The Youngest Son of the Nanyang Jin Family - Chapter 89

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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 89

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Ever since that day, Namgung Baek had been plagued by the same recurring dream.
Through the haze of blurred vision, a landscape materialized.
A figure emerged between the flames of a roaring campfire. Trapped in a paralyzed body, I could only watch helplessly as the man changed his clothes and removed the mask that had concealed his face.
The moment his visage was revealed, I gasped in horror.
An inexplicable sense of dread and terror seized me, leaving me utterly immobilized.
Through the murky haze, I watched as the man cast his garments and mask into the flames, while a sinister smile spread across his lips, deepening the sense of foreboding.
Then came the moment when his gaze turned toward me.
“Gasp?!”
Namgung Baek jolted upright from his bedding.
Drip—
Cold sweat trickled down his back.
As he swallowed hard and turned his head, he found the adjacent bedchamber empty where his younger brother should have been.
He scrambled to his feet and burst through the door.
“Yeon-a!”
As he called out, scanning the courtyard.
Fortunately, he spotted his younger brother.
Whoosh—
In the pre-dawn darkness, before the sun had even risen.
Yet there stood Namgung Yeon, wielding his sword with grace.
Truly, with elegance.
The unfolding sword forms were beyond anything Namgung Baek could hope to replicate.
Every step taken, every fluid movement of his body—all of it transcended what Namgung Baek could ever achieve.
“Older brother?”
“…Yes, you’ve been working hard since the crack of dawn.”
“It’s difficult to practice at any other time.”
Namgung Yeon offered a bitter smile.
Gone were the days of the Namgung Family’s former glory; the dwelling they now occupied was dilapidated and shabby.
With a cramped courtyard and houses clustered tightly together, any sword practice would be visible to all the neighbors.
Thus, only at this hour could he wield his blade.
“Forgive me. I swear I will earn the money to restore our family to its former seat.”
“Hehe— I’m content with this. Please don’t worry yourself.”
Namgung Baek steeled his resolve with unwavering determination.
In his youth, lacking funds to support his younger brother, he had mortgaged their crumbling family estate and borrowed money from the Chohyeon Family.
Though he had since left that place and now lived in these humble circumstances, the moment he earned enough, he could return.
This was one of the reasons Namgung Baek pursued wealth with such relentless desperation.
As I was steeling myself for a moment, I heard my younger brother’s voice.
“But why did you wake up so early? It’s much faster than usual.”
“Ah— well, that is….”
At my brother’s question, I paused for a moment.
I couldn’t explain the situation from the dream, nor could I speak of it aloud.
In truth, I couldn’t even tell if it had been reality or merely a dream.
Even if I told someone, it would be problematic either way—if it were real, the consequences would be dire; if it were merely a dream, I’d be mocked for such foolishness.
The Moyong Family and the Nakhyang Jin Family.
Two powerful clans were entangled in this matter.
Sigh—
I steadied my breathing and hastily prepared to depart.
“I need to go accept work. Haven’t there been plenty of jobs lately? I need to work every day I can if I’m to save enough to buy a house with a training hall.”
“Haha— now that you mention it, that’s true! Our older brother never gets a moment’s rest.”
I nodded at Namgung Yeon’s words.
Ever since returning to Hapbi, work has been unusually abundant. Not only have I been unable to rest, but the compensation has been generous as well, so there’s no longer any need to venture far.
Life has become quite prosperous.
I was able to buy my younger brother, who had been carrying an old, worn sword, a new iron blade—cheap though it was—and even purchased new clothes for him after a long time.
Food has also become quite plentiful.
Unlike the past when I could eat properly only once every few days, now I can afford a hearty meal once a day.
Thanks to this, Namgung Yeon, who had been nothing but skin and bones, has filled out considerably.
His sword strikes have become sharper and his movements more refined—all thanks to this improvement.
My hard work has borne fruit.
However, I’ve spent quite a bit of the money I’ve accumulated.
I’ll have to work hard again.
“Then I’ll be going.”
“Yes, please return early.”
“Haha, understood.”
I quickened my pace.
The work is typically varied.
From menial tasks to hunting, or if fortune smiles, even wielding a blade as a martial artist to dispatch bandits.
