Chapter 344: Selecting a Successor
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 344: Selecting a Successor
"My Lord, please listen to me!"
"No! You must listen to me first!"
"Everyone, get out! I was here first!"
"You're the one who should leave!"
"Everyone, shut up!"
"You're being the loudest!"
Six women stood before a single man, screaming and bickering at the top of their lungs.
Every one of them was a peerless beauty, exuding a mature and sultry charm that suggested they were of a slightly older age.
'Sigh, fuck.'
Lee Jae-won let out a long sigh as he looked at them.
He had just returned to the Alliance after a long trip abroad, but he never imagined he’d be faced with such a frustrating situation the moment he arrived.
'Do these bitches have nothing better to do?'
Lee Jae-won scowled deeply, cursing his wives' idleness.
"My Lord! Do you know that Madam Hwangbo has been secretly funneling the Alliance's public funds to her maternal family?"
Tang Jin-seol spoke up, her expression venomous.
"That’s not true! I was just managing my personal funds. Please believe me!"
Hearing this, Hwangbo Yu-yeon pleaded with a desperate look on her face.
"That’s strange. Where would you get that kind of money?"
Zhuge Ju-kyung, an intellectual-looking noblewoman listening from the side, chimed in with a sneer.
"I sold various pieces of jewelry!"
"Oh my, so you sold all the tokens of affection the Lord gave you?"
"Eeeek! And what about you, Madam Zhuge? Didn't you sneak members of the Zhuge Clan into the Jimo Pavilion without any official process while the Lord was away?"
Hwangbo Yu-yeon shouted back in a fit of pique.
"Hmph. The Zhuge Clan is the smartest bloodline in the Central Plains. Why bother with official procedures? I simply deemed it a waste of time."
Zhuge Ju-kyung snorted and continued.
"But it is strictly an irregularity."
At that moment, Paeng Ga-ryeon, the Hall Master of the Law Enforcement Hall, spoke up with sparkling eyes, as if she had finally caught someone in a trap.
"What?! Am I the only one who did this? You all did the same!"
Zhuge Ju-kyung glared back, her eyes wide with anger.
"Madam Moyong!"
Zhuge Ju-kyung pointed her finger at Moyong Ran, who was standing at the very end.
"Didn't you put that idiot from the Moyong family into the Black Tortoise Unit?"
"An idiot?! Gye is not that kind of boy!"
Moyong Ran bristled, raising her voice. How dare she treat her precious nephew like an idiot?
"Hmph. Is there anyone in the Central Plains who doesn't know that Moyong Gye is a fool?"
Zhuge Ju-kyung provoked Moyong Ran further with a sarcastic tone.
"Are you quite finished?"
"And if I’m not?"
Grind.
Moyong Ran gnashed her teeth and glared at Zhuge Ju-kyung. She couldn't stand a single word coming out of that woman's mouth.
"Hmph. In the end, aren't you both equally shameful?"
Eon So-so, who had been quietly observing the situation from the back, spoke up as if the whole thing was pathetic. Her face was filled with contempt.
That expression immediately triggered both Zhuge Ju-kyung and Moyong Ran.
"And what makes you so honorable, Madam Eon?"
"Oh, at least I didn't play games with personnel appointments."
"Is that so? Then how did someone so 'clean' play such games when selecting suppliers?"
Moyong Ran retorted sarcastically, looking at Eon So-so.
"What kind of baseless rumor is that!"
"There’s no need to hide it. Everyone knows you took kickbacks from every single participant during the last competition."
"Do you have proof?! I said, do you have proof?!"
Eon So-so screamed, her voice rising.
"The victim's tears are the evidence."
"What kind of nonsense is that!"
"Testimonies have already come out!"
"How can I believe that!"
Moyong Ran and Eon So-so began to argue at the top of their lungs.
But that wasn't all.
Tang Jin-seol and Hwangbo Yu-yeon were also shouting, exposing each other's flaws, while Paeng Ga-ryeon and Zhuge Ju-kyung continued their war of nerves with sharp, poisonous words.
'I’m going crazy! I’m going crazy! I’m going crazy! I’m going crazy! I’m going crazy! I’m going crazy! I’m going crazy! I’m going crazy! I’m going crazy! I’m going crazy! I’m going crazy! I’m going crazy!'
