Free Web Novel“Ryeon. That should be the name. The courtesans who looked after me called my mother Ryeon.”
The words died in my throat. I stared blankly up at Yeon Ryang.
No way. It couldn’t be. It had to be someone else. But there was no way one pleasure house would have several women registered under the same name.
“If you remember your birth mother as young even at that age, she must really have been young.”
“She was. When I was four, my mother was only twenty-one. She had me when she was about Sohae’s age. What would a child know, giving birth to a child? My mother even had trouble holding me. Looking back, I don’t think she knew how to treat me.”
Yeon Ryang spoke calmly, then smiled bitterly.
“My existence must have been a burden to her. It was probably for the best. Without me, her life would have been a little easier.”
“Need liquor?”
“I’m fine. We have to take a boat. What liquor? I get seasick.”
“Tch.”
Beopgong clicked his tongue lightly, folded his arms, and scolded him.
“You and that kid both have rich little hearts. What does it matter how you were born? What matters is how you live.”
“You’re the one with nerves thick as rope, fake monk.”
“Enough. Your sister’s going to swallow a fly at this rate. The kid looks pretty shocked. She’s eating the cloth of her veiled hat.”
“Hm? It wasn’t that shocking.”
Looking puzzled, Yeon Ryang pulled the cloth out of my mouth and straightened it for me.
“Sohae. What’s wrong? Are you feeling ill? Your face has gone white.”
“Um, Brother.”
“Yeah. I’m listening.”
“D-do you happen to know someone named Hwahong?”
Yeon Ryang blinked at my question.
“Hwahong...? I’m not sure. I don’t really... Ah, I’ve heard it before. I think that was the name of my mother’s maid.”
“No, you don’t remember your own name, but you remember the maid’s name?”
“Because no one ever called my name. Mother called for Hwahong every day.”
“By any chance, did your birth mother draw wisteria...?”
“She drew it a lot. She liked wisteria. How did you know? Sohae, do you know my mother?”
At this point, there was no way it was just someone with the same name!
My throat went dry on its own. I had no idea what I was supposed to say.
That I knew her? That she had actually died after giving birth to me? That, apparently, we seemed to be blood relatives?
As I hesitated helplessly, Yeon Ryang gently changed the subject.
“It’s all right. Enough time has passed that it wouldn’t be strange if she were dead.”
“Th-that’s...”
“You don’t have to force yourself to say it if it’s hard. I wasn’t expecting anything.”
“So... the thing is, my birth mother’s name was Ryeon too.”
“...What?”
“Choryeon of Moon-Fragrance Pavilion. They said she was the greatest beauty in Chengdu.”
Yeon Ryang’s expression turned strange. Beopgong, who had been listening to us with his crooked posture, grimaced too.
“Wait. Hold on. Kid. Are you saying your birth mother and Yeon Ryang’s birth mother are the same person?”
“We would have to confirm it, but... it looks that way.”
“No wonder you two looked so alike! My eyes weren’t wrong. What did I tell you, Yeon Ryang? I said I’d believe it even if someone told me you gave birth to her alone.”
Yeon Ryang’s eyes shook violently.
“Th-that... What...”
“I know it sounds absurd even to me, but... doesn’t it look that way, given the circumstances? There wouldn’t be two people named Choryeon in one pleasure house.”
In that instant, every expression vanished from Yeon Ryang’s face. He seemed bewildered, and also as if he might be happy.
“Well, this is great! Yeon Ryang, you didn’t want to send the kid away anyway. Now you have an excuse not to.”
“Beopgong. Shut your mouth.”
“Kid. Your brother, see, the reason he wanted to go to the Alliance was—”
“Beopgong!”
Yeon Ryang cut him off harshly and slowly drew a deep breath. The eyes staring at me were bloodshot.
“...Then, then she really is my sister?”
As he mumbled, the corners of Yeon Ryang’s eyes reddened.
“That means we’re real blood family. I... So... I...”
Seeing him like that for the first time, I jumped up and threw my arms around him.
“Whoa, Brother. Why are you crying? Don’t cry.”
“I’m... not... crying. Something... got in... my eye... Ugh.”
“Oh, Brother. Calm down. People will laugh if a grown man as big as a mountain cries. There, there.”
When Yeon Ryang began shedding huge tears, Beopgong muttered with a revolted face.
“I’ve seen everything now. Are we writing marketplace literature?”
With a look as if he might vomit, he waved toward the inside of the inn.
“Inn runner! Liquor over here!”
*****
By the time Yeon Ryang finally stopped crying, both his eyes were so swollen they looked as if bees had stung them.
He had sobbed so hard that every guest who entered the inn fled, leaving the broad inn occupied only by us.
Yeon Ryang slowly rose and spoke in a half-hoarse voice.
“I’ll go wash my face.”
“Hurry up and get lost. I’m sick of looking at you.”
“If you don’t want to look, close your eyes.”
Yeon Ryang snapped back irritably and left the inn.
Washing his face was probably just an excuse. He seemed to be going out to get some air and gather his emotions.
When I couldn’t take my eyes off his back, Beopgong patted my shoulder.
“You should understand him.”
“What’s there not to understand? He can cry. Yeon Ryang is human too.”
“Not that. He’s happy because he finally has somewhere to put his heart. He always wanted a family. Blood ties don’t break unless one side dies.”
“...Ah.”
Not having understood the exact meaning of his tears, I lowered my eyes in embarrassment.
“He didn’t have a justification to keep you with him, so he meant to send you back to the Tang Clan. But he didn’t want to part with you.”
“Yeon Ryang was going to send me to the Tang Clan?”
“Because that would be better for you. A life walking a solid road as a young lady of a prestigious orthodox clan is better than wandering the Central Plains with some nameless wandering martial artist.” fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
“I have no intention of going back.”
