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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: A Dirty Trick
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‘I, I only heard it too. That Miss Seolhwa was at a courtesan house before she returned, and received training to become a courtesan.... I, I didn't spread the rumor! Please forgive me!’
The three returned to the pavilion.
Seolhwa entered her room without a word, and Yeoyul and Ryeong couldn't bring themselves to ask her anything further.
“What do I do, Sir Warrior? I made a mistake, didn't I? I really messed up, didn't I? If I had known Her Ladyship was there, I wouldn't have said anything.”
Beside Yeoyul, who was sobbing and blaming herself, Ryeong let out a long sigh.
He had a strong urge to immediately seize the maids spreading such baseless rumors and give them a good beating with a cudgel.
However, it was Seolhwa who had let them go.
He couldn't arbitrarily punish those whom Her Ladyship had forgiven.
“Oh, woe is me... My mouth is the problem, me... Sniffle...”
What's more, there was this.
‘We must inform the Family Head immediately and apprehend those who spread these rumors! There is clearly malicious intent!’
‘No. Wait until I tell you to report it.’
‘But, Your Ladyship. This is a serious matter. We cannot stand by while the family's servants insult you!’
‘Who is your lord, Ryeong?’
‘...You are, Your Ladyship.’
‘Then wait. I will tell grandfather myself when the time is right.’
Because she had said that, he couldn't even make a report.
As Her Ladyship said, the Family Head would eventually hear the rumors, but by then, they would have already spread widely throughout the family.
“Haa...”
“Sniffle... It really was my fault. This foolish mouth of mine... Waaah...”
Just then.
The door opened and Seolhwa stepped out.
Yeoyul and Ryeong looked at her in surprise.
Seolhwa had changed into her training clothes.
“Ah, Your Ladyship...”
“Your Ladyship, surely... you're not going again today?”
With such rumors circulating?
To the training grounds, swarming with a pack of dogs intent on tearing you apart?
“Your Ladyship, perhaps you should rest today...”
Seolhwa lightly descended the stairs as if it were no big deal, and stood before the two.
“It's not a rumor that will disappear overnight anyway. If I just hide in my room because I'm scared of rumors, I'll only waste time. Then I'm the only one who loses out.”
“But...”
“And it's partly true, too.”
Seolhwa shrugged.
Ryeong and Yeoyul's eyes widened.
“...Pardon?”
“Hiccup.”
“It's true that I was at a courtesan house before returning to Namgung. Though I didn't pour drinks.”
To be precise, it was a force of the Daesura Hyeolgyo disguised as a courtesan house, and what she mostly did was kill people.
‘Compared to the truth, the rumors are far better.’
This place was the Baekdo Jeongpa, so neither situation would be viewed favorably, but it was still better than the fact that she had been an assassin being known.
“Let's go. We'll be late.”
Seolhwa walked past the two, who were stammering, unable to speak. Ryeong exchanged a brief glance with Yeoyul, then hurriedly followed behind her.
* * *
The rumors spread rapidly, centered around the maids.
“The First Young Master's daughter, the young lady who just returned. They say she was at a courtesan house all this time.”
“Gasp. So that rumor is really true?”
“Seems so. You know how it is, they take young girls to those courtesan houses, teach them, and then use them as gisaeng when they grow up.”
“Surely... at most, she was just a yegi?”
“A yegi is still a gisaeng. For a young lady of Namgung to learn such things... isn't that a bit much...?”
“If outsiders knew, it would be a disgrace... wouldn't it...?”
Even as the rumors spread, Seolhwa lived no differently than usual.
She did not neglect her training with the Jeokryongdan, nor her family's training.
She paid no mind even when the maids and warriors whispered about her.
Any other person, especially any other thirteen-year-old child, would have locked themselves in their room, wailing and throwing a fit.
They would have already run to their parents, reported it, and found comfort in their arms.
‘Her Ladyship is...’
Is it true that the eye of a storm is calm? Ryeong thought Seolhwa was like the eye of a storm.
The world around her was in turmoil, yet she remained calm. So calm, it was almost frightening.
The problem arose two days after the rumors spread, in the early morning.
“We apologize, Your Ladyship. It was our oversight.”
“...We are ashamed.”
“We are sorry...”
With four days remaining until the first selection, the Jeokryongdan members who had come for their dawn training were gloomy.
“What happened?”
“All of us... have been disqualified from this promotion test... It is our fault. We apologize, Your Ladyship.”
“Please explain in detail.”
The incident was as follows.
Last night, after dinner.
While they were free training in the drill ground, members of the 14th Unit, who usually had a bad relationship with the 11th Unit, gathered and began to mock them.
“They told us that no matter how much we trained, we would never become inner-sect warriors in our lifetime, so we shouldn't bother wasting our efforts.”
“They called us chicken-brains! Said that since our birth was humble, no matter how hard we tried, we'd never fly to the heavens!”
The Jeokryong 11th Unit was a group composed of individuals with excellent skills but no powerful backing.
It was the highest position one could reach in the outer hall, but also the unit where those who could no longer rise stagnated. They were mocking that.
