The Granddaughter of Manhyang Escort Bureau Hides Her Magic - Chapter 90
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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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Chapter 90
“What’s going on?”
The servant girls of Biwongak whispered while hiding in the shadows of the wall.
“I don’t know. They say they’re going to Yuwon Pavilion. Is something happening at Yuwon Pavilion?”
The sight of the escort agency’s key figures flocking together with Shin Ah at the front was enough to stimulate the servant girls’ curiosity.
“I don’t know what it is, but everyone’s expressions are no joke.”
“Right. Especially the Lord of the Nation. I’m too scared to even look at him.”
The faces of the servant girls watching the procession disappear into the distance darkened.
When their superiors were in a bad mood, it was like a typhoon hitting the subordinates.
“We should lay low for a while. Right? I wonder if the Yuwon Pavilion kids will be okay?”
“This doesn’t seem like the time to worry about them. The Biwongak Master’s expression is no joke either. And… Chief Go too, gasp! I just made eye contact with the chief accountant.”
The servant girls grabbed each other’s sleeves and burrowed deeper into the shadows of the wall to hide themselves.
Meanwhile, Shin Ah, who had been moving her feet diligently, entered the wide-open Yuwon Pavilion.
Dang Mihee and Dang Jugong, who had received advance notice that those gathered at Wolhwa Hall were coming to Yuwon Pavilion, greeted the people.
“The news travels quite fast.”
So Hyeokho, who was standing behind Shin Ah, said.
“We need to prepare to receive guests, Father. Shall we go inside? I’ve prepared tea.”
“We’ll drink tea later. What is the Chang’an Branch Master dawdling about? Find the evidence immediately.”
Dang Mihee’s temples twitched.
The atmosphere was ominous.
Dang Mihee had heard the news that people were coming to Yuwon Pavilion, but she had no idea why.
However, seeing So Hyeokho’s attitude and So Mando frozen stiff, So Ilbi pale as a sheet, and So Baekrim’s face poisoned like a toad, she instinctively knew something had gone wrong.
She couldn’t let them into Yuwon Pavilion like this.
Her instincts screamed, but she couldn’t stop them.
Before she could make any decision, little Shin Ah scurried across the courtyard and threw open So Ilbi’s quarters.
As if that were a signal flare, people flocked in that direction.
“Father! I say, Chief Go! That’s Ilbi’s bedroom. She may be young, but it’s a girl’s quarters. You shouldn’t enter carelessly…”
Mihee hurriedly followed them and tried to stop them.
As if that worked, everyone’s steps stopped in front of Ilbi’s quarters.
‘At least I bought some time.’
It was the moment when Dang Mihee sighed in relief and patted her chest.
“I found it!”
Shin Ah came running out, holding a small basket above her head.
That was Ilbi’s reagents.
Things that became ingredients for poison. Things that absolutely must not be discovered.
Dang Mihee’s heart sank. She instinctively looked back at Dang Jugong, but he turned away from her.
Meaning he couldn’t help and she should handle it herself, Dang Mihee clenched her fists tightly.
“Here is the exact same poison that So Mando sprinkled on Geumwa Trading Company’s food ingredients. Since an elder of the Tang family is present, we can have it confirmed.”
Yuhyeon tactfully presented the food ingredients he had saved to Dang Jugong. Dang Jugong smiled faintly.
“I don’t know what all this is about, Lord of the Nation. I merely came to see my younger sister after a long time, but the escort agency is quite chaotic. It seems it’s time for me to leave.”
“I’m sorry for showing you my shameful side.”
So Hyeokho said calmly.
“Even if you leave when it’s time to leave, would you grant me one favor?”
“You’re asking me for a favor, Lord of the Nation?”
“Could you confirm what the Chang’an Branch Master said?”
A slight crack appeared on Dang Jugong’s face.
“How could the Sichuan Tang Family interfere in the escort agency’s affairs? I don’t know the circumstances, but it seems right for me to withdraw.”
So Hyeokho raised one eyebrow.
His piercing gaze moved between Dang Jugong and Dang Mihee’s faces.
‘I can’t tell.’
So Hyeokho had wandered the Central Plains as an escort warrior and encountered all kinds of people.
So he was quite confident in reading people, but he couldn’t fathom the hearts of the Sichuan Tang Family people, including his second daughter-in-law Dang Mihee.
Was it because their hearts were black and couldn’t be seen? Or were they transparent because there was nothing inside?
In any case, since Dang Jugong was being so firm, he couldn’t request more help.
“Since you put it that way, there’s nothing I can do. I’ll keep the Tang family’s wishes in mind. Chief Go, find someone knowledgeable about poisons.”
“There’s no need for that, Lord of the Nation!”
Suddenly So Mando jumped out.
“I will tell the truth.”
So Mando’s expression was resolute.
