My Father Is the Number One Under Heaven - Chapter 89

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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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Episode 89. That temperament of hers—whose does she take after, anyway?

Three days had passed, and at last the day of the Sparring Match arrived.
Peng Seoyeon rose early in the morning and began to stretch leisurely.
Hmm?
Then she tilted her head, puzzled.
“Why do I feel so light today?”
Energy seemed to overflow through her in a way that was almost strange.
It was odd.
She hadn’t done anything in particular before bed the previous night.
Peng Seoyeon, lost in thought for a moment, soon let it drop.
A light body was a good thing, not a bad one, so there was nothing to worry about.
Besides, this was no time to waste on idle speculation.
What mattered now was focusing entirely on today’s Sparring Match.
After warming up for some time, she returned to her room and began preparing to depart for the venue.
The Sparring Match would take place in one of the Sparring Arenas within the Peng Clan compound.
The early hour had been chosen in hopes of drawing a smaller audience.
This wasn’t a casual bout for camaraderie—it would be intense enough that there was no benefit in letting people watch.
“Phew.”
Yet clearly she could not banish tension entirely; her expression was somewhat strained as she carefully adjusted her clothes. It was then that Yeo Unhwi approached her.
Unlike usual, he was dressed rather casually today.
On any other day, this would be the hour when he would need to prepare for the Baekrang Corps training, but since Peng Seoyeon had risen early, he had decided instead to see Yul-i off in the morning.
Yeo Unhwi tidied her hair ribbon as he asked.
“Training this early in the morning? There’s nothing wrong, is there?”
“Nothing at all. It’s just something we’re doing for fun with some old friends.”
“Is that so?”
“Of course.”
Peng Seoyeon offered him a bright smile in response to his question.
As if to say he needn’t worry at all.
Of course, it was a lie Peng Seoyeon had told so as not to burden her husband with concern.
But did she know?
That the expression on her face as she spoke those words was stiffly awkward.
Clever and wise as she was in every other respect, Peng Seoyeon was surprisingly poor at telling lies.
Then again, she had spent her entire life without needing to lie to anyone, so perhaps it was only natural.
At least Yul-i was still asleep—that much was a mercy.
If she had been awake, she might well have insisted on going with her mother, and Peng Seoyeon had been a little worried about that. So this was fortunate.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to come and cheer you on?”
“That would be embarrassing. It’s meant to be something casual between friends.”
In response to Yeo Unhwi’s teasing remark, Peng Seoyeon gave him a playful jab in the ribs.
A small smile bloomed across her face, easing the slight tension that had been there.
In the meantime, Peng Sejin arrived to collect her.
Unlike the two who were smiling, his face looked deeply worn.
It seemed as though he had been awake all night, consumed by worry of one kind or another.
And with good reason—it would have been strange if he hadn’t worried.
He knew better than anyone how disadvantaged this Sparring Match would be for Peng Seoyeon.
Perhaps in the old days—back when Peng Seoyeon had been called Safeng—he would not have fretted like this.
At that time, Dan Mok Hwaryeon would have been no match for Peng Seoyeon at all.
Even among the Safeng of that era, Peng Seoyeon’s accomplishments were remarkable, and her progress had been swift.
But that was then.
The situation had reversed entirely.
So how could he do anything but worry?
And yet—
‘What in the world is he thinking?’
He glanced sideways at Yeo Unhwi’s face.
Yeo Unhwi, who was playing around with Peng Seoyeon, showed not a trace of concern.
Though surely he already knew the full picture of the situation, having heard all the details from Peng Sejin himself.
The day Peng Seoyeon had decided to accept the Sparring Match, Peng Sejin had gone to Yeo Unhwi and explained everything from beginning to end.
The conversation they had shared that day, the relationship between Dan Mok Hwaryeon and Peng Seoyeon, and all his own worries—he had held nothing back.
He had thought perhaps Yeo Unhwi might have some solution, or at the very least might talk Peng Seoyeon out of it.
But the Sparring Match had come to pass, and nothing about Peng Seoyeon had changed.
And yet Yeo Unhwi appeared utterly untroubled.
Why?
Peng Sejin knew all too well how deeply Yeo Unhwi loved and cherished his family, which made his present composure utterly incomprehensible to her.
Ah. Unless he’s already devised some scheme?
It was certainly possible.
Or was it? Was she overthinking this?
But if that weren’t the case, how could he be so calm?
Ah, what is this.
Her worry getting the better of her, Peng Sejin’s thoughts kept ping-ponging back and forth in a way entirely unlike herself.
“Well then, shall we go?”
“Yes, sister.”
Peng Seoyeon, having finished her preparations, took the lead, and Peng Sejin nodded briskly before following in her steps.
But then Peng Sejin glanced back over her shoulder.
Yeo Unhwi was still waving, his smile unwavering.
‘Really. If there’s something, just tell me.’
With a worried expression clouding her face, Peng Sejin made her way toward the Sparring Arena alongside Peng Seoyeon.
***
“Is it today,” Peng Mugang murmured softly as he sat alone with his tea.
The teacup descended onto the table with an anxious clink.
Clink.
The sound seemed to echo his very state of mind.
The bitterness coating his tongue came from more than just the tea.
A shallow sigh escaped him.
‘That girl… her temperament.’
From childhood, Peng Seoyeon had always claimed to fear him as her father, yet she refused to hold back a single word she wanted to say—it was the only way her stubborn nature found peace.
And it wasn’t merely words, either.
Whatever she set her mind to, she would see through, no matter the obstacle.
He knew this.
When she pushed that hard, there was always a reason—a sound one.
Her acceptance of this Sparring Match surely had its own reasoning.
Even if it appeared reckless to anyone’s eyes.
Still, she ought to know when to exercise restraint, but there was his daughter—headstrong enough to simply charge ahead whenever she decided something was right, and it troubled him deeply.
Yet would he ever admit it?
That her temperament was simply a mirror image of his own.
Hmm.
After a long moment lost in thought, Peng Mugang spoke quietly.
“Ji Geom.”
“Yes.”
In an instant, a figure emerged from behind him.
It was Peng Mugang’s personal guard—a man who rarely revealed himself.
He was also the commander of the Muk Ryong Guard, the Clan Patriarch’s direct protective force.
Yet on the surface, the Muk Ryong Guard might as well have never existed.
They were the Peng Clan’s hidden strength, protecting their Patriarch in secret and carrying out his will unseen.
It was true that each of the Five Great Clans’ Patriarchs maintained such a guard in the shadows—this was simply how such families operated.
“Go and observe. Should the situation turn dangerous, intervene.”
“Understood.”
Whoosh.
Ji Geom vanished from sight once more.
Peng Mugang brought the teacup to his lips again.
“That girl’s nature. What am I to do with it. I only hope Yul-i doesn’t inherit it.”
***
When Peng Seoyeon arrived at the Sparring Arena with Peng Sejin, Dan Mok Hwaryeon was already waiting for them.
Dang Mujun and Hwang Bo Cheonwoo were there as well.
Yet the atmosphere between them seemed strained.
In fact, immediately upon arriving, the two men had urged Dan Mok Hwaryeon to apologize to Peng Seoyeon now and call off today’s match.
But as one might expect.
Dan Mok Hwaryeon had flown into a rage and refused outright.
Her expression made it seem as though it were she, not Peng Seoyeon, who had been insulted.
Yet Dan Mok Hwaryeon did not yet realize.

