Free Web NovelIt was my first time being thrown into the prison cells.
In fact, it was also my first time learning that such prison cells even existed. I had assumed there would be a jail somewhere, of course, but I had only ever thought of it as a place that had nothing to do with me.
The space, where not even a single ray of light entered, was thick with the stale smell of dust. I sat still in the darkness and turned the situation over in my head.
How had this happened?
I had no idea what it meant that Gu Gyeongcheon was dead. It was just as hard to understand why they had thrown me into the prison cells without a single word of explanation.
Judging from the fact that my arms and legs had not been bound, it did not seem to be the most extreme kind of situation, but then again, who knew.
If it were nothing serious, they would not have put me in the prison cells in the first place.
I could only vaguely guess that, with no one left whose opinion they had to mind, they were handling me roughly.
A hollow laugh slipped out when I realized what had become of me now that my string had been cut loose.
I had thought things would become dangerous if Tang Jung left his post, but I had not expected them to move this quickly.
This family really was impossible to grow attached to.
If they wanted to get rid of the thorn in their eye, then now, with my protector gone, was the perfect opportunity.
Still...
Hey. Run. Right now.
I had never expected Tang Seho to worry about me. Where had he heard it and come running from? He was better than his older brother, at least.
Rubbing my forehead, I thought long and hard.
Could Grandfather get me out of the prison cells?
I considered it, but the answer was no.
They said that once a martial artist entered closed-door training, one or two years passed like nothing. For a master like Tang Jung, it might take five years, or even longer. freewebnøvel.coɱ
I did not know where Tang Jung was undergoing closed-door training, and even if I did, I could not go there. Calling out to a martial artist in seclusion was taboo.
Those who had entered a trance during training took even the smallest disturbance ten times, a hundred times more strongly.
The moment I broke Tang Jung’s flow, he could suffer qi deviation, be crippled, or die.
I could not injure Grandfather just to save myself.
I was the one who had insisted I could protect myself. I could not expect Tang Jung’s help.
I swallowed a sigh and rubbed at the corners of my eyes. I called up each familiar face one by one, but there was no one from whom I could expect help.
Now that Tang Jung was gone, Tang Geunmyeong was in much the same position as I was.
Tang Un had completely fallen out of the succession struggle after losing his sight.
Tang Onjeong, the Poison King Hall Master, might covet me, but she was not the sort of person who would help me while openly opposing the Clan Head. If the Clan Head was involved in this matter, she would pretend not to see it.
As for Tang Simhong, the Medical Hall Master, he was the kind of man who lived as quietly as flowing water. He would not involve himself.
Tang Juhee? I’d be lucky if she didn’t make things worse.
Which meant I had to solve this situation entirely on my own.
CLANG!
At the sound of the iron door opening, I lifted my head. A faint light wavered, and then someone came running wildly toward me with a lantern.
“Young Lady!”
At the familiar voice, I relaxed without meaning to.
It was Songji.
“Songji? How did you get in here?”
“Young Lady, have you eaten? Please have this.”
Sniffling, Songji handed me dumplings. They still held warmth, as if she had brought them straight from the steamer.
“I bribed the gatekeeper with silver and got in. I have to leave within fifteen minutes. Young Lady, there’s an uproar over Young Master Gu’s death. They’re saying it was poisoning.”
“He was perfectly fine when he left me. When was he poisoned?”
“That’s why they locked you up. They’re saying you killed him.”
“Why would I kill Young Master Gu?”
“Exactly!”
Songji burst out angrily, then lowered her voice.
“Um... Could this be Third Madam’s doing? Like what happened with Gyeonga...”
“Even if you think that, you must not say it out loud, Songji.”
I shook my head, but my own thoughts were similar. Third Madam had always believed I stole the attention Tang Hwayeop should have received.
If getting rid of me was the goal, killing one person would not have troubled her in the least.
“Are you two all right? Nothing happened to you?”
“Warrior Deokju was badly hurt trying to protect you, Young Lady. The Black Cloud Guard Captain took her away, but after that, I don’t really know...”
Oh, Deokju. Why would you pick a fight with a Grand Elder?
Still, hearing that Tang Bugyeong had taken her eased my mind. If the Black Cloud Guard Captain was personally handling it, they would not be able to lay a hand on Deokju.
Songji held my hand tightly and sniffled.
“They say the elders are gathered in the Assembly Hall right now, in a meeting. The Seventh Elder went too, and it sounds like they’re discussing your punishment, Young Lady. What if they give you a severe sentence?”
“With Grandfather there, it’s not like they’d kill me. It’ll be fine. Don’t cry.”
“Waaah, Young Lady... I have to go now. I’ll come again if I can. Eat the dumplings before they get cold.”
“Okay. It’ll be fine. Hurry and go. Take good care of Gyeonga.”
