Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: Part 25: The Horse with Legs
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“Part 25: The Horse with Legs”
“No, giving us gifts like this.”
“It’s nothing much, so everyone have a great day!”
The youth in silken robes waved to the special task force members at the main gate of Ongakjeong as he stepped inside.
The special task force members all wore bright smiles on their faces as they waved back at him.
Every one of them had a small jar of liquor tucked under their arm.
“Why turn down liquor from the boss himself?”
Talmyeong Gwigum handed the liquor jar he’d received as a gift to his colleague.
“……Even if we’re not drawing our swords right away, shouldn’t we at least avoid dulling them further?”
It was an incomprehensible remark, but the special task force member who’d scored an extra jar of liquor didn’t seem to care.
* * *
The Medicine King was walking along the forest path out of Ongakjeong.
He had stopped by briefly to have lunch with the Ongakjeong household.
“Well, well, who do we have here? Isn’t this the Medicine King, sir?”
The youth in silken robes bowed deeply in greeting, and the Medicine King awkwardly returned the gesture.
“Uh, yes. Nice to see you. But I’m in a bit of a hurry…”
“Aigoo, in that case, I’ll be sure to visit and pay my respects next time.”
“You do that. Well then.”
“Yes, take care, Medicine King, sir.”
The Medicine King walked on for a good while after passing him before muttering to himself.
“……Who was that guy who knows me?”
* * *
“Who are you, wandering around Ongakjeong like this?!”
Following the mysterious old monk, now some fresh-faced youth was loitering about. One of the twin maids—no, one of the triplet maids, Illyeong—stepped forward to stop him.
“Stop right there!”
Having seen Yeon So-hyeon’s anger the night before, the triplets were taking turns guarding the forest path entrance.
“An intruder?!”
“Reveal your identity!”
Receiving the transmission, the other two triplet maids, Iryeong and Samryeong, appeared in an instant and surrounded him.
A slender build with considerable height.
The man in silken robes, whose appearance was far from threatening, looked at the triplet maids and broke into a wide smile.
“You must be the maids assigned to Ongakjeong from the housekeeper’s office’s Grade-A Special Unit! Nice to meet you!”
“Uh? Nice to meet you?”
Iryeong poked Samryeong in the side as she returned the greeting and shouted.
“How do you know who we are?!”
The silken-robed man answered in bewilderment.
“Huh? Isn’t it common knowledge that the trainees in the Grade-A Special Unit are as famously eccentric as they are exceptional? Everyone in the housekeeper’s office knows about you.”
Their ‘special training’ was classified, but their very existence was no secret, so the youth wasn’t wrong.
“We’re famous? Heh heh.”
Illyeong poked Iryeong, who was puffing up with pride, and asked the silken-robed youth.
“……Are you from the housekeeper’s office by any chance?”
The silken-robed youth waved his hands frantically.
“Ah, no. I’m…”
That was when Jeong-a arrived, having caught wind of the commotion.
“If a guest has arrived, you should be escorting them inside. What’s with all this racket!”
At Jeong-a’s low but stern reprimand, the triplet maids immediately shrank back.
Jeong-a shot them a glare before greeting the man in silken robes.
“Welcome to Ongakjeong. Might I ask where you’re from…”
That was when the silken-robed youth clapped his hands and pointed at Jeong-a.
“Ah! You’re that Ihwa of the reception staff, the one they called Binghwa—the Ice Flower lady!”
Jeong-a nodded reluctantly.
“Yes, I suppose I am the person you’re referring to…”
The silken-robed youth bowed politely to Jeong-a.
“Wow, I heard you’d become the head maid of Ongakjeong. Congratulations!”
“Ah, yes. Thank you.”
The silken-robed youth gestured exaggeratedly as he looked around, then leaned in to whisper to Jeong-a.
“No wonder the Second Young Master and Third Young Master couldn’t keep up appearances. You truly are a peerless beauty.”
Jeong-a’s eyebrow twitched.
At the same time, the triplets shouted in unison.
“You bastard! Are you flirting with the head maid right now?!”
“That’s a rare secret not many know!”
“We should bind him right now!”
As the triplet maids advanced with fire in their eyes, the silken-robed youth frantically waved his hands.
“Eek! I’m not suspicious! I’m Yeon Ha-eung, just a lowly clerk from the main family!”
A moment later, the triplets exclaimed in unison.
“Yeon?!”
* * *
“You’re the ceremonial advisor for the outer compound?!”
The position held by the youth who had revealed his name as Yeon Ha-eung was far from the ‘lowly clerk’ he’d claimed—it was actually quite a high rank.
He scratched the back of his head with a friendly smile.
“It’s nothing special. Since I’m direct lineage from a branch family, they just gave me a fancy honorary title to fill a seat.”
“Direct lineage?!”
“Well… you might not know this, but there’s this Kaifeng Yeon Family…”
“Kaifeng Yeon Family?!”
The triplets’ faces were turning pale.
Yeon So-hyeon set down his teacup and waved them off.
“Quiet down. As he said, advisor is just an honorary position. Besides, this guy’s nothing but a loafer who shows his face at every social gathering in Luoyang. Don’t mind him.”
He spoke the truth.
“Right, right.”
It was blunt, but Yeon Ha-eung just let out a hearty “haha” with his usual affable laugh.
“Anyway, Brother So-hyeon.”
He sidled up with a chummy tone, and Yeon So-hyeon clicked his tongue.
“Why do you always call me Brother So-hyeon?”
He flashed an ingratiating smile.
