Chapter 847: If You’re Going to Kill One Person, Dig Two Graves (5)

Merchant Jong Yeoljung married a Bai woman of the Cheon family and had two sons.

But unfortunately, after giving birth to the second child, the Bai woman of the Cheon family grew frail and in the end passed away.

However, that didn’t mean the lady-of-the-house seat stayed empty.

As was typical of successful merchants, Jong Yeoljung also had a beautiful second wife.

“That woman, Lee—she was originally my fath—my dad’s second wife.”

“Somehow, just hearing that much makes me feel like I already know the whole thing. Your dad died, and that woman kicked you out, right?”

In the Central Plains, it was a story so common it was practically background noise.

Everyone knew the notorious reputation of second wives.

The number of schemes they could pull to make their son inherit the family—how varied did it have to be?

It was so bad that the state even banned it by national law.

If a second wife or any concubine beyond her cursed or harmed the legal wife or the legal wife’s children, they’d be executed without mercy.

Of course, second wives had their own grievances, too.

Because the typical legal wife carried deep resentment and hatred toward the concubines who monopolized her husband’s affection.

So once the husband died, it was extremely common for a vicious legal wife to drive out the concubine and the concubine’s children.

And in that case, it was even legal.

Which meant that for second wives and lower concubines, in order to secure their right to survive after the husband died, they had no choice but to scheme hard.

So in the Central Plains, it happened constantly—endlessly—and the histories were full of records of concubines “rebelling” like this.

You could call it the harm of a world where men could officially have multiple wives.

If you had to give it a title, it’d be something like: Second Wife’s Rebellion.

Still, even among Second Wife’s Rebellions, there were levels—degrees of evil and cruelty.

About a month ago, Merchant Jong Yeoljung was found as a corpse overnight.

A Therapist came by and said he’d died of Bai people smallpox, and then, enraged, the Chief Steward demanded accountability for the death of his sworn younger brother and drove out the two sons.

Saying they were the criminals who’d unleashed Bai people smallpox, and the trash sons who’d killed their own father.

“My dad was a healthy man. He practiced taiji in the morning and at night, and he was sturdier than most laborers. For a father like that to die overnight? It has to be poison. That woman and the Chief Steward, they definitely used poison.”

He wasn’t consistent about “father” versus “dad,” but that wasn’t the important part.

“Do you have proof? And you said Chief Steward?”

“There were suspicions for a long time that she was having an affair with the Chief Steward. A servant said he saw the two of them coming out of the same room, but... he said it was a mistake. Or maybe he wanted to pretend he didn’t know. I should’ve told my fath—my dad back then.”

“Big brother...”

“And a few days ago, I saw it myself—those two, walking at night with their arms linked all affectionate—GRIT.”

Qing knew very well that humans inevitably spoke in ways that benefited themselves.

So in truth, Jong Munun’s claim was just his opinion—there wasn’t actually proof.

A head of household forming a sworn-brother bond with a Chief Steward was common enough, sure.

And he’d already said his birth mother died long ago, so the second wife would’ve become the legal wife, managing the household’s affairs.

So talking with the Chief Steward—who handled the household business and guarded the assets—what was so strange about that?

But after that... wasn’t the picture way too weird?

First off, based on what Qing had personally observed inside Kunming’s strange-plague quarantine zone, this strange plague wasn’t a terrifying disease that could kill a healthy person overnight.

No—diseases that killed a normal, healthy person overnight were rare to begin with.

And yet a man suddenly died of Bai people smallpox—a thing that didn’t even exist.

Then that “sworn older brother” bastard raged and shouted that the true culprit who’d spread it was those children, that they were trash of the earth, and drove them out?

Normally, if your sworn younger brother died, wouldn’t you say you’d take care of his children no matter what?

And then there was the scene Jong Munun claimed he saw.

Lee, after the head of household died and after she drove out his sons, was a widow who became the owner of the merchant house overnight.

And that widow was strolling around at night with the Chief Steward, arms linked, all cozy?

Honestly, to everyone under heaven, it couldn’t be clearer that the two of them had plotted this together.

There just wasn’t physical evidence.

“Unbelievable. Dogshit bastards.”

Qing flared up, leaping to her feet.

“Let’s go. We can’t not go see those bastards’ faces for ourselves.”

“Benefactor, thank you for the thought, but that Chief Steward’s connections are no joke, so the magistrate’s office will definitely take his side. If you end up in trouble, Benefactor, I—”

Jong Munun trailed off, unable to hide his fluster.

Because Qing suddenly started rubbing his head, ruffling his hair—scritch, scritch.

Honestly, wasn’t it admirable?

Instead of cheering and charging along at “Let’s go get revenge,” he was worrying about her first. That was grown-up.

“Aww. Good boy. Worrying about me, too.”

“Benefactor? Th-that, petting me is... a little...”

Jong Munun’s face turned bright red.

That cool touch was impossibly gentle, and along with the soft movement of her sleeve, it felt like an incredibly good scent was drifting out......

“And connections? Please. What am I, chopped liver? I’ve got connections too, you know? Enough. Let’s go. I’m not helping you guys or anything—if I hear that and don’t see it through to the end, I feel like I won’t even be able to sleep. This is totally for me, got it?”

*****

A worker came running up onto the porch, panting hard.

“Um—Chief Steward, have you heard the news!?”

“Heh. Hey, man, watch your mouth—who’s ‘Chief Steward’? Someone might misunderstand. Like I’m an older brother who stole my sworn younger brother’s place.”

