The Ignored Granddaughter of a Murim Family - Chapter 248

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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 248
On my way back from meeting Yalyu.
I encountered Jin-jin, who had come looking for me. Originally, Jin-jin had insisted on accompanying me, but I’d left him at the Pavilion to enjoy the festivities. Yet seeing him seek me out, I sensed trouble had arisen.
Following Jin-jin, I came to understand the situation.
Jin-jin glanced at Jang Cheol and spoke.
“That… let’s talk outside.”
As we stepped out from Jang Cheol’s guest room, I noticed several people emerging as if to gawk.
The commotion in the dead of night had awakened several patrons of the Inn.
Local gentry and wealthy merchants’ sons like Jang Cheol, dissatisfied with the Murim Alliance’s lodgings, had chosen to stay at the Inn instead.
The Inn’s guests who spotted me exchanged curious whispers with one another. Avoiding them, I stepped outside before Jin-jin began his explanation.
“So after you left the Pavilion…”
The Byeok Young Master had begun causing a drunken commotion.
“He suddenly started blaming everyone for ignoring him, and then he turned his grievances toward your family and the Namgung Clan.”
I recalled how he’d been sitting alone, unlike his usual self surrounded by followers. The senior members with higher standing—Ak Jung-hae and other Kirin Society members—had already left before me.
With alcohol in his system, he likely felt free from all restraint.
“Why is that our fault… so what happened?”
“…Because of what happened with the Namgung Prince and Hwangbo Prince before, and because you warned us to be careful, we were holding back…”
Jang Cheol had begun quarreling with the Byeok Young Master. What’s more, his younger brother had pretended to intervene while actually stoking the flames. Their voices escalated, and within moments, it became a brawl.
The Byeok Young Master had even drawn his blade, and both sides clashed at a level approaching a street fight until Wi Gu-jung personally intervened to calm things down.
“I didn’t expect his arm to break in that fight…”
Jin-jin glanced around briefly before speaking through sound transmission.
[But after the Wi Prince appeared and stopped the fight, he said something like, “You should have chosen your friends more carefully.”]
Jin-jin spoke aloud again.
“It didn’t seem like he was directing it at any one person in particular. But…”
Just as Jin-jin had sensed, those words were meant for me.
Yet they could be dismissed as directed at those who’d participated in the brawl. If I pressed the issue, I’d only come across as oversensitive.
I furrowed my brow and pressed my hand to my forehead. Namgung Ryu-cheong’s warning echoed in my mind—to be cautious of Wi Gu-jung.
Should I have given that warning more serious consideration?
“How despicable.”
My attempt to provoke Namgung Ryu-cheong through Hwangbo Chan had failed. Both Namgung Ryu-cheong and I occupied positions Wi Gu-jung couldn’t easily reach. So instead, he’d targeted those around us.
‘And he did it by exploiting the Byeok Family’s situation.’
Jin-jin clenched his teeth and spoke.
“It was orchestrated, wasn’t it?”
“Likely.”
Even if Jang Cheol had been drinking, he was a martial artist who’d cultivated his skills. For his arm to break in such a short span seemed unnatural.
“…He played this quite cleverly.”
Everyone knew of the Byeok Family’s current circumstances.
A young master facing a tragic situation—his family nearly extinguished. If such a young master claimed he’d made a minor mistake while drinking, who would step forward to demand punishment?
The Byeok Family itself wasn’t frightening.
To speak bluntly, a sect already ruined—what power remained? Only Wi Ji-baek’s support.
‘It’s just that everything that would follow after punishing the Byeok Young Master is so troublesome.’
Since this wasn’t a fight that occurred during the Martial Arts Tournament, it should have been resolved by the Law Bureau. But even if I punished them according to the law, they would inevitably be criticized for being heartless and merciless.
I could already imagine the rumors that the Wi Alliance Leader would stir up.
‘We wanted to overlook the Byeok Family’s unfortunate circumstances, but we were met with opposition, making punishment unavoidable.’
‘No matter how much we dislike it, the Alliance Leader himself stepped in to mediate—how could we not show them face?’
‘Knowing the Byeok Family’s situation, yet showing them no mercy whatsoever.’
Then who the actual perpetrator was would cease to matter.
‘Instead, we would become the heartless, merciless sect that persecuted the pitiful Byeok Young Master, lacking both compassion and loyalty.’
And the most important thing was that there was nowhere to turn for enduring all of this on behalf of someone from the Jang Ga-jang. The Baek Li Family and Jang Ga-jang had no particular connection.
Moreover, it would take quite some time for word to even reach the Jang Ga-jang in the Hui-ju region.
Thinking of the Jang Ga-jang’s circumstances from when I was young, they might very well press the matter properly.
“Maybe I should have stepped in instead.”