The Government Office is the place where one can accept such diverse work.
If one arrives even slightly late, others snatch away the best jobs, but recently, no matter how late I arrive, I’ve always been able to secure well-paying work.
I moved swiftly toward the Government Office.
Somehow, those seeking work had gathered, and the courtyard before the Government Office was teeming with people.
Just then, the firmly closed door of the Government Office opened, and a man and a manager distributing work emerged outside.
The man bowed lightly and departed, but then glanced at me and clicked his tongue disapprovingly.
I knew who this evaluator was.
He was a member of the Chohyeon Sega, which had taken control of Hapbi in place of the fallen Namgung Family.
What business would such a person have here at the crack of dawn?
I didn’t quite understand, but I had no time for such thoughts.
I simply watched as people gradually received their tasks, wondering what work I would be assigned today, and found myself lost in thought about what I could buy for my younger brother with the money I earned.
“Huh?”
Yet no matter how much time passed, no work came my way.
The crowd that had filled the courtyard dwindled one by one, and even as I stood alone, the Manager showed no intention of calling on Namgung Baek.
Eventually, the Manager glanced at Namgung Baek standing solitary, scratched his head, and turned to enter the Government Office.
“W-wait, please. I am Namgung Baek! I always receive work here… Is there truly no task for me today?”
“Hmm? Ah, yes—I know, I know. There’s simply no work available.”
What was all that crowd doing here just moments ago?
I stared at the Manager with a bewildered expression.
I had to work today without fail.
My expenses had been substantial—purchasing a sword, clothes, and necessary supplies.
“How can that be?”
“Hmm… it’s not that there’s nothing at all…”
“If there is something, I will do it without hesitation.”
“Even if it’s cleaning the latrines?”
“…!”
“As it happens, the Government Office needs the latrines cleaned, but we have no one available. Would you do that?”
“…Is there nothing else?”
Namgung Baek asked with an awkward expression, cold sweat beading on his brow. No matter how far the Namgung Family had fallen, was he really being asked to clean latrines?
It was the one task he most wished to refuse.
“Ha, I apologize. There’s nothing else available.”
“…I will do it.”
“Hmm… and are you in urgent need? However, I cannot offer much. As you know, all Government Office expenditures come from the imperial treasury, so we must be frugal.”
“How much…?”
“Ten copper coins.”
Ten copper coins to clean the latrines?
Even at other places, the pay would exceed that.
Yet if there was no work here, it meant there was no work anywhere else either.
My lips trembled.
Namgung Baek closed his eyes, steeling himself.
“I will do it.”
I had no choice but to clean the latrines for ten copper coins.

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Clop-clop, clop-clop—
The carriage raced out of Beijing at breakneck speed, heading toward Anhui.
From Beijing to Hebei, from Hebei to Hannam, and finally from Hannam to Anhui—the journey would be far longer than I’d initially anticipated.
“Don’t we need to stop by the Sega? The Family Head was summoned by the Emperor, so shouldn’t the Young Master be there?”
“My elder brother will be there, so it’s fine. Why do you think I hurried to summon him?”
“You mean you summoned the First Young Master specifically to go to Anhui from the start?”
“He was already returning from his trading expedition. There’s nothing unusual about it.”
“But… he just returned from the Western Regions. Wouldn’t he be exhausted? And now he can’t even rest…”
“When does a merchant ever get to rest? We need to earn money.”
At my words, Jang Chuchyeong and Chaeseoha inside the carriage stared at me with expressions of disbelief.
Their eyes seemed to question whether I was serious, but I nodded confidently in response.
“Being a direct bloodline of the Jin Family isn’t all good fortune, is it?”
Chaeseoha shook her head with a sigh.
Her expression conveyed the dread of carrying the blood of the Nakhyang Jin Family.
I smiled at the expressions of both of them.
Of course, from their perspective, it would seem strange. Whenever someone completed a trading expedition, even the Imperial Guards and warriors were typically granted at least ten days of rest.
But that was only because they were subordinates.
The money for them to eat and sleep didn’t come from digging the earth.
“The Jin Family has wealth precisely because we work without rest. We must labor so that you can eat and live.”
