Abolition of the Wicked - Chapter 193

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#Episode 193

Do Pyeong-su watched Eun Bi-yeon drift away from the grave without so much as a proper farewell, and asked gently.
“Will you just leave like this?”
The moment he spoke, Do Pyeong-su was startled.
Eun Bi-yeon was crying. Tears glistened on the cheeks of that cold, haughty woman—the one who seemed as though even a needle’s prick wouldn’t draw blood from her.
“Why, what’s wrong?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re crying.”
Eun Bi-yeon brought her hand to her face and turned her head away.
“Something blew into my eye, that’s all.”
She hadn’t even noticed her own tears.
“You didn’t come here to burn incense at a grave.”
“There’s no way to offer help when it won’t be accepted.”
If she charged recklessly into the Northern Ice Palace with an offer to assist, a fight would break out—and that wouldn’t be help at all. It might become the very thing that destroys the Northern Ice Palace.
The journey back empty-handed had left her weary and slow.
“Master, if I may…”
“What is it?”
Gal Ma-pyeong gazed at the western sky beginning to blush crimson.
“Would it be all right if we slept somewhere warm, beneath a roof tonight?”
“Then we’d better ride fast.”
Gal Ma-pyeong hadn’t meant that at all, so he waved his hands frantically.
“No, I meant—there’s a small inn not far from here!”
“In a place like this?”
“It’s where merchants trading between Zhongyuan and the northern territories lodge.”
“You know quite a lot about things.”
“That’s why I never hear complaints about not earning my keep. Hehe!”
Do Pyeong-su turned to Eun Bi-yeon. “What do you think?”
“As you wish.”
Under Gal Ma-pyeong’s guidance, they made their way to an inn called the Jung-a Inn, situated in the middle of a plain where a river flowed and coniferous trees stood scattered sparsely.
For such a remote location, it was quite sizable, with roughly thirty guest rooms and a spacious common hall.
In the hall, some ten or so patrons sat drinking wine accompanied by small plates of food.
“It’s been thirty-five years, and this place hasn’t changed one bit.”
At Gal Ma-pyeong’s remark, Do Pyeong-su asked, “What were you doing when you were younger?”
“Oh, a bit of this and that to make a living.”
Once they’d settled at a table, they ordered various dishes.
“Don’t expect much in the way of taste. This inn is a perfect example of how monopoly breeds mediocrity.”
The server brought tea, and Do Pyeong-su took a sip, then spat it back out with a violent “Ptooey!”
“This isn’t tea—it’s horse piss!”
“I did warn you not to expect much, sir.”
“Blast it! At least I hope the beds are decent.”
“Do you… Do Pyeong-su…”
“Hm?”
“Sleep together tonight?”
Ptooey!
“Cough! Cough!”
Do Pyeong-su, who’d inhaled the tea the wrong way, hacked violently before managing to ask in a strained voice.
“What, what did you say?”
“I don’t like sleeping alone tonight.”
“That’s… is that really all right…?”
“You don’t want to?”
“No, it’s not that I don’t want to…”
One wrong word now and Eun Bi-yeon looked ready to throw her teacup at him.
“Then it’s settled. A warm night’s sleep after all this time. Hahaha!”

Amid Do Pyeong-su’s laughter, the conversation of merchants eating at nearby tables drifted over.
“It seems the Palace Master of the Northern Ice Palace is about to change, doesn’t it?”
The one who spoke was a man in his forties with a deeply weathered face. A man in his mid-twenties picked up the thread.
“Well, even now it’s provisional, so nothing’s really changing.”
“Provisional or not, a Palace Master is still a Palace Master. There shouldn’t be any major conflict.”
“Either way, it’s their own affair. What concern is it of a mere merchant like us?”
“In the North Sea, when something happens at the Northern Ice Palace, even the reindeer grazing on the tundra feel the change. Especially since it’s not just the Northern Ice Palace involved, but the Sae-oe factions as well—the storm ahead could be quite severe.”
“Sae-oe? You mean the Saeoe Five Kings?”
“Exactly. Lately there’s been talk that the Ya-wang Clan is rapidly expanding its power and will unite the Saeoe Five Kings. This is a secret I heard from a friend of mine in the Ya-wang Clan, but…….”
The middle-aged merchant’s voice dropped.
“They say the next Palace Master won’t be the Junior Palace Master, but Baek Gang, the late Palace Master’s first disciple.”
“What? But Baek Gang isn’t from the Eun family, is he?”
Since the Northern Ice Palace was founded, there had never been a time when its Palace Master was not of the Eun family.
