Head of the Northern Heavens Clan, Chapter 19
“‘A little rat,’ you say….”
There was no time to listen to her words.
*Crash!*
I threw the door open and grabbed the arm of the person trying to flee.
Then, I twisted it and slammed them down.
“Aaaargh!”
The woman let out a pained groan.
Yu Cheong-a looked at the scene, startled.
“Jeong-hye?!”
It seemed the two were acquainted.
Given her attire, it was highly likely she was a maid of this estate.
“This woman was eavesdropping on our conversation from behind the door.”
“Why are you…?”
Hearing my words, Yu Cheong-a wore an expression of disbelief.
The maid, called Jeong-hye, trembled and lowered her head.
“M-my lady. That is….”
“Can’t you speak properly? Why were you eavesdropping on our conversation?”
“Eek!”
As Yu Cheong-a barked the order, the maid let out a shrill scream while shaking.
“If you keep your mouth shut until the end, I will punish you severely. So, answer me properly.”
“T-the young master ordered me to!”
Perhaps because Yu Cheong-a’s words didn’t sound like empty threats, Jeong-hye shouted at the top of her lungs.
Yu Cheong-a’s expression twisted.
“That man?”
“Yes. He told me to find out what scheme you were plotting by bringing in warriors from the Northern Sky Sword Clan….”
“How dare he!”
Her shoulders trembled violently.
It seemed she was so furious she couldn’t contain her emotions.
Yu Cheong-a strode forward and slapped Jeong-hye across the cheek.
*Slap!*
“Agh!”
“Is anyone there!”
Hearing the commotion from afar, servants began to appear one by one.
They looked surprised to see Jeong-hye, whose hair was being held by Yu Cheong-a.
“My lady. What is the matter?”
“Lock this one in the prison. Give her only enough water and food to keep her from dying, and do not let her out until I give the order.”
“U-understood.”
Seeing the enraged Yu Cheong-a, the servants didn’t even ask for the reason and dragged Jeong-hye away.
Yu Cheong-a let out a deep sigh and bowed her head toward us, who had been watching the scene.
“I am truly sorry. I have shown you a shameful sight as guests.”
“Not at all. However, could you explain what this is about? It might be related to the threats we are here for.”
“I don’t think that’s the case. This is the work of my idiot of an older brother.”
She gritted her teeth and vented her frustration.
“His name is Yu Seon-u, and he is a pathetic human being. Ever since he was young, instead of diligently practicing medicine as the eldest grandson, he has wasted his days indulging in alcohol and gambling.”
“It seems the relationship between the siblings is not very good.”
“‘Not very good’ is an understatement. He is unilaterally jealous of me. Ever since I inherited Grandfather’s medical arts and learned the recipe for the Medicine King Divine Pill in his stead, he has harbored feelings bordering on hatred.”
“…….”
“He must have used Jeong-hye to interfere with my work again. Honestly, when will he ever grow up….”
“You said his name was Yu Seon-u. Is there no possibility that this is his doing?”
“The threats, you mean?”
Perhaps she hadn’t thought that far, as Yu Cheong-a’s eyes widened.
She pondered for a moment before shaking her head in denial.
“Surely not. The matter is too serious; if he were caught, he could be expelled from the clan. He doesn’t have the guts for that.”
“Hmm. I see.”
I nodded appropriately.
However, I was thinking something entirely different.
Why?
Because the culprit behind this incident was indeed Yu Seon-u.
To be precise, it was a complex web of factors stemming from him.
‘When his younger sister became the successor of the clan, the jealous Yu Seon-u hired a dark-faction organization called the Green Snake Sect.’
He had asked them to stop his sister from manufacturing the medicinal herb.
And behind the scenes, he planned to pretend to resolve the situation himself to gain recognition from the clan.
‘Because he thought that if he did, he would be able to inherit the recipe for the Medicine King Divine Pill.’
But the Green Snake Sect, who received the request, had other plans.
They were more greedy for the Medicine King Divine Pill than the reward Yu Seon-u offered, so they used him instead.
Thus, the Green Snake Sect used Yu Seon-u to find out information about the guards, their deployment, and various other details, and then carried out their own schemes to attack the Shanxi Yu Clan.
The result… was a half-success.
They managed to protect the Medicine King Divine Pill, but the Northern Sky Sword Clan warriors sent as guards and Yu Cheong-a were severely injured.
Later, when everything was revealed through investigation, Yu Seon-u was beaten to the brink of death by the returning Medicine King and expelled from the clan.
‘Seeing that she doesn’t suspect Yu Seon-u even with all this, she must still trust him at least a little, right?’
Or perhaps she simply thinks Yu Seon-u doesn’t have the capacity to do such a thing.
I’m sorry, but she is wrong on both counts.
I fell into deep thought for a moment.
‘Even if I arrest Yu Seon-u now, there is no evidence that he did it. If I step forward unnecessarily, things might go wrong.’
In that case, the best course of action is to protect Yu Cheong-a without damaging the original history as much as possible.
It wouldn’t be too late to reveal the truth after that.
“For now, it would be best to resume our discussion.”
I said that and closed the door to the reception room again.
We talked for a long time about how to continue the escort.
And the escort mission began that very day.
* * *
In a side room of the Shanxi Yu Clan.
Yu Seon-u gritted his teeth and kicked the wall.
“Damn it!”
*Bang!*
Footprints were left on the wall, and the surrounding shelves shook, but Yu Seon-u didn’t care.
He felt that his anger wouldn’t subside otherwise.
