Chapter 47
However, the people from the Myo Clan were not there. It seemed they had not yet arrived.
Bing Yuhwa offered a polite greeting.
“I am Bing Yuhwa, Head of the Medicine Hall of the Namgung Clan. These children are my own: Baek, Heuk, and Jeok.”
“Ah, Young Master Namgung Baek has come this year as well!”
At that, Namgung Baek quietly performed a fist salute.
“...I am Namgung Baek.”
“Namgung Heuk, greetings to the seniors!”
Namgung Heuk, quick on the uptake, immediately followed his brother’s lead and offered his own greeting.
“Ho ho, they are as bright-looking as ever, these young masters.”
“But then... where is the youngest?”
He was referring to Hong-seol, whose forehead was covered in thick bangs.
Hong-seol, who had been distracted searching for her mother among the crowd, performed a fist salute a beat late.
“I-I am Namgung Jeok! G-greetings to the seniors!”
Through the curtain of her bangs, Hong-seol scanned the atmosphere.
‘M-my identity, it hasn't been d-discovered, has it?’
Just as she was trying to calm herself, a puzzled voice rang out.
“Hmm, but Young Master Namgung Jeok seems a bit different from before.”
The Master of the Yuseong Gate stroked his long beard, tilting his head in confusion.
“M-me?”
Hong-seol asked back, her eyes wide. Outwardly, she pretended to be composed, but inside, she was struggling to calm her pounding heart.
‘H-how on earth did he know?’
She had practiced until her voice was disguised without a single flaw.
What a sharp-eyed old man!
Because the Master of the Yuseong Gate was examining her with narrowed eyes, Hong-seol’s mouth went dry.
Just then, a neat-looking elderly woman sitting nearby intervened kindly.
“Ho ho, is it not natural for a child to change from one year to the next?”
“That may be so, but...”
It was then.
A loud shout from the guard standing watch at the pavilion echoed through the air.
“The Myo Clan has arrived!”
The gaze of the Master of the Yuseong Gate, which had been fixed on Hong-seol, suddenly shifted toward the main gate.
“Oh, I must go and welcome our new guests. Was it not said that the Mistress, Mrs. Jeok, would be coming from the Myo Clan?”
Mrs. Jeok.
At those words, Hong-seol’s heart began to race wildly.
‘Mom!’
She could not help the way her eyes grew hot at the mere thought of that word. Hong-seol’s heart was hammering uncontrollably.
Unable to handle the turmoil in her heart, Hong-seol gripped her lapels tightly with her small hands.
‘I am here representing the Namgung Clan in the guise of Jeok. So...’
I must not cry here.
Hong-seol tried her best to steady her heart, staring blankly at the back of the Master of the Yuseong Gate as he went to greet the guests.
She could not control her two fists, which trembled until the very end.
Thump, thump.
Thump, thump.
Hong-seol’s heart beat in time with the approaching footsteps.
The heavy footsteps that had begun at the end of the long corridor finally stopped in front of the pavilion.
“You have all gathered here, I see.”
‘This voice... it’s not Mom?’
Hong-seol tilted her head to get a better look at the person. She saw the blurry silhouette of a man.
Who is it?
However, because of her bangs hanging down, she could not see clearly.
Frustrated, Hong-seol pushed her bangs back from her forehead.
Then, she saw the face of a man she recognized. Hong-seol swallowed hard.
‘Uncle!’
Myo Jung-san, the cousin of the Myo Clan’s Master, Myo Wi-heon, and the father of Geum-myeong and Eun-myeong.
With his chubby chin, he had arrived with his own children in tow on either side.
Soon, a haughty voice rang through the pavilion.
“I am Myo Jung-san of the Myo Clan.”
“You have arrived.”
“It has been a long time.”
No matter how powerful the Myo Clan was, this was an incredibly late entrance.
Everyone except him was already seated in the pavilion.
It was only natural that the reaction was less than favorable.
“Why are you so late? And was it not said that Mrs. Jeok would be coming from the Myo Clan?”
Someone chided him lightly. Myo Jung-san replied.
“The Mistress has suddenly fallen ill. That is why I am late, having had to bring my children here in her stead.”
“Mrs. Jeok is ill?”
Mom? Why?
Hong-seol pricked up her ears and stared intently at Myo Jung-san’s mouth.
“As you all know, one of the children of our family went missing a while ago.”
A child...?
Everyone’s eyes turned toward Myo Jung-san.
“She is an eight-year-old girl, and because her body could not learn martial arts, she had been kept hidden away inside the house.”
