Chapter 254: Letter Sent by Master. (1)

Facing those fierce eyes.

I couldn’t hide my flustered voice and blurted it out.

“Madam Mi… why are you here?”

Amidst it all, I asked Moyong Hi-ah, not Madam Mi.

Moyong Hi-ah also seemed surprised that I would suddenly show up,

looking at me with eyes far more surprised than usual.

“Gu… Gongja-nim, how did you get here…”

“…I had some business to attend to.”

Actually, I had no business at all and just came to see her face, but

it felt difficult to say that in this situation.

To my question, Madam Mi didn’t move a muscle and just sipped her tea.

They must have exchanged conversation through telepathy from the entrance.

‘Madam Mi couldn’t have answered.’

Madam Mi, not being a martial artist, couldn’t have used telepathy, which requires crossing a wall of skill.

Then…

As soon as the thought occurred, my gaze turned to the wall behind Madam Mi.

‘Is it that person.’

One person whose presence could be faintly felt.

It felt somewhat different from the martial artist I encountered at the entrance earlier.

Shallower, vaguer.

It seems that person is a genuine assassin (暗客).

“It seems even Ui-bi has noticed.”

Madam Mi seemed to have realized where my gaze was directed.

“You’ve truly changed a lot…”

“Madam Mi.”

“I don’t know what you were worried about, but the reason I came to find Miss Moyong is simply due to business.”

“Business?”

“Yes. If you intend to conduct business in Shanxi, I can’t just pretend to be ignorant.”

It might be a reason, but

I couldn’t help but feel doubtful.

‘The business started months ago. Why now?’

If the Moyong family was conducting business in Shanxi, the Hundred Flowers Merchant Guild would surely have known.

Unless they knew right before its establishment, finding out now was strange.

‘What intention are they hiding?’

The Hundred Flowers Merchant Guild, though not widely known now, holds a quite high position in the business world.

And the Moyong family possesses considerable commercial value.

It wouldn’t be strange for them to covet it.

Furthermore, since Moyong Hi-ah seemed to possess considerable command authority in this area,

it wasn’t particularly strange for Guild Leader Mi Hyoran to approach.

‘Even so, she’s a guest.’

It must have been a rather awkward situation.

Just as I was about to say something while looking at Madam Mi,

“Gongja-nim.”

“Yes?”

“Nothing happened, and as Madam Mi said, we were discussing business, so would it be alright if I visited you a little later?”

Moyong Hi-ah’s eyes were filled with a plea for me to leave.

It was filled with such desperation, as if begging me not to interfere.

I couldn’t say anything more.

‘…They must have been in the middle of something really important?’

I was the one who barged in recklessly.

If anything, I was the uninvited guest, not Madam Mi.

“I apologize for disturbing your time.”

“No. I understand.”

Madam Mi finished speaking without even glancing my way.

I glanced at Moyong Hi-ah and walked out.

‘Talk about business.’

It didn’t really feel like that.

Strangely, Moyong Hi-ah seemed to be observing Madam Mi’s reactions.

‘If it were about cooperation or something related, Moyong Hi-ah wouldn’t need to be so cautious.’

Rather, they should be requesting the Moyong family’s cooperation.

Moyong Hi-ah was clearly in the superior position.

‘I can’t understand.’

Whatever the case.

It was something I had to ask Moyong Hi-ah about when she came out.

---

Inside the room where only the two of them remained after Gu Yangcheon left.

Moyong Hi-ah put aside the sudden appearance of Gu Yangcheon

and had to brace herself again.

‘…This is unexpected.’

The appearance of Baek Hwa-ju, the mistress of the Gu family’s residence, was unexpected,

and so was her intention.

‘What is it?’

From Moyong Hi-ah’s background check… no, from what she found out, Mi Hyoran was the main wife,

and Gu Yangcheon was the child of a concubine.

She even heard their relationship wasn’t very good.

What could this feeling possibly be?

When she first heard the news of her visit as a guest,

the emotion Moyong Hi-ah felt was puzzlement.

There wasn’t much reason for her to seek her out.

Usually, when staying at other families or sects,

the main reason the mistress of that family sought her out

was mostly to arrange a marriage with her son.

It was natural.

Moyong Hi-ah was someone who knew her own value well.

Whether it was her looks, her age, or her background.

Moyong Hi-ah was not someone who would lose out anywhere.

Even more so, since the position beside such a woman was vacant,

attempts to link her with their son were common.

It wasn’t strange.

In fact, take Tang Soyeol, who had a similar background.

The Tang Sect must be receiving tremendous proposals.

However.

‘Madam Mi wouldn’t have a son.’

As far as I know, she only has two daughters.

One is the famous Sword Peak,

and the other is the daughter called a rising star these days.

Being blood relatives of other family heads,

Gu Yangcheon and his younger sister were children of another woman, making it difficult to consider them her own children.

Then.

‘Why is she looking at me like that?’

Madam Mi’s eyes were unusual.

Moyong Hi-ah had encountered eyes like that several times before.

Back when talks of an engagement with the Namgung family were briefly exchanged,

it was the gaze the Namgung family head gave her.

