Chapter 263 : The Four Great Clans (1)

Chapter 263: The Four Great Clans (1)

"I cannot accept this."

Though Geum Yujin felt an overwhelming killing intent toward Yong Hwarin, he barely managed to suppress it.

"And why is it that you cannot accept it?"

When Yong Hwarin asked, Geum Yujin responded.

"Jeong Minji and I were in an arranged engagement agreed upon by both our families."

"That was nothing more than an arrangement, was it not?"

"Are you intending to disgrace the honor of both families?"

"How can you think of that as a disgrace? Marriage is a matter that determines one’s life. Even engagements that proceed smoothly often fall through. That’s why people don’t point fingers when promises aren’t kept. Because once the marriage is complete, it cannot be undone."

As the two continued to lock horns, Jo Gyeongmae stepped in and said,

"Young Master Geum, I’m sorry, but leave this matter to me."

Geum Yujin stepped back, his face bright red.

"My apologies for the disgraceful display."

"This matter will be discussed together when your Lord Father arrives."

"I understand."

"For the time being, I don’t wish to see either of you in my sight."

Jo Gyeongmae turned coldly on her heels after throwing that icy remark at Yong Hwarin and Jeong Minji.

Geum Yujin stared for a while at Jeong Minji, still nestled in Yong Hwarin’s embrace, then turned away.

Once Jo Gyeongmae and Geum Yujin were gone, Jeong Suji and Jeong Daji approached the two.

"Wow, I thought someone was going to die today."

"But Young Master Yong, you’re quite the brave one. Since when did you start harboring feelings for our sister?"

Yong Hwarin smiled softly and said,

"I’ve always had her in my heart."

"Really? Then why didn’t you show it even once? You just made her worry for no reason."

"I had no choice. Not knowing when I might die, how could I reveal my heart to Lady Jeong?"

"Either way, we’ve overcome one hurdle. Though who knows if Mother will step back that easily."

"Did you see Young Master Geum’s face? Something’s definitely going to happen."

Jeong Suji voiced her concern.

Yong Hwarin gently lifted Jeong Minji’s head from his chest and said,

"Don’t worry. I’ll handle everything. You’re my woman now."

"Wow!"

"Ugh, that’s so cheesy."

Jeong Daji and Jeong Suji made a scene.

Jeong Minji had never cried this much in her life.

Moreover, she had never imagined she’d cry like this over a man.

"Thank you."

Yong Hwarin met Jeong Minji’s gaze and asked,

"Do you love me?"

"Yes. Very much."

"I feel the same. Even more than you. So trust me."

"Yes."

Unable to bear the overly affectionate exchange, Jeong Suji and Jeong Daji left.

Jeong Daji said with concern,

"Young Master Geum won’t stay quiet. That worries me."

But Jeong Suji didn’t seem too troubled.

"What’s there to worry about? There are hardly any 후기지수 in the current Murim who could even lay a finger on Young Master Yong. Maybe only someone like Taoist Unmang of the Wudang Sect, or Seonja Myeongok, the so-called genius of the Emei Sect. But even they are said to have surpassed the realm of 후기지수. Only ones like them could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Young Master Yong. I bet Young Master Geum won’t even be able to touch the hem of his robe."

Jeong Daji murmured as she listened.

"If only we had the Vermilion Bird Blood Chalice, we could reach that level too."

"True. If the Vermilion Bird Blood Chalice fell into our hands, the story would change. But look at Young Master Yong—he’s already at this level without the Azure Dragon Three Marbles. If he were to obtain them, I can’t even imagine what would happen."

Jeong Daji changed the subject.

"By the way, what do you think about Mother backing down so easily, second sister?"

Jeong Suji muttered her thoughts.

"If Young Master Yong had been just another man, he would’ve been beaten down and thrown out on the spot. The only reason Mother held back is because Yong Hwarin has built a tremendous reputation until now. And because she knew she might lose even if she used force. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have hesitated to bring down her full might upon him."

Jeong Daji couldn’t argue with that. Their mother was more than capable of doing just that.

"Ah, I’m really worried."

When Jeong Daji mumbled, Jeong Suji responded nonchalantly,

"Don’t worry. You know what kind of person Young Master Yong is. After going through life and death with him, I’m not too concerned. Whatever happens, he’ll overcome this trial."

Jeong Daji looked at her in surprise.

"That’s strange. Weren’t you always ready to tear him apart?"

"That’s because he didn’t recognize our eldest sister’s feelings. And despite how he looks, he’s so strong it made me jealous, so I acted cold. But I’m the one who acknowledges his strength more than anyone else."

"Right, we’ve survived worse crises together. This is nothing now."

Jeong Suji and Jeong Daji quickly brushed off their worries.

Left alone with Yong Hwarin, Jeong Minji slowly tried to pull her hand away.

But Yong Hwarin only gripped her hand more firmly.

"Let’s stay like this for a while longer."

Walking hand-in-hand for the first time in her life, Jeong Minji felt unbearably awkward, and her heart thudded so wildly she thought she might go mad.

"I have something to say."

Yong Hwarin led her into a small tearoom in Yeongbingak.

After summoning an attendant and ordering tea, they sat in silence for a while.

Yong Hwarin gazed gently at Jeong Minji, who sat demurely across from him.

"Because I said that you are my woman, I want to take responsibility for you."

Jeong Minji responded in a hesitant voice.

"If… if you said that out of pity, you don’t need to do this."

Yong Hwarin reached across the table and took her hand.

"It’s not out of responsibility or pity. Somehow, without realizing it, you entered my heart. I’ve come to understand that. Look into my eyes."

