The Survival Story Of A Fallen Lady - Chapter 35

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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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Fallen Noblewoman’s Survival Record — Episode 35
After seeing off the young ladies and Jin So-ah as well, the Guest Hall stood empty.
Mok Yeon stared at the cold tea before shoving the cup away roughly.
“Jin So-ah, that servant girl of all people……!”
The tea gathering had been humiliating.
Both Geum Mae-hui and Seol Hong-ok had fallen for Jin So-ah’s ploy!
‘I’ve heard the Kim Clan isn’t inclined toward Muk Wang’s Residence, but……!’
All it took was one fortune-teller’s reading and they capitulated?
Were people really so fickle?
“Hyo-gyeong.”
At Mok Yeon’s call, a man in a blue hat stepped forward.
The one Seo Gon had sent along under the pretense of an attendant.
A veteran affiliated with Cheon Seong’s merchant guild.
“You haven’t forgotten the orders from Wei Wang, I trust?”
“How could I?”
Hyo-gyeong bowed his head, his hands clasped beneath his sleeves.
The command he had received from Wei Wang Seo Gon.
“Muk Wang’s Residence’s salt shall be sent to the imperial household each month.”
Muk Wang’s Residence’s Byeolrae Salt was to be delivered to the Imperial Palace’s royal stores each month.
Next week, another shipment would depart for the Imperial City.
Seo Gon found this most displeasing.
Moreover.
“Cheon Seong’s purse strings have grown quite thin.”
The damage that Byeolrae Salt had inflicted on Cheon Seong was considerable.
It was not merely the salt.
‘The Byeolrae Merchant Guild has been swallowing up every last transaction the Wei Wang’s Residence had.’
Sales volumes had plummeted, and revenues had bottomed out.
Days ago, they’d even been forced to implement personnel cuts to reduce expenses.
The guild had never faced a more catastrophic blow.
By contrast, rumors circulated that Muk Wang’s Residence had begun turning profits.
“Surely all that’s needed is to bring down that salt merchant business, is it not?”
A faint smile played at Hyo-gyeong’s lips.
“But how are we to destroy it? Byeolrae Valley itself is salt! We can’t simply make the salt disappear, can we?”
“Destroying the salt itself would be crude strategy.”
Hyo-gyeong extended a book toward her.
“I have a more refined stratagem than that.”
Mok Yeon examined the book.
Collection of Strategies
A treatise on tactics that he had compiled over a lifetime.
Hyo-gyeong opened to one page and pointed.
“We target not the salt itself, but its reputation.”
Hyo-gyeong’s eyes took on the serpentine gleam of a predator.
“Its reputation?”
As Mok Yeon furrowed her brow in question, Hyo-gyeong drew out another sheet of paper from beneath his long sleeves.
It was the movement route of the tribute salt shipments diverted from Muk Wang’s Residence, along with a list of those responsible for them.
“What becomes of a tribute gift dirtied with soil that reaches His Majesty’s presence?”
Hyo-gyeong recalled the soiled salt Muk Wang had once sent to Wei Wang.
What if the tribute gift were to arrive in such a state?
Muk Wang’s Residence would have insulted the Emperor.
They would have offered refuse as tribute.
All manner of accusations would turn toward Muk Wang’s Residence.
“If, at that same moment, Cheon Seong were to present the Wei Wang’s Residence’s Ja Salt…….”
The credibility of Byeolrae Salt would crumble, and that position would be reclaimed by the Wei Wang’s Residence’s Ja Salt.
* * *
Deep in the moonlit night.
Woo Je hastened his steps toward home.
A late return, spent examining account ledgers.
In one hand he carried a medicine packet to deliver to his sister.
Then.
“Young Master Woo.”
A low, gentle voice stopped Woo Je in his tracks.
A well-dressed man in a scholar’s hat stood before his house.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Hyo-gyeong.”
Woo Je came to a halt a few paces away from Hyo-gyeong.
He narrowed his eyes, wary of this unfamiliar face.
“I saw you in the palace storehouse this afternoon, counting all those goods without an abacus, yet you gave the answer at a glance.”
“Are you someone from the palace?”
“I’m staying here for a time.”
Woo Je’s shoulders stiffened almost imperceptibly.
Hyo-gyeong smiled softly and continued.
“Such genius is rare even in the capital. I hear your contributions to Muk Wang’s Residence have been quite substantial.”
The bridge construction, the mining operations, calculating wages for the salt mine workers, even arranging provisions for the tribute processions.
Woo Je, as Vice Manager of the Byeolrae Merchant Guild, handled most of the practical affairs himself.
“Muk Wang’s Residence is quite a place, isn’t it?”
“What exactly are you trying to say?”
There was an edge to Woo Je’s voice now.
“You seem to work quite hard there.”

