Little Demon Reversion to Youth

Chapter 7

Yang Soryeong found it difficult to understand what was being said.

"..."

"The White Mountain Sect is also aware of this, so you must be careful with your words. Do not even breathe a word about your mother, and if asked, you must say you are my daughter."

'Will that work? Even the people of the Yang estate don't know me. To suddenly say I'm her daughter?'

Yang Soryeong was puzzled, but after hearing the next words, she understood the reasoning behind it.

Mei Yancheng continued with a venomous expression, "You were born to me, but you were weak, so you were raised at my family's home, the Meixian Fang. The Meixian Fang is a secular branch of Huashan and a renowned martial arts family. At the Meixian Fang, they used all sorts of spiritual medicines to raise you, and thanks to your recovery, you have returned home. Everyone at the Yang estate knows it this way, so you must act accordingly."

"..."

"Will you not answer?"

"Yes."

Yang Soryeong answered obediently.

Mei Yancheng took a thin booklet from her sleeve and threw it to her.

"This contains information about my family at the Meixian Fang. If anyone asks, answer without giving yourself away. If they ask anything else about the Meixian Fang that is difficult to answer, just say you were confined to a rear detached building because you were weak and know nothing."

"I understand."

As if she had said all she needed to, Mei Yancheng immediately stood up and left.

"Phew. The Mistress is really scary."

Bangbang whispered as she watched Mei Yancheng's retreating back, who had come and gone like a storm.

"Why does she treat the Young Miss so frighteningly?"

Yang Soryeong realized that even Bangbang did not know her true origins.

'So this was the plan from the beginning.'

No wonder they had given her the cherished study. It occurred to her that it was all for show.

For some reason, Yang Soryeong felt a sense of disappointment. It felt as if her mother's existence had been erased.

* * *

A feast was held at the Yang estate.

It was a feast for the wedding delegation from the White Mountain Sect.

Even the servants were given alcohol and meat.

Jang Sam put a piece of pork in his mouth with a happy smile.

Ajok drank some alcohol and then offered the cup to Baekji.

"You have a drink too."

"..."

Baekji was busy stuffing meat into his mouth. There was no room for alcohol.

"What's with giving a kid alcohol? Give it here."

Jang Sam took the cup instead and downed it.

"Are you going too?"

Ajok tore off a piece of meat for Baekji and asked in a subtle voice.

"Me?"

"The Young Miss is leaving for the White Mountain Sect."

"Of course, I'm going too."

Baekji nodded as if it were obvious.

Ajok said in a worried voice, "The White Mountain Sect is a martial arts sect. The atmosphere is completely different from a merchant guild here. They say a person's life is treated like a fly's."

"Really?"

When Baekji answered perfunctorily, Jang Sam said, "Watch your mouth when you get there. If you speak informally to just anyone, it'll be 'swoosh' right away."

Jang Sam made a gesture of slitting his own throat.

"Your head will be cut off."

Senior Oh chided Jang Sam.

"Don't tease the kid. We've eaten from the same pot for a few days... no, that's not right. We ate separately. Anyway, we've shared the same bed, so instead of comforting a kid going to a faraway land, should you be teasing him?"

Baekji said while chewing on pork, "You be careful too. You're going too."

"What?"

Baekji pointed a finger at Jang Sam and Ajok, then tilted his head and pointed at Senior Oh as well, saying, "You, you, and you."

Seeing Baekji's finger pointing at him, Senior Oh felt the urge to break it.

"You're going too."

"What are you talking about? Where are we going?"

"Aha. It seems we're going as part of the wedding delegation."

Senior Oh nodded as if he understood.

"The White Mountain Sect's wedding delegation brought a lot of gifts this time, didn't they? To save face, the Yang Merchant Guild will probably send back twice as much."

"Oh! Where is the White Mountain Sect?"

"Sichuan, they say."

"Then we can see Sichuan?"

"Are we going too?"

The other servants asked, full of expectation.

If they went as part of the wedding delegation, even the servants would be treated well. When they returned, they would be given extra wages for their trouble.

Baekji shook his head.

"No. That's not it."

"If not that, then what?"

"You're going to serve the master."

"Master? Who's the master?"

