What Takes Precedence Over Family Law (2)
Namgung Daesan's face flushed red, like a perfectly ripened persimmon.
"You call her a wretched bitch? Watch your words!"
"You should watch yours."
Yeon Wi didn't flare up like Namgung Daesan, nor did he raise his aura. He remained calm and composed, his usual stoic expression unchanged.
"Have you properly confirmed the causes and effects of the incident?"
"Causes and effects? Is this the time to quibble over such nonsense?! What the hell did you hear? Even if there was a quarrel, breaking the limbs of a mere boy not even out of his teens? How did you raise your son, family head?!"
His rudeness was excessive, but Yeon Wi could understand Namgung Daesan's rage. It wasn't his own child, but a cherished niece had been left half-crippled. Anyone would lose their temper.
Yeon Wi sympathized inwardly. Yet he could not tolerate Namgung Daesan's words or actions toward Namgung Sanghwa.
"I'm almost regretful that my son showed such restraint."
"What?!"
"If it had been me, I would never have forgiven someone who not only insulted our house but even tried to kill me."
Yeon Wi's voice grew a touch colder.
"It was my son's mercy that saved your family's daughter. You should be grateful."
"You... you insolent...!"
Utterly enraged, Namgung Daesan trembled. But he couldn't erupt further. The words he'd brushed off at first were now repeated by the Yeon family head.
That repetition cooled his head just a fraction.
'Insulted the house and tried to kill the son? What does that mean?'
As if reading his thoughts, Yeon Wi spoke.
"Your family's Sanghwa, drunk on liquor, declared that she never once considered the Yeon family—fellow members of the Seven Great Families—as equals."
Namgung Daesan ground his teeth.
"And you call that insulting our house? For something so trivial...!"
"I don't take the words of an immature child who can't control her heart as the will of the Namgung family. Especially when she's drunk—it's just the ravings of an inebriate, nothing more."
He knew it was right, yet it only fueled Namgung Daesan's anger more. The Yeon family head was calling his cherished niece immature and a drunken fool.
How could he not be furious?
"But when she bared her killing intent and demanded that the Yeon family's sons kneel, that's a different story."
"Wh-what?!"
"Not content with threatening to kill them, she tried to humiliate them as well. I wonder how the Namgung family head raised his child."
Namgung Daesan's eyes wavered.
No matter its short history, the Bi-san Yeon Family Estate was one pillar of the Seven Great Families. To be counted among them with only fifty years of fame in the Central Plains meant the Yeon family's power was in no way inferior to the others.
Nay, its potential might even surpass them.
No one would mention a weak house alongside the martial world's greatest prestigious clans.
Namgung Sanghwa had not only tried to kill the sons of such a family but also humiliate them.
"I can't believe it!"
Namgung Daesan's face reddened once more.
"Do you have witnesses? If you're just taking your son's word and planning to insult the Namgung...!"
"This is a matter between the children of the Seven Great Families. Do you think I'd investigate carelessly?"
"Urgh! Then summon the parties involved! Let me hear it straight from your son...!"
"Listen here, Namgung division head."
Yeon Wi's eyes deepened.
"Do I seem to be joking?"
"......"
"My sons were insulted and even threatened. If I could, I'd cut your niece's throat myself."
"What I mean is—!"
"Even if the Namgung family head came in person to apologize, my anger wouldn't subside. And you're saying some outer division head like you should come and cause this commotion?"
Yeon Wi said no more.
"Do you want to die?"
Flash!
A subtle killing intent emanated from Yeon Wi's eyes, which had never lost their composure. Feeling it, Namgung Daesan suddenly imagined himself trapped in an ice cave.
It was so cold and sharp that his internal energy stirred unbidden.
"If this is the Namgung family's will, so be it. I'll test the sharpness of your family's sword myself. I'll sever your head and take it straight to the Namgung family."
At the chilling voice ringing in his ears, Namgung Daesan cried out involuntarily.
"W-wait a moment!"
"Do you have more to say?"
Namgung Daesan swallowed hard.
It was just a dense, needle-like killing intent—no more aura than that. Yeon Wi remained stoic and calm.
Yet from that alone, Namgung Daesan knew. Yeon Wi's martial prowess had reached a realm beyond his own.
"Wait just a moment. It seems I've made some mistake."
"A mistake? Do you think you're in a position to spout such nonsense before me?"
Namgung Daesan bit his lip.
Even he found his own response humiliating and petty. But he had no choice. He lacked the confidence to face the man before him, and if Yeon Wi's words were true, this could escalate into an unimaginable disaster.
'Damn it!'
He regretted it. His brothers held key positions in the Namgung family, but he was still just an outer division head. They treated him as a senior advisor internally, but a division head was still a division head. His elder brother, the family head, hadn't granted him greater power.
It was because of his hot-tempered nature. Fearing he'd botch external affairs, they'd kept him as division head even at this age.
He'd resented it more than once or twice, but now he wondered if his brother's judgment had been right.
"For now..."
His mouth went dry. The prideful Namgung Daesan gritted his teeth and spoke.
"I apologize for barging in without considering the full circumstances."
"......"
"My niece was left in that state, and I lost my head. I have no face left before the family head."
Yeon Wi silently stared at Namgung Daesan, his gaze clear as glass.
Namgung Daesan's mouth opened of its own accord.
"I-I'll look into the details again. So today's matter..."
"Don't worry. I won't forget."
