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

Chapter 91. Disappointing Ally

"Why are they chasing me?"

"I don't know either."

As if there was a hint, Haerak added.

"The foot-wipers move this quickly usually because of the master's order or barking to protect the master, so it's probably related to the old geezer... but it's all just speculation."

As So-hwa looked at him, Haerak frowned.

"Why?"

"What exactly are the standards for your taboo? How can you talk about the Blood Sect sometimes and not?"

Haerak gave a faint laugh.

"It depends on will. As long as I don't go against my will, it's not a problem."

"Will?"

"Yes. If I think I won't know, that person won't worry that I might reveal it. Also, things that I hold a firm will on can change over time, so what is dangerous at one time might not be dangerous at another. Of course, there's no need to test that person's caprice, so I'm just being careful."

Suddenly, Haerak let out a brief laugh.

Since it wasn't something to laugh about at all, So-hwa furrowed her brow.

"Why are you laughing?"

"The truth is, the binding force of the taboo has weakened a bit. So I was debating whether or not I should tell you, but now I've been babbling about the taboo this easily, which is ridiculous."

At those words, So-hwa scowled.

"Are you kidding me? Of course, you have to tell me. I said I have to know everything that might be a variable for the Poison gu."

Instead of answering, Haerak just smiled softly.

"Why are you smiling again?"

"Alright, I'll do that. If you want it that badly, what can I do?"

Haerak uttered something vague and turned his gaze toward the riverbank.

The boat was approaching the inn again. As if this warning was all there was.

"By the way, it's definitely a busy area. Every shop is packed with people. Well, it's evening, so everyone's out filling their bellies."

As if something came to mind, Haerak squinted one eye and looked at So-hwa.

"But why did you leave so much food behind? This is the place with the best-tasting food in Wuhuan. Didn't you like it?"

So-hwa was dumbfounded at how Haerak could switch from serious topics to everyday conversation so casually.

There was a Blood Sect members chasing her in the streets, and he'd just confessed to hiding Poison gu's habits—now he was talking about food.

She couldn't keep up with his conversation style.

Couldn't he act normal for even a moment?

Giving up, So-hwa sighed and gave a perfunctory answer.

"It was tasty."

"You're saying that after seeing that plump fish meat? From the ingredients to the spices, there wasn't a single thing lacking."

So-hwa didn't reply.

Haerak sighed and shook his head.

"You were raised too softly. There are so many people in the world who go hungry, and yet you complain about the taste of good food. If you went a few days without eating, you'd come to appreciate the true flavors of the world."

At those words, So-hwa let out a small laugh.

Haerak's brow furrowed.

"Why are you laughing?"

So-hwa didn't answer.

Haerak squinted at her.

"So this is why you kept asking me why I was laughing. You suddenly laugh out of nowhere, and it drives me crazy with curiosity."

Yet So-hwa still didn't open her mouth.

That was because she couldn't exactly say, "Because what you said was funny."

‘You'd come to appreciate the true flavors of the world after going hungry?’

She had gone hungry for a very long time. But hunger hadn't caused her that much pain.

After Yeon-ah's death, Namgung Hyun had cut off all funds allocated to Tang So-hwa, even withdrawing the maidservants and guards from her quarters.

From the beginning, those enjoying power in the Namgung Clan were Namgung Hyun's people, so none of them spoke up for Tang So-hwa. Those who sympathized with her were powerless within the Namgung Clan and could do nothing to help.

Namgung Hyun hadn't intended to kill the last direct descendant of the Tang Clan after its downfall. He was someone who cared deeply about appearances.

He simply wanted to see Tang So-hwa kneel before him.

So-hwa thought she would rather die than do that.

However, life did not end so easily.

Her body was so tenacious with vitality that she didn't die even after starving for several days. Even when she couldn't stand the thirst and drank stagnant, rotten water from a pond, she didn't get so much as a stomachache.

So-hwa realized that it would take a very long time for her breath to cease.

She didn't have many choices. Kneel before Namgung Hyun and beg for her suffering to end, or wait for death, which might never come. If she had to choose between the two, the endless pain seemed preferable.

Namgung Hyun's suffering could never compare to hers, so why should her pride comfort his pain?

So-hwa simply wished for death to come quickly. But what came to her wasn't death.

In the dark pavilion, where there wasn't even oil for a lamp, a woman came to visit. She was a young woman who had married into the Namgung Clan as the daughter-in-law of either the external or internal steward. She asked if So-hwa could put Sichuan embroidery on her baby's clothes.

So-hwa had intended to refuse. She would have, if the woman hadn't mentioned Ye-hwa.

The woman said she was the daughter of a merchant, and that she, like Ye-hwa, had dreamed of participating in trade with the imperial court. She spoke of Ye-hwa's skill, mentioning how the Sichuan embroidery Ye-hwa had sold to the Western Regions had returned to the Central Plains at the price of a ship.

The woman said she wanted her child to see and touch only good things in life, and begged So-hwa to embroider the Sichuan embroidery on the baby's clothes.

Exhausted and bedridden for days, So-hwa finally rose. When she stepped outside and told the woman she would do it, the woman's eyes widened in shock.

So-hwa understood the reaction. She must have looked wretched, unwashed, and starved.

Flustered, the woman left behind the baby clothes and colorful threads and fled.

So-hwa was left alone, staring at the baby clothes and threads.

That strange feeling from back then was still vivid.

