no longer wish for my wife to live turning her back on her family and forcing herself to endure the pain. I also want Yul-i to know that she has other family.”
“For the very fellow who caused all of this to wag his tongue so freely…”
“Yet it is my sincere truth. Even if late, I wish to return her family to my wife. Please accept us, Father-in-law.”
Yeo Woonhwi looked at Peng Mugang with utmost sincerity.
“…….”
Peng Mugang merely stared at Yeo Woonhwi in silence.
Setting aside their reason for returning, he had not expected that timid scholar of a fellow to carry himself like this.
Above all, the look in Yeo Woonhwi’s eyes. That gaze…
Still, to Peng Mugang, Yeo Woonhwi was ultimately still the thief who had eloped with his daughter in the dead of night.
“Hmph…”
Peng Mugang narrowed his eyes, looking down at the bowing Yeo Woonhwi.
However, despite his indignation, his deliberation did not last long.
“Very well. So be it. I permit you to live here.”
“Thank you!”
Yeo Woonhwi immediately snapped his head up, answering with a bright face.
“However, while it may be different for Seoyeon and my granddaughter, you had better brace yourself. Leaving aside the softhearted Seojin, this Hebei Peng Clan will not be so forgiving as to cater to a frail, mere scholar.”
“I came prepared for that.”
“Hmph, you talk a good game. Naturally, I have no intention of lending you any strength either, so you had best discard any such expectations.”
“Yes. That, too, I will gladly bear.”
Watching Yeo Woonhwi answer so briskly, Peng Mugang waved his hand dismissively.
“Enough. You may leave.”
Yeo Woonhwi gave Peng Mugang a polite bow, then slowly exited the Patriarch’s office.
Watching his retreating back, Peng Mugang let out a scoff.
There was no way a scholar who knew nothing of martial arts could withstand the harsh territorial hazing of the Hebei Peng Clan.
Before a few days had even passed, he would surely come whimpering and whining.
‘Just what is he thinking, anyway?’
For someone claiming he would gladly endure anything for the sake of his family, his eyes were far too brimming with confidence.
Peng Mugang found that profoundly baffling.
Just what did he have to believe in?
Peng Mugang turned his gaze toward the door Yeo Woonhwi had just walked through.
He had certainly changed in some way.
***
From that day forward, Yul-i’s family came to reside in the Peng Clan.
Though the room Peng Seoyeon had used in the past remained as it was, Yul-i’s family settled in a separate annex.
For Peng Seoyeon was no longer alone.
Her old room was far too small for a husband and daughter to share with her.
Thus, Dan Heeyoung swiftly arranged an annex for them to stay in.
No matter that Peng Seoyeon had left the clan for so long and returned after several years, the fact that she was the eldest daughter of the Hebei Peng Clan remained unchanged.
Moreover, Patriarch Peng Mugang had ultimately accepted her rather than casting her out, and everyone had witnessed her mother, Dan Heeyoung, and Grand Young Master Peng Seojin rejoicing greatly over her return, so no one dared treat her lightly.
Furthermore, there was Peng Seoyeon’s daughter, Yeo Soyul.
A single week was more than enough time for that tiny, adorable child to steal the hearts of the Peng Clan.
From the elders of the clan to the martial artists and household staff, everyone adored Yul-i.
At this point, one could almost wonder if she had been born with a natural gift for being loved by people.
In this manner, Yul-i’s family was being naturally and smoothly accepted into the Peng Clan.
Except for just one person—Yeo Woonhwi.
“That’s him, right? The fellow who eloped with Lady Seoyeon in the night.”
Seeing Yeo Woonhwi pass by, the martial artists whispered behind his back.
The looks in their eyes were far from friendly.
If anything, they were openly hostile.
“That’s right. He certainly has a pretty face, living entirely off his looks.”
“What good is being handsome? Word is he’s just a scholar who can’t use a single martial technique.”
“Heh, not a single one? Good heavens.”
“Regardless, I have no idea what he was thinking, coming back with Lady Seoyeon. Shameless bastard.”
“Truly.”
“From the looks of it, he came aiming for our wealth. What else could it be?”
