Chapter 96
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 96
Chapter Title: A Passionate Night
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Only after a long while did Jin Seolhwa finally respond in a voice that seemed to crawl out.
Only then did Seonwoyong approach her and pull her into his arms.
Of course, it wasn't a tender or gentle motion—it was perhaps quite rough.
He whispered into Jin Seolhwa's ear.
"Do you intend to give yourself entirely to me?"
The fine hairs on her flushed earlobe stood on end.
But she couldn't bring herself to answer his question.
"Is it shame holding you back? Answer me. Or I'll have no choice but to send you out."
Seonwoyong's tone was utterly rough and heartless, yet it set her entire body ablaze.
"Ah... please. Have mercy."
Jin Seolhwa, who had been frozen in place, barely managed to respond after drawing a deep breath. Seonwoyong cupped her beautiful face in his hands.
"Begging for mercy? That won't come so easily."
It was an absurd turn, but it only made Jin Seolhwa burn hotter.
"Then what must I do now?"
She asked, her breath coming in gasps. Seonwoyong replied with a mischievous expression.
"Do you truly not know how to repay your benefactor?"
As he spoke, he slipped one hand smoothly under her upper garments.
Jin Seolhwa shuddered violently and grabbed his hand—the one that had been wandering somewhere—with her own, stopping it.
"What is this? Are you telling me to pull my hand out?"
"No. It's just... I'm embarrassed..."
"I've heard you were widowed early, so you're no stranger to men..."
"I was married once, but he was frail even before the wedding, and he took ill soon after and passed away..."
"Then... could it be you're still a virgin?"
At those words, Jin Seolhwa could say nothing and only nodded slightly.
"Well, well. Then I have much to teach you. Are you prepared?"
At that, Jin Seolhwa shook off his hand, stood up, and faced him squarely.
Seonwoyong stared intently at her.
"What are you doing?"
Her expression grew complicated, and she spoke.
"I've walked into this with my own two feet, so what right do I have to complain..."
She hesitated, unable to continue. Seonwoyong asked.
"What exactly are you trying to say?"
"Even if it's just for one night, you are my husband. Please... don't think of me lightly..."
With that, she bowed low, prostrating herself in a grand bow as if performing a formal rite.
Seonwoyong watched her silently, without stopping her.
Soon, having finished her bow, Jin Seolhwa flicked her sleeve to extinguish the candle illuminating the room.
Then, slowly, she began to remove her clothes.
Watching her, Seonwoyong unexpectedly thought of Jeong Yeongyeong.
It was a similar situation to that time, but back then, he had betrayed Jeong Yeongyeong's feelings and intentions.
The Seonwoyong of now would not have abandoned her like that.
Back then, he had been U Cheonso. Now, he was Seonwoyong.
He had decided to quit playing the immortal and to faithfully follow his own desires from here on.
Jin Seolhwa, now stripped of her outer robes, came to him and nestled into his arms.
The candle was out, but the moonlight filtering through the window felt even brighter.
Seonwoyong scooped her up effortlessly and walked slowly toward the bed.
"I can't make any promises. My life is one that walks the edge of a blade."
He whispered, still holding her.
"No promises are needed. As long as you don't cast me out tonight, that's enough for me."
Seonwoyong laid Jin Seolhwa down on the bed.
"I won't cast you out. So long as you don't betray me."
As he said it, he stripped away her remaining clothes.
At that moment, the moonlight lingered especially on the bed.
Moments later, Seonwoyong's bare body overlapped hers, white and pure.
The moonlight began to shatter. Beautifully.
At that time, Moyong Cheong was standing right outside the door to that room.
There was no way she could miss Jin Seolhwa slipping out of bed and leaving, nor that she had followed her all the way to Seonwoyong's door.
She tried not to make a sound, but she had never realized her own breathing could be so loud.
Of course, inside the room now, even louder breaths echoed out to the door.
Though Moyong Cheong was ignorant of the ways between men and women, she could sense exactly what each of those breaths meant and what was happening.
"I'm too late. Me.'
Moyong Cheong was blaming herself.
Waiting at the inn for Han Sojung and meeting her, then coming here—it was no coincidence at all.
Letting Do Gwang know on purpose, following after him, staying late with Han Sojung to kill time—it had all gone according to her plan.
Yet the one now drawing deep breaths inside the room was Jin Seolhwa.
