The Beloved Baby Deer of the Hwangryong Family - Chapter 104
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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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“What? What on earth do you mean? How could this happen!”
Gon Hak-yeo’s face contorted terribly.
Even Gon Hak-yeo hadn’t thought that child would have met his end like that. If that had happened, surely a disaster worthy of reaching his ears would have occurred.
But the Golden Dragon Family!
It was far beyond his expected range and something he had never even imagined.
“That is…”
Cho-ah briefly conveyed the story she had heard from Su-jeong today.
As the words continued, the Emperor’s expression gradually hardened and was finally colored with rage.
‘Nok Sa-pyeong, that insane deer bastard!’
He already knew that Nok Sa-pyeong was a greedy man. That was why he had chosen him as his subordinate.
Ten years ago from now, Gon Hak-yeo discovered that one of the officials was committing corruption.
The low-ranking official was committing the grave crime of embezzling betrothal gifts that should have gone into the Imperial Treasury.
That criminal was none other than Nok Sa-pyeong.
Normally, he should have immediately held him accountable and punished him, but instead the Emperor hid his identity and sought him out.
‘You’ve done quite a bold deed. Aren’t you afraid of losing your head?’
‘I have committed a mortal sin! Please don’t report this to my superior…’
‘Fortunately, the one I serve has no interest in your petty corruption. As long as you follow his orders, that is.’
‘I’ll do anything! Just give me the task.’
‘Excellent resolve. If you do well, you’ll receive proper compensation.’
And so he used carrot and stick to make Nok Sa-pyeong do his bidding.
The task he assigned him was just one thing: to hide the Qilin Family’s bloodline from the world.
That’s right. Emperor Gon Hak-yeo had once stolen away a newborn child from the Qilin Family.
The purpose was clear.
To protect the imperial throne he had barely obtained.
Everything began when Gon Hak-yeo was still the Crown Prince, or rather, the Young Family Head of the Phoenix Family.
* * *
The year Gon Hak-yeo turned twenty.
The previous Emperor, his father Gon Myeong-hwi, called for him.
“Hak-yeo.”
“Yes, Father.”
“Now that you’ve grown considerably, there’s something I must tell you.”
Gon Myeong-hwi’s voice was heavier than usual.
He took his son to the Forbidden Books Section of the Imperial Library, where no one could enter freely. It was an area not even permitted to the Emperor’s family, but Gon Myeong-hwi proceeded without hesitation.
The Secret Archive they entered was filled with ancient records.
“Take this.”
Gon Myeong-hwi pulled out an old book. The book had no proper cover, but a Red Imperial Seal was clearly stamped on it.
“What is this?”
“You’ll understand once you read it.”
Though bewildered by his father’s sudden words, Gon Hak-yeo diligently moved his eyes along the lines of text.
The book contained records of events that occurred over a hundred years ago.
It was a time when Demonic Arts that had not been seen for a long time awakened, and fear that the Four Evils had been released from their seals covered Jusang Kingdom.
Chaos also arose among the Four Spirit Families.
The original Four Spirits were powerful, but after a long time had passed, their strength had greatly weakened.
In such a situation, if the Four Evils were to be revived, would they truly be able to stop them as they had before?
None of the family heads could be certain.
It was then that a descendant of Yeong-gwi, who was the ruler of Four Spirits Territory at the time, exercised his Special Ability of ‘Prophetic Power’ to see into the future.
“A true child of Qilin shall be born to summon the lost will of the Four Spirits, and all things shall return to the earth?”
Gon Hak-yeo, who recited the prophecy he had left behind, was puzzled.
“According to this prophecy, we can defeat the Four Evils, so isn’t this a good thing?”
It was a joyful prophecy that the problem would be solved, since the issue was that Demonic Arts that should be beneath the earth were above ground.
“A good thing?”
Emperor Gon Myeong-hwi twisted his lips upward.
