Part 1,
Chapter 29. Spy and Confidant
A reproachful tone was contained in the low voice.
“Whether it’s truly an elixir or not, it’s still Yeonju pill. There’s more than a few who would rush in just at hearing the name, yet she gave it to us.”
At those words, Yun-jin let out a snort.
“I didn’t know you, Cheol-ho, put meaning in things like name value.”
At Yun-jin’s barbed words, Cheol-ho opened his eyes. He was one of the Black Tiger Unit members who had acted with So-hwa to save their poisoned comrade.
Cheol-ho’s gaze slid toward Yun-jin.
“You think name value has no meaning?”
“I’ve never cared about such illusions.”
Cheol-ho let out a short laugh.
“A guy talking about dragons flying around says he doesn’t care about illusions. That’s amusing.”
Yun-jin’s expression turned cold, but Cheol-ho didn’t care and turned his gaze to the other comrades.
“I hear there’s heavy backlash from the White Tiger and Red Tiger Units. They say it’s unfair that five elixirs were granted only to the Black Tiger Unit.”
At those words, one comrade shouted.
“Ridiculous bastards. What do they mean, ‘granted’? If we hadn’t gone, it’s a medicine that would’ve never even come into the clan!”
Cheol-ho shrugged his shoulders.
“It’s not an incomprehensible point. If the Young Lady had taken it to the main family, it would’ve been granted one day to someone who achieved merit. So those guys might think something that was theirs was taken.”
Cheol-ho locked eyes with Yun-jin again.
“If Yeonju pill were a reward, the White Tiger or Red Tiger Units would’ve gone all out trying to earn merit. That’s how much the name ‘Yeonju pill’ is worth.”
Yun-jin didn’t respond.
“But she gave it all to us. Even though she couldn’t be sure we’d achieve anything. No, she might’ve wasted it on those who might’ve died.”
Silence fell over the Black Tiger Unit’s room.
Still looking at Yun-jin, Cheol-ho asked the comrades.
“Did you guys hear that the Young Lady was summoned to the Clear Night Pavilion?”
Everyone had already heard, so they kept their mouths shut, but only Han-won cried out in surprise.
“The Young Lady went to Clear Night Pavilion? Why?”
Han-won had only recently regained consciousness and didn’t know what was going on.
Clear Night Pavilion was the hall where the Elders' meetings were held. Being summoned there without being the Clan Head or an elder meant one was being punished.
Han-won felt the blood drain from his face.
Only then did he truly realize the value of Yeonju pill, which he had thought of as no big deal.
Cheol-ho, who had been looking at Yun-jin, suddenly turned his gaze to Han-won. Han-won flinched at the overwhelming presence.
“Han-won.”
“…What?”
“I thought you were going to die.”
Han-won shut his open mouth. At that reaction, Cheol-ho let out a small laugh.
“If you’ve got time to be disappointed in the Yeonju pill, be thankful to the one who tied your thread of life back together.”
Han-won jumped to his feet in surprise.
“Don’t be ridiculous! I was never disappointed! I was just ashamed, wondering if I was too lacking to circulate the internal energy properly!”
The feelings he hadn’t been able to voice out of shame spilled out easily. It was far less embarrassing than demeaning the judgment of his benefactor.
The reactions of the others weren’t much different.
Some looked ashamed, some had deepened gazes as if they had realized something, and others were lost in thought.
Yun-jin looked at his comrades with an expressionless face.
The unity of the Tang Clan growing stronger was not a good thing.
At that moment, everyone turned their gaze to the door. Someone was approaching their quarters.
Creak.
As the door opened, they all stood up. The deputy leader silently scanned the room and stopped his gaze on Yun-jin.
“Yun-jin. Come with me.”
Without even asking why—as if it were natural—Yun-jin followed the deputy leader out. Only after they had exited the residence did the deputy leader speak.
“The leader wants to see you.”
Yun-jin flinched without realizing.
