Volume 5 Chapter 7 – Incomplete Life

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Translated by Rain

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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“We must return to the north immediately! Whether by boat or carriage, prepare the fastest one!”

As soon as they arrived at the lodging, the servants scattered and ran in all directions at the sight of Dong Ga-hyu screaming at the top of his lungs with a face pale as death.

“Run! I said run!”

It was Dong Ga-hyu who even urged them toward the backs of those fleeing servants.

‘Now that things have turned out this way, for now, the only way to survive is to become that Eldest Young Master bastard’s hand and foot!’

He looked down at his still trembling hands.

‘Then that bastard won’t be able to easily dispose of me either. The more competently I handle the work, the longer my lifespan will be…!’

If so, a way will open up someday.

In fact, abandoning everything and fleeing overseas held the highest probability of survival.

But to abandon everything he had accomplished until now?

In the first place, there was no such option in his head.

‘I will survive! There is no losing after coming all this way! In the end, the one laughing last will be me!’

Whether he can succeed as he resolved remains to be seen, though.

* * *

‘Oirat Tribe’ was not a familiar name even to Elder Yeom, who had lived half his life in the north.

He had only heard the name.

To such a degree, it was a tribe with no relation to the Central Plains nation, whether in terms of location or dynamics.

Perhaps only merchant groups using the Silk Road would know of them.

Yet, the Eldest Young Master sitting in front of him right now knew about such a tribe in too great and close detail.

He even knew about the incident that took place within the tribe before he was born.

Furthermore, just how did he know that the perpetrator of that incident and the Great War Merchant of the North were the same person?

As if noticing such doubt, the Eldest Young Master smiled toward him.

“This Eldest Young Master has very many friends here and there.”

“Is that so…”

It was an utterly insufficient explanation, but it was also a reply that made it difficult to ask further.

They said that human networks composed of informants who provide highly reliable information possessed a value akin to a gold mine.

Since asking for the source itself was equivalent to trying to take that network for free, he had no choice but to be speechless.

“….”

At the appearance of her father who seemed lost in thought along with a low groan, Yeom Baek-ha cautiously opened her mouth.

“…May this girl dare to ask what I am curious about?”

“By all means.”

Yeon So-hyeon readily nodded.

“Why did Dong Ga-hyu behave in such a low posture toward the Eldest Young Master? When he first entered, he looked as if he did not know at all that the Eldest Young Master knew his secret.”

She was an extremely intelligent young lady of talent, but in the end, she could not find the answer.

And naturally so, for this was a question in a realm difficult to even guess without ‘specific information.’

The Eldest Young Master replied with a soft smile.

“The answer to that question seems to be guessed by Elder Yeom.”

The Eldest Young Master looked at Elder Yeom.

“How about Elder Yeom telling it yourself?”

‘I thought I had sufficiently concealed such indications…’

Elder Yeom asked the Eldest Young Master, wearing a bitter smile inwardly.

“…As you know, it is a secret matter related to the Eldest Young Master, so is it fine to tell my daughter?”

“Of course it is fine. Is she not your successor?”

When permission was granted, Elder Yeom explained briefly.

“I have heard from the Elders’ Hall in the past that the Eldest Young Master has an engagement. It is information controlled outside of the Elders’ Hall.”

“An engagement?! The Eldest Young Master?!”

As Yeom Baek-ha reacted like a woman hearing tragic news of her lover, the Eldest Young Master wore a bewildered expression.

However, Elder Yeom, who had known his daughter’s heart from long ago, wore a bitter smile and continued the explanation.

“It was not known where the counterpart family was until now, but seeing Dong Ga-hyu’s reaction today, I understand.”

“…The Eldest Young Master’s engagement? The Eldest Young Master’s engagement? The Eldest Young Master’s engagement? The Eldest Young Master’s engagement?”

Although it was Yeom Baek-ha herself who had posed the question, currently her state did not look good.

Elder Yeom decided to give his daughter a moment to recover from her internal injury and asked the Eldest Young Master.

“Is my guess correct?”

