A Goddess's Shield
The sick mother and the banished nine-year-old son had returned. The boy had grown into a monster who demolished Jeokhwa Palace, the largest unorthodox sect in the Gangho, with nothing but a single fan. Wearing a smile that was the spitting image of his mother's, he had crushed Hwa Jak's manhood right before his very eyes.
The problem was that the surviving disciples of Jeokhwa Palace had witnessed the scene. Every single person alive that night had seen him suffer such a humiliating insult, with his trousers stripped down. Since that day, Hwa Jak had lived a life worse than death. Gritting his teeth and swearing that if a miracle occurred and he regressed to the past, he would kill Hwa Banya before he was even born, he had barely scraped by as a latrine cleaner for Jeokhwa Palace.
Hwa Jak's reinstatement only happened after Banya's death. Now, once again the 8th Uncle of Jeokhwa Palace, draped in dark red silk robes, Hwa Jak roared in anger and slammed his hand down on the armrest. "Has that county magistrate lost his mind? How dare he defy us?"
The reason Mujin had been captured in the first place was nothing major anyway. He had heard it was because Mujin had been caught slipping an aphrodisiac into the drink of Baekri Yeongso, Hwa Banya's wife.
"It's not like he killed the woman in broad daylight in the middle of Chunyangru! They dare arrest the Palace Master of Jeokhwa Palace over a measly aphrodisiac? And we aren't even allowed visitation?"
Damn those government bastards! Hwa Jak snatched the teacup beside him and hurled it at the opposite pillar. *Smash!* Even so, his wrath was not appeased. He glared around, looking for something else to throw, before slamming the armrest once more.
"Hwa Banya..." His mother, Yeop Dohong, was a weak-willed woman who couldn't even utter a single complaint. He had no idea how she had spawned such a monster.
'Though I accused her of carrying another man's bastard, Dohong had served only me for nearly half a year before she conceived.'
Honestly, if Banya hadn't destroyed Jeokhwa Palace and ruined him, Hwa Jak would have been proud to claim him as his own blood. After all, Banya was a cunning Sapa martial artist to his very bones. Inheriting his father's sturdy frame and his mother's stunning looks, the boy had risen to become the strongest in the Sapa world in just over a decade despite never receiving proper martial arts training. He was clearly far more exceptional than Mujin, the legitimate eldest son.
'But now, he is my mortal enemy.' Hwa Jak's lips twitched convulsively.
'He was definitely dead... How is he alive again?'
During the funeral, he had approached Banya's corpse under the hypocritical pretense of "he is still my blood, after all" to check for himself. It wasn't a faked death using some drug. Mujin had been certain of this as well. Hwa Banya had truly died three years ago. Yet, on the very day the mourning period ended, he had returned completely unscathed.
"It was frustrating enough that I couldn't kill him with my own hands. But that didn't mean I wanted him to rise from the dead!" Hwa Jak spat out a string of curses. As soon as Banya returned, he had immediately begun tearing Jeokhwa Palace apart as if he had been waiting for the chance.
A subordinate, who had been waiting for Hwa Jak's anger to subside, spoke up, mentioning that rumors were circulating internally that slipping the aphrodisiac into the Alliance Leader's wife's drink was not the Palace Master's doing. Hearing this, Hwa Jak stroked his chin.
"Indeed... Mujin might have lusted after his half-sister-in-law, but he isn't completely brainless. Baekri Yeongso didn't come alone; she was with her husband. Knowing that, there's no way he would have slipped her an aphrodisiac." The muscles in Hwa Jak's face twitched again. If so, this was clearly a trap.
"That bastard Banya did this to screw over Mujin and me, and his wife, being the submissive creature she is, must have just gone along with her husband." Saliva pooled in Hwa Jak's mouth at the thought of the slender, delicate Baekri Yeongso.
He had only seen Banya's wife once, at the funeral. Mujin had described her as incredibly soft and exquisite, claiming Banya must have spent every waking moment doting on her and kissing her until the day he died. Indeed, the moment Hwa Jak had laid eyes on Baekri Yeongso, he understood exactly what Mujin meant.
It was a shame he had to kill such a delicious treat without tasting her first, but it couldn't be helped. It was far better for Baekri Yeongso to die than for the Baekri Clan to catch wind of Mujin's aphrodisiac stunt and completely annihilate Jeokhwa Palace.