The leader had returned today. But calling for him as soon as he came back didn’t make sense.
‘What’s this about?’
He searched his memory, but no matter how much he thought, he couldn’t figure out the reason.
As he was caught up in thought, Yun-jin arrived at the leader’s office.
“Leader. I’ve brought Yun-jin.”
“Good! Come on in.”
The leader granted entry with a joyful voice.
Though flustered, Yun-jin calmly stepped inside.
The leader, as bright as his voice, was seated behind his desk. Wearing a broad grin, he slammed the desk with his hand.
“Yes, Yun-jin! I heard your contribution in the Emei Mountain was very significant.”
Contribution? Yun-jin was puzzled, but the leader didn’t bother explaining and turned his gaze to the deputy leader.
“So that’s why the deputy leader recommended you. Well done.”
The leader looked to be in an extremely good mood.
“Ah! You must be curious why I called you.”
Only then did the leader seem to come to his senses and clap his hands.
“We’ve decided to deliver compensation from the Anhui branch to the branches that suffered damages. It’s said that the Namgung’s Young Lord is personally delivering it, and Young Lady So-hwa will be receiving the Namgung bastards—no, the guests. But the Young Lady says she needs your help.”
At the mention of Tang So-hwa’s name, Yun-jin’s brow twitched.
It was because he felt a sense of foreboding.
Judging from what she had said at Emei Mountain, that girl was definitely suspicious of his identity.
He had been tense due to the silence surrounding the matter, and now that the name had suddenly come up, Yun-jin couldn’t help but be surprised.
The leader, drunk on joy, assumed Yun-jin was surprised because he was pleased.
He chuckled heartily and patted Yun-jin’s shoulder.
“The Clan Head is also keeping a close eye on this matter, so this should be a good opportunity for you.”
Unlike usual, a reply didn’t come easily. Yun-jin, uncharacteristically, asked in return.
“May I ask why the Young Lady needs me?”
The leader let out another hearty laugh.
"Isn’t it obvious? She’s looking after our Black Tiger Unit. Ahem, keep this to yourself. Apparently, during the Clear Night Pavilion meeting, the Young Lady made quite an impression on the Elders. I hear that eight out of ten parts of this compensation are thanks to Young Lady Tang So-hwa’s efforts."
Though the leader was not well-versed in internal matters, it wasn’t as if he was unaware of the Yeonju Group incident that had shaken the Tang Clan.
Of all those who had entered Clear Night Pavilion as sinners, Tang So-hwa was the only one to receive a light sentence of mere disciplinary action. On top of that, his father, the Third Elder, for some reason seemed to hold a very favorable opinion of her.
The Clear Night Pavilion meetings were for the Elders and the Clan Head. Even as a son, he couldn’t be privy to what was discussed there.
But the leader didn’t mind. He simply felt at ease knowing that the Namgung bastards had been put in a tight spot, felt good that—true to their wealth—they had offered up a hefty compensation, and felt delighted that his long-cherished wish of expanding the Black Tiger Unit’s residence would now be realized.
Honestly, how could it make any sense to cram all those guys, who were as big as door panels, into a single building?
Unlike the Red Tiger Unit and White Tiger Unit, who handled external missions and were assigned personal quarters, the Black Tiger Unit, responsible for covert missions, had to live and die together in the same quarters due to some absurd notion of needing to confirm each other’s survival.
Do people have any idea how much his men suffered because of that? What kind of ridiculous discrimination was this!
Anyway, he finally had some face to show his men.
The leader felt a sense of peace settle in his heart.
And he felt grateful to a direct descendant of the Clan Head who hadn’t forgotten them.
They had been entrusted with an important(?) mission to extract money from the Namgung Clan, yet she hadn’t forgotten to include a member of the Black Tiger Unit—so, as the leader, he felt quite pleased.
