I Became the Eldest Daughter of a Fallen Family - Chapter 26

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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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Chapter 26. Our Home’s Water Purifier is Direct-Feed
The moment So Yeon-hui returned home, she rushed to one corner of the courtyard and began scraping at the earth with a thin stick.
She already had a rough outline of what needed to be done forming in her mind, but she wanted to go through it once more just to be certain.
Yet her expression looked rather fierce to anyone watching.
So Yeon-su frowned slightly and spoke up.
“Sister, your face is so scary. Did something happen?”
Then So Yeon-u quietly poked his head out and added his own comment.
“Now that I think about it, you didn’t bring back the water jar. Did it crack or something?”
It wasn’t good news, but there was no reason to hide the truth from her family.
So Yeon-hui brushed off her hands and stood, explaining the situation plainly.
There had been a quarrel with the village chief’s son at the well, and the chief had used that as a pretext to forbid them from using it altogether.
“What? Then where are we supposed to get water? It’s autumn now—it won’t rain that often…….”
“For now, we’ll have to draw from the ravine.”
“For now?”
“Yes. Once I gather the materials, we’ll soon be able to draw water from the spring higher up the mountain.”
So Yeon-hui answered her younger siblings with a confident smile.
So Yeon-su and So Yeon-u both thought their sister was spouting nonsense again, but neither questioned how such a thing could be possible.
‘She must be planning to rely on Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva’s blessing again.’
‘Right. With things from that mysterious world, what would be impossible?’
Still, they couldn’t be pleased about having to draw water from the ravine for the time being.
Apart from the ravine being farther away than expected, the water drawn from it was nowhere near as clean as the well water.
“Ugh. I hate the fishy smell from ravine water.”
“Right. It looks the same at first glance, but when you hold it up to the light, it’s subtly cloudy. The taste is kind of weird too, almost chalky.”
They said young children’s palates weren’t exposed to strong flavors, making them unusually sensitive.
So Yeon-hui found herself momentarily amazed at how quickly her siblings had pinpointed the difference between well water and ravine water.
“You two really do have sensitive tongues. You’re right, though. Ravine water looks clean enough on the surface, but it’s not suitable for drinking.”
An environment where fish could survive was, by definition, teeming with every sort of insect and bacteria.
So even pristine-looking mountain stream water could cause people to fall ill if they drank it.
But fortunately, So Yeon-hui already knew how to solve this water quality problem.
‘That water purification experiment from elementary school. I always wondered why they taught us that in a country with water as clean as Korea…….’
Minister of Education, it seems you had a grand purpose in mind after all!
So Yeon-hui found herself newly grateful for Korea’s thorough science curriculum, mentally accumulated Good Deed Points, and began formulating a plan to build a water purifier.
And the very next dawn.
She rose before anyone else in the house, swept the courtyard, kindled the fire, and drew water.
Having completed all the chores that might accumulate Good Deed Points, she promptly cut several thick bamboo stalks from around the house to the proper length.
‘Let’s see. Cotton on the bottom, and gravel on top, right?’
Cotton for the final filter, activated charcoal made from burned charcoal powder, then clean sand and gravel above that.
So Yeon-hui washed all of it thoroughly, coated it with fire inside a bamboo tube, and layered everything in order.
While far more crude and primitive than a modern water purifier, she had created a simple purification device.
“Let me see if it actually works.”
So Yeon-hui held the device firmly and asked her younger siblings, who were hovering nearby, to slowly pour the water she’d drawn from the ravine over the top of it.
The two children, somewhat uncertain but willing, picked up a water gourd and slowly poured the ravine water over the device So Yeon-hui had made.
“Sister, I think this is broken?”
“Yeah. The water is getting dirtier.”
The ravine water had been murky, but the water passing through the purifier had turned black.
So Yeon-u made a disappointed face. But So Yeon-hui simply shook her head with a smile, unbothered by her siblings’ reaction.
“The black color is because of the activated charcoal. So don’t worry and keep pouring. In a moment you’ll see a change.”
With her speaking so confidently, what choice did they have? So Yeon-su recalled the mysterious ability her sister had shown when making candied fruit, and calmly continued pouring.
Then, remarkably, the color of the water falling through the purifier gradually grew lighter, and soon a clear, transparent stream came flowing out.
“Wow. It actually works?”
“This is crazy! The water really did get clean!”
At the commotion, the adults who had been examining the smoked preserved vegetables in the courtyard turned and found the children.
“What’s all this chatter about? Did something good happen?”
So Yeon-hui immediately held up the purification device and began demonstrating its performance to the adults alongside her siblings.
“Look at this. The dirty water becomes clean right away, doesn’t it?”
Indeed, So Jin’s eyes grew impossibly wide as he watched the cloudy ravine water, mixed with dirt and sand, transform into clear water in an instant.
The grandmother, Hong, couldn’t even close her mouth.
“But you still can’t drink it straight from this. Even if it’s been filtered clean, there are invisible impurities. All water must be boiled before drinking.”
In stark contrast to So Yeon-hui’s cheerful explanation, a heavy, prolonged silence fell over the courtyard.
Why on earth was that? Before So Yeon-hui could even analyze the reason, So Jin opened his mouth with a grave expression.
“Yeon-hui. Absolutely, you must not show this to anyone.”
“What? Why not? This is a precious technique that could help so many people……. Shouldn’t we spread the word widely?”
She blinked, confused.
But So Jin gazed at her with even deeper concern and continued.
“That’s precisely why.”
So Jin spoke in a low, grave voice.
“To purify water is the pinnacle of water management—a royal technique. How could a commoner, let alone a convict, ever possess such a thing?”
He sternly cautioned the children to keep it secret, warning that they could be branded traitors and wiped out entirely.
‘This is really absurd. Just for making water a little bit cleaner.’
So Yeon-hui wanted to vehemently refute that premodern way of thinking. What kind of ridiculous nonsense was that?
But this place was not the modern age—it was an ancient kingdom.
Where a word from the emperor meant your head could be severed on the spot, there was no point in stirring up trouble.
In the end, she could only nod weakly.
“I understand. I will.”
Perhaps because her deflated appearance looked so pitiful,
Jang quietly took So Yeon-hui’s hand.
“My daughter. You’ve worked so hard. With the village chief’s tyranny keeping you from the well, at least thanks to you no one will fall ill from drinking bad water. It’s a bit tiring going all the way to the ravine, but we don’t have to worry about the chief’s mood anymore—isn’t that better?”
Her cheeks warmed slightly at such overt praise, but her lips curved upward of their own accord.
Encouraged, So Yeon-hui glanced casually around her family and spoke.
“Actually, about going back and forth to draw water……. I have a really good idea.”
“A good idea? What is it?”
When grandmother Hong asked, So Yeon-hui gave a small cough as if she’d been waiting for the question, and showed them the blueprint she had drawn on the courtyard overnight.
“You know the spring up on the mountain? What if we ran bamboo pipes down from there to bring water here?”
Without having to go back and forth, we could get water right here in the courtyard.
The adults, who had initially frowned at what seemed like nonsense, gradually began to nod as So Yeon-hui’s explanation proved surprisingly concrete and practical.
Thus, after breakfast, they immediately began clearing a path in a straight line from the spring to the courtyard.
The beginning of an ancient aqueduct project.

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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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