The Survival Story Of A Fallen Lady - Chapter 37

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Falling Noble Maiden’s Survival Record — Episode 37
A grey dawn, the rain thinning to a drizzle.
Hyogyeong, dragged to Mugwangbu Palace, knelt in the mud.
He studied the faces surrounding him.
Son Wooje, of course—and with him, the porters and soldiers he’d bribed with silver coin.
Though they’d aided him and should have knelt beside him now, absurdly, they all stood at Mugwang’s side.
“This man gave us silver and told us to feign ignorance when we reached the inn,” the porters and soldiers testified in unison.
They spoke without hesitation.
Hyogyeong, drenched in rain, laughed at the sight of them.
“When you pocketed the silver, there was no reluctance. Now you play innocent?”
Such shamelessness, such ingratitude.
And here they were, testifying without grasping their own guilt.
Hyogyeong, his hands bound by rope, gestured at them contemptuously.
Then.
“We haven’t suddenly started playing innocent, Teacher Hyogyeong,” a voice called out.
Splash.
Light footsteps sounded across the puddle’s surface.
“We were pretending from the moment we met you.”
Beneath the lowered umbrella, a beautiful face smiled.
Before Hyogyeong had ever approached Son Wooje and the men of Mugwangbu.
“If someone from Wiwangbu approaches, accept their bribe as though it worked.”
So Ah had anticipated Hyogyeong’s move.
At the same time, she’d prepared two Imperial Tribute carts bound for the Imperial Capital.
“He’ll certainly try to intercept the tribute procession. You’ll need to run a false one in its place.”
And the false procession she’d entrusted to Son Wooje.
Son Wooje had harbored doubts.
‘Just because Jin Mokyeon came up from Wiwangbu—do we really need to stage a fake Imperial Tribute procession?’
What if no one approached at all?
Wouldn’t they simply waste money and effort on a farce?
But So Ah had been right all along.
[Lock Hyogyeong in the dungeon and summon the ministers to my private chamber.]
At Seo Heon’s command, No Chonggwan had convened a cabinet meeting before dawn.
“This is a capital crime—an attempt to sabotage Imperial Tribute goods!”
Dan Mokheum, learning the truth of the matter, couldn’t contain his fury and raised his voice.
Uiseop’s brow furrowed deeply as well.
“Should we not inform His Majesty, Your Highness?”
To switch out the Imperial Tribute like that.
It was as good as targeting the Emperor indirectly.
If this were exposed, not only would the Cheonseong trading company suffer a heavy blow, but Wiwangbu would take significant damage too.
But Seo Heon had no such intention.
The reason was…….
“If we report this carelessly to the Imperial Household, the backlash will fall on us,” a clear voice rang out.
When Seo Heon looked up, So Ah was watching him.
She met his gaze steadily.
“Once this becomes public knowledge, His Majesty will see it as a power struggle between Wiwangbu and Mugwangbu.”
She was right.
Mugwangbu had remained aloof from factional disputes within the Imperial Household until now.
Only recently had they begun to raise their name cautiously in court.
If a conflict with Wiwangbu—who stood close to the throne—surfaced publicly, Mugwangbu would face the brunt of the backlash.
“Not only His Majesty, but the Crown Prince will seek to suppress Mugwangbu as well.”
The King of Wei, Seo Gon, was the Crown Prince’s full brother.
He enjoyed the Empress’s protection.
But Seo Heon was an abandoned prince, a cursed son cast to the frontier.
With no deep roots among the central nobility, Seo Heon’s name carried little weight in court.
Who would have the Emperor’s ear was plain to see.
“Then you mean to let Jin Mokyeon go unpunished?” the ministers asked in frustration.
At this, So Ah smiled.
Her expression was serene.
“Of course not.”
* * *
So Haengsoo of Cheonseong entered the palace with tense, measured steps.
Before the Main Hall of Mugwangbu Palace.
A gathering of high officials from Mugwangbu.
“You summoned me, my lord?”
So Haengsoo’s face hardened like clay the moment he offered his greeting.
A corner of the Garden.
There stood Hyogyeong, caked in mud and bowing his head like a condemned man.
‘Why had there been no word from him……!’
Things had gone badly wrong.
He knew Hyogyeong’s reputation well.
Cheonseong trusted him as a man renowned for Strategy, yet to bungle things so—
But So Haengsoo did not let his shock linger long.
[I have heard that Hyogyeong is a man of Cheonseong.]
Reading the words that Mugwang had written, So Haengsoo bowed his head meekly.
“I confess ignorance of the matter, my lord, and I have no acquaintance with this man whatsoever.”
When a scheme falls through, one cuts off the tail.
At those words, Hyogyeong’s eyebrow twitched once, but he said nothing.
Since coming to Mugwangbu, Hyogyeong had understood his fate.
His role was to bear all guilt upon himself, resigned to death.
A life forfeit either way.
And he had received kindness from Cheonseong; he would not drag others down with him.
Then Seo Heon produced a single volume he had seized and set it upon the table.
