I Thought the Youngest Daughter of the Sichuan Tang Family Was Hated - Chapter 21

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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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Dok-jon’s Quarters. Chilryeong Mountain, Jeungsan Peak.
A dreadful mountain spirit that melts the ankles of any who dare set foot upon it.
“The Family Patriarch lost to those rats from the Ma Clan.”
A monotone voice echoed through the forest.
“His vitality wanes. Soon he will depart from this world….”
I closed my eyes slowly, then opened them again as I continued speaking.
“Did you think such idle gossip would escape my ears?”
I clenched my hands clasped behind my back.
The rustling movements of the poisonous creatures hidden within the dense undergrowth fell silent. My steady gaze pierced through the foliage, fixing upon Dang Cheon-mu as he revealed himself.
“Tell me—how does it feel to become a recluse in the back chambers?”
His eyes seemed gentle as still waters at first glance, yet fathomless as the deepest abyss.
“Not pleasant, I imagine?”
Dang Cheon-mu bore my weighty gaze fully, lowering his head.
“If you ask about my feelings, I cannot say they are agreeable.”
“Correct. You shall know displeasure for the rest of your days.”
I let out a scoff. Descending from the platform, I seized a sword thrust carelessly into the ground—one bearing the emblem of a certain martial sect.
Whoosh—!
As I swung the blade, an arc traced through the air.
A single leaf drifting in the void was cleaved in two along the curve.
“Do you know why I distrust swordcraft?”
I tapped the blade’s flat against my palm as I spoke.
“Because it breaks.”
“Precisely. What good is a finely honed edge? It shatters so easily.”
Crack!
I brought my thick hand down upon the blade, and the sword snapped cleanly in two.
“It breaks.”
I flicked the metal scraps scattered on the ground with my foot as I continued.
“You learned swordcraft before you took a wife, did you not?”
“Yes.”
“Tsk. That is why your entire existence has been one long misery. The moment adversity arrives, you crumble.”
I belittled Dang Cheon-mu while observing his face.
He showed not the slightest tremor—just as he had been when he resolved to become Family Patriarch.
“Did I not instruct you precisely the opposite? Bend, but do not break. That is how one endures as Family Patriarch.”
“You did.”
“Then what did you do?”
My tongue turned sharp.
I pressed him relentlessly, stepping closer.
“Your wife died, so you lost your mind and abandoned the Family Clan?”
How dare you?
That was what I was asking.
“…I wasn’t in my right mind.”
Dang Cheon-mu had no other answer to give.
He had already begged for forgiveness, and Mu-seon understood well enough the pain of losing a wife—there was no need to dwell on it.
All I could do was lay bare my sincerity.
“But now I understand. Running away yields nothing. You may not believe me, but I am not the man I was last year.”
Mu-seon waved his hand dismissively.
“No. You will never return to sanity. That is simply what you are.”
“…”
Dang Cheon-mu’s Adam’s apple bobbed.
Then black blood poured from his parched lips.
“Cough!”
Thud. Dang Cheon-mu collapsed to his knees on the dirt floor.
“Gasp… cough…”
Breathing heavily, he looked up at Mu-seon with unwavering resolve.
“Remarkable that you survived. It was a poison I personally concocted.”
Mu-seon’s eyes gleamed with sudden interest.
“Does this mean… you forgive me now?”
“Yes. I said if you survived this poison, I would turn a blind eye to you.”
It was the moment Dang Cheon-mu exhaled in relief at Mu-seon’s words.
“But I never said I would protect you as I once did.”
Dang Cheon-mu’s eyes widened in shock.
“Master…”
“You have left my hand. Go forth and live your life to the fullest, broken as you may be.”
Mu-seon, indifferent to the gazes upon his back, kicked a blade fragment with his foot, sliding it toward Dang Cheon-mu.
Dang Cheon-mu’s face reflected in the clouded steel.
Mu-seon knew that expression well.
The stronger one’s will, the greater the despair that follows. Too great a despair steals away a person’s very soul.
This was a corpse. A living corpse.
Perhaps Mu-seon had shown mercy by feeding him the deadly poison.
By giving him the chance to die. If he could follow his wife in this way, would that not be a mercy?
Mu-seon waited quietly for the light to fade from Dang Cheon-mu’s eyes.
Thus does one break again. When one clings to too much.
“I…”
Contrary to expectation, Dang Cheon-mu grasped the dying ember and lifted his head.
