“Clan Lord, do you really have to rescue the Young Clan Lord? Honestly, what benefit does he even bring to the clan?”
At my blunt question, the Clan Lord let out a deep sigh.
“You’re right, the brat is nothing but trouble. He keeps reaching for things far beyond his own skills, drove his own younger brother out, and now he’s even tried to kill his nephew. But… he’s still my son, and I can’t get him out of my mind.”
Ah… so the second son didn’t leave home on his own, he was driven out.
Wait, then he knew that and still left things alone?
I was inwardly appalled, and meanwhile the Clan Lord kept talking.
“I suppose this is a parent’s heart. No matter how useless and rotten a child is, you just can’t cut the bond between parent and child.”
He’s not wrong.
That’s why they call the bond between parent and child a heavenly bond.
“If you intend to pull him out, you’ll have to make a pretty big concession to His Majesty the Emperor.”
“Of course. My talks with His Majesty are already going poorly. He said he’d give me two days. If I don’t bring him what he wants by then, then…”
I expected this, but His Majesty really grabbed hold of his chance.
Right now, saying His Majesty’s power is almost absolute wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
Thanks to the stupidity of the former Minister of Revenue and Minister of Works, he managed to abolish even the Assembly of Worthy Ministers, and when those two went and plotted treason, every attempt to revive the Assembly of Worthy Ministers vanished without a trace.
Right now, the high officials do nothing but watch His Majesty’s mood and grovel.
With things like that, if he really wanted to, he could scatter a clan like the Heibei Peng Clan with a single word.
Maybe he hadn’t planned on seeing me at all, and only met me because of this situation?
Could it really be His Majesty? It’s more than possible.
I was the one who set the trap, but as for feeling a little sorry… not really.
Honestly, the Clan Lord and the Young Clan Lord brought this on themselves.
I thought back to my previous life.
The current Clan Lord died, and Young Clan Lord Peng Mun took over as Clan Lord.
From then on, the Peng Clan rapidly declined, the gap with the Hwangbo Martial Family widening so much that revival became a distant dream.
He was someone who dreamed of revitalizing his clan, but ruined everything with his bad decisions.
So I couldn’t help but say something to him.
“Clan Lord, let me say something to you seriously.”
“What is it?”
“Don’t you think you’re being contradictory?”
“What? Contradictory?”
“If that sounds confusing, I’ll put it simply. Whether it’s your role as a father or as Clan Lord, pick one and do it properly. Don’t half-ass both.”
“…”
I went on.
“Honestly, if you’d done even one of those roles properly, would your second son have been driven out by his elder brother? And would your promising grandson be wandering the martial world to escape assassination?”
“…”
“Earlier, when I said you should protect Young Hero Peng, you sounded like a cold-hearted Clan Lord, but now you’re acting like the most doting father in the world.”
I had no intention of denying what he said about a parent’s heart.
But if your words don’t line up, they just don’t line up.
The more I talked, the fiercer the Clan Lord’s expression grew. But I didn’t stop.
“Am I wrong? If I’m wrong, won’t you enlighten me and tell me how?”
The Clan Lord stayed silent for a long while.
Naturally so, since even he had to admit I was right.
“…Then.”
With the look of someone who had seen everything in the world, the Clan Lord finally spoke.
“What am I supposed to choose?”
“Why are you asking me that? You’ve lived much longer than I have. Isn’t it a bit much to ask someone so much younger?”
“It’s embarrassing, but meeting you today made me realize that getting old and living long doesn’t mean you’re wise. You’re right. I’m a lacking Clan Lord who hasn’t done anything decisively.”
At least he was quick to reflect on himself.
Honestly, I’d thought he’d blow up in anger and throw me out.
With a clan on the level of the Heibei Peng Clan, I doubted he lacked people by his side willing to offer blunt advice…
But when I looked at the Clan Lord with that thought in mind, I felt like I understood why.
Was it because of that fierce, tiger-like face of his?
Honestly, unless your courage was something special, it wouldn’t be easy to face that kind of face and offer advice.
Or maybe it was that overpowering air of authority.
I’m an outsider to this Martial Family, but for someone inside, it would be a lot of pressure.
“So, in your view, what exactly do you think I should do?”
“Are you really planning to take my advice seriously?”
“Of course.”
Well, his situation was pretty urgent right now.
The Emperor’s blade was inching ever closer to the heart of the Heibei Peng Clan.
