I Became the Eldest Daughter of a Fallen Family - Chapter 44

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

Episode 44. The Beginning of Wavering
That afternoon, after the tumultuous cooking competition had ended, Ju Ha-Yoon’s office had transformed into something like a bamboo-strip archive.
Wi Jeong laid out a thick bundle of bamboo records on the table and opened his mouth.
“Ha-Yoon, have you seen this? It’s the topography records for Chingyang County, and it’s far worse than I thought. The river floods twice a year, but the embankments are useless, and except for Haenghwa Post and Geoneop Fortress where the county administrator’s office is located, the villages don’t even have properly maintained wells. People are drinking filthy river water on a regular basis and spreading epidemics because of it. I have no idea where to even start.”
Despite Wi Jeong’s earnest explanation, Ju Ha-Yoon’s eyes remained fixed on the bamboo records without wavering.
Yet in truth, none of the characters registered in his vision.
So Yeon-Hui’s stern face as she climbed into the carriage kept drifting into his thoughts.
She’d said it was nothing, but it wasn’t nothing.
He had stood there rooted to the spot until the carriage left Jin Fortress, watching her the entire time.
Why had he done that?
He still didn’t know.
His mind felt full of confusion.
……
“Listen, Ha-Yoon. Are you paying attention?”
“Yes.”
At the lackluster reply, Wi Jeong let out an exasperated breath.
“Yes? Then Your Highness, would you mind repeating what I just said?”
“……The topography issue.”
“……That’s not wrong, but……”
Wi Jeong sighed briefly and lowered his eyes back to the documents.
“In any case, the water supply is the most urgent matter. The embankments can be rebuilt through corvée labor, but having epidemics break out periodically is an entirely different problem.”
Ju Ha-Yoon’s hand stopped.
“Would it be difficult to dig more wells?”
“Do wells just happen whenever you dig? You can only dig where water actually flows underground.”
Wi Jeong sighed again.
“Rather, I wish I could ask Miss So about that water conduit system of hers. Since Chingyang County is surrounded by mountains, if we could just draw spring water from the peaks, we’d essentially solve the water supply problem.”
‘The Water Conduit System……’
Ju Ha-Yoon recalled the shock he’d felt upon first seeing it. But thinking about it now, every moment he’d spent in her presence had been like that.
Shocking, unfamiliar. And yet somehow impossible to look away from.
‘The first thing I saw was her remarkably bold spirit.’
He had gone to the county seat of Jin Fortress because they’d said someone who’d harmed the Wei Clan elder had been apprehended.
While he waited for Wi Jeong, who had to handle affairs in his uncle’s stead, he stood bored in the magistrate’s office when a girl’s clear voice reached his ears.
“I was merely passing by and saw someone in danger, so I tried to help. In fact, thanks to me, that elderly lady was able to safely cough up the rice cake that was stuck in her throat.”
“Nonsense! If what you say were true, you’d be the benefactor of the Wei Clan’s Great Lady. So why would they have issued a warrant for your arrest?”
“How would I know? I don’t even live in Jin Fortress, and I was only just arriving when I got caught. How could I possibly know that?”
The girl who spoke so boldly was dressed in rather shabby clothes.
Yet her eyes shone with confidence, as if she stood above the entire world.
Even locked in a jail cell facing the county magistrate directly, she remained completely undaunted, speaking each word clearly and firmly.
‘Now that I think about it…… didn’t Uncle command the servants yesterday to search for his benefactor?’
Ju Ha-Yoon’s brow furrowed.
“Has Wi not returned yet?”
The attendant beside him bowed urgently.
“My apologies, Your Highness. When he departed, he said he would certainly complete his business at the armory and return shortly, but……”
Tsk.
Ju Ha-Yoon clicked his tongue lightly. In the meantime, the magistrate Wang spoke again, his tone dripping with sarcasm in a way that suggested his disposition was far from pleasant.
“Then I ask: why have you come to Jin Fortress, a criminal condemned to guilt by association?”
“I came to sell Tang-hulu.”
The girl didn’t waver in the slightest.
“And strictly speaking, I’m not condemned to guilt by association. I wasn’t yet fifteen when my father received his sentence, so I was spared.”
Wang Yun’s face hardened.
“What safety do you think this place has, that you dare lecture me about law? If I say you’re a criminal, then you’re a criminal! When the County Administrator isn’t here, I am the law!”
At the magistrate’s words, a wrinkle deepened on Ju Ha-Yoon’s brow.
The law was established by the Emperor and should be applied uniformly throughout the Empire. How could he say such a thing?
“This insolence……!”
As Ju Ha-Yoon was about to flare up, the girl sighed softly.
“Sigh……”
Yet she never backed down.
“No matter how much you threaten me, my answer remains the same. I simply tried to help someone in danger. I have done nothing wrong.”
Even now, remembering it, that spirit was truly remarkable. Later, he would discover that the girl was indeed the benefactor of his maternal grandmother, Baek.
‘Could it be that the absence of guilt allowed her to be so bold?’
