Part 1

Chapter 37. A Disrupted Plan

The leader of Profound Mystery Pavilion, who had become the Lord of Intelligence Hall, froze at that question.

Seeing the speechless leader of Profound Mystery Pavilion, the Blood Demon smiled. As if he hadn’t expected much to begin with.

The Blood Demon soon fell into another thought.

The one who discovered the location of the Yeonju Group, who dismantled the Tang Clan’s carefully collected poisons, and who exposed the sect’s movements to the Murim Alliance—was all a single person.

A single person had disrupted his three plans.

Could all this truly be a coincidence?

If coincidences piled up in succession, one had to see it as inevitability.

There must be a reason that a name buried deep beneath his memories suddenly resurfaced before him.

The Blood Demon let out a chuckle and looked again at the Lord of Blue Blood Hall.

“Since we unexpectedly have time, let’s take a closer look at the information on the Central Plains gathered in the Intelligence Hall. I should also take this opportunity to retrace my memories.”

His cold voice wiped away the laughter.

“I must find out what I missed, or whether the Intelligence Hall failed to do its job properly.”

The Blood Demon hated it when his plans were disrupted.

In truth, living a life close to immortality, he had almost never experienced his plans being disrupted. If something looked like it might become an obstacle, he would go to any lengths to eliminate its cause.

Today, the name Tang So-hwa was deeply engraved in the Blood Demon’s mind.

He moved with caution to realign the disrupted plan.

***

As she entered the study where she embroidered, So-hwa stopped in her tracks.

It was because a small laugh came from inside the study.

“Hehe, Elder Sister is always like that.”

At the ticklish voice, her eyebrows lifted. As she stepped inside, as expected, the twins were standing in front of the fabric.

Ye-hwa and Yu-hwa didn’t rush to her like usual and only turned their heads to give her a glance.

Ye-hwa raised her small index finger and pointed at the red cloth stretched on the embroidery frame.

“Did you really do this, Elder Sister?”

“Yeah.”

So-hwa nodded.

Then Yu-hwa, who was next to her, covered her mouth with her small hand.

“I think you’re better at it than Madam Jin. I want to learn embroidery from you, Elder Sister.”

Instead of replying, So-hwa walked over to the twins.

Standing between Ye-hwa and Yu-hwa, her eyes too fell upon the red cloth.

It was embroidery she had just started, but it looked decent enough.

Looking back, it was thanks to Namgung Hyun.

Having lost Yeon-ah, Namgung Hyun had cut off all the funds that were supposed to go to Tang So-hwa, saying it’s her punishment.

So, So-hwa secretly embroidered behind his back to gather money.

The Sichuan embroidery was renowned throughout the Central Plains, and during the time when Sichuan was half-collapsed, its value was beyond words. Even the Namgung retainers lined up to secretly hand her money, disobeying the Clan Head’s orders.

Thanks to that, she was able to gather funds to carry out the grand affair on the final day of her life.

The effort of embroidering until her hands blistered had paid off.

Even now, it was proving useful.

While she was lost in thought, Ye-hwa poked So-hwa’s leg.

“Elder Sister, next time, ask Father to get you some brocade. I think it’d be nice to embroider on that.”

Brocade was a famous silk of Sichuan. Surprised by Ye-hwa’s boldness, Yu-hwa opened her eyes wide.

“Brocade? That’s too expensive.”

“Tsk, tsk, you don’t know anything. If someone has enough money to buy a brocade, they’ll go crazy for something even more expensive on top of it. It’s great for flaunting wealth, right?”

“Hmm? Who said that?”

“Who was it again? Ah, it was an uncle in the Finance Pavilion, but I don’t remember his name.”

Ye-hwa frowned seriously and scratched her head, then gave up trying to remember.

“Anyway! They say nobles from the Western Regions go crazy for Sichuan silk, so if we add Sichuan embroidery to a brocade and sell it, imagine how much its value would increase.”

“Double?”

When Yu-hwa wiggled her little finger and said that, Ye-hwa looked appalled.

“We should get twenty times that much.”

“Isn’t that profiteering? That’s bad.”

“What’s bad about it? It’s something Elder Sister embroidered with such effort, of course, she should get that much!”

So-hwa flinched at her younger sister’s words, which so naturally aimed to exploit her labor. But Ye-hwa cheerfully clung to So-hwa’s arm. Her clear eyes sparkled as she said,

“Elder Sister, just wait a little. I’ll make you rich.”

