The Youngest Son of the Nanyang Jin Family - Chapter 26

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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 Youngest Son of the Nakhyang Jin Family – Chapter 87

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“Sigh… He still hasn’t returned.”
Chu Hyeongi, who remained at the inn, was growing anxious about Jin Cheon-u, who had not come back even after four days.
The way he continuously exhaled sighs seemed to reveal just how great his concern was.
There was no helping it.
The Crown Prince’s rebellion had erupted, the Emperor was dead, and all of the former Emperor’s closest associates had been rounded up and arrested.
The problem was that Jin Cheon-u had been dragged away with them.
Because of this, an anxiety naturally arose that he might become the first victim of this rebellion.
“What was he thinking, going to such a place…”
“If he hadn’t gone, something far worse would have happened.”
“Huh? Why?”
At the sudden voice, Chu Hyeongi turned his head. What captured his gaze was Chaeseoha, dressed in neat clothes with her face covered by a veil.
As she moved, her face became visible between the folds of the veil, and Chu Hyeongi found himself unable to tear his eyes away, staring intently.
Despite feeling his gaze, Chaeseoha continued speaking calmly.
“If the Young Master hadn’t gone, only that uncle’s words might have become the truth. From the Crown Prince’s perspective, he would have needed to shake the Nakhyang Jin Family anyway, so he would have thought it worked out well.”
Whether it was the head of the direct Jin line or just the Family Head himself, a scapegoat was necessary from the Crown Prince’s standpoint.
And it mattered not to him whether the neck belonged to the Family Head or Jin Baek-ryong.
Jin Cheon-u had gone to prevent that situation.
“Thorough, indeed.”
Originally, she had thought he would hurry to leave Beijing after escaping Daoyuan Village.
Simply remaining here in a situation where a bloodbath was as obvious as seeing fire would invite danger.
But Jin Cheon-u was different.
Rather, he had dug in deeper.
Whether this had been his intention from the start or a decision made later was unclear, but it seemed he had anticipated that Jin Baek-ryong would be captured.
Thanks to this, the one who suffered the greatest blow in this situation was none other than.
“This… cursed bastard!”
Crack-crack-crack-!
Gu Gunbaek, who was grinding his teeth in real time.
He stared fixedly at the cloth placed on the table, grinding his teeth relentlessly.
Four days had passed, so the interest rate of four percent had reached a level Jin Baek-ryong could not bear, but the problem was that it seemed impossible to collect.
Because of this, Gu Gunbaek’s expression was not merely bitter but pained.
“I told you then to just hand over what you had!”
“Hey, you fool! It’s four percent interest—what idiot would just accept that?!”
“If you’d taken it then, you’d at least have tens of gold taels now.”
“Damn it! Don’t remind me! No, wait. This is all because of that bastard Jin Cheon-u. He knew everything and gave it to me like this. He knew this would happen all along!”
‘It was you who fell for it, sir.’
The words rose up Chaeseoha’s throat.
I should have suspected from the beginning.
Jin Cheon-u was a merchant’s son.
Not just any ordinary merchant either, but the son of the Nakhyang Jin Family—so influential they could manipulate wealth across all of the Central Plains.
Would such a person carelessly hand over money?
He must have known it was money he would never receive, which is precisely why he gave it.
If you consider who benefited most from the current situation, the answer becomes obvious, does it not?
None other than Jin Cheon-u.
He took every last coin that Gu Gunbaek lost at gambling, and I heard he even went further, cleanly emptying Jin Baek-ryong’s purse that he had on him at the time.
And by using the cloth bearing the seal of a debt that would never be paid, he manipulated Gu Gunbaek into causing a disturbance, allowing him to achieve his objective with ease.
I couldn’t help but admire it.
“This Young Master So bastard… should I flay the skin right off him? Hmm? What do you think?”
Gu Gunbaek’s eyes gleamed as though he would march out and execute those very words immediately. His gaze was so savage that merely looking at him made one feel as though they might be devoured.
She deliberately turned her head away and left the room.
