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

Chapter 257

When Namgung Hyun informed the Tang Clan Head that Tang So-hwa had disappeared, he could not give a detailed account. He knew she had gone to the Great Desert in search of the Blood Demon, but he could not tell the truth.Even if the Clan Head or the Tang Clan's retainers crossed over, they would be no match for the Blood Demon, and if Tang So-hwa had needed them, she would likely have taken them with her.

Since Tang So-hwa had crossed alone, Namgung Hyun could not send anyone after her.

If one knew the future, then that choice would be the right one.

Still, he was confused about how he should face Tang So-hwa when she returned.

Namgung Hyun only said that she would probably return to the Tang Clan estate within three days. He expected the Clan Head to fly into a rage, but instead the Clan Head asked whether it would be all right to trust So-hwa and wait. Namgung Hyun answered that it would.

The Tang Clan Head's complexion darkened with each passing day, yet he waited patiently for three days.

Perhaps he had grown accustomed to her vanishing without warning, for the other retainers also believed the explanation that she had left to attend to the Clan Head's business.

Fortunately, Tang So-hwa returned as if nothing had happened before the three days were up.

He spent a long time agonizing over what he should ask first when she came back, but even when the moment arrived, he did not know what to say.

Two days had passed since Tang So-hwa's return, and Namgung Hyun still had not gone to see her.

He merely busied himself with the tasks the Tang Clan Head had entrusted to him, pretending to be occupied.

Perhaps it was a blessing. Tang So-hwa, too, shut herself up in the Nine Turns Pavilion the moment she returned and did not come outside the inner courtyard.

Namgung Hyun knew he could not avoid her forever.

He spent his days worrying about when he should go see her and what he should say.

'What should I ask first......?'

He was standing at the gate to guide visitors entering the Tang Clan estate.

Because many of the Tang Clan's retainers had been badly injured, outsiders were helping with their work. Even so, guiding visitors was not a task meant for outsiders.

The Tang Clan Head regarded him as a benefactor and entrusted him with the clan affairs.

Tang Ji-ha knew how Namgung Hyun had been treated in the Namgung Clan, and he also sensed that Namgung Hyun's standing shifted each time the Tang Clan Head showed him attention.

Namgung Hyun did not feel inclined to refuse that goodwill, so he accepted the request.

Guiding outsiders outside the main gate meant he would not run into Tang So-hwa, which put his mind at ease.

Still, he could not avoid her forever.

Frustrated, Namgung Hyun let out a sigh.

During this time, he had narrowed down a few things he needed to ask Tang So-hwa. The one he was most curious about was...... the reason she had ended up killing him.

Fearing that answer, Namgung Hyun avoided Tang So-hwa all the more.

At that moment, a shout from a Tang Clan retainer snapped him back to his senses.

"Stop right there!"

A carriage came charging in as if it would smash through the gate. The distance between it and the other carriages lined up behind it was conspicuously wide.

Recently, the number of people entering the Tang Clan estate had been steadily increasing. Thinking the situation had stabilized, aid was pouring in from all directions.

Some were groups that had maintained ties with the Tang Clan, while others—whose connections had once brushed past and then broken—seized this moment as an opportunity and came running.

Namgung Hyun stared at the carriage that stopped in front of him.

More than the cargo bed piled high with goods, his eyes were drawn first to the Merchant Group Head who dismounted, and the young boy beside him.

They were the father and son of the Myeongcheon Merchant Group, who should have had ties with the Tang Clan long ago but, for reasons unknown, had drifted away.

The Blood Demon had intended to keep the Myeongcheon Merchant Group attached in order to control the flow of funds of the Tang Clan, which oversaw the Sichuan branch, but because the greedy Main Blood Hall Lord sought to concentrate funds into the Anguk Merchant Group, Myeongcheon lost the connections and assets it had built up over the years.

With its influence diminished, the Myeongcheon Merchant Group no longer had any appeal that would catch the Tang Clan's eye, and it was known to have naturally grown distant from the Tang Clan.

The heavily dressed young boy took stiff steps forward. Not yet even past the coming of age, the child looked around with a frightened face.

Seeing the Merchant Group Head's swift maneuvering, Namgung Hyun swallowed a bitter smile.

It was clear that, without missing the opportunity, he intended to push his son forward as a prospective son-in-law.

