The Hwangbo Clan’s Beloved Live-In Son-in-Law - Chapter 77
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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 77
Clack.
The Crown Prince liked Go.
In his childhood, he had once dreamed of living buried in the mountains and fields, playing only Go.
That dream disappeared after experiencing the battlefield.
“Please take your time.”
“Hmph.”
The Crown Prince was truly busy.
Even while wandering the deep grasslands of the Northern Plains, he stood before the high ministers of Jojung,
Even while driving out the Japanese pirates from the southeast, he suppressed rebellions in Naeseong.
Trade with the Western Regions alone required much attention, and now he had to go beyond the deep forests of the Southern Barbarians to the world beyond.
The plank roads of Sichuan… damn plank roads.
Someone might envy him upon seeing him, but there was someone else who spent his entire life indulging in silk beds and endless luxury.
He himself was merely fulfilling his purpose, like a horse or ox, like a sword or shield.
Until when?
…Who knows. Even that incompetent one possesses such power.
No. It’s because he’s incompetent that those beside him are strong.
“There’s much to do.”
Clack.
The Crown Prince doesn’t deliberate much.
If he can see a spot, he strikes without hesitation, and once he bites onto a weakness, he never retreats.
Even if surrounded in the process, he ultimately breaks through.
“Haha. Indeed, that’s why you achieve two or three things with a single task.”
“I merely went out for some fresh air.”
Nevertheless, there are no mistakes in his moves.
When one retreats trying to avoid the Crown Prince’s attacks, the entire game has somehow collapsed.
“How many benefits you gained from this incident as well, truly remarkable.”
“I failed. Are you mocking me?”
Clack.
However, his current opponent is no pushover.
Though he seems to retreat endlessly, each stone has meaning.
He appears cautious yet shows no hesitation.
Years are etched into his wrinkled hands.
The Crown Prince glared.
Even seeing this, his opponent smiled broadly.
“You issued a warning, displayed your power, and even showed mercy.”
He reminded them of the Guizhou incident and placed one city’s gates beneath his feet.
In the end, he emerged without spilling a drop of blood, adding gentleness to the Crown Prince’s name that had been sharp as a blade.
“How very… tempting you are.”
“…Hah. I think I heard quite an insolent word?”
Tick.
The Go stone went awry.
His opponent’s eyes rose like mountains.
Damn it.
“However…”
“However what.”
The Crown Prince glanced around and quickly moved the Go stone aside.
Since he hadn’t lifted his finger, wouldn’t it be invalid?
His opponent was not one to overlook mistakes.
Given such an opportunity, he would use it as an excuse to claim victory.
“Favoritism is not good.”
Clack.
His opponent’s stone was placed beside it.
The spot where he had made his mistake.
The Crown Prince’s stone, which would have responded without hesitation, was placed a beat late.
“What favoritism. He’s just fun to tease.”
“You deliberately watched his back and even removed his shackles?”
“…As you said, I just shook my hips a little.”
Clack.
Playing Go after a long time was still enjoyable.
It would be even more so if the stones swept away by his opponent’s hand didn’t feel like soldiers’ screams.
That’s why the Crown Prince’s style was always fast and lightning-quick.
Rough and cruel enough to be called radical, but it ended just as quickly.
Completely different from the opponent he was currently playing against.
“If you truly favor him, use him importantly.”
Clack.
His opponent remained cautious.
Though he seemed to retreat haphazardly, if one charged in blindly, they would find themselves surrounded.
Once, the Crown Prince had played Go like that.
Naturally. He was the Crown Prince’s teacher.
The Grand Academician.
“What favor, isn’t he just a fool who dares to argue with my words.”
“Then dismiss him. There are abundant talents overflowing beside Your Highness.”
Clack.
At the end of an aggressive assault, the enemy’s large group was captured.
Before long, the Go board was filled with black and white stones.
You don’t need to calculate to know.
He must have won by half a point.
If he hadn’t overlooked that earlier mistake, he would have lost by half a point.
Damn bastard.
“No fun.”
The Grand Academician smiled heartily with a good-natured face.
The Crown Prince glared at that wrinkled face.
“These are people who would give their lives for Your Highness.”
“I suppose so.”
Those young and spirited ones would show no hesitation in carrying firewood and jumping into flames if told to do so, whether for their own wealth and honor or for their family’s glory.