Grandfather wasn’t there, and everyone else was a den of beasts trying to kill me. What reason did I have to go back?
Besides, the one who told me never to set foot in Sichuan again was that bastard father of mine.
When I blinked at him as if asking what kind of nonsense that was, Beopgong grinned.
“Good. Tell your brother that. Say you don’t want to go either, and since he’s your real brother, he has the right to protect you. Anyway, congratulations. You have a maternal family now too.”
“A maternal family?”
“If you’re that Yeon Ryang’s sister, you’re practically my sister too. Think of me as one of your mother’s family. If anyone gives you trouble, sell my name. I’ll allow that much.”
A maternal family. That was a surprisingly moving phrase.
At the unexpected goodwill, I found myself smiling.
“Really? Can I go to Shaolin, sell your name, and get a Minor Restoration Pill?”
“Of course not. Look at this kid. Just how far are you planning to rob me?”
Beopgong’s eyes rounded as if he were dumbfounded.
“And Shaolin is a place forbidden to women. Where do you think you’re coming in?”
“What? In this day and age? That’s petty.”
“Emei doesn’t let men enter its grounds either. Same thing.”
As he replied, Beopgong stretched and brought the liquor bottle to his mouth. A faint smile hung on his lips.
When Yeon Ryang returned long afterward, his face was neat and clean, as if he had never cried.
“Done crying? A grown man, bawling like that.”
“Beopgong. Shut your mouth.”
Yeon Ryang frowned and answered curtly. He seemed embarrassed, so I pretended not to notice and smiled as I held my hand out to him.
“Brother, let’s go take the boat.”
“...Yeah. Let’s go.”
Yeon Ryang took my hand with an awkward motion. The hand carefully overlapping mine trembled faintly.
When I quickly clasped his hand tight, the trembling gradually subsided.
“Do you need to eat anything before we board? Should we buy some snacks?”
“...I’m fine.”
His eyes reddened again as he answered in a choked voice.
It was a face Beopgong would definitely comment on if he saw it, so before Beopgong could notice, I shouted loudly.
“Master Beopgong, pay for the meal!”
Then I grabbed Yeon Ryang and started running.
“Huh? Hey! Your brother said he’d pay for the liquor!”
“You have lots of money, Master!”
“Ahaha! That’s right, fake monk! You pay this time!”
Yeon Ryang, who had been following me with a dazed face, burst into laughter and wiped his eyes. I grinned too and put more strength into my legs.
Beopgong’s shout rang out from behind us.
“Inn runner! The bill! Keep the change, I don’t need it. Hey, it won’t do you any good to get to Wuhan without me! Go together!”
***** ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
A flock of azure-winged magpies took off in a flutter.
Madam Jo glanced sidelong at the bare winter trees and brought her teacup to her lips with an elegant motion. But displeasure was written plainly over her pretty face.
“How long does the Ghost-Hand Divine Therapist intend to stay? Has there been any improvement?”
At Madam Jo’s question, Grand Elder Dang-gak shook his head.
“I do not know. You should watch quietly as well, Madam. The old man has such a difficult temperament that trying to force information out of him could ruin matters.”
“How can I possibly bear this frustration? What kind of great treatment is he performing that he will not even let a single maidservant come and go? Even when the Poison King begged him, he never once set foot here. So why now...!”
Madam Jo put down her teacup, eyes flashing viciously. Unlike her huffing and puffing, Dang-gak remained composed.
“Even if an immortal descended, that child could not be saved. No matter how extraordinary the Ghost-Hand Divine Therapist may be, a few more years of life will be the most he can manage. Think of it positively, Madam. If Un shows even slight improvement, will he not become a useful card to shake Yeongho’s position?”
“It is a waste. Is this not pouring water into a bottomless jar? If Hwayeop had taken the spiritual medicine that doomed child used up anyway...”
“Madam. Mind your words.”
Dang-gak cut Madam Jo off in a cold voice.
“You seem to have forgotten that you were able to enter the Tang Clan because that child was ill. Yeongho may be the Heir Apparent, but Un is the legitimate eldest son. Show proper respect to the clan’s legitimate eldest son.”
At the rebuke, which was close to a scolding, Madam Jo flinched and bit her lip while watching his mood.
For an old man who spent his whole life envying the Clan Head and nearly got driven out for it, he certainly knows how to talk.
That snake of an old man had a gift for overturning a person’s insides with a smiling face.
“...I understand.”
When Madam Jo answered reluctantly, Dang-gak spoke gently, as if soothing a child.
“They say a sinister tiger bares its claws at the very end. Let the two children bite and tear at each other. Then soon, a fine opportunity will come to Hwayeop.”
“Yes. It must.”
It had better. That is what you are useful for.
Madam Jo clenched her molars and lifted the corners of her mouth as she met Dang-gak’s gaze. Today, the wrinkles around Dang-gak’s eyes looked even more sinister.
“What Madam should concern herself with is not Un. It is the illegitimate child the Poison King took in.”
When Dang-gak changed the subject, Madam Jo’s expression turned sharp again.
“Ha. Is that wench still alive? Her thread of life is stubborn indeed. I sent people twice, and she still survived. Impressive. I should have killed her before she left Chengdu...”
“Beopgong of Shaolin sent a messenger hawk saying he has handed over the illegitimate child. He asked whether the Tang Clan intends to observe the Alliance’s interrogation.”
“From Shaolin? What did my husband say? Is he sending someone to observe?”
“A figure of Beopgong’s standing contacted us personally, so we cannot refuse the goodwill. The Clan Head is not the sort to move personally, so he will likely send one of the elders.”
“Th-then how would it be if you went personally, Grand Elder? While you are there, you could deal with that wench yourself...”
