The Time-Limited Elixir of the Ruined Clan - Chapter 81

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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 Crumbling Noble House and Its Doomed Heir — Episode 81

Jung Young approached Ryeon with quick steps, finding her in a corner of the Martial Arts Platform.
“Young Miss, I have carried out your command.”
Ryeon’s order had been simple enough.
Evidence Collection.

She needed to find proof of what Dan Mok Jun had done.
Yet she’d never expected to uncover it so quickly—much less to witness Dan Mok Seong appear in person and force Dan Mok Jun to his knees.
“Already?”
Even as Ryeon’s eyes darted between Dan Mok Seong and Jung Young, the young man had already dropped to his hands before Dan Mok Cheon Gi, bowing deeply as he cried out.
“Master of the Household! This wretch attempted to harm people within the Dan Mok Clan, and I beg your forgiveness for making him kneel without first offering proper greetings.”
To harm people—that was no trivial matter. Dan Mok Cheon Gi’s brows shot up sharply.
“What?”
“What did you say?”
“Seong! What, what is this about!”
Looking more closely at Dan Mok Seong, she could see beads of sweat dotting his forehead—clearly he’d run straight here the moment he’d found the evidence.
Dan Mok Jun’s face cycled rapidly from pale to crimson and back again, until suddenly it flushed with rage and he pointed an accusatory finger.
“That, that bastard!”
On closer inspection, standing behind Dan Mok Seong was a strange servant whose face was streaked and blotchy with tears, his posture bent nearly double in a perpetual bow.
In the meantime, Jung Young leaned toward Ryeon and whispered quietly.
“Hwa Ryun… was fetching food for the koi when she noticed something amiss in the Guest Reception Hall kitchen, so she looked into what was happening.”
“Hwa Ryun did?”
Ryeon’s eyes widened in genuine surprise at those words.
She’d never seen Hwa Ryun take notice of anything beyond Ryeon herself or Dan Mok Bi—never the peripheral matters of the household.
“There was some leftover fried chicken in the Guest Reception Hall kitchen, and the servants shared it among themselves, but only a few hours later they all began vomiting, or……”
Jung Young trailed off, unwilling to describe the servants’ repeated bouts of vomiting and diarrhea in front of the young mistress.
“In any case, the steward in charge of the Guest Reception Hall kitchen was thrown into complete panic.”
‘Oh no! And they all shared it among themselves!’
The Physician and Seo Geuk Rim, who’d been listening to the account alongside her, went pale.
“Goodness. How, how many people ate it?”
“About four or so, though the symptoms aren’t as severe in most of them—only the one who ate the most was hit hardest. When I checked, the Physician was already examining them, so there’s no need for concern.”
“So? What evidence did you find, and how?”
“The steward tasted the dish in question and realized the meat wasn’t simply spoiled—it appeared to have been made from spoiled meat from the start……”
Jung Young glanced briefly at the servant behind Dan Mok Seong. The trembling man looked as though he wished to faint dead away where he stood.
Yet Dan Mok Seong pressed on confidently, bearing the weight of all their stares upon him.
“I learned that several servants had been complaining of vomiting, diarrhea, high fever, and dizziness for the past few hours, so I investigated. They said they’d shared some leftover dishes from the Guest Reception Hall. When I asked what they’d eaten, this wretch had secretly prepared it in the Guest Reception Hall kitchen!”
Dan Mok Jun’s face went ashen in an instant, and he cried out desperately.
“That, that, that’s right! It was that bastard who made it! I, I had nothing to do with it!”
And then Dan Mok Jun crawled forward on his knees toward the servant standing beside Dan Mok Seong.
As he moved with threatening gestures, as though meaning to seize and interrogate the man, the servant clutched frantically at Dan Mok Seong’s robes and let out both tears and confession in nearly the same breath.
“Young Master, you, you gave me meat that smelled strange and told me to, to make a stir-fry with it!”
“No, no—when did I ever do that! I know nothing of it!”
At that moment, Dan Mok Jun’s own servant threw himself flat on the ground.
What unfolded now was nearly a life-and-death confession—only one of them could survive this.
The servant who’d grown adept at reading the room and scraping by through his years of servitude spoke first.
“I, I mentioned that the meat seemed odd, sir, but you said it was a rare delicacy you’d brought for nourishment with a friend—that someone like me wouldn’t understand such things. But no matter how lowborn I am, I can tell the difference between rotted meat and something precious…… yet I could never bring myself to refuse your orders……”
“Who is this friend?”
