Blooming even in the mud - Chapter 73

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

Blooming Even in the Mud Chapter 73

“What?”
A short, cold laugh escaped Gyeong Won-ui’s lips. Their reaction was too quick. He had expected it, but it was clear they had planted a spy among the servants in his private residence.
“Saves me the trouble of going to find him. Bring him in.”
Soon, Gyeong Won-ui received his guest. Chu Se-gu had not come empty-handed. He brought two carts fully loaded with riches and a bound maidservant who had been dragged along.
Covered in blood and unconscious, the maidservant was thrown to the floor like trash by Chu Se-gu’s servant. A look of displeasure crossed Gyeong Won-ui’s face.
“What is the meaning of this behavior?”
“This insolent thing was blinded by riches and beguiled her master with deceptive words. I am truly sorry, Gyeong Won-ui. Chu Na-yeon was so restless when she heard that an incident had occurred to you, and when I pressed her for answers, I discovered this terrible thing had happened. I have no face to see you, but since it is a crime committed by my household, it is only proper that I offer my apologies to you.”
To summarize the lengthy speech Chu Se-gu poured out with a wretched face, looking as though he wanted to dig a hole and crawl into the ground out of sheer apology, it was this:
Chu Na-yeon’s maidservant had fallen for Kkeoksoe and devised a plan. They instigated Chu Na-yeon, who held a grudge against Yoo Seo-hwa, extorted riches from her, and conspired to flee with Kkeoksoe.
“Are you saying this was entirely the doing of Chu Na-yeon’s maidservant?”
“Indeed. Of course, regardless of whatever grudge she held beforehand, Chu Na-yeon’s sin in falling for the maidservant’s coaxing is by no means light, so as her father, I simply cannot lift my head.”
“…….”
“I will leave Chu Na-yeon’s punishment to you. If you say the word, I can shave her head this very day and banish her to a temple.”
Muttering sorrowfully, Chu Se-gu even wiped away tears with his sleeve.
Gyeong Won-ui almost let out a hollow laugh. In Chu Se-gu’s glistening pupils as he bowed deeply to Gyeong Won-ui, who was young enough to be his son, he read a sense of humiliation.
It was a shameless performance that would have completely deceived him had his eyes not been opened because of Yoo Seo-hwa.
‘As expected, an old fox who has spent his entire life in public office is no easy opponent.’
At the same time, Chu Se-gu’s shamelessness restored Gyeong Won-ui’s composure.
On the surface, it was an incident that almost killed a mere slave. Yet, over such a trivial matter, the head of a clan had personally come to bow his head and apologize. He had seized the moral high ground.
In his heart, he wanted to storm out of his seat and smash this shallow trickery to pieces. How could he let Chu Na-yeon and Chu Se-gu return in peace?
‘If I were alone, I certainly would have done just that.’
But right now, Gyeong Won-ui had to protect Yoo Seo-hwa. If he struck Chu Se-gu without being fully prepared and made even the slightest mistake, he would lose Yoo Seo-hwa again.
Gyeong Won-ui organized his thoughts and spoke.
“This is an affair that could have passed without my knowledge, so thank you very much for making such a difficult journey.”
“Why say such things? You are no different from a son to me.”
“It is unseemly for a child to demand riches due to a father’s mistake. I will only accept the maidservant who committed the crime, so please take the riches back.”
“Will you not need funds to restore the pavilion?”
“I have enough to spare.”
Contrary to his polite words of refusal, Chu Se-gu’s lips twitched minutely at the command to take back the riches. Pretending not to see it, Gyeong Won-ui brought up his true objective.
“Chu Na-yeon is a child who is no different from a sister to me.”
“That is so.”
“As an elder brother, I wish to make a request of my sister.”
“Just say the word, whatever it may be.”
“Since you have traveled with carts in the middle of the night, many people will be curious. I will keep a tight lip on our side, but unpleasant rumors might spread that Chu Na-yeon was made a fool of by a slave’s eloquence.”
“Hmm? Th-that is…….”
Chu Se-gu flinched, having failed to think that far in his desperate haste to cover up the matter.
‘Is this young brat threatening me?’
A faint suspicion sprouted in Chu Se-gu’s mind, but Gyeong Won-ui’s expression was impeccably polite, and he appeared genuinely concerned for Chu Na-yeon.
“How could Chu Na-yeon be at fault? However, if she becomes the subject of gossip, that child will be hurt quite a bit. It seems best for her to leave the Capital City for a while to recuperate.”
“……You are not wrong.”
“How about Shengguang, where Chu Na-yeon often goes down to and is familiar with?”
It was perfectly correct. At Gyeong Won-ui’s words, which showed consideration for Chu Na-yeon, Chu Se-gu found himself nodding along unwittingly.
If it was Shengguang, Chu Na-yeon could also live more freely than when she was in the Capital City.
“Because of this incident, it will be hard for Chu Na-yeon to trust the people around her. I will send a trustworthy maidservant, so please accept her at least while she stays in Shengguang.”
With that, Gyeong Won-ui bowed.
“Since this is a mistake Chu Na-yeon committed because she was greatly heartbroken over the pahon, the blame lies heavily on me.”
“Why are you the one apologizing?”
Flustered, Chu Se-gu helped Gyeong Won-ui up and patted his shoulder with feigned affection.
“She is reflecting deeply, so if you pass along those words to Chu Na-yeon, her heart will soften a great deal. I will finish the preparations within this month, so send the maidservant.”
As the matter was resolved much more smoothly than expected, Chu Se-gu returned home in high spirits.
‘Seeing how he whimpers over the pahon, it seems I was overly sensitive and misread his momentum back then out of sheer displeasure. What does it matter how capable a famous general he is? Playing with him in the palm of my hand is this easy.’
Chu Se-gu, chuckling heartily, did not know.
He did not know that Gyeong Won-ui had begun to suspect him, and that Chu Na-yeon would find it maddeningly humiliating to be pushed aside by Yoo Seo-hwa and banished to the countryside.