I told him,
“Then I recommend you choose your role as Clan Lord. Honestly, it’s already too late to play the loving father.”
“…”
“A father’s role is something you should have played before your second son left home.”
“Hoo… then, Mun, that child…”
“You still have to pull him out.”
At my words, his brow furrowed.
“What do you mean? Didn’t you just tell me to act as Clan Lord? Doesn’t that mean I should abandon Mun?”
“Clan Lord. What kind of Clan Lord abandons a member of their own clan?”
“…?”
“Abandoning him means the Peng Clan doesn’t protect those who bear the Peng name. Do you really think a Peng Clan that doesn’t protect the Peng surname will last long?”
For Young Hero Peng’s sake as well, the Peng Clan had to endure.
“And his mouth could give others leverage against you, so you absolutely have to get him out.”
“If not for you, none of this would’ve happened.”
“Did you already forget what I said earlier? All I did was host a dinner.”
“…”
“And in the clash between Young Clan Lord Peng Mun and Young Hero Peng, Young Hero Peng only won because he had me as reinforcements.”
“And the one reaping the fisherman’s profit in all this is the Imperial Family.”
“It’s still a relief that the fisherman is the Imperial Family. What if it had been an Unorthodox Sect instead?”
At that, he spat out his words roughly.
“Damn it, I don’t even want to think about it.”
“Anyway, it’s only natural that the spoils go to the victor, isn’t it?”
“That’s true.”
“So formally strip Young Clan Lord Peng Mun of his position and appoint Young Hero Peng as the new Young Clan Lord. Then deal with Peng Mun according to the clan’s internal laws. And finally, publicly declare that if anyone harms Young Hero Peng, you’ll personally mete out punishment as Clan Lord.”
I continued,
“If you can promise those three things, I’ll tell you how to get him out.”
Clan Lord Peng Jin-song of the Heibei Peng Clan stared at the spot where Eun Seo-ho had just been.
Truthfully, up until this morning he hadn’t planned on meeting Eun Seo-ho at all.
Once he realized things had turned out this way because of Eun Seo-ho’s scheme, he felt that if he saw the man, he wouldn’t be able to hold back his anger and might draw his weapon.
But…
“If you bring me what I want, I’ll release your son.”
“…What is it that Your Majesty desires?”
“You should be the one to figure that out. Do I really need to spell it out for you?”
“…”
“If you truly can’t, you can always ask that smart one I favor quite a bit. I heard he’s staying at your clan estate.”
And so he had called for Eun Seo-ho.
But he also wanted to make him pay for giving him such a headache.
And he was curious about what exactly had pleased the Emperor, so he decided to test him a little.
As expected… he wasn’t ordinary.
And Peng Jin-song instinctively realized something.
If he didn’t listen to Eun Seo-ho’s advice, the Heibei Peng Clan would not avoid ruin.
The words Eun Seo-ho had spoken to him were still vivid in his mind.
The more he repeated them to himself, the more they made his skin crawl.
All of this was something he had brought upon himself.
Until now, he had truly believed he was leading the clan well.
No one had ever voiced dissatisfaction to him, and no one had ever offered him advice.
‘So I’d been thinking I was a fine Clan Lord…’
He hadn’t been.
“It’s a relief I’m finally waking up from that spring dream.”
He shook his head and recalled the conditions Eun Seo-ho had laid out.
The first condition was something he had already promised to do, so it was something he had to carry out.
The third condition was also something he had to fulfill if he wanted to correct his own mistakes.
The problem was the second condition.
To punish his eldest son Peng Mun according to the clan’s internal laws.
He recalled the clan rules.
Because their estate sat so close to the imperial palace, their rules had been set stricter than those of other clans.
[Anyone even slightly involved in treason, or anyone who threatens the clan’s survival, shall have their Dantian crushed and their right hand cut off.]
And now, as a father, he had to give the order to destroy his son’s Dantian and cut off his right hand.
He let out a bitter smile.
To be honest, he still hadn’t been able to make up his mind.
At that moment, Eun Seo-ho’s words floated back to him.
“Forgive my impertinence, but I hope you’ll think about how you’ll be recorded after your death. Will you be the man who made this clan strong, or the one who led it to ruin?”
His predecessor, the former Clan Lord and his father, had often told him, that he had to build a strong clan.
And that had become his life-long wish.
But from the very beginning, he had never had the qualities to lead this clan to strength.
Suddenly, he remembered the words of his second son, who had left home and gone missing—no, who had been driven out by his eldest.
