Chapter 131

The night Jegal Seon-a revealed the secret about the Namgung Family.

Namgung Woo stayed awake late into the night. His sleep schedule was never long to begin with. As a Peerless Master, his body had already transcended the need for sleep.

He only slept out of habit, following the ingrained patterns of his life. Even then, it was no more than four hours. When he woke at dawn, he would meditate, regulate his breathing, or practice martial arts while others slept.

So, when someone knocked on his door during the hour of Hai (9-11 PM), Namgung Woo naturally welcomed the visitor.

“Come in.”

Normally, he would lazily open the door with a wave of his hand, but this time was different.

He walked to the door and opened it himself. There was only one person who received such treatment from Namgung Woo.

“Sorry for coming so late, Gaga.”

“It’s fine. You know I don’t sleep at this hour anyway. No need to apologize.”

Paeng Ha-ryeong knew that, which was why she came at this time.

If it had been Namgung Woo’s usual sleeping hours, she would have either come earlier or waited until he woke up.

“Still worried about Jegal Seon-a?”

Namgung Woo brewed tea as if it were second nature. Without even needing to light a fire, he used the heat of the Samadhi True Fire to boil the water.

At his casual remark, Paeng Ha-ryeong felt her chest tighten.

Jegal Seon-a.

Despite the time they had spent together, the formal title still created distance. It was Namgung Woo’s way of showing consideration for Paeng Ha-ryeong, and the result of her own passive acceptance of his care.

But she couldn’t keep this up forever.

She had known for a long time.

If Namgung Woo truly wanted to rebuild the Namgung Family, his wife couldn’t be just Paeng Ha-ryeong alone.

She understood it in her head, but her heart couldn’t accept it.

She hated it.

The thought of someone else, another woman, standing by Namgung Woo’s side.

But now, it was time to accept it.

Setting aside the subtle feelings of Song Chaeji and Myorin, there was Jegal Seon-a, who exuded a mix of affection and admiration, and even Princess Jihyang, who charged in like a wild boar.

“Thank you, Gaga, and I’m sorry. I knew you were thinking of me, but I still acted spoiled.”

“Ha-ryeong.”

Namgung Woo called her name heavily, sensing what she was about to say.

But Paeng Ha-ryeong didn’t stop.

“I’m not forcing you to accept Seon-a. I just want to tell you that you don’t need to put up walls for other women anymore. Like you did with me, open your heart to others too.”

Paeng Ha-ryeong forced herself to remain calm as she finished speaking.

Before saying it out loud, the decision had felt heavy and burdensome, but now that she had spoken, she felt a bit relieved.

But Namgung Woo still felt resistance.

Having lived in a world where monogamy was the norm, he still doubted whether this was truly acceptable.

“But even the Blade Sovereign practices monogamy…”

“Huh? No, he doesn’t.”

Paeng Ha-ryeong questioned him as if she didn’t understand.

Paeng Hu-sang only had one wife? That wasn’t what she remembered.

But she understood why Namgung Woo might think that. At least, for now, he only had one.

“Originally, my father had a wife before. If you want to get technical, my mother would be considered the second wife.”

Unfortunately, Paeng Hu-sang’s first wife was frail. After a miscarriage, Paeng Hu-sang, as the family head, took on the responsibility of continuing the family line and took a second wife, Moyong Hye, who gave birth to Paeng Ja-ryeong, Paeng Ha-ryeong, and Paeng Ye-ryeong.

“I heard she passed away around the time I was born. I don’t remember her, but my brother sometimes talked about her. He said she was a kind person.”

Paeng Ha-ryeong recalled the few memories Paeng Ja-ryeong had shared about Paeng Hu-sang’s first wife.

“She was quiet but deeply considerate. My brother said she treated him like her own child. Maybe that’s why he turned out the way he did. Our mother had a strong personality, though she changed after Ye-ryeong was born.”

Though the Moyong Family was now almost indistinguishable from a merchant family, they were originally a martial family.

It was a bit amusing that Moyong Hye, who had trained in martial arts, wasn’t just a gentle person.

“And… my mother married my father because of the first wife’s wishes.”

Unlike neighboring countries that prohibited polygamy, the Great Ming Code was remarkably lenient, allowing polygamy.

You might think, “Doesn’t Joseon also allow a man to have multiple wives?” But in Joseon, it was more about monogamy with the allowance of concubinage. There was a clear distinction between the main wife and concubines.