He would blame her death on Cheonsaryeon's negligent management, blowing it up into a massive conflict between the Jeongpa and Sapa factions. 'Unlike three years ago, Baekri Yeongso must die this time...!'
What Hwa Jak feared was not some petty investigation by a county magistrate, but Jeokhwa Palace being targeted for elimination by high-ranking officials in the capital. Therefore, he had to cover it up with an even bigger incident.
Hwa Jak secretly summoned his confidant. He ordered him to contact their spy inside Cheonsaryeon and mobilize the slaves in the annex. He had selected a few pretty ones and trained them as assassins just in case they might be useful, but he never expected the day would come so soon. "Hehehe." Hwa Jak chuckled with satisfaction. A noble lady from a prestigious clan who spent her days doing embroidery would surely collapse and die as easily as a paper doll.
Lately, Yeongso had been avoiding sharing a bed with her husband using a single excuse. "If you lay a hand on me, the Queen Mother of the West will be furious...!"
Even as she said it, she couldn't help but feel she sounded like a possessed shaman. In truth, she didn't actually believe the Queen Mother of the West would fly into a divine rage just because Banya pushed for some intimacy. It was simply that this excuse yielded the best results.
Whenever she threatened him like this, Banya would look utterly dumbfounded, his lust instantly evaporating as he pulled his hands away. The unsaid words on his face were usually along the lines of: Fine, I won't touch you. This is ridiculous.
Two days ago, Yeongso had used this line to ward off Banya yet again. If she had been a second later, her husband's hand would have cupped her breast. Banya, who had already slipped his hand halfway inside her robes, scowled the moment he heard those familiar words. He seemed truly vexed this time, as he hadn't set foot in the inner quarters since.
'I can't keep pushing him away forever, but...' Still, seeing the days pass peacefully, it seemed Banya was diligently performing his daily good deeds.
"The Queen Mother of the West is truly miraculous." Yeongso looked up at the sky and clasped her hands together. Please help him maintain his resolve for a long time.
After a brief prayer, Yeongso left her quarters to personally check on the slaves in the annex. When they had first been moved to Cheonsaryeon, many of them had been on the brink of death. However, thanks to the constant care of Yeongso and the physicians, they had recovered a significant portion of their health.
"Is there anything else you need? Please let me know at any time." As Yeongso went around asking each of them if their blankets were too thin or if they had any relatives they wished to contact, someone approached her.
"Um... Madam, I have something urgent to tell you in private." It was one of the annex slaves who had been in relatively good condition from the start. Of course, when Yeongso had first found her, this woman had also been unable to meet her eyes, wearing a forced smile.
While she still avoided direct eye contact, she no longer wore that painful, forced smile that made everyone pity her. Yeongso considered this a massive improvement.
"It's a bit difficult to speak here..." "Shall we go somewhere else?" "Yes, I would be very grateful."
Yeongso handed a warm red bean pouch to a bedridden middle-aged woman and followed the slave who had spoken to her. The slave's expression was incredibly dark, and she was unconsciously touching her lower abdomen, which gave Yeongso a bad feeling. Could she be pregnant with a child whose father is unknown? She felt deeply concerned.
Coincidentally, Banya and Ma Ryun, who were entering the inner courtyard, witnessed this from afar. "That looks like a trap to anyone with eyes," Ma Ryun said, staring at the backs of the two women walking toward the well behind the building.
"It seems we had a rat among the annex slaves. No doubt she intends to harm the Alliance Leader's wife. Shall we follow?"
"...What are you talking about? Baekri Yeongso is the woman who killed me." Banya laughed as if he had just heard an absurd joke. "Let's just go watch."
The well behind the pavilion was indeed quiet. Since it had been sealed off for some time, people rarely came here. It was the perfect spot to share secrets that shouldn't be overheard.
Yeongso pondered as she followed behind the slave. 'What kind of advice does she need?' Given how she had gently touched her lower abdomen, was it indeed a pregnancy? 'That is the most likely possibility.'
Then, she remembered that the physicians took everyone's pulse every morning. She knew this morning's examinations were already complete. 'I didn't hear anything about a pregnancy pulse being detected today, though.'
There were a few pregnant women among the slaves, but the woman walking ahead of her was not one of them. If it wasn't pregnancy, what could it be? Did she have some insurmountable debt she couldn't hope to repay?
'Something urgent to tell me in private...' Suddenly, she remembered three years ago, when she had called Banya out separately.