Who could possibly restrain such a raging beast?
As she sighed, her thoughts drifted to Jin Cheon-u.
“You must have some plan, right? By the looks of it, the Young Master So is about to become a dead man.”
She could only hope that her precious Young Master So had a way out of this.

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The Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Within this vast imperial palace, it was the most magnificent and dignified space—where the weight of countless emperors’ legacies settled. Every ruler before had conducted their duties here, and no other place could compare to its grandeur and majesty.
I stepped into that chamber.
The ministers lined up on both sides kept their heads bowed so low that only the crowns of their heads were visible.
They feared the bloodshed that would soon unfold.
In a place where such men dared not lift their eyes, where they could not bear to look.
A throne modeled after the form of the Yellow Dragon—the seat of absolute power.
Upon it sat the Crown Prince, who would soon be called the Iron-Blooded Emperor.
His gaze swept downward, his majesty laid bare without restraint, and I lowered my head in proper deference.
“I pay my respects to Your Highness the Crown Prince. May you reign ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand years eternal.”
“Raise your head.”
At the Crown Prince’s command, I lifted my head.
Yet I did not meet his gaze directly.
My eyes remained lowered, unable to face him.
Was he satisfied with this display?
The Crown Prince’s voice grew somewhat softer.
“Do you know why I imprisoned both Jin Baek-ryong and you?”
He referred to himself as “we”—a presumption he had no right to make, not yet crowned.
It was absurdly laughable, yet no one dared challenge it.
The throne would be his regardless.
“I do not know, Your Majesty.”
“The late Emperor and the criminals who wielded his power dared to carve a vast cavern beneath the earth, where they captured people and forced them to fight one another, enslaving them for their amusement. And it was Jin Baek-ryong who helped make this possible.”
In that moment, I grasped the Crown Prince’s strategy.
He would expose all that occurred in Doyuanhyang to the world, revealing how shameless and grave these crimes were, thereby legitimizing his rebellion.
Even those who believed he had murdered his father to seize the throne would surely support him once they learned the truth.
If one dug deeper, it was the work of the late Emperor, my grandfather, and the Hao Wen faction—but such details mattered little to the Crown Prince.
I smiled inwardly and prostrated myself.
“I was unaware of such atrocities. Please execute me, Your Majesty!”
“…!”
The ministers gasped in shock at my words.
The Crown Prince had not yet ascended to the throne.
To address him as “Your Majesty” was unthinkable.
Yet the Crown Prince remained composed.
When I had first hailed him as Crown Prince and cried out the blessing, the moment he spoke the word “we,” he had ceased to be a mere Crown Prince and become Emperor.
Understanding this, I adjusted accordingly.
“Haha—”
Sure enough, laughter echoed through the hall.
He would think me a perceptive one.
“Does the Nakhyang Jin Family truly claim ignorance of this matter?”
“If Your Majesty says we knew, then we knew. If you say we did not, then we did not. But understand this—we have no intention of evading responsibility for this affair.”
“Oh? No intention of evading responsibility? Then what do you intend to do?”
“The Family Head’s decision will be necessary, but first, I shall remove Jin Baek-ryong from the family registry and confiscate his assets to present them to the Imperial Household.”
“Continue.”
Removing Jin Baek-ryong from the family registry was a matter requiring my father’s decision.
But I would not refuse.
He surely understood the necessity of appeasing the Emperor at this moment.
Moreover, the confiscation of assets to present to the Imperial Household was significant.
The direct assets of the Nakhyang Jin Family, no less.
He would surely consider it a rather sweet fruit of a sum.
“Furthermore, we shall spare no effort in supporting whatever endeavors the Imperial Household pursues going forward. I am confident it will prove greatly beneficial.”
A substantial sum would inevitably flow out immediately.
But afterward, I would simply recoup it.
If the Nakhyang Jin Family supported most of the Imperial Household’s ventures, it meant the Jin Family could monopolize every project without competition, and in that process, there would be countless ways to siphon from the imperial treasury.
Emptying the imperial treasury was always an easy matter.