However, the Great Ming Code’s polygamy wasn’t about concubinage but about having multiple main wives. There might be an order, but all wives held equal status and rights.

That didn’t mean you could just take as many wives as you wanted. There were conditions attached. Of course, martial families striving to pull the Heavenly Silk Thread often ignored the Great Ming Code, but that was just how the powerful operated.

But the Paeng Family’s situation was a bit different. With the Imperial Family right next door, even taking multiple wives required careful consideration.

Even the fierce tiger of Hapbuk couldn’t stand against the Imperial Dragon.

The Paeng Family elders knew this better than anyone, yet they unanimously urged Paeng Hu-sang to take a second wife because his situation met all the legal conditions for polygamy under the Great Ming Code.

Why worry about the Imperial Family’s opinion? It was a perfectly legal polygamous marriage under the Great Ming Code.

This was a rare opportunity! The Paeng Family, which struggled to produce direct heirs. The previous family head had tried hard but only managed to have Paeng Hu-sang and Paeng Mu-ho. Thankfully, Paeng Hu-sang had the Heavenly Silk Thread.

If they added another wife now, even if the first wife had children later, the marital bond would continue.

Wow! Double the direct heirs! The elders welcomed it with open arms.

But Paeng Hu-sang stubbornly refused the elders’ suggestion. His wife wasn’t dead, she hadn’t gone through menopause, and just because she had a miscarriage didn’t mean they should give up.

Faced with the authority of Paeng Hu-sang, the first Peerless Master the Paeng Family had produced in a long time, the elders had no choice but to back down.

The one who changed Paeng Hu-sang’s mind was none other than the first wife herself.

“As the family head, bearing the family’s fate, it’s your duty to fulfill your responsibilities. That’s what she said.”

“…She had a strong sense of responsibility.”

“Right? Even when my father was away, my mother took care of her memorial day.”

Even in the Paeng Family, where family rules were lenient, those who became family heads entered arranged marriages.

Take Paeng Ja-ryeong, for example. The current family head married into the Moyong Family, another of the Seven Great Families, so to balance things, Paeng Ja-ryeong married a woman from a prestigious non-martial family.

Paeng Hu-sang was different. As a Peerless Master, he had the power to completely suppress even the family elders. He rejected the arranged marriages they proposed and married for love.

Though he ended up marrying Moyong Hye for political reasons as well.

Even so, the first wife, thinking of Paeng Hu-sang’s position and the future of the Hapbuk Paeng Family, willingly stepped aside.

‘But… unlike my brother, I guess I didn’t inherit her traits.’

Seeing how she still felt pain after saying all this to Namgung Woo.

In truth, Paeng Ha-ryeong’s decision to say this to Namgung Woo wasn’t out of broad-mindedness but more out of a compromise with reality, driven by a sense of impending crisis.

‘…It’s a bit hard to do alone.’

A secret she could never tell Namgung Woo.

Paeng Ha-ryeong could never admit that the appearance of Princess Gasang Jihyang had triggered her sense of crisis.

“Alright.”

Namgung Woo nodded.

“But I’m only promising not to put up walls. Whether or not I share my heart is a separate matter.”

Ironically, leaving room for refusal soothed Paeng Ha-ryeong’s heart.

Unconsciously wearing a sad smile, Paeng Ha-ryeong finally regained a bright smile and replied.

“Of course.”

§

“So? What happened next? Did you…!”

“That’s enough of that story.”

Namgung Woo cut her off, but Namgung Sol’s imagination had already run wild, conjuring up the rest of the story.

Giggling silently to herself, Namgung Sol had already crafted an entire epic in her mind.

“Ah, I just remembered. How did you find me? I mean, you could figure out my location easily, but why come all the way out here for something like that…?”

“I’m not sure what you mean by ‘something like that,’ but I came to find you because the Yang Brothers told me.”

Namgung Woo briefly recalled the Yang Brothers rushing to find him earlier.

[Boss! You might want to come take a look. The atmosphere is pretty intense.]

[We saw some martial artists arguing about the young lady’s advancement in the competition at a few inns. We’re worried something might happen to her.]

At their exaggerated concern, Namgung Woo immediately took action.

At first, he thought the Yang Brothers were overreacting, but the actual scene exceeded his expectations.

“Tomorrow.”

“Huh?”

This commotion wouldn’t settle on its own.

It needed a clear resolution.

And that would likely be decided tomorrow.

“Tomorrow, the name of the Namgung Family will be reestablished in the martial world.”