SYM 8

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“Young Master! Young Master! The Madam has arrived! Hurry, get up!”

“Mmm…”

Eun-hyeon blinked and rubbed his face into the pillow. He was still drowsy, his eyes barely open from the lingering sleepiness.

As Eun-hyeon remained lying down and fidgeting, Soso grabbed his hand to pull him up.

“Come now, go wash up first. Change your clothes too. Honestly, what were you up to last night that you can’t even open your eyes?”

Eun-hyeon sighed heavily as he listened to Soso’s nagging.

Even after lying in bed, his mind was so restless that he couldn’t fall asleep until dawn.

The words Ha Yeo-un had said last night still echoed in his ears.

…His teacher is alive.

If Ha Yeo-un is indeed Un, then the teacher Ha Yeo-un is referring to must be Eun-hyeon himself.

But to have found evidence that he is alive? Eun-hyeon couldn’t even begin to guess the circumstances.

“Ahem, Soso, could you bring me a glass of water?”

As he spoke, his voice was hoarse.

The events with Ha Yeo-un last night seemed to have taken a toll on his body. His limbs felt as heavy as if they were weighed down by a thousand pounds, and his body was warm, as if he had a slight fever.

His frail physique was truly remarkable.

“Goodness, recommending a walk was like inviting a disaster. Just how much walking did you do yesterday to end up like this? Hurry up and get ready. You can’t show yourself like this in front of the Madam.”

“The Madam… you mean my mother is coming? Why would she…?”

It was only after downing a glass of warm water that his voice returned to normal.

Why would Madam Hwang visit in the morning?

Could it be that she saw him at the dinner last night?

“How would I know that? I was just told she called this morning.”

“Does a mother need a reason to see her son?”

Soso’s curt response was followed by Madam Hwang’s voice. Madam Hwang entered the room, surveying the cold interior.

Soso quickly bowed to the ground, paying her respects, Madam Hwang waved her hand delicately, like a fluttering butterfly.

“That’s enough. My dear son, how are you feeling? As your mother, I’ve been so busy that I haven’t even been able to visit you when you were sick.”

As Madam Hwang entered, a rich floral scent permeated the room.

The overwhelming fragrance made Eun-hyeon blink his eyes for a moment.

“…Greetings, Mother.”

As Eun-hyeon tried to get up, Madam Hwang waved her hand again and approached the bedside.

One of the maids accompanying Madam Hwang quickly brought a chair to the bedside.

“I am not such a heartless mother as to demand my sick son to rise and greet me.”

The maid placed a silk handkerchief embroidered with golden thread on the chair before Madam Hwang sat down.

Perhaps the chair was deemed too dirty to sit on directly.

Watching Madam Hwang sit down, Eun-hyeon thought that as the Taoist Eun-hyeon, he had experienced many things, but one thing he had never dealt with was women.

That’s why even now, he felt at a loss on how to properly interact with women like Madam Hwang.

“I should have taken better care of you. You don’t hold any resentment towards me, do you?”

Madam Hwang took Eun-hyeon’s hand.

Eun-hyeon involuntarily flinched at the cool touch of Madam Hwang’s hand.

“I’ve greatly improved thanks to your kind concern. I apologize for troubling you.”

Yesterday, he had only seen Madam Hwang from a distance, so he could only gauge the overall atmosphere. But seeing her up close today, he noticed that she wasn’t just strikingly beautiful; her features were surprisingly delicate, and she looked much younger than he had anticipated.

Madam Hwang’s son, Namgung Eun-gwang, was two years younger than Namgung Eun-hyeon, but she hardly looked like the mother of such a grown child. She seemed more like the younger sister or distant cousin of Eun-gwang.

“If there’s anything you need or are lacking, don’t hesitate to tell this mother.”

“…I understand.”

It was a sly deception to say such words while confining the Young Master of the Namgung family in this humble annex building.

However, instead of getting upset or angry, Eun-hyeon simply nodded and replied that he understood.

Madam Hwang’s hand was thin and soft as if she had never practiced martial arts.

Come to think of it, Eun-hyeon didn’t know where Madam Hwang was from. Even if she wasn’t from a major clan, she was probably from a minor martial clan, but a sudden burning sensation rose from her wrist.

“Ah, M-Mother? What is this…!”

Madam Hwang’s sharp nails had scratched Eun-hyeon’s wrist. Along with the burning pain, bright red drops of blood began to fall onto the white bedding.

“And what do you think you’re doing?”

“…Pardon?”

