The Hwangbo Clan’s Beloved Live-In Son-in-Law - 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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Chapter 3

It was truly incomprehensible.

“Where on earth have you been? No, wait. No. Let’s go home first. Home. Do you know how much we’ve been searching for you? And how many people are waiting for you!”

Really. No, really.

“Ah. No, wait. No. This comes first. I’m sorry. Sorry. I didn’t know our Brother Jin would be so hurt. Please forgive me, Brother Jin.”

It wasn’t just Hwangbo Yeon-gung who had changed.

Ever since people heard that Jin Baowei was Jin Baowei, their reactions had already changed.

“What? Jin Baowei!? Hwangbo Ok’s runaway husband?”

“That great fortune woodcutter? That turtle?”

“Hey now! How dare you attach such nicknames to Master Jin! Those were words used only by petty jealous people. Haven’t you learned to control your loose tongue even after going through all that chaos?”

Of course, he had been famous.

It was natural. The man of unprecedented fortune who married the precious daughter of the great Hwangbo family.

That was exactly who he was.

But this kind of reaction.

“Oh my. Now we can finally live. Now we can finally live.”

“Miss Yulhui will finally be able to shake it off too, won’t she?”

At least for now, that’s how it was.

Everyone looking at him with warm eyes as if welcoming back a prodigal son – for Jin Baowei, who had grown up as an orphan and outcast, it was more awkward than ever before.

“Who is it! Who dares to speak such words toward the son-in-law of the Hwangbo family!”

Who else but Yunlei, who was now burning with anger. He himself had been like that.

-A damn lucky woodcutter and turtle son-in-law? Ha. He only gets nicknames like that. Because of this damn tomboy’s nonsense, the family name is falling to the ground!

“No, wait. Look at me losing my mind. That’s not what’s important. First, hurry, hurry and go. Leaving our Brother Jin standing around like this.”

Of course, even more awkward than that was Hwangbo Yeon-gung’s affectionate behavior.

Glaring at people with bulging eyes looking for whoever cursed, then soon shaking his head while looking for Jin Baowei – he looked exactly like a dog protecting its master.

…Brother Jin.

No. Really. Brother Jin?

“No. Um… Brother-in-law, you…”

“Hey! This person. Brother-in-law? Call me older brother. No, wait. No. What older brother. We’re not that far apart in age. Call me brother. I’ll treat you like a younger brother too.”

No. No. Really.

“Come on. Let’s go quickly.”

Jin Baowei unconsciously shuffled along, following the steps of Yeon-gung who was pulling his arm and leading the way.

He had neither the strength nor the will to resist.

He was only filled with questions.

Perhaps he was making such excuses because he wanted to return to the family he couldn’t bring himself to go to on his own.

***

“The guys from Taean Gate didn’t do anything terrible, did they? You weren’t harmed, were you?! Oh my. Look how thin you’ve become. You must have suffered greatly.”

Yeon-gung kept talking to him.

As Baowei remembered, he was quite a spirited man.

Except when it came to matters involving Yulhui.

Born as the youngest in a family full of brothers, he didn’t receive much affection, and then his sister was born just three years later, making him endlessly jealous.

So they really did clash over everything, but it wasn’t really because he disliked her – rather, it was because they were too close.

He hated showing his worry so he grumbled, and while pretending to interfere and being sarcastic, he would give advice.

And so, when it came to his sister’s affairs, he would step forward before anyone else.

“Brother-in-law… No. Thanks to what you taught me, I was able to survive and return. Thank you.”

Chentabeipa.

He had thought that training method of the Hwangbo family was just bullying.

Only after surviving alone did he realize that its profound principles had taken root in his body.

So this was sincere gratitude.

“Hey. I told you to call me brother. Moreover. Please, I beg you, don’t say such things. I can only feel sorry toward you.”

At Jin Baowei’s words, Hwangbo Yeon-gung lost his words for the first time.

Yeon-gung, who had been staring blankly at Baowei’s changed face, smiled bitterly and shook his head.

