I Decided to Give the Contract to the Male Vassal - Chapter 78

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 78

Until now, the people of Cheongwolgung had not easily approached me.

It was understandable that they would feel uncomfortable, as a mistress had suddenly appeared in a place that had only housed men.

So I naturally thought they would distance themselves from me even more after Wicheonso left Cheongwolgung.

But to think that the chief steward would come to me directly and entrust me with such practical matters…

There’s no helping it.

I have no choice but to do it.

“First, since what’s written here is difficult to understand, gather the detailed items for the armory, treasury, and internal funds, along with related records from the past year and bring them to me.”

“Understood.”

The chief steward left with a determined expression.

During my time as the head of Sangteon-dang, I had handled countless pieces of information and grasped situations throughout the Central Plains.

Compared to that, handling the affairs of Cheongwolgung was not difficult at all.

As soon as I returned to my residence, I opened the office and decided to resolve the internal affairs of Cheongwolgung from there.

Right after lunch, Jeong Chongwan brought me the organized list.

I was a bit worried since he was a young chief steward who hadn’t even reached his twenties, but surprisingly, he seemed to have a meticulous personality as he had organized the list in detail by category.

His eyes sparkled as if waiting for the next instruction.

“For the armory section, I think we should also hear from the affiliated warriors.”

At my words, Jeong Chongwan immediately called the related warriors.

“Did you summon me, Palace Master?”

The warrior who arrived showed proper respect before me.

“I’d like to inspect the armory and also check the training schedule. Would that be alright?”

“I’ll guide you right now. Please follow me.”

He opened the armory in an orderly manner.

Though he might have disliked me, an outsider, rummaging around Cheongwolgung, there was no such sign from him at all.

‘I thought the warriors of Cheongwolgung wouldn’t acknowledge me…’

Surprisingly, things were going completely differently from what I had expected.

“Group formation training is scheduled for today. The Third Prince used to personally participate in the training schedule…”

The warrior glanced at me. It seemed like he had something he wanted to say.

“What’s your name?”

“I’m called Obeom in Cheongwolgung. Please call me that as well, Palace Master.”

Wicheonso had said he would only keep an elite few in Cheongwolgung, and Obeom seemed to be the fifth elite who remained.

“Good, Obeom. Though I’m called the master of Cheongwolgung, I still don’t know much about this place. Would it be alright if I observe the training?”

“Our lord commanded us to follow the Palace Master’s orders.”

It seemed Wicheonso had given me quite a lot of authority before leaving.

Looking back, though Wicheonso was someone who spoke sparingly, he seemed to be the type who thoroughly carried out what he had decided once.

“Proceed with the training as scheduled. I’ll decide whether to observe or not.”

“Understood.”

The training was scheduled for the afternoon.

Since I planned to handle the administrative affairs of Cheongwolgung before then, I instructed Jeong Chongwan.

“Call those who handle the internal affairs of the palace as well. I need to hear their reports.”

The attendants came to me and informed me in detail about the situation in Cheongwolgung.

Afterward, I gave instructions for necessary tasks and straightened out the system.

Though I would make the final decisions, I intended to make things run to some extent even without my direct instructions.

Unexpectedly, they followed my words quickly and silently.

As I spent time organizing the system, the training time had already approached.

I rose from my seat and headed to the training hall with Jeong Chongwan and the maids.

In the training hall, warriors dressed in black martial uniforms were performing formations in perfect order.

Among them, several young boys who hadn’t yet come of age caught my eye.

I had heard that Wicheonso brought orphans with martial arts talent to Cheongwolgung for formation training, and these were those who, though inexperienced, were earnestly devoted to their training.

‘That’s the Heavenly Sect’s formation.’

This formation had been troublesome when I was at Sangteon-dang, but thinking of it as being used by allies, it was quite a reliable formation.

I added my advice to help them reinforce their lacking areas.

“You there.”

When I called out, the warriors turned to look.

“Don’t step too deeply in the second step. That creates an opening during the third step.”

I wondered who would listen to the words of someone who had been confined as a martial arts cripple, but surprisingly, they paid attention to my advice.

“Until the third flag moves, delay the second row by half a step.”

The warriors corrected their formation as I instructed.

Perhaps because they were young, their improvement was quite rapid.

‘What’s this? They’re listening well. Did Wicheonso give them orders or something?’

While I was tilting my head in puzzlement, a warrior who appeared to be in his teens approached me.

“Palace Master.”

He spoke to me cautiously.

“I heard about what happened during the Cheonmu Festival. You created an amazing sacred flame, didn’t you?”

Once one person spoke up, the others gradually joined in.

“I heard you deflected an arrow shot by a priest with your sword.”

“They said you have exceptional reflexes. Indeed, our lord’s words were not wrong.”

It seemed the events from the Cheonmu Festival had reached their ears.

“Ahem, ahem. That was just because I was lucky.”

