Bachelor Swordsmanship Remastered [EN]: Chapter 490

490. Submission

Un Hyun entered the Main Hall of the Azure Dragon Alliance.

The office, praised by both the Celestial Nun and the Lord of the Namgung Clan, still felt spacious and serene.

There, Un Hyun opened the secret letter.

Rustle.

The message was brief.

Un Hyun sighed softly and handed the letter to Young Ho-joon.

Young Ho-joon immediately examined the contents of the letter.

As expected, Young Ho-joon’s expression hardened.

“What is it?”

Guest Elder asked.

Un Hyun quietly replied.

“Lady Dang Seol-ryeon wishes to meet me in secret, without informing the Lord of the Dang Clan.”

Guest Elder’s eyebrows twitched.

It was possible that Dang Seol-ryeon wanted to meet him.

However, keeping it a secret from the Lord was no small matter.

The Dang Clan was known for its strict hierarchical order among its blood relatives, even among the noble families.

For Dang Seol-ryeon to ask for a secret meeting from the Lord meant there was a serious issue at hand.

“Chief Strategist.”

Un Hyun asked Young Ho-joon.

“Why did you determine that this secret letter concerns the fate of the Dang Clan?”

“At this point in time, it’s absolutely impossible for the Dang Clan to send a secret letter unless it’s a matter of utmost importance.”

Guest Elder had clearly warned Dang Cheon-byeok, the Lord of the Dang Clan, and Dang Seol-ryeon, the Chief Strategist.

He told them that heaven did not favor the Dang Clan at this time, so they should remain quiet and hidden.

Un Hyun had also told them that he would hold them accountable for the Venomous Soul Needle someday.

The Dang Clan would not send a secret letter to Un Hyun just to exchange greetings.

There must be an important reason why they needed to meet Un Hyun, even if it meant enduring humiliation.

Rustle.

Young Ho-joon folded the letter.

After staring at it for a moment, Young Ho-joon respectfully returned it to Un Hyun.

“This handwriting is definitely Lady Dang Seol-ryeon’s.”

Young Ho-joon continued with a stern expression.

“This is the same as handing over her weakness to the Lord [Dang Cheon-byeok]. If the Lord sends this letter to the Lord of the Dang Clan, Lady Dang Seol-ryeon will not escape punishment.”

It wasn’t just a matter of punishment.

Meeting Un Hyun, the Lord of the Azure Dragon Alliance, while excluding Lord Dang Cheon-byeok, was an act of betrayal.

By sending the secret letter to Un Hyun, Dang Seol-ryeon was also sending her fatal weakness.

“That means Lady Dang Seol-ryeon is sincere. Of course, it’s not about the Grand Peace Alliance’s Jiangnan conquest.”

Un Hyun sighed softly.

“Sincere…”

Un Hyun muttered, feeling their gazes.

Young Ho-joon and Guest Elder were waiting for Un Hyun’s decision.

Un Hyun smiled wryly and nodded.

“Tell the one who brought this letter that I will meet her.”

“Understood.”

Young Ho-joon nodded.

Then, he chuckled in vain.

“Surely you’re not going to the Dang Clan this time, are you?”

In the past, Un Hyun had gone to Guilin to meet the Lord of the Gongsun Clan.

But the Lord of the Gongsun Clan had been planning to come to Hangzhou.

“No.”

Un Hyun shook his head.

“Going all the way to Chengdu in Sichuan is too far… Ah, now that I think about it, Gansu is relatively close to Sichuan, isn’t it?”

Sichuan and Gansu provinces were adjacent.

Of course, that didn’t mean they were as close as neighboring villages.

Un Hyun muttered with a serious expression.

“Perhaps it would be better for me to go to Sichuan…”

“I will have her come here.”

Young Ho-joon quickly said.

“The Jiangnan conquest is stagnant anyway, so there won’t be much to do. No, even if we’re busy, she has to come. You’re here, Lord.”

Un Hyun smiled.

“Then tell her that.”

“Understood. Then I’ll be on my way…”

“Yes.”

As Un Hyun replied, Young Ho-joon stood up.

After bowing respectfully to Un Hyun and Guest Elder, he left the office.

Un Hyun thought that his departing figure looked somewhat lonely.

***

A few days later, two people approached the main gate of the Azure Dragon Alliance.

