Blooming even in the mud - Chapter 24

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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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Blooming Even in the Mud Chapter 24

‘Is this truly the entirety of the Princess’s wealth?’
She had basked in the absolute favor of the late Emperor, and because the amount she donated to the White Head Sect was also vast, he had assumed she would be affluent, but in truth, the riches she possessed were meager. Even the fields and estates she must have received during her Haga were barely left.
“Is this wealth genuinely all there is?”
“Yes. Perhaps I have made a mistake somewhere?”
“I did not mean it that way.”
Brushing aside the gaze of the Butler, who was needlessly anxious, Gyeong Won-ui thoroughly scanned the list once more. Except for the fact that the wealth was strangely small, there seemed to be no problematic parts.
“To dispose of…… No, do not dispose of them and place everything inside a single storehouse.”
“I shall do so. Ah, and there was also a letter.”
Seeing the letter the Butler handed over at the very end, Gyeong Won-ui furrowed his brow slightly. Not even a recipient was written on the envelope.
‘The Princess or Park Kwon-bok must have written it.’
Thinking little of it, he set the letter aside without even looking at it properly.
“If you have no need for it, shall I burn it?”
“Do so.”
His interest was withdrawn.
“Is this the end of organizing the property from the Princess’s Palace?”
“Yes, if you see anything you need while looking over the list, please call for me again.”
“You have worked hard.”
The Butler bowed politely and gathered the scattered documents.
Gyeong Won-ui sighed and massaged his shoulders. Although he had not felt like it, there had been an order from the Emperor, so he would have tried to rest after the Butler withdrew.
If only the Butler had not torn open the envelope to keep the letter to be burned separate.
If only the name of the person written in the letter had not accidentally caught his eye.
“Wait! Give me that letter.”
Gyeong Won-ui took the letter from the Butler’s hand as if snatching it away. The face of Gyeong Won-ui, who was reading through the letter rapidly, gradually distorted. By the time he read the final phrase, a terribly freezing murderous intent dwelled in his eyes.
Crash! A chair rolled over behind him as he kicked off his seat and stood up.
With the Butler’s eyes widening in shock behind Gyeong Won-ui, who strode outside with the crumpled letter gripped in one hand.
“My Lord? Where are you going…… My Lord!”
The Butler flurriedly rushed out after him late, but he could not possibly keep up with the fast-paced strides.

