Blooming even in the mud - Chapter 83

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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 83

Chu Sim-yang looked immensely distressed, and Hong Ok-geum’s eyes were swollen thick from how much she had wept. Young Dong-i was also disheartened and sullen.
“Hong Ok-geum, what is the matter?”
“Your Highness…… I…….”
Hearing that Hong Ok-geum had visited, Yoo Seo-hwa, who came along with Gyeong Won-ui, comforted her, but it only triggered a fresh burst of tears.
“Go show the young master the garden.”
Gyeong Won-ui had an intuitive feeling that this was a conversation the child should not overhear. He signaled Kkot-bun with his eyes.
“Young master, would you like to go look at the garden with me?”
“Okay…….”
Dong-i, who had been hesitating while clutching Hong Ok-geum’s skirt, glanced over at Chu Sim-yang. Only after Chu Sim-yang patted him and told him to go play outside did the child follow Kkot-bun out to the garden.
Chu Sim-yang pressed his forehead with a voice on the verge of crying.
“At dawn, my concubine had a stillbirth.”
“Did such a thing happen? You must be heavily burdened.”
“The child was born dead, but of all things, he was a boy. Father…….”
Hong Ok-geum’s wailing grew louder, and Chu Sim-yang bit his lower lip hard.
“He kept saying such absurd things…… asking how a son in the womb could ever be safe when someone who failed to bear a son occupies the inner house and harbors jealousy…….”
“I have never, ever been jealous.”
“I know. How could I not know your character, my lady?”
Chu Sim-yang let out a heavy sigh.
“In the end, unable to withstand Father’s rage and fury, I ended up writing a Divorce Document.”
“…….”
While Gyeong Won-ui and Yoo Seo-hwa found themselves at a loss for words, only Hong Ok-geum’s sorrowful weeping echoed through the room.
“Could it be that Hong Ok-geum’s ancestral family refused to take her in?”
“My father-in-law turned her away, saying there is no place for a child to return to once she becomes a married-out daughter, Your Highness.”
“Good heavens.”
Yoo Seo-hwa lamented as she grasped Hong Ok-geum’s hands.
“I am fine with shaving my head and entering a temple. But I cannot let our Dong-i become a Buddhist nun at such a young age…….”
“So I wish to make a request of you. Could you look after my wife, who currently has nowhere else to go? There is no one else I can trust but you.”
“It is not a difficult matter, but if she stays at the house of a man to whom she has no relations, wouldn’t my lady’s reputation be severely damaged?”
Furthermore, this was a situation where she was relying on her husband’s friend. All kinds of malicious rumors would follow one after another. If things went wrong, some wretched people might even cast doubt on Dong-i’s true father.
Since Yoo Seo-hwa knew the whole truth, Gyeong Won-ui himself did not care about becoming the subject of gossip. However, for Hong Ok-geum, who was a woman, it was an issue that would bring immense dishonor. Above all, he was deeply worried about suspicions arising that Dong-i was an unchaste illegitimate child.
“Ah, how about doing this?”
Yoo Seo-hwa, who had been lost in thought, whispered into Gyeong Won-ui’s ear. Naturally, it was an excellent idea that Gyeong Won-ui could agree to immediately.
“I had completely forgotten, but Your Highness has reminded me. I happen to have a small house that I purchased through a real estate broker not long ago; how about staying there? There is an issue with the household goods not being properly set up, but I will have them prepared right away.”
It was a house he had prepared for Gyeong Won-yeong’s family, who might arrive at any time. If they finished the urgent cleaning within today, it would be manageable enough for someone to stay.
Chu Sim-yang brightened up.
“You had a separate vacant house? What a relief! There is no need to prepare any household goods either. I will personally send all the belongings my wife used to use, along with the maidservants she was close with.”
“Thank you, General.”
Hong Ok-geum said with a tear-choked voice as she bowed deeply.
“Although I wrote the Divorce Document to calm Father’s anger, I will persuade him by any means necessary, so I ask this of you just for the time being.”
“……It matters not how long you stay, so please make yourself comfortable.”
He could not bring himself to tell his friend, who had finally relieved a fraction of his worries, that there would likely be no time left to persuade his father.
Five days later.
While Hong Ok-geum was still residing in Gyeong Won-yeong’s house, Gyeong Won-ui received the report he had been waiting for. It was information sent up from Shengguang.

