The Ignored Granddaughter of a Murim Family - Chapter 149
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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 149
Baek Li Pyo’s face flushed crimson as he cried out toward Baek Li-myeong, grasping at him like a lifeline.
“Brother, what are you doing! Why are you just sitting there! You’re not actually listening to what this woman is saying, are you? You can’t do this!”
At that moment, Baek Li-myeong’s expression darkened as he thundered back.
“Can you be quiet?”
Baek Li Pyo’s eyes widened in shock.
Baek Li-myeong continued.
“Please, have some shame! The facts are now this clear, and you still can’t come to your senses? Who are you blaming?”
“No, brother—how could you! Are you really taking this lowborn woman’s side right now?”
Baek Li Pyo stared at Baek Li-myeong as though he’d received a devastating blow.
Baek Li-myeong felt his anger rising at the sight of Baek Li Pyo’s expression.
Did these wretches have a compulsion to cause trouble? Of all days, in a place with so many people watching, they carried on without a shred of discretion!
If someone had witnessed this. If it hadn’t been Seo So-jeo or Baek Li-ri who encountered this situation first…!
And this wasn’t even the first time.
On the pleasure boat before! If Baek Li-yeon hadn’t left first, who knew what would have happened.
Even though I’d fallen out with my aunt, even though I disliked those children in my heart, I still looked after them because they were Father’s blood. Yet they showed no restraint and expected me to keep watching over them.
As if I were the cleanup crew for the Twin Cousins!
And the situation was unmistakable.
‘If this reaches Grandfather’s ears….’
Cold sweat broke out involuntarily. Baek Li-myeong spoke firmly.
“If you cause any more commotion, even if I face some punishment, I will report everything to Grandfather. Let’s settle this matter properly once and for all!”
I nodded inwardly.
‘As expected, his cunning for self-preservation is quite exceptional.’
The moment it became clear that the Twin Cousins were at a disadvantage, he switched tactics immediately.
Even Baek Li Pyo, who initially hadn’t understood the situation, quickly grasped it. That Baek Li-myeong had abandoned him to protect himself.
Baek Li Pyo’s face contorted.
“You cunning traitor!”
“What? Traitor? I’m saying this for your sake! How long have you been back, and you’re causing trouble again! Do you want to be sent to Gogye Hermitage again?”
At the mention of Gogye Hermitage, Baek Li Pyo flinched. Baek Li-myeong also realized his mistake the moment the words left his mouth, and he glanced nervously at Baek Li-ri’s friends.
Sure enough, one of Baek Li-ri’s friends voiced her curiosity.
“…The young masters went to Gogye Hermitage?”
“What? What’s this? Li-ri, when did your older brothers go to Gogye Hermitage?”
Since Gogye Hermitage was famous as a place of punishment, the children asked with interest.
Until now, the Twin Cousins had been publicly known to be staying at a distant relative’s house on a journey.
Baek Li Pyo, his face bright red, glared at Baek Li-myeong with bloodshot eyes full of anger and resentment.
Baek Li-myeong was inwardly startled, but he ignored the gaze and held his head stiffly high.
So U-ak grabbed Baek Li Pyo as if to say they should leave now.
“Brother, just wait and see.”
Baek Li Pyo shook off So U-ak’s hand and left on his own.
So U-ak bit his lip and looked at me and Baek Li-myeong before following Baek Li Pyo.
After the Twin Cousins disappeared completely from view, Baek Li-myeong pressed his head and let out a deep sigh.
Baek Li-myeong wiped his face several times, then turned to look at Baek Li-ri’s friends.
“I’m sorry you all had to witness such an unnecessary commotion. This matter is… ahem.”
Baek Li-myeong cleared his throat and looked at Baek Li-ri.
Then Baek Li-ri, who had been looking down, spoke coldly.
“I have no idea how Baek Li Pyo managed to fall so hard. Don’t you agree?”
A brief silence fell, and the girl in the deep rose-colored skirt spoke with quick wit.
“Ah, yes, yes. He really should have watched where he was going.”
“He must have tripped properly on a stone. Let’s be careful when walking around the Garden.”
As the atmosphere lightened somewhat, the children exchanged glances as if suppressing laughter.
In any case, it wouldn’t be good if word spread that relatives had fought and cracked each other’s foreheads with stones. It could never remain a secret forever… but the rumors could be delayed for a while.
