I Thought the Youngest Daughter of the Sichuan Tang Family Was Hated - Chapter 22

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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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“Huh? Yeon-ah.”
I had barely stepped out of my quarters before colliding with my older brothers.
“Older brothers?”
As I rushed toward them, Dang Lim ruffled my hair.
“I thought word might have reached you, so I came.”
“Ah….”
Dang Gui-heon gently smiled as he tidied my disheveled hair.
“I wanted to tell you there’s nothing to worry about.”
So that’s why they’d come to my quarters—they’d heard the news that Father might leave again and were concerned I’d be anxious.
“….”
I was deeply worried, but I didn’t voice it.
The concern was evident in their expressions too.
Instead, I nestled into Dang Gui-heon’s embrace and buried my face.
“Ha. Are you being clingy?”
Dang Gui-heon laughed beautifully and held me close in return. I rubbed my cheeks against his green robe several times before lifting my head.
“But, older brother. Even if the Family Council Meeting is held… couldn’t Father just say he doesn’t want to leave? The judgment is ultimately the Patriarch’s decision anyway, isn’t it?”
“Oh. You’re clever, thinking that far ahead.”
Dang Lim placed his hand on his waist in admiration.
The way he said it suggested my reasoning was naive.
Dang Gui-heon shook his head and answered kindly.
“That won’t work. For matters concerning the Patriarch, the Former Patriarch Elder makes the final decision.”
The Former Patriarch Elder—that must be the elderly figure of indeterminate age I’d seen at the Abandoned Watchtower.
“But he’s been in seclusion lately….”
Dang Gui-heon trailed off and clamped his mouth shut. His expression grew grave, and my face hardened reflexively.
“When this happens, it’s only a matter of time before legitimacy becomes the focal point.”
I blinked at Dang Gui-heon’s serious words.
“Bloodline…?”
What was he talking about?
Surely Father wasn’t illegitimate or something like that?
“Why would that matter? Right?”
As I tugged his sleeve and asked, Dang Gui-heon let out an exclamation.
“Ah, you really don’t know, Yeon-ah.”
How much was I actually unaware of?
Dang Gui-heon exchanged a brief glance with Dang Lim before looking back at me.
Then, without any hesitation, he continued.
“Father. He’s a son-in-law who married into the family.”
“What?!”
My jaw dropped.
Family, bloodline, bonds.
The Patriarch of the Dang Family, who staked his life on such things, was an outsider.
The Elders allowed that? Dang Seo-o Elder permitted such a thing?
“There was fierce opposition, but what choice did we have? Mother was the sole legitimate heir to survive the war, yet her health was fragile.”
“From what I heard, she became Patriarch by winning the martial tournament?”
Dang Lim asked, scratching his temple.
Dang Gui-heon shook his head firmly.
“That’s what gave her legitimacy. Dok-jon declared he would place the strongest in the position of future Patriarch.”
“Ah….”
The face of Dang Mu-seon surfaced in my mind.
Thanks to that person’s protection, Father was able to safely maintain his position as Patriarch.
But now Dang Seo-o was challenging that legitimacy.
‘It means we’ve lost Dok-jon’s protection.’
This was far graver than I had realized.
“So we’re planning to go to the Patriarch’s Hall to see Father. Will you come with us?”
Dang Lim asked.
“Um… no.”
I shook my head.
“I need to go somewhere else.”
All I could think of was getting to the Elder Brother Faction as quickly as possible.
My older brothers let me go surprisingly easily.
I had expected them to bombard me with questions—where are you going, you’re not heading somewhere dangerous, and so on—but they didn’t.
‘They both seem too preoccupied to notice.’
I too wanted nothing more than to see Father immediately.
But hearing about Father’s background, I could no longer sit idle.
‘What do you mean “she became Patriarch because she was the strongest”!’
Then hold another martial tournament right now!
“This is absolutely absurd…!”
I walked briskly toward the Elder Brother Faction, fuming. I felt Gong Myo and Dang Dam watching my expression carefully.
As I entered the Elder Brother Faction, a soaring roof greeted me.
Overwhelmed by the countless books lining the walls, I glanced around.
“Hm?”
The interior felt strangely familiar.
Documents piled like mountains. Staff members buried beneath them, frantically wielding their brushes.
I pushed through the chaos and let my feet guide me forward.
I’m certain of it. I’ve been here before.
“Ah, Miss. If you go in like that….”
Gong Myo hesitated as she followed behind me.
Reaching a dead end, I turned right and spotted what was clearly a high official’s office.
A paper-screened door. It felt oddly familiar.
‘Did I know someone here? In this place?’
The soldiers standing before the door widened their eyes as they saw me.
As they hurried through the door, a heavy thud echoed behind them.
Brief commotion stirred within the room.
“Please come in, Miss!”