Ajok whispered to Senior Oh, "That kid is a bit slow. He calls the Young Miss 'master'."

That wasn't important to Senior Oh. Baekji's words somehow bothered him.

Baekji tore off a piece of a pig's hind leg and put it in his mouth. Senior Oh felt the urge to shove his fist into that mouth.

Senior Oh asked with a serious face, "How do you know that?"

"I told them."

"What on earth are you talking about?"

"General Manager Wu told the master to choose servants to accompany her. He said at least four should be sent to save the Yang estate's face."

"...?"

"The master asked what would be good, so I said. You, you, and you would be good."

Baekji pointed at the three of them again.

"..."

Senior Oh, Jang Sam, and Ajok looked at each other.

The slow-witted Jang Sam tilted his head.

"What's he saying?"

Senior Oh swallowed hard and asked, "What does that mean? So, you're saying that when they were choosing servants to attend to the Young Miss, you mentioned us?"

"Yes."

"Why us?"

"Senior Oh, Jang Sam, Ajok."

These were the three servants whose names Baekji knew.

"..."

"...!"

"...?"

Senior Oh's face contorted.

The pork Jang Sam was eating got stuck in his throat.

Ajok spat out the alcohol he was drinking.

Senior Oh was dumbfounded.

'Da-hyeong' meant the eldest brother.

Jang Sam had called him 'Oh Da-hyeong' in that sense. But Senior Oh's real name was also Oh Da-hyeong.

Oh Da-hyeong calmed his excitement and asked haltingly, "So you're saying we have to become the Young Miss's servants and live at the White Mountain Sect from now on?"

"Is that what it is? I don't know."

Baekji reached for the pork again.

"What do you mean you don't know! You bastard! You sold us out?"

Jang Sam shot up and was about to kick the table with the pork on it, but he flinched and stopped, then stuck his big foot straight into Baekji's face.

Thwack!

As Baekji ducked his head, Jang Sam's big foot stomped on top of Baekji's head.

"Ugh."

Jang Sam clutched his foot and hopped on one leg before falling backward.

"That bastard!"

"Hold on, Jang Sam, don't be a fool. So, so, Baekji, are you saying we're going to the White Mountain Sect as the Young Miss's servants?"

It was Oh Da-hyeong who was the calmest.

"Yes. You have to serve the master well."

Baekji said as if it were someone else's business.

Oh Da-hyeong shot up, shook his head from side to side, and cracked his neck with a 'crack, crack' sound.

"The Yang estate treats me, Oh Da-hyeong, like a slave? I was just staying here quietly for a while, and they look down on me like this."

Slaves and servants had different statuses and treatment.

A slave had to serve their master for life. They had to go when told to go and come when told to come.

A servant was just someone who worked for wages. If they didn't want to work, they could leave.

Strictly speaking, they could be divided that way, but in reality, it was not easy to distinguish.

The world was harsh, and if you left with nothing, you would immediately be reduced to begging.

In a situation where you had to cling to something to survive, there was no choice.

But.

"They're telling me to go to the White Mountain Sect? Hmph! Who do they think they are! I'd rather quit."

When Oh Da-hyeong shouted, everyone was startled.

How dare a mere servant refuse an order.

"That's our Senior Oh!"

"That's our room leader."

Everyone looked up to him.

Just then, a voice called from outside the quarters.

"Oh Da-hyeong, are you there?"

Oh Da-hyeong got up and went out. It was someone from the general manager's office.

"You know that the Young Miss is marrying into the White Mountain Sect, right?"

"Yes."

Oh Da-hyeong answered bluntly.

"You, along with Jang Sam and Ajok, will have to accompany her."

"..."

When Oh Da-hyeong didn't answer, the person from the general manager's office said, "You will serve the Young Miss at the White Mountain Sect. But the Yang Merchant Guild will pay your wages. We will pay you double, so be aware of that."

"What? Really?"

At the mention of double wages, Oh Da-hyeong's mouth split into a wide grin.

"When serving the Young Miss from afar, that's the least we can do. It is the Guild Master's will."

"I will serve her with all my heart."

Oh Da-hyeong's back bent at a right angle.

