I Thought the Youngest Daughter of the Sichuan Tang Family Was Hated - Chapter 66

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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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“We couldn’t locate Yak-seon’s Village….”
“Should we attempt a different approach now?”
Namgoong Sae-ryun’s eyes deepened at the murmurs around him.
He needed to reconsider his next moves.
“Are there truly no other methods of framing someone? The dead leave no testimony—why not simply create multiple corpses?”
The Black-masked Woman spoke again.
Most nodded in agreement.
When someone died and no culprit could be identified, the most plausible suspect within the faction would be someone from the Dang Family.
All they needed was to fabricate evidence of wrongdoing. It was hardly a difficult task.
Sae-ryun, lost in thought, suddenly lifted his head.
“That’s right, back then….”
He gestured toward the Chief Steward.
“There was a letter that arrived from Changdok Valley. Bring it to me.”
“Yes, Master.”
The Chief Steward quickly retrieved the letter and presented it. Namgoong Sae-ryun read through it slowly, then smiled quietly to himself.
【From the Poison Sect of Changdok Valley, Jinbeop Order.】
【…For the peace and prosperity of Changdok Valley itself, this Jinbeop Order must surely pacify the entire region….】
Changdok Valley—a deep gorge nestled in Jungyeon.
Numerous poison sects had gathered there, forming an alliance.
Yet suddenly, one of those sects had sent a letter.
Though it was laden with excuses, the message was simple.
They wished to massacre the other poison sects in Changdok Valley and reign supreme over them—and wanted the Maeng to turn a blind eye.
Sending the letter to the Sega Society rather than the Righteous Path Alliance was a particularly cunning ploy.
The Righteous Path Alliance would never tolerate such actions.
Sae-ryun had initially dismissed it as the prattle of presumptuous fools, but now, reconsidering, it held a certain utility.
“This will suffice.”
He could pin this affair on the Dang Family.
Rumors would spread that the Dang Family had been interfering with the other poison sects.
‘First, I must tarnish their reputation and undermine their standing. They must not become an obstacle to my noble aspirations.’
He composed a letter and handed it to the Black-masked Woman.
“Deliver this to my eyes.”
She accepted the letter with a subtle smile.
Sae-ryun’s eyes gleamed with contempt.
***
“Phew. Finally arrived.”
Seong-ya removed his face mask and stepped into the empty Jinho Camp.
More than a month had passed since the Jinbeop Order was purged.
And finally, a direct message had come from headquarters.
He unfolded the letter without hesitation.
【We’ve obtained another trap to catch the viper. Present the bait.】
Dang Mu-seon had ordered that any letter received should be reported immediately to either him or the Patriarch.
‘Normally, I should follow the orders exactly….’
His hands trembled as he held the letter, recalling what had happened a month ago.
A chilling conversation with a certain young girl—innocent and adorable as she was.
***
After purging the Jinbeop Order and returning, Seong-ya followed Hee-yeon’s suggestion and headed to her Quarters.
“I want to talk with just the two of us!”
Upon reaching the Room, Hee-yeon whined at Dang Dam and Gong Myo.
They had tried to stop her, saying it was dangerous to be alone with Seong-ya, but there was no breaking Hee-yeon’s stubbornness.
“If, if anything happens, you absolutely must t-tell me!”
“If I sense anything amiss, I’ll open the door immediately.”
After they left, Seong-ya and Hee-yeon were alone together.
“….”
For some reason, he felt tense. As he swallowed dryly, Hee-yeon handed him a teacup.
“Here, tea-. This is a snack-.”
Hee-yeon, playfully setting out the cooled tea and refreshments, smiled brightly.
Seong-ya grasped the teacup with both hands and bowed his head respectfully.
“Th-thank you… Miss.”
“Enjoy it. No poison!”
There was a sharpness to her cheerful words.
Seong-ya carefully sipped the tea.
He suspected something strange might be in it, but his parched throat wouldn’t let him hesitate.
Hee-yeon watched him with satisfaction and opened her mouth.
“Were you very surprised back then?”
Back then? Seong-ya blinked as he gulped down the tea.
“That poison was your doing too! Like when you said that!”
“Pfft!”
He spat the tea back out.
“What’s the matter!”
At that sound, Dang Dam quickly threw open the door.
Hee-yeon waved her hand casually.
“I think he choked. It’s fine!”
“….”
