Chapter 515: Hwangbo Yu-yeon’s Depression
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 515: Hwangbo Yu-yeon’s Depression
"What? The succession competition was postponed?"
Sun-woo looked at Paeng Ga-ryeon with a bewildered expression.
"Yes. It seems they judged it premature to hold it while the atmosphere is so unsettled."
"How long is the delay?"
"No specific date has been announced yet. They likely intend to wait until they catch the person responsible for the large-character posters."
"If it was going to be pushed back this easily, they shouldn't have told me to come so early."
Sun-woo’s face crumpled into a deep scowl.
It was incredibly rude. What kind of treatment was this, summoning him a month early only to pull this stunt? To make him wait indefinitely without a set date?
Slap!
"It’s your fault."
Sun-woo raised his hand and struck Paeng Ga-ryeon across the face. Her head snapped to the side from the force of the blow.
"I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry."
She apologized to Sun-woo immediately, her expression filled with deep contrition.
In truth, it wasn't her fault. The one who had postponed the succession competition was the Cheonmu Alliance Leader, Lee Jae-won.
However, Sun-woo needed someone to vent his frustration on, and Paeng Ga-ryeon happened to be standing right there. There was no reason not to hit her.
"Hmm... this is problematic. I was planning to seduce her while 'discreetly' helping her during the competition..."
Sun-woo looked troubled. He had been planning to lure Hwangbo Yu-yeon in during the chaos of the succession struggle. With the event suddenly postponed, he found himself in a bind. His plan had been derailed from the very start.
"Hmm."
He pondered, wondering if there was another way.
"Hey."
Slap!
He struck Paeng Ga-ryeon’s other cheek—the one she wasn't already cradling as she stood with her head bowed.
"Y-yes... please speak."
Paeng Ga-ryeon slowly opened her mouth while clutching both of her swollen cheeks.
"Got any good ideas?"
"I... I’m not sure..."
Slap!
"Useless."
Sun-woo struck her cheek once more.
"I’m sorry for being useless. I’m sorry for being stupid. I’m sorry for being born."
She began to bow repeatedly, offering a string of apologies. She seemed overwhelmed by guilt at the thought of failing to be of use to Sun-woo.
'Hmm...'
Sun-woo sank into deep thought. Since the competition was delayed, he had to find another way—a way to ensnare Hwangbo Yu-yeon, who was currently struggling with money.
'Just giving her money would be too blatant... but if I give it as a "sponsorship," she might just take it and run... What should I do?'
Sun-woo’s dilemma deepened.
When it came to money, Sun-woo had more than enough. He had received three Cat's Eye Stones from Bukgung Yeon, and he had already sold two of them for a significant profit. Since he had pocketed that secret fund for himself, the amount of cash he could personally mobilize was substantial.
But just because he had a lot of money didn't mean he should spend it recklessly. He needed to achieve maximum efficiency with the minimum amount of capital.
'I need to make her owe me... a debt...'
As he was agonizing over the problem, something flashed through his mind. He had thought of a rather excellent plan.
"Ga-ryeon."
Sun-woo called out to Paeng Ga-ryeon, who was still nursing her swollen cheeks beside him.
"Yes... Sun-woo-nim."
"Do a job with me."
"What kind of... job is it?"
She looked at Sun-woo with a questioning face.
"Something fun."
Sun-woo replied with a bright smile. She tilted her head in confusion.
*
An elegant noblewoman sat gracefully at a table. Before her sat a single teacup, steam rising from it in gentle curls. She slowly lifted the cup.
Inhale.
She savored the aroma rising from the tea. The scent of low-grade, inferior tea leaves began to permeate her nose.
"Sigh."
A heavy sigh escaped her lips. She was disappointed by the poor quality of the fragrance.
"How is this 'no different from the premium grade'? Those scammers!"
She scowled as she spoke. She had bought a large quantity, fully believing the claim that it was comparable to high-end tea, but it seemed she had been cheated. The difference was staggering—so much so that she wanted to hurl the teacup against the floor right then and there.