As Songji left, tears kept falling from her eyes, and she looked back at me again and again, as if her feet would not move. She had not changed at all from the beginning, when she used to panic if I disappeared for even a single night.
Once she was gone, silence settled over the place. I stared blankly at the spot where the light had lingered, then put one of the dumplings Songji had left me into my mouth. The thick wrapper was so dry it made my throat tighten.
Right. My throat was tight [N O V E L I G H T] because of the dumpling. Absolutely not because I was scared.
*****
How long had I been in the prison cells?
The moisture on the damp wall had dried once and gathered again, so at least a day had passed. Was it daytime now? Nighttime?
No light came in at all, so there was no way to tell.
I stared blankly into space. To think there would come a day when I would be treated as a murderer.
How was I supposed to get out of this situation? No matter how hard I tried to think rationally, no answer came to me.
Not everyone in the Tang Clan used the same poisons. Even poisons with the same name varied slightly depending on who had made them.
Naturally, the poison that struck Gu Gyeongcheon would also bear someone’s distinctive traits. If they knew that and still insisted without hesitation that it was my doing, then it meant that everyone who had examined the corpse was in on it.
Even if I escaped and protested my innocence, that would only lend more weight to the claim that I was the culprit.
...Could it be that they wanted me to run?
They had not sealed my acupoints, let alone restrained my limbs. They knew perfectly well that I, too, was a martial artist, and that if I put my mind to it, I could escape these prison cells.
Yet they had left me free.
They did not even bring me food, and at some point, even the presence of the guard warrior who had been stationed at the prison entrance disappeared.
It was almost as if they were urging me to break out.
A crooked smile tugged at my lips at the pathetic trick. I had no intention of dancing obediently to such an obvious scheme.
I hadn’t even finished absorbing all the Ten-Thousand-Poison Pellet’s energy yet, so this works out nicely. I’ll just treat this as my own closed-door training.
I swallowed a sneer and was just crossing my legs when someone opened the prison door.
“Come out.”
“Clan Head?”
It was Tang Muheok.
If the Clan Head himself, of all people, had come to see me, then the situation was definitely bad.
I frowned and looked up at Tang Muheok. Behind his back stretched a world submerged in darkness.
It was a moonless new-moon night.
As if my gaze displeased him, Tang Muheok turned on his heel. I stared blankly at his retreating back for a moment, then hurried up the steps after him.
“As for Young Master Gu’s matter—”
“The truth is not important. What matters is that Young Master Gu died after meeting you, and that someone must be held responsible.”
Tang Muheok cut me off, making it clear he had no wish to hear excuses.
The meaning of someone must be held responsible was simple.
I was to take responsibility for Gu Gyeongcheon’s death.
Even though he knew it was not something I had done.
A bitter smile curled at the corner of my mouth. I stopped where I stood and asked coldly,
“How do you wish me to act?”
“So you are not a fool.”
Tang Muheok snapped that out and turned back toward me. Just like on the day I had first met him, his face was full of disgust, as though he were looking at filth.
“Leave the Tang Clan.”
“...Are you saying you will expel me?”
“Expel you? What a ridiculous thing to say. I have never once thought of you as my daughter. Nor will I ever. If you are not my daughter, how could you be a member of the Tang Sect?”
His voice was so devoid of emotion it made my skin crawl. I gave a mocking snort.
“I knew you were skilled in poison arts, but I did not realize your tongue carried poison too.”
“You are not my daughter, so there is nothing to return. And so there is nothing to cripple either.”
Ignoring my sarcasm with ease, Tang Muheok continued.
I blinked at the strange remark, then understood what he meant.
He was saying he would not cripple my dantian or the meridians in my limbs.
The cheap mercy made me want to vomit. Still, if he was sparing my life, there was no reason to refuse.
“Ha. Then I suppose I should thank the Clan Head for his mercy.”
“I have no need of your gratitude.”
Tang Muheok answered and tossed something at me. A small pouch landed at my feet.
“Take that and leave at once. Never set foot in Sichuan again.”
“I won’t accept it.”
“Do not posture over your pride. I did not give you the right to decide.”
What an irritating bastard.
Grinding my teeth, I bent down and picked up the pouch rolling on the floor. A worn wooden box slipped out from between the dirt-stained cloth.
A faint fragrance leaked from it. It looked like he meant to hand me some cheap spirit pill and ease his guilty conscience with that.
“...Ha.”
I bared my teeth in a smile. My eyes were bloodshot.
Knowing my level of martial ability and still sending me out with nothing but the clothes on my back was no different from telling me to die on the roadside.
“May you remain in peace, Father.”
At the cold words, the Clan Head’s gaze trembled ever so slightly.
Calling him Father was a small act of spite.
No matter how much he denied it, I wanted him to remember that Tang Sohae was still Tang Muheok’s daughter.
I glared at Tang Muheok fiercely, then turned my back on him without hesitation.