“That much was fine. We hear it all the time. But...”
Namgung Jipyeong clenched his fist.
His arm trembled uncontrollably.
“Those bastards dared... to insult Her Ladyship... with their words...”
‘Oh, now that I think about it, aren't you guys being taught martial arts by someone from a courtesan house?’
‘To think someone raised in a place that just sells liquor is a young lady of Namgung. How ridiculous. Heh heh. The smell of powder can't be hidden by clothes, you know.’
‘What are you learning from a courtesan house girl? How to apply makeup?’
Finally, Namgung Jipyeong could no longer tolerate the blatant insults aimed at Seolhwa.
When Namgung Jipyeong charged, the unit members leaped into the fight like colts unbridled.
And so, a brawl ensued—.
“We were summoned by the Jeokryongdan Commander. He said he would disqualify all of us and the entire 14th Unit from this promotion test.”
Namgung Jipyeong bowed his head deeply. The other members did the same.
“We are truly sorry, Your Ladyship. We... threw away all the things you did for us.”
“We apologize...”
The Jeokryongdan members could not lift their heads.
No, they couldn't.
This time, they had finally gained hope of rising to become inner-sect warriors.
Behind them, who had no backing, stood the young lady of Namgung, a steadfast supporter.
They had witnessed the duels of peak masters, and now they could even aim for higher realms.
But then. With a single moment of folly, they had squandered everything. Could they possibly lift their heads?
“So...”
“...”
“Did you win?”
Namgung Jipyeong stared blankly at Seolhwa, lifting his head.
The young lady, whom he had expected to be angry, wore a calm expression, no different from before.
“...Pardon?”
“The fight. Did you win?”
The Jeokryongdan members exchanged blank glances.
Then, in slightly agitated voices, they poured out words like a bursting dam.
“Of course! The 14th Unit was never a match for us to begin with!”
“Thanks to the training Your Ladyship gave us, it was honestly too easy.”
“We're perfectly fine like this, but those guys had something broken in at least one place each.”
Seolhwa nodded.
“That's good then. It's a shame I couldn't see it.”
She was so nonchalant it was almost absurd.
As if she had just finished discussing what she had for dinner last night, Seolhwa calmly picked up her wooden sword.
The Jeokryongdan members stared blankly at her.
“What are you doing? Aren't you going to train?”
“...Your... Your Ladyship. Now, training is meaningless...”
In the blink of an eye, the wooden sword was placed before his eyes. Namgung Jipyeong unconsciously held his breath.
“The reason you train is to become stronger, not to become inner-sect warriors. Are you saying you'll stop training once you become inner-sect warriors?”
“Th-that's not what I mean, but...”
“I told you, didn't I? Just don't give up until the very end.”
“...!”
Namgung Jipyeong's eyes wavered. The eyes of the Jeokryongdan members also blurred as if they were about to cry.
“Your... Ladyship...”
They had given up, believing everything was over. They were disheartened, thinking they would have to wait a long time again.
But Seolhwa spoke in an unwavering voice, as if this was just the beginning.
“As promised, you all just focus on your training. The promotion test isn't far off, so just concentrate on becoming stronger than you are now.”
Her gaze settled, growing chilling.
“I'll take care of the rest.”
* * *
Returning to the pavilion, Seolhwa, instead of heading to the family's training grounds, told Ryeong and Yeoyul to let no one in, and went to her private drill ground behind the pavilion.
The best way to clear her cluttered mind was to swing her sword without thinking.
As she swung her sword, paths that were once unseen would suddenly appear, and everything would become clear.
It was one of Seolhwa's habits, carried over from her previous life.
Swish—swish—
The sharp blade of the true sword sliced through the air and cut through energy.
‘Few people know that I'm overseeing the Jeokryongdan's training.’
If anyone had secretly visited during training, it would have been the 'eyes' of the family's high-ranking officials.
Therefore, the person who ordered the Jeokryongdan to be provoked and disqualified from the promotion test was likely someone of at least a high-ranking official's status or higher.
Furthermore, the rumors spread conveniently just before the Cheonmuje.
‘This Cheonmuje is a test to prove one's qualifications as the acting Family Head.’
So, all these events were ultimately part of the conflict over the position of acting Family Head.
‘Is this a scheme to destabilize me and undermine my father's prestige?’
Is it that woman again?
Many people coveted the family's power, but there was only one person in this Namgung who would resort to such dirty tricks.
A member of Namgung, yet a woman who did not grow up in Namgung.
Namgung Cheonghae's wife. Yeon Soran.
‘If that woman is going to resort to such dirty tricks...’
Swish—swish—
‘Perhaps I should play a little dirty too.’
The crimson sword path continued endlessly, leaving ripples in the air.
Even though she moved without rest, making her breathless, at some point her rising breaths no longer felt strenuous.
A void, where neither wind, nor sound, nor even the sound of her own breath existed, enveloped her.
When she reached a state where she couldn't tell if she was swinging the sword or the sword was swinging her.
“You'll die if you keep that up.”
Clang—
Someone's sword blocked hers.