“It seems the Elders intend to use this opportunity to test Young Lady Tang So-hwa. If this compensation matter is handled well, her standing will become tremendous. And since you’re accompanying her on that path, consider yourself lucky! Haha!”
Lucky? Not likely.
He felt uneasy.
If she had caught on to his identity, he needed to find out how.
Seeing Yun-jin’s stiff expression, the leader slightly furrowed his brow.
“What’s with that face?”
“……I’m grateful for the opportunity, but I’m not confident I’ll do well.”
“Hmm. It’s understandable to feel pressure. But the Young Lady won’t assign you any scribal duties. You’re being dispatched under the title of escort, so all you have to do is follow her orders. It won’t be any different from what you’re doing now. Isn’t that something you’re good at?”
The leader suddenly wiped the smile off his face and gazed quietly at Yun-jin.
The Black Tiger Unit’s missions were like those of shadows.
Quietly gathering information, throwing the enemy into confusion, and assassinating targets.
Though anxious at first, Yun-jin soon collected himself.
Whatever that sly woman was scheming, this was an opportunity. A chance to learn about the Young Lady of the Tang Clan of Sichuan up close.
Besides, since the counterpart was of the Namgung Clan, there was no way he'd be given some absurd order to kill them. If the task was to secretly gather information, he could simply contact the planted spy within Namgung and collect it. It would be an easy job for him.
Yun-jin bowed his head in silence and replied.
“I won’t disappoint you.”
“Good. Now return to your quarters and prepare to enter the inner courtyard.”
“...The inner courtyard?”
Yun-jin echoed back in surprise at the unexpected location.
The inner courtyard was where the Tang Clan's important heritage was kept and where the direct line of descendants resided."
“Because the Young Lady is under house arrest, she cannot leave the inner courtyard. You’ll have to be stationed there for the time being.”
It was a place Yun-jin had never been permitted to enter.
There was only one spy in the entire Sacheondang who had access to the inner courtyard. And that person had recently gone out for personal business.
To think I’d get to enter the inner courtyard so easily.
Though something about it felt off, the smooth progress left Yun-jin in a positive mindset.
He didn’t know what that girl had in mind by calling him. It could be an attempt to monitor him, or perhaps to persuade him—but in the end, she would come to regret this decision.
Yun-jin returned to his quarters and packed his things.
When his comrades asked what was going on, and he told them he was heading into the inner courtyard, they all looked at him with curious eyes. Worried they might get strange ideas, Yun-jin explained that he had been assigned to retrieve compensation funds from the Anhui branch. At that, they all looked at him with eyes full of envy.
It was a great chance to leave an impression on the Clan Head.
Yun-jin ignored their reactions and went straight into the inner courtyard.
He tried to think of a way to stay as close to Tang So-hwa as possible, but soon realized such an effort was unnecessary.
Tang So-hwa kept him by her side constantly.
The girl of the Tang Clan was a strange person.
Instead of preparing to receive the Anhui branch, she spent the entire day, without even sleeping, drawing a preliminary sketch on silk for embroidery.
So Yun-jin was left to idle away his time by her window.
Occasionally, the Young Lord would sneak over, only to leave when he saw Yun-jin there, and the old man from the Iron Workshop came by a few times to receive orders from Tang So-hwa. Other than that, nothing unusual happened.
It was so peaceful, he couldn’t even tell why a guard was needed.
After ten days had passed, Tang So-hwa completed her sketch and asked him once for his opinion.
Yun-jin had no interest in women’s embroidery, and of course had no eye for judging a finished product based on a mere outline.
He gave a polite answer, saying it looked well-drawn. She responded with an unreadable smile.
She then told him he could return to his quarters, sending Yoonjin back to his lodgings.
It was truly incomprehensible behavior.
And after her disciplinary period ended, Tang So-hwa didn’t summon Yun-jin again.
Until the day the Anhui branch arrived at the Tang Clan of Sichuan, Yun-jin didn’t do a single thing.