The Survival Story Of A Fallen Lady - Chapter 29

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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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The Fallen Noblewoman’s Survival Chronicle, Episode 29
All eyes fixed on the unrolled parchment before them.
A long line stretched across the paper, spanning a river.
“Jin Jaein, what on earth is this?”
“A Zanduojiao Bridge.”
A bridge used in the forested regions of the south.
It’s a construction method developed in areas with many deep gorges.
“You’re talking about nothing but a rope strung across?”
“You want us to risk people’s lives just to secure provisions?”
The State Council Chamber stirred with unease.
A bridge with no supporting pillars in the middle—it was unthinkable.
One could not stake innocent lives simply to solve an immediate crisis.
“A woman who’s been locked away in her chambers her whole life—what could she possibly know? You mustn’t think bridge construction is as simple as needlework, Jin Jaein.”
At the words of Dan Mok Heum, Minister of Public Works, the officials surrounding them sneered at Jaein.
Yet Jaein showed no sign of embarrassment, her gaze fixed steadily upon them.
Just then, Woo Je, who had been tapping his fingers on the table, spoke.
“…This bridge would be safe.”
“What?”
“If the construction is done properly, it would be just as secure as an arch bridge.”
“Now even a commoner—not just a woman—speaks out of turn in this council…!”
Dan Mok Heum clutched the back of his head with a sigh.
“A man with no formal training…!”
“Then perhaps the Minister of Public Works would care to propose an alternative.”
Just as Dan Mok Heum was about to raise his voice further, Jaein spoke with perfect composure.
They could not simply allow the soldiers isolated on the northwestern frontier to perish.
If there was another solution, she would gladly follow it instead.
But Dan Mok Heum and the Ministry of Public Works had no alternative to offer.
“Besides, it is premature to assume the thaw season has ended.”
Jaein studied the high mountain ranges drawn on the map.
The current flooding was only the first wave.
As the weather warmed, there would be several more floods to come.
“Swift construction of the bridge and rapid supply of provisions must be our highest priority.”
“So you mean to disregard safety altogether?”
“I will guarantee safety.”
“It’s dangerous when someone picks up scraps of knowledge from books and speaks half-learned nonsense. A tongue is all that’s needed to—”
Then came a gentle tapping sound against the table.
All eyes turned to the highest seat.
Seo Heon sat with brush in hand, regarding them all.
[The Ministry of Public Works shall cooperate with Jin Jaein and complete the bridge construction with utmost speed.]
His will spread across the paper beneath the brush.
“Your Highness! But this woman—”
Seo Heon gazed at Dan Mok Heum in silence.
[If the Ministry of Public Works has an alternative, present it.]
Dan Mok Heum’s lips trembled, but he could offer no further objection.
* * *
The Gorge, connected to the northwestern frontier.
Construction of the Zanduojiao Bridge was underway in full force.
Dan Mok Heum, Minister of Public Works, stood to one side, casting sidelong glances at Jin Jaein.
‘An accident is certain to occur.’
She had no track record.
No proven credentials whatsoever.
She was merely a woman spouting shallow knowledge gleaned from somewhere or other, yet real authority had been handed to her.
The discipline of the Royal House had clearly collapsed.
‘The Crown has surely been swayed by that fox’s cunning.’
That bridge would crumble any moment.
The scale of the catastrophe was beyond his imagining.
‘Should such a disaster befall us, the Ministry will demand Jin Jaein’s punishment by extreme execution.’
She would shoulder all responsibility and forfeit her life.
Meanwhile, Woo Je labored profusely alongside the Ministry’s master craftsmen, surveying the construction site.
“The foundation is solid enough. We’ll have the timbers cut at the military camp, and here we’ll simply do the assembly work.”
Surveying and calculations precise to the finest measurement.
Multiple layers of safeguards.
Woo Je had overseen every aspect of the design.
“Thank you, Woo Je. I don’t know what I’d have done without you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
When Jin Jaein handed him water with an encouraging word, the tips of Woo Je’s ears flushed crimson.
And at a distance from them.
His gaze remained fixed on the two figures below the cliff edge.
Jin Jaein and Woo Je stood close together, speaking earnestly about the Zanduojiao Bridge design.
‘They’ve grown quite close, haven’t they.’
The night before.
The Jangseogak had burned light through the entire darkness.
While he’d been making his rounds through the compound, he’d seen Jin Jaein and Woo Je remaining together late into the night.
He knew they’d been burning the midnight oil for days, all for the sake of this Zanduojiao Bridge.
Their dedication was something to be grateful for.
Of course it was.
