The Ignored Granddaughter of a Murim Family - Chapter 148

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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 148
“How dare you hurt Pyo? Have you lost your mind?”
That’s when it happened. Thundering footsteps approached, and a voice that shouldn’t have been here rang out.
“What are you talking about?”
It was Baek Li-ri. She’d come with her friends, and Seo Ha-ryeong was with them too.
‘Ah, I was talking with the Twin Cousins…’
I hadn’t noticed someone approaching. Besides, nothing had happened last time, so I’d let my guard down completely.
Baek Li-ri pushed Seo Ha-ryeong aside and stepped forward, her expression darkening.
“What’s this? Brother, what are you doing? …Are you hurt?”
Baek Li Pyo, who had been sniffling, cried out.
“Can’t you see? That wench threw a stone at me!”
Baek Li-ri spoke with a sullen expression.
“A stone?”
“Yes! This one!”
Baek Li Pyo pointed to a pebble the size of a quail’s egg embedded in the muddy ground. Baek Li-ri looked at me with suspicion.
“Sister, why would you…?”
“Liar! Yeon would never do that!”
Seo Ha-ryeong suddenly cried out.
‘Oh, that’s actually touching.’
Baek Li-ri’s words were cut short as she turned to Seo Ha-ryeong with wide eyes, and Baek Li Pyo burst out angrily.
“Get out of here, you Suhyang Sect girl!”
“Ha! What the hell are you saying?”
I was startled to see Seo Ha-ryeong stand her ground and speak so harshly.
“What did you say? You…!”
Looking like they were about to fight, I hurriedly intervened.
“Ha-ryeong! Come here.”
Seo Ha-ryeong glared at Baek Li Pyo, snorted, and came toward me. Behind her, I could see Baek Li-ri narrowing her eyes as she glared at Seo Ha-ryeong.
‘Why is she glaring at Ha-ryeong?’
Shouldn’t she be glaring at me since I’m close with the Twin Cousins?
Seo Ha-ryeong glanced at me and whispered softly.
“It wasn’t you, right Yeon? You didn’t throw it?”
“…”
I quietly showed her my dirt-covered palm.
Seo Ha-ryeong’s eyes widened.
“…What have these bastards done to you!”
“Pfft.”
Laughter burst out, and I bit my lip hard to suppress it.
Then Baek Li-ri shouted.
“Who are you to interfere? Outsiders should stay out of this. We’ll handle it ourselves.”
Seo Ha-ryeong scoffed and spoke.
“That’s ridiculous! You all ganged up on Yeon and bullied her, and now you’re saying you’ll handle it yourselves?”
“When did we ever bully her!”
“It’s obvious!”
Just as Seo Ha-ryeong and Baek Li-ri were about to escalate their argument, a rapidly approaching presence burst out loudly.
“What is all this commotion!”
Seo Ha-ryeong and Baek Li-ri fell silent. Baek Li-myeong, who had been surveying the room, caught sight of Baek Li Pyo and his face went pale as he cried out.
“Pyo! What happened to you? What are those wounds!”
“Brother!”
Baek Li Pyo grabbed Baek Li-myeong and shouted.
At that moment, two more figures approached from the direction Baek Li-myeong had come from. Two people, and their presence was familiar once again.
I quickly sent a telepathic message to both of them.
[Don’t come closer.]
The two rushing figures came to an abrupt halt.
Yalyu stared at me with eyes that revealed nothing of his thoughts, while Namgung Ryu-cheong’s expression was furious.
I offered them both a reassuring smile.
Instead, Namgung Ryu-cheong’s expression crumpled even further.
Meanwhile, Baek Li-myeong turned to So U-ak and Baek Li Pyo and asked.
“Ak-i, Pyo—are you both alright? What on earth is happening here?”
So U-ak cried out with an aggrieved expression.
“Pyo and I were taking a walk in the garden when that wench, Baek Li-yeon, suddenly threw mud at us!”
I couldn’t even muster a hollow laugh.
I turned my gaze away from Namgung Ryu-cheong and Yalyu to look at the Twin Cousins.
“And Pyo got hit, and worse—there was a stone inside it! Brother!”
So U-ak grabbed Baek Li-myeong.
Baek Li-myeong looked at me with bewildered eyes, then nodded reassuringly to So U-ak.
“First, Ak-i, take Pyo to the physician….”
But before he could finish, Baek Li Pyo shouted.
“No! Make her kneel and apologize first! That bitch did this to me!”
His indignation seemed to overshadow his pain.
Baek Li-myeong squeezed his eyes shut, then turned to look at me.
With no adults present, Baek Li-myeong was the one in charge. If word of this disturbance reached the elders, he would inevitably face censure for negligent supervision.
“Yeon, is what Ak-i and Pyo said true?”
I nodded readily.
“Yes. I threw it.”
Seo Ha-ryeong gasped in surprise and grabbed me.
Baek Li-myeong also cried out in shock.
“How could you!”
I continued calmly.
“But my brothers threw it at me first. I simply caught what came at me and threw it back.”
So U-ak burst out loudly.
“Liar! Brother! She’s lying! You’re not actually believing her, are you?”
Baek Li-myeong turned to look at Baek Li Pyo before speaking to me again.
“…If you both threw stones equally, you seem remarkably unharmed.”
“That’s because I dodged them all. Pyo couldn’t dodge. It’s hardly my fault that my brothers are clumsy, is it?”