His hands, which had been stroking various parts of Baowei’s body, stopped abruptly when they reached his limping leg, the scars covering his hands, and his severed left pinky finger.

“You have a well-trained body. You certainly didn’t have such a body back then… It seems you haven’t lived easily either. How can I bear this guilt.”

So the two walked in silence for a while.

They walked down that wide boulevard of Daming Street like in the old days.

It was even stranger because they had never walked this path together, much less walked shoulder to shoulder like this.

Jin Baowei simply followed.

Whatever Yunlei’s feelings were, whatever his regret was.

All his old sorrows had been forgotten in that earlier joy.

No, they had been forgotten.

Was this what family was like?

It had been a lump that gathered tightly and made him sharp.

It was truly incomprehensible.

Soon a familiar path came into view.

No, it had been familiar all along.

Just around that corner.

Just past that bend.

The bustling boulevard of Daming Street would end, and after passing through the streets of various houses large and small, just around this corner.

Hwangbo Family Estate

That name and signboard full of pride, supposedly bestowed by the imperial family, right there.

The dignified main gate…

“Ahem. It’s… it’s changed a little, hasn’t it? But inside is still the same. Come quickly.”

Hwangbo Yeon-gung kept clearing his throat as if embarrassed.

The shining signboard remained the same, but why was that gate so worn, and how had those outer walls become so damaged?

The main gate is the face of a family.

The gate of a family is always strictly maintained.

The same goes for the area in front of the gate.

Any rough spots would be immediately smoothed, and the ground used to be so tightly packed that not a single weed could grow.

But what was this now?

The gate was closed, and there was no one guarding it.

It was quiet without the people who used to come and go until the threshold was worn down.

“After you left, quite a few things happened.”

Hwangbo Yeon-gung looked at Baowei’s expression and smiled bitterly as if he understood.

Jin Baowei saw that smile and slightly lowered his head.

He realized it was improper to show such a flustered expression in front of the master.

Hwangbo Yeon-gung shook his head and led the way.

But that direction was unexpected.

Originally, next to any such gate, there would be a small door.

The main gate was not a place for just anyone to enter and exit freely, and this was especially true when the gate was closed like this.

Though he didn’t know for sure, even the current Yunlei would have used that way in daily life.

Naturally, Jin Baowei had also intended to go that way.

He too had rarely passed through that main gate except when he was with Yulhui.

“Brother Jin.”

Since the direction was different, distance had opened between them.

At the gentle voice calling him, Baowei turned his head.

In front of the gate, Hwangbo Yeon-gung stood.

“Come this way.”

“Brother.”

That smile, still seeming embarrassed and sorry, touched his heart.

With a creaking sound, Yunlei put his strength into pulling and the gate slowly opened outward.

And that wide gate, Xie Baowei crossed alone.

That solitary crossing was only once.

Truly only once.

That day long ago, that beautiful day.

The very day he came to spend his lifetime with Yulhui.

“Welcome back.”

Xie Baowei had returned.

***

The main house was truly unchanged.

Based on the central courtyard that spread widely within the manor, large halls stood on the left and right, and Tianhou Palace where the household head resided could be seen in the distance at the front.

However, if there was something different, it was the dust accumulated in each hall and the dozen or so people blocking his path.

All faces were familiar, but the face of the one at the front came into view first.

He had truly aged.

When he left, this man seemed like not even a needle could penetrate him, but how he had faced all those years – the deeply carved wrinkles were vivid.

No. Everyone was like that. Everyone. Why couldn’t they live as grandly as they did back then.

“…The son-in-law has come.”

His expression was still rigid as always, but the emotion contained in his words had changed.

Sword Overlord Hwang Ilbo, Ilcheon Gakju Hwangbo Yeonhwi.

The household head’s right hand, and the eldest of the Hwangbo third generation. Literally the eldest grandson.

The man who had never even shown cold glances to Xie Baowei stood facing him for the first time.

“It would be proper to call all the family members to greet you, but they’re all out, so this is all we have. If you’re disappointed, please understand.”

So then.

