The Eldest Daughter of the Tang Clan of Sichuan Protects the Family Chapter 274

Side Story, Chapter 2. Hamgu's Disposition

Min Do-yu pulled the corners of his mouth up to his cheekbones, looking back and forth between the Hall Lord and the seat of the Solar Palace Lord as if the re sight was enough to satisfy him.

"I’m already uncomfortable seeing your ugly face for the first ti in a while, so don't make it even more uncomfortable."

"…."

The smile vanished from Min Do-yu’s face in an instant.

Haerak, sitting in a plush chair, raised his eyes.

"It wasn't anything special, so why do you keep calling back and forth?"

The Hall Lord looked extrely displeased.

Min Doyu flinched, but replied carefully.

"Calling you back and forth, you say....... This is where the Palace Lord should be. It's strange that you keep going to the Central Plains."

Continuing, Min Doyu asked in a tentative voice.

"You're not planning to stay in the Central Plains, are you?"

"Why would I stay here instead of the Central Plains? This place isn't even fun."

"Who lives in their own territory for fun? And if fun is the concern, couldn't you just make the Solar Palace more fun? You're the master of the palace now—there's nothing you can't do."

Smiling again, Min Doyu gestured to the desk.

"I've prepared several interesting matters for you, Palace Lord, so please take a look."

"What is it?"

"Matters that require your approval. I guarantee that staying at the Solar Palace will beco enjoyable for you."

At that, Haerak smiled with his eyes.

It was the expression he wore when his mood soured.

He had realized that Min Doyu had summoned him here for this very reason.

Still, Min Doyu did not back down.

Though afraid, he tried to act resolute.

After all, he had crossed over, hadn't he?

What could be done now?

Haerak lifted the stone seal resting on the desk.

"Didn't I tell you to handle whatever you wanted yourself? I even put a pretty seal in your hand for that purpose, yet you still trouble ."

"These are matters the Palace Lord must handle personally. If you read them, you'll understand. Please, at least take a look. No—if that's too botherso, just grant your approval."

Having co this far, Min Doyu assud Haerak would involve himself in the affairs of the Solar Palace.

He also believed that once Haerak saw what lay ahead, he would co to look forward to the Solar Palace's future.

However, there was one fact Min Doyu had overlooked.

Haerak was a madman even the Blood Demon had been unable to control.

In other words, he was incapable of normal reasoning.

Staring at Min Doyu, Haerak curled his lips. Then, without so much as glancing at what Min Doyu had painstakingly prepared, he spoke.

"Denied."

"Pardon?"

"It ans cancel everything."

"Without even reading them?"

Haerak tilted his head as if puzzled.

"Didn't you say all I had to do was make the decision?"

Min Doyu's face drained of color.

At this point, it was difficult to go back on his words. He himself had said it was enough to simply decide.

Even so, he couldn't help but bristle.

"N-no, how can you not even look at it!"

He had already boasted extensively to the surrounding commoners, making it hard to pretend none of it had happened.

In the blink of an eye, the Solar Palace's reputation was about to be thrown straight into the trash.

Groaning, Min Doyu pleaded.

"Palace Lord, please, just read it once......."

Just then, a presence was felt outside.

Both of their gazes moved to the doorway at the sa ti.

A mber of the Main Blood Hall stood before the door.

Judging by his Central Plains attire, he was one who had been left behind there. He seed to have urgent news to report, for he opened his mouth imdiately, barely stopping to greet them.

"You ordered that any matters concerning the Tang Clan of Sichuan be reported at once, so I couldn't wait and ca straight here."

Min Doyu's eyes clouded over.

'Again with the Tang Clan! That damned Tang Clan!'

The greatest reason the master of the Solar Palace could not let go of the Central Plains.

As Min Doyu glared, unable to hide his irritation, news was delivered that made even him flinch.

"It is said that Young Lady Tang So-hwa has brought a man into her bedchamber."

* * *

Since the disappearance of the Blood Demon, there was not a single official in the Murim Alliance who had not beco busy

Tang So-hwa, too, was swept up in that current.

Whether seeking revenge for the Blood Demon or striving to gain their freedom, it was expected that Blood Sect mbers would co looking for Tang So-hwa.

The Tang Clan Head recognized this and assigned half of the Black Tiger Unit to Tang So-hwa.

This was not rely about strengthening her protection; the Clan Head was entrusting her with an important mission.

Setting aside his affection for his children, Tang Ji-ha was first and foremost the head of the Tang Clan.

The Blood Sect had already launched a surprise attack on the Tang Clan estate once, and there was no guarantee such a thing would not happen again.

Thus, the Tang Clan Head had no choice but to be more sensitive to the movents of the Blood Sect than any other sect.

Unfortunately, there were not many people he could trust, and even fewer who were well-inford about the Blood Sect.

His eldest daughter, however, was knowledgeable about the inner workings of the Blood Sect and was soone he could rely on.

After much deliberation, Tang Ji-ha divided his martial forces to allow So-hwa to investigate the Blood Sect matters.

Moreover, Tang So-hwa had been tracking them even before the Blood Sect was exposed, so even without the Clan Head's permission, she would surely have been sneaking around outside anyway.

