Chapter 123
The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Trading Company Chapter 123
Chapter 123. The Truth Revealed (4)
I felt uneasy.
I don't understand why they are making such a fuss when Lee Pil-mu is just standing there.
I guess they are doing this because they are anxious.
What are they so anxious about?
Lee Pil-mu responded firmly to her words.
“Don't misunderstand me. I have no intention of returning to this family.”
“How can I believe you? You will definitely come back and ruin my son's future...”
“I have no intention of ruining the future of my Hyung-nim or the others. They will ruin their own future.”
“What? What did you say?”
“I have said all I have to say. I will be going now.”
And Lee Pil turned his back and walked away.
“Wait! Stop! Stop!”
But he did not stop and headed toward the guest quarters where we were staying.
I quietly watched her stamp her feet and curse.
“Why did that guy suddenly show up... He still hasn't come to his senses. Maybe he needs to eat more rice with sand to come to his senses.”
I chuckled at her words.
When Lee Pil-mu was in the Sichuan Tang Clan, I suspected that he was being bullied by having foreign substances put in his food, but was that really true?
And the culprit was Lee Pil-mu's great-aunt?
Wow...
I suppressed the harsh words that were about to come out of my mouth.
She turned around and left, and only then did Pal-gap reveal his presence and said.
“For some reason, I feel sorry for Lee Pil-musa.”
“I feel the same way.”
After thinking for a moment, I said to Pal-gap.
“I think we should postpone going to your uncle's house for a few days. I still have something to do.”
“Is it that thing?”
“Yes. You're right.”
Not only would I prevent anyone from touching Lee Pil-mu again, but I would also make him apologize for his past abuse.
.
.
.
That night.
I approached Lee Pil and said, “Can we talk for a moment?”
“Yes.”
I took Lee Pil to a place where there were few people around.
After making sure that no one was around, I quietly said to him, “Today, I saw you talking to your great-aunt.”
“Ah...”
Lee Pil bowed his head with a perplexed look.
“I saw you acting disrespectfully. I apologize.”
“No, I know the situation. How can I accept your apology? Actually, I heard something I couldn't ignore.”
“What?”
“After you left, the woman who was your grandmother said, ‘He needs to eat more saenggeum-bap to come to his senses.’”
“....”
At my words, his expression suddenly hardened.
“That explains Lee Pil's unusual eating habits. When you were staying here, there were foreign substances like sand in your rice, wasn't there? That's why you were always hungry.”
He sighed and nodded.
“That's right.”
“How could your family...!”
“Family... They didn't consider me family, so that's why they did that.”
“Even if they weren't family, they shouldn't have done that.”
He smiled bitterly at my words.
“I will make sure that the Sichuan Tang Clan never touches Lee Pil again. And I will make sure that Lee Pil receives a formal apology.”
I asked Lee Pil for a conversation to get his permission for this.
No matter how much I was acting for him, Lee Pil was the one involved.
So I felt I had to ask for his permission, if not his consent.
“No, it's fine. I'm okay with it.”
I shook my head firmly at his words.
“Lee Pil-mu is my bodyguard. That means he is my man. And I am not the kind of person who can just stand by and watch anyone hurt my men.”
“...”
“I can guarantee that they will continue to bother Lee Pil-mu no matter where he is. You don't want that, do you?”
“That's true.”
“And no matter how long ago it was, food with sand in it! That memory is still a wound that hurts your heart.”
“....”
“Are you sure you don't want an apology?”
After a moment of silence, Lee Pil-mu opened his mouth heavily.
“An apology... I want one.”
His emotions were running high.
“And I want to know what I did wrong! I was just born... And I only did what my family taught me to do... I want to ask him why he did that... Did he hate me that much?”
I smiled and replied.
“I will keep that in mind.”
I have no intention of stopping at an apology.
Since we're already at this point, wouldn't a true apology require appropriate punishment?
After finishing our conversation, I returned to my room and began to think.
As I thought about how to resolve this matter neatly and cleanly, my eyes lit up.
I had come up with a good plan.
* * *
The next day.
I went to see the Clan Head and made a request.
“There may still be accomplices of Baedugak, the bloodthirsty demon. I would like to help you find them by interviewing members of your family.”
“You know what I want, so why are you asking me that?”
As expected of the Clan Head.
In that case, it would be wise to explain my reasons.
“The truth is, someone keeps messing with my bodyguard, Lee Pil.”
I told him the whole story, and the Clan Head looked at me silently.
“You must not want to cause further turmoil in an already chaotic clan for your own purposes.”
“...”
“But if we untangle this mess, there won't be any problems later, right?”
“...
”I will now write a document containing your confirmation that you will provide me with the assistance you promised.“
The Clan Head shook his head at my words.
”There is no need for that. You are a good liege.“
”What?“
”I am glad that Lee Pil has finally found a place where he can stay comfortably."
The Clan Head smiled faintly.
“As you said, we must untangle the tangled thread. It won't hurt anyone, so sing me a song to match the gold you're wearing.”
“Thank you.”
With the Clan Head's permission, I began to meet with the members of the clan one by one.
The sixth person I met was the woman who was the great-aunt of Lee Pil, the warrior, Mrs. Go Yeon.
I went to Mrs. Go Yeon's quarters accompanied by Pal-gap, Lee Pil, and Seo Woo.
Thanks to the Clan Head, who had informed everyone in advance, I didn't have to explain the reason for my visit.
“Come in...”
Lady Go Yeon hesitated for a moment when she saw Lee Pil standing behind me.
“Come in.”
“Thank you.”
However, Lady Go Yeon was not the only one who reacted to Lee Pil.
