Free Web Novel“Uuugh...!”
At the old man’s behavior—like he was about to lose his breath—the stableman panicked. Seoryeong spoke without changing her expression.
“What did I tell you? I said you must never bring someone with a large mole into this household. Your wife had a pitch-black mole buried deep on her thigh too, didn’t she! That’s what severed the family line and killed her. Even now, we should dig up her grave and give her a proper—”
Seeing this good-for-nothing insulting the dead, the stableman’s eyes flashed.
“Hey! You swindler! There was no such mole on my lady’s thigh! The more I listen, the clearer it gets—you’re a con artist! Sir, let me beat this beggar half to—”
“Hahahaha. Hey! How would you know that?”
Caught.
“See? I told you. He’s not your son.”
He had fallen perfectly into Seoryeong’s trap.
“You—! You dare—!”
The old man’s face flushed red then blue as his body shook with rage.
“M-Master, Master! I was wrong! I’ve committed a sin worthy of death!”
“A sin worthy of death? Fine—then I’ll grant your wish and kill you! Watching you cherish that bastard seed of yours so dearly—do you know how amusing it’s been? You there! Seize him and lock him up at once!”
Crash—!
At the enraged old man’s shout, the servants dragged the stableman away.
In the room, which had turned into utter chaos in an instant, the old man collapsed in despair.
“Oh, woe is me, woe is me, Father.... Ancestors! Oh, my ancestors!!!”
A lowborn wretch with an exceptional talent for making and multiplying money—his ancestors had been base in status for generations, but they had always clung tightly to wealth.
That was why he bought the genealogy of a fallen noble house and secretly slipped into that ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) family.
Though dirt poor, nobles were still nobles, and there were those in officialdom who recognized the faces of that household.
“So even when I wanted to study, wanted to enter office... I endured it all, clenched my teeth and lived on! For my son—so my child could spread his wings and fly! Aaaah! But that bastard—!”
“He was stupid from childhood, unlike you. Even as he got older, he couldn’t stop frequenting courtesan houses or gambling dens, so really.... Tsk!”
“That’s the truth of it. Damn it all.”
The dignified old man who had sat before Seoryeong earlier was nowhere to be seen. frёewebnoѵēl.com
He had shed his noble pretense and reverted to being a lowborn man, lamenting freely.
With a playful smile, Seoryeong tossed him a bit of praise, as if granting a favor.
“Still, you’re lucky.”
“Money luck? That goes without saying!”
“No. Child luck.”
What did that mean now? At Seoryeong’s hopeful words, the old man forgot all sense of decorum and shuffled forward on his knees.
“W-what... what do you mean?”
Before he knew it, he was speaking to Seoryeong in honorifics.
“Your daughter-in-law. That’s the greatest fortune you have.”
“Just having a daughter-in-law doesn’t mean the line continues, does it...?”
“What’s a lineage, really? Even if blood doesn’t carry on, family can. Your daughter-in-law was born with strong child luck—and people luck, too.”
From between the jewel chests, an expensive-looking fan appeared. Seoryeong snatched it up, snapped it open with a swish, and fanned herself.
“She’s destined to have every kind of fortune follow her. She’s your person—so the child luck of your daughter-in-law all becomes your fortune in the end.”
At Seoryeong’s serious expression, the old man swallowed hard.
“Your daughter-in-law endured all kinds of scorn and cold treatment, yet she never once took it out on the servants, right?”
“That’s right. Because she couldn’t conceive, my son—no, no. Not my son. That bastard treated her like a discarded wife, and still she was kind to the servants like a fool. Never once slapped even those idiots.”
“Mm. I see....”
She had endured even when a poorly dressed stranger like Seoryeong picked a fight with her out of nowhere.
Even when the reason she was abused was scratched at directly, she never got angry.
How close to the edge had they pushed such a kind woman? Just looking at how her legs trembled, you could guess how many times she’d gone to pray.
Seoryeong stared at the old man as if observing him.
“Right? No matter what happened, she accepted it all. The method I’m about to tell you only works if your daughter-in-law endures—really endures—everything....”
Covering her mouth with the fan as if sharing a secret, Seoryeong spoke slyly.
Just like she had with the stableman earlier, she tossed out the bait.
“She’s the kind of fool who’d bathe in icy mountain water in the dead of winter, or do three thousand prostrations under the blazing summer sun if told to! What couldn’t she do?”
And the old man bit.
The servants’ behavior toward the lady wasn’t just loyalty. It was the protective instinct toward an abused family member.
Now it all made sense—why they had glared at Seoryeong with eyes full of rage, as if they wanted to tear her apart.