Meanwhile, Lee Jae-won, watching the fight, clutched his throbbing head and let out a silent scream.
He felt like he was losing his mind. He just wanted to rest.
He had just finished a pleasant trip abroad, having spent his time devouring young, beautiful, tight, and small virgin pussies to his heart's content.
But that good mood was being completely ruined by these aging hags with their unnecessarily large breasts and backsides.
'These fucking bitches, seriously.'
Lee Jae-won scowled. He truly felt that if he kept living like this, he might die from the stress.
Wasn't it said that the greatest danger to modern people is stress? Since he was a modern man at heart, he was particularly vulnerable to it.
'Fuck, seriously, why did they have to get so old... If only they had reached the Transcendent Realm earlier and undergone Marrow Cleansing.'
Lee Jae-won began to inwardly blame their pathetic level of martial arts.
He thought that if they had only reached the Transcendent Realm, those unnecessarily large and voluptuous tits and asses might have stayed somewhat firm.
When they were younger, he had viewed their catfights as cute and would force a reconciliation by making them all suck his dick, but now that they were older, he didn't even want to do that.
He could get his dick hard whenever he wanted, but he had no desire to shove it into these women.
Wasn't his cock a weapon reserved only for the virgin pussies of those in their early twenties?
Why would he even look at married women who had already given birth?
'No, where the hell is Joo So-yang!'
Lee Jae-won frowned deeply. If Joo So-yang were here, she would have mediated this bullshit as the primary wife.
Unlike these women who were just born with a pussy into prestigious clans, she was a hero of the Great War of Righteousness and Demons and a master who had reached the Upper Stage of the Transcendent Realm.
But for some reason, she was nowhere to be seen.
'Fuck, I should have left Ha-yoon behind.'
Lee Jae-won regretted his past self's decision to send the Phoenix Unit on a dispatch mission.
Normally, Lee Jae-won kept the Phoenix Unit stationed inside the Cheonmu Alliance at all times—mostly so he could scout for women to fuck whenever he wanted.
However, fearing people would talk about favoritism if he kept them there constantly, he had sent the Phoenix Unit on a mission to coincide with his trip abroad. He had timed it so they would return just as he did.
But the mission had taken longer than expected, and naturally, the Phoenix Unit's return was delayed.
That had backfired on him. If he had left even Kang Ha-yoon, the second wife and the resident disciplinarian, they wouldn't be acting this brazenly.
'I need to find a way.'
Lee Jae-won thought. He had to find a solution.
If this continued, not only would the internal affairs of the Cheonmu Alliance fall into ruin, but his own mental health would deteriorate as well.
Lee Jae-won thought long and hard about why these bitches were so desperate to tear each other apart.
'To win my love?'
That couldn't be it. None of these women had shared a bed with him in over ten years. Why would they start a shitty catfight over that now?
Especially when they weren't even cute anymore.
Lee Jae-won reconsidered the reason for their madness.
"Do you really think Lee Ju-chang will be able to inherit the Succession Position that way!"
"What?! And what about Lee Ga-in! Do you really think the Succession Position suits a mere girl?"
"A girl? Did you just call my daughter a girl?!"
At that moment, the harsh voices of Tang Jin-seol and Hwangbo Yu-yeon pierced his ears.
'Ah!'
And then he realized. The reason these voluptuous sows acted like lunatics and tried to tear each other down whenever they saw him.
'Fuck, so the Succession Position is the goal, huh?'
He had been so uninterested that he had just let those words slide before. But thinking about it now, the puzzle pieces clicked perfectly into place.
Their goal was to have their own children ascend to the Succession Position of the Cheonmu Alliance. That was why they fought day in and day out, trying to discredit one another.
'These bitches, and I’m not even dead yet?'
Lee Jae-won felt a surge of anger. He was only in his forties. He was in his prime. How could they already be discussing succession?
'Who said I’m giving it away? You bitches! I’m going to hold onto this for thousands of years!'
Furthermore, the biggest problem was that Lee Jae-won had no intention of stepping down from his post as the Cheonmu Alliance Leader.