“Elder Sister already has plenty of mon—”

“You dummy! The more money you have, the better.”

As timid Yu-hwa cut in, Ye-hwa immediately interrupted her.

Yu-hwa shrank back and hid behind So-hwa.

A trace of bitterness followed So-hwa’s smile.

‘These children have always been like this.’

Same faces, yet drastically different personalities.

Even the paths they walked in life differed, though the end was similar.

Ye-hwa had good insight, and her resourcefulness was even better. Unlike Yu-hwa, who lived life like flowing water, going along with what was good, Ye-hwa was someone who would make the effort to find the very best.

So-hwa had learned Sichuan embroidery because of Ye-hwa.

Ye-hwa, having heard it from somewhere, started a brocade business, aiming to fleece the Western Regions of their money. She even sold bolts of silk embroidered with Sichuan embroidery.

Just as she had predicted, brocade embroidered with Sichuan embroidery was a big hit in the Western Regions.

Because of that, Ye-hwa rounded up (?) everyone who could embroider Sichuan embroidery to meet demand, and So-hwa was among those caught and forced to work.

So-hwa gently stroked Ye-hwa ‘s round head.

Thanks to the Sichuan embroidery technique she had learned from her younger sister, she had been able to annihilate the Namgung Clan, so in a way, it was Ye-hwa who had completed her revenge.

Startled by the unfamiliar gesture, Ye-hwa lifted her head.

“… Why?”

“Just because you’re admirable.”

Then So-hwa’s other hand floated up into the air.

It was because Yu-hwa had silently grabbed So-hwa’s other hand and brought it to the top of her own head. It was a silent request to be patted as well.

At the transparently obvious gesture, So-hwa obediently patted Yu-hwa’s head, too.

Ye-hwa scowled at the sight.

“Why are you copying me?”

“J-just because.”

“Tsk.”

The twins suddenly broke into a competition, vigorously nodding their heads under her palms, tickling her hands.

When they were younger, it had been bothersome, but maybe she had grown soft with age—now they were just cute.

To stop the twins from enthusiastically shaking their heads to the point their hairstyles were being ruined, So-hwa changed the subject.

“By the way, what brings you here?”

“You weren’t coming, so we got bored and came to find you.”

“Yeah. Mother told us not to bother you because you were busy, but seeing you work on such a big piece of Sichuan embroidery, it doesn’t seem like you are that busy?”

Unlike the hesitant Yu-hwa, Ye-hwa pouted as she stared at the embroidery.

All this time, So-hwa had been deliberately avoiding the twins.

She had wanted to push them out of her mind for a while.

Unlike Hak, who could protect himself, the twins seemed fragile, and just thinking of their faces made her anxious.

‘Like now.’

So-hwa quietly withdrew her hands.

Yet it still felt like those small heads filled her palms.

In the end, the past she had tried so hard to push away came back again.

In their previous lives, the twins had grown into beauties too radiant to look at. Being direct descendants of the Tang Clan of Sichuan and famed for their beauty, they were constantly flooded with marriage proposals.

Ye-hwa understood her position well and even knew how to use it to her advantage.

Having been interested in commerce since she was little, Ye-hwa pestered their father and married the eldest son of a merchant group that had ties to the imperial court trade. Naturally, she got involved in trade, contributing not just to the Tang Clan but also significantly to Sichuan’s economy.

Ye-hwa had always been smart, and just as much, she had been a source of pride for the clan.

But at some point, the clan’s businesses began to decline, and Ye-hwa was not spared from misfortune. Her husband, returning from a trade mission, was killed by bandits who took everything.

Though it was a political marriage, it seemed Ye-hwa had loved her husband. The fact that she took her own life the moment she heard of his death proved it.

In her cold farewell letter, she had written not to pity her, as she had enjoyed all the pleasures one could in life and had no regrets about her choice.

“Elder Sister?”

Noticing So-hwa’s expression darken, Yu-hwa grabbed her hand to draw her attention. So-hwa adjusted her grip and wrapped her hand around Yu-hwa’s.

Yu-hwa wiggled her lips, seemingly pleased.

Unlike Ye-hwa, Yu-hwa was a child who didn’t seem to know what greed was.

That’s why everyone had been shocked by her choice.

People had thought she would quietly accept the marriage proposal chosen by their father, but Yu-hwa left home. She had gone with a young wandering martial artist who had just started making a name for himself.

The Fourth Elder of the clan, who had taken a liking to the man, tried to register him into the Tang Clan, and the man, not knowing his place, had lured Yu-hwa away. Yu-hwa left with him without even a single letter.