“Yu Cheong-a. How dare you ignore me?”
He had just heard the news that Jeong-hye, whom he had sent, had been caught and punished.
And he took this as a sign of her ignoring him.
The reason was simple.
Regardless of the underlying intent, Jeong-hye was someone he had sent.
He thought she could have just scolded her and sent her away….
But slapping Jeong-hye and locking her in prison was no different from disregarding his dignity.
It showed exactly what Yu Cheong-a thought of him as her older brother.
“Just because you’re favored by Grandfather, you’re getting cocky!”
He huffed with a furious face.
Someone approached him and asked.
“Young Master. What will you do?”
The person asking in a cold voice was the one whose fingers were fractured and wrapped in cotton cloth.
He was one of the patients being treated at the Shanxi Yu Clan.
But his true identity was a member of the Green Snake Sect hired by Yu Seon-u.
He was infiltrating the estate like this to communicate with Yu Seon-u.
“What will I do, you ask!”
“I heard that the level of the guards from the Northern Sky Sword Clan is higher than expected. If you add the warriors of the Shanxi Yu Clan here, we might not be able to handle it.”
“You incompetent fools! How much money did I give you, and you can’t even do that!”
“Whoa, whoa, don’t be so angry. It’s not like there’s no way.”
“What did you say?”
“We will attack the Shanxi Yu Clan as planned to interfere with the creation of the medicinal herb and teach Yu Cheong-a a lesson. However, we need your cooperation.”
“My cooperation?”
When Yu Seon-u tilted his head and asked, the Green Snake Sect spy grinned.
“Create a distraction on the day of the decisive battle.”
“Create a distraction, how?”
“It’s simple. Doesn’t a medical clan value medicinal herbs more than anything else? To the point of managing them thoroughly in a deep, secure place.”
“That’s true.”
“Set fire to that place.”
“……!”
To the stiffened Yu Seon-u, the Green Snake Sect spy said in a sinister voice.
“Then we will kidnap Yu Cheong-a.”
* * *
The escort mission we were tasked with was very simple.
While Yu Cheong-a was manufacturing the Medicine King Divine Pill, we were to guard the room she was in, in teams of two.
Entering inside was not permitted.
The reason was that the secret techniques of the Medicine King might be leaked.
Since it was a reasonable request, we all agreed to it.
“The Medicine King Divine Pill is a secret medicinal herb that must be made with the best ingredients over ten days with great care. So, I will be living in here for the next ten days.”
Yu Cheong-a said she would survive on grain-abstinence pills for meals and sleep inside as well.
She even said there was a latrine installed inside.
And we would guard the door to that workshop, while the warriors of the Shanxi Yu Clan would guard the building.
It was truly thorough security.
If I didn’t have knowledge of the past, wouldn’t I have let my guard down?
‘But in the end, it was breached.’
That was because some members of the Green Snake Sect, disguised as patients, had already infiltrated this place.
Moreover, on the day of the decisive battle, dozens more would attack from the outside.
So, the forces here were insufficient to stop the enemy.
But the situation now was different from back then.
Why, you ask?
Because the strength was different from that time.
Compared to the past, when they only sent two peak-level warriors following the Shanxi Yu Clan’s request to send the minimum number of people for security, now there were four guards.
And among the four, one was a transcendent master, and the other three were peak-level masters.
‘I can also exert transcendent-level strength for a short time if I push myself.’
If so, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to consider our actual strength as two transcendent masters.
That was enough to deal with the enemies.
Unless there were two or more transcendent masters among the enemies.
“It’s time to switch, Cheon-hwi.”
“Yes. Brother.”
A few days passed like that.
We were carrying out the escort mission without any major difficulties.
At this rate, it felt like it would end without anything happening.
But I knew.
They would make their move when the Medicine King Divine Pill was almost complete.
Therefore, when it was my and Sa-gong Cheon’s turn to guard, I spoke toward the room.
“Miss Yu. Are you free for a moment?”
There was a moment of silence, but an answer soon returned.
“What is it? I believe I asked you not to talk to me while I am working.”
Judging by her sharp tone, it seemed her nerves were frayed.
It must be because the work required a high level of concentration.
I didn’t mind and said,
“There hasn’t been anything unusual with the escort so far, has there? But I have a bad feeling about this. If they are targeting something, I believe they will strike when the Medicine King Divine Pill is nearly complete.”
“I think so too. That’s why I requested to increase the number of guards at that time.”
“But what if those guards have to leave their posts?”
“What?”
I spoke in a calm voice to instill a sense of trust in my companion.
“For instance, if a fire were to break out in the area where the ingredients are stored, the warriors of your clan would inevitably be forced to rush there to extinguish it. In that case, the security here would naturally become weakened.”
“S-surely, such a thing wouldn’t happen, would it?”
“I am merely speaking of a hypothetical scenario. Of course, it would be best if it never happened. But there is no harm in being cautious, is there?”
“That is certainly true….”
“That is why I intend to station two of our Northern Sky Sword Clan warriors there to keep watch. Would that be acceptable?”
“But wouldn’t that increase your fatigue?”
“It will only be for the final two days while the medicinal herb is being completed, so there will be no issue with our stamina. And one more thing.”
I spoke calmly to her, knowing she was listening from beyond the door.
“If someone truly appears with the intent to set a fire, I have a proposal.”
“What is it?”
“We use him to set a trap. To be precise….”
I continued in a chilling voice.
“We use that opportunity to wipe them all out.”
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