Many people were coming and going, but the warriors guarding the gate immediately recognized them as strangers.

Although it seemed like anyone could enter, the warriors knew the faces and identities of all visitors.

“Stop.”

A warrior guarding the gate said with a polite attitude.

The warrior bowed to the two people.

“May I ask what brings you here?”

The attitude was polite, but it was an order to state their business.

One of the men took out a thin letter from his chest.

It was a letter with the signature of Chief Strategist Young Ho-joon.

The warrior glanced at the other visitor.

She was wearing a black conical hat with a veil, but her beautiful features could not be hidden.

Moreover, she was staring straight at the warrior without any fear.

Her sharp gaze could be felt even through the veil.

“I see. Confirmed.”

The warrior returned the letter to the man.

Normally, he would have asked her to lift the veil and show her face, but the warrior did not do so.

Chief Strategist Young Ho-joon had already told them to let them pass without question.

“You may enter.”

The warrior stepped back and returned to his duty.

The two people looked up at the main gate of the Azure Dragon Alliance’s main headquarters.

People from Hangzhou were busily coming and going through the wide-open gate.

There was no tension or fear on their faces.

It was something unimaginable in the ‘other headquarters’ they knew.

Step.

They moved their feet and entered the Azure Dragon Alliance’s main headquarters.

Buildings with a warm and gentle feel unfolded before their eyes.

The two people who entered the Azure Dragon Alliance’s main headquarters headed towards the Lord’s Hall.

They already knew the way.

However, what was strange was that no one stopped or blocked them.

They often passed by working clerks and warriors, but they were either busy with their own work or taking a break and chatting.

The scene was so natural that it felt as if they had mistakenly entered another street in Hangzhou rather than the Azure Dragon Alliance’s main headquarters.

But the two could feel it.

There were eyes watching them from all directions.

Step, step.

The two quietly moved their steps.

And when they arrived in front of the Lord’s Hall located deep within the headquarters, a young man dressed as a scholar was waiting for them.

Clack.

The two stopped.

While the man stood with a stiff expression, the woman behind him quietly took off her black conical hat.

Rustle.

The veil disappeared, revealing the figure of a beautiful woman.

A woman with slightly sharp eyes and a beauty that anyone would turn to look at.

She was none other than Dang Seol-ryeon, the Grand Peace Alliance’s Chief Strategist for External Affairs and the Snowflower of the Dang Clan, Dangmun Seolhwa.

“Welcome.”

Un Hyun said quietly.

“I didn’t expect you to come so quickly. Although I can’t say I welcome you…”

But Un Hyun couldn’t continue.

Thud.

Dang Seol-ryeon knelt on one knee on the spot.

And she bowed deeply to Un Hyun.

“Lady!”

Un Hyun was startled.

Although there was no one else, this was outside.

The Snowflower of the Dang Clan and the Grand Peace Alliance’s Chief Strategist for External Affairs was paying her respects to Un Hyun, not caring about the dust.

Un Hyun quickly approached Dang Seol-ryeon.

However, he couldn’t touch a woman’s body.

“Please get up. There’s no need to go this far…”

Un Hyun said with a bewildered voice.

But Dang Seol-ryeon did not raise her head.

“This courtesy,”

Dang Seol-ryeon said calmly with her head bowed.

“Is what I should rightfully do for you.”

“That’s right.”

Suddenly, Guest Elder’s voice was heard.

Un Hyun turned his head and saw Guest Elder standing in front of the Lord’s Hall.

Guest Elder’s gaze was quite fierce as he looked down at the kneeling Dang Seol-ryeon.

“Grandfather is right.”

Dang Seol-ryeon said.

“My giving the Venomous Soul Needle to Mun Wang was a wrong choice, even though it was for the Dang Clan. I was so foolish.”

Un Hyun let out a soft sigh.

The responsibility for Dang Seol-ryeon’s mistake of giving the Venomous Soul Needle to Mun Wang must be held accountable.

However, this was not what Un Hyun wanted.

“So.”

Un Hyun said in a quiet voice.

“What do you intend to do?”

Dang Seol-ryeon raised her head.

“Whatever you want me to do.”

Dang Seol-ryeon said, looking straight at Un Hyun.

“Everything is my decision and my responsibility.”