They probably have confidence they could survive it too.
The Crown Prince needed such people.
“They are loyal ones. Very useful.”
For now.
For now, that’s true.
For now is the time when they must move forward.
Even if the path ahead is a cliff, even if it’s a path charging toward rocks, even if they must cross the sea through storms.
He needed people who would bash their heads in.
“But there’s no fun in it. Like playing Go with you.”
“Hehe. I truly enjoy playing Go with Your Highness. There’s a thrilling taste to it.”
“Hmph.”
That brazen fellow would put his neck on the line to stop anything he judged wrong.
So yesterday’s matter couldn’t just be overlooked indefinitely.
That’s what his position entails.
“You didn’t come here just to make idle chatter.”
If there’s anyone in the nation as busy as himself, it’s just one person. The Grand Academician.
If there’s a reason the completely rotten court still functions, it’s solely thanks to him.
So is he upright and clean?
Hardly. The most sinister, filthy person in the palace, wielding tremendous power.
That’s the Grand Academician.
“You pass by without even stopping at Huangdu, so wouldn’t this old teacher feel disappointed?”
“Disappointed my ass. You’re probably just trying to assess the situation.”
The Crown Prince, who should be heading to Sichuan, passed through Shandong and stayed in Henan.
There must be quite a few people with their pants on fire.
Hehe.
The Grand Academician neither confirmed nor denied it.
The Crown Prince just clicked his tongue.
“Do you want to send me away that badly?”
“Even rolling in a dung field, this world is better, isn’t it?”
“Damn it.”
Clatter.
The Go stones scattered as they were swept away.
The mansion used by Henan’s Pojeongsa was a place with a garden worth seeing.
In the artificial mountain laid with exotic flowers and strange rocks, a small waterfall flowed.
It looked like a section torn from Zijin.
How presumptuous.
“…He won’t leave it alone.”
He wanted to sweep it all away if he could.
But he couldn’t do that.
The position of Pojeongsa of one city isn’t something easily obtained.
He was a powerful man, and as dirty as he was, he had many useful aspects.
There are many powerful people, many dirty people. But not many ‘useful’ ones.
“…Rather.”
Rather!
…
The Crown Prince said nothing for a long while.
The Grand Academician was the same.
He knew all too well what kind of feelings he must have.
“…Is the youngest growing up well?”
“His Highness the King of Zhou is still healthy. He’s truly clever, reminding me of Your Highness in childhood.”
“When I was five, I was busy running around. Clever, my foot. He’s at an age where he should be careful not to fall.”
“There are as many people willing to throw themselves down as a support as there are stones on the castle floor.”
“Hmph. That’s the problem. That’s why only stones roll around in Zijin.”
“…Mm.”
The Grand Academician widened his eyes as if he’d been hit.
Then he nodded.
“That one, may I use it later?”
“No. I’ll memorize it too.”
“…Hmm. You’ve grown a lot.”
Chuckle. The Crown Prince laughed pleasantly.
A kindred spirit. How wonderful it is to have a friend who understands your meaning.
However, the Grand Academician is not his friend.
He’s even less on his side.
Then is he an enemy?
“It’s still too early. So don’t worry and make your trip.”
Too early. What is?
He was referring to both.
The Crown Prince nodded heavily at the Grand Academician’s words.
It was still time to be swayed.
Still.
In that whirlpool of countless greed, he was the one protecting the boy so he could grow safely.
He was also the one serving as a blindfold while the Crown Prince built his strength.
“It won’t be long.”
When he pacified Annam and reached the court by way of the south and around the east,
who would be able to stop the Crown Prince?
“I will wait.”
The Grand Academician bowed his head deeply.
There was no way to know his expression, but it didn’t matter.
In the end, he was the one bowing his head.
The Crown Prince looked toward the distant place where the court was located.
There, the only person he had to bow his head to would be reveling.
“Yes. Wait.”
Because it really would be soon.
***
-You said you’d come back!
Jegal Seolhye’s letter was filled with anguish and betrayal.
But he ignored it.
More precisely, it would be accurate to say he didn’t even read it properly.
If it were other family members, they could at least make excuses about being too busy to read it,
but these two were as calm as people watching a fire across the river.
“Yingying, would you like to eat some more of this?”
The Hwangbo Family was truly busy.
