The Revealed Truth (5)
I headed to the training grounds with Palgap, my guards, and Lady Dang Su-bin.
A disciplinary assembly was about to begin.
But then Dang Jo-woong showed up at my annex, insisting on coming along.
"I'll protect you, Young Master Eun!"
He shouted it while clenching his fists tight, and it pricked at my conscience.
Sorry about this, Jo-woong.
On the way to the training grounds, I ran into Dang Jun-ryeong, the squad leader. His expression was the same as always.
Seeing that, one of my guards, Yi Pil, spoke up.
"It seems you're not worried about your great-aunt."
"Worried? Why should I be worried about Mother?"
"……!"
His unexpected words made me wonder if I'd misheard.
"It was Mother who did wrong, not me. Tsk tsk, why'd she have to stir up such a mess so recklessly……."
He clicked his tongue like that, gave me a silent bow, and headed toward the training grounds where the assembly was being held. I was floored.
So I had heard right.
They really raised their kids well, huh.
Lady Dang Su-bin, standing beside me, wore the exact same stunned look.
"I never saw him like that before……."
We arrived at the training grounds and took our seats.
Next to me sat Yi Pil and the others who'd been at the scene where I'd "been poisoned"—or rather, staged my little ploy with the food taster.
Lady Dang Su-bin sat right in front of me.
Soon, members of the Dongbaek Society arrived, and the disciplinary assembly began.
Tang! Tang! Tang!
At the sound, everyone's attention focused on the family head.
"The disciplinary assembly will now commence. Bring in the sinners."
"Yes, sir!"
Soon, warriors from the punishment hall dragged in Madam Go Yeon along with her maids and servant girls.
She looks so haggard after just one night.
"Report the charges against the sinners."
At his words, the family head's adjutant unrolled a scroll and began reading the charges.
This time, unlike a case based on someone's accusation, it was about an actual incident, so the proceedings were different.
"Madam Go Yeon…… poisoned Yi Pil's snacks…… and that poison ended up with Young Master Eun Seo-ho……."
The adjutant finished speaking and rolled up the scroll.
The family head turned his head and said,
"Sinner, state your rebuttal."
Madam Go Yeon reacted fiercely.
"I am innocent. I didn't poison that brat's…… no, Yi Pil's snacks."
"So you're saying you've never done it even once?"
"Of course. All I ever put in were things like gold dust…… Ack!"
She clapped a hand over her mouth, but everyone had already heard.
I smirked inwardly.
Confessing her own crimes with her own mouth. Exactly the picture I wanted.
"Gold dust?"
At the family head's question, she floundered in panic.
She knew it too.
That she'd just admitted her guilt.
Soon, the family head's relentless interrogation continued.
"Explain yourself, sinner."
"I…… well……."
As she hesitated, the family head addressed the other maids and servant girls.
"You all must know about this too, right? The first one to confess fully will receive a reduced sentence."
No sooner had he spoken than one maid shouted,
"I know about it!"
"Speak."
"In truth, whenever Yi Pil was at the main house, on Madam's orders, we put gold dust, bugs, and even rats in his food."
Murmurs rippled through the onlookers at her words.
Murmurs of outrage.
The family head asked again,
"How many times?"
"……For seven years……."
He closed his eyes at that. Sorrow etched his face.
The rest of the Dongbaek Society felt the same.
That was when it happened.
"Even without Madam's orders, you insulted Yi Pil constantly, and you stole the pocket money or jewelry that Lord Dang Du-jeong—that's Yi Pil's father—gave him."
It was the servant girl beside her spilling the beans.
She couldn't stand watching just you get out of it, huh.
The maid shot back,
"And you lot laughed your heads off watching the young masters beat Yi Pil? I remember you mocking him in winter, refusing him the brazier and making him chop wood for charcoal himself."
It's getting more outrageous by the minute.
One Dongbaek Society member, Lord Dang Dae-jeong, clicked his tongue.
"Now I see why Yi Pil left the clan…… He had every reason to storm out."
The others nodded in agreement.
When I'd first come to the Sichuan Dang Clan, I'd noticed the unfriendly looks toward Yi Pil.
It was contempt for someone born with the Dang name yet abandoning the clan.
But now, the mood had shifted.
Sympathy and understanding for Yi Pil overflowed from the crowd.
The family head said to them,
"So, you're saying you didn't poison Yi Pil's snacks?"
"Yes."
"That's right."
"Then, do you admit to tormenting him back when he hadn't yet abandoned the Dang name?"
Madam Go Yeon bit her lip.
She must be in a real bind right now.
But with the confessions flying, she had no choice but to admit her guilt.
"I…… I admit it."
"First, kneel before Yi Pil and apologize."
She bit her lip again.
But with a sigh, she bowed her head to Yi Pil.
"I'm sorry. I was foolish and made your life hard."
"……."
But Yi Pil didn't respond.
The family head ordered the other maids and servant girls to apologize too, and they knelt and begged forgiveness.
"Forgive us."
"We've committed a grave wrong."
Still, Yi Pil remained silent.
The family head continued,
"There are others who must apologize. Dang Jun-ryeong, Dang Hae-ryeong, Dang Chung-ryeong. You three as well."
Dang Jun-ryeong bristled and yelled,
"Why should we apologize?"
"Exactly. We did nothing wrong."
"We were just playing with him because he looked bored."
The family head's hands trembled.
He was furious.