Before I could even reach the door, the soldiers swung it wide open.
Leaving Gong Myo and Dang Dam standing outside, I stepped into the room.
The scent of ink. The smell of paper.
And a faint, metallic odor drifted through the air.
Documents brushed beneath my feet.
‘Who in the world owns this room?’
“Yaaawn—.”
A weary yawn echoed through the space.
“Hm?”
The young Elder Brother Faction Deputy I’d seen at the Family Council Meeting sat at a broad desk.
So this was the Deputy’s office.
A face screaming boredom. Those transparent eyes within it. I could never forget that contradiction.
He lifted his head ever so slightly to acknowledge his visitor.
“Ah. You’ve arrived.”
I blinked at his composed demeanor.
‘I never said I was coming.’
Yet despite my sudden appearance, he responded as though he’d been expecting me all along.
He gestured toward a chair and spoke.
“There’s tanggwa there. Please help yourself.”
The chair was positioned not far from his desk.
I blinked blankly before responding naturally.
“…Yes.”
Walking over and sitting down felt equally natural.
‘What is this?’
Why did this cushioned comfort feel so familiar?
I surveyed my surroundings and reached for the small ceramic bowl containing the tanggwa.
The floor was completely covered in papers and ink stains, the walls lined densely with scrolls.
Only the floor leading to a small door in the back remained somewhat clean; everything else was a mess.
“Um… Deputy.”
I called out carefully, then popped a piece of tanggwa into my mouth.
The Elder Brother Faction Deputy’s brush, which had been moving fluidly, stopped.
He lifted his head and spoke.
“Uncle.”
“Eh? Eh?”
“You called me uncle, didn’t you?”
I did?
I called the Elder Brother Faction Deputy uncle? Not great-uncle or paternal uncle?
‘He’s not my uncle by blood, surely.’
Father is from the Outer Wall, so how could we share the same blood?
Perhaps it just means they were that close.
“As for the Dang pastry, he preferred that one more.”
He gestured toward the bowl beside the one I was holding.
“It’s been a year, so perhaps you’ve forgotten.”
I regarded him with suspicious eyes and slowly moved my hand.
I tasted the Dang pastry from the other bowl.
‘He’s right. This one is better.’
I chewed the pastry thoughtfully and asked.
“Did you… come here often?”
“Very frequently, Miss.”
So they really were close.
That explained why the Elder Brother Faction felt so familiar to me. The members hadn’t even looked surprised when they saw me.
‘Though that might have been because they were busy with work.’
Still, he was a peculiar man.
After a year apart, even the Nanny had wept, yet this uncle’s reaction was remarkably subdued.
It wasn’t that he disliked me—rather, he seemed to be someone who expressed himself sparingly.
I could tell just by looking at the cabinet in that corner, every compartment overflowing with Dang pastries.
…
I climbed down from the chair and crept cautiously toward him.
Even when I peeked my head over the massive desk, he showed no reaction.
Could he not see me?
I rose onto my tiptoes and called to him.
“Um… Uncle.”
“Yes?”
He answered without lifting his gaze from the documents.
“I… had a dream.”
“A nightmare, perhaps?”
“No…”
I deliberately pouted my lips, arranging my expression like a rain-soaked puppy as I continued.
“It was about Father.”
At that moment, another dull thud echoed from the back door.
I was just growing curious about what might be there when he set down his brush and called to me.
“Miss, come here for a moment.”
I approached the hand he gestured with, stained with ink.
He lifted me effortlessly and set me upon his lap.
“What was this dream about that has you looking so forlorn?”
He asked. His tone was matter-of-fact, yet it felt tender.
I offered the answer I had prepared beforehand.
“Father said I was useless to him… and ordered me poisoned.”
This was my plan.
To ask the Elder Brother Faction’s executive in detail how poison orders were carried out, what the process entailed. To find the Collateral Faction’s connections through that inquiry.
To pull this off, I needed an excuse of this caliber.
It wasn’t a complete lie anyway. Half of it had actually happened.
“And then?”
He asked.
“And then… I ran away. That’s why I dreamed I could never see everyone again.”
I lowered my head deeply, my voice trembling with emotion.
“Hmm.”
An indifferent response came back.
I looked up at him with greater intensity, letting tears fall freely.
“Uncle, Father wouldn’t really do that, would he? I’m so frightened. Sniff!”
“So that’s why you came to find me.”
He nodded, stroking my round head gently.
“Rest assured. Such a thing will not come to pass.”
His answer bordered on a vow.
Coming from him—so devoid of emotion—it felt all the more credible.
“Sniff, why?”
I blinked, asking the question.
He looked down at me directly and spoke.
“Should the Patriarch ever issue such an order, even by the slimmest chance…”
His eyes gleamed like glass marbles.
“Sichuan would become a sea of fire.”

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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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