Slurp.
Yet, far from throwing the cup, she lifted it and began to drink. Having wasted a significant amount of money on the bulk purchase because it was "cheap," she felt she couldn't afford to just throw it away.
Clack.
After draining the cup, she set it down.
"Ugh... it tastes awful."
Her face contorted. The texture was just as unpleasant as the cheap aroma.
"Sniff... ugh... this is so annoying."
Glisten.
Tears began to well up in her eyes. Sorrow surged within her at the sheer wretchedness of her situation.
Who was she?
Was she not Hwangbo Yu-yeon, the mistress of the Cheonmu Alliance and a direct-line descendant of the Hwangbo Clan? And yet, here she was, unable to afford a decent cup of tea, drinking swill brewed from cheap leaves.
How could she not cry? How could she not feel sorrowful?
She felt resentful. She resented everything.
She resented her brother, Hwangbo Gang, for leaving for the afterlife so early. She resented the Poison King, Tang Jin-cheol, for killing him. She resented the leadership for bankrupting the clan’s finances. And she resented the remaining direct bloodline members for choosing to go into sect seclusion.
Bang!
Suddenly, her door swung open violently. She hurriedly wiped the tears from her eyes. She didn't want to show such weakness to anyone.
"Mother!"
A woman who looked like the very definition of a tomboy appeared through the doorway. She had short hair tied back in a ponytail, eyes full of mischief, a sharp, straight nose, and a stubborn set to her mouth. She possessed a voluptuous figure that clearly took after her mother.
It was Lee So-ran, Hwangbo Yu-yeon’s daughter.
"You’ve come?"
Hwangbo Yu-yeon asked, adopting a dignified expression.
"Give me money!"
Lee So-ran blurted out, looking straight at her mother.
"Money? Didn't you just take some not long ago?"
Hwangbo Yu-yeon frowned slightly, her elegant brows knitting together. Lee So-ran had taken a generous amount of money just a few days ago. Why was she suddenly demanding more?
"That was ages ago! It’s all gone."
She spoke as if it were no big deal.
"Where did you spend all that money...?"
Hwangbo Yu-yeon’s frown deepened. She had handed over a substantial sum just days prior. How could it all be gone already?
"There was a new elixir at the auction. I ended up buying it before I knew it."
She blushed in embarrassment as she spoke, feeling ashamed of her lack of self-control.
"..........I see.."
Hearing this, Hwangbo Yu-yeon’s expression turned somber. If her daughter had spent it on something useless, she would have scolded her harshly, but she had no words if it was for an elixir. How could she criticize her daughter for trying to increase her internal energy and reach a higher realm?
"What did you buy?"
"A thirty-year-old snow ginseng!"
"Thirty years?"
"Yes!"
"How many did you get?"
"I could only get one!"
"One!?"
Hwangbo Yu-yeon asked in shock. While thirty-year-old ginseng was expensive, the money she had given her daughter should have been enough to buy three or four. How could she only afford one?
"Yes!"
Lee So-ran replied with a bright smile.
"The bidding was so intense! I almost lost it to that brat Kyung-ah!"
"Kyung-ah... do you mean Lee Hyun-kyung, Tang Jin-seol’s daughter?"
"Yes! That brat!"
Lee So-ran nodded in agreement.
Grit.
Hwangbo Yu-yeon ground her teeth. She saw through the whole situation. She understood why her daughter, who rarely visited the auction house, had gone there, and why she had paid an absurd price for a thirty-year-old snow ginseng.
She had been played. By Tang Jin-seol’s daughter, Lee Hyun-kyung.
Hyun-kyung must have lured the naive So-ran to the auction and then bid on the ginseng. So-ran would have followed suit, and Hyun-kyung likely kept driving the price up to bleed her dry, acting as if she desperately wanted it. That behavior would have provoked the competitive So-ran, leading her to squander an entire month’s worth of living expenses.
Grind.
'That fox-like bitch!'