On the surface, the matter was concluded well with Chu Se-gu’s apology. The banquet inviting Chu Sim-yang and Hong Ok-geum also proceeded without a hitch.
Explaining the situation to Hong Ok-geum, who had followed Chu Sim-yang, they guided her to another room.
“Hong Ok-geum.”
“Princess…….”
From the moment she heard that the princess had almost been in danger due to the arson incident, Hong Ok-geum had shed a torrent of tears. Leaving behind Hong Ok-geum, who fell to her knees at Yoo Seo-hwa’s feet and sobbed the moment they met, Gyeong Won-ui quietly closed the door.
Even before the meal was served, Chu Sim-yang bowed his head.
“Because Father raised her so indulgently, Chu Na-yeon’s disposition is willful, but I never imagined she would cause an accident of this magnitude. I apologize on her behalf.”
“It is fine. It is not your fault.”
“I will soothe my sister well so that nothing like this ever happens again.”
Chu Sim-yang’s tone sounded genuinely innocent.
‘How much does Chu Sim-yang know about the clan’s affairs?’
The reality of having to place even a close friend he had known since childhood under suspicion was bitter. Though it was still impossible to know what Chu Se-gu was hiding, he hoped that Chu Sim-yang at least was uninvolved.
Yoo Seo-hwa and Hong Ok-geum shared a long conversation. It was late at night, long after the sun had set, when the guests finally departed.
“Thank you for inviting Hong Ok-geum.”
It had been a very long time since a faint glimmer of vitality had returned to Yoo Seo-hwa’s face. A mixture of joy and bitterness twinged inside him simultaneously. For perhaps such a thing would remain forever impossible for himself.
“When I visited Chu Sim-yang’s private residence in the past, I also met Seol-i, and she had grown so much. Though she did not remember me at all.”
“Since you saw her when she was a mere infant and have not seen her for five years, it is only natural.”
Having inadvertently thought about wanting to see Seol-i, Yoo Seo-hwa quietly closed her lips.
‘Until not long ago, I was hoping that the child would not remember me…….’
Perhaps because she had comfortably poured her heart out to Hong Ok-geum and was reminded of young Seol-i, the fragments of her heart, which had been floating aimlessly without finding a place to rest, felt as though they were aligning slightly.
Feeling that she should not delve any deeper, Yoo Seo-hwa changed the subject.
“According to Hong Ok-geum, the true culprit behind the arson incident is the daughter of the Minister of State Affairs. How did this happen?”
“I was planning to tell you as soon as you recovered your health anyway.”
Yoo Seo-hwa’s expression did not change much as she listened to the details of the situation. Yoo Seo-hwa, who remained calm as if listening to someone else’s business, reacted near the end of Gyeong Won-ui’s explanation.
“Did the child who is Chu Na-yeon’s maidservant die?”
“Since she was barely clinging to life, she is currently being treated and cared for. They said she has passed the critical danger zone.”
“I am glad she is alive. What sin could belong to a child who merely followed her master’s orders?”
In his heart, Gyeong Won-ui’s honest feelings were that he did not want to leave a single person involved alive.
The reason he had treated Chu Na-yeon’s maidservant was because she was nothing more than a pawn acting as her master commanded, and because he knew Yoo Seo-hwa would have shown benevolence.
It was exactly as expected. Whether she was in the noble position of a princess, suffering hardships as a lowly slave, or even now.
Yoo Seo-hwa’s warm nature had not been tarnished in the slightest.
If so, his role was to ensure she did not lose that gentle light, and to make the culprit pay the rightful price on her behalf.
“May I borrow Dal-rae?”
“You do not need to ask for my permission every single time. What is the matter?”
“The birthmark on Dal-rae’s face looked familiar, and when I looked into it, she was the daughter of a clan with whom I shared a connection in the past.”
Even if he said he would send Dal-rae to Chu Na-yeon to exact Yoo Seo-hwa’s revenge, she would not want it. Gyeong Won-ui merely conveyed the suspicions surrounding Dal-rae’s past.
“In the past, Dal-rae once told me about her elder sister. To think she was in the same plight as me……. Are you conjecturing that Dal-rae’s father was falsely accused?”
“I cannot be certain, but I believe it is fully worth investigating.”
“I will respect Dal-rae’s choice.”
“Then I will ask Dal-rae for her thoughts separately later.”
Hesitating slightly, he asked carefully.
“The weather is fine, so why do you not go flower viewing at Huajing Lou? I will escort you, but I will not disturb you, Princess.”

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