Was it loyalty to the Blood Demon?

Or a stratagem to gauge the situation in the Central Plains and try to survive?

When the timid-looking Merchant Group Young Head hiccupped, the Merchant Group Head patted his back lightly. Perhaps because his trust in his father was deep, the boy buried his face in that large hand and hid himself behind the Merchant Group Head.

Namgung Hyun felt a flicker of envy.

His own father had also wanted Namgung Hyun to enter the Tang Clan, but his feelings were not like those of the Merchant Group Head.

Even after securing his position to that extent, the Merchant Group Head was not satisfied. He strove to ensure that his Merchant Group would not be taken by another Blood Sect member, and to pass it on to his son.

What the Blood Demon wanted was no more than to grasp and interfere with the Tang Clan's financial lifeline, yet the man tried to turn that connection into an opportunity to separate his son from the Blood Sect and entrust him to the Tang Clan.

Of course, it did not seem likely to succeed.

Even so, for someone who had to do everything alone, having someone like that by his side was enviable.

Having a family that cherished one another felt like a tremendous stroke of fortune.

That was when it happened.

Druruk.

Someone in the second carriage opened the door and stepped down.

Namgung Hyun's gaze lifted toward that person.

A radiant figure clad in a pale lavender robe approached the Merchant Group Head as if he were the master of the Myeongcheon Merchant Group and spoke.

"I heard the Tang Clan has fallen upon hard times. I do not know if this will be of help, but we have brought items you may find useful."

It was the Main Blood Hall Lord, imitating the Anguk Merchant Group Young Head.

He briefly looked over Namgung Hyun, then raised his head to gaze at the tall outer wall of the Tang Clan estate.

He had expected it ever since Tang So-hwa returned within three days, but it seemed the matter in the Great Desert had been resolved well.

'How did Young Lady Tang manage to bring the Main Blood Hall Lord back from the Blood Demon's grasp?'

Now, that fact grated on him.

Rather than revealing his true thoughts, Namgung Hyun replied with a gentle smile.

"I had heard that the Myeongcheon Merchant Group was making preparations, but I did not expect the Anguk Merchant Group to come."

In Sichuan, most people did not know the face of the Anguk Merchant Group's Young Head.

Though the Main Blood Hall Lord had not introduced himself, Namgung Hyun deliberately spoke his identity aloud so everyone could hear.

The Main Blood Hall Lord's gaze, which had been measuring the energy beyond the outer wall, fell.

The greenish-brown eyes that fixed on Namgung Hyun were hidden behind curved lids.

"Myeongcheon or Anguk, we are like brothers, so it is no different from my conveying our sentiments myself."

"Hic."

The Myeongcheon Merchant Group Young Head hiccupped loudly, as if frightened.

For a moment, the Main Blood Hall Lord's gaze slid sideways. He was smiling, but his eyes were cold.

It seemed this accompaniment had not been Myeongcheon's intention.

The Myeongcheon Merchant Group Head subtly gestured to the Young Head and spoke to Namgung Hyun in his stead.

"By the way, there are many people waiting behind us, so it would be best if we moved our carriages inside first. Where should we go?"

Namgung Hyun did not welcome encountering a Blood Sect member at a time when hostility toward the Blood Sect in the Central Plains was running high.

Though he told himself no one would recognize him, the unease lingered, and he followed the Merchant Group Head's suggestion.

"Please follow that person. After guiding you to where the carriages can be moved, we will arrange a place for you to meet with the Tang Clan. Please wait inside."

A retainer approached to guide them, but the Main Blood Hall Lord walked slowly, lagging slightly behind the procession. With an unreadable look, he examined the moat and outer wall of the Tang Clan estate.

"Is there something you find displeasing?"

"No. What could there be for me not to like?"

The Main Blood Hall Lord, posing as the Anguk Merchant Group's Young Head, replied politely. Still, he could not hide his characteristic vulgar smile.

“But, you certainly work hard. Anyone seeing you would think you were Tang Hyun, not Namgung Hyun."

His words were gentle, but the glance that brushed past him was sharp.

Still, perhaps he had no intention of continuing the conversation. Turning his steps toward the open gate, the Young Head added a cryptic remark.

"I was simply wondering what sort of heart one carries, having been born and raised in a place like this."

* * *

"Ugh, isn't this a bit much, no matter how busy things are?"

