Chapter 70
Chapter 70
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: Part 20: The Price of Arrogance
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Bang Housekeeper sat in front of a small table, her entire body trembling like an aspen leaf.
The room had no heating at all, which was part of it, but not the only reason.
Ever since the Central Inspection Pavilion had made its appearance, her mind had been completely blank.
She had been dragged here and there, isolated alone for a time, and then brought to this place.
Even so, she remembered the emergency protocols.
In fact, amid her mental fog, she had been repeating those protocols over and over.
Judging by the extra chair opposite the table, someone would soon enter to begin the interrogation.
The door burst open, and she jumped up in place.
"Whoa. Why is it so damn cold in here?"
A friendly-looking man stepped in, then shouted out toward the hallway.
"Hey! What happens if you forget to bring in the brazier? People are gonna freeze to death!"
Bang Housekeeper quickly took in the man's appearance.
"And no oil lamp in this dark room—what the hell is this?"
He carried nothing with him.
Not even the usual writing brush, inkstone, or paper, nor any evidence documents to press her with.
"Ah, sorry about this. Our guys seem thorough at first glance, but they can be pretty sloppy up close."
"...N-no, it's fine."
He sat across from her with a genuinely apologetic expression.
Just then, men in red robes entered through the open door, carrying a brazier.
The room warmed up immediately.
Several oil lamps came in too, brightening the space.
"Kids, this lady looks freezing. Go fetch her a hot cup of tea. And you, take off your overcoat and give it to her."
"Yes, sir."
A red overcoat draped over her shoulders, and soon a steaming cup of tea was placed before her.
The door closed.
She was bewildered.
The emergency protocols she had been reciting assumed a very different scenario, and reality was drifting further away.
"Here, have some tea and warm up. Don't catch a cold now."
"Th-thank you...."
The man gestured toward her with a cheeky grin.
"Now then, Bang Clan lady, why don't we chat a bit and kill some time together?"
"Yes?"
He looked flustered for a moment at her reaction, then burst into a hearty laugh.
"Ah, damn. Look at me. I forgot to introduce myself."
He pulled his chair closer.
"I'm Hwabok. I once owed a debt of gratitude to the elders of the Bang Clan in the main house."
"Ah...."
She let out a sigh of relief.
The friendly smile on Hwabok's face deepened.
* * *
"So, you claim to know nothing about any of this? Not even a guess?"
Seomun Housekeeper nodded calmly.
"That's right. I know nothing about it."
The special inspector assigned to her investigation spread documents across the table.
A single oil lamp cast a dim glow over the room.
"Even with all this evidence?"
She averted her eyes.
"I know nothing."
He leaned toward the table.
"Look here. It shows the budget allocated to Won-gak Pavilion by the Elder Council this year, doesn't it?"
"Yes."
"And here, it says the entire budget was paid to the Eldest Young Master."
"I see."
He picked up one sheet.
"But in reality, less than half was actually paid to the Eldest Young Master, right?"
"I see."
"You know nothing about this?"
"Nothing."
"Then let's move on to another topic for a moment."
He backed off without protest.
"Is it permitted to allocate the Inner Court's budget to a specific direct blood relative in this monetary form?"
"Yes."
"Such a large amount?"
"...The Inner Court's internal rules do not specify an exact limit on the amount."
"What happened?"
"As more heirs refused to accept the Inner Court's service, a decision was made from above in the past to allow it. That's all I know."
"By heirs refusing Inner Court service, you mean the Eldest, Second, Third, and Fourth Young Masters?"
"Yes."
"That decision was an upper-level matter, so you wouldn't know the details."
"Yes."
He gathered the documents.
"Do you know what charges you're facing right now?"
Seomun Housekeeper narrowed her eyes.
"Charges? I thought this was just a reference interview?"
He smirked.
"Did you think the Inspection Department is just for investigations?"
"...."
"Falsifying ledgers, keeping double books, embezzlement...."
He listed the charges one by one, staring into her eyes.
"And treason."
At the word treason, Seomun Housekeeper jumped to her feet.
"What is that supposed to mean?! Treason?!"
She shot up shouting, and he leaned back in surprise instead.
"No, aren't you the one who doesn't know what's going on here?"
"What's going on?!"
His gaze fixed on her.
"Do you not know whose money—belonging to 'someone of what status'—you and the other inspection targets dipped into?"
"...."
They had touched the direct blood relative's money in the Yeon Clan.
They had falsified ledgers, siphoned off portions, and arbitrarily decided how to use the budget.
These were blatant acts of treason.
Her legs gave out, and she collapsed back into her chair.
"I... I...."
Her face went blank with despair.
Someone knocked lightly on the door and entered.
"The statements?"
"Yes."
The door closed, and he flipped through the documents as he spoke.
"To be frank, even I'm baffled."
He sighed.
"I mean, committing such huge crimes and handling it all so sloppily?"
He shook his head.
"And by lowly Yeon underlings like these?"
She said nothing.
He skimmed the statements, reading only the necessary parts.
"...At first, we handed over the full budget to the Eldest Young Master, but then he started making additional expenditures."
