Young Lord Hwangbo Uk might have blurted that out because he’d already given up on everything.
But I could say with certainty that he’d made the worst possible choice.
Everyone around me was stunned, and so were all the members of the Hwangbo Clan gathered here.
It was bad enough that the Young Clan Lord’s son had shouted in a public place like this that the Namgoong Clan was better than the Hwangbo Clan, but…
They seemed even more shocked to discover that Young Lord Hwangbo Uk was far stupider than anyone had imagined.
“Very well. With those words, you’ve just confessed to your own crime. Have you said everything you wanted to say?”
The Clan Lord asked calmly.
But the force carried in his voice was anything but calm.
“I haven’t!”
Even so, Young Lord Hwangbo Uk clenched his teeth and shouted. It was probably his last act of defiance.
“Then go on. Say everything you wish to say. What, exactly, is so suffocating about this clan?”
“The pointless rules! The traditions! All of it is suffocating! If we’re the dominant power in Jinan, then why can’t we live proudly like one? Why do we have to worry about what the Imperial Palace thinks or what the common people think?”
“…”
Uh…
So he really was just an idiot.
I had to admit, the Namgoong Clan had quite the eye for talent. Of all the people they could have chosen to manipulate, they’d somehow picked someone like him.
“Whew… Young Clan Lord.”
“Yes, Father.”
“I believe I’ll have to overturn the sentence I passed on your son. You won’t object, no matter what punishment I decide on, will you?”
“What could I possibly say after all this? I failed to raise my son properly, so I will also step down as Young Clan Lord.”
Young Lord Hwangbo Uk’s mother stared at him in alarm.
“W-What are you saying? Why would you step down as Young Clan Lord?”
“I raised my son into this sort of man. Shouldn’t I also bear responsibility for that?”
At once, Young Lord Hwangbo Uk’s mother dropped to her knees before the Clan Lord.
“Father! My husband has done nothing wrong in this matter. This is all because Hwangbo Uk, that bastard, was born a fool. No matter how well you raise someone, what can you do if they’re an idiot at heart?”
She continued.
“Keeping someone like him alive will only disgrace the clan’s name! Please execute him here and now.”
“…!”
Wow…
Her thoughts couldn’t have been more obvious.
If Young Clan Lord Hwangbo Seok-gil stepped down, she would no longer be the wife of the future Clan Lord. She would become nothing more than the wife of someone from a branch family.
She was willing to have her own son executed if that was what it took to protect her current position.
Perhaps the shock was too much for him, because Hwangbo Uk’s mouth opened and closed soundlessly.
“M-Mother?”
Even I’d been stunned, so how must Young Lord Hwangbo Uk, her own son, have felt?
“W-Why are you doing this?”
“Shut your mouth! Mother? Don’t you dare call me that! I have no son like you! You should be grateful they spared your life and merely kept your name on the Hwangbo Clan registry! And yet you still have the nerve to say what?”
“Enough.”
The Clan Lord cut in with a deep, weighty voice.
“First, I should clear up one of your misunderstandings. You asked earlier who I thought I was to pass judgment on you, didn’t you?”
“…”
“I am the Clan Lord of the Hwangbo Clan. And you also bear the surname Hwangbo, which makes you a member of the Hwangbo Clan. Since I am the one who governs this clan, I naturally have the authority to punish you.”
“Then I’ll give up the Hwangbo name!”
At that declaration, Escort Guard Lee Pil, who stood behind me, shook his head and muttered.
“That man doesn’t seem to understand what it means to cast aside your clan name.”
Escort Guard Lee Pil had abandoned the Sichuan Tang Clan name of his own accord, so he probably understood the weight of such a decision better than anyone.
That made his words sound all the more bitter.
“It’s the arrogance you often see in someone who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and grew up believing all his privileges were only natural.”
“Couldn’t being abandoned by his own mother have something to do with it too?”
“Perhaps.”
I turned my attention back to the Clan Lord.
“Will you not regret this?”
“I won’t!”
At his brazen response, I couldn’t help clicking my tongue.
Tsk. You will.
“Very well. In my name as Clan Lord of the Hwangbo Clan, I hereby declare that from this moment onward, Uk shall be stripped of the Hwangbo surname.”
At the declaration, everyone cupped their fists and shouted.
“We obey the Clan Lord’s command!”
Young Lord Hwangbo Uk… no, Uk, spoke.
“Then you no longer have the authority to judge me. Untie me.”
At those insolent words, the Clan Lord replied.
“Release him. There is no longer any need to keep him tied to the chair.”
The warriors of the Taebo Division immediately removed the restraints binding Uk.
“But do you understand something? Now that you’ve abandoned the Hwangbo surname, this interrogation has changed entirely. This is no longer disciplinary action against someone within the clan. It is punishment for an outsider who dared plot against the Hwangbo Clan. What do you suppose that means?”