“Father, why did you say such things… Why are you making my life so hard?”
It had been the first time that obedient son ever spoke back to him.
And then…
That incident happened.
“Right. I can’t make the same mistake again.”
Firming his resolve, Peng Jin-song shouted toward the outside.
“Who’s outside?”
“Yes! Did you call for me?”
His deputy stepped in immediately.
“Contact the Punishment Hall. Tell them to prepare to carry out the sentence the moment Peng Mun returns!”
“When you say ‘carry out the sentence’…?”
“Destroy his Dantian and cut off his right hand.”
“Are you truly ordering that?”
“Yes. And…”
Peng Jin-song went on.
“On the charge of attempting to harm his own blood, sentence him to one hundred lashes.”
“Pardon? Then Young Master Peng Gang-un will also…”
“That was self-defense.”
At his firm tone, the deputy bowed his head.
“Understood.”
“And add another hundred lashes.”
“What? Why?”
“Because it was Mun who hurt that child first.”
Peng Jin-song bit his lip. In truth, it was a punishment he should have handed down long ago.
The day after I met with the Clan Lord, he officially stripped Young Clan Lord Peng Mun of his position and appointed Young Hero Peng as the new Young Clan Lord.
It meant he had accepted my proposal.
As promised, I told the Clan Lord what the Emperor wanted, and the next day Young Master Peng Mun and his party returned to the Peng estate.
When one of the messengers who now served Young Hero Peng brought us the news, we hurried toward the Peng Clan’s main gate.
Escorted by Peng Clan warriors as he passed through the gate, Young Master Peng Mun didn’t look like he’d suffered any particular hardship while being arrested by the Embroidered Guard and held in their dungeon.
He looked perfectly fine.
Just then, the Clan Lord approached from the other side.
“Father! Your son has returned.”
“So you’re back.”
“Yes, Father. I heard from Uncle that you worried and went to great lengths to get me out… I’m sorry for troubling you. I won’t let anything like this happen again.”
He still didn’t seem to grasp how serious the situation was.
The Clan Lord’s expression hardened, and he thundered like a judge passing sentence.
“You live under His Majesty the Emperor’s grace, yet you dared to raise a weapon against the Embroidered Guard. You committed treasonous disloyalty!”
“…”
“You also hired an assassin to kill your nephew. And you tried to harm your younger brother.”
“What? I never did such a thing!”
“The evidence is right here, and you still intend to deny it?”
Flutter—!
He threw the documents I’d given him down in front of Peng Mun. Mixed in were other pieces of evidence I hadn’t provided.
Those were probably proof of when he’d harmed the second son.
Young Master Peng Mun’s face turned chalk white when he saw them.
“Did you really think I didn’t know?”
“…”
“Therefore, as Clan Lord, I sentence you to one hundred lashes twice, for a total of two hundred!”
“F-Father!”
“And furthermore!”
The Clan Lord drew in a breath and spoke firmly.
“I sentence you to have your Dantian destroyed and your right hand cut off!”
“I’m the Peng Clan’s Young Clan Lord! How can you do this to your Young Clan Lord—”
“As of yesterday, the Young Clan Lord is not you, but Gang-un.”
At those words, Peng Mun’s face twisted like a demon’s.
Then he snatched the saber from the warrior beside him and swung it at Young Clan Lord Peng Gang-un.
“Die—!”
It all happened in an instant.
Clang!
Thud—!
“Urgh!”
But his desperate attack failed.
His swinging saber was blocked, his abdomen was kicked, and he collapsed where he stood.
The one who stopped him was Young Clan Lord Peng Gang-un’s new bodyguard, someone whose dying mother Peng Gang-un had saved when they couldn’t even afford medicine, then taken in as his guard.
“Drag him away and carry out the sentence!”
“Yes, sir!”
Peng Mun was dragged off by several men.
A short while later, the sharp crack of lashes and groans echoed out.
His Dantian was still intact for now, so he probably wouldn’t die just from the lashes.
But whether it was because of what had just happened or because all lingering affection had already rotted away, the Clan Lord didn’t show even a hint of regret.
After all, Peng Mun had just tried to kill his grandson right before his eyes.
So was the matter of Young Hero Peng—no, Young Clan Lord Peng Gang-un—finally settled?
Just as I was starting to relax, a strange feeling made me snap my head around.
“Huh? This Qi…”
–TL Notes–
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