And the Emperor was not one to be ignorant of this.
Pfft—
From the sound of laughter mixed with his breath alone, it was clear he understood that my proposal benefited the Jin Family far more than the Imperial Household.
Yet he refrained from rebuking me precisely because he knew that if the Nakhyang Jin Family stepped forward with support, what he desired would be accomplished smoothly and flawlessly.
But this alone was insufficient.
The Emperor craved blood.
He would believe that only by witnessing bloodshed could true fear be instilled.
As circumstances dictated, the Nakhyang Jin Family could not escape this storm of blood either.
Right on cue, the Emperor’s heavy voice resonated.
“Your proposal is certainly appetizing, yet Jin Baek-ryong’s crimes remain unavoidable. Do you understand?”
“Yes, I understand, Your Majesty.”
“I shall conduct an interrogation to expose Jin Baek-ryong’s crimes clearly and unambiguously, and punishment shall be meted out accordingly.”
“If one commits crimes, one must face the consequences—such is the law of the realm. The Jin Family shall comply with whatever judgment Your Majesty renders.”
As I offered a response sufficiently satisfying to the Emperor, another soft laugh escaped him.
Then, a pleasant voice reached my ears.
“Young Master So, raise your head and look upon me.”
I lifted my gaze to meet the Emperor’s.
This was the first time I beheld his face from such proximity.
His eyes were sharp, as though piercing through one’s very being.
Despite displaying no aura whatsoever, the Emperor’s majesty was palpable—unlike that night at the Giru.
Is this what they mean when they say position shapes the person?
Then.
The Emperor’s brow furrowed.
“Have we met before?”
“No, we have not.”
“Curious. Your eyes seem strangely familiar.”
Well, he had only seen my eyes.
But no matter how hard I try to recall, I won’t be able to remember.
Because I cannot even imagine that the me of that time and the me of now are the same existence.
Just as the Emperor now and the Crown Prince then are different.
“Very well. Young Master So, return and tell the Family Head to bring me what I seek. Until then, we shall continue the interrogation, but Jin Baek-ryong’s punishment will be postponed.”
“Your grace is boundless, Your Majesty.”
I naturally stepped backward and maintained my courtesy.
The moment I carefully slipped out of the Taihua Hall, the doors that had been wide open suddenly shut with a resounding thud.
As if sealing off any escape route for those inside.
Confirming this, I turned my gaze once more.
The figure of Chungho, who had guided me to the Taihua Hall, came into view.
“Follow me. You must retrieve your belongings.”
Chungho spoke these words and began walking.
The vast Imperial Palace.
Though the Nakhyang Jin Family is said to be as expansive as the Imperial Palace itself, experiencing it directly like this, it certainly appears small—and this is no illusion.
As I pondered this and surveyed my surroundings, Chungho, who walked ahead, opened his mouth.
“The Nakhyang Jin Family is known as a merchant house, yet the martial prowess of its Young Master is difficult to attribute to a merchant’s son.”
“I am equally surprised. I never expected a disciple of a Martial Artist sect to be in the Imperial Palace.”
“…You recognized that I came from a Martial Artist sect?”
“A Martial Artist’s footwork is quite distinctive, is it not? It would be stranger not to recognize it.”
“I find it stranger that you recognized it at all.”
Chungho, who had been walking ahead, stopped and looked at me.
His peculiar eyes caught my attention.
A sense of deep wariness.
As if he remembered seeing me at the inn.
Or was he suspecting me?
I let out a soft laugh and met his gaze directly.
“You wouldn’t happen to be….”
“How is Sect Master Hoyeon faring?”
“…!”
At the mention of Sect Master Hoyeon, Chungho’s eyes widened considerably.
That was certainly reason enough to be surprised.
Hoyeon Valley.
The sect master when Chungho was with the Martial Artist sect, and his teacher.
I smiled as I recalled him.
“Please tell him I will pay my respects soon.”
The summit of Mount Taeag.
Yes, the man who stood before me as I crushed and swallowed the orb.
His face flickered before my eyes.

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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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