Lee Jae-won was a Transcendent who had reached the Transcendent Realm, a Half-Immortal who could defy nature itself. To someone like him, aging and death were distant concepts.
Literally, he had the ability to remain the Alliance Leader for thousands of years. So how could they dare covet his seat?
'Should I just divorce them all?'
In his rage, Lee Jae-won even considered the extreme option of divorce. But he soon shook his head.
He was a great martial artist who commanded the respect of the entire Murim. He had to be beyond reproach. Divorcing not just one, but all of his wives? Wouldn't that be like admitting he was the problem?
'Cancel that! No divorce!'
He began to deliberate even more intensely. He had to find another way.
'Wait!'
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him. A rather good idea had come to mind.
Slam!
Lee Jae-won quickly slammed his fist onto the desk. A thunderous boom echoed throughout the entire office.
"What do you all think you are doing!"
Lee Jae-won shouted, his voice infused with power.
"This is a place of business where I perform my duties as the Alliance Leader! How dare you carry on with your petty emotional squabbles in a workplace!"
"......But."
"......Still."
A few of the wives tried to continue, looking aggrieved.
"I don't want to hear it!"
Lee Jae-won glared at them with a stern gaze and spoke.
"From now on, no one is to open their mouth until I am finished! The moment you speak, I will kick you out immediately!"
Lee Jae-won laid down the law with a grave expression.
"..............."
"..............."
"..............."
The six wives immediately shut their mouths. They realized their husband was serious.
"Why are you all so desperate to tear each other down, fight, and slander one another every single time? You are all part of a community with me as your husband, so why do you act like enemies? I am disappointed! Disappointed in your behavior! Do you know how many months it’s been since I returned to the Alliance? It’s been three months! And yet, instead of welcoming me, you’re all just tattle-telling. How do you think that makes me feel?"
Lee Jae-won continued, subtly mixing in his emotions.
Though his "trip abroad" was really just a journey to find usable virgin pussies, he had been away for three months and had hoped for some kind of welcome. But seeing them immediately start slandering each other made him lose all affection for them.
'Bitches obsessed with power.'
Lee Jae-won scowled even harder and spoke.
"And why do you interfere so much in the internal affairs of the Alliance! You are my wives! The wives of the greatest martial artist in the Murim! If that’s the case, shouldn't you show the dignity that befits that status? How can you commit all sorts of corruption and bring shame to my face!"
"...................."
"..................."
".................."
Hearing Lee Jae-won's words, the six wives lowered their heads in silence. They were well aware they hadn't exactly behaved well.
"If this continues, the Alliance's internal affairs will fall into chaos, and naturally, the trust in the Cheonmu Alliance will hit rock bottom. How can you be so thoughtless!"
Lee Jae-won shouted, his face full of rage.
"....We were wrong."
Zhuge Ju-kyung was the first to apologize.
"..I’m sorry."
"...I won't do it again."
"...I'll stop."
".....I apologize."
"....I was short-sighted."
Following her, the remaining five wives all began to apologize one after another.
"I don't want to hear it! I know better than anyone that you aren't actually reflecting!"
Despite their apologies, Lee Jae-won spoke with a firm expression.
"Even if you apologize in front of me now, you'll just go back to slandering and fighting later! Do you know how many years this has been repeating? I’m sick of it! So, I am going to break this vicious cycle!"
Lee Jae-won looked at them as if making a grand proclamation.
"I am going to select a successor."
"What?!"
"Pardon?!"
"That... what do you mean?!"
At Lee Jae-won's bombshell announcement, the six wives all stared at him with wide eyes, shocked. Selecting a successor? Where was this coming from all of a sudden?
"I am well aware of why you are fighting. I have ears and eyes of my own. In the end, isn't it because you are all eyeing the Succession Position of the Cheonmu Alliance?"
Lee Jae-won spoke with an incredibly serious expression.
"Therefore, I intend to select my successor and put a complete end to your fighting."
Lee Jae-won continued, looking at the six wives with glittering eyes.
'Get fucked, you bitches.'
He thought to himself. He wanted them to suffer and work their asses off.
Though, of course, since they were women, they didn't have asses to work off in that sense—but they were going to suffer regardless.