Chapter 87

He came to save me.
Or is he here to save his mother and the Namgung Wall.
I remembered the actions of the mysterious Southern Palace Master, who had traveled all the way from Anhui Province with only five of his followers.
He must have sensed Bai Guang’s aura.
Or he felt threatened by his mother.
Or whether he flew because of both, he couldn’t tell.
One thing was certain.
“Don’t blame him. Your father has a purpose. ”
My mother’s last words before she died.
Perhaps my resentment and grudge clouded my vision and prevented me from seeing it.
But there was something more important to me than that.
“How are you feeling?”
“Much better.”
My mother, or Mrs. Baek, is nothing more than an ordinary person. As such, the killing intent and hostility shown by Bai Guang was likely to have caused a mental crack in her.
Of course, I protected my mother and Walli from Bai Guang’s aura with all my heart, but I don’t think I could have overcome it completely.
Several days of convalescence were certainly necessary.
“……Do you blame yourself for this, perhaps, because of the Grand Duke himself?”
“…….”
“Don’t be. It was my first outing in years. It was a pleasure.”
She even smiled as she said it. Why.
I could have resented her enough, but she didn’t point that arrow at me.
This was the kind of person my mother was.
“Besides, didn’t the Grand Duke summon you to me?”
As I said this, my face burned hot.
“Oh, Mother! No!”
I shouted at my mother as she bit her tongue and performed a determined act of self-determination. My face heated up.
“I was grateful.”
With those words, I stretched out my arms to restrain her from slowly raising her upper body from the bed,
“When I saw that the Grand Duke was treating me like a mother, I couldn’t help but cringe; if it weren’t for that, I would have bitten my tongue right then and there, even though I knew it wasn’t what I should have done in front of the wall, but the Grand Duke caught me.”
She didn’t want to be harassed, so she took her own life.
At my call.
My cry.
She was relieved.
“Thank you. Grand Duke. Once again, the Grand Duke saves my life.”
“……No.”
It became uncomfortable to speak in Moorish. This air was suffocating. Her face heated and cooled over and over again until she lifted her head slightly to meet her mother’s face.
She was smiling softly.
“Grand Duke.”
“……Yes.”
“I hope you’ll consider me your mother.”
He looked at her, surprised at her words, and then realized he’d said something out of turn.
“……I’m sorry, I’m sorry. That was a rude thing to say. Please forget about it.”
She tried to take it back, but it was too late.
The reason she was so suddenly upset was that it made no sense for anyone to think that the Grand Duke and his fifth wife were mother and son.
It was natural. For someone with the title of Grand Duke to refer to another wife in the household as his mother would have a disconcerting resonance.
Apart from that, the age difference between the two of us was not great: she was barely in her twenties, and I was a young man barely over the age of majority.
On the surface, it didn’t seem like much of a difference, and it was obvious that calling her a mother would be met with public disapproval.
Nevertheless, I said.
“Mother.”
The day I’d been waiting for.
I had been waiting for this day to come.
“Mother.”
It was the day my hopes were fulfilled. The day had come when I could call my mother my mother without reservation.
She looked surprised at my words.
“Yes. You must have been through a lot.”
Her expression quickly changed to one of affection. And then she said.
“Grand Duke. Why are you crying?”
The corners of my eyes clouded over. Facing my mother from a previous life, the mother of my youth.
The one who didn’t mind becoming manure for me to grow.
The one who stood by my side when I was broken and stumbling and falling.
If only I could face the woman who held my center so I wouldn’t fall apart.
I burst into tears, my emotions overwhelming my efforts to hold them back.
“……, Grand Duke!”
Leaving her embarrassed, I vowed to myself once again. I promised myself that I would never let her beauty become ill.
And I would protect her.
Mother and I,
Me and my mother.
We were connected in our previous lives, and even in this life, we were still in emotional contact.
Tick-tock.
Someone appeared who broke the emotional connection.
“……Excuse me. This is Iron Sword Captain Manho, is the Grand Duke here?”
Ilsun’s face contorted at the appearance of the uninvited guest, but I managed to keep my expression in front of my mother.
“What is it?”
“None other than…….”
“There are patients here who need to be nursed. I don’t think it’s right for you to leave as soon as possible.”
At my urging, Man Ho managed to speak from the doorway and revealed his purpose for being here.
“…… is my patriarch’s instruction to attend the Gaju Conference.”
“To the Gaju Conference?”
I gave him a puzzled look.
“Yes, he has communicated that he wishes you to participate immediately.”
* * *
Officials are invincible.
True to Bai Guang’s words, someone started pointing fingers at him for breaking the Guanmu Inviolability, and the story spread beyond black and white.
