Surviving as the Sacheon Dang Clan’s Servant - Chapter 49

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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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Chapter 49
Dang Hwa-yeop was tall enough that I had to crane my neck to look up at him.
His frame was robust.
Unlike the lanky Dang Un, he had thick bones and a sharp, intense look to him.
Like a villain sketched straight out of a novel—if he’d appeared in a book, he’d definitely have played the antagonist.
When I didn’t avert my gaze, displeasure flickered across Dang Hwa-yeop’s face.
“I heard Jongbyon took you under his wing as an unparalleled prodigy, but there’s nothing worth commending except your face. Is that what you call Internal Power?”
He spoke just like Dang Mu-hyeok. I’ve only had my Dantian for a month, anyway. Whatever.
His insult didn’t really bother me. Since his face resembled Dang Mu-hyeok’s, I figured he was probably just naturally like this.
After all, disappointment requires expectation first.
I brushed it off lightly and sipped my tea, whereupon Dang Hwa-yeop’s eyebrows twitched.
“Presumptuous.”
What did I do?
Dang Ju-hui, who’d been watching, lashed out.
“If you’re done here, get out of my quarters. We’re trying to have a peaceful cup of tea.”
“You speak quite gently to your elder brother.”
“Want me to be gentler? Since your face is so revolting, would you mind getting out?”
When Dang Ju-hui snarled, Dang Hwa-yeop’s eyes narrowed.
“You want to try me?”
Despite his flat tone, the pressure radiating from Dang Hwa-yeop was not to be trifled with.
His hand had slipped into his long robe’s sleeve, and he looked ready to deploy a Throwing Knife at any moment.
“Don’t.”
Dang Cho-hui sighed as if this were happening again, quickly positioning herself between the two.
Dang Hwa-yeop’s eyebrow lifted slightly as he slowly withdrew his hand. He did seem to care for his younger siblings, even if they shared the same womb.
“Brother. Go. I’ll send sister to Father.”
“Don’t associate with ill-mannered types. Bad habits rub off.”
As if this once he’d let it slide, Dang Hwa-yeop lifted his chin arrogantly and strode out through the back garden.
“That bastard really……!”
Dang Ju-hui spat out a curse and kicked at the spot where Dang Hwa-yeop had been standing.
It seemed Dang Un was the only sibling Dang Ju-hui treated with any respect.
This family’s a complete mess. Father, your children don’t have much family affection between them.
Dang Cho-hui, grabbing her fuming sister by the arm, spoke matter-of-factly.
“Father’s waiting.”
“Sigh, alright, I’m going.”
Dang Ju-hui smoothed down her clothes to calm herself, then stomped heavily and vaulted over the compound wall in one movement.
Watching the deep footprints she’d left, Dang Cho-hui shook her head and clicked her tongue.
“Her temperament.”
……So she’s just leaving? I’m just leaving too?
With the mistress gone, there seemed no reason to linger in her quarters. As I looked around hesitantly and stood to leave, Dang Cho-hui waved me off with an understanding gesture.
“You can go.”
“Yes, sister.”
Turning to make my way out through the back garden, I stopped short. The distance from the pavilion to the exit was far too long.
I turned back.
“Sister. The wall that sister Ju-hui jumped over—there’s no alarm mechanism on it, right?”
“No.”
Dang Cho-hui tilted her head as if wondering why I’d ask. I grinned mischievously and followed suit.
I discreetly vaulted over the compound wall as well.
Wow, I couldn’t have managed this before, but now it’s easy.
I was beginning to understand why Dang Jung preferred moving over walls. It was far quicker and more convenient than walking all the way to the exit.
“Now I know why sister Ju-hui likes doing it.”
Dang Cho-hui, murmuring softly on the other side, climbed over the wall after me.
Somehow that sounds like a curse.
Just then, the flustered voice of a maidservant returning from an errand echoed through the area.
“Young mistress. I’ve brought the tutor—but, young mistress? Young mistress? Where has everyone gone?”
Seeing the maid stamping her feet in confusion, I felt a pang of sympathy. I called out from beyond the wall.
“Sister went to the Main House!”
The maid spun around in alarm and bowed respectfully to me.
“Thank you, young mistress.”
“No trouble at all.”
I waved lightly and turned to leave, when Dang Cho-hui, who’d been watching me intently, asked a question.
“Do you know the way?”
“No, I don’t. Where is Un’s quarters?”
“……Come on.”
Dang Cho-hui swallowed a sigh and pulled me along.
* * *
We arrived at Dang Un’s quarters just past noon.
Dang Un, wrapped in a thick blanket, sat in the pavilion catching the breeze.
“Brother, I’m here.”
“So-hye’s come? And early too…… Cho-hui as well? What brings you both here?”
Dang Un’s eyes widened and he rose from his seat. The blanket draped across his shoulders slipped to the floor with a soft thud.
Dang Cho-hui picked it up without fuss and handed it back to him.
“The youngest couldn’t find her way.”
“I see. Would you like some tea? I have some fine Da Hong Pao.”
“Already had some.”
Dang Cho-hui shook her head, her gaze on Dang Un complicated and weighted.
There was something pitying in it, and something apologetic too.
It was obvious sympathy, but Dang Un smiled as though used to it, his eyes crinkling softly.
“Then take some pastries with you. Your brother wants to give you something.”
“You should eat it yourself.”
Dang Cho-hui’s refusal was blunt. In her tone — as if to say she needed nothing from him — Dang Un’s expression suddenly hardened.