Baek Li Pyo’s eyes nearly rolled back as he pointed an accusatory finger at me.
“You…!”
Baek Li-myeong cut off Baek Li Pyo’s words and spoke.
“Do you have proof?”
“Of course I do.”
“What is it?”
“Look at my brothers’ hands. They should be covered in mud.”
Baek Li-myeong turned to look at the Twin Cousins.
While Baek Li Pyo hesitated and hid his hands, So U-ak boldly displayed both palms and pointed to Baek Li Pyo’s forehead.
“This mud got on me while I was checking Pyo’s forehead!”
“That’s right!”
Baek Li Pyo quickly agreed with So U-ak’s words.
The Twin Cousins looked at me with shameless expressions, as if daring me to offer further excuses.
“….”
“….”
Baek Li-myeong observed the situation for a moment, weighing it carefully. Soon, having reached his judgment, he turned to face me. With a measured tone that was both merciful and stern, he rebuked me.
“Yeon, regardless of your reasons, throwing stones at people and injuring them is clearly wrong.”
“….”
Well, I hadn’t expected anything different from the start.
I could see So U-ak and Baek Li Pyo laughing triumphantly. And Yalyu holding back an indignant Namgung Ryu-cheong as well.
Baek Li-myeong continued.
“Moreover, this is Grandfather’s mountain excursion gathering. On such a pleasant occasion, how could you trouble the hearts of the elders? I shall explain matters favorably to my parents, so you must apologize.”
At Baek Li-myeong’s kind demeanor, even Baek Li-ri’s companions and those who had followed Baek Li-myeong nodded in agreement with his words.
“….”
I, who had been silent, lowered my head and spoke in a voice tinged with sorrow.
“…I understand. If you tell me to apologize, I will.”
Baek Li Pyo shouted.
“Ha, sniffling away! Crying won’t help you!”
I wished real tears would come as he suggested. But without an onion, not a single tear would fall, so I could only speak with a melancholic expression.
“But there’s one last thing I’d like to ask.”
“Baek Li-yeon.”
Baek Li-myeong, wanting to wrap this up quickly, called my name as if to tell me to stop. I ignored him and called out to someone else.
“Ha-ryeong.”
Seo Ha-ryeong, who had been fuming with an expression of contempt, suddenly startled and turned to look at me.
“You saw this situation first, didn’t you? What did you see? Tell me what you saw.”
“Huh? Well… you were standing here… and the Baek Twin Cousins were over there—one of them sniffling and the other shouting.”
I nodded and spoke to Baek Li-myeong.
“Brother, will you look at where I’m standing?”
“What on earth are you trying to say….”
Baek Li-myeong’s expression shifted as understanding dawned.
“If I had thrown it, there should be mud here, but where is the mud in this spot for me to throw from?”
I tapped the Stone Bridge beneath my feet and lifted my head.
“…Unless someone threw it at me first.”
Baek Li-myeong’s words caught in his throat.
“That’s….”
I continued.
“You and everyone else have trained in martial arts, so you know, don’t you? When someone ambushes you from behind, you can’t help but react reflexively. I simply caught something that flew at me and threw it back without thinking. To protect myself. Is that my fault?”
Those who had nodded at Baek Li-myeong’s words now murmured in admiration at mine.
“The elder Miss Baek Li is right, isn’t she? Where is the mud for her to throw from?”
“To ambush so cowardly!”
“And besides, how would anyone but the person who threw it first know there was a stone inside? Looking at it that way, wasn’t this planned by the young masters from the start?”
“And then tried to pin the blame on her?”
At their murmuring, Baek Li-myeong and the Twin Cousins wore expressions of bewilderment.
I drove the point home.
“I believed Brother was fair and just….”
Baek Li-myeong’s face flushed crimson.
“I didn’t…!”
As Baek Li-myeong turned around, the gazes directed at him were decidedly unkind.
That was when So U-ak cried out as if he could not abide this.
“That woman is Baek Li-yeon’s friend, so of course she takes Baek Li-yeon’s side! How can we trust what she says?”
Seo Ha-ryeong’s voice erupted.
“Are you saying I lied?”
Baek Li Pyo, catching So U-ak’s true intent, cried out triumphantly.
“That’s right, Li-ri! Baek Li-ri came with that Suhyang Sect girl too, so ask Li-ri as well!”
Before a flustered Baek Li-myeong could respond, So U-ak spoke to Baek Li-ri.
“Right? Our side is correct, isn’t it, Li-ri?”
“….”
Baek Li-ri’s companions who had come with her wore bewildered expressions. Then Baek Li-ri, who had been keeping her lips firmly sealed, opened her mouth.
“Brothers, how pathetic.”
“What, what?”
“Sister Yeon. From the moment I arrived, I haven’t moved a single step. What, are you asking me to lie for you now? …How irritating.”
Then Baek Li-ri looked at the Twin Cousins with contempt and stepped back.
I was somewhat surprised.
So U-ak bit his lip, and Baek Li Pyo stomped his foot and cried out.
“What, what! Baek Li-ri! How could you…! You’re lying! You’re lying!”
“….”
“….”
No one agreed with Baek Li Pyo’s words.
The situation was already crystal clear.
Seo Ha-ryeong spoke with a sneer and mockery in her voice.
“It would make far more sense to say the young masters of the Baek family simply tripped and fell on their faces while walking.”
“Pfft!”
One of the children burst into loud laughter, followed by the sound of someone slapping their hand and scolding them to be quiet.

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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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