‘A gaze trying to test me, to see if I was suitable for her child.’

Few could dare to cast such a gaze upon a blood relative of the Moyong family.

Only the current master of the Namgung, the Sword King (劍王), could possibly look at her that way.

Yet, Madam Mi was looking at her like that now.

Should she feel offended?

Moyong Hi-ah couldn’t bring herself to.

The felt gaze and her overwhelming presence made Moyong Hi-ah more breathless than facing the Sword King.

“I’m sorry, that child made a mistake.”

As Madam Mi offered the apology in a calm voice,

Moyong Hi-ah forced a smile.

“Not at all. You came because you were worried, so it wasn’t rude at all.”

“Worry… Are you and that child worried about each other?”

One wrong word, and she coiled around it like a snake.

Moyong Hi-ah felt as if sword tips were aimed at her from all directions.

However, her mask remained unbroken.

“No. Perhaps she misunderstood, thinking something might happen to a guest of the family, and came out of concern.”

“Is that so.”

Moyong Hi-ah didn’t know how she took the answer,

but Mi Hyoran simply swallowed another sip of tea without further comment.

Watching Mi Hyoran, Moyong Hi-ah maintained her faint smile.

Though inwardly, she was extremely flustered.

‘What were we talking about?’

She couldn’t even clearly remember what they were talking about.

‘Ah….’

She remembered.

They had talked about the business the Moyong family was conducting in Shanxi,

she finished with a pre-prepared answer to the question about why she was staying at the Gu family’s residence.

What food she liked.

What her hobbies were.

Whether she endured frustration well.

Whether she had patience…

‘…Hmm?’

She had answered everything, but

looking back, the conversation with Madam Mi felt somehow strange.

Moyong Hi-ah quietly observed Madam Mi.

She looked proper as always, but her expression as she looked outside seemed somehow changed.

‘Are the two of them not on bad terms?’

The relationship between the main wife and the children of concubines has never been good through generations.

Especially recalling Gu Yangcheon, who was called Shanxi’s degenerate,

it’s possible she disliked him even more compared to her daughter, Sword Peak.

Something.

Something…

kept poking Moyong Hi-ah’s intuition.

She had good intuition.

This sharp, poking feeling had never been wrong.

It had been like this since earlier.

From the moment she first saw Madam Mi,

Moyong Hi-ah vaguely sensed that if she misstepped here, it would be the end!

That’s why she sent Gu Yangcheon, who had come looking for her, away.

It felt like she had no choice.

‘It’s regrettable, but….’

She trusted her intuition.

While Moyong Hi-ah carefully observed Madam Mi,

Madam Mi, who had been quietly looking out the window, soon turned her head to look at Moyong Hi-ah and spoke.

“The child also came looking. Mealtime will be here soon, so I should excuse myself and leave.”

It was a sudden statement, but

Moyong Hi-ah didn’t express any doubt.

“Ah… then perhaps, we could have a meal together….”

“I cannot impose such rudeness upon you, Miss, and besides, I have an engagement with my husband afterwards.”

Moyong Hi-ah offered polite words insincerely,

and Madam Mi replied with a faint smile.

“Thank you for accepting my rudeness. I hope we have such an occasion again.”

“Not at all… It was a good time for me to converse with Madam Mi as well.”

To Moyong Hi-ah’s words,

Madam Mi left the quarters with a smile.

Moyong Hi-ah saw her off, maintaining her composure until the very end.

She held her posture until Madam Mi disappeared from sight,

and only then did Moyong Hi-ah let out a sigh.

It had been a much more difficult time than expected.

Moyong Hi-ah felt exhausted in body and mind, thinking she might just collapse and rest, but

“My clothes, my makeup…!”

Earlier, she had told Gu Yangcheon she would visit him later, establishing a reason,

so she had no time to rest.

Rest could wait until she was beside him.

While Moyong Hi-ah called an attendant to receive her clothes,

Mi Hyoran was walking out of the quarters where the Moyong family members were staying.

Mi Hyoran, walking with orderly steps while looking straight ahead,

suddenly spoke.

“Not bad.”

-Are you speaking of the Moyong daughter?

As expected, a voice came from the empty air again.

“Yes.”

-To hear such a positive reaction from the Guild Leader-nim, it seems you were quite pleased.

She was a woman infinitely cruel and cold to others.

For such a woman to say “not bad” held considerable value.

“She knows how to constantly observe the other person’s expression and is skilled at hiding herself.”

The Moyong daughter.

Snow Phoenix, wasn’t it?

From what I found out, she stayed with Gu Yangcheon on the front lines for over a year.

It was said she accompanied him for personal reasons, but

‘Indeed.’

A meeting with unclear intentions must have a reason.

There’s no way there isn’t.

Even more so, when she asked her own daughter, Gu Huibi, about Snow Phoenix,

Gu Huibi, rarely, frowned and said Moyong Hi-ah was the most cunning, like a fox.

Or did she say the Namgung daughter was better because she was simple?

‘Whatever the case, she said she disliked both.’