The fame he had earned as a wanderer had not been an empty boast—he had impressively evaded the Tang Clan’s pursuit for two whole years.

And two years later, the place where they found Yu-hwa was a brothel by the coast of Guangdong. The man who called himself her husband had apparently sold her off, though he was never found. Only Yu-hwa could be brought back.

So-hwa remembered that child’s life with greater pain than her own.

Whatever had happened there, Yu-hwa lost her voice. Fearing she had been physically hurt, everyone did their best to find a way to get her to speak again, but no one succeeded.

Thinking of that vagabond still made her want to tear him to pieces, but in this life, he was not someone she sought revenge upon.

He had already paid for his sins in his previous life.

It was Father who found Yu-hwa, and the man vanished without a trace afterward.

And yet, Father never pursued him again.

There was not a single Tang Clan member who failed to understand what that meant.

Perhaps the man was already dead, or perhaps he was living a life so wretched that death would have been better.

The tragedy of Ye-hwa and Yu-hwa seemed unrelated to the Blood Sect or the Demon Sect.

Even if they were related, she could easily prevent it as long as she didn’t get involved with those two bastards.

As long as the information she knew didn’t get distorted.

As she looked at the embroidery design not yet stitched, So-hwa rubbed her stiff nape. The tingling meant the blood was draining from her face.

The fear she had repressed surged back along with the past memories..

Whenever she looked at the twins, So-hwa was seized by the urge to hunt down the Myungcheon Merchant Group and the vagabond—was it Hamgo or Hamgu—and eliminate them as quickly as possible.

But she worried that such a rash act would disrupt the greater scheme.

Pulling out the stone at the bottom could risk collapsing the whole fortress wall—it was something that had to be handled carefully.

Just then, Yu-hwa pointed to the silk.

“Elder Sister, are you going to use gold thread for the part that says ‘gold’?”

It was the section depicting the streets of Hubei.

So-hwa nodded.

“I want to add some light there.”

“I have some gold thread. I’ll bring it for you.”

“What! You never give me anything!”

As Ye-hwa pouted, Yu-hwa spoke kindly to console her.

“I’ll give you some when you start doing embroidery like this. I only have one skein right now.”

“Ugh, forget it. You keep it. Why would you give that to someone else when you’ve only got one skein? Elder Sister, I’ll give you some. I have three skeins.”

“Why do you have three skeins?”

Surprised, Yu-hwa asked, and Ye-hwa looked at her with the pitying eyes one might use on a child and grinned.

“You think I cry in front of Mother for no reason?”

“Wasn’t that it?”

“What?”

Ye-hwa snapped, but Yu-hwa blinked her large eyes in genuine confusion.

Clicking her tongue, Ye-hwa shared a piece of great wisdom like she was bestowing a secret.

“Mother is weak against people who cry. If there’s something you want next time, try crying a little.”

At that, Yu-hwa frowned, scolding her mischievous twin sister.

“No. Mother said that makes her heart hurt.”

“Sigh… That’s why people say you’re as half-witted as Elder brother Hak.”

Shocked, Yu-hwa looked up at So-hwa.

It was often said that Hak and Yu-hwa had similar temperaments.

It didn’t mean they were half-wits, but it wasn’t quite a compliment either—it was usually said out of pity.

When So-hwa didn’t take Yu-hwa’s side, Ye-hwa beamed with satisfaction and continued.

“Elder Sister, one skein of gold thread should be enough, and are you going to use white thread for the snowy mountain? I’ve got silver thread too, I’ll give you a skein of that.”

“I said I’d give her the gold thread!”

“Yeah, like she’s going to take that from you. Hey, don’t make things uncomfortable for people, just use it yourself.”

“No. Don’t butt in.”

The twins began to bicker, each insisting on being the one to gift the precious gold and silver thread.

Listening to the ruckus, So-hwa thought.

She had to find and kill that Hamgu or whatever his name was as soon as possible, and frame the Myungcheon Merchant Guild so they’d be unable to do business.

At that moment, her resolve to not interfere with the larger scheme quickly began to crumble—just as a drooping voice came from by the window.

***

Part 2,

“Ye-hwa  and Yu-hwa were here, too.”

“Elder Brother!”

Tang Hak was standing by the window.

So-hwa slightly furrowed her brows. This was because Tang Hak was hanging limply over the window frame.

Ye-hwa also furrowed her brows and asked,

“Elder Brother, what’s wrong?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep