The Survival Story Of A Fallen Lady - Chapter 71

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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 Record, Episode 71
Who would have thought—he’d taken the wine bottle into his own hands rather than watch So Ah pour it.
“For the sake of brotherly affection, it seems the Wang has shown proper deference to the Wei Wang as a younger brother should.”
Then So Ah added her own remark.
Seo Gon’s languid gaze turned toward her.
Deference as a younger brother?
‘When did that child become so brazen?’
Seo Gon lifted his cup and shot a sideways glance at Seo Heon, who held the wine bottle.
Seo Heon silently filled his own cup.
“My younger brother has grown much.”
Seo Gon raised his cup as well.
“I never thought the day would come when I’d receive a drink from your hands.”
With that, Seo Gon drained his cup in one go.
Seo Heon quietly emptied his own.
A slanted smile played at the corners of Seo Gon’s mouth.
He had harbored doubts based on rumor alone.
But now he did not.
‘So he truly carries her in his heart.’
Of all people, his monstrous older brother had chosen Jin So Ah.
“Well then.”
Clink.
He set down his empty cup and opened the conversation.
“Speaking of which, there’s quite a lot of interest to be found in the Mugwang Territory.”
Seo Gon leaned back slowly.
“The roads are well-maintained, the markets are thriving. Ah, and I examined several of the Northwestern outposts on the way here. Supplies are quite abundant.”
Seo Gon traced the rim of his cup with his fingertip.
Seo Heon’s gaze turned sharp and cold.
“Do not mistake me for a spy. His Majesty has entrusted me with the position of Northwestern Military Inspector—surely I cannot simply observe everything and depart without comment?”
Seo Gon laughed.
“Yet I hear…….”
Seo Gon’s eyes, which had been trailing off, turned toward So Ah.
“That a mere entertainer meddles in State Affairs?”
Seo Gon’s gaze flicked for a moment toward Geum Seo Ak.
At that instant, the creases around Geum Seo Ak’s sunken eyes deepened.
‘Could it be my memorial…….’
Geum Seo Ak’s pupils wavered.
The memorial had been submitted in the hope that the Imperial Household itself would resolve the problem, since the entertainer had been brought in by Imperial decree.
He had never intended to invite a Wei Wang to this land……!
“When did the Mugwang Territory begin permitting entertainers to speak of State Affairs and Military Affairs?”
The air in the banquet hall grew heavy in an instant.
In that silence, the eyes of Seo Gon and So Ah met.
“The Byeokroe Trading Company, relief efforts, road and bridge construction—and the Seonwidae training on top of that?”
Seo Gon slowly rolled his cup and turned his gaze toward Seo Heon.
“No matter how favored she may be, she is a woman of the Inner Palace. For her to involve herself in State Affairs without leave violates propriety, does it not?”
A veiled insinuation.
It was aimed at Seo Heon, who had drawn So Ah into State Affairs.
A lord so blinded by a woman that he privately distributed power to her—
This was something the Imperial Household itself could take issue with.
Just as Seo Heon was about to respond,
“I wonder why the Wei Wang holds me in such high regard.”
So Ah smiled and opened her mouth.
“I am grateful that you remember me kindly from long ago, but you raise me so high that I am ashamed to lift my head.”
“Then it is not as I have heard?”
“How could I possibly oversee the Trading Company and relief efforts, roads and bridges, and the Seonwidae all at once?”
At that, Seo Gon’s brow moved subtly.
“Then you have no involvement with the Byeokroe Trading Company?”
“Ah, I do oversee the Trading Company’s affairs. But the Company is a matter of commerce, not of State Affairs, is it not?”
So Ah smiled lightly.
“Then what of the road repairs and bridges?”
“Those are the accomplishment of the Minister of Public Works.”
So Ah pointed her chin toward Dan Mok Heum, who sat off to one side.
“I cannot even transport a single stone properly—what would I possibly know of such matters?”
So Ah shook her head, insisting she had no expertise in construction and could never take on such weighty responsibilities.
“And the Seonwidae—what of that?”
“I have spoken with the Seonwidae members about their remarkable Sword Techniques, but surely I cannot claim credit for the organization’s work based on mere conversation?”
So Ah lowered her long lashes, as if modest.
“You have observed me for many years, and you know well—what could I possibly understand or boast about regarding Sword Techniques?”