I cleared my throat and brushed it off vaguely.

“The advice you gave about the formation earlier was also good. If it’s alright with you, could you give us your opinions like this from time to time?”

Since Cheongwolgung was the Third Prince’s residence, I had thought the warriors would also be rigid and cold people, but they were different from what I had expected.

When I gave them a few more pieces of advice, everyone devoted themselves to training for formation improvement.

Suddenly, I felt something was strange.

‘It feels like I’ve really become the master of Cheongwolgung.’

To think I could be acknowledged just by creating the blue sacred flame during the Cheonmu Festival.

Somehow, I also felt a sense of pride.

When I was about to get up, thinking it was time to return, Jeong Chongwan came running to me.

“Palace Master! I think you need to come out and see.”

Looking greatly flustered, beads of sweat had formed on the side of his face.

“What’s the matter?”

“Hyeoncheon Palace and Hwaeuimgung have sent gifts.”

I thought they would start moving soon, but I didn’t expect them to move simultaneously like this.

‘Is it because Yoounhwa and Nosoggun are keeping each other in check?’

I organized my thoughts and followed Jeong Chongwan to the main gate. Two carriages had already arrived in front of it.

Before the gate, attendants from both palaces stood in line with their heads deeply bowed.

“We greet the master of Cheongwolgung.”

The first to speak was a maid from Hyeoncheon Palace dressed in dark-colored clothes.

Though she wore a gentle smile, the corners of her lips were trembling slightly.

“This is a gift sent by the master of Hyeoncheon Palace. Worried that your body might have weakened during the Cheonmu Festival, she prepared spiritual pills to nourish your body.”

The maid handed me a dark-colored box.

Following that, a maid from Hwaeuimgung dressed in purple clothes stepped forward.

“The master of Hwaeuimgung has prepared a gift with sincerity, praying for your well-being.”

The maid held up a purple box toward me.

The two boxes sent separately by Yoounhwa and Nosoggun came into view at once.

Each box was carved with intricate patterns that showed the touch of a craftsman.

“Open them.”

At my command, Jeong Chongwan opened the boxes with tension.

In Hyeoncheon Palace’s box were two purple spiritual pills and a gorgeous fan made of white duck feathers. And beside them lay a letter.

“The fan is an elegant item that would suit you, a precious object that even the master of Hyeoncheon Palace had difficulty obtaining. Also, she included an invitation to a banquet at Hyeoncheon Palace.”

The box from Hwaeuimgung was even more excessive.

There were luxurious sachets, glass bottles wrapped in silk, and small boxes filled with various flower petals whose identity was difficult to determine.

‘Incense and flower petals….’

Checking by scent, they seemed to be tools commonly used to disturb one’s inner energy. Also, that combination of flower petals could be used as poison or medicine to disrupt one’s constitution.

‘And a letter.’

Hwaeuimgung had also sent me an invitation.

“We sincerely hope that Cheongwolgungju will attend Hwaeuimgung’s banquet and grace us with your presence.”

Both of them had invited me simultaneously.

Along with tremendous gifts, no less.

‘The more valuable the gift, the more expensive the price tends to be.’

This too was one of the things I had learned at Sangteon-dang.

The fact that they deliberately sent gifts while Wicheonso was away was probably because they wanted to pressure me into choosing them.

“Jeong Chongwan.”

“Yes, Gungju.”

“Send the gifts back.”

“…All of them, you mean?”

“Yes. And I’ll write letters, so please wait a moment.”

The maids from Hyeoncheon Palace and Hwaeuimgung flinched. They probably hadn’t expected me to refuse the gifts.

I wrote letters to each palace and gave them to the maids.

[Thank you for your warm hospitality and for sending such precious gifts. However, since my husband is currently away, if you could send them again when my husband is present, I would gladly accept them.]

It meant to send them openly when Wicheonso was present, not when I was alone.

The maids looked bewildered as they left through the gate with their carriages.

“Will you be alright?”

Jeong Chongwan looked at me with concern.

I smiled very faintly.

“I haven’t been at Cheongwolgung for very long yet, so my knowledge is still lacking. For the time being, I don’t think I can rashly accept unfamiliar things.”

Jeong Chongwan nodded as if satisfied with my choice.

❖ ❖ ❖

After Chung-rin left for Cheongwolgung, the Chomundan mark that Yeo Gyeong-o had inscribed on her body lost its effect.

This was because the resonance woven through the mystical formation technique weakened as the distance grew.

Just as he was feeling inwardly disappointed, a letter in code arrived from Okxiang. It seemed to be written by Chung-rin.

There’s a place where traces of the Ma Ryeonghwa Family remain.

Evidence that they experimented on people should be there.

Yeo Gyeong-o’s gaze wavered at the letter he received from Chung-rin.

Chung-rin knew about the evidence he had been searching for all along.

I need your power to confirm it.

Chung-rin was proposing that they move together.

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