The Eldest Daughter of the Tang Clan of Sichuan Protects the Family Chapter 277

Side Story, Chapter 5. Zhuge Cheon-yu's Proposal

Tang So-hwa could not understand the current situation she was in.

Of course, since she had once turned the Zhuge Clan upside down, she thought they would send soone eventually.

However, she had never imagined that person would be Zhuge Cheon-yu.

Zhuge Cheon-yu wore a warm smile.

"It seems this is our first ti speaking like this, Young Lady Tang."

A clear voice, befitting her graceful appearance, gently brushed against So-hwa's ears.

“Brother Ji-hwi told that Young Lady Tang dislikes useless conversation. Therefore, I will tell you the reason I ca right away.”

It was a welco thing to hear. So-hwa relaxed slightly and listened.

From between Zhuge Cheon-yu's crimson lips ca a startling declaration.

"I intend to marry Young Lord Tang Hak."

"Are the two of you... that kind of relationship?"

“No. I intend to beco like that now.”

“You intend to beco like that now?”

So-hwa's eyes narrowed at the incomprehensible words.

“The Young Lord does not yet know that we are going to get married.”

A marriage plan the groom himself did not know about—why bring this to .......

It was So-hwa's first ti conversing with Zhuge Cheon-yu. She did not yet know this woman's temperant.

She seed strange, but So-hwa replied calmly for now.

"The party to the marriage is the Young Lord, and decisions regarding marriage within the Tang Clan are made by the Clan Head. Moreover, we are not close enough for you to co to with such a matter. I do not understand why you would seek out to discuss this."

Zhuge Cheon-yu suddenly curved her lips into a gentle smile. It was so beautiful that it felt like a warm spring breeze could stir even a woman's heart.

Soon, her obsidian-clear black eyes slid to the side.

The beauty of the Zhuge Clan, whom the Clan Head cherished like a jewel, sighed softly.

"The reason I wish to enter the Tang Clan is because of you, Young Lady Tang. So I must have the certainty that you will help before I can marry Young Lord Tang Hak.”

So-hwa listened in silence, unable to make sense of her words. Fortunately, sothing understandable followed soon after.

"I heard that the one who truly played a key role in crippling the Blood Sect was neither the Tang Clan Head nor the Young Lord, nor even the Black Sky Demon, but you, Young Lady Tang So-hwa. And I believe you already knew this. About my family's circumstances......."

Zhuge Cheon-yu trailed off and let out a brief, hollow laugh.

"That is why I noticed that you ford ties with Young Head Min Yeo-hong, and that you also interacted with Brothers In-hwi and Ji-hwi."

Perhaps because of Zhuge Cheon-yu's gentle tone, it sounded as though she were saying, 'That's why you all beca close, right?' It was strange, as if they were allies united for a greater cause.

Of course, So-hwa had t privately with the two Zhuge brothers.

However, those encounters had involved threats and persuasion, not friendship. It had been the sa at first with Min Yeo-hong—no, Min Haerak as well.

Zhuge Cheon-yu failed to notice the change in So-hwa's expression and continued speaking oddly.

"I do not know how you view , Young Lady Tang, but I was excluded from family affairs. I truly knew nothing. Even now, I still do not fully understand. I am not clever; I rely inferred things by watching how events unfolded."

She spoke as though she had resolved herself.

"I do not wish to contribute to the rebuilding of the Blood Sect in any way."

"The rebuilding of the Blood Sect?"

"The mont my engagent with the Anguk rchant Group was broken, my father imdiately arranged a new marriage for . So I left ho without hesitation."

So-hwa's voice changed.

"Where is this marriage alliance?"

She had grown curious as to which group the Zhuge Clan Head intended to ally with. Yet Zhuge Cheon-yu suddenly fell silent.

She smiled faintly and leaned back.

"I will tell you that, so please help , Young Lady Tang."

So this was the real point.

Zhuge Cheon-yu had co ard with information she had obtained, believing that So-hwa was the one who would value it most.

So-hwa shifted her attitude and engaged seriously.

"...... What is it that you want to help you with?"

"First, I must leave the Zhuge Clan. Please help marry Young Lord Tang Hak. That is why I ca to you first."

"As I said, the Young Lord's marriage is a matter for the Clan Head to decide."

So-hwa gave a proper, by-the-book answer, but it was not a rejection.