“…”
The Hwangbo Clan Lord spoke coldly.
“Bring them in.”
“Yes!”
Soon, the warriors dragged in a group of people.
Judging by their clothes and the Qi around them, they appeared to be the members of the Namgoong Clan who had supposedly been captured along with him.
Thud.
They were roughly thrown onto the floor, their bodies battered and drenched in blood.
“Ugh…”
“Ghh…”
The sight of them writhing in pain made Uk’s eyes tremble violently.
“It means you’ll be interrogated just as harshly as they were. You won’t be receiving this kind of civilized treatment anymore.”
Thud!
A Taebo Division warrior kicked him behind the knee, forcing him to the ground.
“Urgh!”
The Clan Lord walked up to him and continued.
“And you say I should bow my head to the Namgoong Clan? Why would I bow when I’ve done nothing wrong? They’re the ones who committed the offense first. And why would you bow to the Namgoong Clan for an Elixir instead of going to your father or grandfather?”
“Because when I asked for one, you refused to give it to me!”
“Because an Elixir would be useless at your current level! It would do you more harm than good!”
“How can you possibly know that?”
“It’s true that consuming an Elixir can increase your Internal Power! But if your body cannot withstand that power, you’ll simply die! How are you the only fool in the martial world who doesn’t know something almost every martial artist understands?”
“…”
“And do you really think the Namgoong Clan is insane enough to give you money and Elixirs just because you bow your head once? You know what kind of bastards those people are.”
As he spoke, the Clan Lord kicked a man wearing a blue eye patch.
Thud!
“Ghk!”
“So tell me. If Uk followed your instructions, were you really going to give him an Elixir?”
“W-Wasn’t it his own fault for believing that?”
The meaning was obvious.
They had lied to him.
“What are you talking about? Didn’t you clearly say that if I gave you information about the clan and made my grandfather bow his head, you’d give me an Elixir?”
“Cough! Since we’re being honest now… you really are a fool. Did you actually believe that?”
Uk’s eyes shook violently.
“A-Are you only saying that because they tortured you? If you hold out a little longer, the Namgoong Clan will come to rescue you…”
“Hahaha. The Namgoong Clan will come rescue me… You really are a sheltered young lord. Heh.”
The man continued.
“Listen, Young Lord. Why would the Namgoong Clan ever come rescue me?”
“What?”
“I acted entirely on my own, without the Namgoong Clan’s approval. Naturally, they’ll simply tell the Hwangbo Clan to punish me however they see fit.”
He was right.
If this had truly been done at the Namgoong Clan’s direction, then the Namgoong Clan would be the one forced to bow its head in apology.
There was no chance they would ever admit responsibility for the scheme.
“Besides, I’m only from a branch family of the Namgoong Clan.”
As expected. That was exactly what I’d suspected when I first heard people like these had been used for the job.
The Namgoong Clan was notorious for the enormous divide between its direct line and branch families.
That said, they were also a clan where a person’s treatment could change depending on their individual martial prowess.
Seeing Uk rendered speechless, the Hwangbo Clan Lord spoke.
“I imagine you have nothing more to say.”
“…”
“I hereby overturn my previous judgment. Uk conspired with members of the Namgoong Clan to leak information about this clan and attempted to tarnish our honor. His crimes are grave! Furthermore, it cannot be said that he is innocent of insulting the Imperial Palace.”
He was probably referring to Uk’s earlier outburst about why the dominant power in Jinan should have to care what the Imperial Palace thought.
“Therefore, Uk’s Dantian shall be crippled, and he shall be sentenced to indefinite imprisonment in the Underground Prison. Whoever succeeds me as Clan Lord is forbidden from releasing him before then!”
That showed just how seriously the Clan Lord intended to treat this matter.
Judging by everything I’d seen, Uk must have been the reason the Hwangbo Clan had descended into a bloody internal conflict in my previous life.
If not for me, no one would have discovered that he’d been colluding with outsiders.
The Hwangbo Clan had suffered considerable losses back then, and its influence had weakened as a result.
Looking at it that way, getting rid of him now would probably benefit the Hwangbo Clan’s future as well.
“As for the remaining members of the Namgoong Clan, they are sentenced to death.”
Their offense left no room for excuses, so even the Namgoong Clan couldn’t complain if they were executed.
Then again, would the Namgoong Clan even react?
They’d probably pretend they knew nothing about it.
“We obey.”
“The executions will be carried out two days from now. Until then, interrogate them thoroughly and determine whether they committed any other crimes.”
“Yes!”
The Clan Lord pointed at Uk.
“Take that one with them.”
At that moment, the Young Clan Lord knelt before him.
“Father, as I said earlier, I will relinquish my position as Young Clan Lord.”
“There is no need.”
“Father.”
“You have helped me lead this clan well until now. Replacing the Young Clan Lord at this point would only cause even greater turmoil.”