He was about to bellow, but someone beat him to it.
"Have you ever seen such shameless little punks! The gall!"
Huh?
That voice sounds familiar…….
The figure parting the crowd on the training grounds made me jump.
It was Man-gyeol Ui-seon.
"Elder?"
The family head looked shocked and called out to him.
"Father!"
Father? As in dad?
Come to think of it, Lady Dang Su-bin had mentioned it.
The Supreme Patriarch was away on a trip.
So the one who'd been traveling incognito was Man-gyeol Ui-seon?
Whoa…….
Something I'd never known in my previous life.
No wonder.
The aura I'd sensed from him at our first meeting was no joke.
That explained why he'd refused my request to come to the Sichuan Dang Clan with me.
Everyone prostrated themselves at Man-gyeol Ui-seon's appearance.
"We greet the Supreme Patriarch."
He barely acknowledged the greetings and bellowed,
"You little punks! Get out here!"
At his roar, Madam Go Yeon's three sons shuffled to the center of the training grounds.
"All this time, I've watched you torment Yi Pil, believing you'd eventually realize your mistakes and turn things around. But no. You stayed rotten to the end."
"We only bullied Yi Pil because Mother told us to."
"That's right!"
"Mother made us do it. We have no sin in this."
Now their story had changed.
Denying the bullying hadn't worked, so now they were throwing their mother under the bus.
Madam Go Yeon looked shocked.
"Wh-when did I ever tell you to bully Yi Pil?"
I clicked my tongue inwardly at the sight.
What a loving mother-son bond.
"Gal!"
Man-gyeol Ui-seon infused his shout with energy, and the murmurs died instantly.
"To think the Sichuan Dang Clan has people with such character! I'm ashamed. Yi Pil probably doesn't even want apologies from the likes of you."
Yi Pil nodded.
"Thus, by the authority of the Supreme Patriarch, I order you to spend five years in self-reflection at the punishment hall."
The Dang Jun-ryeong brothers paled and threw themselves down.
"Supreme Patriarch—no, Grandfather! Not that!"
"We were wrong! Anything but the punishment hall!"
"It's all my fault."
What made them so brazen earlier?
Seeing them grovel like that, the punishment hall must be a terrifying place.
But Man-gyeol Ui-seon didn't rescind the order.
"Punishment hall warriors—what are you waiting for? Carry out the sentence!"
"Yes, sir!"
And so the three brothers were dragged away.
Watching it all, the family head stepped forward.
"Madam Go Yeon and the other sinners, listen well."
They all bowed their heads.
"What you did to Yi Pil shattered the clan's discipline and defied our ancestors' will to cherish the family's children!"
"……."
"Worse, you tormented a child with such cruelty that he left the Sichuan Dang Clan. I cannot overlook this. Thus, I order Madam Go Yeon and the other sinners to five years of self-reflection in the punishment hall."
Madam Go Yeon, the maids, and servant girls begged desperately, but the order stood firm.
"Earlier, you said the first to confess would get a reduced sentence."
The family head chuckled at the maid's plea.
"Of course. A promise is a promise. Your sentence is reduced from five years by one gak."
"Pardon? One gak?"
"I said I'd reduce it, but never how much."
"Ah……."
The maid's face fell in despair.
Man-gyeol Ui-seon approached Yi Pil and bowed his head.
"I'm sorry."
"N-no, sir! How could the Supreme Patriarch bow to me?"
Yi Pil waved his hands in panic.
"You suffered because I failed to clean house properly."
The family head spoke to Yi Pil as well.
"I share the blame too. For only correcting this now."
Yi Pil shook his head at their words.
"No, both of you have my deepest gratitude. I know it's thanks to you that I was allowed to leave the clan."
"……."
"So I can only thank you."
Yi Pil bowed deeply to them.
Then he straightened up.
He turned to Madam Go Yeon, the maids, and servant girls.
"There's something I've always wanted to ask Great-Aunt and the rest of you."
"Wh-what is it?"
Yi Pil said to Madam Go Yeon's question,
"What did I do so wrong? I was just born, same as anyone else…… Why treat me so cruelly?"
"……."
"What does a kid led around by adults even know……? Did you hate me that much?"
"……I'm sorry."
"Forgive us."
"We've committed a mortal sin."
They apologized again, but Yi Pil shook his head.
"I won't accept your apologies. I still can't forget what happened back then. Maybe someday, when I stop the habit of stirring my food…… But not now."
"……."
Even if their apologies were just words, it seemed some of the knot in his heart had loosened.
But hadn't Yi Pil said he wanted their apologies?
Well, he'd said he wanted them—not that he'd accept them.
I probably couldn't forgive them either.
A child holds infinite potential, the future of the world.
But they'd crushed that potential and future just because he was an eyesore, powerless, unable to resist.
No one has the right to do that.
Now it was time to wrap things up.
I signaled to Lady Dang Su-bin, and she stood.
"Father. Actually, the full investigation into Young Master Eun Seo-ho's poisoning is complete."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. The poison in Yi Pil's snacks came from the residue on Young Master Eun Seo-ho's sleeve."
"I see."
"He's cleared of all charges."
But by now, no one cared about that.
Madam Go Yeon and the others were dragged to the punishment hall with dazed expressions by the warriors.
And so the disciplinary assembly ended, having revealed the truth about Yi Pil.
No one would dare touch Yi Pil now, right?
Time to head back to the Sichuan branch.