The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 20

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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 Declining Noble House’s Limited Engagement — Chapter 20

First, she was startled to discover that he had mastered the Falling Star Twelve Swords up to the fifth form.
‘Then again, the Falling Star Twelve Swords is a basic sword technique taught to anyone who becomes a courier at the Yu Sung Courier Station, which the clan operates….’
Still, for someone who worked in commerce to have learned it to the fifth form spoke of no ordinary dedication.
Gyeon Eon Jo greeted Dan Mok Ryeon with unmistakable warmth.
“My, my… how is it that a child who only recently opened her eyes speaks so clearly and with such keen intelligence?”
Ryeon started to mutter under her breath, ‘I’m already eight years old, and will be nine soon,’ but stopped herself.
To an elder’s eye, she must surely have looked like a mere infant.
Gyeon Eon Jo congratulated Ryeon repeatedly on her awakening and spoke at length about how perceptive she appeared.
Throughout this, Dan Mok Cheon Ki merely listened with soft hums and murmurs, showing neither particular joy nor displeasure, yet never asking him to stop.
Only after the tea had gone cold did Gyeon Eon Jo draw a small ceramic vial from his breast and address Ryeon.
“About this Blue Lotus Water you sent me…”
The starlight that danced in Ryeon’s eyes flickered brighter at his words.
“I heard it was made in the medicinal pharmacy of the Dan Mok Clan, and I thought to myself — why not try selling this? So I spoke of it to the Grand Patriarch, but he said I ought to discuss it with the pharmacy master instead. So I cornered the pharmacy master and asked, and he said I needed your permission first.”
At this sudden turn of events, Ryeon glanced toward Dan Mok Cheon Ki. He broke his contemplative silence with a soft clearing of his throat and spoke.
“In truth, Ryeon made this herself. So if you wish to do something with it, you must seek her consent first.”
Ryeon was astonished that Dan Mok Cheon Ki would speak so decidedly, then astonished again when Gyeon Eon Jo accepted his words without hesitation.
“Heavens! You truly do possess talent, child. The Grand Patriarch. The rumors are true — that the Immortal took you with him and gave you back.”
“Spare me the flattery. So what exactly do you intend to do with it?”
“What else would I be doing here in such haste? Did you think I came to brighten your mood and waste my time with honeyed words?”
Dan Mok Cheon Ki let out a small cough. He clearly suspected that was precisely the intent.
Gyeon Eon Jo shook his head vigorously and pulled out a chair, seating Ryeon directly.
“Rub it on your fingertips and your mind clears; on your temples and headaches vanish, drowsiness flees; on tightened muscles and they loosen like silk. My servant’s nose was running, so I rubbed some beneath his nostrils, and the very next day his cold was gone!”
He had also applied it to the joints of his fingers that ached from poring over ledgers and recording accounts, seen the pain dissolve at once, and rushed here straightaway — Gyeon Eon Jo now delivered an impassioned monologue that this was a product that worked, truly worked, and absolutely must be brought to market.
“Then what price would be appropriate?”
Ryeon, who had been listening quietly to Gyeon Eon Jo’s praise, posed the question. Gyeon Eon Jo’s mouth snapped shut.
With the one talkative person in the room falling silent, it seemed as though stillness descended upon the entire world. A bird’s cry echoed distantly before fading, and only then did Gyeon Eon Jo speak again.
“The apothecary at Hoxuan’s Pavilion told me that for a single measure
of essence oil to be sold with any profit at all, the minimum would have to be ten copper coins.”
One copper coin could buy a decent meal for two people.
Ten coins was enough to stay at a respectable inn for five days.
Ten coins was enough to stay at a respectable inn for five days.
“But that figure doesn’t account for the value of devising the formula itself. The cost of essence oils varies wildly, so you’d need to calculate differently for each ingredient used. You don’t know how much you can produce, so that too requires calculation….”
Ryeon listened to Gyeon Eon Jo’s words in silence and finished her calculations.
“The Blue Lotus Water I gave you as a gift was made by a special method, so as you’ve said, I cannot produce it in large quantities. How about one measure for one hundred copper coins — that is, one silver tael — and use pretty ceramic vials?”
At hearing the price suddenly leap tenfold, something flickered across Gyeon Eon Jo’s eyes.
“The servant standing over there doesn’t earn one silver tael in a month. Who would buy it at such a price?”
“Those who wish to will.”
“That’s not wrong, I suppose. West Lake Dragon Well commands one silver tael per vessel, yet we can’t produce enough to meet demand. But would this small vial of Blue Lotus Water truly hold such value?”