Unlike her own belief that winning this Sparring Match meant deflating Peng Seoyeon’s arrogance and restoring her own honor, everyone else saw it differently.
She didn’t realize how her conduct appeared to the eyes of the two men who had traveled with her all this while.
Most of all, she should never have acted this way before Dang Mujun, the one she harbored a secret admiration for.
Had she known that, she wouldn’t have found herself in this situation at all.
Watched by all the eyes gathered here, the two women now faced each other on the Sparring Arena.
“How about you withdraw while you still can?”
“What?”
Dan Mok Hwaryeon shrugged as she spoke.
“I don’t particularly want to hurt you, after all. I simply thought you didn’t live up to the name you carry. Perhaps that was true once, but honestly, not anymore—surely you can admit that much. Can’t you?”
“I don’t care whether people call me by that name or not.”
“Is that so? Then I suppose we can consider it settled…….”
“But.”
Peng Seoyeon met Dan Mok Hwaryeon’s gaze with firm resolve.
“I said that my life over these past few years was as worthwhile and without regret as the days you’ve lived. The fact that you refused to acknowledge that and insulted me—that’s why we’re standing here face to face now, and I know it. So why are you changing your words?”
“My opinion on that hasn’t changed. I think your past life was pathetic. Very much so.”
“You never saw how I lived.”
“Surely there are things you can know without seeing them? How could they be the same? A poor man’s life and a rich man’s life can never be equal.”
“Of course money and circumstance matter. But you can’t buy a person’s happiness with those things alone.”
“How tediously righteous and foolish. That’s exactly why I despise you.”
“From childhood, you’ve always been this way—so wrapped up in your own selfishness that you never cared for anyone else’s feelings or thoughts. But what’s the point in talking about it now?”
Peng Seoyeon let out a deep sigh and straightened her stance again.
Obvious though it was, she had no intention of conceding the Sparring Match today.
She could not simply stand by and watch her entire past life be negated.
If the life she had chosen was invalidated, then Yeo Unhwi and Yul-i would be invalidated as well.
At the very least, Peng Seoyeon could never endure that.
‘I knew it. Pride without the strength to back it up.’
A smile played at Dan Mok Hwaryeon’s lips.
The words she had spoken earlier about withdrawing were not sincere.
They were merely words cast out on a whim.
She knew well enough that Peng Seoyeon was not the sort to abandon something once she had set her mind to it.
“You’ll regret this. Bitterly.”
“Even so, I won’t be ashamed of myself.”
“How foolish. No wonder you’re in love with a penniless scholar who has nothing to his name.”
Peng Seoyeon’s eyes turned cold.
Dan Mok Hwaryeon had crossed the line—many times over.
Peng Seoyeon absolutely could not afford to lose.
Even knowing how difficult it would be.
“Just watch. This Sparring Match won’t go the way you intend.”
As the rift between the two women deepened, the Sparring Match began.

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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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