The Eldest Young Master, who was looking at Yeom Baek-ha with a puzzled eye, nodded.

“It is correct.”

The Eldest Young Master, turning his gaze back to Elder Yeom, asked.

“It seems you have also noticed who the partner is.”

“That is correct.”

“Where do you think it is?”

Elder Yeom, who fell silent briefly, opened his mouth and replied.

“The family of the Northern Grand General, the Murong family.”

Yeon So-hyeon nodded.

“Precisely.”

* * *

Before long, it became noon, and the Eldest Young Master suggested taking a brief break to have a meal.

Providing a place where only the two of them could dine quietly was the Eldest Young Master’s consideration for the Yeom father and daughter.

This was a judgment made because Yeom Baek-ha, as far as he knew, was a patient, and her complexion was gradually worsening amidst the prolonged conversation and constant tension.

“Haa…”

Of course, Yeom Baek-ha was a patient, but the reason her complexion worsened was actually separate.

“Hyuu…”

Having finished her meal picking at her food, Yeom Baek-ha sighed deeply in succession.

“Of all things, the Murong family.”

She muttered grumpily.

“Someone like me is not even a match… I lost before even trying to fight. And a major defeat at that.”

Elder Yeom, who finished his meal and wiped his mouth, wore a bitter smile.

“Admitting defeat so meekly. That is unlike you.”

“Ugh… but it cannot be helped!”

Yeom Baek-ha puffed out her cheeks fully.

“The Murong family is a family that has exerted influence in the north for over a thousand years.”

To the point that, reaching the present, they would say ‘without the Murong family, there is no northern territory,’ the Murong family’s position occupied within the Central Plains nation was important.

“It is a great family that even the imperial family of the Central Plains nation treats on a royal-family class. A royal family! A royal family! A daughter of such a Murong family is practically a princess!”

Elder Yeom said, as if teasing his daughter.

“Are you also not a decent princess in your own right?”

It was a joke using her nickname, the Law Enforcement Lady.

“Father!”

When his daughter flared up, Elder Yeom personally prepared tea and waited for his daughter’s mood to settle.

After a moment of silence flowed, Yeom Baek-ha, who cooled her head, opened her mouth first.

“…Now only the full-scale negotiation with the Eldest Young Master remains. Will a good result come out?”

It was a heavy topic.

But it was also an unavoidable topic.

Elder Yeom, who had been lost in thought for a long time, opened his mouth with difficulty.

“…It will likely be difficult to expect a good result.”

“….”

Yeom Baek-ha was about to say something, but just bit her lips.

“The Eldest Young Master’s ability has far exceeded what I had assumed.”

Elder Yeom said in a tone mixed with a sigh.

“I was not clouded by worldly rumors, nor did I look down on the Eldest Young Master’s ability. However…”

Instead of her father who trailed off, Yeom Baek-ha opened her mouth.

“…The Eldest Young Master I saw today was too different from the Eldest Young Master I thought I knew.”

Elder Yeom nodded heavily in agreement.

“Even the elders of the Main Family thought that since the Eldest Young Master’s power comes from a strategy worthy of being called Divine Calculation, after his confinement ended, he would remain as a solitary individual without a faction, focusing on schemes to shake the board.”

A sneer hung on his lips.

“But everyone was wrong.”

He looked up at the ceiling.

“He has transcended age and experience.”

His words were quiet, but to Yeom Baek-ha, it sounded like a scream.

“He is already as good as a completed monarch.”

A strange and overwhelming spirit that grips and shakes the audience.

Eloquence that wields the initiative in conversation at will.

A deep mind whose depth cannot be guessed at all.

Yet, was the Eldest Young Master a lonely monarch? That was also not the case.

A broad and deep human network, which could be known even at this moment through the pouring congratulatory letters and gifts, though how he had formed it was unknown.

And probably a powerful information network formed through that network.

Overwhelming support received from the lower classes of Luoyang, originating from the inheritance of his mother, the Grand Madame.

What of the inside of the Sword Family?

