WeTried Translations

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Editor: Abstract

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Chapter 10: Invitation (3)

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Invitation (3)

They say you can read a person's character from their room.

The Minister of Justice Mo Yun's room was tidiness itself.

Elegant orchids stood on the desk and the display cabinet, and the furniture carried itself with an old-fashioned grace.

Every detail spoke of how much the man prized dignity and refinement.

Yu Yeop-kyung stepped inside, took it all in, and felt himself tense up.

'This one will be difficult.'

They had not exchanged a single word, yet he could already guess the man's temperament well enough. The harder a man like this was to read, the more awkward he was to deal with.

'What on earth does he want to discuss?'

Yu Yeop-kyung had fretted over that question the whole way here. Deputy Commissioner Oh Ji-gang suspected it had something to do with Yeo's eldest son, Yu Jin-sung, who had graduated from Changcheon Martial Academy as the Second Graduate and entered the Censorate.

'This is worrying.'

He feared the man might heap some absurd pressure on him for no good reason. As he walked in, he saw the Minister of Justice seated at the desk, writing something with a brush.

The man's first impression was striking. Drooping eyes paired with thick, sharply raised brows. It was a singular face that held both softness and strength at once.

"Deputy Commissioner Oh Ji-gang. I pay my respects to His Excellency the Minister of Justice."

"This humble one, Yu Yeop-kyung. I pay my respects to His Excellency the Minister of Justice."

Mo Yun was head of the Ministry of Justice among the Six Ministries and one of the highest-ranking officials at the Senior Second Rank, so the two of them bowed with full courtesy. Mo Yun rose from his seat to receive their greeting.

"Come, come. You must be weary from the long road."

He gestured for them to sit. They waited for Mo Yun to take the seat of honor first, then Yu Yeop-kyung and Deputy Commissioner Oh Ji-gang followed.

Deputy Commissioner Oh Ji-gang offered Mo Yun the usual pleasantries.

"Have you been keeping well all this while?"

"I never leave the imperial capital, so what would happen to me? It is Deputy Commissioner Oh, who travels every corner of the land and carries out the watch with his own hands, who bears the real hardships."

"Not at all. It is only what must be done."

"Haha. The same as ever, I see. In any case, is this gentleman here school official Yeo?"

"School official, you say? I was dismissed from that post long ago. Please take back those words."

Yu Yeop-kyung bowed his head and lowered his posture. Watching him, Mo Yun smiled and said,

"You were a scholar who taught the sons of high officials and the finest talents gathered from every corner of the realm. A dismissal does not strip away that dignity."

"To hear you say such a thing, I scarcely know where to put myself."

For any other office, a dismissed title would not be used. But given the nature of the National Academy, the post was a teaching one, and so out of respect a scholar was still addressed by their former title even after retirement or dismissal, as a courtesy owed to a learned man.

'Did I let myself grow frightened too soon?'

Treated this way, Yu Yeop-kyung still could not fully lower his guard, but he began to think the Minister of Justice might be a better man than he had expected.

Then the smile on Mo Yun's face turned somewhat serious.

"That is enough greetings. Now we should speak of the real matter."

"The real matter, you say?"

"School official Yeo. Your son graduated from Changcheon Martial Academy this time as the Second Graduate, and became an Inspector Censor at the Censorate, did he not?"

"......That is so."

Mo Yun laced his fingers on the table, rested his chin on the back of his clasped hands, and spoke in a low tone.

"It has become quite troublesome. Your son becoming an Inspector Censor and digging around here and there, that is."

That gaze turned sharp and fixed on Yu Yeop-kyung himself. Yu Yeop-kyung swallowed hard.

So that earlier exchange really had been nothing more than pleasantries. The man who had summoned him, freshly pardoned and only just released from exile, was the supreme head of the Ministry of Justice. There was no way he would call him here without some scheme in mind.

Yu Yeop-kyung opened his mouth, his voice trembling.

"I believe there has been some misunderstanding, Your Excellency."

"A misunderstanding? What misunderstanding could there possibly be? With your son throwing his weight around, my position is anything but easy."

"......"

Beads of sweat gathered on Yu Yeop-kyung's tense forehead. It seemed his eldest son had ruffled the feelings of people in high places.

'Is this because of me, your father?'

That was the only thing he could think of. After all, when the young one was being sent into exile, had he not wept and wailed and made a great fuss, swearing that one day he would make the ones who had brought his father to such a state pay for it?

'Jin-sung. Jin-sung......'

Something stirred deep in his chest, yet he was utterly at a loss. It seemed the boy had been carrying out an investigation for his father's sake, but could you not have done it quietly, at the very least? The moment his exile ended, he could not fathom the predicament he had landed in.

"Your Excellency...... if my son has in any way unsettled you, then as his father, the fault is mine for failing to keep him close and discipline him properly. I beg you, let your anger..."

"Hah! Do you think apologizing like that will undo this matter?"

The mood grew steadily heavier. Even Deputy Commissioner Oh Ji-gang, who had brought him here, was on edge. He had not expected Mo Yun to press and bear down on Yeo like this.

"Anger. Hah. That is not what matters here."

"Your Excellency."

"Thanks to your son, my position has become greatly difficult."

At the fury laced through the man's voice, Yu Yeop-kyung decided this would not do and rose from his seat. He clasped his hands together, bent at the waist, and said,

"Your Excellency, all of this is my own failing. If there is anything that troubles you, I beg you, direct it at me and not at my son."

Protecting his son was the only thing a father could do. At this, Mo Yun gave a snort. Then he said,

"Do you think that will change anything? It is already too late."

"Y, Your Excellency!"

"How am I supposed to hold back the badgering of my wife and daughter!"

"......What?"

The faces of Yu Yeop-kyung, drenched in cold sweat and wound tight with tension, and Deputy Commissioner Oh Ji-gang, who had been watching uneasily at his side, both went stiff.

What in the world was this supposed to mean? As they stood there bewildered, Mo Yun shook his head from side to side and said,

"Your eldest son. These days he has become a pointless role model to the young folk. Are you even aware of that?"

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