I shouldn’t beg for mercy from the Tang Family Head.
Of course, it’s not because I have no way to beg for mercy.
I could make something like my mother’s blood-stained hanbok and create a sea of tears. Sniffle “Please, I miss my dad, please let Hwa-rin live.” I could totally act out a begging-for-mercy scene.
Later, I might even take the opportunity to cause a stir in the Tang Family and eliminate numerous Tang family members.
The touching reunion of a father and son. Just the thought of it is cool. I’ll take my time proving I’m the son of the Tang Family Head and get the poison from the Beast of Humanity to heal Hwa-rin.
Time may be short, but it’s the righteous path.
The problem is, this is only a move when I really am the son of the Tang Family Head.
Dramatic pause “My strength can turn into a weakness before the Tang Family Head.”
There’s one undeniable thing that got me this far: Hyang-a’s diary.
No one could refute that I’m Hyang-a’s son. Except for one person, who happens to be standing right in front of me.
Thinking it over “Dragging this into a long game would be disadvantageous.”
For now, I’m confident I can pull a fast one over the Tang Family Head. But a prolonged battle? That’s another story. The poison from the Beast of Humanity is the Tang Family’s secret weapon. Even if the Head approves, the Elders’ Council needs to give their consent too.
Even if there’s a touching reunion, the interrogation will continue, and what if I mess up in front of the Tang Family Head? We all know how that’ll end…
To ensure both my life and Hwa-rin’s, I need to go for a short-term victory.
But to do that, I need to take command of this situation, not the Tang Family Head, and obtain the poison from the Beast of Humanity.
How can I make that happen?
I’ve got a plan.
“I am not your son.”
———————
Let’s start with a bang.
“That guy has finally revealed his true colors!”
“What, what did I say!”
“The Tang Family Head appears, and now he’s spilling the truth!”
My shocking statement caused an uproar around me. Whispers “Is Elder Councilman too fond of this?”
“Shh! The Head says to be quiet.”
When the Tang Family Head raised his hand, people began to settle down, glancing around nervously.
“What do you mean by that?”
The Tang Family Head asked me with a solemn expression.
It’s just what I said. I am not your son. I’ve taken too long a detour to reveal the truth.
It’s not just my head on the line; I carry the lives of Hwa-rin and the fallen members of the Guard Unit on my shoulders.
I looked the Tang Family Head straight in the eyes and opened my mouth.
“I’m saying it clearly. I am not your son.”
“I heard someone shouting that at the gates of the Sichuan Tang Family.”
What? Am I shouting that I’m the Head’s son all over town and now I’m saying something else? But you know what? I didn’t forget to craft my scheme even in that moment of urgency.
Grinning “Oh, did you hear that wrong? I said I’m the son of Hyang-a, the one you loved. Never once did I say I was your son. Never once have I come to the Sichuan Tang Family and claimed to be your son.”
I have depicted myself as the son of the Tang Family Head through writing, action, and schemes. But I have never directly said that I am the Head’s son.
“I’ve heard that this gathering reflects your wishes as well. But are you here to play word games?”
Is he angry because I’m playing word games? Those eyes are intimidating! Has he trained in that legendary martial art move, Empty Split Eye Piercing Gaze?
Just a slight shift in the Tang Family Head’s gaze makes me feel like I’m standing before a tiger.
I clenched my teeth to resist the pressure.
Hang in there. Don’t shrink back. You’ve already prepared to stand before the tiger. Focus. I am Kang Yoon-ho. The abandoned son of Hyang-a from over twenty years ago. That bastard is the one who deserted my mother and me.
Channeling my anger “Do you know my name?”
“Yoon-ho. I heard you’re Kang… Yoon-ho.”
Caught onto the cue I didn’t let the opportunity slip away. I pushed forward.
“If I wanted to brag about being your son, why would my surname be Kang, not Tang? I’m the son of Hyang-a but not your son.”
I can eat pineapple pizza and possess the Bracelet of Remembrance, but I’m not your son. Sound of frying pan hitting the floor
“Twenty years ago, a child came between you and Hyang-a. If you say you’re Hyang-a’s son, then naturally…”
“Stop right there.”
I interrupted the Tang Family Head with a hint of anger in my voice.
“What did you say?”
“Maybe if you want to be called Father now, you should stop. My tongue may be able to speak many things, but it will never utter that word. It’s too disgusting for me to say.”
I furrowed my brow and turned away with a genuinely disgusted expression.
“You! How dare you disrespect your own father!”