“Hak-yeo, think about it. If a descendant of Qilin had defeated the Four Evils and brought peace, who would have become the next Emperor?”
“Well…”
The Four Spirits Trial could only be known by the parties involved, and since the content changed each time, no one could properly grasp its details.
However, the prevailing story was that not only bloodline but also achievements, virtue, and ability were evaluated.
Therefore, if a descendant of Qilin saved the world.
“Wouldn’t Qilin have ascended to the imperial throne?”
“No.”
Gon Myeong-hwi shook his head.
“The Qilin have no desire for power. Even if they passed the trial, they would decline the imperial throne by nature. They are people who wouldn’t come to the forefront even if they fulfilled the prophecy. If that had happened, who would have received attention?”
Emperor Gon Myeong-hwi’s eyes sank coldly.
“Winged Dragon. The most valiant warriors against Demonic Arts. Surely they would have ascended to the imperial throne.”
Indeed, in the long history of Jusang Kingdom, the family that had ascended to the imperial throne most often were the descendants of Winged Dragon.
Throughout that long time, Phoenix had always remained in the position of advisor, the second-in-command.
“My Grandfather could not tolerate this. No matter how wise, no matter how devoted to the country, the imperial throne was always Winged Dragon’s!”
His fist trembled as he recalled the past.
“If Yeong-gwi’s prophecy had been realized, Winged Dragon would have claimed the imperial seat once again. So Grandfather…”
“…”
“Concealed this prophecy.”
When Gon Myeong-hwi gestured, flames arose on the books containing the prophecy and soon turned to ash, scattering away.
“And he framed Yeong-gwi’s descendants as traitors who conspired with the Four Evils and banished them.”
Some time later, the Emperor who went to war died in battle against Demonic Arts, and Grandfather finally ascended to the imperial throne.
The Emperor who succeeded him was none other than he, Gon Myeong-hwi.
“How could you… how could you commit such an act!”
Gon Hak-yeo, having heard the entire story, was engulfed in shock.
His father, who remained so calm even knowing all these truths, seemed like a different person.
However, Gon Myeong-hwi looked at his son with an indifferent expression.
“Hak-yeo. Do you have confidence that you can become Emperor through your own strength?”
“Of course…!”
“I’m asking if you have confidence to defeat Hwang Hyeon-rang, that child, and truly ascend to the imperial throne.”
Gon Hak-yeo’s mouth, which had opened to answer indignantly, closed shut.
Hwang Hyeon-rang.
The most prominent among the current descendants of the Four Spirit Families.
Gon Hak-yeo had already seen with his own eyes what kind of martial prowess this descendant of Yinglong, several years younger than himself, possessed.
When Hwang Hyeon-rang visited the Imperial Palace following his father, he sparred with his swordsmanship instructor, and that day Gon Hak-yeo keenly felt what the difference in talent meant.
Even now with their age difference, it was already like this, so thinking about how strong Hwang Hyeon-rang would become when he matured with time was frightening.
Could he truly be a match for Hwang Hyeon-rang?
The ancient wisdom passed down from his ancestors coldly answered, ‘That’s impossible.’
Since there were already many people saying that Hwang Hyeon-rang would pass the next Four Spirits Trial and become Emperor, his intuition would not be wrong.
Before making his decision, Gon Hak-yeo asked about something that bothered him.
“But how did you hide the known prophecy?”
“The first person to hear the prophecy was grandfather himself.”
Sa-ryeong-ryeong’s mistake was trusting the Phoenix, who was her close friend, too much.
The trust that he, as her strategist, would never betray her became poison.
“…What should I do?”
After long contemplation, Gon Hak-yeo slowly opened his mouth.
* * *
There was no longer any guilt remaining on Gon Hak-yeo’s face as he recalled past events. There was not a trace of regret either.
He simply recalled his father’s words again and again.