Seeing this, Jang Sam lamented, "I thought at least Senior Oh had some spirit left in him."

"Is there anyone who can stand against money? Wait, we'll get double too, right?"

Ajok muttered, calculating his wages in his head.

* * *

The main gate of the Yang estate opened, and the wedding procession emerged.

Those from the White Mountain Sect led the way, followed by the carriage carrying Yang Soryeong and the wedding delegation sent by the Yang estate.

The Yang estate's wedding delegation was twice the size of the White Mountain Sect's.

Baekji rode, perched on the back of the carriage.

Oh Da-hyeong walked alongside the carriage, glaring at him with unfriendly eyes.

But since Yang Soryeong said nothing, he couldn't blame him.

People crowded the streets to watch the wedding procession.

"Now that the White Mountain Sect and the Yang Merchant Guild have become one family, the landscape of Shaanxi will change."

"Isn't the Yang Merchant Guild also related to the Meixian Fang by marriage? And now that they've extended their marriage ties to Sichuan, their market will surely expand. We should see them not as a mid-sized merchant guild anymore, but as a large one."

People speculated about the future of the Yang Merchant Guild.

"Hmph! Is that really so?"

Someone snorted.

When people turned to look, it was a man dressed as a shabby scholar. The man, who looked to be around thirty, appeared to be a down-and-out scholar, but there was a certain arrogance about him.

"Why do you carry your eyes if you can't even see properly with them? To me, it looks like two tigers, the Meixian Fang and the White Mountain Sect, are about to engage in a full-blown war of nerves over the fat cow that is the Yang Merchant Guild."

"What do you mean by that?"

"The White Mountain Sect's power has grown day by day, to the point where Sichuan is too small for them. But below them are the Tang Clan, Qingcheng, and Emei. So what can they do? They have no choice but to come out to Shaanxi."

"That's ridiculous. In Shaanxi, there are Huashan and Zhongnan. The Meixian Fang is a secular branch of Huashan, and the Nanil Mun is a secular branch of Zhongnan. Besides, the Cheolma Bang is holding its ground. No matter how great the White Mountain Sect is, they'll have to take a step back in Shaanxi."

Someone refuted the down-and-out scholar's words.

"That's why they've built the bridge that is the Yang Merchant Guild."

People were more interested in the White Mountain Sect's advance into Shaanxi than the marriage itself.

According to rumors, the White Mountain Sect was a very tyrannical sect.

They claimed to be a righteous sect and had subjugated all the surrounding dark sects, but everyone knew it was to expand their power.

"If they form a marriage alliance with the Yang Merchant Guild and open up trade, the White Mountain Sect's influence will naturally flow in. For the Meixian Fang, which has already secured the position of the Yang Merchant Guild's mistress, it will be a very thorny issue."

"Then why would they agree to a marriage with the White Mountain Sect?"

"That, too, is a scheme of the Meixian Fang."

Now, people were focused solely on the down-and-out scholar's mouth.

The down-and-out scholar lowered his voice and whispered, "The White Mountain Sect Master has only one son. But that son suffered from Cultivation Insanity and became a cripple."

"What? He's a cripple, so how can he get married?"

"In any case, it's the White Mountain Sect Master's greed to see a grandson. Rumors have already spread far and wide in Sichuan, so there are no families willing to marry into theirs. That's why they sent a matchmaker all the way to Shaanxi."

"What does that have to do with the Meixian Fang's scheme?"

"Think about it. The White Mountain Sect's only heir is a cripple. If the bride who is going now gives birth to a son, won't he become the heir of the White Mountain Sect?"

"How long will that take?"

"They're making a marriage like this with a twenty-year plan? That's ridiculous."

People waved their hands, saying it was ridiculous.

The down-and-out scholar smiled mysteriously.

"Is there a need to wait until the child is fully grown? If the White Mountain Sect Master dies before then, the Meixian Fang will rush in on the pretext of protecting the heir and take over the White Mountain Sect."

"No way."

People were half-convinced, half-skeptical.

"Just you wait. This marriage will bring a storm of blood to Shaanxi and Sichuan."

The down-and-out scholar muttered as he watched the retreating back of the wedding procession.

(End of Chapter)