The Outcast Writer of a Martial Arts Visual Novel - Chapter 86: The Villainess (3)

Time flowed equally for everyone.

For the barbarian worried about today’s meal, and for the widow living only to die, time flowed just the same.

A month from now, it would have been one year since the tragedy at the Moyong Family’s wedding.

The news Moyong Sang-ah had so desperately awaited had finally arrived.

“Are you talking about the matter of sending someone to Joseon?”

Moyong Sang-ah had secretly ordered the leader of Changbongdae to dispatch someone to Joseon.

The purpose was to uncover information about the Kang family members involved in treason and the fate of the deceased Kang Yun-ho.

“Yes. That news just arrived a little while ago.”

The leader of Changbongdae looked at Moyong Sang-ah with worried eyes.

His changed master.

He believed that his master needed to change to become the family head, but he had not wished for her to become this ruthless.

Nearly a year since that day. Why had she changed like this? Now, he too understood the reason.

Kang Yun-ho.

The tremendous guilt she felt towards that reckless man had changed her. No, it was not just guilt. The fiery emotions shared between them during that short time must have transformed her into an irreversible state.

“It’s news we’ve been waiting for a long time. Please report quickly.”

The leader of Changbongdae, concealing his troubled feelings, decided it was better to report. Regardless of the shock it might bring, it was the news his master had been eager to hear.

The leader of Changbongdae began to report.

“As known, all the male members of the Kang family were executed for treason.”

The calamity that befell the Kang family for their involvement in treason did not end with the family head and his three generations.

All relatives working in the Kang family’s business enterprises were deemed guilty by the Joseon court, under the logic that they all participated in treason.

Like the man Moyong Sang-ah had killed not long ago, even if they weren’t merely related by blood but were practically strangers, then all the male members of the Kang family were beheaded.

Annihilation.

The place once known as the Kang family village has now been reduced to nothing but ruins.

“…What about the Kang family women who became slaves?”

It’s still too early to give up.

Moyong Sang-ah, suppressing the urge to close her eyes at the grim outcome of her actions, inquired about the fate of the female members of the Kang family.

It might not even serve as a minor act of atonement, but she wanted to take care of his remaining family. To achieve this, she had instructed her people sent to Joseon to secretly rescue his family members who had been enslaved.

“There are not many who survived.”

“What do you mean? Weren’t the women spared from execution?”

“It was known that the Kang family originally had few descendants. Coupled with the ordeal of the family’s treason, enduring severe physical and mental trauma, becoming slaves and being sent off to the provinces to die as outcasts, or turning to prostitution to survive the humiliation rather than taking their own lives, there were countless women.”

“But, there must still be some who survived.”

“Fortunately, some distant relatives of Master Kang Yun-ho, who did not endure much hardship, are alive. However, upon learning that the Moyong Family wanted to take them in, everyone outright refused help.”

Moyong Sang-ah’s accusation of treason.

Regardless of whether the Kang family’s treason was real or fabricated, no woman from the Kang family would accept help from the one who reported the treason.

“Who did you send to Joseon? To mention the Moyong Family’s name. Have you given it any thought?”

She questioned the Changbongdae leader with a trace of anger over the absurd report from those who went to Joseon.

“I’m sorry. It was my oversight.”

Moyong Sang-ah looked at the Changbongdae leader, who bowed his head, and suppressed her anger.

She was not in a position to be angry at anyone.

Everything was her fault; whom was there to blame?

Incompetent woman. The lord has bestowed such irrepayable grace, yet she, the incompetent one, fails to properly care for his remaining family.

Moyong Sang-ah forcefully pushed away the sticky feeling of powerlessness invading her heart, pondering another way to care for the lord’s family for a moment.

“…… There must be people who owe a great debt to the Kang family. Create a separate business entity in Joseon with those people at its core, and have that business rescue the Kang family women who became slaves.”

If they refused the hands of a dirty sinner, they could help them so they did not see those hands.

If those who owed a debt of gratitude to the Kang family took care of the women who became slaves, they would surely take great care of them.

“I will implement it immediately.”

“It doesn’t matter if it costs a fortune. Do whatever it takes. Please bring them and care for them without lacking anything.”

It might be just a mere consolation to herself.