One of the Tang Family Head’s aides shouted angrily. Boom!
I unleashed the bubbling rage I had prepared earlier.
“Who says you’re my father? Just because you sowed the seed, does that make you a father? Hah! Then I want to ask everyone here something.”
I turned dramatically, stretching my arms towards the audience sitting behind me.
“What is it?”
One of the Elders’ Council members who locked eyes with me asked.
All eyes were now on me. Exactly the situation I wanted. I activated the Small Wheel Mental Image Technique to project strength in my voice and spoke to ensure everyone could hear.
“You’ve seen the grains of the fields swaying in the breeze. Do you think those grains care where their seeds came from, or who their father is?”
Everyone here surely understands who I’m referring to when I talk about seeds.
The grain represents Kang Yoon-ho. The seed is the Tang Family Head, Tang Baek-ho. Does Kang Yoon-ho care at all about who his biological father is?
As I noticed curious expressions on their faces, I continued.
“No. The grains in the vast fields do not care where the winds have carried their seeds from.”
I shook my head, satisfying their curiosity, and continued talking.
“What the rice grown in the fields values the most, what they’re thankful for, who they love…”
I deliberately emphasized those three times and paused at the end, bringing my hand to my heart. The audience’s gaze followed my hand to my heart.
A person who’s so important that Kang Yoon-ho emphasizes them three times. Someone precious enough to hold close to his heart.
Who could that be?
“It is the mother who warmly nurtured that seed, like the great earth, worried if it might be hurt, might grow wrongly; and the father, the farmer, who raised it with care.”
That person is not the Tang Family Head, Tang Baek-ho.
It is Hyang-a, who gave birth to Kang Yoon-ho, and his adoptive father from the Kang family, who raised him. They are Kang Yoon-ho’s real mother and father.
Once I implanted my thoughts into everyone’s minds, I turned back to the Tang Family Head and placed my hand back on my heart.
“My name is Kang Yoon-ho. Half of me comes from my mother, and the other half from my adoptive father. Therefore, my name was given by my mother, Yoon-ho, and my surname is Kang. And there’s no place for the Sichuan Tang Family in that.”
I declared firmly to the Tang Family Head.
Behind the Tang Family Head’s stern facade, I felt a faint yet unmistakable emotional disturbance.
“Are you saying you deny my blood?”
He let his fierce demeanor soften a bit and looked at me with a sad gaze.
“The rice grown in the vast fields does not deny itself as rice. But a forsaken seed never acknowledges someone who does not even know what storms and hardships it has faced to thrive.”
A strong negation creates a strong affirmation.
You are my biological father, but I do not consider you to be a father. By mentioning the hardships I endured while growing up, I stimulate the Tang Family Head’s sense of guilt.
Since I do not acknowledge the Tang Family Head as my father, it eliminates the need for me to further prove I’m his child.
If I say I don’t need you, why would you still hold on and ask for proof? But that doesn’t mean I am not the Tang Family Head’s son.
All evidence so far has made me the child of the Tang Family Head. Add to that my refusal to call him father.
That statement transforms me from some illegitimate child hoping for scraps from my father’s mercy into a legitimate child brought together by fate.
In contrast, it keeps bolstering my credibility as the Tang Family Head’s son.
A brief silence enveloped the surroundings.
The audience would reflect on everything I had done thus far through the silence, confirming that I was indeed the son of the Tang Family Head.
Of course, the Tang Family Head would do the same.
If he were a heartless man, he could point out that I just said I wasn’t his son and say let’s go our separate ways. But the Tang Family Head is not that kind of person.
And I really did grow up through hardships. But you weren’t there. Sigh of relief I also provoked the Tang Family Head’s sense of guilt.
“I do not recognize you as my father, yet here I stand before you.”
Naturally, it would lead him to wonder.
“Then why did you write this book and come to the Tang Family?”
The Tang Family Head brought up The Rise of the Tang Family and asked me. As expected.
Since I’m denying being his son, I’ve deliberately created a gap to lead the situation here. Now it’s time to gain something.
How should I say this?
To save my friend’s life. Hwa-rin is my friend. That’s not enough. Saying that is simply inadequate.
I need to shake the Tang Family Head.
No, I need to stab the Tang Family Head in the heart. I have to smash the serious mask and shake him until I get the Tang Family’s secret weapon in my hands.
And I already know how to stab into the Tang Family Head’s heart.
“I came to protect my woman.”
That’s the weakness the Tang Family Head possesses.