When Jeong Minji, too shy, couldn’t lift her head, Yong Hwarin gently raised her chin with his hand.

"Do you see pity or a sense of duty in my eyes?"

Jeong Minji shook her head.

"You’ve been by my side long enough to know. I would never stake someone’s life on such shallow feelings. I said you are my woman because I like you. Because I love you."

"I… I believe you. And I love you too."

To be honest, Yong Hwarin wasn’t the type for this kind of situation. It made his skin crawl.

However, he knew that such confirmation processes were necessary for women, and that emotional purification was absolutely essential.

In his previous life, he had experienced firsthand that without such processes, women constantly sought reassurance of love, eventually becoming a burden.

This was true whether the woman was wise or not.

Thus, Yong Hwarin followed these somewhat ostentatious procedures.

"And there’s one secret I’d like to share."

Jeong Minji felt that Yong Hwarin had accepted her into his heart enough to confide a secret.

"It’s about Bukri Sogun."

"Sogun?"

"Will you listen until the end?"

"I’ve already decided to follow you, Young Master Yong. I’m prepared to accept whatever may come."

Yong Hwarin appreciated this sentiment from Jeong Minji.

"Bukri Sogun and Bukri Sehee are the same person."

Yong Hwarin began to explain the secret of Bukri Sogun, even revealing the story of how he embraced Bukri Sehee at Goisan.

From time to time, Jeong Minji was surprised or impressed by Yong Hwarin’s words and listened with sincere attention.

Since Yong Hwarin had every intention of taking responsibility for Bukri Sehee for the rest of his life, he felt it was necessary to tell Jeong Minji.

Because if she were to hear it later from someone else, it would certainly make her feel betrayed.

He knew well how important such things were to women.

"So that’s what happened."

Jeong Minji’s face wasn’t bright. No woman in the world would be pleased to hear that the man she loved had another woman.

However, Jeong Minji was not the kind of woman to react with petty jealousy.

"Promise me just one thing."

"What is it?"

"No matter who it is, I must be the first wife. That’s one thing I can’t give up. Even if she was with you first in bed, I can’t yield that position."

Yong Hwarin wasn’t someone who would deny her such a request.

He already understood that any woman would want to claim the foremost position, and so he accepted her demand.

"Very well. Lady Jeong shall be my first wife."

"And from now on, I will call you Gaga."

"Then do so. I shall also call you Min-mae from now on. If I call you Ji-mae, I won’t know if it refers to the second or third lady."

Since all three sisters of the Three Chivalrous Sisters shared the syllable ‘Ji’ (知) in their names, the nickname Min-mae was used to avoid confusion.

With the story about Bukri Sehee resolved smoothly, Yong Hwarin let out a sigh of relief.

Jeong Minji changed the subject.

"Convincing Mother won’t be easy. She’s a very stubborn person."

"I’m aware. But sincerity always gets through eventually. And now that I’ve publicly declared Min-mae as my woman, your Mother will have no choice but to step back."

Jeong Minji twisted her body shyly and said,

"I’ll trust only in you, Gaga."

Because the word ‘Gaga’ felt awkward and embarrassing, Jeong Minji’s cheeks flushed red.

She had never said such a thing before, so it was only natural.

Still, she forced the word from her mouth, trying to get used to it.

Just like other women, she wanted to use that word for the man she loved.

The next morning at dawn, Yong Hwarin stepped out into the rear garden of Yeongbingak to train.

He had already finished his circulation of qi.

Using the two acupoints, Nogung Point and Yongcheon Point, Yong Hwarin recently succeeded in storing a great deal of true qi in the Tai Chi Dantian.

Even without consciously directing it, he fell into the realm of complete immersion, drawing in true qi through four acupoints.

After the Tai Chi Dantian reached the Realm of Self-Existence, the true qi moved on its own and circulated through the most necessary blood vessels.

When the true qi moved and emitted itself automatically, Yong Hwarin’s consciousness, immersed in the state of absorption, pondered martial theory and attained deeper understanding.

Because of this, one hour of circulation produced the effect of two.

Currently, Yong Hwarin was at the stage of redefining the Soaring Dragon Emperor Sword and Azure Bamboo Sword. Only now had he begun to grasp the ultimate essence of the two sword arts.

As he contemplated how to incorporate the energy flow of Hoi Eulshin’s martial arts, he began to comprehend aspects he hadn’t noticed before.

When he imbued the Soaring Dragon Emperor Sword with the six energy types of Hoi Eulshin and executed it, the sword art felt entirely new.

Recently, Yong Hwarin had been devoting significant effort to utilizing Self-Revolving Inner Qi.

Although it caused pain, he couldn’t give it up, since it allowed him to use Twisted Qi.

However, the curious thing was that when using Self-Revolving Inner Qi through the Nine Dragons Heavenly Ascent Technique, the pain was significantly reduced.

Originally, the Tai Chi Profound Heavenly Sutra couldn’t truly be called a mental art—it was simply a doctrine on how to form two dantians.

Therefore, when wielding the Soaring Dragon Emperor Sword, he had used the demonic mental art passed down by Jong Munhye.

Now, however, by utilizing the Dual-Mind Inner Art to operate both mental arts, the deficiencies in the Soaring Dragon Emperor Sword disappeared.

With the fusion of the Soaring Dragon Emperor Sword and Azure Bamboo Sword, it became a martial art capable of both offense and defense.

Even without releasing true qi, Yong Hwarin’s sword dance—linking Soaring Dragon Emperor Sword with Azure Bamboo Sword—formed elegant and refined sword movements.