And yet the image of Jin Jaein with her head bent close to Woo Je’s kept haunting him.
Just then, the old steward beside him spoke.
“Remarkable young man, wouldn’t you say? At his age, his mind works so quickly and his work is flawless.”
The steward gestured toward Woo Je.
“When he first arrived, I couldn’t tell, but looking at him now—quite a handsome fellow, isn’t he?”
Their first meeting at the gambling den.
He’d been little more than a beggar then.
But fed well and clothed properly, he’d become a young man capable of turning the heads of many women.
Clear, deep eyes despite the lack of a double fold.
A nose bridge standing proud and a jawline strong and defined.
Even his attractively tousled hair.
“Had he been born into nobility, he’d have received quite a few marriage proposals.”
……
Seo Heon remained silent, saying nothing.
At that moment.
“Jin Jaein, this is dangerous. Please step back.”
Just as the laborers carrying cargo nearly collided with Jin Jaein for lack of seeing her, Woo Je pulled her toward him.
Jin Jaein looked at him and nodded with a smile.
Finally, Seo Heon strode forward and seized her wrist.
“Muk Wang?”
【You must be exhausted. Go inside first.】
Seo Heon signaled with his eyes.
Jin Jaein blinked, then shook her head.
“I was the one who began this work. If I withdraw now, what will others think of me?”
The people from the Ministry of Public Works still harbored doubts about this project.
Some grumbled that an ignorant woman had stepped forward without knowing anything.
Among such murmurs, she, as the one responsible, could not afford to stand aside.
Seo Heon looked at her wrist, still not fully healed, and swallowed a sigh.
Last night too, she hadn’t slept properly, fretting over this matter.
There was no need for her to remain at this dangerous site to the very end.
Words rose to the tip of his tongue.
But whether she knew his heart or not.
“Speaking of which, Woo Je—about sending the first line across to the other side…….”
Jin Jaein, showing no sign of leaving, turned back to Woo Je instead.
“That’s precisely the problem. The rope weighs so much that even one person would struggle to drag it across.”
Everything had been prepared.
Everything except one thing.
Getting the rope that would serve as the first reference line across to the other side was the obstacle.
The rope alone weighed nearly a hundred catties.
‘I could ask the animals for help, but…….’
Woon-jo alone couldn’t possibly carry such a heavy rope across.
If she called upon the other creatures to assist as well…….
‘My abilities would be exposed.’
Jin Jaein recalled the teachings from her previous life.
Hadn’t she already died once, accused of being a seductress, her abilities exploited by Seo Heon?
‘When I think about it, he was wary of me from the start.’
Afraid she might use that power not for him, but for someone else.
Afraid her ability might even turn against him.
Which meant using it in front of others was forbidden.
Just as Jin Jaein was wracking her mind for a way to solve this without revealing her power—
【I’ll do it.】
Seo Heon stepped forward between the two of them.
“Your Highness…?”
Seo Heon nodded, then pointed to a stack of rope piled to one side.
Dozens of thick ropes lay coiled together.
【So I just need to send it across to the opposite cliff?】
Seo Heon quietly picked up a longbow.
Then he tied the rope to the end of a large iron stake and nocked it on the string.
Those nearby stared at him in astonishment.
Tying a knot with such a thick rope was already remarkable, but shooting an iron stake with a bow?
“Your Highness, that’s far too dangerous!”
“Surely it would be better to send a worker to cross the gorge—!”
Everyone rushed forward with objections just then.
“Respect the will of His Highness.”
The elderly administrator standing behind adjusted his glasses and looked at the crowd.
“But Director, something that heavy is difficult even to lift—how could he shoot it with a bow!”
“You still don’t know His Highness well.”
The old administrator dismissed the looks of worry and doubt, turning his gaze toward Seo Heon.
Seo Heon quietly drew the bowstring.
Then a pristine white light spread from his fingertips, wrapping around the arrow.
“Seongi…!”
A brief moment of controlled breathing.
A gust of wind swept across Seo Heon’s long sleeves.
A brilliantly unfurling trajectory.
The spectators could not tear their eyes from the pure white wind that cut across the gorge.
The arrow, piercing the empty air like a meteor, flew exactly to the place everyone desired and struck true.
So effortlessly.
Woo Je stared at him, his mouth hanging open.
‘This isn’t… the realm of human beings.’
He had known that the Silent King had reached the highest level of Seongi training.
“No matter how many times I see it, it defies reason.”
“…That’s why he’s His Highness.”
The officials and workers present murmured in awe.
Because he was always silent, they sometimes forgot.
A mute king.
Which meant a king who, despite his inability to speak, possessed the strength to defend the throne.

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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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