She looked at the small embroidered gold brocade and felt emptiness. Those precious things seemed like something she had lost.

Family, memories, dignity.

Things she had held without even realizing how precious they were now seemed visible before her eyes.

At dawn, she went to the stream where the maids did the laundry. Wrapped in a thin sleeping robe, she stepped into the cold water and washed her body clean. When she returned, she brushed the dust off some cloth to dry herself and arranged herself neatly.

And then, using the dawn light streaming through the window as a lamp, she began to embroider.

With familiar skill, she quickly completed a beautiful lotus flower. The next day, the woman who had returned for the embroidered brocade was so grateful she gushed over it.

That evening, the woman came back. This time, she brought So-hwa clothes and food.

Amazingly, after eating a proper meal, strength returned to her body, and her mind became clearer.

Thanks to that, So-hwa realized what she wanted.

If there were no options, she could create them.

She went to the storeroom, borrowed the cleaning tools the maids used, and spent the entire night sweeping and scrubbing the pavilion. Before dawn, she fetched water from the stream and bathed.

She was the last blood of the Tang Clan of Sichuan. Now, everything about her represented the Tang Clan of Sichuan.

Even if I become shabby, the Tang Clan must not become shabby.

As though it were an important task, Tang So-hwa cleaned and bathed every day. She polished the pavilion, which no one visited, until it shone, and always kept herself clean and neat.

One day, the woman brought more food and new clothes. A few days later, another woman brought her a hair ribbon.

Gradually, the number of secret visitors increased.

When they saw food piling up in the hall, they began bringing other things. Some brought tea, others gifted cheap trinkets.

Not a single item pleased her.

Still, So-hwa always did her best with the embroidery. The Sichuan embroidery was her only means of communicating with the outside world, so she embroidered as splendidly as possible, like a flower meant to enchant, letting her existence be known.

Finally, after three months had passed, a merchant dealing with the Namgung Clan came to visit. He offered a silk sash and gold thread in exchange for the embroidery.

Only then was So-hwa able to demand what she truly wanted.

She asked for rare tea leaves. After confirming the merchant's capabilities, she planned her next steps. True to the reputation of a merchant group dominating the Central Plains, Anguk Merchant Group brought her the tea she requested within half a day.

Thus, So-hwa was able to swiftly prepare the plan she had long hoped for.

She waited for that day, tirelessly cleaning the pavilion and embroidering until her hands became raw.

Born as the precious daughter of the Tang Clan, enduring the humiliating life of a maidservant and an embroiderer.

If she could destroy everything that man had built up over decades, if she could see his wretched face dying in anguish, then this petty humiliation would be sweeter than honey.

In the end, So-hwa achieved her goal.

Now, she thought she had achieved eternal rest, but she returned to the past.

The past, where she had not yet lost everything she loved.

A chance to protect everything without losing a thing.

She knew it was something she had to cherish.

But every time she faced the truth, she often felt it was unbearable.

She didn't like to appear weak, but at times, she was overwhelmed by fear.

‘If I lose everything again, can I endure this life?’

The memory of loss dominated her thoughts and actions.

Every sight of the Tang Clan estate evoked the memories of that day.

So-hwa had endured the past three years by ignoring that fear.

There was no time to sink into fear. Knowing what would come if she gave up, she always tried to turn away.

But there were moments when the fear was too much.

In those moments, she would return to the day she lost everything.

Like now.

So-hwa gripped the gold coin hidden in her sleeve.

The touch of the warm metal, warmed by her bloodless hand.

It was a comforting sensation.

Yet, sometimes... the hope she held in her hand felt overwhelming.

The people she cherished, made more precious by having once lost them, made her afraid.

She was always anxious, just holding on, not knowing when they might slip away.

Realizing her unsettled mind, So-hwa exhaled, trying to bury those feelings.

Chalang.

The sound of water lapping closer to the shore tickled her eardrums.

People sitting by the riverside glanced in her direction.

She focused her mind on the Blood Sect members pursuing her, filling her head with thoughts of the Blood Demon, pushing out the anxiety completely.

Feeling her mind calm, So-hwa tucked the gold coin back into her sleeve.

At that moment, the Blood Sect bastard sitting across from her called her name.

"So-hwa."

So-hwa met Haerak's gaze, who wore a faint, incomprehensible smile.

He placed a hand over his chest and sighed, then spoke.

"This is something I'm saying with my life on the line, so listen carefully."

"......"

"I will kill the Blood Demon."

So-hwa's brow furrowed slightly.

"I know. He's a terrifying man. There's no one in the world who can defeat him. History has already proven that. But..."

His light greenish-brown eyes glowed faintly with madness.

"Even so, I will kill him. I'll erase him from this world, even if it means burning my life away."

As he spoke such terrifying words, Haerak's lips twisted into a gentle smile.

"So don't make such a frightened face. You're not the only one afraid of him, and you're not the only one who wants to kill him."

He laid down the oar and added.

"If you want, you can just watch comfortably as I kill him. All you need to do is figure out how to drive out the Poison gu in my body, and that will be enough to accomplish the goal. So don't worry."

So-hwa let out a dry laugh.

The man whom everyone feared.

The man everyone wanted to kill.

Whether by joining forces to kill him or reaping the benefits of others' efforts, if the result could be changed, it didn't matter how.

That joke, strangely enough, was comforting.

Before she knew it, the boat had reached the shore.