Yet in this harsh world, how many people suffered punishment for false accusations they didn’t deserve?
Most people bent flat before power, never daring to resist.
‘A person of noble character.’
Ju Ha-Yoon had been deeply impressed by her spirit of boldly declaring injustice even in the face of power.
But in the next moment,
when he saw her, who must have struggled in prison and lost her business entirely, freely distribute Tang-hulu as a gift to the street children with no expectation of return, he was struck with considerable shock.
‘To continue her charitable work even though her house had fallen into ruin overnight and she was reduced to selling snacks on the street? Was there truly another such person in this entire Empire?’
Had she been born male, he was certain she would have accomplished great things.
Moreover, he developed an intense interest in the former General So Jin, who had raised his daughter so well.
He had come to Chingyang County on the Crown Prince’s orders, feigning illness for rest, and his inability to prevent the So Clan’s ruin weighed on him like an unbearable regret.
“It seems certain that the Water Conduit System was indeed made by Miss So, don’t you think?”
“Of course. You saw it yourself. How skillfully she operated that ‘water valve.’ To create something like that and then give it such an uninspired name—ha! As if it’s some trifling technique. The construction itself was likely aided greatly by General So, but the design was definitely hers alone.”
At Ju Ha-Yoon’s question, Wi Jeong narrowed his already sharp eyes even further as he answered.
Ju Ha-Yoon found his assessment quite reasonable.
Indeed, though she herself seemed unaware of it, So Yeon-Hui had a tendency to present things that could astound the world with such nonchalance.
“Speaking of which, that thing called tofu—it tastes good and the satiation lasts quite long. What if we actively encouraged the people to eat tofu instead of rice as a way to manage food shortage?”
At Wi Jeong’s suggestion, Ju Ha-Yoon set down the brush he was holding and nodded.
“Not a bad idea. If the people begin eating beans without hesitation, it would help with Chingyang County’s chronic rice shortage, seeing as the county is mostly mountainous terrain.”
Given the So family’s circumstances, it seemed unlikely they would readily reveal the tofu-making method, which was their business capital……
Well, that could be solved with money, couldn’t it?
Fortunately, his maternal family, the Cheongpyeong Wei Clan, was a wealthy household that had accumulated wealth carefully over generations, so Ju Ha-Yoon set aside his concerns.
Meanwhile, Wi Jeong suddenly chuckled and began waving the Goose Feather Fan he’d acquired while acting as a strategist, speaking playfully.
“When you think about it, if that young lady had been born male, she’d likely have become quite a prominent figure. Especially—she seems to have real talent for administrative work, doesn’t she?”
“If she had been……she might well be sitting in your seat right now.”
“What? Ha-Yoon! That’s a bit harsh, isn’t it! Am I just any ordinary talent? Internal affairs, military matters……if you can find someone as versatile as I am, I’d like to see them!”
Wi Jeong puffed out his cheeks as if aggrieved, but even the slightest scratch on Ju Ha-Yoon’s ice-cold conscience was beyond his reach.
He smirked, lifting one corner of his mouth as he replied.
“Hmm, is that so? I thought you had exceptional talent only for enjoying the pleasures of life.”
“Listen, I earned my reputation as a charming scholar purely through good looks, not through incompetence!”
Wi Jeong flapped the fan indignantly, then suddenly leaned both hands on the table.
He then bent toward Ju Ha-Yoon rather aggressively and issued a warning.
“Now listen here, Your Highness. No matter how fond you are of a woman, you mustn’t neglect your cousin and your first and earliest strategist. Do you understand? If anything, I’m the one in the position of your Primary Wife. Understand?”
“How revolting.”
Ju Ha-Yoon reflexively contorted his face in disgust.
Wi Jeong then stared in shock, his mouth gaping open, before he threw his head back and demanded:
“R, revolting? Me?”
His eyes trembled with unsettling alarm.
He began to shudder as if betrayed, like a man who’d been struck from behind.
“Can you really do this? How could you abandon me for one woman? Huh?”
“Stop spouting nonsense and organize those records.”
“No! I can’t let this go. Answer me! Is it Miss So, or is it me?”
“What?”
“Who do you like better—Miss So or me? Answer!”
“I, I don’t like……!”
Ju Ha-Yoon was about to snap at such absurdity when suddenly his words caught in his throat.
Why was that?
The words “no,” the words “I don’t like her,” simply could not cross his lips.
‘Damn it……!’
The tips of Ju Ha-Yoon’s ears slowly flushed red.
‘It’s all because of that moment. Because of her fingers.’
Men and women ought to keep proper distance, yet without a moment’s hesitation, she’d fed him tofu with her slender fingers.
Those same fingers that brushed across his lips carelessly, that touched the tender flesh inside his mouth, that reached the very tip of his tongue.
‘Damn. Damn it……!’
Just thinking about it made his face burn so fiercely that he lowered his head.
His body, which had remained unmoved even among the dancers of the Imperial Palace, felt strangely different today.

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