Hwangbo Yu-yeon ground her teeth again. Lee Hyun-kyung’s poisonous behavior, so much like her mother’s, was deeply irritating.
"Anyway, that’s why I need money, Mother!"
Lee So-ran said with a cheerful face.
"........I will give it to you."
Hwangbo Yu-yeon spoke slowly as she looked at her daughter. She felt that her daughter wasn't really to blame. She was shallow-minded, but she was a good-hearted girl. She didn't want to point fingers and call her stupid.
Hwangbo Yu-yeon reached into her robes and pulled out a pouch.
Thud.
She placed the pouch on the table.
".....Take it."
She barely managed to force the words out while suppressing her tears. This was her secret fund, saved by switching even her favorite tea to the cheap stuff. To think this fund was being drained because of that wicked Lee Hyun-kyung made tears well up automatically.
"Wow... there’s this much?"
Lee So-ran said as she peeked into the pouch.
".....You must... use it sparingly."
Hwangbo Yu-yeon squeezed the words out through clenched teeth.
"Mother, are you perhaps overextending yourself?"
Lee So-ran asked with a worried expression. Even she knew the clan’s finances were in bad shape. Receiving such a large sum made her feel strangely burdened.
"Overextending? Your mother isn't the type of person to overextend herself for money... I’m simply giving what fits our circumstances... If anything, I’m sorry I can't give you more."
She bluffed as she looked at Lee So-ran. It was a secret fund she had scraped together over a month of penny-pinching. Even as it was being drained away, she maintained her bravado. It was a bluff born of a mother’s desire to see her daughter live in abundance and comfort, even if she herself lived in poverty.
"Hehehe... I love you, Mother!"
Smooch.
Hearing those words, Lee So-ran beamed. She stepped toward Hwangbo Yu-yeon and kissed her on the cheek.
"Goodness, get away from me."
Hwangbo Yu-yeon pushed her daughter away, perhaps embarrassed by the kiss. Of course, the gesture was filled with affection.
"Ran-ah... don't go to the auction house anymore."
"Yes, Mother~"
She gave a bright smile and a farewell greeting before immediately heading out. Her exit was as swift as her entrance.
Hwangbo Yu-yeon watched her daughter’s retreating back with a warm smile.
After a few moments, once her daughter’s presence had completely vanished, Hwangbo Yu-yeon’s warm expression instantly collapsed into a look of misery. Tears began to pool in her eyes.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
"Sob... hic... ugh... sob."
She began to wail, tears falling thick and fast in her sorrow.
"That... money... do you know... what kind of money... that was... sob... do you know...?"
She felt a surge of grief. That money had been raised by selling off various luxury items in her room for a pittance. It was money saved by switching her beloved Longjing tea to the lowest grade. And that money had vanished in an instant, all because she had fallen for Lee Hyun-kyung’s malicious scheme.
She couldn't help but feel wretched.
"Sob... that wicked... hic... bitch... ugh... sob..."
She began to hurl curses as she pictured Lee Hyun-kyung’s annoying face. They say daughters take after their mothers; looking at her actions, Lee Hyun-kyung’s personality was a carbon copy of the viper-like Tang Jin-seol. How could she commit such a petty act when she knew full well the state of the Hwangbo Clan’s finances?
"I’ll get revenge... I’ll get revenge... I’ll definitely get revenge!"
She vowed vengeance through her streaming tears—vengeance against Lee Hyun-kyung, who had made her cry.
Having sworn her revenge, Hwangbo Yu-yeon lifted her teacup again.
Gulp. Gulp.
She began to drain the tea once more.
"Blegh!"
A wave of nausea immediately hit her. It seemed that beyond being low-grade, they had sold her a fake.
"Oh, for heaven's sake!"
Crash!
She hurled the teacup onto the floor. Her irritation had reached a breaking point.
"Ah."
She immediately regretted it. She realized she had broken her favorite teacup with her own hands.
"Hmph!"
With a flushed face and puffed-out cheeks, she stared at the broken shards. It was shattered beyond any hope of repair.
Her depression began to sink even deeper.