Swoosh.

Dang Seol-ryeon said, placing her white hand on her chest.

“I will bear all the sins that the Dang Clan has committed against you. So, give me any order. I will unconditionally obey your will.”

It was an astonishing statement.

However, Un Hyun’s gaze remained calm.

“What is based on conditions should be called a contract, not obedience. Don’t you want something from me?”

Un Hyun’s point was sharp.

Dang Seol-ryeon wouldn’t have just knelt for nothing.

However, Dang Seol-ryeon shook her head.

“No. This is obedience. You can’t call something a contract when you have no choice but to rely on the other party’s goodwill.”

Dang Seol-ryeon continued without hesitation.

“You can change your mind at any time if you wish. The Dang Clan and I can only entrust our fate to you and wait. What else can you call this but obedience?”

Even if Un Hyun made a promise and broke it, the Dang Clan would have no way to sanction it.

No, not only the Dang Clan, but no other clan in the current Jianghu Murim [martial arts world] would be able to defy Un Hyun’s will.

So, it could only be called obedience.

At least for the Dang Clan.

Swish.

Dang Seol-ryeon lowered her head.

“Give me your order. I will obey. Anything.”

There were no words of plea, no pitiful eyes.

However, her faintly trembling eyelashes were telling the truth.

“Why are you trying to bear all the blame?”

Dang Seol-ryeon let out a hollow laugh.

“Because I did it. And because I am a woman of the Dang Clan.”

Dang Seol-ryeon raised her head.

She said with her resolute eyes.

“Everything I have done was for the Dang Clan. Since I was born, there has not been a single moment when I was not a woman of the Dang Clan.”

No one could refute her words.

The Snowflower of the Dang Clan, Dang Seol-ryeon, who possessed a cold and venomous heart, who else could be a woman of the Dang Clan if not her?

However, Un Hyun did not think so.

“That’s not true.”

Clench.

Dang Seol-ryeon gritted her teeth.

Her eyes shone sharply as she looked at Un Hyun.

“Do you want to insult me? If so, feel free to do so as much as you want…”

“No. I don’t intend to insult you.”

Un Hyun shook his head.

“There was definitely a time when you were not a woman of the Dang Clan. There was a time when you gave everything for someone other than the Dang Clan.”

“What on earth are you…”

“You.”

Un Hyun said quietly, interrupting Dang Seol-ryeon.

“A long time ago, you gave Great Hero Young Ho-joon a device that could detoxify all the poisons of the Dang Clan. I don’t know the name, though. And you also taught him how to circulate internal energy to suppress the poison.”

Dang Seol-ryeon’s slender shoulders twitched.

The Venomous Soul Needle that Dang Seol-ryeon had given to Mun Wang had endangered Un Hyun’s life, but what had saved Un Hyun was surprisingly the silver needles and antidote that Dang Seol-ryeon had given to Young Ho-joon in the past.

That very antidote that would allow him to live a life of leisure at the Eight Faced Drunken House.

Where else could a device that could detoxify the Dang Clan’s Venomous Soul Needle come from other than the Dang Clan?

“And he too.”

Un Hyun turned his head.

A handsome man was standing in front of the Lord’s Hall.

The person who was looking at Dang Seol-ryeon with a sad expression was none other than Chief Strategist Young Ho-joon.

“Gave everything for you.”

“Hmph.”

Dang Seol-ryeon let out a sneer.

“Is that really so? He…”

“And now that I hear it, I remember.”

Un Hyun said, interrupting Dang Seol-ryeon.

“All of your actions were done as a woman of the Dang Clan. Then shouldn’t the one who should be kneeling here now be the Lord of the Dang Clan, not you? Because he is the ultimate person responsible for all actions.”

At that moment, Dang Seol-ryeon was speechless.

However, Un Hyun’s gaze was only serious.

‘Ah.’

Dang Seol-ryeon could clearly understand.

Un Hyun’s words were by no means a joke or an exaggeration.

He sincerely believed that the Lord of the Dang Clan should kneel.

Moreover, those words had another meaning.

It was a declaration that he would make Dang Cheon-byeok, the Lord of the Dang Clan, kneel.

“Haa.”

Dang Seol-ryeon sighed.

“Okay.”

Un Hyun and Guest Elder were both startled.