Monochrome Sovereign (Novel) - Chapter 48 - The Wind Blows (3)
Chapter 48 – The Wind Blows (3)
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Translated by Heavenly Cat
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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Yeon Wi escorted Yeon Ho-jeong to the front of his quarters.
Yeon Wi, who had not said a single word while coming here, finally spoke.
“Is it heavy?”
Yeon Ho-jeong lifted the axe.
“I like it because it is heavy.”
“I thought so.”
Yeon Ho-jeong wanted to offer his thanks. However, before he could, Yeon Wi spoke.
“There is something I wish to ask.”
“Pardon?”
It did not seem to be a light question. Yeon Wi could not easily continue speaking.
But it was a question that had to be asked anyway. Yeon Wi asked as if he had made up his mind.
“Do you have any intention of marrying?”
Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes widened.
“Marriage?”
“That is right.”
What was this all of a sudden?
He did not know why his father was asking such a question, but Yeon Ho-jeong answered honestly.
“I have no intention of doing so yet.”
“I see.”
“Why do you ask? Has a good marriage proposal come in?”
“A matchmaker has not been sent. I simply wanted to ask for your opinion.”
“While I have no intention of marrying right now, wouldn’t it also be important to know who the other party is?”
After a moment of contemplation, Yeon Wi spoke.
“What do you think of the Murong Clan?”
Yeon Ho-jeong was inwardly startled.
“That Murong Clan?”
“Yes.”
“Uh……”
Yeon Ho-jeong was rarely flustered.
“Whom do you mean in the Murong Clan?”
“I looked into it and found that she also participated in this Gathering of Rising Stars. It is Murong Yeon-hwa, the daughter of the current Clan Head.”
Instantly, Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes deepened.
‘Murong Yeon-hwa?’
Murong Yeon-hwa.
As the daughter of the current Clan Head, Murong Jun, she was a heroine who was recognized for her outstanding abilities even at a young age and was involved in the major and minor affairs of the family.
‘To think you would mention Murong Yeon-hwa.’
Murong Yeon-hwa was also someone he had clashed with countless times during his days as the Dark Emperor.
Murong Jun, who was the Murim Alliance Leader at the time, had no time to focus on the family. Thus, he needed someone to act as the Clan Head deputy.
Surprisingly, the one he chose was not one of his sons, but his daughter, Murong Yeon-hwa.
Murong Yeon-hwa’s ability was so outstanding that he could entrust a giant family like the Murong Clan to her. Having inherited her father’s blood, she was also a shrewd person who had increased the size of the Murong Clan by more than thirty percent in just a few years.
Naturally, her martial talent was also exceptional. Considering he even taught secret techniques to a daughter who would not inherit the family, that said it all.
“I heard that child’s talent is extraordinary in many ways. As you saw her at the gathering, you surely know.”
“Ah, yes.”
“Of course, I believe character is more important than talent or ability. From what I have quietly heard, her character is also irreproachable.”
As if that could be the case.
Yeon Ho-jeong remembered Murong Yeon-hwa’s eyes, full of venom. Not the Murong Yeon-hwa of this life, but the Murong Yeon-hwa during the days of the Dark Emperor was like that.
Nature is important, but environment is also important. A single event is enough to change a person’s personality and values.
However, if Murong Jun cherished her that much, it would be difficult to see Murong Yeon-hwa’s nature as good. That was what Yeon Ho-jeong thought.
“I am sorry. I have no intention of marrying yet.”
Unexpectedly, Yeon Wi did not express regret.
“I understand. In truth, there is a reason I could not easily bring this up myself. As the times are what they are, there are many who marry without even seeing each other’s faces once, but I am of the opinion of opposing such marriages.”
“Is that so?”
“It is a person you will live with for your entire life. While bringing fame to the family’s name is important, protecting the happiness of my people is no less important.”
“…….”
“I hope that when a maiden you like appears in the future, you will not have to worry because of her family background.”
Yeon Ho-jeong smiled.
“Did you love Mother?”
It was a somewhat mischievous question. It was also a question asked to lighten the atmosphere.
“I loved her more than my own life.”
“……!”
Yeon Ho-jeong’s gaze wavered.
Yeon Wi spoke with an nonchalant face.
“You would not know how much I grieved on the day your mother died. It felt as if the sky had collapsed. I do not know how many times I pointed a sword at my own throat to follow her in death.”
“…….”