The awkwardness of the moment made me break into an involuntary cold sweat.
She probably meant she couldn’t take snacks meant for a patient, but the wording had come out all wrong.
This whole household had a communication problem, every last one of them.
I fumbled hurriedly at my sleeve to change the mood.
“Oh! Brother, look at this! Cho-hui gave me a throwing knife.”
“A throwing knife?”
“Beautiful, isn’t it? I’ve never seen one like this before. She even taught me how to throw it.”
I played up my excitement, and Dang Un’s expression softened as he asked gently:
“Really? This is the first time I’ve known Cho-hui to give her hidden blades to anyone else.”
“Is that so?”
She just handed it over suddenly and told me to stick it in Dang Ju-yeop’s face.
When I asked in surprise, Dang Cho-hui grew embarrassed and looked away.
I grinned and linked my arm through hers.
“Sister, so this is really the first time you’ve given one to anyone? I’m touched.”
“Our Cho-hui’s made a real decision. How wonderful to see.”
Dang Un laughed along, and Dang Cho-hui, who had been hesitating, pushed me away.
“……I’m leaving.”
Her ears bright red, Dang Cho-hui rubbed them and rushed through the doorway before I could stop her.
“Sister, wait——! She’s gone.”
“Let her be. She was quite embarrassed, I think.”
We exchanged looks, shrugged at each other, and chuckled.
* * *
“How did Cho-hui end up bringing you here?”
It wasn’t easy to answer.
Trying to sum up everything that had happened from the moment Dang Ju-hui showed up unannounced and dragged us into drinking tea, I couldn’t organize where to start.
Seeing me deliberate, Dang Un asked again:
“Ju-hui, then?”
“Yes.”
“I see.”
Dang Un smiled knowingly, as if he needed no further explanation.
Joining in his laugh, I started to unburden myself of the day’s events. Now that Dang Un seemed at ease, the words poured out freely.
“You met Hwa-yeop too? He looks just like Father, doesn’t he?”
“I thought he’d been stamped out of a mold. His voice is just like the head of the house too. What, did he gather all that Internal Power into that attitude?”
“Aha!”
I imitated Dang Hwa-yeop with a nasal tone, and Dang Un burst into laughter, fanning himself with his hand.
“Hwa-yeop has his arrogant streak. But his confidence isn’t without grounds——he’s the most skilled among us brothers. He trained under Heuk-un Dae-ju for years.”
“He did?”
“The Young House Master is Yeong-ho, our eldest, but Hwa-yeop handles all external affairs. In the world, they call him the Poison Cooperator.”
The Poison Cooperator? How ridiculous.
To call that thick-headed fool a jianghu hero is proof the world’s gone terribly, terribly wrong.
When I pulled a face, Dang Un spoke gently to me.
“Whether you like him or not, he’s your brother. Try to get along.”
He doesn’t seem interested in getting along with me. He was the only one who called me a bastard from our first meeting, sir.
“I’ll try my best.”
“That’s a good child.”
Dang Un nodded and pushed a plate of snacks toward me.
“Oh, brother. There’s something I’m curious about.”
“Tell me.”
“It’s about Dang Ju-yeop, sir…….”
I’d meant to ask about Dang Ju-yeop, but I closed my mouth again.
I couldn’t just blurt out whether he was a demon cultist. And asking suddenly about poison techniques seemed equally strange.
As I hesitated, Dang Un’s face grew puzzled.
“Did something happen between you and Ju-yeop?”
“Well, it’s just…… I think I heard that Dang Ju-yeop was going to Wol-hyang-ru.”
“Ah, so you’re curious about the place where your mother lived?”
Though really, it wasn’t Wol-hyang-ru itself I was curious about—it was what Dang Ju-yeop did when he went there.
I nodded with a forced smile.
It was kind of him to call a courtesan who wasn’t even acknowledged as a concubine by that honorable title.
Dang Un stroked his jaw, lost in thought.
“Hmm. Father would disapprove. What should we do…….”
“No, brother. There will be an opportunity someday.”
“That’s right. You could just follow Ju-yeop. If anything comes up, we can blame it on him dragging you along—that way your reputation is protected too.”
Dang Un spoke brightly, still stroking his chin.
Please don’t suggest casually pinning blame on people like that.
“Haha, I’ll think about it.”
“There’s no need to hesitate. He’d be delighted if you asked to come along. That boy only goes to the house of pleasure because he needs someone to listen to his music.”
That remark revealed how Dang Un perceived Dang Ju-yeop.
Had I jumped to conclusions and misunderstood Dang Ju-yeop out of fear?
To his brothers, Dang Ju-yeop was a frivolous young master who poured money into the pleasure house to indulge in playing musical instruments.
Watching him foam at the mouth after drinking poison I’d made didn’t make him look particularly clever either.
He seemed too dim to be a shadowy mastermind…….
‘There are no such manipulation techniques in the Main Family, after all.’
The more I turned it over in my mind, the more unsettled I felt.
It sounded exactly like saying that if the Main Family doesn’t have something, they’ll just bring it in from outside.
Noticing the troubled look on my face, Dang Un asked kindly.
“Is it hard to bring up the subject with Ju-yeop first? Would you like me to ask him instead?”
“No, brother. I’ll go and ask him myself.”
I shook my head.
Since things had come to this, it was better to ask Dang Ju-yeop directly.
He seemed to want something from me too, so he wouldn’t refuse.
I needed to see for myself what Dang Ju-yeop did at the pleasure house.

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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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