Wasn’t this usually the person who would just pretend not to know and pass by, or not even make eye contact, or if he did, would scold while pretending to talk to himself?

What was this talk now?

What? Understand? Disappointed?

No. Why. Just why.

Wasn’t he someone with whom he had truly, truly, literally never exchanged even a single word with this eldest brother whom Yulhui both feared and followed like a father?

To that extent, this man who treated him like he didn’t exist?

“…Mm. You’ve come a long way, so you must be tired. Would you like to rest a bit? If it’s alright, shall we go greet the household head first?”

“…What?”

No.

This time he really gave a stupid answer.

Xie Baowei looked at Hwangbo Yeonhwi with an utterly stupid expression.

Rest? Would you like to?

This gentleman who was so strict about propriety that not even a drop of blood would come out if pricked with a needle?

“Ahem. Would you… would you like to rest?”

Wasn’t this the kind of expression he only showed to Yulhui?

Xie Baowei shook his head in confusion.

He was dumbfounded about what this was all about, but no matter what, there were proprieties and protocols to follow.

“I’ll… I’ll pay my respects to the household head first.”

“Oh. Would you do that? Yes. Yes. Good thinking. Go ahead. I’ll lead the way. Ah. No, that’s not right. That’s not right. We should greet each other first. What are you all doing? The family’s son-in-law has returned. You’re not greeting him.”

It was truly a strange thing.

Ilcheon Gakju with an unusually relieved expression, and the family servants bowing with faces full of joy.

Was this a dream?

A dream? Had he died or something?

Xie Baowei couldn’t understand at all.

Where had all the people who filled the halls gone, leaving only about a dozen remaining?

And what was this warmth from those who used to look at him like a dog looking at a chicken, now welcoming him back?

“No. Yes. No wait. Thank you. Oh my. Have you been well?”

Of course, not everyone was like that. Originally, those who serve follow those who command them, don’t they?

In any case, people with faces full of relief and joy each added their greetings.

Are they all trying to deceive me?

Even while thinking this, Xie Baowei was dumbfounded again because the joy contained within seemed genuine.

“I’m sorry. You probably can’t believe it. But please believe me. You don’t know how much we searched for you. Thank you for coming back like this.”

And.

Hwangbo Yeonhwi spoke gently.

Yeon-gung, who had been making a moved expression beside him, naturally came to grasp Xie Baowei’s shoulder.

So then. Just why are you all acting like this?

Xie Baowei truly, truly didn’t understand.

So without realizing it, he shrank his body like back in the old days when bullies would extort money from him.

“The other… where are the other elders?”

There was something he wanted to ask first, but he held it back firmly.

Such were the family’s protocols.

A mere nobody who had married into a powerful family – how many things must he have had to observe?

Even on the battlefield, he had woken from sleep startled by talk of protocols.

That memory still wouldn’t let him go.

“Ah. The other elders… Well. Aunt is in Jinju. As for Mother, let’s meet her later.”

Only then did that familiar rigidity return to Hwangbo Yeonhwi’s face.

Rather, that face put Xie Baowei’s mind at ease.

What on earth was going on?

Ah. Perhaps Grandmother was very ill and needed his organs?

Such a thought crept in stealthily.

No. That couldn’t be. Surely not. That couldn’t be.

It was when Xie Baowei was stealthily backing away at the random thought.

Bang!

With a sound, the gate opened as if it would break.

“…How dare they!”

How dare. How dare indeed.

How dare anyone forcibly open the gate of the Hwangbo Family Estate?

Those who rushed in with that were clearly well over a hundred in number.

Harpoons and swords dangling from their waists.

Fine martial clothing but poor countenances.

There were those familiar even to Xie Baowei’s eyes.

Taeamun.

“To open the gate without even sending word to the master, and to come with menacing presence and even weapons. This is impropriety and rudeness, lawlessness and illegality! I heard that Taeamun’s conduct was becoming like bandits. What is the meaning of this, Household Head!”

This was definitely the usual Hwangbo Yeonhwi.

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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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