He turned a page.
"...So we held back the Won-gak Pavilion budget to cover those extra costs."
Another page turned.
"Look, it even says retaliation. The Eldest Young Master took the budget but still spent the Inner Court's money freely, which pissed us off. So we held back more budget in retaliation."
Another page.
"And when no one made an issue of it, we started holding back even more."
He gave up reading further.
"Come on, are you people insane? What does Won-gak Pavilion's budget have to do with the Eldest Young Master spending Inner Court funds?"
He slammed the table.
"From the start, wasn't the entire Inner Court wealth meant for the Family Head and direct blood relatives?"
She just stared at him blankly.
"Didn't you realize it would end like this? That one word from the Eldest Young Master would lead to this? Damn, for veterans from the prestigious Inner Court...."
"...We didn't."
"What?"
"We didn't know. We had no idea."
"You didn't know it would come to this?"
"No."
Her blank gaze turned to him.
"...We didn't know the Eldest Young Master would do this."
* * *
Inner Court Main Hall,
Central Inspection Pavilion Temporary Investigation Headquarters.
"I'm back~."
The door opened, and Hwabok entered waving a stack of documents.
"Did Bang Housekeeper confess?"
Central Inspection Pavilion Lord Duggo Ya-yeon asked, gazing down at the papers on her massive desk.
"Yeah, she neatly admitted to all the charges."
He set the documents on her desk.
"Good work."
"It was nothing. Like twisting a kid's arm."
"Right."
He shrugged.
"Evidence overflowing, testimonies piling up, and the methods so sloppy."
He smacked his lips.
"This probably wasn't even worth us getting involved in."
No response.
Duggo Ya-yeon simply reviewed the documents.
"...Well, what can you do? If they say dig from above, we dig. It was a direct order from the Inspection Department Lord, right?"
"Don't test me."
"...Ah, yes. Sorry."
He scratched his head.
"Speaking of which, that Eldest Young Master must've been seriously underestimated. For the Inner Court—closest to watching over direct blood relatives—to end up like this."
He whispered so others wouldn't hear.
"...Even if the opponent is the 'Swordless One.'"
She replied indifferently.
"That's why those who saw him that way crumbled so easily."
"True enough."
He clapped his hands.
"By the way, how'd it go with you personally investigating the Eldest Young Master?"
"It went well."
He nodded.
"As expected, right? Since he filed the report himself, no reason not to cooperate."
He rummaged through the papers on her desk.
Duggo Ya-yeon spoke toward him.
"No testimony from the Eldest Young Master, even if you look."
"Yes?"
No answer.
"Well...."
He stroked his short goatee, reasoning to himself.
"Even if the Eldest Young Master is out of favor in the main house, putting a direct blood relative in the investigation records could backfire later."
Still no answer.
He leaned against the desk and smacked his lips.
"I'd love to deal with the Eldest Young Master myself sometime."
He smiled.
"He used to be quite famous back in the day, right? Digging through Inspection Department records, his name pops up a lot. Of course, my rank doesn't let me see the details."
He leaned in closer, lowering his voice.
"Have you heard the rumor that he's breaking his seclusion?"
"Yes."
His eyes gleamed dangerously.
"No thought to verify that rumor? It's tied to the Retired Family Head's orders—worth our investigation, no?"
No answer.
"Or assign the task to me at least...."
"Hwabok."
Her cold glare turned on him, and he straightened up hastily.
"Yes, Pavilion Lord."
He was exceptionally sharp, and he knew that when she gave someone "that look," it spelled serious danger.
"You've done very well so far. I felt it was worth pulling you into the Central Inspection Pavilion."
"Thank you."
He grinned without relaxing his posture.
Praise from his cold-blooded superior was a rare event.
But her next words plunged his mood to the depths.
"So don't crawl into a death trap on your own."
"...Yes."
At her subordinate's response—obedient in words but unconvinced—the Pavilion Lord let out a small sigh.
"I'm saying don't shove your head in without even judging what board you're stepping onto."
It was almost exactly what Yeon So-hyeon had once said to Gang Ho.
He asked cautiously.
"...Are you saying matters involving the Eldest Young Master are that dangerous a game?"
After a brief silence, she spoke.
"That's a lesson I learned directly from him long ago, and realized later. Don't forget it."
"...Yes, I'll keep it in mind."
When his usually reticent superior brought up her own past, it was definitely something to heed.
She gave him one last cold glance before returning to her documents.
"...The Inner Court incidents are straightforward, but the budget that leaked outside—we can't handle it all alone."
"Is that so?"
She sighed faintly.
Everything was unfolding exactly as the Inspection Department Lord had instructed her.
"...It's too big a chunk for us to swallow solo."
"Then we should request support."
He picked up his overcoat.
"Please do."
"No problem."
He started toward the door, humming, then stopped.
"...Uh, Pavilion Lord?"
"What?"
He blinked at her.
"That lesson you learned—when was it? Before he went into seclusion, right? So how old was the Eldest Young Master when he taught you?"
No answer.