“Or perhaps he intends to leech off Lady Seoyeon and live in luxury for the rest of his days.”
“Whatever it is, he’s absolute scum, isn’t he?”
“Come now, do you really think our Patriarch will just stand by and watch that happen?”
“Tsk, you don’t know what you’re talking about. Even the Son of Heaven cannot control his own children as he pleases, so how much harder must it be for the Patriarch? Wouldn’t you say?”
“Haha. To think a good-for-nothing parasite has settled right into our Peng Clan. Tsk, tsk.”
The martial artists clicked their tongues, one after another.
Yeo Woonhwi was the husband of the Hebei Peng Clan’s eldest daughter, Peng Seoyeon.
Ordinarily, even when speaking behind his back, it was proper to use honorifics when referring to him.
Yet in their eyes and hearts, Yeo Woonhwi was no superior of theirs, but merely a parasite come to suck the blood and marrow of the Hebei Peng Clan.
Thus, the atmosphere was unanimous in their disapproval of him.
Yet what of it?
Having resolved to bear all of this willingly, Yeo Woonhwi did not pay the slightest heed even when such talk reached his ears.
To him, the safety of his family was paramount.
That alone was enough.
Yet seeing that very attitude, people slandered him all the more, calling him a brazen, shameless rogue.
***
“*Sigh*…”
Peng Seoyeon sat lost in dazed contemplation, her tea left unfinished.
Beside her, in a small bed, Yul-i was fast asleep.
“…You look burdened with many worries.”
Dan Heeyoung, who had been drinking tea with her, looked at her daughter and spoke.
Peng Seoyeon wore a slightly startled look before quickly shaking her head.
“Pardon? Ah, no, it’s nothing.”
“What do you mean, nothing? Do you think I don’t know my own daughter? It’s because of Son-in-law Yeo, isn’t it?”
“…….”
Without realizing it, Dan Heeyoung had taken to calling Yeo Woonhwi ‘Son-in-law Yeo.’
It was because she was deeply fond of how much he cared for and cherished her daughter.
He had certainly been the most resentful man in the world to her at one time.
Yet since matters had come to this, Dan Heeyoung had resolved to accept Yeo Woonhwi as her son-in-law for the sake of her daughter’s happiness.
Though he was said to know nothing of martial arts, that was not of great importance to Dan Heeyoung.
With Dan Heeyoung having struck right at the core of her heart, Peng Seoyeon nodded.
The gaze of those around Yeo Woonhwi, and the whispers spoken against him, had been reaching her ears as well.
She had tried her best to ignore them, but as the days passed, the mockery and slander aimed at her husband were crossing the line, making it terribly painful for her to bear.
Yet even so, there was nothing she could do right now.
That reality left Peng Seoyeon feeling so helpless and heartbroken.
“I understand how you feel, but that is a burden Son-in-law Yeo must shoulder himself.”
“…….”
“Of course, if your father stepped in, he could manage things for a brief moment. But what about after that? Even that has its limits. In the end, it is something Son-in-law Yeo must overcome on his own.”
Above all, her husband Peng Mugang had already made it clear from the start that he would never step forward on Yeo Woonhwi’s behalf.
Thus, even that held no possibility whatsoever.
“Yes, Mother. I know.”
Yet, seeing her daughter’s face darken even further despite her reply, Dan Heeyoung could not feel at ease either.
How could she not understand her daughter’s heart?
Yet she had no choice but to speak the truth.
Naturally, Dan Heeyoung did not know how Yeo Woonhwi could earn the recognition of the clan members and be accepted as one of their own.
Only, one thing was certain: that task would be immensely difficult.
Within the righteous framework of the Orthodox faction, this was a martial clan where martial arts were everything.
A martial clan was a place where one was looked up to or looked down upon solely by the strength of their martial arts.
Moreover, this Hebei Peng Clan was a prestigious family among prestigious families, counted among the Five Great Clans of the Murim.
No one expected a mere scholar to ever adapt to life here in the Hebei Peng Clan.
Except for one single person—Yeo Woonhwi himself.
