“Where on earth did you just pop up from?”
“Could it be that Miss Zhuge has made a wrong career choice?”
“If she had simply chosen the right genre, wouldn’t she be shouting ‘Requiescat in pace’ while wielding an assassination blade, or infiltrating the military under the codename ‘Iron Snake’?”
“While I was lost in my ridiculous thoughts, Miss Zhuge stood her ground in front of my father-in-law, and I couldn’t help but be moved by this unexpected backup.”
“Hello, it’s been a while. Dad has missed you so much. Let’s talk separately later.”
“With a voice so full of warmth that I wished he would show me even one percent of that, my father-in-law spoke to his daughter.”
“I-I don’t want to!”
“Of course, Miss Zhuge had no intention of backing down.”
“Whoa!”
“My father-in-law seemed mildly shocked just then.”
“Master Kang is a good person! We can’t part!”
“Go, Zhuge! You just landed a straight punch on my father-in-law’s mental state!”
“My father-in-law’s eyes briefly wavered at the unexpected assault, but soon he seemed to regain his composure and spoke again in a gentle voice.”
“You’re just young! If it’s this father, he can bring a much better man than that black-haired guy anytime!”
“Right. If it’s the Zhuge family, they could line up all the young masters of prestigious families and have a turn around the training grounds.”
“Just as a bitter smile was about to form on my face uncontrollably…”
“There’s absolutely no one better than Master Kang!”
“Her words struck straight to my heart with conviction.”
“Miss Zhuge…”
“Ahem. It’s Master Kang.”
“As I turned my head, moved, Miss Zhuge shyly avoided my gaze. Yet her grip tightened, unwilling to let go.”
“Oof! Whose hand are you holding right now? You won’t let it go, huh?!”
“Well, that was your daughter’s doing.”
“That cannot be!”
“What did you say?!”
“Since Miss Zhuge provided cover fire, it was now my turn.”
I boldly stepped forward, hand in hand with Miss Zhuge, like a couple trying to show off their love despite being from different backgrounds.
“Father! Long ago, even though Lady Huang had a different hair color and skin tone than those in the Central Plains, I believe General Zhuge was enamored by her talents and married her. You might not find my black hair appealing, but I, Kang Yoon-ho! If you see me by your side, I’m sure…”
“Uck!”
Something brushed past my cheek at an unseen speed.
“Dad!”
“What the hell!!! Why are you still groping my daughter’s hand?! What’s wrong with you?!”
“Father-in-law!”
“Is it possible for a brush to get stuck in a wall? I was startled and called out to my father-in-law.”
“Father-in-law? Oh, really? Are you trying to go all the way with this?!”
“Please think one more time! Uck!”
This time, an ink stone whizzed past my face. No matter how much a literati’s friend could be an inkstone, could it also be used in this way?!
“This isn’t good. Time for an emergency escape technique!”
“Hah?! M-Master Kang?!”
I quickly hid behind Miss Zhuge.
“Is that you hiding behind my daughter?!”
“Please move that iron brush away first. If I get hit by that, I’ll be dead!”
“Dad, please don’t!”
“As my father-in-law approached with ominous steps, Miss Zhuge spread her arms to block him.”
“Get, get away!”
Miss Zhuge’s action of blocking him seemed quite shocking as my father-in-law paused in his tracks.
“Father! No matter how angry you are! Let’s resolve this peacefully! Through conversation!”
“YOU!!! What the hell are you doing groping my daughter?!”
“Father, it’s not what you think…”
“I’m clinging here because I feel like I might fall to my death otherwise!”
“If I fall, that iron brush will come flying straight for me, and I can see the murderous intent in my father-in-law’s eyes!”
“Aah! Dad!”
“Xiang! Get out of the way!”
“In the end, as my father-in-law got very close, Miss Zhuge clenched her fists and shouted with a tearful voice.”
“Father! If you come any closer, I will hate you!”
“Gah! My, my daughter!”
This is getting intense.
My father’s love for his daughter made his resolve momentarily falter. Gripping his heart, he looked at his daughter as if he had been deeply hurt.
“Master Kang, you stand behind, behind, behind!”
“Because of you…!”