“Last night, I told you, didn’t I? And you still didn’t understand this mother? I thought you were clever, having inherited the blood of the Jegal family, but you’ve disappointed me greatly.”

Eun-hyeon tried to twist his wrist free, but it wasn’t easy. Despite Madam Hwang’s soft hand indicating she had no knowledge of martial arts, her grip was astonishingly strong, making it impossible for him to move.

The sharp nails dug into the wound on his wrist. He couldn’t help but groan in pain.

“Aagh!”

Eun-hyeon pushed Madam Hwang away with a cry.

“Madam…! What is the meaning of this, Young Master!”

As Madam Hwang staggered, her maids glared at Eun-hyeon.

The blood dripping from Eun-hyeon’s wrist was scattered on the blanket, but they pretended not to see it.

“Hmph, that’s enough. The young master must be upset about something.”

Madam Hwang calmly calmed her maids, then rose from her seat.

“My son.”

Clutching his bleeding wrist, Eun-hyeon looked up.

Madam Hwang looked down at him with the same expression she had when she first entered the room. Her delicate, pretty face now appeared eerie.

“It seems you’ve forgotten the lesson I taught you before, so I’m simply reminding you.”

Eun-hyeon bit his lip hard.

Madam Hwang took a handkerchief from a maid, wiped the blood off her own hand, and then dropped the stained handkerchief to the floor. As she crushed the blood-soaked silk under her dainty foot, her gaze remained fixed solely on Eun-hyeon.

“Live within your means.”

Eun-hyeon stared blankly at the handkerchief. The delicate silk handkerchief embroidered with colorful butterflies was now not only stained with blood but also marked with a black footprint.

Madam Hwang seemed to be implying that the handkerchief represented Eun-hyeon’s fate.

“That is the only way for you to preserve your life, my son.”

Madam Hwang’s eyes glinted as she looked at Eun-hyeon.

The sticky malice made him feel suffocated.

* * *

“Oh dear, why did you have to upset the Madam?”

It was Soso’s job to bandage Eun-hyeon’s wounded wrist.

Soso shook her head as she applied a simple wound medicine and wrapped the bandage.

She was displeased with Eun-hyeon’s foolishness in provoking Madam Hwang when he should have known better.

“I didn’t mean to, it seems Mother misunderstood.”

It appeared that Madam Hwang had noticed his presence at the banquet last night.

Looking at his bandaged wrist, he couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.

To think that he, once a promising martial artist, was now being threatened even by a frail woman with no martial arts knowledge.

“At times like this, I can’t tell if you’re foolish or clever, Young Master. Knowing how sensitive the Madam is, especially with your maternal family, the Jegal clan, visiting… oh my.”

“The Jegal clan?”

“Wasn’t that why you went to the banquet hall? Don’t pretend not to know now. Well, I’ve finished bandaging, but you’ll need to be careful for a while. Make sure it doesn’t reopen. You already have trouble with blood clotting, Young Master.”

“I see. Thank you.”

Eun-hyeon was inwardly surprised that Soso knew so much.

“So, at this banquet, did people from Mo… I mean, Madam Hwang’s family also come?”

Eun-hyeon quickly corrected himself from saying “Mother” to “Madam Hwang”. Referring to someone who had injured his wrist as “Mother” didn’t sit well with him, and it also avoided confusion with the Jegal clan.

“Ah, you mean the Golden Pavilion? Of course. They arrived long before the banquet even started. The Vice Lord himself came. Well, the Madam is the only child of the Golden Pavilion after all…”

The Golden Pavilion!

No wonder she had such authority in the Namgung family despite not being from the martial world – she was the precious daughter of the Golden Pavilion.

The Golden Pavilion was rumored to be the place with the most gold in the Central Plains. Their tokens could be used anywhere in their branches across the Central Plains.

In modern terms, it would be like running the largest department store and bank combined.

Come to think of it, when he was a Taoist at Kunlun, he had heard that Hwang Ok-san, the lord of the Golden Pavilion doted excessively on his late-born daughter.

Hwang Ok-san’s daughter was about the same age as him back then, and it seemed she was now Madam Hwang.

“I see…”

Eun-hyeon sighed.

Knowing Madam Hwang’s background now doubled his fatigue.

“I’m tired and need to sleep. Soso, you should go too.”

Eun-hyeon lay down.

His head was throbbing after the confrontation with Madam Hwang, especially when he was already sleep-deprived.

Eun-hyeon was so exhausted that he didn’t notice someone entering as he fell into a deep sleep.