“Is that so?”
“For us, having no time to rest is inevitable. If we rest, we suffer losses, and those losses eventually affect those below us. Chu Hyeongi, you don’t want the Sega’s finances to suffer a deficit and your monthly stipend to be cut, do you?”
“Of course not!”
“That’s why while you rest, we run ourselves ragged.”
At my words, Jang Chuchyeong nodded.
He seemed to finally understand.
But Chaeseoha’s gaze was different.
Instead, she looked at me with narrowed eyes, then shook her head with a faint smirk of exasperation.
“But why don’t you work, Young Master? You’re the most important person.”
“Do I seem that way?”
“Yes. If I had to name the person in the Jin Family who works the least, it would be you, Young Master.”
“I am a manager.”
“Pardon?”
“A manager must have the eye to recognize capable individuals and assign them work suited to their abilities so they can produce results. That is my role.”
At my words, Chaeseoha and Jang Chuchyeong wore peculiar expressions—as if my words made sense yet somehow remained incomprehensible.
Did they think it was no different from simply playing around?
“Your elder brother’s abilities are exceptional. I assigned him work befitting those abilities. If he had failed to perform properly, that would be my responsibility. Do you understand?”
“Ah— fine. Listening to this just gives me a headache anyway… I’ll just accept that you’re living off the fat of the land. But why are we even going to Anhui? It’s incredibly far.”
Chaeseoha finally frowned, unwilling to listen further. After all, such explanations wouldn’t stick in a physician’s mind.
Or perhaps she understood but simply didn’t wish to accept it.
I leaned toward the latter interpretation.
“I’m thinking of bringing someone in.”
“Someone? Is there someone in Anhui that catches the Young Master’s fancy?”
“Yes, people I can put to good use.”
“Ah— could it be the Namgung Family?”
The moment Chu Hyeongi spoke that name, Chaeseoha’s expression shifted to one of surprise.
Though unconnected to the Murim, there was no way she wouldn’t know the name of the Namgung Family. Moreover, like her own clan, they were once a celebrated force in the Central Plains before their eventual collapse.
“I’ve heard of them too. But Namgung Baek doesn’t seem like someone the Young Master would employ, does he?”
“Hah— I know well enough. That man’s famous. For being incompetent.”
Not only Chaeseoha but even Gu Gunbaek, seated at the coachman’s position, shared the same assessment.
The public opinion of him was that poor.
Once called the Cheonhajeilgeom School and revered by all, the moment they fell, those who wished to tear them down spread vicious rumors about them.
Furthermore, even without such malice, their evaluation could only be harsh compared to others.
Public opinion demands proof of capability, and without it, disappointment inevitably follows.
That was the shadow cast beneath the illustrious name of the Cheonhajeilgeom School.
“I understand well. But don’t worry. I’ll show them what I’m capable of.”
I wasn’t going there with only Namgung Baek in mind.
My true objective was Namgung Yeon.
Securing her was my highest priority.
But if one were to ask whether Namgung Baek was unusable, I would shake my head.
Unlike Namgung Yeon, who wielded her sword without worry while receiving Namgung Baek’s full support, he had been forced to support his younger sister since childhood.
Yet he had survived in this harsh Central Plains until now.
Intact, without losing a single limb.
Moreover, he possessed the willpower to overcome talent through effort.
I smiled, thinking of that man.
“But that person rejected the Young Master’s proposal last time. Will this time be any different?”
“Who knows?”
I continued to receive reports on Namgung Baek’s situation through the Wunryong Inn Proprietor in Hapbi.
Moreover, through the proprietor’s connections, I had been supporting him from the shadows, but according to recent intelligence, the Chohyeon Sega seemed to have blocked it.
Even in their fallen state, the Chohyeon Sega, knowing the depth of a prominent family’s resources, would need to cut off any possibility of them sprouting anew to feel secure.
The Moyong Family’s influence surely played a hand in this as well.
The man who had been living comfortably through the proprietor’s support would suddenly find himself in poverty.
This time wouldn’t be easy.
I let out a quiet chuckle without meaning to.
Those around me were practically pushing two big catches into my hands.

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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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