“…”
“Just make sure you do better from now on.”
“Understood.”
“And… I am sorry. For passing such a sentence on your son.”
“You have nothing to apologize for. Even if I had been the one judging him, I would have imposed the same punishment. He is my son, but what he did can never be forgiven.”
The Clan Lord nodded, his expression complicated.
“Whew… With that, the public interrogation is concluded.”
Uk was dragged away by the members of the Taebo Division.
Still, rather than executing him immediately, the Clan Lord had crippled his Dantian and sentenced him to indefinite imprisonment in the Underground Prison…
Was it because some small part of him still cared for his grandson?
Or was this intended as a warning to everyone else in the clan?
The latter seemed far more likely.
For a martial artist from a great clan, being imprisoned in the Underground Prison after having his Dantian crippled would be worse than death.
Uk would undoubtedly spend his days down there regretting his foolish actions, but by then it would be too late – like water spilled into sand.
.
.
.
The next morning.
I hadn’t slept much during the night, but it wasn’t as though I was someone who normally slept for hours on end anyway…
After some Breathing Meditation, my mind felt clear again.
The reason I could remain healthy despite sleeping so little was probably thanks to the Supreme Yin Ice Sea Divine Art.
No one dared openly speak about what had happened the night before.
That was understandable. The Young Clan Lord’s son had insulted his own family, acted as a spy for the Namgoong Clan, and ended up imprisoned in the Underground Prison.
Everyone was bound to be cautious.
Well then, I suppose I should go take a look at the quarry.
Just then, Escort Guard Jin Yu’s voice came from outside.
“My Lord. Warrior Hwangbo Seon-yu has arrived.”
There was only one person Escort Guard Jin Yu would refer to as Hwangbo Seon-yu when speaking to me right now.
“Please show him in.”
Bang.
The door opened, and Warrior Hwangbo Seon-yu entered my room.
“Welcome.”
“Were you about to go out?”
“I was thinking of visiting the quarry for a little while. It’s nothing urgent.”
I continued.
“Please, have a seat.”
“Ah, thank you.”
Warrior Hwangbo Seon-yu sat down with a complicated expression.
“Would you like some tea?”
“No need. I already had some.”
He shook his head and continued.
“First, I spoke to In-a about becoming the dormitory supervisor at the Martial Arts Academy.”
“What did she say?”
“She said she liked the idea. Since she won’t need to prepare lessons, it should be much less burdensome.”
“Then please tell her I’ll come visit her personally later.”
“I will.”
Even after delivering Lady Hwangbo In-a’s answer, Warrior Hwangbo Seon-yu still looked troubled, so clearly something else was weighing on him.
“You must have been deeply troubled by what happened last night.”
“Ah… You saw it too?”
“Yes.”
“I see. Whew…”
Warrior Hwangbo Seon-yu dragged a hand down his face.
“It made me wonder what good being an Embroidered Guard even is. Someone from my own family was doing something like that, and I never noticed a thing.”
“Wouldn’t that simply mean they were careful enough to keep everything hidden?”
“Are you trying to comfort me?”
“Yes.”
That made him laugh.
“Thank you. I came here to help you with your affairs, yet somehow I’m the one who keeps receiving your help.”
“Don’t concern yourself with it. How could anyone live entirely on their own? People are meant to help one another.”
“When you say it like that, somehow it really does sound true.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
.
.
.
Several days passed like that.
By now, shouldn’t the people from Beijing be arriving soon?
Hubei Headquarters was quite far away, and they would need to send a large number of people from there, so I’d asked Brother Jeong-ho to arrange for a suitable number of people to be sent temporarily from Beijing instead.
“Young Master! They say people from the Beijing Branch have arrived!”
Palgap came running to deliver the news.
They’re finally here.
I hurried outside and found warriors from the Eunpoong Division waiting beyond the Hwangbo Clan’s gates, along with a familiar Supervisor.
“Ah! Supervisor Jang!”
“Greetings, Deputy Merchant Lord! Have you been well?”
“You must have had a difficult journey getting all the way here.”
“Still, this is truly remarkable. How is it that everything you involve yourself in somehow turns into…”
Well, I was acting based on the experience from my previous life, but to everyone else it probably seemed almost uncanny.
“I’ve simply been fortunate. Have you eaten yet?”
“Not yet.”
“Then follow me. It’s been a while since I’ve treated myself to something good too.”
The place I led them to was the Golden Rooster Pavilion.
Their spicy braised chicken was incredible.
Once we arrived at the Golden Rooster Pavilion, we ordered the spicy braised chicken.
The Pavilion Owner happened to be there and walked over to greet me.
“It’s been a while.”
“Yes. Have you been well?”
“Of course. Thanks to you.”
She hesitated for a moment before speaking carefully.
“Um… could I speak with you privately for a moment?”
–TL Notes–
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