“My daughter is saying such harsh things to her own father. This is all your fault! His piercing gaze was so hot it felt like it could see right through me.”
“Father-in-law, I know I’m in the wrong.”
“Please give me a chance.”
While the boss mob was stunned for just a moment, I rushed out once more to seek another chance.
“What chance?! I didn’t raise my daughter just so I could bargain with a brat like you! Never! Not in a million years!”
“While my father-in-law was rambling, Miss Zhuge pointed quickly at the corner.”
“Master Kang, there’s dirt over there in that flower pot.”
“Huh? Miss Zhuge?”
“Hah… Xiang?”
As Miss Zhuge’s gaze suddenly turned panicked, she mumbled with a shy voice.
“Ugh… Is that really not it?”
“No, that doesn’t seem right.”
“Ugggh! Even if dirt comes in, it’s a no goooo!”
“Things are getting out of hand here. Really.”
“I, I may not have done significant things, but I have now gained the recognition of Man Geum-jeon Lord. I am now the successor of Man Geum Battlefield. Please consider this seriously one last time.”
Miss Zhuge looked anxiously as her lover passionately pleaded to her father.
“Are you trying to trick me into that position by luring my daughter? You think you can negotiate with me because you’re a merchant now?!”
My father’s wrath showed no sign of simmering down.
“How could I negotiate anything with just a position as successor? I merely ask that you see the great Master Kang who has come to the Central Plains and has gained the recognition of Lord Man Geum-jeon, just once more with coolness.”
“To consider you coolly, huh? Alright! As far as I can see, you’re the black-haired kid who took my daughter in without my consent and hadn’t even sent a greeting in nearly a year!”
“In my father’s eyes, all he saw was that troublesome black-haired kid. The truth was enough to hurt Miss Zhuge’s heart.”
“Father! Like I said…”
“I don’t want to hear it! Even if you begged with your hands to the point they wore off! You’re using my daughter as a shield to avoid punishment! While you’re begging for mercy, you’re still making excuses! You truly must think you’ve done no wrong!”
“Father!”
“If it stays like this, I will end up having to leave Master Kang forever.”
To everyone, even the great Master Kang may seem remarkable, but in my father’s eyes, he was just a black-haired Ho Pil running a little shop.
Besides, either way, having set up a household without permission from father could never be forgiven.
No matter how well Master Kang tried to persuade me, in my father’s eyes, he simply committed an unforgivable offense.
“I guess there’s only one way to resolve this.”
There must be one way for me to overturn this situation.
But still… Should I really go with that method? If it fails, it’s a big deal… No, there is no failure. It’s my only option. I really don’t want to part with Master Kang.
A whirlwind of anxieties fluttered through my mind, but I shook them off with a vigorous shaking of my head.
I must step up.
Just like the Poison Kill Space of Tang Jung or the Eight Trigrams Swordplay of Un-hyeon, I have my own ultimate trump card that could convince even my father.
Steeling my resolve, I called out to my father.
“Dad!”
“If you get involved any further, you will be severely punished by this father of yours!”
“I-I have something to say!”
It felt like the walls were closing in. I squeezed my lover’s hand fiercely for courage.
“Miss Zhuge?”
“I’m scared. My hand is shaking.” I felt like something was lacking, so I pressed my partner’s hand firmly. Yet, for some unknown reason, I felt a strong hold as if they would never let go.
“Stay back…!”
It was the warm hand of Master Kang. A soothing hand. A comforting hand. I could breathe. The trembling subsided. With a deep breath, I thought that with Master Kang by my side, I could do this.
Then came my final trump card.
“Ahem! I, uh, already slept with Master Kang!”
“…….”
“…….”
In an instant, a heavy silence fell over the room.
“Xiang?”
“Miss Zhuge?”
“W-What do you mean? I-I heard everything! I swear that kid didn’t lay a finger on you!”
“I-I swear! I had nothing to feel guilty about!”
Today, for the first time, two men desperately scrambled to fix the situation.
“We, um, slept in the same bed for a whole week before coming home.”
With that embarrassing confession that turned my face beet red, everything we had painstakingly built came crashing down.
“Miss Zhuge!”
“Xiang! Even if you’re in a rush, you can’t say that to your father!”