Just like the masked figure of the political factions that created the fronts in Shandong and united to prevent Huang Baojia from taking all the fronts and growing in power.
Everyone, including you and me, started chewing on the story of the Southern Palace. It was as if they’d been waiting for it.
Behind the Southern Palace is the Yellow House.
The Yellow House directly supports the Southern Palace.
And it was even more uproarious in the White City than in the Black City.
“You will pay dearly for breaking the …… inviolability of the government without permission.”
“What have we done to establish a boundary with the Huang family, and what have we become if we move so suddenly as if nothing had happened?”
“The same goes for the Yellow House. If you suddenly declare that you will turn your back on the Southern Palace, we will not heed your call!”
There was no need to single out anyone.
By this time, the Household Council was meeting inside the Southern Palace. The main topic of discussion was the story of Elder Lee and Elder Three, who had forcibly broken the inviolability of the government, and who felt it was right to take action against them and keep them away from the imperial family.
Elder Yi and Elder Namgungun took this opportunity to raise their voices. On behalf of the silent Elder Nangong Yue.
“As a result, this is what it looks like. Let’s go.”
“That’s right, we are deeply concerned about the Grand Duke’s role and true intentions in leading the family to this crisis.”
The men who had been on the sidelines began to raise their heads as if they had been waiting for an opportunity to speak up.
When no one spoke up, the two elders turned to Nangong Yue.
“Elder Sun, say something.”
“You’ve been leading the meeting all this time, but today you’re particularly quiet. I wonder why.”
Elder Four smirked, then turned to face Elder Two and pushed him away, as if to prove that they weren’t going to let go of the opportunity they’d just grabbed.
Then.
“The two elders are very excited.”
First Elder Nangong Yue shook his head calmly with a hollow smile. Second Elder Nangong Bone frowned, as if he didn’t like the sight. How could he be so calm even in this situation?
He was about to say something more,
“Jia Zhu, I believe that in a situation like this, it is right for the parties themselves to speak up.”
The two elders are stunned by Namgung’s bombshell. They looked at Gaiju in disbelief. Jia Zhu’s impassive gaze landed on the three elders.
“Elder Sun, where did you hear that? There have been many times in the past when we’ve held a clan council where the elders and others have participated.”
“Indeed! How could you say such a thing?”
The two elders dismissed the story as impossible. The Grand Duke’s participation in this family council was no different from his full-fledged participation as a minor family lord.
It was a statement that further narrowed their already narrow position.
But then.
“Bring the Grand Duke.”
Gaju, who had never spoken up in the meeting, spoke up himself, and the two elders stared at him in stunned silence for a moment.
“Anit……, Gazoo!”
“Go, Gazoo……!”
The two elders’ shouting didn’t faze Jia Zhu, and at the touch of First Elder Nangong Yue, the Iron Sword Captain guarding the door shook his head and opened the door.
“Honor.”
* * *
“The Grand Duke is inviolable, and you must speak of your future. The Southern Palace is in danger from your careless actions. You would not have spoken of your intentions without taking measures, so you must straighten yourself up, devise a plan to resolve this crisis, and confess it here and now.”
The two elders stood up,
and the impassive expressions of Jia Zhu and Nangong Mubai.
In the stifling atmosphere of the meeting, I turned my gaze to one place.
There.
Elder An Bai was shaking his head at me with his arms crossed.
First Elder Nan Gongyue was nodding at me with a reassuring gaze.
“Everyone seems to be overusing the word crisis, but what is the crisis? Is it the one everyone is talking about, the one that’s just chewing on the Southern Palace, or is it the one we’re discussing here? Is it the one you’re talking about by interrogating me and forcing me to take action here?”
“What, what!”
I blurted out in front of more than a dozen people, all of whom were participating in the first meeting of the Southern Palace family. A red-faced elderly Southern Palace soldier jumped to his feet and pointed a finger at me.
“The real crisis is not knowing that there is a crisis. And knowing it’s a crisis and doing nothing about it is an even greater crisis, and you’re bringing it upon yourselves. If I don’t do anything, will you also do nothing?”
“Don’t you dare! Where are we?”
Telephone blessings.
I’m not one to sit on the sidelines either.
“Turning a disaster into a blessing is called phoneweobok.”
Elder Namgungbon gave me a look that said if you have something to say, say it. I looked toward the window and pointed.
“Let’s see who’s here.”
“What do you mean, a phone call……!”
Elder Yi frowned, and Elder Nangong Bone and Elder Nangong Gun raised their heads, and both of their eyes turned into the color of fire glasses.
“What the hell!”