“I am not, Master.”
He raised a fist, veins bulging across his knuckles, and glared at Mu-seon with fierce determination.
“I am not merely such a blade.”
As if he had never desired such a chance to die.
Mu-seon raised an eyebrow.
“Are you saying you’re an eternal cold steel, then?”
Despite Mu-seon’s callous mockery, Dang Cheon-mu continued with an unwavering voice.
“No. It is nothing comparable—merely a blade broken countless times.”
He did not shy away from directing criticism at himself.
Yet within those words lay no despair whatsoever.
Rather, molten steel seemed to roil within Dang Cheon-mu’s eyes.
He had transformed. Compared to just before the expedition, he had become undeniably more resolute and steely.
Mu-seon’s eyes narrowed.
“Steel grows harder the more it is struck. It becomes stronger through tempering. I—”
Dang Cheon-mu spat accumulated blood onto the floor and rose to his feet.
“I will become a blade forged again and again. A blade to protect my children.”
It seemed he had already detoxified completely, for his complexion had returned to normal.
Mu-seon turned his head sharply, speaking with displeasure.
“Fine words. Who cannot speak them?”
“It matters not whether you believe me.”
Dang Cheon-mu wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand and steadied his breathing.
His broad shoulders rose and fell. Only now did Dang Cheon-mu’s true bearing become fully visible.
Blinking calmly, he concluded his words.
“I came only to ask for your forgiveness. Then—”
Clasping his hands together, Dang Cheon-mu bowed his head.
Though Mu-seon’s sharp gaze showed no sign of softening, Dang Cheon-mu turned without hesitation.
Watching Dang Cheon-mu descend the stone steps as though nothing had transpired, Mu-seon shook his head slowly.
“…Madness. I must be mad to have sheltered such a man and placed him in the position of Family Patriarch.”
Releasing a deep sigh, he entered his Quarters slowly.
As he walked, a fragment of the broken blade caught his eye, and he crushed it beneath his foot.
Crack.
“Hmm?”
The unsettling sound made Mu-seon lower his gaze.
“…”
A blade fragment, cracked yet unbroken, lay wrapped in fallen leaves, reflecting the light.
***
“Another Family Council Meeting?”
“Yes, Miss…!”
Gong Myo steadied her breathing and nodded vigorously.
When Dang Dam offered her cold water, she accepted it with both hands and gulped it down eagerly.
She must have rushed here in quite a hurry.
It was certainly surprising news.
Not even a day had passed since the last Family Council Meeting, yet the next one was already scheduled.
“Did Father call for it?”
I asked while chewing on a pastry.
“No…!”
Gong Myo shook her head, wiping away beads of perspiration from her brow.
“It’s not that—Dang Seo-o Elder moved the Elder Council and made an official proposal. The Third Young Master’s household just heard about it!”
My eyes narrowed involuntarily.
Dang Seo-o moving the entire Elder Council was far from ordinary.
“What? What did he propose?”
“It was… a sworn oath, they said.”
Gong Myo’s shoulders sagged heavily. She understood perfectly well what that meant.
I chewed the pastry once more.
“Then it’s as I thought…”
They intended to pressure Father into fulfilling his sworn oath and drive him out again.
That way, they could seize complete control of the Family Clan without any interference.
‘I suspected as much…’
But I never expected them to move so quickly.
Just when I thought we might finally catch our breath, everything fell apart.
“…”
Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch. I gnawed at the pastry like a mouse, my fury barely contained.
I drained the now-cold tea in large gulps and set the cup down roughly.
I wiped the moisture from my lips and glared ahead.
I was staring into empty space, imagining Dang Seo-o’s face.
‘So you’re determined to cast Father out?’
If Dang Seo-o was moving based on the sworn oath, then I had my own plans.
If the hallucinogenic herbs were their doing, then they must have orchestrated the poisoning as well.
Though it hasn’t happened yet, the future isn’t far off—an investigation would surely uncover something.
“Myo, Dam. Let’s go.”
I rose from my seat as I spoke.
“Yes? Are we going for a walk, Miss?”
Gong Myo asked, drinking from her second cup of cold water.
I shook my head in response.
“No.”
How could I possibly send Father to the Battlefield when he hasn’t even properly rested yet?
This time, I’ll make sure to teach them a proper lesson.
“To the Elder Brother Faction.”

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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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