* * *

Chu Na-yeon, who had practically been driven down to Shengguang, was bedridden with a severe case of hwabyung.
‘How could Father treat me like this? How!’
Replaying the things she had suffered because of Chu Se-gu made her tremble with rage.
Though he fell short of Gyeong Won-ui, he had forced her to break off her hondam with a man who was at least a decent alternative, and sent her out to the remote Qiheng Province. After rotting there for several years, she thought she was finally about to achieve her ambition.
The pahon she suffered from Gyeong Won-ui was already infuriating enough, but the next hondam he brought her was a position as the second wife to a second son who wasn’t even the successor. After breaking even that off, he chased her out of the Capital City following the words of Gyeong Won-ui, the very man who had humiliated her.
‘Since I’ve had a pahon three times, there’s nowhere left to fall. Next time, he’ll definitely force me to shave my head and shove me into some temple in the middle of nowhere!’
Even if that didn’t happen, it was obvious she would grow old and die trapped in Shengguang, unable to take a single step.
‘I will never let things go according to Father’s wishes! Just you wait!’
If she could have it her way, she wanted to destroy Gyeong Won-ui and Yoo Seo-hwa this instant, but reality stood in her way. It was impossible for Chu Na-yeon to go up to the Capital City alone while evading Chu Se-gu’s eyes.
‘I can deal with those two later. Frankly speaking, what are they going to do if I just bribe some lowborns to slip poison into their food?’
There is no one who cannot be moved by money. Having grown up watching Chu Se-gu, Chu Na-yeon was certain of it.
Now, the next problem was Chu Se-gu.
‘I need to hold onto something that can serve as Father’s weakness. Only then can I at least try to strike a bargain.’
Because she was raised preciously and possessed a willful personality, Chu Na-yeon often acted on hotheaded impulses. However, she was not dim-witted. She was on the sharper side, matching the amount of affection Chu Se-gu had once poured into her.

To Chu Na-yeon, who had thrown a massive fit crying that she didn’t want to go, Chu Se-gu had forced her to learn something. It was none other than the cipher code that Chu Se-gu used.
In Qiheng Province, along with aligning themselves with King Ning, Chu Na-yeon also took charge of acting as the liaison with the White Head Sect around the Qiheng Province area. The White Head Sect, which had not completely disbanded even after their leader’s death, had been receiving Chu Se-gu’s covert support the entire time.
Covetous yet cautious, Chu Se-gu had been holding onto both ropes—King Ning and the White Head Sect—simultaneously. Out of all of Chu Se-gu’s children, it was a secret that only Chu Na-yeon knew.
‘The White Head Sect’s current stronghold is right here in Shengguang. I can definitely find Father’s weakness here.’
Chu Na-yeon gritted her teeth.

Contrary to Kkot-bun’s worries, Dal-rae was managing to get by in relative comfort. This was due to Chu Se-gu’s strict command not to lay a hand on her or hurl curses, since she was a maidservant sent by Gyeong Won-ui.

Though, of course, those appended words had caused Chu Na-yeon to burst with rage.
‘It’s a relief that nothing bad has happened, but I’m getting anxious because there are no results.’
She had even cut down on her sleeping time to secretly monitor Chu Na-yeon, but there was still no significant harvest. Chu Na-yeon, who was suffering from a festering anger, did nothing but vent her irritation inside her room.
‘If the master’s deduction is correct, she is the daughter of my enemy. I will never forgive her.’
Harboring a blade of vengeance in her heart, Dal-rae acted desperately. She pretended to be an ignorant lowborn who knew nothing, a lowly servant who feared the precious highborn lady.
Chu Na-yeon, who had loathed Dal-rae at first, also began to let her guard down bit by bit. This absolutely did not mean she had come to trust Dal-rae. It simply meant she had come to disregard her existence, just like the other servants.
“Bring me my mongsu! I’m dying of boredom, so I need to go out and look at the streets at the very least.”
“Yes, my lady!”
Chu Na-yeon, who had remained cooped up in her room for days ever since they came down to Shengguang, finally shifted her weight. With the anticipation that this might lead to some sort of breakthrough, Dal-rae diligently helped Chu Na-yeon prepare to go out.
“Hmph. Unlike how you look, you do have some dexterity with your hands.”
“Thank you.”
“That scar or mole on your forehead is hideous to look at, so whether you cover it with your hair or a headscarf, make sure it stays out of my sight.”
“Yes, I will cover it right away.”
Dal-rae adjusted her headscarf to cover her forehead. Chu Na-yeon curled the corners of her lips in satisfaction at the submissive attitude.
The outing that began in that manner was long. Chu Na-yeon poked around recklessly, hitting the shops in the marketplace, taverns, a book rental shop, and a temple hosting a small Buddhist hall.
There were times when she bought something, and times when she shared a brief conversation with a shop owner. Carrying the bundles was entirely Dal-rae’s responsibility.
While frantically attending to Chu Na-yeon’s whims but observing meticulously, Dal-rae sensed something disparate.
‘Why does she keep making strange hand gestures?’
Every time she opened a door and walked in, Chu Na-yeon naturally placed her hand against a pillar or a doorframe and moved her fingers. Shifting her fingertips as if brushing past, tapping in a certain regular rhythm as if it were a habit.
‘It is definitely strange.’
After visiting a couple more places, Dal-rae realized she was not mistaken.
If someone hadn’t been monitoring from afar or paying special attention, they would never have noticed. It was that trivial of a hand gesture.
Dal-rae traced her thoughts.
‘Where exactly were the places where she didn’t just handle business, but also had a brief conversation with the owner?’
She meticulously engraved the places where conversations had taken place into her memory.
Chu Na-yeon went out again the next day. She didn’t wander around as recklessly as she did on the first day. She visited some of the places Dal-rae had engraved in her memory.
As Chu Na-yeon’s outings repeated like that, Dal-rae’s suspicions turned into certainty.
‘I don’t know if it will be of help to the master, but since he told me even trivial things are fine, let’s gather everything for now. I really hope this turns out to be a clue…….’

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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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