From Mi Hyoran’s perspective, she thought a woman should have a somewhat cunning side.

Such traits were one of the abilities needed to survive in this world.

Anyway, that child should mature quickly.

Moreover.

Snow Phoenix, whom she had actually met, was a decent woman, more so than expected.

Of course, Mi Hyoran’s perspective on others was slightly different from most,

but even lowering her standards slightly, Snow Phoenix was indeed a decent person.

‘High self-esteem, excellent at observing others.’

The ability to elevate the other person without lowering oneself

was not something easily possessed.

Moreover, she didn’t lose her dignity while doing so.

She truly seemed like a scion of a prestigious family.

However.

‘She couldn’t hide her feelings.’

While everything else was excellent, she seemed unfamiliar with hiding romantic feelings.

Seeing Moyong Hi-ah’s eyes when Gu Yangcheon entered, she knew immediately.

It was the same as the Namgung daughter she met yesterday.

And this time, the Moyong daughter.

‘He seems to have a lot of luck with women.’

He seemed to resemble his father not only in looks but also in this aspect.

-Then, Guild Leader-nim.

As they reached the entrance,

Mu-jin asked the Guild Leader.

-Are you perhaps trying to change the Young Master’s fiancée…

“Don’t talk nonsense. What justification would I have to do that?”

-…Then?

Why did you go out of your way to see the two of them?

Mu-jin was curious about that.

He didn’t understand the Guild Leader’s intentions.

To Mu-jin’s question, Mi Hyoran paused briefly and looked at the entrance.

Gu Yangcheon was standing there.

“…The reason.”

Seeing him, Mi Hyoran whispered quietly.

“I just wanted to see him.”

Whether the child who was his fiancée, or another child,

could love that child.

That was all she was curious about.

She knew that in human relationships, there are things more important than rational benefit or lack thereof.

-Unni, there’s a petal stuck to you.

Mi Hyoran already knew this from past encounters.

“Were you waiting for me?”

“Huh? Ah, yes…”

Mi Hyoran approached Gu Yangcheon without hesitation.

“Were you worried about the child inside?”

“…It’s not quite worry.”

At Gu Yangcheon’s answer, the corner of Mi Hyoran’s eye twitched slightly.

She felt proud that the child had become capable of worrying about someone,

but it was also a bitter feeling that she had done nothing for him while he improved like that.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t do anything to harm Moyong Ah.”

“I didn’t think that.”

“Hmm?”

“I know that Madam Mi isn’t the type of person to do such things.”

At Gu Yangcheon’s words, Mi Hyoran’s expression changed, which was rare.

She hadn’t expected to hear such words.

“…I didn’t expect to hear that from you either.”

Mi Hyoran raised her hand and reached out to Gu Yangcheon.

Gu Yangcheon flinched at the approaching touch, but fortunately, he didn’t seem to avoid it.

Does Gu Yangcheon know?

How much courage went into Mi Hyoran’s touch right now.

The calmly outstretched hand

grabbed a leaf stuck in Gu Yangcheon’s hair and removed it.

“There’s a leaf stuck in your hair.”

“…Thank you.”

He pretended to say it indifferently, enduring the trembling inside.

He wondered if he didn’t dislike the touch,

but he didn’t have the courage to ask.

Mi Hyoran, holding the leaf in her hand,

moved on past Gu Yangcheon without saying anything further.

She felt she couldn’t stay in this place any longer.

Her steps were directed towards where her second daughter would be waiting.

“…”

Gu Yangcheon, left alone, immediately scowled.

It wasn’t because he disliked the situation.

It was because of the letter in his possession.

The letter delivered to him by First Elder Gu Ryun.

He had only barely managed his expression just now because he encountered Mi Hyoran.

The reason he was standing at the entrance was actually

not because he was waiting for someone,

but because his body had stiffened due to the letter’s contents.

Rustle.

Gu Yangcheon took out the letter from his possession again and unfolded it.

It was out of hope that he might have misread it, but

unfortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case.

The letter’s content was the same as when he unfolded it earlier.

On the unremarkable sheet of paper,

a crude phrase was written.

A short phrase, too vague to even call a line.

The content written was:

-I’ll come to see your face once.

It was truly a single line with hardly any content.

At first, he wondered what it was, but

seeing the sender written below the letter, he momentarily choked.

-Your master.

“…Crazy.”

There’s no way I have a master.

He thought it was nonsensical content, but

the fact that the person who gave this to him was Gu Ryun,

and the modifier attached to his alias right now, were the problem.

The person rumored in the Central Plains to be my master now.

Gu Ryun’s crazy recommendation letter,

and the rumors further inflated thanks to people who wouldn’t listen no matter what.

Disciple of the Pae-jon.

It was undeniably a fucking terrible rumor.

I hoped Pae-jon wouldn’t act unnecessarily because of this, but

“Hahaha, fuck.”

It seemed things had finally blown up.

One of the Three Lords of the World,

the person currently staying in Biga, called the Twin Dragons, acting like a late-blooming genius.

Pae-jon Bi-ju.

It meant he was coming to find me.