Seo Gon rested his chin on his hand and fell silent for a moment.
She was not wrong.
As far as he knew, So Ah had never been raised around Sword Techniques.
She had never even trained in the Sword Path.
‘She was always the child doing laundry and cleaning inside the house.’
And yet suddenly this same girl was mending roads, building bridges, revitalizing markets, and now reaching into military affairs?
It made no sense from any reasonable standpoint.
‘Since So Ah arrived, things in Mugwang Territory have indeed gone smoothly….’
But that was mere chance.
It would be misleading to credit So Ah with the success.
“Your words are fair.”
Seo Gon smiled and raised his cup.
So Ah gazed back at him and smiled as if bashful.
“Did my sister perhaps praise me so lavishly? It seems she offered her kind words with some exaggeration mixed in.”
With an innocent face, So Ah brought up Jin Mok Yeon’s name, then glanced sideways at Geum Seo Ak, who sat across from her.
“So what news from Wi Wang Territory and the Imperial City?”
【The pigeons arrived just at dawn today. But there’s one thing that troubles me…】
She already knew he had submitted a memorial to the Imperial City.
But there was no benefit to mentioning Geum Seo Ak’s name in this setting.
Still, she would have to remind him to repay this favor later.
Suddenly, she felt a sharp gaze upon her.
Looking to her side, she found Seo Heon staring directly at her.
【There she goes, smiling sweetly and evading so skillfully.】
Seo Heon’s voice sounded displeased for some reason.
What had discontented him?
She had just put Seo Gon’s suspicions to rest.
So Ah pretended not to hear and turned her eyes away from him.
Seo Gon set down his cup and steered the conversation elsewhere.
“In these unsettled times, it is not good for your name to be bandied about unnecessarily.”
“Unsettled times?”
“The matter of Yatal.”
At the word Yatal, a peculiar tension swept through the banquet hall.
“There are signs that Yatal means to press southward. That is precisely why the Emperor entrusted me with the position of Northwestern Military Inspector.”
Yatal.
A nomadic tribe that roamed the steppes beyond the northwestern frontier.
“Thus the Emperor commanded me to scrutinize everything related to Mugwang Territory’s military—the strength and disposition of each unit, weapons, and provisions.”
Seo Gon’s fingers tapped lightly on the table.
“I myself shall inspect all military matters directly. Including, of course, the Seonwidae.”
Seo Gon smiled toward So Ah.
The faces of the Mugwang Territory officials present went rigid.
Did that not mean he intended to seize and wield all Military Authority of Mugwang Territory?
Moreover, the Seonwidae was the core military organization of Mugwang Territory.
Mugwang Territory’s Autonomy Rights from the Imperial Throne rested on the defense of Yo Valley and the existence of the Seonwidae.
Yet Seo Gon laughed with an affable face.
“Do not misunderstand, brother. I do not mean to take away your military.”
……
“Only that in any crisis, I shall be the one to act, so it is necessary I know these things beforehand.”
As Seo Gon spoke, reminding them of his authority as Northwestern Military Inspector, Geum Seo Ak’s expression hardened.
This was not what he had sought when he sent that memorial.
If all of Mugwang Territory’s records fell into those hands, they would become crucial leverage for Wi Wang Territory to use against Mugwang Territory when the time came to clash.
And had not Seo Gon long ago planted seeds of rebellion in Mugwang Territory?
Beneath the table, Geum Seo Ak’s fist clenched so tightly it trembled.
Then.
“Is there really any need to scrutinize each record one by one?”
So Ah spoke suddenly.
“What do you mean, So Ah?”
“As the saying goes, seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times, is it not?”
So Ah turned her gaze toward the window.
A dark shadow flitted across the sky where dusk had settled.
“As Northwestern Military Inspector, it would be better for you to observe the troops and the Seonwidae directly before you leave.”
Seo Gon’s mouth curved upward slightly.
Observe the troops firsthand?
That would certainly be more reliable than holding ledgers and records.
“Truly, you think cleverly, So Ah.”
Seo Gon laughed heartily, and at that moment, every official from Mugwang Territory in the room fixed their eyes on So Ah.
Had she just been granted the authority to scrutinize the troops in such detail?
Even Seo Heon’s brow was beginning to crease when—
“Your Majesty!”
The door to the banquet hall burst open and a soldier came rushing in.

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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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