“However, sometimes, living can be more painful than dying. This father has lived with such feelings all along. The sins I committed were far too great for me to go together with your mother.”
“What sins did you commit, Father?”
“The sin of being unable to protect my person.”
Yeon Ho-jeong shook his head.
“That is not your sin, Father.”
Yeon Wi did not agree with his son’s words. But he did not refute them either. In any case, it would be difficult for anyone to know his heart.
However, he surely wanted to say this much.
“I have also committed sins against you two.”
“Father?”
“The desire for one’s children to do well is the same for all parents. However, I only treated you with severity.”
“That is also not a sin.”
“It is a sin. Because I saw you as a successor who would inherit the family, and not as my child.”
“…….”
“As a husband and as a father, I am a failure. Thus, I am a sinner.”
He finally gained the courage to say to his eldest son the words he had buried in his heart day by day, words he had worried he would only be able to say before dying.
Yeon Ho-jeong did not feel disappointed even after hearing his father say he had seen him as a successor and not a child. To confess such inner thoughts meant that his father now thought of him as a child.
Of course, he could feel that enough even without such a confession.
Yeon Wi shook his head.
“Anyway, if your heart is as such, I shall consider this marriage talk as if it never happened.”
“Yes.”
Yeon Ho-jeong, who was nodding with a bitter face, suddenly had a strange thought.
“Father.”
“What is it?”
“But why the Murong Clan?”
“Hmm?”
Yeon Ho-jeong tilted his head.
“I am curious why you specifically mentioned the Murong Clan, and not any other of the Seven Great Clans.”
Yeon Wi’s eyes deepened.
“Now that I think about it, I have not told you yet.”
“What?”
“Half a year ago, when you and Ji-pyeong went to participate in the Gathering of Rising Stars, contact came from the Murong Clan.”
“Contact?”
“It was about whether we had any intention of doing business together.”
“Business?”
“Yes. We hold seventy percent of the maritime trade rights in Jiangsu Province. It seems the Murong Clan is also coveting the trade business.”
“……!”
Contact came from the Murong Clan first? Specifically at this point in time?
Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes sank coldly.
“Do you intend to join them?”
Yeon Wi shook his head.
“I have expressed my refusal twice. However, they have sent contact again. As this seems to be their final proposal, I intend to consider it carefully.”
Murong Clan, maritime trade.
And the invasion of the Myeong Clan.
While there seemed to be no connection, a strange sense of dissonance was felt.
‘I do not know how the Myeong Clan collapsed in the past. I only know that the collapse happened in an instant. And the Myeong Clan collapsed not long after our family was destroyed.’
And as time passed, Murong Jun ascended to the position of Murim Alliance Leader.
Thus, the Murong Clan became the Number One Clan under Heaven.
‘Information is lacking. It is lacking, but…….’
Yeon Ho-jeong asked again.
“May I ask one more thing?”
“Go ahead.”
“Even if you, Father, intended to join hands with the Murong Clan, you are not the kind of person who would think of marrying me off to a child of that family.”
“Hmm.”
“Who recommended it to you?”
“It was Chief Steward Tae-gyeong.”
“……!!”
Yeon Wi added as he saw his son’s unusual expression.
“He is the Chief Steward. Regardless of the reason, he ponders matters that would benefit the family. Since you have refused anyway, do not view him too poorly.”
“Pardon? Ah, yes.”
It was not because of the marriage.
Yeon Ho-jeong thought of Tae-gyeong. A man not even forty years old with a naive expression, who managed the finances of the Yeon Clan without much presence.
‘I was suspecting it. That there would be a traitor inside the family.’
His father’s insight was outstanding. He was not a person easy enough to place someone with other intentions in the position of Chief Steward of the family.
However, like the image he had shown just a moment ago, his father was also a person. People can make mistakes. Furthermore, if the opponent thoroughly deceived themselves, it is not easy to notice unless one chooses to dig into it.
“Father.”
“Speak.”
“Please postpone the business training with the Murong Clan for a while.”
“Hmm?”
Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes deepened.
“I have something to look into.”
* * *
“Huh?!”
Tae-gyeong was startled.
“I am sorry. For suddenly visiting at a late hour.”
“Huff, huff! N-no!”
“I stopped by because the light was on. Am I not interfering?”
“How could that be? Come, sit here.”
Yeon Ho-jeong, sitting in a chair, looked around the room.
“Now that I think about it, it seems this is the first time I’ve been to the Chief Steward’s office.”
