Surviving as the Heavenly Demon’s Concubine - Chapter 3

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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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‘This little brat!’

Dang Chingryeo made an incredulous expression at her youngest sister’s outrageously bold words.

No matter how poorly educated she might be, how dare she call her eldest sister’s words nonsense when there’s a nine-year age gap between them.

For the sake of family discipline, she should rightfully pick up a switch right now, but considering that the current situation was greatly shaking up Riser’s life, she decided to understand with a generous heart.

“Fine. You’re not a child anymore, so you have the right to know the truth.”

“? If you’re young, you don’t have the right to know the truth?”

“Th-that’s not it, but. Focus on the story.”

Dang Chingryeo, momentarily losing her composure after being caught off guard, cleared her throat and began speaking again.

“You know that guests came from Cheonryeon Palace, right?”

“Yeah. Dang Solin told me.”

Dang Chingryeo tilted her head with a somewhat puzzled expression.

There was no reason for Dang Solin to show such kindness to Riser.

“Don’t tell me you two are close?”

“Sort of. We decided she’d sleep over at Hanjeong Hall tonight.”

Riser casually said something that would make Dang Solin turn seven or eight different colors and deny if she heard it.

“I see. Well, that child Solin does tend to associate with anyone without discretion.”

“….”

I’m also a direct descendant of the Sichuan Dang Family.

Riser felt slightly sulky.

“To get back to the main point, as you know, Cheonryeon Palace is a place that periodically recruits external talent to cultivate new demon cultists. Especially prestigious martial arts families like ours visit regularly because it’s a good place to find people with outstanding qualities.”

This was already a known fact.

“But this time wasn’t a regular visit. They came with a specific purpose in mind, and that purpose is….”

Dang Chingryeo closed her mouth and controlled her emotions as anger seemed to surge up.

“It was me.”

Is that really something to get so angry about?

Riser stared blankly, unable to understand Dang Chingryeo’s emotional flow.

‘I would have been happy if it were me.’

Entering Cheonryeon Palace was basically a joyous occasion.

True to a worldview where the Demonic Sect had won, becoming a demon cultist was overwhelmingly advantageous for getting ahead in this world.

“You wouldn’t understand.”

“Yeah. I don’t understand. If the Princess of Heavenly Lotus came personally to take you to Cheonryeon Palace, isn’t that a good thing?”

“That’s exactly the problem. The fact that the Princess of Heavenly Lotus came personally.”

As mentioned earlier, Cheonryeon Palace recruiting new cultists was an ordinary matter.

However, the Princess coming personally to take someone was clearly not a normal occurrence.

“The Princess came to take me as a concubine for the Heavenly Emperor.”

Riser was shocked.

“A concubine?”

Not even a secondary wife, but a concubine.

Since when was the Heavenly Demon an emperor?

‘No, more importantly, the current Heavenly Demon is the same age as our father!’

Even though this was an era relatively tolerant of couples with large age gaps, wasn’t this going too far?

“Right. It’s all First Wife’s scheming.”

First Wife meant… it referred to Seo Yeonjeong, the first wife.

She was the mother of the eldest son Dang Hyeonmin as well as the two sisters Dang Harin and Dang Seoha, and even in the Sichuan Dang Family where there was no distinction between wives and concubines, she subtly received treatment as the main wife.

“So what you’re saying is that First Wife deliberately called the Princess of Heavenly Lotus and recommended Chingryeo as a concubine to drive her out of the Dang family.”

“You’re quick to understand, which is convenient.”

‘Indeed. If that’s the case, it makes sense.’

Despite Dang Muncheon still being a healthy man in his 50s, the succession competition for the Dang family was already very fierce due to his wealth and power that would put most conglomerates to shame.

Among them, the most likely candidates were Dang Hyeonmin, the eldest son of the first wife, and Dang Chingryeo, daughter of the second wife.

“And then there’s you, Dang Ri-seo.”

“…?”

Is she trying to save face for me?

Riser felt ambivalent about Dang Chingryeo’s transparent flattery of forcibly including the ninth youngest sister in the fierce succession structure.

“Uh, um. Well. Yeah. Thanks. Anyway.”

“Hmph. How disgustingly you pretend not to know.”

“?!”

Riser felt wronged by Dang Chingryeo’s snorting reaction.

‘What did I do!’

Though Riser made a thoroughly wronged expression, Dang Chingryeo didn’t care in the slightest.

Whether she was aware of it or not, among the candidates for the next Head of the Household of the Sichuan Dang Family, Riser ranked quite high.

“Anyway, I’m sorry about what’s happening to you.”

“What do you mean?”

“You seem to understand well enough.”

Dang Chingryeo shrugged her shoulders.

“For a woman to become Head of the Household in the Dang family, a son-in-law is essential. But we can’t bring in the Heavenly Demon as a son-in-law, right? And we can’t send the Princess of Heavenly Lotus away empty-handed either. You would be able to live well in the Demonic Sect….”

“You’re going to send me to the Demonic Sect instead of you?”

“Don’t ask when you already knew everything.”

Dang Chingryeo faced her guilt with self-mockery.

While it was First Wife Seo who created this mess, it was Dang Chingryeo who redirected that arrow toward the young youngest sister.

‘Poor thing. Your talent killed you.’

Dang Chingryeo recalled Riser’s extraordinary childhood.

A baby who understood people’s words from birth, learned to read before she could walk properly, and then, as if that wasn’t enough, read hundreds of books in one sitting out of boredom. (She was desperate to gather information in the early stages of her second life.)

An unprecedented genius who, despite never formally learning medicine, intuitively knew how human organs looked and functioned, and instinctively understood the dual nature of medicine and poison. (It was common knowledge for a modern person.)

‘Even when I tried to interfere with her morning routine to block even a fragment of that terrifying talent… it only deepened my sense of self-loathing.’

This seemed to be exactly what they meant by a heaven-sent genius.

However, Riser’s truly frightening aspect wasn’t her genius talent that spanned both literary and martial arts.

The resilience to not miss a single meal even after losing her mother at just six years old!

The boldness to live calmly as if nothing happened despite countless assassination attempts!

It wasn’t once or twice that cold sweat ran down her back at that transcendent demeanor, as if glimpsing the childhood of a hero.

“Even if you were in my position, you would have made the same decision.”

She couldn’t just leave such dangerous talent alone.

She had to uproot it before Dang Ri-seo became too big to handle.

On this point alone, First Wife shared the same opinion as Dang Chingryeo.

The reason First Wife, who would have strongly opposed if Dang Chingryeo had put forward another younger sister, had no objection to the alternative of sending Riser instead, had this background.

‘No, is this right?’

Meanwhile, Riser felt newly sorrowful about losing her mother early.

Giving a sixteen-year-old youngest daughter as a concubine to the Heavenly Demon instead of a twenty-five-year-old eldest sister.

There were even several more unmarried sisters in between.

While there was nothing to be done about father Dang Muncheon since he had no human heart, would it really have come to this if the fourth wife had been alive?

‘Hmm. It might have come to this anyway.’

Since her mother had little influence within the family even when alive, it probably wouldn’t have made much difference.

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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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