“And Young Lady Zhuge is a perfect marriage prospect that my father would have no reason to refuse. There is no need for you to set the wedding as a condition. Rather, it would be more certain to talk with the Clan Head right now.”

"No. You say that only because you do not know my father. He will surely find so excuse to refuse the Tang Clan's betrothal gift."

A crease ford between Zhuge Cheon-yu's elegant brows.

Suddenly, her eyes flashed sharply.

"That is why we must create a situation he cannot refuse."

"How?"

Zhuge Cheon-yu answered with resolve.

"I plan to make it so that no place other than the Tang Clan can send a betrothal letter."

“Is there such a thod?”

Zhuge Cheon-yu was strange.

If she already had a thod she was so confident in, So-hwa could not understand why she had co to her.

So-hwa raised her teacup, waiting for the answer.

"Yes. I plan to have a child with the Young Lord first."

"Cough."

After a short cough, So-hwa wiped her lips with her sleeve, pretending as if nothing happened.

The woman who had said such an outrageous thing continued calmly.

"When the Tang Clan's Young Lord has a child, do you not hold the wedding in order to make that child legitimate?"

As living proof of that custom(?), So-hwa could not refute Zhuge Cheon-yu's words.

Still, no matter how she thought about it, this was not sothing she should be involved in.

"Have you t the Young Lord?"

"Yes. In fact, I t him briefly on my way here to your residence, Young Lady Tang. And earlier, when we went to Jin Yin Mountain to rescue you, I accompanied him then as well."

So-hwa nodded, then frowned.

She asked carefully, as though she could not understand.

"And yet...... you still intend to marry Hak?"

If she had accompanied him to Jin Yin Mountain, she would have spent more than two days with Tang Hak. And she still intended to marry him?

"I'm sorry, but I don't understand the question. What do you an?"

So-hwa pondered.

Hak was, to put it nicely, pure, and to put it bluntly, lacked tact.

His personality was the complete opposite of the Zhuge Clan.

If Zhuge In-hwi or Zhuge Ji-hwi were to speak privately with Tang Hak, they might collapse, clutching the back of their necks within half a day.

Of course, So-hwa still did not fully understand Zhuge Cheon-yu's temperant.

But regardless, she was one of the core mbers of the Zhuge Clan.

If she beca the wife, she would have many occasions to discuss major clan affairs with the Clan Head. There was no way she would be able to understand Tang Hak.

‘Even if they just prepare for the Alliance of Noble Clans together...’

An image rose vividly before her eyes: this beautiful woman collapsing while clutching the back of her neck.

For So-hwa, allowing the Tang Clan to be humiliated before an outsider was unthinkable.

Especially if that outsider were speaking of her own younger brother.

And yet, So-hwa could not bring herself to turn Zhuge Cheon-yu away.

The thought that this woman would later enter the Tang Clan and resent her for not stopping her that day left a bad taste in her mouth.

So-hwa spoke carefully.

“My younger brother has a very pure disposition.”

"Yes. I know well that he is a pure person."

"...... In truth, he is excessively pure."

Zhuge Cheon-yu smiled in a way that was hard to read.

Then she said sothing strange.

"I know. He is a kind person who treasures even the lives of the smallest creatures, is he not?"

So-hwa felt the conversation drifting in an odd direction, but she tried to dissuade her more honestly.

"The Young Lord was born into privilege, but he does not know how to establish authority on his own. As such, if you beco the wife, Young Lady Zhuge, there may be many occasions where you are lowered along with him. And the problem is...... the Young Lord likely will not even recognize that as a problem."

So-hwa let out a sigh.

"However, Young Lady Zhuge, you do know how to establish authority. A spouse is a companion one must walk with for decades, so there may co tis when you are hurt unintentionally. Even within the Five Noble Clans, you will often be compared."

There was no need to look far.

The wife of Namgung Jin, and the wife of Tang Hak.

It was obvious that the weight of those two positions would feel different.

And yet, could Zhuge Cheon-yu—one of the most outstanding won even among the Five Noble Clans—endure such treatnt?

If she had been born like Tang Hak, discarding awareness from birth, it might not have affected her life. But on the contrary, she was born with sharp sensitivity.

As she inhaled the faintly spreading scent of lotus, So-hwa gauged Zhuge Cheon-yu's state of mind.