The maids and servants also flinched when they saw Lee Pil.
When I glanced at Lee Pil, his expression was very stern.
We entered the reception room, and Lee Pil said to me, “Those maids and servants are still with your great-aunt.”
“....”
“My mother passed away when I was young, and I grew up under my great-aunt. These are the people who tormented me so much when I was with my great-aunt.”
I listened to him silently.
"In a way, they were worse than my great-aunt.
“In a way, they were even worse than my great-aunt.”
My guess was correct.
They had also joined in when Lady Go Yeon tormented Lee Pil-mu.
Even if Lady Go Yeon had ordered them to do so, if they had any compassion, they would have moderated the severity of their torment to some extent.
Or they would have lied and reported that they had not tormented him.
Even though they were members of the Sichuan Tang Clan, they had Lady Go Yeon's permission, so they took out their anger on Lee Pil-mu.
That's why they were worse than my great-aunt.
I considered two options.
The first was to let the maids and servants suffer, and the second was not to do so.
Until just a moment ago, the maids and servants were only following the orders of Lady Go Yeon, their superior, so I thought it would be too harsh to make them suffer.
However, their reactions and Lee Pil-mu's explanation changed my mind.
I decided on the first option.
I showed everyone by slightly extending one finger.
Pal-gap and the two warriors nodded when they saw this.
At that moment, the door opened and Lady Go-yeon entered, followed by a maid carrying refreshments.
Three pieces of tea and sweets were placed in front of each of us.
“Thank you for visiting us personally, Lady Go-yeon. What would you like to ask us?”
“Nothing special. Just to pass the time with some conversation. Ha ha ha.”
And so, we drank tea and ate sweets while engaging in small talk.
As promised, Lee Pil did not touch the sweets.
“Lee Pil, are you leaving those sweets?”
“Yes.”
“Then may I have them?”
“Please do.”
I picked up the cookies that were meant for Lee Pil and ate them.
“Ugh!”
After eating the cookies, I clutched my chest as if in pain.
Seeing me like that, Pal-gap asked with a panicked look on his face.
“What's wrong, young master?”
“My chest suddenly hurts... Ugh!”
Blood flowed from the corner of my mouth, and Seo-woo cried out in surprise.
“Oh no! My lord! Are you all right? My lord?”
Lee Pil shouted toward Lady Go Yeon.
“What on earth are you doing?”
Lady Go Yeon waved her hands frantically in panic.
“No, no. I didn't... I didn't do anything...”
Pal-gap immediately ran outside and shouted.
“Oh no, our young master is dying! Quickly, call a physician! I think he has been poisoned! Our young master is in critical condition!”
Hearing this, the patrolling warriors immediately called a physician, and everything proceeded smoothly.
When they heard that I had been poisoned, the Danhwa members rushed out and arrested Lady Go Yeon, her maids, and the servants.
Then, people came out of the poison room, and one of them was Miss Dangsoo.
This is because in this place, poisoning symptoms are treated by the poison room, not by a physician.
“Your Excellency has been poisoned with a sweet poison.”
Sweet poison is a colorless and odorless poison, and its only characteristic is that it tastes sweet.
Therefore, it is mainly used in sweets.
That's right.
This poisoning incident was my own doing.
I pretended to take a sweet from Lee Pil's plate and secretly put poison on it.
I had the secret help of Young Mistress Dang Su-bin, who was ordered by the Clan Head.
Without her help, how could I have known about sweet poison and gotten my hands on it?
“Fortunately, thanks to the special identity card you were wearing around your neck, the poison did not spread throughout your body.”
Young Mistress Dang Su-bin gave me a sweet pill.
“It's an antidote. Take it quickly.”
“Thank you.”
I ate it and frowned.
“It's bitter.”
“It's medicine, so of course it's bitter.”
She slightly raised the corners of her mouth toward me, then quickly lowered them. The antidote I just ate was just a restorative pill.
Was it bitter because it contained bear bile?
Seo Woo-musa said.
“Then where was the poison?”
“The poison was only detected in these cookies.”
“Those are Lee Pil-musa's cookies…”
Lee Pil-musa nodded.
“Yes, they are my cookies. But I didn't eat them. My liege ate them.”
“I see.”
I continued.
“Does this mean that Lady Go Yeon did this to get rid of Lee Pil?”
“I must report this to my father.”
.
.
.
I returned to the annex and lay down on the bed.
My body was not only fine, but full of energy.
The medicine Young Mistress gave me must be really good.
But on the surface, I am supposed to be recovering from poisoning.
Then,
“The Clan Head is here.”
The door opened, and the Clan Head entered. He sat down next to my bed and said,
“Faking illness is hard work.
”Would you like some tea?“
”Just let me lie down. I'm supposed to be sick.“
”Thank you for your consideration, Clan Head.“
”So, what can I do to help?“
”Please hold a punishment ceremony."
The Clan Head chuckled at my words.
“Do you know that?”
“...?”
“This is the third punishment meeting since you came to the Sichuan Tang Clan.”
“Is that a lot?”
“Usually, punishment meetings are held once a month, if that.”
There have been a lot of them.
But if they are held frequently, that is a problem in itself.
.
.
.
The next day arrived.
Pal-gap told me that notices had been posted everywhere yesterday announcing that a punishment ceremony would be held that morning.
He said that Lady Go Yeon had three children, including the head of the Bigeumdae, Jo Joon-ryung.
I thought that one of them would come to me and Lee Pil to save their mother.
However, no matter how long I waited, Lady Go Yeon's children did not show up.
Why did her words come to mind? Like mother, like daughter?