* * *

It was certain that Lady Zhang and Won-yeong had not come up to the Capital City.
She wanted to know what the reason was, but there was no way. It was strange for a mere slave to know the underlying situation, and there was no one to inform her in detail.
‘Since I cannot ask Gyeong Won-ui either…….’
A heavy sigh escaped her.
‘I hope the long journey from Ganam Province to the Capital City is just grueling, causing the itinerary to be delayed.’
Her thoughts deepened, and her hands came to a halt.
“We must finish within today, so everyone, move quickly!”
At Deok-sun’s scolding roaring from inside the room, Yoo Seo-hwa busily moved her temporarily halted hands once more.
As the repairs of the Inner House came to an end, Deok-sun directed the slaves cleaning the room. For two days, they had thoroughly swept and wiped, and today, they were filling the room with furniture.
‘As if there is anything I can know.’
Deok-sun was a slave who used to work at the house of an official who had suffered a Deprivation of Office for conspiring with Daoists. As a portion of the private property confiscated during the deprivation was bestowed upon Gyeong Won-ui, she came to work at the Private Residence.
‘Though she is skilled at managing slaves, she has never served a noble lady up close in an inner house, so I am truly worried.’
They had equipped the furniture with things received as gifts and newly ordered from craftsmen, but how to arrange them was a headache.
‘Since not a single slave who originally worked here could be recovered, there is no way to reference what the past Inner House looked like…….’
Right now, there was no separate slave in charge of the Inner House either, so it could not be helped.
‘For now, I have no choice but to organize it roughly and then rearrange it later when a mistress of the house arrives.’
If it were anyone else, Gyeong Won-ui was of an age where he would have already married and had children to spare, yet he remained alone. Since she had worked in an aristocratic family for a long time, she knew their psychology well and heard many rumors.
Even though his father was said to bear the crime of treason, Gyeong Won-ui was a bridegroom candidate too precious to miss.
He was a meritorious official of the first rank in the Restoration, so despite receiving the official rank of Grand General at a young age, it was said that no one dared to oppose him.
‘From what I hear, the favor of His Majesty is also tremendous.’
Countless marriage talks must already be going back and forth, and good news would be heard before this year passed at the latest. Then the issue of the Inner House would naturally be resolved.
“Hold the chest carefully so it doesn’t bump, yes, yes. The northern corner where the sunlight doesn’t shine would be good.”
While she was directing the slaves while drawing the appearance of the room inside her head roughly, there was a painting that caught her eye.
It was a Butterfly Painting that depicted butterflies. Deok-sun became puzzled.
“Why are there only butterflies in the painting?”
“Who knows, it’s not like I would know anything about that.”
At the casually tossed question, Dal-rae, who was beside her, also tilted her head.
“Hmm, for some reason, it feels like there should be something more together with this painting……. What could it be?”
“Is there something you remember?”
“Ah, no. I think I might have seen something similar at the mansion where I used to work, but it was such a long time ago that I don’t really know.”
Dal-rae, who seemed to recall something, flurriedly shook her head. Deok-sun smacked her lips and observed the Butterfly Painting.
Since they had never ordered a painting separately from a painter yet, it seemed to be a painting that had been in some high official’s residence.
Deok-sun was ignorant of art, but a painting where only butterflies sat desolately without even a flower looked empty somehow. The blank space at the bottom right was also large, making it feel even emptier.
“Hang it on the wall for now. It must be some kind of trend among the high and mighty.”
As she was about to give a rough command while shaking off the uncomfortable feeling, the slave called visual-unknown stepped forward cautiously.
“Visual-unknown, what do you think you know to step forward so recklessly?”
All at once, Dal-rae’s eyes turned sharp.
“May I tend to it?”
“Uh, right. Give it a try.”
Deok-sun permitted on the spur of the moment. And she slapped her knee at the action of visual-unknown that followed. Visual-unknown set down an empty flower vase she was holding beneath the painting hung on the wall. It was in the direction of the empty bottom right.
“Ah, you just need to stick a flower in there!”
Dal-rae closed her mouth with a resentful expression, and the other slaves admired quietly. If they decorated the vase with flowers in full bloom, it would end up looking just like butterflies flying over after catching the scent of flowers.
“How did you kno-…… Forget it. You don’t have to say it.”
Deok-sun shook her head.
‘It must have been a sight she saw countless times in the past.’
Visual-unknown was not saying anything about her own background. It was also a matter that there was no need to hear by force. Even if it was a shabby appearance suffering from all kinds of hardships, a neat dignity still seeped from even a trivial gesture.
That she must have been a wife or concubine of some high-ranking official was a story that had become an established fact among the slaves.
‘What a truly wretched twist of fate.’
Visual-unknown bowed her head silently and organized another spot. Deok-sun swallowed her sympathy toward visual-unknown, who had ruined overnight.
“Ah, Master! Have you arrived.”
It was then that the outside became noisy.
At the word that their master Gyeong Won-ui had come all the way here, the slaves retreated hurriedly and bowed their waists deeply.
Because he had rarely stayed at the residence, the majority of the slaves were people who did not know Gyeong Won-ui’s face. However, even without knowing the face, they could recognize him.
Even putting aside his tall and handsome appearance, there was no way another person with a cold and grim aura like a sharply honed sword existed in this residence.
Gyeong Won-ui, who entered inside the room at once with hurried strides, looked around his surroundings. Every time that chilly gaze brushed past, the slaves flinched reflexively even though they had committed no crime.
The gaze that passed while rapidly scanning the slaves who bowed their waists deeply reached Yoo Seo-hwa, who was crouching in the very corner.
“You……!”
“Yes?”
Gyeong Won-ui strode over and grabbed Yoo Seo-hwa. At the sight of the eyes looking up at him in surprise trembling faintly, he grated his teeth.
Holding Yoo Seo-hwa’s wrist just like that, he left the room rapidly with large strides.
“W-Wait a moment.”
Yoo Seo-hwa clutched her skirt and followed behind with flustered steps.
Only the slaves remained behind, blinking their eyebrows without knowing the reason.

Yoo Seo-hwa was confused.
After parting like that, it had been a long time since she was confiscated and enslaved as a government slave. He had never shown his face once, as if he did not know she had become a slave.
‘I thought that perhaps not looking at me might be his wish…….’
Because facing the daughter of his enemy and talking itself might be sickening.
That was a very sorrowful thought.
‘But it is better than facing the Young Master again and receiving his hatred.’
Like this, as a mere slave who received no interest from anyone, she intended to hold her breath and quietly atone for her imperial father’s crimes.
However, coming to this point all of a sudden, she could not understand the reason he had lost his composure to this extent.
“You are……!”
Only after coming to a place where there were no people behind the pavilion did Gyeong Won-ui release her hand as if flinging it away. Overpowered by the force, Yoo Seo-hwa’s back bumped against the wall with a thud.
‘Did something happen to you?’
Her confused gaze traced up Gyeong Won-ui’s face.
‘Since we lived without being entangled with each other any longer, I hoped the lump inside the Young Master would be resolved just a tiny bit.’
But for what reason was he even more haggard than when she saw him last?
“…….”
Because the hand that remembered the old love tried to cradle his gaunt cheek, Yoo Seo-hwa clenched her sleeves tightly.
Gyeong Won-ui, who was sweeping back his disheveled hair and taking deep breaths, could not control his rough breathing in the end. The momentum with which he pulled out the letter held in his opposite hand and unfurled it before her eyes was entirely ominous.
“This letter, did you write it?”

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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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