Well, if Jin-jin had stepped in, the Byeok Young Master’s arm might have been broken.
With Jin-jin’s skill level, he couldn’t break an arm in the blink of an eye, so he would have broken the Byeok Young Master’s arm and insisted that Jin-jin did it.
This kind of behind-the-scenes scheming was difficult to prevent. It was also very familiar to me. It was something I’d experienced countless times.
I stroked Jin-jin’s head.
“You thought that was the best choice at the time. There’s no need to regret. And we can settle this debt slowly. Do you think I’d just sit back and do nothing after being wronged?”
Jin-jin’s eyes widened, gazing at me with a bright, sparkling light.
“As expected, Miss!”
I covered Jin-jin’s burdensome gaze with my hand.
“Miss? Oh! Now that I think about it, how did things go with your errand? Did you speak well?”
Jin-jin asked in a lowered voice, as if only now remembering.
“Let’s talk about that later. More importantly….”
I hardened my expression and looked around.
“Where’s the Physician? Why hasn’t he arrived yet? Is there another entrance besides this one?”
Jin-jin’s eyes widened in realization.
“That’s right. Ha-ryeong went to fetch him quite a while ago. He should have arrived by now?”
Jin-jin said as she headed toward the Inn.
“I’ll go check.”
And the moment Jin-jin left, I saw someone approaching the Inn. It was Seo Ha-ryeong.
Seo Ha-ryeong, who had been huffing indignantly, approached me with visible frustration.
“Didn’t you head back first?”
“And weren’t you supposed to be fetching the Physician?”
But she was alone.
“Ugh, listen to me!”
She seemed curious about how I’d found her, but venting her anger took priority.
Apparently, after Jang Cheol was injured, Seo Ha-ryeong immediately went to find a Physician.
At first, the Physician wouldn’t even open the door, claiming it was too late, but once she finally got inside, he made excuse after excuse and refused to come.
She couldn’t kidnap the Physician and bring him by force, nor could she threaten an ordinary civilian.
After pleading desperately for a long time, she had returned empty-handed, huffing with frustration.
“No, I’m offering plenty of money! Even though it’s late, I said I’d escort her there and back with guards. This is unreasonable!”
Seo Ha-ryeong stamped her foot and cried out in frustration.
“This is really too much, isn’t it?”
It was such an obvious ploy that even Seo Ha-ryeong could see through it.
Someone must have tipped off the Physician beforehand not to go out for treatment.
Wi Gu-jung was a disciple of the Murim Alliance Leader, and Seo Ha-ryeong and Jang Cheol were people who would leave once the Martial Arts Tournament ended. No one would want to make an enemy of the Murim Alliance Leader’s disciple, who would continue to stay in Muuhan.
Jang Cheol’s life wasn’t in danger. It was simply… all of this was merely meant to be irritating.
Seo Ha-ryeong spoke with a huff.
“So Gongsun Wol went to the main headquarters to bring back a physician from the Murim Alliance.”
“That’s a relief.”
Seo Ha-ryeong wasn’t particularly close to Jang Cheol. Still, they had known each other from the Baekdo Sect in the same region, and had both passed the preliminary rounds from that region, so she was helping him.
But why was Gongsun Wol helping?
‘Is it because of Namgung Ryu-cheong?’
Just then, Seo Ha-ryeong mentioned the very person I had thought of.
“Of all days, that bastard Ryu-cheong isn’t even helping.”
“Why is this Ryu-cheong’s fault?”
“Just. I’m frustrated, so I’m just saying things. I’m taking Ryu-cheong’s side. Fine. I won’t say anything more.”
No, this was unfair to Ryu-cheong!
But I knew she’d accuse me of taking his side anyway, so I just grumbled to myself.
Then I sensed someone else approaching. He wasn’t a martial artist—just an ordinary middle-aged man of some years.
But his appearance was disheveled, as if he’d rushed out in haste.
The middle-aged man saw us standing in front of the Inn and spoke cautiously.
“Um… do you perhaps need a physician?”
Seo Ha-ryeong asked warily.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Ha Ui-won, a physician from Dongro Alley. I heard there was an injured person here.”
“How did you know?”
“They said if I showed you this, you’d understand…”
He handed something to Seo Ha-ryeong.
Seo Ha-ryeong took it, frowned deeply as she examined it, then handed it to me.
“It’s just an ornament. Yeon, do you know what this is?”
“This is…”
My eyes widened. I immediately turned to the Physician and spoke.
“Go up to the third floor of the Inn—the patient will be there. His arm is broken. It’s not severely displaced, but since he’s a swordsman, please be as careful as possible.”
“Understood.”
I watched the Physician enter the Inn and gripped the ornament tightly. This was the pendant that had been hanging from Yalyu’s waist.

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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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