Ryeon smiled faintly and asked something else.
“If we were to enter into a contract with the Man Song Trading Company, who would oversee this venture?”
“One of my children would take direct charge of it.”
“Which of your children, sir?”
Gyeon Eon Jo tilted his head, finding this conversation intriguing.
“My eldest, Gyeon Wi Jung, has long assisted the family affairs and has developed a keen eye for commerce. My second, Gyeon Wi Un, examines everything rigorously and tests the bridge before she crosses it. Choose, then — whose hand would you prefer to see guiding this enterprise?”
Ryeon’s hands clenched into tight fists beneath the table.
She already knew the Man Song Trading Company’s history. The phrase about Gyeon Wi Jung’s keen eye for business meant that every guess he’d made so far had been mere luck dressed in foresight.
It was Gyeon Wi Un, the second daughter — she who examined everything rigorously and tested the bridge before crossing — who was truly trustworthy.
In Ryeon’s memory, Gyeon Wi Un had failed to inherit the Man Song Trading Company and instead founded her own trading house. When the Man Song Trading Company crumbled under Gyeon Wi Jung’s stewardship, Gyeon Wi Un’s new venture seized control of the entire Jiangnan region.
But it was not these two whom Ryeon now awaited.
“Sir, do you have no third child?”
“Ha! Not all the children of a merchant house pursue commerce. My third, Gyeon Wi Hak, is continuing his studies. He’s preparing for the Provincial Civil Service Exam that approaches soon.”

Gyeon Eon Jo spoke of it matter-of-factly, yet it was plain he harbored real hopes for his son’s success in the Provincial Civil Service Exam.
Gyeon Eon Jo hailed from Huizhou in Nanzhi Lu, which lay just above Zhejiang Province. The merchants of that region were all desperate to see their children rise through the Imperial Examination, and even after settling in Zhejiang, Gyeon Eon Jo retained that ambition.
‘And your dream will come true, sir.’
Dan Mok Ryeon smiled softly.
“Then I’d be grateful if you, Master Weihak, would take him under your wing.”
“Master? Nonsense! If you called me uncle, that would suffice. Surely that’s acceptable, isn’t it, Lord Dan Mok?”
“You are my younger brother, so strictly speaking the relation is a touch more distant…….”
“Why get tangled up in such details? Uncle is uncle—let’s call it that.”
Gyeon Eon Jo chuckled, speaking with exaggerated insistence. Dan Mok Ryeon’s eyes widened.
For him to suggest she call the trading company chief’s son “uncle” meant he was signaling an intention to extend their bond across generations.
“Then if Uncle Weihak were to…….”
“That boy doesn’t work in the company, does he?”
“But sir——”
Dan Mok Ryeon shook her head.
“If people hear ‘He used Blue Lotus Water and passed as Top Scholar,’ they’ll come bearing gold, expecting a single bottle to work the same miracle. I’m not asking Uncle Weihak to do something with the Blue Lotus Water—I simply want him to use it. That’s all.”

* * *

As Dan Mok Ryeon left Wol Young Jae after her audience with Gyeon Eon Jo, she spotted someone loitering near the reception hall and tilted her head in puzzlement.
‘She looks familiar.’
The face bore the same sharp gaze as the elderly trading company chief she’d just been facing—only finer in its features.
Yet something seemed odd about the clothes. The woman was dressed as a man, but not just any man—her garb was rather shabby compared to Gyeon Eon Jo’s, the sort a servant or stable hand might wear.
Combined with eyes as piercing as Gyeon Eon Jo’s own, it created an unsettling discord.
When Dan Mok Ryeon called Seon Gyeong to her wrist, the woman’s name surfaced in her mind.

Gyeon Wi Un
Falling Star Twelve Swords : 2nd tier
Infinite Step : 2nd tier
Troubles: Finding a way to end her father Gyeon Eon Jo’s favoritism toward his eldest, finding a way to stop Gyeon Wi Jung’s wasteful spending.

‘Gyeon Wi Un? But…… why is she here dressed as a servant and following him?’
The confusion prompted her to speak without thinking.
“What are you doing here……?”
“Oh! If it isn’t Miss Dan Mok Ryeon!”
The servant accompanying Gyeon Wi Un went pale as ash, hastily motioning her back while bowing deeply to Dan Mok Ryeon.
“We, we’re just…… waiting for our master. The trading company chief, yes, to escort him. That’s all.”
“I understand that. But Miss Gyeon Wi Un over there——”
At Dan Mok Ryeon’s words, the servant nearly leapt into the air. With only slight exaggeration, she seemed to jump as high as Dan Mok Ryeon herself was tall.
“Oh, no, no, what, what are you saying, no, miss, that’s…….”
While the servant floundered in near tears, Gyeon Wi Un, standing behind her, pulled her backward.
“Enough. We’re already exposed—don’t make it worse with lies.”
“But miss…….”
Gyeon Wi Un shook her head and clasped her hands before Dan Mok Ryeon, bowing with dignity.
“Miss Dan Mok Ryeon. I am Gyeon Wi Un. Please forgive me for this unseemly display.”
Gyeon Wi Un’s voice was cool and formal, yet carried a quiet composure and bearing.
Even now, when the first son of a martial family that once ruled a province like a king was following his father, and the Dan Mok Clan itself was on the verge of ruin, she remained dignified.
A spark flickered in Dan Mok Ryeon’s eyes.
“Why?”
“Pardon?”
“Why come dressed like this? When you arrived with your grandfather?”

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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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