The relationship with the Elders’ Hall, revealed through the Special Task Force guarding Pavilion of Perfect Enlightenment.

Although Elder Yeom did not know the details, for some reason, the old and long-standing elders who sickened of even the mention of the Eldest Young Master.

Although he was an Eldest Young Master ignored by the warriors, by what talent had he already obtained the loyalty of the Life-Snatching Ghost Sword, who was one of the guard warriors of the Sword Family.

He also possessed a sword squad composed of excellent maids and highly potential maidservants.

The tight cooperative relationship with the Fourth Young Master, with whom he originally shared good brotherly love, went without saying.

That was the power the Eldest Young Master, who had just ended his confinement, revealed.

“However…”

Determination welled up in Elder Yeom’s eyes.

“This father will not end by giving up everything.”

* * *

At the same time, Pavilion of Perfect Enlightenment’s dining hall.

A wide space where Pavilion of Perfect Enlightenment’s personnel took turns to mingle and dine.

“….”

Elder Yeom’s warrior captain was breaking out in a cold sweat.

He had not been able to properly put a spoonful of rice into his mouth since earlier.

“Why aren’t you eating?”

The reason was due to the figure sitting opposite him and having a meal.

“Does it taste bad?”

At the Eldest Young Master’s words, the gazes of the maids who were chattering and eating rice around them turned toward the warrior captain all at once.

“O-Oh, no! It is delicious!”

He hurriedly stuffed food into his mouth.

He could not even tell what it tasted like.

“You might get indigestion. At least drink some water.”

As the Eldest Young Master personally poured water with a benevolent expression, the warrior captain screamed inwardly.

‘I wouldn’t get indigestion if only you weren’t here!’

* * *

Elder Yeom silently showed his daughter the note he had received from Pavilion of Perfect Enlightenment’s maid.

“The Eldest Young Master wishes for a private meeting.”

The observation for Elder Yeom’s successor was over now.

That talk also meant that the end of the battle where the fate of the Yeom father and daughter hung in the balance was approaching.

Elder Yeom stood up from his seat.

“I will be back.”

Yeom Baek-ha looked at her father with a worried face.

“…Do you have a new strategy?”

The strategies prepared previously were already as good as useless.

Elder Yeom nodded.

“Yes.”

He directed his gaze toward the Eldest Young Master’s office visible far away through the window.

“For now, I intend to clash honestly.”

Yeom Baek-ha concealed her trembling hands beneath the table, showing the brightest smile possible.

“Please go ahead!”

Her complexion looked exceptionally pale.

* * *

Pavilion of Perfect Enlightenment office.

Jeong-ah reported while preparing a new tea set.

““The moment Master broke that merchant’s spirit, Elder Yeom also nearly lost his fighting spirit.””

“But he eventually endured and did not bend.”

Yeon So-hyeon, who was leaning back relaxed in his chair, smiled as if finding it amusing.

“He is one who finds a way out, even within a place of death.”

A spirit that never gives up.

“It is also a virtue that ever-victorious generals have in common.”

It was a compliment.

It was Yeon So-hyeon praising someone who, for now, had not been determined whether he would be an enemy or an ally.

“…Another such easy-going remark.”

Il-ryeong, who was cleaning the floor, pouted her lips.

“Was it not that Master wished to place Elder Yeom under your command?”

At her bold words, Yeon So-hyeon laughed and replied.

“Of course. The power held by a single elder in the Main Family’s political arena is like ten thousand horses and a thousand armies.”

Jeong-ah nodded.

“Because Master officially has not a single ally in the Elders’ Hall until now.”

‘I have absolutely no idea what they are thinking.’

Il-ryeong let out a sigh and finished wiping the floor.

Due to the smell rising from the cold sweat Dong Ga-hyu had spilled, her mood was in a very uncomfortable state.

“Elder Yeom is heading this way.”

Jeong-ah reported, looking at a distant place beyond the wall.

Yeon So-hyeon slowly rubbed his palms together, smiling broadly.

“Now, Elder Yeom. What is the way out you have found?”