Having officially received permission from the Clan Head to conduct a background investigation(?) into the Blood Sect, the first matter Tang So-hwa turned her hand to was the issue of Hamgu.

And yet, absurdly enough, she learned that Hamgu was on his way to the Tang Clan estate.

For the past few months, Tang So-hwa had received no information about him. Having gone to Jin Yin Mountain and been involved in the restoration of the North Sea Ice Palace, she had had no leeway to spare attention elsewhere.

And in that brief span of ti, Hamgu had begun trafficking people.

Worse still, it was said that he had already lured five people and sent them to Guangdong.

'Judging by how the brothels along the Guangdong coast are flourishing again, it seems the Blood Sect bastards have settled there.'

Letting out a sigh, Tang So-hwa's gaze dropped to the desk.

On it sat three poison bottles.

One was a formless poison suited perfectly to her tastes.

It inflicted the sensation of one's entire body being gnawed away by insects, and it was the sa poison she had used on Namgung Hyun in her past life.

The second was poison smoke. Once intoxicated by the fus, one could not resist and would prattle on about their inner thoughts. Used in interrogation, it reliably extracted the answers one wanted.

It would allow her to obtain information about the Blood Sect directly, making it the most useful poison for the current situation.

And the third was poison powder.

Tang Hae-han had developed it in his youth, and even after reaching middle age, it remained a poison he enjoyed using.

It was not an extraordinarily deadly poison, but a thoroughly vulgar one.

All bodily waste would be expelled through the anus, producing a stench so foul that the victim could not move more than half a quarter-hour away from a chamber pot, and would have to hide until the poison was neutralized.

It was a base poison that crushed not only the body and mind, but even one's social reputation into the dirt.

Tang So-hwa had once clicked her tongue at Tang Hae-han's grotesque tastes, but now, faced with soone equally base, she had thought of his filthy poison and obtained it from him.

The first poison was the one that best suited Tang So-hwa's tastes. However, it had the drawback of taking a life.

The second poison was the most necessary in the present situation, but the faster she obtained information about the Blood Sect, the more she would lose her pretext to torture(?).

By contrast, the third poison would inflict pain and humiliation on him, while also preventing him from leaving the Tang Clan estate.

Yet despite having prepared so thoroughly, Tang So-hwa let out another sigh.

She placed the letter she had been holding onto the desk.

It was a dispatch from the headquarters.

If one were to na the busiest person in the Murim Alliance right now, it would undoubtedly be the Four Seasons Hall Lord.

And yet, in the midst of all this chaos, the Four Seasons Hall Lord was coming to the Tang Clan estate.

The reason he had urgently sent a secret ssage to Tang So-hwa before his arrival was simple.

『You must not kill Hamgu before I arrive.』

In fact, there was an additional instruction attached after that.

『You are also not to torture him.』

Perhaps still uneasy even after finishing the letter, Zhuge In-hwi squeezed into the narrow margin and added yet another warning.

『Simply stay as you are. You must not do anything until I arrive.』

It was said that the Four Seasons Hall Lord had been investigating her background for quite so ti.

As such, he knew that she had been monitoring Hamgu, and he even admitted that he had investigated Hamgu and Blue Sea Pavilion.

Moreover, unlike Tang So-hwa—who had missed information on Hamgu due to being busy—the Four Seasons Hall Lord had sent people to Guangdong and continued the investigation.

Now, the Four Seasons Hall Lord possessed even more information about Hamgu than she did.

He inford her that Hamgu was heading to the Tang Clan estate and warned her not to kill him. If Hamgu were lost, the chance to capture in one sweep all the Blood Sect mbers spread throughout Guangdong would be lost as well.

Tang So-hwa understood Zhuge In-hwi's reasoning.

And keeping Hamgu alive for now was not a bad thing for her either.

It was an opportunity to hunt down and slaughter not only Hamgu, but also all the forces that had joined him in laying hands on Yu-hwa.

Tang So-hwa closed her eyes.

'Still... I don't know if I can endure it when I see him.'

She remained silent for quite so ti.

Her emotions and reason were locked in a fierce struggle.

After a long while, Tang So-hwa opened her eyes and looked at the red silk hanging in her room.

She saw clearly the distorted flow of ti.

The world had not changed by her efforts alone. There had been the help and sacrifice of countless others.

As such, she could not ignore the Four Seasons Hall Lord's request.

Tang So-hwa owed him a debt.

Back when no one trusted her and suspected her of being a spy, the Four Seasons Hall Lord had believed in her—and had even staked his own reputation to send her to the North Sea.

Having reached a decision, Tang So-hwa organized the letter.

Her gaze lingered briefly on the third bottle.

'... Surely Tang Hae-han's poison would be fine. This is practically a child's prank.'

For a mont, greed rose up again while her guard was down, but she soon set her heart at ease.

There had to be a reason the Four Seasons Hall Lord told her to do nothing.

He had trusted her, so she, too, had to trust the Hall Lord.

Resolving herself, Tang So-hwa placed all the poison bottles into a case.

She decided that she would do nothing more than keep watch, solely to ensure that Hamgu could not escape.

That was how it was.

Tang So-hwa fully intended not to lay a hand on Hamgu.

And so, this sense of injustice was sothing the Four Seasons Hall Lord absolutely had to acknowledge.