‘The primordial qilin had one horn. As various bloodlines mixed, it gradually became two horns, leading to today, so not many know this fact. Therefore, you must prevent any child with one horn from growing up as a qilin.’
Having been passed down through generations, the plan was thorough.
They planted spies in the Qilin Family Medical Hall and took measures to immediately steal away any child born with one horn.
And finally, in Gon Hak-yeo’s generation, that event occurred.
Gon Hak-yeo thought he had handled the matter well.
At least until he heard Cho-ah’s report today.
‘That bastard Nok Sa-pyeong, even though he was greedy, he was the type who was too cowardly to act on his own.’
Was Nok Sa-pyeong the only official among them who had committed crimes?
He had chosen him, judging that Nok Sa-pyeong was the best person to move according to his will, but this was the result.
Even the Phoenix’s wisdom could not predict growing greed, so humans were truly incomprehensible beings.
Cho-ah carefully asked Gon Hak-yeo, who was lost in worry.
“Could it be the child Master was looking for?”
“Yes. If she found the Snow Scale Flower, there’s no doubt. The daughter of the Great Antlered Deer Family couldn’t possibly have such ability.”
Among the Four Death Spirit Herbs, except for the Jeongdam Herb which inherited the will of the Qilin that was fair to all things, they remain invisible to ordinary eyes.
It was all a result arranged by the Four Spirits.
Among the Four Spirits, the Qilin was the least greedy and loved all things, so to prevent the Four Death Spirit Herbs with their immense power from falling into just anyone’s hands, they granted the authority to find them only to the Qilin.
And in this Jusang Kingdom, only Emperor Gon Hak-yeo himself knew this fact.
‘The Golden Dragon Family…’
Of all things, she had to be the adopted daughter of the Golden Dragon Family, the current Winged Dragon.
Gon Hak-yeo felt a terrible ill fate.
Even so, he couldn’t kidnap a child from one of the Four Spirit Families without a trace – it wasn’t just any ordinary family. That would only have been possible when she was a newborn infant.
“Things have become complicated. It’s also problematic that the Snow Scale Flower has fallen into the hands of those Qilin bastards.”
The culprit was that some records had been lost during the large-scale war with the Demonic Arts. Not all the administrative district changes had been preserved.
‘If the Qilin Family Mother awakens, she might remember what happened. I should have completely taken the mother’s life back then…’
How could he have known that no matter how excellent the Qilin’s medical arts were, they could keep breath in a corpse?
“Ah, Master. What if we use Nok Su-jeong?”
“You mean the daughter of the Great Antlered Deer Family?”
“Yes. She was harboring intense hatred toward the Qilin Family’s child. I thought she might become a good card if handled well.”
“Harboring hatred… Yes, hatred sometimes becomes good nourishment.”
Gon Hak-yeo looked out the window. Birds were chirping peacefully while perched on the golden perch.
It was the perfect scene he had dreamed of.
“Then you stay by that girl’s side and investigate matters related to the Snow Scale Flower in more detail. You’ll surely find an excuse to cause an incident.”
“Yes, Master!”
“I trust you deeply, Little Bird.”
At those words, Cho-a cried out in emotion.
“I will definitely repay the trust you’ve shown me with results!”
Cho-a bowed deeply once more, then transformed into a bird and flew away.
Even then, Gon Hak-yeo’s gaze remained fixed on the window.
‘I will not let this glory be taken away.’
It had to be him who collected the Four Death Spirit Herbs. Or else they would disappear from this land completely.
‘…Even if the day comes when I must lay hands on that thing again.’
That thing.
The forbidden existence his great-grandfather had left with the Phoenix Family.
Left alone, Gon Hak-yeo was lost in thought for a moment before leaving his office.
On his face as he headed to the banquet hall, only the smile of a loving father appeared.
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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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Mara55
I’m glad this is finally revealed. But its a bit pathetic if I’m being honest. You wanted to remain in power so bad you would watch the world burn.