“All of this… is Ilbi’s plan! Ilbi made the poison and asked me to sprinkle it for her!”
Ah…
Shin Ah let out a sigh without realizing it.
She had known all along that So Mando was a bad guy. But she didn’t know he was such a scoundrel among scoundrels that he would even sell out his own sister.
‘You really are hopeless.’
“No! Brother, why are you lying?”
So Ilbi rushed at So Mando. It was a mess, but an interesting situation unfolded.
So Baekrim and Mihee exchanged glances. Now it was time to choose one of the two as a scapegoat.
‘What will you do?’
Shin Ah became curious about how this situation would end.
* * *
That day, everyone witnessed a terrible sight.
So Ilbi and So Mando fought, grabbing each other’s hair, and their so-called parents refused to admit their crimes even in front of evidence and threw tantrums.
“It’s all a scheme! Because our excellent Mando is envious! Because healthy Ilbi is hateful, this is something Shin Ah plotted!”
But no one listened to what the Yuwon Pavilion people said.
Then So Baekrim knelt down and pleaded with everyone.
To So Hyeokho, to chief accountant Ha Ilju, to Chief Go, and finally to So Cheonrim.
“I’m sorry. This incident is due to my lack of virtue. So brother, please overlook it just this once. Huh? You try persuading Father. I’ve taken good care of Biwongak all this time.”
Hearing those words, Shin Ah unconsciously snorted, then quickly buried her face in So Cheonrim’s chest and hid her expression.
So Baekrim had indeed taken great care of Biwongak.
He had watched with burning eyes lest anything good enter Biwongak, stolen all of So Cheonrim’s work, and sowed discord between Biwongak and Wolhwa Hall.
‘Surely the kind father won’t forgive him? He won’t take his side, will he?’
It was when Shin Ah was looking up at her father anxiously.
“A promise is a promise. As an escort warrior, should you treat promises lightly? And what did you say to our Shin Ah earlier? Didn’t you say she was just a child only at times like this?”
So Cheonrim was firm.
Shin Ah was relieved, and So Baekrim was shocked and slumped to the floor.
Now only So Hyeokho’s decision remained. Everyone’s gaze turned to him.
So Hyeokho opened his mouth heavily.
“The Biwongak Master is right. Yuwongak Master, pack immediately and remove So Mando from Manhyang Express.”
“Father! Mando is only fourteen years old. This little one, and his body is weak too… where are you sending him? And didn’t Mando say it was Ilbi? Right, Ilbi, you did it, didn’t you?”
So Baekrim suddenly turned on So Ilbi and pressed her.
So Ilbi’s face, which had been grabbing So Mando’s hair until then, became horribly distorted.
“Father…”
In an instant, So Ilbi had fallen to being a card to discard for So Mando’s sake.
So Baekrim and Dang Mihee chose to save So Mando, who had a slightly higher chance of becoming the escort agency master because he was ‘male,’ instead of So Ilbi, who was a girl.
So Ilbi’s head turned stiffly like a broken wooden doll.
The place where her gaze stopped was her mother, Dang Mihee.
Dang Mihee embraced the stunned and rigid Ilbi, whispering in her ear.
“Ilbi, go stay at the Tang Family with your uncle.”
“Mother… Brother told me to…”
“Shh, shut your mouth.”
Ilbi was deeply shocked by the cold voice.
Ilbi was ten years old.
She was at an age where she’d feel jealous and upset even if her parents gave her brother just one more sweet.
But now she was being driven out after taking the blame instead of her brother.
Ilbi’s heart felt hollow. Emotions of disappointment, hatred, and resentment filled that empty heart. They became sharp arrows aimed at Shin Ah.
‘Evil bitch! You’re driving me away?’
Shin Ah silently accepted Ilbi’s resentful gaze.
Honestly, she felt a little sorry for her. At least for this incident, it was certain that Mando had taken the lead in spreading the poison.
‘A mother like Dang Mihee is worse than having none at all.’
It was a moment when she felt infinitely grateful for Cheonrim, who gave her warm love.
“Ilbi, do you have nothing to say?”
Hyeokho asked. He pretended to be expressionless, but in reality, a storm was raging inside him.
Looking at how the situation was unfolding, it seemed the tampering with the package was a collaboration between Ilbi and Mando. So if she told the truth, he was prepared to show some leniency as a grandfather.
Ilbi’s lips trembled as she looked up at Hyeokho.
Since the evidence had come from her room, there was no way to escape, and no one was taking her side.
Too frightened and scared to speak, Ilbi wasted even her last chance without saying a word.
Hyeokho let out a deep sigh and closed his eyes. Though he pitied Ilbi, there was nothing he could do.
“I give you seven days. Pack your things and send her away.”
A heavy silence descended upon the courtyard of Yuwon Pavilion.
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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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