“Yet I hear little of your name. After accomplishing so much, doesn’t it feel unfair?”
That you remain unseen because you’re a commoner?
That all your work is credited to Muk Wang’s Residence and Jin So-ah?
Wind swept through the alley.
A single lantern hanging in the alley trembled.
Woo Je’s fingers curled into the fabric of his sleeve.
“I’ve received kindness from Muk Wang’s Residence.”
Strength filled his voice.
But at the end, it wavered almost imperceptibly.
Hyo-gyeong noticed and nodded quietly.
“Of course they treated you well.”
They procured medicine for your sister, gave you food and shelter, managed you skillfully.
There’s no better tool to use than one like that.
Hyo-gyeong studied Woo Je’s expression carefully.
“It seems you have feelings for Jin So-ah.”
A flinch.
Woo Je’s body trembled.
He laughed at the honest reaction.
He’d suspected as much over these past few days.
The way Woo Je looked at Jin So-ah was anything but ordinary.
He hadn’t been certain until now, but to see him react this way.
“There’s nothing strange in a young man’s heart stirring. Is it a sin?”
“Don’t jump to conclusions like that.”
“Romantic affection is no crime, but your object of desire is wrong.”
You desire the woman of the lord you serve?
How impious could that be.
Woo Je’s eyes widened, glaring at Hyo-gyeong.
“If you came here in the middle of the night just to spout nonsense, get out.”
But Hyo-gyeong’s gaze turned toward Woo Je’s house.
“Is this your residence?”
“You didn’t already know?”
“Someone with talents as rare as yours, yet you live in such a shabby place.”
His words seemed sympathetic, but that single remark touched the softest, most wounded part of Woo Je.
A house far too meager for the work he’d accomplished.
“Had I been Muk Wang, I would have granted you a house outright, knowing your circumstances.”

“I hear you have a sister who is ill. In a place like this, even a healthy person would fall sick.”
A sister who is ill.
At those words, Woo Je’s lips pressed shut.
“If that’s all you came to say…”
“Forgive me. I’m troubled on behalf of someone who is unwell.”
Hyo-gyeong’s soft voice echoed through the empty alley.
“My mother, too, was quite frail in her time.”
Hyo-gyeong quietly drew something from his robe.
A heavy money pouch.
Between the slightly parted opening, silver coins glinted coldly in the moonlight.
“This is but a small gesture of sincerity.”
With a soft jingle, he shook the pouch, and the coins struck against one another with a weighty sound.
Woo Je’s gaze fixed on the glinting silver.
“It should help your sister enjoy a somewhat easier life. Perhaps it might even erase any unseemly romantic affection lingering in your heart.”
Woo Je’s fists clenched tight.
“…So, what is it you want?”
He was no fool.
This was coercion.
A coercion that held his overreaching affection in its grip.
And every sum of money had a price to match.
Then Hyo-gyeong burst into hollow laughter.
“Clever men truly cannot be deceived.”
When his laughter ceased, his expression grew gentle, and he continued.
“I heard you’ve been put in charge of the tribute delegation heading to the Imperial City.”
“…That is correct.”
“All you need do is have your company stay at an inn on the way to the Imperial City.”
“An inn, you say?”
“I’ll introduce you to the finest inn I know.”
Hyo-gyeong pressed the money pouch into Woo Je’s hand.
It was a simple condition.
To bring the tribute delegation and lodge for one night at the inn of his choosing.
“That is all?”
“My friend’s business has been struggling, and I wish to help him quietly, as a friend.”
The cold weight of the silver coins pressed heavily against Woo Je’s palm.
Woo Je looked down at the pouch in his hand.
“And I would ask that you keep this favor secret. If he knew, his pride would be greatly wounded.”
“…”
“Besides, it would be troublesome if word spread that I had colluded with someone from Muk Wang’s Residence.”
Hyo-gyeong added in a low whisper.
Woo Je, lost in thought, tapped his fingers on the pouch, their tips quivering slightly.
‘A secret, then…’
A brief silence fell.
And then.
“…Very well. I shall keep your secret.”
Woo Je tucked the pouch into his robe.
* * *
Light flickered across the long curtain.
“How did it go?”
Mok Yeon asked, trimming her long nails.
Beyond the curtain, Hyo-gyeong stood with his hands folded beneath his sleeves, smiling with ease.
“There is nothing to worry about.”
“I hear he is clever and possesses great loyalty to Muk Wang’s Residence.”
“There is no man in this world without a weakness.”
Hyo-gyeong’s smile deepened.
At his composed smile, Mok Yeon, too, could finally laugh.
“Indeed, there is reason that Wei Wang entrusted you to us.”
Her fingertips glinted in the candlelight.
“If one person whom that stepdaughter holds so dear brings ruin upon Muk Wang’s Residence and bears the blame for it…”
What expression would Jin So-ah wear, betrayed by one she trusted?
Mok Yeon’s mouth curved upward, her chin tilted slightly to one side.

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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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