The moment Dan Mok Cheon Gi asked in a low voice, the hall erupted with the sound of sharp intakes of breath from every direction. All present froze like rabbits before a tiger, trembling visibly.
“Did I not ask who this friend is!”
Bang!
Dan Mok Cheon Gi brought his hand down lightly against the table, yet the sound reverberated through the hall like thunder.
Dan Mok Jun gasped in terror and collapsed into weeping. The servant, however, spoke up quickly.
“It, it was Young Master Geuk Rim!”
Seo Geuk Rim, who had been watching how the situation unfolded, swallowed an Antidote Pill the Physician had given him and slowly rose to his feet.
Dan Mok Cheon Gi fixed him with an intense gaze, as if shooting daggers, then turned his attention back to Dan Mok Seong.
“If they both ate the same dish, why did only one of them fall ill while the other remains perfectly fine?”
“Master, Young Master Jun did not eat it…….”
“No! That’s not true!”
Dan Mok Jun denied it vehemently.
“This servant acted alone!”
“Why would I secretly bring spoiled meat and serve it to you, Young Master!”
“I don’t know! You’ve always envied and resented me, so you prayed I’d fail this test, didn’t you? So you could mock me from behind my back……!”
“Enough!”
As Dan Mok Cheon Gi gazed down with cold eyes and exhaled a sigh, Seo Geuk Rim rose from his seat, walked to the base of the platform, offered a respectful salute, and spoke.
“Master of the Clan, Young Master Dan Mok Jun said he had secretly procured some nourishing meat for me and suggested we share lunch together. There was a plate of chicken among the dishes. Unlike his usual habit, Young Master Dan Mok Jun did not eat the meat himself and only urged me to have it.”
“Your illness—was it caused by the spoiled meat?”
“Yes, I apologize.”
Seo Geuk Rim’s face had grown even paler in the meantime. Sensing that the situation was taking a troubling turn, Dan Mok Jun quickly changed his story.
“Master! Please, there’s been a misunderstanding. I only meant to treat Geuk Rim with the cooking, but I truly believed it was good meat!”
“Then why didn’t you eat any yourself?”
“I, I wanted to give it to Geuk Rim out of respect, since it was such fine meat…….”
“If you’re such good friends, why did you leave him alone while he suffered such severe vomiting and pain, and come here by yourself?”
“Geuk Rim, he suddenly disappeared. I couldn’t find him……. But I thought I couldn’t be late for the test…….”
Then a small, trembling voice was heard.
“I saw that person stealing chicken yesterday.”
‘Dan Mok Wan!’
A small-framed girl whose face had turned pale with nervousness pointed at Dan Mok Jun and spoke.
All eyes, including Dan Mok Cheon Gi’s, turned toward her, but Dan Mok Wan spoke as calmly and clearly as she could.
“I saw him sneak into the Kitchen at dawn yesterday and take out a bundle wrapped in cloth. At the time, I didn’t know what it was—I thought perhaps he was hungry…….”
Then the Chief Steward spoke in a low voice to Dan Mok Cheon Gi.
“Yesterday morning, the dish brought to the Guest Reception Hall was chicken porridge.”
“D, do you have proof? Proof that I did it……!”
As Dan Mok Jun protested fiercely, Dan Mok Seong abruptly produced the cloth he had brought.
Dan Mok Hyeon Yo, who stepped closer to her daughter, received the cloth and turned back to Dan Mok Cheon Gi with a face that looked almost ready to cry out.
It was an old piece of Cotton Cloth, its color somewhat faded with age. But it was smeared with a sticky, viscous substance and gave off a foul smell—something like the stench of stale boiled eggs.
“This is the cloth that was wrapped around the chicken. There’s a name embroidered on it: Dan Mok Jun!”
“Oh……!”
“Good heavens…….”
As sighs escaped from the crowd, Dan Mok Hyeon Yo, wrinkling her brow at the reek of rotten meat, turned to Dan Mok Seong with a trembling voice.
“How, how on earth did you find such a thing……?”
Dan Mok Seong turned his serious gaze toward where Ryeon stood.
“The truth is, Ryeon’s servant and warrior have been investigating all of this under her orders.”
“……!”
Suddenly, all eyes turned toward Ryeon. Jung Young cast her gaze down slightly and whispered to Ryeon in a low voice.
“Actually, it wasn’t me—Hwa Ryun did most of it…….”
Her voice carried a note of dejection.
In the meantime, matters were resolved swiftly. Dan Mok Jun, protesting that something was wrong, was dragged away, and Seo Geuk Rim, who had been holding on, was also moved to the infirmary.
The last person climbed onto the Martial Arts Platform amid a thoroughly confused atmosphere. It was Dan Mok Wan, whose expression, though still tense, now carried a note of composure.
After seeing Seo Geuk Rim off, Ryeon returned to her seat with a soft smile.
Dan Mok Wan demonstrated her abilities flawlessly before Dan Mok Hyeon U, then descended from the Martial Arts Platform with the satisfied expression of someone who had revealed all her secrets.

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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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