Tang Hae-han groaned as he set down a box.

"I told the Clan Head, but the Medical Hall Lord, who was beside him, advised against increasing manpower right now."

The Nine Turns Pavilion Leader continued, his face looking as though it had aged ten more years in the meantime.

"He said it's only been a few days since the walls were breached because of spies, so how could we possibly open the Nine Turns Pavilion now? I had nothing to say to that."

The Pavilion Leader spoke with swollen lips, then quenched his throat with the water set beside him. He, too, seemed to have reached his physical limit.

He glanced at Tang Hae-han and spoke.

"Hae-han, why don't you try to persuade the Medical Hall Lord? He's still your father, isn't he? If his child says he's struggling, even the Hall Lord might waver."

Tang Hae-han lifted the box he had just set down and replied,

"I'm sorry. I'll work harder."

"...... Are you afraid of the Medical Hall Lord too?"

"It's not fear. I just don't have the energy to waste on something impossible."

"Right. You really are as stubborn as a wall. Go on."

The Nine Turns Pavilion Leader nodded as if he understood. Though he subtly badmouthed Tang Hae-han's father, Tang Hae-han did not get angry; instead, he deeply sympathized and left.

The Medical Hall, where the Medical Hall Lord held full authority, was always struggling with budget and manpower issues.

It was only because people were offering help for free from all sides that they were accepting it now. Had they needed to hire help with money, the Hall Lord would have rejected it outright.

Knowing this well, Tang Hae-han climbed the stairs, intent on finishing his work as quickly as possible.

As Tang Hae-han was carrying the prepared medicines, he hesitated on the fourth floor.

He went back down a step and looked down the fourth-floor corridor.

The corridor was filled with boxes.

The lower the floor, the more common and weaker the poisons stored there, but the poisons on the fourth and fifth floors were the most frequently used ones.

They were also used as ingredients when making other poisons, and because they did not pose excessive danger to the user, they could be carried around like everyday medicine(?), a sort of weapon.

Yet the boxes containing those poisons had been brought out and were filling the corridor, which was absurd. He had told them to fill the storage rooms, yet the poisons had been made and left outside instead of being stored inside.

Since the one in charge was Tang So-hwa, fatigue showed in Tang Hae-han's eyes.

"What in the world are you up to again?"

This was not something that could be dismissed as a mistake or slacking off.

There was clearly some bizarre scheme at work again.

Tang So-hwa had been out for the past few days on business for the Clan Head.

Whether she had truly been doing other work, or whether she had caused trouble that the Clan Head had covered up, he did not know, but it was true that she had not come to the Nine Turns Pavilion.

Perhaps feeling guilty, Tang So-hwa had said she would clean the entire fourth floor and restock the poisons herself. Trusting her quick hands, he had left the fourth floor to her—but now it was in worse shape than when the demonic beings had attacked, which left him speechless.

Tang Hae-han set down the box and searched the fourth-floor storage rooms for Tang So-hwa.

Creak.

When Tang Hae-han opened the first storage room door, he gagged and staggered back.

"Ugh—what is that smell?"

Covering his nose with his sleeve, Tang Hae-han peered inside from the doorway.

The shelves were packed with small jars.

The foul stench was coming from there.

"Ugh, what did you put in here for it to smell like this?"

Taking out an ointment, Tang Hae-han dabbed it beneath his nose and covered his nose and mouth with a cloth.

He went inside and opened a jar, holding his breath for a moment. A fishy stench surged up, but with the smell firmly blocked, it was bearable.

What bothered him instead was the color of the liquid inside.

'This looks like blood.'

He went to the window and drew aside the cloth. Normally, sunlight was not supposed to enter this room, but since Tang So-hwa had moved all the poisons out into the corridor, it did not matter for now.

To check the unknown liquid, Tang Hae-han brought the jar right up to the window.

When the light hit it, the color of the liquid became vivid in an instant.

Dark red—it really looked like blood.

"......."

Tang Hae-han's gaze slowly lifted to the ceiling.

The jars filling the shelves came into view. Even counting roughly, there were well over a hundred.

'...... Surely this can't all be blood, right?'

He had no idea what could have been slaughtered to gather this much blood in such a short time.

Feeling uneasy, Tang Hae-han covered the window again and left the room.

He searched the pavilion for Tang So-hwa.