Hong-seol, who had been tilting her head, was so shocked that she covered her mouth.
‘That’s me!’
But what does that have to do with Mom being sick?
“After the child went missing, the Mistress searched for her day and night.”
At those words, it felt as if Hong-seol had been struck in the head with a rock.
‘M-Mom was... searching for me?’
A small spark of hope ignited in the child’s shattered mind.
‘Could it be that I misunderstood something?’
What if, deep down, Mom never intended to abandon me?
Myo Jung-san’s next words further supported Hong-seol’s thoughts.
“The Mistress even paid a large sum to the Beggars' Clan to find her! And to the Vice-Leader at that!”
The people were impressed.
The Vice-Leader was the second-in-command of the Beggars' Clan, the information organization made up of beggars.
He was the one destined to become the next leader of the Beggars' Clan.
“As expected of the Myo Clan, their influence is different. To think they would ask the Vice-Leader himself to find a child!”
“It is nothing. We simply had a small connection through the Mistress’s maiden family.”
It was an obvious ploy to emphasize their relationship with the Jeok Clan while pretending to be humble.
However, young Hong-seol was more interested in the fact that her mother was spending a fortune to find her than in his posturing.
Gulp.
Hong-seol gathered her courage and asked.
“Th-then, how is Mrs. Jeok’s health?”
“Jeok! It is not proper to interrupt when adults are speaking.”
Bing Yuhwa scolded her in a stern tone. Yet, Hong-seol could not stop.
“I am sorry, but I was just worried...”
Seeing this, Myo Jung-san twisted his lips into a smile.
“It is quite something to have the Namgung Clan’s Medicine Hall worrying about our Myo Clan. In fact, we received word a while ago that the Beggars' Clan had found the child.”
“Pardon?”
Hong-seol’s eyes went wide.
‘That cannot be...!’
“But when we met her, it turned out it was not the child.”
Sigh.
Hong-seol let out a breath.
“Because of that, the Mistress, who had been so discouraged, fell ill. The physicians said it was because she was too tense.”
“Oh my... I pray for Mrs. Jeok’s speedy recovery.”
“I hope you find the child soon.”
“I have some medicine that is good for shock; I shall have my maid send it to you.”
Myo Jung-san bowed his head at the outpouring of sympathy.
Even though everyone else had a word to say, Bing Yuhwa sat with her back straight and her lips tightly sealed.
“Hmm, since the Medicine Hall Head of the Namgung Clan is here, it would be nice if she showed some goodwill toward the Myo Clan...”
“They say the two clans have a bad relationship, and it seems it’s true.”
Some whispered, but Yuhwa did not open her mouth until the end.
“They say she is from the North Sea Ice Palace, and her heart is as cold as the north wind.”
It was none other than Myo Jung-san who blocked such whispers, pretending to be kind-hearted.
“Why are you all like this? I am grateful for your goodwill, but that is a matter for the Namgung Clan to decide for themselves.”
“My goodness, the people of the Myo Clan are so broad-minded.”
Myo Jung-san laughed secretly to himself.
In truth, the story that the Mistress was ill because she had lost a child was a bald-faced lie.
It was merely a story that Myo Jung-san had concocted with the Mistress to gain the favor of the martial families gathered at the Anhui River Crossing.
Everything was going according to plan, and he was extremely satisfied.
Just then, the maids brought out large plates of steaming fish dishes.
“Oh! Is this the Yangtze River Knife Fish?”
“To serve such a precious fish, the Master of the Yuseong Gate truly has a generous spirit.”
Thanks to this, the atmosphere became boisterous once again.
Only Hong-seol, in the guise of Jeok, sat there with a worried expression.
‘Mom fell ill while searching for me...’
She was deeply confused, yet a sense of unnecessary expectation began to grow in a corner of her heart.
‘Perhaps everything really is just a misunderstanding.’
Even though, if she thought about it carefully, that couldn't possibly be the case.
The little child who had always missed her mother was swayed even by a story like this.
Bing Yuhwa had been carefully observing Hong-seol’s confused expression the entire time.
To change the atmosphere, she called out to the Master of the Yuseong Gate.
“Master, why don't you begin?”
The Master of the Yuseong Gate nodded.
“Ah, that is right. Now that everyone has gathered, shall we begin the entertainment?”
At those words, Hong-seol’s gaze shifted toward him.
“At the Anhui River Crossing, the children compete in various events every year. The event we have prepared here at the Yuseong Gate today is this.”
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