The past 9 years, no, now 10 years since the year had passed, the period of seclusion seemed regrettable as they had grown brilliantly.
The halls were not just neatly repaired but they were even considering whether to tear down walls and rebuild them.
Huangbo Lüyan’s trading company, which had been at the level of a small merchant group, had grown so large it had to move to a nearby manor, and they had also acquired a escort agency.
Retainers constantly came seeking to entrust their talents, and those wanting to learn the family’s martial arts formed long lines.
Even those who had only brief connections came asking if they could use the Hwangbo name in government positions.
Pahosam Gate?
The sect leader came running immediately. Carrying armfuls of gifts in both hands.
“I’m full.”
“Children should eat well when they’re young.”
“At this rate, I might have to crawl around like the pigs in the outhouse.”
“Oh my, that would never happen.”
Even so, the family couldn’t be elated, because despite Hwangbo Yeonhwi handling everything beyond imagination, Hwangbo Seungjeong, who had passed on the position of Household Head, was growing thinner by the day.
Having finished all his duties, as if he had also handed over the will he had barely maintained, he fell ill and continued to be sick to the point where he couldn’t even rise from his bed.
“Look at me, despite eating like that, how slender I remain.”
“What if I grow up like Master Xie?”
“What then. Unfortunately, such a body isn’t easily achieved.”
Everyone prepared for the end.
A giant of the era was setting.
They held his hand and spent nights in tears.
Hwangbo Seungjeong was the same. He stroked his granddaughter’s hand over and over.
“I’m not sleeping.”
What roused him from that state
was Xie Baowei.
“What’s wrong with my body.”
To be precise, it wasn’t that he had done anything.
But it was certainly because of him.
About a month after the Crown Prince left, a procession of four-horse carriages came knocking at the Hwangbo Family’s door.
The carriages were piled high with gold, silver, treasures, and precious medicinal herbs.
-I honor the loyal subject’s intentions.
It was sent by the Crown Prince.
The words were about honoring the ancestor of the Hwangbo clan, but everyone knew who it was really for.
Especially since the medicinal herbs were good for old age ailments and vitality, Hwangbo Seungjeong was deeply moved that the Crown Prince had bestowed medicine on him out of consideration for his son-in-law’s face.
Did such loyalty remain in his heart? Hwangbo Seungjeong recovered his strength so quickly that even he wondered about it.
“They say I’ll lose weight quickly if I just move a little.”
So well.
Xie Baowei, who was already precious, became even more treasured.
As soon as his feet touched the ground, people lined up wanting to carry him.
Looking at those sweaty middle-aged backs, it was frightening to even step forward.
Eating and eating more.
He gained weight.
“Even now, you’re not particularly fat…”
He hadn’t actually become plump.
It was just that his harsh impression, which had been sharp as a well-honed blade due to long military life and consecutive missions, had softened with added flesh.
From his previous face where anyone could see he was a wounded veteran with his tall, gaunt, scarred appearance and limping gait, now he gave off the feeling of a well-built, well-treated rich family’s guard?
In any case, he didn’t feel like a master.
“Even though I lounged around all winter, it’s not like I was completely idle.”
Xie Baowei grumbled as if feeling wronged.
If it had been his natural disposition, he would have literally just lounged around, but who was beside him?
It was Lüli who had led Xie Baowei with all sorts of excuses—teaching Yingying, improving her own skills, raising Xie Baowei’s level, going on outings.
As a result, it wasn’t just his weight that had risen dramatically.
“What did anyone say? I’m saying you look good.”
Lüli smiled broadly.
Even Xie Baowei, who had been grumbling “How can you say such things,” eventually smiled broadly as well.
Lüli suddenly stretched long.
Jegal Seolhye’s letter was visible in her hand.
“Spring has come, so shall we start moving?”
“Has it already become so?”
Spring had drawn near at winter’s end.
After sending off the hustle and bustle of the Spring Festival, even in the lingering cold wind, the scent of spring faintly emerged.
You could tell just by looking at Chungundang’s courtyard.
Wildflowers that had flown in from somewhere had stubbornly taken root.
It was truly a resilient season.
Lüli smiled confidently.
“It’s time to return to Hahui.”
Xie Baowei nodded with a face so radiant it seemed blinding.
“Miss Jegal will be pleased.”
The long vacation had come to an end.
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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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