“Zhuge Geuk seemed to want to deny it, chiding his daughter.”
“You can’t say that Master Kang touched your chest all night, right?!”
Turning redder than a ripe persimmon, the daughter made the ultimate blunder that pierced her father’s heart.
“Ha ha ha! Xiang! If you’re going to lie, at least get your story straight…”
This can’t be true.
It can’t be.
Deny it completely.
His daughter was simply saying those things to get out of this.
My gut instinct told me that the black-haired kid wouldn’t be the type to lie. Zhuge Geuk’s gaze turned towards me for confirmation.
“…….”
Seeing that the black-haired thief couldn’t meet my gaze was like a death knell.
“You?! Are you lying?!”
“Father! O-Oh, there’s a misunderstanding!”
“How dare you lay a finger on my daughter!!!”
The reverberation of the furious yell shook my father-in-law’s office.
“Master Kang has done nothing wrong! I-I was the one who suggested we share a bed!”
“What?!”
“Miss Zhuge!”
The leader of the Zhuge family, Zhuge Geuk, stood frozen, trying to comprehend the situation.
His daughter had slept with someone before marriage.
Our daughter had slept with that black-haired thief.
After nearly twenty years of loving and raising my daughter, she had been stolen away by a black-haired thief.
“Ugh! Ugh!”
Even the leader of the Zhuge family couldn’t accept this.
“Daaaaad!”
“Father!”
“My lord! My lord! Please regain your composure!”
Through such an absurd calamity, the martial artist world has shown me that even they can collapse from stress.
I defeated the leader of the Zhuge family! Should I just leap issue with a black-haired thief, or should I just run wild through the Demonic Cult? While I pondered this, my father-in-law thankfully regained his senses quickly.
“Throw that brat in the brain prison right now!”
Though it was unfortunate that he didn’t forget to remind me as he stepped out to restore order.
“Come along.”
“I cannot! No way!”
“I shall leave.”
“Master Kang?!”
If I am guilty of anything, it’s simply that I unconsciously looked for a warm, soft place as the weather turned chilly.
However, since my father-in-law had figured that out, there’s no use making excuses. Miss Zhuge’s explosive declaration was an unforeseen action, but it didn’t matter.
What he considered to be a line had been crossed to the level of a ceasefire. There was time for my father-in-law to reconsider.
I’d take this opportunity to score some points. A son-in-law has to pretend to be submissive.
“Miss Zhuge, please do tell the others carefully.”
I gently ruffled Miss Zhuge’s hair and smiled as I headed out of the room.
————
“Follow me.”
As I followed the martial artist of the Zhuge family, we reached a heavily guarded area.
“The black-haired guy I heard rumors about is him, isn’t it?”
Is this a prison? Someone who has lived an honest life without telling a single lie in his life might end up in jail.
But that doesn’t bother me much.
‘Because I now have low-ranked folks underneath me.’
When the people of Man Geum Battlefield learn that their successor has been imprisoned, they’ll spring into action right away. Miss Zhuge and Gil-sang won’t remain idle either.
‘Really, it was unnecessary to stubbornly refuse to go and make things awkward.’
It was all a mere formality. I’m the son-in-law who listens well to my father-in-law, so I can even enter a prison.
Just a little show for everyone.
“I know you know…”
While pondering whether to request special meals like tofu or cake once I got out of jail, the person in charge of the prison and the one who brought me exchanged words for quite a while.
“Are you really sure about this?”
“Come on, let’s not complicate things for no reason.”
“I did hear a bit in advance, but I got it.”
What could it be?
“It’s done. Go inside.”
“This isn’t the prison; it’s the entrance to the garden, isn’t it?”
I had no idea what was behind the door, but the refreshing scent tickled my nose.
“……”
“Is there perhaps a different jail inside the Zhuge family sealed in an impenetrable formation?”
Or is the imprisonment a punishment, and I’ve just been given house arrest?
As I kept questioning, the martial artist sighed softly and said.
“Lady Zhang is waiting for you. Please enter.”
Lady Zhang?
In the Zhuge family, a woman with the Zhang surname…
No way, right?!
“Is it my mother-in-law?!”