“Calling you Eldest Young Master feels too distant, doesn’t it? We’re distant kin, after all. So, brother it is.”
Yeon Ha-eung, in his late twenties, always went around with that clueless, friendly grin.
After listening for a bit to his praise of Ongakjeong’s tea leaves, Yeon So-hyeon tapped the table with his finger.
“How about we get to the point?”
Yeon So-hyeon met his eyes.
“You came all this way because you’ve picked up on something again, right?”
Yeon Ha-eung clapped his hands.
“Come to think of it, Brother So-hyeon. Have you made plans to meet the Fourth Young Master?”
Jeong-a’s eyebrow twitched again.
The triplets’ eyes narrowed.
Yeon So-hyeon had exchanged letters with the Fourth Young Master via the Medicine King just that morning.
Yet this shady guy somehow knew about it.
Yeon So-hyeon waved off the maids once more.
“I told you not to worry. Bi must’ve bragged to his underlings since I agreed to meet him.”
Bi was the Fourth Young Master’s name.
“Yes, yes, exactly. The Fourth Young Master’s maids were all running around like mad.”
Even if the Fourth Young Master had blabbed to his subordinates, it was still internal chatter from his camp.
How did this man know?
As the maids shot suspicious glances at Yeon Ha-eung, Yeon So-hyeon let out a small sigh.
“There’s a saying, ‘A word without legs goes a thousand li.’ This guy’s nickname is ‘Horse with Legs.’ Some call him ‘Rumors with Legs.’”
“Haha, Rumors with Legs—that’s my moniker.”
“Moniker, my foot.”
Yeon So-hyeon shook his head at his boastful tone.
“So.”
Yeon So-hyeon asked him again.
“What worries you about my meeting with the Fourth Young Master?”
Yeon Ha-eung waved his hands.
“Worry? I’m just your ever-devoted little brother who’s always admired you the most…”
Yeon So-hyeon cut him off.
“Are you worried I might break my seclusion?”
“Break your seclusion?!”
Yeon Ha-eung jumped to his feet.
“No, it’s not that! It’s just… you, who hates trouble, planning to hang out with the Fourth Young Master right in the thick of the successor struggle. That’s all I’m saying.”
“My brother’s affairs are none of your business, are they?”
Yeon Ha-eung nodded vigorously.
“Of course! You’re right. I overstepped. Heh heh.”
He hurriedly changed the subject.
“By the way, I heard the book broker from the merchant association you deal with today got in hot water in the inner compound.”
“Is that so?”
It had happened just an hour ago.
A man worthy of his nickname.
“Aigoo, Brother So-hyeon. Didn’t I tell you? Put the bills in my name, and I’ll handle it all. That way, those poor merchants won’t suffer as much.”
Yeon So-hyeon snorted.
“Your real worry isn’t the merchants—it’s that I might clash more with the inner compound, right?”
He shook his head frantically.
“No way. The inner compound daring to clash with you, Brother So-hyeon? Who’d be that irreverent?”
“You’ve heard something else too, haven’t you?”
“……One of Elder Yeom’s housekeepers got beaten to death by the elder last night. He was furious, apparently.”
“Is that right?”
“Maybe you dismissed your guard unit and went out into Luoyang streets? The guard captain assigned to you has finally been replaced.”
“And?”
He bit his lip for a moment before cautiously speaking.
“The Second Young Master and Third Young Master seem quite displeased over your head maid. A few bedside attendants have turned up dead, it seems.”
He deliberately avoided looking at Jeong-a.
“I see.”
Yeon Ha-eung made a miserable face at Yeon So-hyeon’s calm reply.
“Brother So-hyeon… why have you been so on edge lately?”
He spoke to Yeon So-hyeon in an earnest tone.
“Didn’t you say to be content with what we’re given and enjoy life?”
Through the Dragon Eyes, Jeong-a could sense Yeon Ha-eung’s genuine concern for the Eldest Young Master.
Yeon So-hyeon looked at him.
“Not anymore.”
“So, Brother, from now on at least…”
He looked up with a blank expression.
“Pardon?”
“I won’t be content with just what’s given anymore.”
Yeon So-hyeon smiled as he leaned back in his chair.
“So now, you cooperate with me.”
Yeon Ha-eung began to tremble.
“Haha, what are you talking about? I have no idea what you…”
Yeon So-hyeon gestured, and the perceptive triplets shot to their feet.
“Come now, Young Master, this way.”
“Time to start a little project with us.”
“Have you heard of building an intelligence network?”
As the triplets grabbed his arms, Yeon Ha-eung cried out.
“S-save me!”
“We were impressed the moment we heard ‘Rumors with Legs.’”
“You’ll be very useful, Young Master.”
“Hehe, no need to be so scared.”
The triplets giggled as they dragged him off.
“Brother So-hyeon! Brother!”
Yeon So-hyeon waved at him.
“Cooperate obediently with them from now on. Nothing bad will happen to you.”
He made a woeful face as he was dragged away.
“……If you say so, Brother, I’ll obey.”
He gave up and vanished, being led off by maids half his height.
Jeong-a poured hot water into Yeon So-hyeon’s teacup as she said.
“He was quite the character.”
Yeon So-hyeon chuckled.
“He’ll be a big help from now on.”
He unfolded the Fourth Young Master’s reply he’d received from the Medicine King once more.
A soft smile played on his lips.
“That Bi guy. I can tell he’s thrilled just from this.”
Jeam Jincheon-gyeong - Volume 3