“That’s exactly right. Our brother-in-law is working so hard, leading the merchant house our man left behind so excellently.”

The man called Chief Steward said that, but instead of looking displeased, he wore a satisfied smile.

Honestly, he looked like the type who didn’t care what people misunderstood.

Because the woman pressed tight against his side, acting coquettish, was the sworn younger brother’s wife—wasn’t it an openly disgraceful sight?

Anyway, the two of them were stuck together, looking truly pleased.

But only for a moment.

“Th-the young masters, you know...?”

At that, the woman—Lee—turned vicious.

“What do you mean ‘young masters’? Who’s a young master? The only young master is the baby in my belly. And besides that, do we have any young masters in this merchant house?”

“Now, now, sister-in-law, calm down. For the baby’s sake, you should only look at good things, only hear good things, and keep only good people at your side. Like me.”

“Oh, come on. Brother-in-law.”

The two of them cackled together like it was the greatest thing in the world.

After that, the man asked, casually.

“So, Yu, what is it? Those trash bastards who ate their own father—why? Don’t tell me they died. Ah, what a shame. I meant to punish them just enough and bring them back in. There’s even the three-year mourning period, and they couldn’t even last a month—tsk, tsk. How weak did my younger brother raise his kids.”

His tone didn’t sound remotely sorry.

And Lee, glued to his side, was beaming like a flower in full bloom.

“No, Chief Steward. A martial artist showed up and took the ki—no, the children in.”

“What? A martial artist?”

The man and woman’s faces hardened.

What kind of bastards were martial artists?

Lawless criminals who didn’t follow national law, didn’t even pretend to follow it.

And despite that, they called themselves heroes and loved sticking their noses into other people’s business.

But look at the reality.

They sat around doing nothing, squatted on territory, and extorted protection money at swordpoint—if that wasn’t a band of thieves, what was?

They stole other people’s money while lazing around—where, exactly, was the “justice” and “chivalry” they bragged about?

Still, separate from a merchant’s resentful hostility toward martial artists, this wasn’t something he could shrug off.

“Was it a famous one? What level are they?”

“Not a ‘he.’ A ‘she.’ I don’t know the level, but her sword was flashing, and she’d jump one step and clear ten lengths—her skill was terrifying...”

“Damn it!”

The man sprang to his feet.

And of all times, now.

He’d just sent away even the hired wandering martial guards he’d been keeping around to handle the merchant house’s business, and he’d been spreading feelers around to invite a famous one again—

And before he could, this happened.

“Brother-in-law? If it’s a martial artist—”

“This is bad. She’ll definitely stick her nose in. First, ask Elder Jihyeon for help, and also ask the Great Five Poison Sect for people, and—AHEM—sister-in-law, we’re going to have to spend gold generously.”

“Gold? How much?”

“At least a full ingot—”

Lee’s eyes sharpened into needles.

“No, that’s why I told you from the beginning to use assassins. You wanted to save money and use useless beggar brats instead—those beggar brats, too, you fed them until they were stuffed, and then they couldn’t even kill a couple of pathetic little brats—”

That wasn’t something you could ignore.

But the man brushed it off, like it was nothing.

Because he already knew.

“Ah, how was I supposed to know it’d turn out like this. I heard there was a famous master at that West—whatever place, so I was going to use that money to bring him in. And also have him be our child’s martial arts master, invite a truly outstanding figure and all.”

At “our child,” the woman’s expression softened a bit.

If Qing had heard, she’d have said it was getting worse the more they spoke—every time they opened their mouths, sins worthy of death spilled out in clumps.

“Ahem. Is gold the problem right now? We have to stop that martial artist first. Luckily, last time I showed plenty of sincerity to Elder Jihyeon and the Great Five Poison Sect, so they’ll definitely send a bunch of officials.”

Then the man shouted, calling in his close subordinates.

“Chuil! Chui! Yes—Chuil, you go to the magistrate’s office right now and ask for help. Tell them a martial artist is about to cause trouble, and she’s not ordinary—they’ll understand. And tell them we’ll reward them properly later. It’s urgent, right now. Chui, you go to the Great Five Poison Sect and say the same, and tell them we’ll pay a full year’s protection money in advance.”

He moved quickly, at least.

But Lee still looked uneasy.

“Brother-in-law, but still—what if some terrifying master shows up?”

“Now, now. A terrifying master has no reason to come all the way to a border backwater like this. Unless it’s a Diancang Sect master—hey! Yu! Yu!”

“Yes, Ch-Chief Steward.”

“Th-that master they said showed up—she wasn’t a Diancang Sect master, right? Right?”

“Wouldn’t that be the case? Everyone recognizes Diancang Sect robes. Since we didn’t hear anything like that, she shouldn’t be a Diancang Sect martial artist.”

“Whew. Then we’re fine.”

The man let out a breath of relief.

“Brother-in-law, then... it’s okay, right? I can relax, right?”

“If she’s not a Diancang Sect master, that’s the end of it. Sister-in-law, martial artists are like street thugs—they don’t run wild on other people’s territory. Once Great Five Poison Sect martial artists arrive, she’ll back off without fighting, and if officials show up too, even more so. ‘Noninterference between officials and the martial world,’ this and that—once the government gets involved, they slip away. Same as a band of thieves.”

“Then... it’s okay? I can trust you?”

The man thumped his chest with a couple of solid slaps.

“Of course. Just trust me. Ah, our sister-in-law must’ve been so scared. I should hold you tight.”

“Oh, come on. Brother-in-law...”

The two bastards clung to each other and made fools of themselves.

Even though this was absolutely not the time for it.