Then suddenly Baek Li-ri shot a glare at me and spoke.
“You.”
I flinched in surprise. Baek Li-ri continued.
“Mind your own business. She’s my sister. My own blood!”
“…?”
For a moment, I didn’t understand Baek Li-ri’s words and looked at her in confusion.
Looking more carefully, I realized that Baek Li-ri’s gaze, which I thought was directed at me, was actually fixed on Seo Ha-ryeong beside me.
“What? After only a few months together! Acting so superior!”
“….”
“….”
“…Uh, Li-ri?”
I stood dazed for a moment before belatedly calling out to Baek Li-ri.
“…Hmph!”
Baek Li-ri, who had glared at me, brushed off her sleeves and turned to leave.
“Li-ri!”
Baek Li-myeong hurriedly chased after Baek Li-ri, and I watched the scene in bewilderment.
A moment later, Seo Ha-ryeong, who had been watching alongside me, burst into laughter.
“Haha, your sister is funny. Is she always like that?”
‘I have no idea what just happened.’
For reasons I didn’t understand, Baek Li-ri hadn’t sided with the Twin Cousins, which made things end conveniently.
I shook my head and looked at Namgung Ryu-cheong and Yalyu. Then I opened my mouth as if nothing had just happened.
“Have you two gotten closer?”
“Yes.”
At Yalyu’s answer, Namgung Ryu-cheong’s head snapped up and he looked at Yalyu as if he were a madman.
‘That’s a lie.’
The two of them sat at the same table without exchanging a single word. That’s why I had deliberately left them to talk, but it seemed that too had failed.
Yalyu continued speaking.
“Since we’ve gotten closer, don’t leave me with him anymore.”
“….”
“Baek Li-yeon.”
Namgung Ryu-cheong called out to me, dismissing Yalyu’s words.
The moment I looked at him, Namgung Ryu-cheong kicked a stone lodged in the dirt with the tip of his foot, sending it flying toward me. Yalyu stretched out his hand and caught it before it reached me.
‘No, I could have caught that myself….’
Anyone could see he’d thrown it at a speed meant for me to catch.
Namgung Ryu-cheong shot Yalyu a slightly irritated look and spoke.
“That was intentional.”
I took the stone from Yalyu’s hand.
A stone the size of a quail’s egg. Weighty in my palm. There was no way such a stone had simply gotten buried in mud. Baek Li Pyo had deliberately placed it there and packed the earth around it.
I set the stone on the railing where it could be easily seen from a distance.
“I know.”
* * *
The remaining days at Sansu-yeon passed without incident.
We invited the Theater Troupe and the Acrobatic Troupe, and several monks from Shaolin Temple came to perform a ceremony blessing my grandfather’s fortune.
My aunt and the Twin Cousins left for Sogajang as though fleeing before Sansu-yeon had even ended.
Everything that had happened with the Twin Cousins in the garden.
My grandfather’s subordinates had witnessed it all. There was no need to report it.
Before they left, I learned through So Nok that my uncle and Baek Li-myeong had been summoned to my aunt’s quarters, and there had been several loud disturbances.
‘Hmm, should I provoke them further…?’
It was when I lay down to sleep. The window opened slightly, and I felt a presence slip inside.
I sat up from where I’d been lying.
It was Gyeol-i, Jeggal Hwa-mu’s white cat.
And I could see a small wooden tube hanging from her neck—something Jeggal Hwa-mu used when he had something to tell me in secret. A message at this hour felt ominous. I reached out to stroke Gyeol-i’s head, then retrieved the small paper from inside the tube and read it.
[Let’s meet.]
I doubted my own eyes.
“Meet? Where? Surely… you’re not asking me to come outside right now?”
Gyeol-i stared at me intently, then rubbed her head against me as if seeking praise.
I opened the window that Gyeol-i had pushed through and looked out. I could see the waxing crescent moon hanging above my pillow.
“Right now?”
Tap, tap, tap. I heard only the sound of Gyeol-i’s tail striking against things.
“Sigh.”
I exhaled deeply.
“If this is nothing important, I won’t forgive you.”
I grumbled as I changed clothes, then slipped out of my quarters like a thief. My heart pounded especially when I passed by my father’s quarters. Fortunately, I escaped without being detected and was following the cat’s tail when I glanced back.
I turned around and spoke.
“Come out.”
Then Yalyu emerged from the shadows of the wall.
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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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