“Haha, it seems so. No one visits except for the Clan Head and the underlings.”
Tae-gyeong brewed tea in an instant.
“Come, drink.”
“Thank you.”
Yeon Ho-jeong, who took a sip of tea, asked casually.
“By the way, are you working?”
“I am. One never knows what kind of natural disaster will occur this year, after all. I should start setting the budget.”
In Jiangsu Province, there were many people who suffered from floods every year. The Yeon Clan spent money for the flood victims every year and worked for the stability of the people’s livelihoods.
Yeon Ho-jeong nodded.
“You are working hard.”
“Hahat, what hard work is there? I’m already receiving a high monthly salary, so I should at least be worth the money.”
The face laughing loudly was very bright.
Yeon Ho-jeong, who was staring at Tae-gyeong, asked as if throwing out a question.
“I heard you brought up the talk of marriage.”
“Huh?!”
Tae-gyeong shrunk his neck.
“Eh…… that is.”
“…….”
“……Did you hear it from the Clan Head?”
“I did.”
Tae-gyeong cleared his throat.
“Well, how shall I say it. I only spoke for the prosperity of the Yeon Clan……”
“…….”
“I-if you felt bad, I apologize.”
He was a strange person.
He alternated between a spotlessly clear and pure person and a fearful and timid person.
He was the type of person commonly seen in the martial world. Since the atmosphere of the Yeon Clan was so stiff, it was entirely possible.
Yeon Ho-jeong softened his expression.
“I did not feel bad. I have seen the young lady named Murong Yeon-hwa at the gathering before.”
“Ah?!”
“She did not fall short of being called a talented woman. Rather, I wondered if she was too good for me.”
Tae-gyeong spoke in a fluster.
“E-ey! How could that be! Eldest Young Master, you are the eldest son of the Yeon Clan! If anything, you are better than the eldest daughter of the Murong Clan; you are someone who falls short in nothing.”
“Haha, is that so?”
“Of course! Believe me.”
“I do believe you. Of course I believe you.”
Yeon Ho-jeong continued speaking calmly.
“But what can be done? Since I have no intention of marrying right now.”
“Ah……”
“If it would help the family, there is nothing I wouldn’t do, but I don’t think this is it.”
“Ahaha, it cannot be helped. If it is not to your liking, Eldest Young Master……”
“It is because Miss Murong is too outstanding.”
“Pardon?”
Yeon Ho-jeong leaned back in his chair with a listless expression. It was a posture that looked somewhat arrogant.
“Even so, I have an eye for people. The Miss Murong I saw at the gathering was not a woman who would serve a husband. Rather, if anything, she would devour him.”
“I-is that so?”
“Among talented people, I have never seen one who truly cares for the other party.”
Tae-gyeong scratched his head as if he felt awkward.
“I am sorry. I stepped out of line for no reason……”
“Well, if it were someone else, I wouldn’t know.”
“Pardon?”
“Besides the Clan Head’s bloodline, is there no other maiden in the Murong Clan? A maiden whose ability is lacking but whose character is graceful, and who is a direct descendant.”
Tae-gyeong’s eyes sparkled.
“Those words?”
“A marriage must be done once anyway. If so, wouldn’t a modest person be better? Besides, if it helps the family, wouldn’t my father see me differently?”
“The, the Clan Head even now sees the Eldest Young Master……”
“Let’s be honest. I was lucky and my martial arts improved, but Father is someone who has watched me for the past nineteen years. He must have picked my younger brother to be the Young Clan Head instead of me.”
Tae-gyeong did not know what to do.
Yeon Ho-jeong said subtly.
“I will make a request to the Chief Steward.”
“……A request?”
“Speak well to my father. Tell him to take someone other than Murong Yeon-hwa as a daughter-in-law.”
“I, I should?!”
“Ah, beauty must, of course, be fine.”
“…….”
Yeon Ho-jeong stood up. Tae-gyeong also stood up in an awkward posture.
“Chief Steward Tae. Aren’t you also in your prime? Your future is so bright, so you should hold onto the right line to succeed, right?”
“……Ah, yes.”
“Let’s live well together. I’m counting on you.”
Tae-gyeong bowed his head deeply.
Bowing his head, he spoke with cold eyes, but in a fearful voice.
“Then…… I shall only trust you, Eldest Young Master.”
Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes emitted fire.
“Yes, let’s go trusting only me.”