As expected, Zhuge Cheon-yu seed to possess no small amount of martial presence, and beneath her gentle smile, she was containing many emotions.

Then, riding softly on her gentle voice, Zhuge Cheon-yu's lotus-like fragrance drifted faintly.

“Actually, that is why I like Young Lord Tang Hak as a person.”

Zhuge Cheon-yu let out a bitter smile.

"Perhaps because of the na Zhuge, people never take my words at face value. They assu there must be so hidden aning, and they try to twist my intentions. So once I speak, the ntal exhaustion is severe. I have to consider how the other person might interpret my words."

Her words seed sincere.

Zhuge Cheon-yu's warmth surged like a wave, then ebbed away, leaving ripples behind.

Even now, she was trying to read So-hwa's feelings.

Zhuge Cheon-yu lowered her gaze, as if recalling sothing.

"But Young Lord Tang Hak understands my words exactly as they are. He does not assu there is so hidden intent—he simply listens and accepts them."

...... That's because he can't understand hidden anings.

So-hwa quietly kept her mouth shut, not exposing her brother's shortcomings without tact.

"And so, after speaking with the Young Lord for half a quarter-hour, I resolved to marry him. I thought that if I were to spend my life with soone like this, then perhaps I, too, could have peaceful days."

Having laid bare her heart, Zhuge Cheon-yu's face looked relieved.

She raised her head, saw So-hwa's expressionless face, and gave an awkward smile.

"Of course, Young Lady Tang, these words must be difficult for you to understand."

"......."

In truth, Tang So-hwa empathized with Zhuge Cheon-yu's words.

The suspicion that ca simply from bearing the Zhuge surna.

The ntal exhaustion that followed.

So-hwa herself, bearing the Tang na, had endured that pain to the point of tedium.

No—if her previous life were included, she had suffered it even longer than Zhuge Cheon-yu.

After earning the epithet Master of Ten Thousand Poisons, she even had to be careful with the smallest hand movents.

Once, when a bee landed on her head, and she raised her hand to shoo it away, an elderly elder of the Peng Clan sitting beside her was so startled that he fainted.

The injustice of that day was still vivid.

When the elder collapsed, the Peng Clan martial artists were convinced she had applied poison and drew their blades on her.

And that was rely one of the most trivial misunderstandings Tang So-hwa had endured.

So-hwa, who had been lost in recollection, steadied her surging emotions.

Zhuge Cheon-yu, watching her carefully, spoke in a cautious voice.

"And I will be of help to Young Lord Tang Hak."

"......."

"Think about it. Even if the Young Lord cannot understand others' true intentions, I can. When decisions concerning the Tang Clan's major and minor affairs are made, that will surely be of help. We are very different, but that is precisely why we can beco a good match."

So-hwa almost nodded unconsciously.

To anyone's eyes, Zhuge Cheon-yu was an excessive match for Hak.

Tang Hak was a precious younger brother, but objectively speaking, he was a lesser match compared to Young Lord Namgung Jin.

And Zhuge Cheon-yu did not fall behind even when compared to Namgung Jin—if anything, she should be rated higher.

Her beauty, character, wealth, and even the standing of the Zhuge Clan within the Murim Alliance all had to be considered. Moreover, her elder brother was the powerful Four Seasons Hall Lord of the Murim Alliance.

It was not a subjective judgnt; despite being promised in marriage to the Anguk rchant Young Group Head, she had received betrothal letters from countless powerful houses.

As So-hwa calculated, a fundantal question spread through her mind.

'...... No, but then why would a woman like this want Hak?'

It was a fortune that was difficult to accept.

So-hwa closed her eyes briefly.

If she made use of Zhuge Cheon-yu, she could obtain information on the Zhuge Clan and broaden Tang Hak's network by an entire tier, including the Four Seasons Hall Lord.

Opening her eyes, So-hwa looked at Zhuge Cheon-yu, who was smiling brightly.

If she simply pretended not to see the suffering that would befall Zhuge Cheon-yu's future life, this was an excellent opportunity to welco a powerful ally into the Tang Clan.

And Tang So-hwa was soone who could easily ignore the pricks of conscience.

So-hwa mirrored Zhuge Cheon-yu's smile.

"I will do my utmost to help Young Lady Zhuge achieve her goal."