Dang Dam confirmed that it was Seong-ya who had choked and promptly closed the door.
Seong-ya wiped his damp clothes and chin frantically with his sleeve.
Hee-yeon gazed at him with innocent curiosity and asked.
“How did I know that?”
At her question, Seong-ya’s mouth went dry.
‘Am I really having a conversation with an eight-year-old right now?’
Her speech and appearance were unmistakably those of a child.
The room was even scattered with toys, and her hair was adorned with childish ornaments.
Yet Seong-ya’s instincts screamed at him.
‘I need to answer carefully….’
He swallowed hard and opened his mouth seriously.
“Young lady, I… I will never tell anyone what you know, or how you came to know it.”
“Mm-hmm. That’s right.”
Hee-yeon nodded as if it were obvious and crunched on a pastry.
“Ugh…. It tastes terrible.”
Her expression twisted the moment she took a bite.
She quickly pulled out a pouch of candy and popped a red pellet into her mouth.
Only then did Hee-yeon’s expression soften.
“Ahh. That’s better.”
After chewing the candy for a while, she finally spoke.
“You need to keep doing that from now on. Understand?”
He stared blankly at Hee-yeon before suddenly asking back.
“…What?”
Hee-yeon kindly explained once more.
“Right. Whatever I tell you to do, you can’t tell anyone.”
Even hearing it again, the meaning was unclear.
Was she saying she would use Seong-ya like an extension of herself from now on?
And Seong-ya couldn’t reveal any of this to anyone?
‘Why should I?’
Dang Mu-seon held Seong-ya’s lifeline in his hands.
No matter how much she was the young lady that Gong Myo served, Seong-ya had no reason to obey….
“Meow-.”
Ripples spread across the surface of the teacup.
At the sudden soft sound, he turned his head.
A small white lizard had somehow climbed onto his shoulder.
“Gasp….”
Soon a tingling pain spread throughout Seong-ya’s entire body.
He felt blood worms writhing in his veins.
Then, a drip.
“….”
Hot liquid flowed from his ear canal.
When I touched it, the sticky, bright red substance was unmistakably blood.
Seong-ya regarded Hee-yeon with a hardened expression.
‘Ah, my lifeline. So it was here all along.’
Realizing I had been mistaken all this time, I abruptly shifted my demeanor.
“Please, speak freely, Miss!”
***
“…Good heavens. The scab from back then is still there.”
Recalling Hee-yeon’s smiling face, I scratched at my ear canal vigorously.
Her appearance was so endearingly innocent—one would wonder how the Patriarch could have produced such a harmless-looking child—yet her actions were unmistakably those of Dok-jon.
“Ugh. How unsettling.”
Grimacing, I retrieved my brush.
What Hee-yeon had tasked me with was a rather simple matter.
When a letter arrived from the Sega Society, I was not to deliver it directly to Dang Mu-seon or the Patriarch….
“Do it like this.”
I was to replicate the letter’s handwriting exactly, then append Hee-yeon’s words beneath it.
The brush tip glided smoothly across the letter.
【We have procured another snare to capture the viper. Produce the bait.】
That was where the original content ended.
It meant they had devised yet another scheme to undermine the Dang Family, and demanded evidence befitting such a plan.
When they had previously attempted to implicate the Dang Family using Yak-seon’s Village, they had required evidence the moment Yak-seon was located.
That they now demanded evidence be sent first suggested this was a plan they were confident about.
Evidence meant anything that could prove Dang Family involvement would suffice.
Something like the Dang Family’s signature deadly poison.
But I had no intention of proceeding as instructed.
“…So you’re telling me to write this here instead.”
Recalling Hee-yeon’s words, I began adding content to the end of the letter.
【The Geumrin Sect’s massacre in Jungyeon’s Changdok Valley shall be blamed upon us.】
“Phew.”
After perfectly replicating the text, I exhaled deeply, suddenly aware of my tension.
My breath was trembling.
I tilted my head back to view the letter from above.
Seen this way, the content flowed naturally enough.
It appeared the Sega Society had foreseen the massacre occurring in Jungyeon’s Changdok Valley and planned to blame it on the Dang Family.
Could Hee-yeon have foreseen this even earlier?
‘How on earth?’
…No. I should not harbor such doubts.
A tool finds peace of mind by simply being a tool.
Shaking my head, I concealed the letter within my garments.
Leaving Jinho Camp, I made directly for the Patriarch’s Hall.

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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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