"Family head!"
"I'll make sure the entire White Path Martial Alliance knows of this. If your family doesn't offer proper atonement..."
Namgung Daesan's face paled.
This was it. This was the problem.
If everything Yeon Wi said was true, a stain would mar the Namgung family's heroic reputation. And the blame would fall not just on Namgung Sanghwa, but on him too.
This was a disaster. He'd stormed in blindly out of anger, and now his hot-blooded nature threatened to tarnish the family's honor.
"F-family head..."
"I don't even want to look at you. Get out."
"......"
"I'll be watching closely to see how your family responds."
Yeon Wi turned away. Biting his lip, Namgung Daesan exited through the south gate. The entrance he'd smashed through himself now looked like the maw of hell.
And so Namgung Daesan left the Yeon family estate.
Yeon Wi shook his head at the shattered south gate.
"What a waste."
A waste, but perhaps for the best.
"Where's the chief steward?"
"You called for me, family head!"
A slender man hurried over from afar. He had trained in martial arts, but not deeply. A man in his mid-thirties, the Yeon family's chief steward, Taekyeong.
"Commission the gatekeeper elder to repair the main gate. Tell him to use better quality timber than before."
"Ah, yes!"
Taekyeong said with a somewhat uneasy expression.
"But family head... are you alright?"
"Hm?"
"Wasn't that too aggressive...?"
He'd apparently watched from afar.
Yeon Wi shook his head.
"Clean up from here, and investigate starting tomorrow."
"Ah, yes! Understood."
Leaving the cleanup to Taekyeong, Yeon Wi walked alone toward the inner courtyard.
At that moment, a shadow appeared.
Yeon Hojeong.
"Father."
Yeon Wi wasn't surprised. He'd already sensed his eldest son's presence.
"It's late. Go to bed."
"Can't sleep."
Yeon Wi halted and looked at Yeon Hojeong. The moon was especially bright that night. Emerging from the building's shadow into the moonlight, his eldest son's eyes looked profoundly deep.
About to tell him to go to bed again, Yeon Wi suddenly wanted to ask his son a question.
"What do you think?"
"About what?"
"How do you think the Namgung family will respond?"
Yeon Wi didn't know why he'd asked so abruptly. But his son's answer inwardly shocked him.
"The important thing isn't the Namgung family—it's our own house, isn't it?"
"What do you mean?"
"Even if the Namgung family doesn't apologize, you'll let this slide."
"Why do you think that?"
"No need to burn the house down just to brush off some dust on your clothes."
He can think that far ahead?
Setting aside the awkward metaphor, Yeon Wi thought his son's insight wasn't bad. Nay, considering what he'd shown so far, it was a tremendous leap.
Perhaps his belief that he knew his son well had been arrogance.
Staring at Yeon Hojeong, Yeon Wi turned away again.
"Do you think this is some trivial matter that can be brushed off easily?"
"Pardon?"
"You are my son."
Yeon Hojeong blinked. Yeon Wi, having finished speaking, walked off into the distance. His gait was utterly unchanged from usual.
Gazing at his father's back, Yeon Hojeong scratched his head.
"Who doesn't know that?"
* * *
The next day.
"Urgh."
Even the crisp autumn breeze couldn't cool his body. Sweat dripped steadily, already forming puddles.
But Yeon Hojeong's stance remained flawless.
Creeeak.
The door opened, and Yeon Jipyeong appeared.
"Brother, I'm he—huh?!"
Yeon Jipyeong's eyes widened.
"Brother, what are you doing?"
"Can't you tell? Horse stance training."
"H-horse stance?"
Yeon Jipyeong had good reason to be flustered. The horse stance, for tempering the lower body, was the core of all martial arts.
But for his brother, who had reached great accomplishment in the Bi-yeon Simbeop, there was no need to practice such a basic fundamental.
If it was about forging the body, there were plenty of other methods.
Yeon Hojeong scowled.
"It's Father's punishment."
"P-punishment with horse stance? Wait, how long have you been like this?"
"Mao hour."
"Gasp! That's almost two hours?!"
"Not much left."
Yeon Hojeong's body was still immature. Holding horse stance for half a day without using internal energy would kill anyone.
Yeon Hojeong grumbled inwardly.
'Doing this won't change anything.'
He'd received his father's message early dawn via chief steward Taekyeong.
'Given the circumstances, you don't seem at fault. But you have one sin—the sin of a warrior. Cruel hands breed blood, and that is not the White Path. Recover your Original Aspiration through two hours of horse stance.'
If horse stance could change one's mindset, even the Black Path wouldn't survive.
He'd thought it absurd at first, but he'd done it diligently as training. He'd circulated the Bi-yeon Simbeop and reviewed his future plans.
Yeon Jipyeong whispered softly.
"Brother, that's enough. It's about two hours."
"No problem."
He didn't see it as a real sin, but with the family atmosphere like this, what could he do? There'd be plenty to grumble about, but he'd try to get used to it.
A moment later, just past two hours.
Only then did Yeon Hojeong release the stance.
"Whew, my legs are shaking."
"Must be tough. Wait a bit—I'll get some food."
At that moment.
Thud.
Thud.
Someone knocked on the main gate.
"Is the eldest young master here?"
"Urgh, who is it?"
"The family head summons the eldest young master."
Yeon Hojeong grumbled distastefully.
"Probably checking my homework. Sheesh."