She knew better than anyone that no amount of gold or treasure can fill the hole in the heart of a woman who has lost her love. But that didn’t mean she can ignore the family of her lord.

Even if it’s a hypocrite’s pretense, she must do everything possible.

Moyong Sang-ah discussed deeply with the Changbongdae leader on how to care for the remaining family of her lord.

“Yes. Then, as you said, I will proceed.”

“Wasn’t there something else you asked the people sent to Joseon to find out? How did that go?”

If they brought news today, they must have brought that news as well.

The two reasons for sending people to Joseon.

Why Moyong Sang-ah occasionally urged the Changbongdae leader for news from those sent to Joseon.

Moyong Sang-ah, trying to calm her trembling heart, pretended to be calm and waited for the Changbongdae leader to bring up the other story.

“Are you asking where Master Kang Yun-ho is buried?”

The Changbongdae leader looked up at his master, who was hastening the report.

He could already sense his master’s emotions fluctuating at the mere mention of the Kang family. Should he even deliver this news?

“Yes. Didn’t I ask you to find out where he was buried?”

Sometimes, a strong blow feels less painful if one has already been hit by a weaker one.

Hoping that the previous story would soften the blow for his master, the Changbongdae leader opened his mouth.

“Originally, Master Kang was buried in the family’s ancestral grave.”

The fake body of Kang Yun-ho, who died in Yodong Castle, was not embalmed as planned. By the time it arrived in Joseon, it was already reeking of decay.

An official from the Joseon court, dispatched to the Kang family’s hometown for identification, scowled, barely checked if the face matched, and then had him buried in the Kang family’s ancestral grave.

“If he was buried, are you saying he is not anymore?”

A bad premonition flashed through Moyong Sang-ah’s mind.

The calm facade she had maintained now changed to an anxious look.

The Changbongdae leader, unable to bear the emotions his master would have after the report, avoided her gaze and spoke.

“Recently, he was subjected to dismemberment of the corpse after exhumation.”

“Dis, dismemberment after exhumation? Why would he be subjected to that!”

Moyong Sang-ah asked in horror.

Dismemberment of the corpse after exhumation.

A punishment involving digging up a grave, pulling out the corpse, and cutting it into pieces.

Touching a corpse was considered a severe punishment even in the logic of a Confucian state, so one must have committed a very grave crime to be subjected to this punishment even after death.

Even if Kang Yun-ho was supposed to die for treason, there was no reason for him to be subjected to dismemberment after exhumation.

“There was talk in the Joseon court that the punishment for the great traitor Kang Yun-ho was too lenient. Eventually, as they pursued additional charges, one was added, leading to the exhumation and dismemberment of his already decayed corpse.”

“What on earth did my lord do to have his corpse desecrated like this!”

“The charge is conspiracy. He was falsely accused of attempting to bring in foreign forces by marrying into a foreign family.”

The crime of betraying the country and secretly colluding with another country to plot rebellion was one of the worst crimes, categorized alongside treason in Joseon.

The Kang family attempted to commit treason. Moreover, Kang Yun-ho himself tried to directly involve foreign forces.

Although the Moyong Family was rewarded for exposing the man’s treason, it does not absolve Kang Yun-ho of his crime. He deserved his punishment.

Thus, the charges against Kang Yun-ho were finalized.

In addition to the crime of internal rebellion and treason, the crime of conspiracy was also added.

This was why Kang Yun-ho was subjected to dismemberment after being exhumed.

“Is it because of me?”

“The dismembered corpse, left unattended for fear of implicating others in treason, was eventually collected by someone one night and vanished.”

The Changbongdae leader could not confirm Moyong Sang-ah’s trembling words. He calmly continued with the facts to conclude the report.

“Even in death, even in death… it’s because of me…”

Was there any endeavor more noble than saving a woman in crisis?

A hero who risked his life for her sake.

In life, he was killed by the villainess he tried to save,

And in death, even his pure intentions were desecrated.

The grave meant for his rest was disturbed, and the whereabouts of his dismembered body became a mystery.

All because of her.

Everything was all because of her.

Moyong Sang-ah’s mind went blank for a moment.

“Lady! Lady! Please come to your senses! Where is the physician!!!”