Its worn cover bore dense handwriting throughout.
A book of stratagems that Hyogyeong had written over a lifetime.
The Jipcheak.
[This book is both the origin and the evidence of today’s crime.]
Seo Heon opened to a particular passage and displayed it.
─ Burn the evidence, and bury the traces in darkness.
Below it lay every detail of the arson and the switching scheme.
Having scanned the passage, So Haengsoo spoke with ease.
“I am too dull to grasp its meaning, my lord.”
He feigned ignorance of what had transpired that night.
Then So Ah, seated below Seo Heon, stepped forward and spoke.
“Is it not true that Cheonseong aided in the compilation of this very book?”
So Haengsoo did not flinch.
It was true that Cheonseong had supported the compilation of the Jipcheak, but there was no reason to entangle himself in Hyogyeong’s crimes.
After all, there would be no solid proof.
“Cheonseong aided in its compilation, you say?”
So Haengsoo picked up the book.
The wisest course was to leave no room for doubt—to eliminate the evidence itself.
“Cheonseong is not so idle as to spend coin carelessly. To implicate our organization in this worthless tome is slander of the basest sort.”
Splash—
He hurled the book into the muddy water of the Garden.
Upon the stagnant rainwater.
The characters, drinking in the murky mud, bled black across the pages.
‘To try and bind Cheonseong with such a pittance of a book.’
The scheme was shallow—shallower than shallow.
And yet—
“A worthless tome, you call it……?”
A trembling voice sounded from behind So Haengsoo.
Hands bound by rope seized the Jipcheak, now soaked in muddy water.
Hyogyeong’s hands were shaking violently.
And then—
“Who was it that filled Cheonseong’s coffers with this book!”
Hyogyeong glared at So Haengsoo with blazing eyes.
At the sudden outburst, So Haengsoo’s eyes went wide.
Had the man gone mad?
This man who had sat silent, resolved to shoulder all blame—suddenly crying out like this.
“What are you doing now, Hyogyeong?”
“I gave everything for Cheonseong! It was I who ordered the investigation into Mugwangbu’s foundations—all of it……!”
“Master Hyogyeong!”
So Haengsoo cried out as though to clamp his hand over Hyogyeong’s mouth.
But it was no use.
“I have devoted my entire life to Cheonseong!”
Hyogyeong shouted, clutching the Jipcheak.
So Ah observed the entire scene with perfect composure.
‘Indeed, So Haengsoo doesn’t truly know Hyogyeong.’
Hyogyeong was a man consumed by the hunger for renown.
A man who longed to be called “Master.”
A man who dreamed his name would echo through generations.
For such a man, the Jipcheak was the very quintessence of all honor and pride.
‘In my past life too, he bragged about his own work, took pride in it, treasured it like his life itself.’
What seemed trivial to others could become a kindling spark that ignited violent emotion in someone else.
And so, to treat his Jipcheak—his very extension—as a worthless draft and hurl it into the mud.
Throw down one spark, and dry kindling will burn of its own accord.
“And Cheonseong itself gave these orders!”
Hyogyeong tore open his robe and withdrew a small slip of paper.
It was a Secret Letter exchanged with So Haengsoo since their arrival here.
The moment the evidence surfaced, even So Haengsoo’s carefully composed face drained of color.
“The man’s mad! Your Grace, that letter is a forgery!”
“A forgery? With the Seal of Cheonseong stamped upon it? How many years have I spent serving Cheonseong—is this the only proof I possess?”
The two of them tore at each other’s throats as they sank together.
Over nothing more than a book cast into the mud.
‘After all, even wars begin from the smallest of things.’
Then.
Tap—a metal brush-tip struck the stone slate once.
At that brief, unmistakable sound, the raised voices cut off abruptly.
A masked face, cold and serene, regarded them in silence.
Like a god who had already decreed their fates.
So Haengsoo felt the chill creep down the back of his neck.
A scratch—Mugwang’s long, pale fingers raked through the empty air.
A wordless meaning, crystalline and clear.
Hyogyeong dutifully brought the Secret Letter he had received from Cheonseong and presented it to him.
‘He’s actually handing it over to Mugwang…!’
So Haengsoo bit his lip.
The gaze behind the mask slowly traced across the letter’s contents.
Even So Haengsoo, skilled as he was at concealment, could no longer hide his unease.
Only hiding his trembling fingertips beneath his sleeve.
At last, having read the letter, Seo Heon took up his brush.
So Haengsoo held his breath, following the brush-tip as it glided across white paper.
In the frozen silence, No Chonggwan received the characters Seo Heon had written and read them aloud.
[Hyogyeong destroyed Imperial Tribute and sought to shift the blame to others for this crime. His neck should be severed, as is fitting.]
At this, Hyogyeong hung his head as though in resignation.
From the moment of his capture, he had made peace with death.
He harbored no thought of begging pitifully for his life.
He simply accepted his end with composure.
But then.
[However, death would be excessive mercy.]
At the words that followed, Hyogyeong’s head snapped up.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————