For generations, the Northern Ice Palace had chosen women as Palace Masters, and passed down not only the position but the mother’s surname to their daughters.
“What in this world is eternal? If Baek Gang becomes Palace Master with the Saeoe Five Kings behind him…….”
Eun Bi-yeon’s voice cut through the middle-aged merchant’s words.
“Did you just say Baek Gang?”
The two merchants turned their gaze toward Eun Bi-yeon.
Having confirmed that the one asking so bluntly was Eun Bi-yeon, they wore expressions of bewilderment.
“Well, a young lady should have manners.”
Psshhhh…….
When Do Pyeong-su exerted force, the corner of the table didn’t break—it scattered into powder. At the sight of it, a brilliant (?) smile spread across the middle-aged merchant’s face.
“If you have any questions, please ask freely. I’ll tell you everything I know with utmost sincerity and care. Hehe!”
For a merchant who traveled through treacherous terrain, the ability to read people was an essential survival skill.
“This Baek Gang is under the protection of the Saeoe Five Kings, you say?”
“Yes, that’s certainly what I heard.”
Do Pyeong-su turned to Eun Bi-yeon and asked.
“Who is this Baek Gang?”
“Weren’t two people talking about him in the building your brother set on fire?”
“Right. Those fellows we were about to suppress with Pressure Point Technique and throw out.”
“Don’t you remember his name coming up in their conversation?”
Do Pyeong-su, reflecting on that moment, snapped his fingers.
“Oh! That’s right! They were talking about Baek Gang and such things!”
“Exactly.”
“Then those two fellows must have some connection to the Saeoe Five Kings?”
It was a simple enough deduction that even Do Pyeong-su could make it, but Eun Bi-yeon refused to jump to conclusions.
“We need to investigate further. What’s certain is that we can’t leave things as they are.”
If Eun Yi-seol lacked the martial ability to become Palace Master, that was unavoidable. But she could not accept an outside faction manipulating the position of Palace Master—not even if she had left the Northern Ice Palace.
“But she rejected our help. How are we supposed to assist her?”
“That’s something I need to think about. I suppose I should take separate rooms tonight. I apologize.”
“Hmm? Oh, that’s fine. But why did you change your mind?”
“Someone might come looking for me.”
Speaking like a fortune-teller, that very night someone knocked on Eun Bi-yeon’s door.
When she opened it, Cheong-yeong and Hong-yeong stood there.
The three exchanged glances for a moment, and smiles bloomed on their faces as if by agreement.
When Eun Bi-yeon opened her arms, the two elderly women quickly embraced her.
“Sister, we’ve missed you so much.”
“I’ve missed you too.”
“Now, teach us.”
“Teach you what?”
“How to do the Bamnoh Hwandong.”
Cheong-yeong gave Hong-yeong’s rear a sharp smack.
“You foolish creature, if you charge in like that, how is sister going to teach you?”
Cheong-yeong pulled a box from the leather pouch at her waist. It was the box containing Bing-jeong that Eun Bi-yeon had given to Eun Yi-seol.
The cold radiating through the room made clear that Bing-jeong was indeed inside the box.
“We’ll offer this as tribute, so please teach us how to do the Bamnoh Hwandong.”
Eun Bi-yeon asked with a bewildered expression.
“Why do you two have this?”
“We stole it so we could learn how to do the Bamnoh Hwandong.”
Looking at the sisters with an expression of utter exasperation, Cheong-yeong suddenly burst into laughter.
“I think we should drop the jokes now. The Junior Palace Master told me to return this to you.”
“Why are you giving this back to me?”
Shadows fell across Cheong-yeong and Hong-yeong’s faces.
“If the Palace Master position goes to Baek Gang, the Bing-jeong will become his as well. I want to prevent that, at least.”
“Are you saying Eun Yi-seol has given up on becoming Palace Master?”
“Of course not. But there are some things in this world that determination alone cannot achieve.”
Cheong-yeong sighed deeply as her words trailed off.
“The gap between the Junior Palace Master’s martial arts and Baek Gang’s has grown quite wide. Baek Gang is strong, certainly, but the Junior Palace Master’s cultivation seems to have stalled in a way that’s almost unnatural. No matter how much the Northern Ice Palace values bloodline, someone whose martial arts fall short of the clan head cannot become Palace Master.”
“Eun Yi-seol’s martial arts are inferior to the clan head’s? How could my bloodline’s cultivation be so inadequate if she hadn’t neglected her training?”
“She hasn’t neglected it. She practiced Yeongong for six hours every day, even cutting back on sleep, and took all manner of Spirit Medicine, yet her martial arts simply won’t improve.”