Thud, thud, thud, thud—.
Cheerful drumbeats began to play in the background.
“Ah....”
It was time to run the con.
Wheee—.
To the lively sound of a flute, Seoryeong moved right up close to the old man.
“Then your son—no, strictly speaking, he’s not your son anymore. He’ll only ever be an obstacle in your life, so discard him quickly. Make your daughter-in-law a widow.”
“A widow, you say...?”
“Yes. That bastard’s greed for money reaches the heavens—pierces them! And his temperament? Brutal beyond measure. A man who treats even his wife like a butcher—do you think he’d recognize his father?”
“But still—how could I—”
“If you say now, ‘You’re not my son,’ do you think he’ll step aside quietly? He’s the kind who’d push his aged father off a cliff!”
Rrrrk—! Tak!
The scraping of the fish drum, the clash of the clappers—lively sounds. Hoiya—! The singer’s voice joined in.
At the same time, the fan in Seoryeong’s hand snapped shut. She pointed with it.
“And then, after some time, take in an adopted son. Saying you can’t leave your widowed daughter-in-law alone. That you needed a man who could properly manage this vast wealth and help the village.”
“B-but as a matter of human decency—”
The old man hesitated. Seoryeong pressed forward with momentum.
The piercing sound of the taepyeongso rang out, as if driving everything ahead.
“Ah, if it still bothers you, just move to another village. Distance yourselves from those who know your son.”
It was like a traveling troupe’s street play.
“The people of this village know the faces of you father and son—but do people in other villages?”
Seoryeong smiled, lifting one eyebrow.
“They won’t know whether the child you brought in is adopted or not. As long as your household keeps its mouth shut, that adopted son becomes your son.”
An isolated village. Just as it was perfect for a lowborn man who’d bought a genealogy to hide himself, it was also perfect for making a new family.
“Your household adores your daughter-in-law. Do you think they’d go around flapping their mouths? That adopted son will become your true son.”
The old man’s eyes gleamed.
“And that adopted son won’t be an ordinary one. Completely different from that bastard you raised—give it time, and he’ll resolve everything.”
“Not ordinary, you say...?”
Hoiya, hoya, hoya, hoya! The singer’s excited interjections boosted Seoryeong’s con along with the music.
The full-fledged scam began.
“He’ll have twice the money luck you do! Wealth will grow without rest—and the grandson your daughter-in-law bears with him—!”
Clang—! The sound of a gong joined in.
“He’ll be the hero who founds this nation.”
Seoryeong ran her scam smoothly, like singing a song.
“At eleven years old, passing the special examination in third rank! At thirteen, placing first in the royal civil service exam!”
Hoya, hoya, hoya, hoya!
The singer surged forward, singing. With every pluck of the geomungo strings, the happiness the old man dreamed of seemed to burst into being. The tempo quickened.
“Leaping far beyond the Three Bonds and Five Relationships, he stabilizes the nation and tends to the people—and Heaven itself grants him the post of Junior Secretary at the Office of Special Counsel!”
Clang! Clang! Clang! The gong rang without pause.
“Becoming a Royal Lecturer in his late teens, expounding on the classics—and before even reaching thirty, rising to Chief Inspector!”
Pwooo—. A great horn blared, like music played at a banquet celebrating a grandson’s ascent to high office.
Scratch—, scratch—.
The hand writing down impressions with a pen while staring at the monitor was filled with pleasure.
“Mm.... Strange Tales.”
The man murmured the title again, savoring it. He was the top critic who set the standard for all works in the Republic of Korea.
Sunwoo Seonuk.
“Just like at the term-end stage performance... seeing it like this, it’s, how should I put it....”
All five senses of Sunwoo Seonuk, analyzing the work, shone sharply.
“She’s good.”
“Ah..., how....”
The old man was already dreaming. Hope that came after the despair of a severed lineage was all the sweeter.
His reason was completely numbed.
“If it’s like this, how could the line ever end? Everyone will praise you. You’ll truly become a noble.”
“Th-then... is it really possible...?”
“What’s not to say? At that point, this household’s prestige will pierce the heavens.”
“Who would know of your past as a lowborn? You’d become the grandfather of a prodigy the world never knew—and the father of a Chief State Councilor.”
Seoryeong drew a talisman from her robes.
“Your line will continue forever like this, and the past you wanted to hide, the past that was so shabby—like this....”
She muttered a simple incantation, and a small spark rose from the talisman on its own.
“...will turn to ash and disappear.”
In an instant, Seoryeong burned the talisman, then blew the remaining ash from her palm with a soft hoo.