The one thing Moyong Cheong had overlooked was Jin Seolhwa's courage.
She knew Jin Seolhwa had long admired Seonwoyong, and that even this trading journey was for his sake.
But she could never have imagined a widow of some years throwing herself into the bedchamber of a much younger man.
'Well, life is about real battles after all.'
Moments later, Moyong Cheong turned away with a lonely smile, her steps careful.
Of course, Jin Seolhwa's ears could not catch the fading footsteps of Moyong Cheong, but Seonwoyong's certainly could.
Yet his expression turned icy for a moment.
The next morning, Jin Seolhwa was nowhere to be seen at the house where Seonwoyong was staying.
She had left his room before the sun had even risen and departed just like that.
Seonwoyong lay on the bed until late morning, lost in thought.
Last night had truly been ecstatic.
He couldn't even remember how many years it had been since his last time making love.
Jin Seolhwa on the bed had been shy, as expected, but she hadn't hesitated at anything.
She did whatever he commanded and accepted everything.
Seonwoyong on the bed had been anything but kind—he had been savage.
He demanded without restraint and took without hesitation.
So the awkward moments were brief, and the long night felt all too short.
Thus was Seonwoyong reminiscing over last night's events one by one.
Then, an unexpected voice came from outside the door.
"I've brought breakfast."
It was clearly a woman's voice—of course, Moyong Cheong's.
And before Seonwoyong could even permit her, she entered.
Naturally, she carried a tray with breakfast.
Seonwoyong slowly sat up on the bed.
His upper body was still bare, and a lascivious scent lingered in the room, but Moyong Cheong seemed unperturbed.
She set the porridge and three simple side dishes on the table in the room, then tilted the teapot to pour his tea.
"What is this?"
Seonwoyong's question carried multiple layers of meaning.
Though fallen now, the Moyong family had been hegemons of Shandong for a millennium.
Not just any martial clan—they had effectively ruled the northern scholar tribes, akin to a royal house.
The past Yan dynasties—Former Yan, Later Yan, Western Yan, Southern Yan—had been founded by the Moyong clan.
As the clan's golden bough, Moyong Cheong was practically a princess; it was unimaginable for her to do servant's work like this.
"I heard you still hadn't eaten breakfast, so I had it prepared."
Moyong Cheong answered calmly as she began sipping tea from her own cup.
Seonwoyong rummaged under the covers for his lower garments, then got off the bed.
He also picked up his upper clothes from the floor and put them on.
Of course, Jin Seolhwa had neatly folded them and placed them on a chair as she left at dawn.
"Are you unwell? It's well past morning, and you're still in bed."
Moyong Cheong asked with an innocent expression as she watched him. Seonwoyong could only chuckle.
"Unwell? After a rare night of pleasure, I feel refreshed beyond measure..."
He muttered as he sat at the table and first lifted the teacup to his lips.
"Sister Jin, whom I didn't see last night, vanished without even a goodbye. What could have been so urgent—or embarrassing? Hehe..."
Moyong Cheong said this while looking straight at Seonwoyong's face and smiling.
Moyong Cheong's moniker was, of course, the North's Foremost Beauty.
Adorned prettily, she was dizzyingly beautiful, her smile deadly enough to kill.
But Seonwoyong made no reaction and simply picked up his spoon and chopsticks to begin eating.
Moyong Cheong then started attending to him at the table.
Seonwoyong paused his chopsticks midway and looked at her.
Pouring tea into his empty cup, rearranging the plates—she served him with meticulous care. It was utterly unfamiliar, yet all the more endearing.
"What are you thinking?"
Seonwoyong asked curtly.
"I'm not thinking anything. Who does this sort of thing after thinking it over?"
"It's ridiculous. What exactly do you want?"
"I don't want anything. You wouldn't give it even if I did, right?"
Seonwoyong could only give a wry smile at her response.
"You're a dangerous woman. You know that yourself."
He spoke plainly as he resumed eating with his chopsticks.
But even at his words, Moyong Cheong smiled and shot back.
"What value is there in something gained without risking even danger? Hehe..."
Seonwoyong fell silent, moving only his chopsticks.
His meal didn't take long.
Moments later, when Seonwoyong set down his chopsticks for the last time, Moyong Cheong calmly gathered the empty bowls onto the tray.
She sprang up and headed for the door.
"I'm staying here. Just so you know."
With that one parting line.