If someone were truly a fool, perhaps it would be so.
“Her frame wasn’t that poor…….”
A proper pulse diagnosis would reveal the truth.
“We’ve tried everything we could, but the strength of two old women like us isn’t enough. That’s why the Junior Palace Master wants to at least protect the Bing-jeong.”
“You know the Saeoe Five Kings have reached their hands into the Northern Ice Palace?”
Cheong-yeong and Hong-yeong jumped in alarm.
“How did you learn of that?”
“Even the merchants know it, so there’s no secret left to keep.”
They wore rueful smiles.
“That’s why we’re giving you the Bing-jeong. Once Baek Gang becomes Palace Master, the Northern Ice Palace will no longer be what it once was.”
“So you mean to surrender just like this?”
“What choice do we have?”
“I told you I would help.”
“How?”
“I’ll wipe out the Saeoe Five Kings.”
“Even if you did, that wouldn’t stop Baek Gang from taking the Palace Master’s seat.”
“Then I’ll kill Baek Gang too.”
“If the Junior Palace Master were to become Palace Master that way, the Northern Ice Palace would shatter into pieces. It’s something she would never wish for.”
What sustains the Northern Ice Palace, nestled in the remote reaches of the North Sea, is overwhelming strength.
That strength flows from the Palace Master, and if the Palace Master is weak, the Northern Ice Palace grows weak and will inevitably fade away.
“The only way is for Eun Yi-seol to become stronger than Baek Gang.”
“That would be ideal.”
“I should examine her myself.”
“I hate to say this, but you don’t have the qualification. You know that.”
“Can’t the two of you do something?”
“Currently in the Northern Ice Palace, those on the Junior Palace Master’s side—including us Protectors—don’t even make up thirty percent.”
“So someone with the proper qualification must help Eun Yi-seol.”
Eun Bi-yeon, who had been thinking something over, suddenly rose to her feet.
“Wait.”
When she returned a moment later, she brought Do Pyeong-su with her.
His hair was wet and his clothes damp—it was clear she’d dragged him away from his bath.
Do Pyeong-su stopped short upon entering Eun Bi-yeon’s room and spotting Cheong-yeong and Hong-yeong.
“The four of you?”
“What are you thinking!”
“I thought it must be urgent, the way you dragged me away naked.”
“It is urgent. Just sit here.”
Do Pyeong-su obediently took the chair Eun Bi-yeon indicated.
“I have something to discuss with you.”
“You call it a discussion, but I have no choice but to agree, do I?”
“Yes. Don’t worry though—it’s not about you.”
“It’s not my business either, so why did you forcibly drag me away naked?”
“It’s not entirely unrelated. Gal Ma-pyeong is still unmarried, isn’t he?”
“I suppose……so? But why Gal Ma-pyeong?”
“We need to arrange a marriage between Gal Ma-pyeong and Eun Yi-seol.”
Do Pyeong-su, his expression blank, blinked slowly before speaking.
“You’re marrying off Gal Ma-pyeong?”
“Yes. If he becomes engaged to Eun Yi-seol, he can enter the Northern Ice Palace with confidence. We’ll go along as guests of the fiancé.”
“Hmm. That’s not a bad idea.”
Cheong-yeong, who had been listening, interjected.
“Shouldn’t you……ask the parties involved first? After all, it’s their marriage.”
Do Pyeong-su waved his hand dismissively.
“It’s fine. We do what needs doing—no need to hear that man’s opinion.”
Eun Bi-yeon nodded in agreement.
“We’re saving the Palace, so we do whatever it takes. She’s well past marriage age anyway—might as well take the chance now.”
“But marriage should be with someone you love……”
Eun Bi-yeon slammed the table hard.
“Love? Listen to yourself, talking like someone with a full belly! Is that what matters now?”
“But you betrayed the Palace over something like that, didn’t you?”
“And how did that turn out?”
“Badly.”
“Go back to the Palace and tell Yi-seol her betrothed will be arriving soon. Make a public announcement too.”
Hong-yeong spoke up anxiously.
“If the Junior Palace Master doesn’t become Palace Master after all this, she’ll have nothing left but to marry some middle-aged nobody we’ve never even heard of.”
“Don’t worry. If we help, she’ll definitely become Palace Master.”
Eun Bi-yeon spoke firmly to Cheong-yeong and Hong-yeong, who were still fretting.
“Go get a firm answer from Yi-seol.”
“And this Gal Ma-pyeong—who exactly is he?”
“My disciple.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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