Trash of the Count's Family - TCF Part 2 - Chapter 82

(The Sword Immortal in Part 2 Chapter 80 is now Sword Saint. He had actually been mentioned in Part 2 Chapter 8 as the one whom CJS had beaten up and why CJS became the Sword Demon. And since EAP translated it as Sword Saint, I will follow that naming too.
The monk from the Wudang Sect had been changed to ascetic. I saw a manhwa where the official English translation of the title had used ‘ascetic’ for the word ‘dosa,’ so ascetic it is.)
***
Terms in this chapter:
Embroidered Uniform Guard – aka the Jin-yi-wei, they are the imperial secret police that served and guarded the emperor. They are also involved in intelligence gathering, and wore golden-yellow uniforms.
Eunuch – castrated men who worked in the imperial palace.
Court Lady – maids who worked in the imperial palace.
Eastern Bureau – the spy and secret police agency run by the eunuchs.
Saint, Demon, King, Overlord – these are all titles given to strong people and not to be taken literally. Examples are the Sword Saint, Sword Demon, Blood Demon, and Fist King.
***
The place grew silent at the intense pressure, and the empress dowager clutched the hem of her dress. But the silence was broken at the sound of clashing blades. The pressure then disappeared. Cale saw a woman who had tried to aim her sword at him, and asked if she was a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
Her sword did not reach Cale as CH had blocked it, while Sui pointed a sword at her neck. Cale told CH and Sui to step back. He glanced at CH who still looked the same. Meanwhile, Raon asked why Cale looked so pitiful and small. As for Sui, he looked like the LSH of KRS and LSH’s first meeting. Cale recalled Jungwon’s words that their appearance reflected their thoughts.
He frowned that the young Sui had grown up. Sui’s clothes had also changed, and what he wore now was the clothes he often wore as LSH. Cale was annoyed at himself and grumbled on why he didn’t keep thinking of his mid-20s KRS self. He ended up as the skinny 20 y/o KRS because that was his last thought. So the more he saw LSH, the more Cale grew annoyed.
Sui said that he could not withdraw his sword as the other side did not seem to have any intention of withdrawing hers. The female guard bit her lip at Sui’s gaze as her sword slightly trembled. The empress dowager soon commanded her to withdraw her sword, so she obeyed, though she kept her vigilance of Cale.
Cale was surprised at the female guard. He might not have fully used his Dominating Aura, but still, out of all the people here, she was the only who moved. That meant she was quite strong. The empress dowager called out to an ‘old man’ standing by the pillar, and asked for his opinion. Cale saw the old man with a hunchback and was shorter than Cale. The old man seemed relaxed as he stood there with his hands behind his back.
However, Cale was convinced by his years of reading murim novels that the old man was the strongest here. He remembered a saying in murim – Beware of the elderly and the children. So Cale thought that the old man must be a secret escort of the imperial palace. The old man suggested to the empress dowager to move first.
The empress dowager slightly raised an eyebrow at his reply, before agreeing and shifting her gaze to Cale. She asked if he knew who she was or where they were. Cale smiled and acted like a noble, replying that he knew and called her the Empress Dowager as he lightly bowed his head. She clicked her tongue as Cale had only lightly bowed at her despite speaking very politely.
(In Chinese or Korean dynasties, most people should greatly lower their heads when facing an imperial family member and speak very politely. Doing otherwise is disrespectful. Cale had indeed used very polite language, but only lightly bowed his head, thus the empress dowager’s displeasure.)
But she decided to ignore that and told them that they would have a proper conversation when their group had finished unpacking at their living quarters. She glanced at her side, and another person Cale had been paying attention to then stepped forward. The person was another old man in his sixties, though younger than the old man before.
Cale deduced that he was a eunuch, but soon wondered if he was also a member of the Eastern Bureau. In murim novels, the Eastern Bureau often appeared, and they were skilled martial art practitioners despite being eunuchs. The old eunuch offered to guide Cale’s group, and the empress dowager permitted it.
And then, the old man by the pillar said that he would be joining them. The empress dowager thought for a moment before allowing him too. She was about to head out, but stopped and turned to Cale. She said, “He had said to me. Just as he had saved me, there will come someone who will save my son and the world that my son will rule.”
Cale understood that she was referring to Central Plains. The place was quiet as the eunuchs and court ladies lowered their heads as if they had not heard anything. The empress dowager then slowly bowed her head, but not down to the waist level. The female guard and old eunuch were startled, but quickly lowered their heads as if they had not seen anything.
She soon raised her head and faced Cale, saying, “I can give my all for His Majesty the Emperor.” She had called her own son by that title. The empress dowager soon turned around and told him, “Esteemed Messenger. You can take all the lives you want, so tell me everything you need.” Cale ended up smiling as he realized that she knew exactly what kind of ‘messenger’ he was.
(Remember last chapter that the word 사자 (saja) can have multiple definitions. It can be messenger, lion, grim reaper, or god’s messenger. So when the empress dowager called Cale as ‘Esteemed Messenger’ but said that Cale could take all the lives he want, she was also using the grim reaper meaning. Double meanings are fun, hahaha)
The empress dowager left, and the old eunuch bowed his head in greeting, introducing himself as Sangseon. He had a fairly high rank among the eunuchs, and seemed to be a close aide to the empress dowager. Sangseon said that he would guide them to their living quarters and Cale nodded before turning around.
Cale wanted to see what his group looked like now. Raon was not in his invisible state, but still looked the same. Cale had wondered if Raon would change into an Eastern dragon, but Raon remained a typical Western dragon of fantasy worlds. Raon asked his human why he had changed so much. He knew from KRS’s gaze that he was still his human though.
Cale asked back why Raon looked the same. Raon tilted his head and replied that nothing changed with him. He was still the great Raon Miru who would turn 7 next year. Cale had a rough guess that Raon’s attribute, the Present, had affected Raon’s appearance even when he crossed worlds. Next, Cale turned to the Molans.
Ron and Beacrox had no major changes. Their faces had changed to have an Eastern look, so they did not look like Westerners in this Central Plains world. But Ron’s gentle smile and Beacrox’s expressionless face were the same as they still appeared vicious. Cale then saw Sui looking at him with a weak smile. As for Durst, he also had an Eastern look.
And when Cale looked at Toonka, he was surprised. Toonka cleared his throat, approaching Cale and asked in a whisper if he could speak now. Cale denied Toonka’s request though. But Cale was thinking to himself that he did a great job in bringing Toonka here. In Cale’s eyes, Toonka looked even uglier. He was like a very typical bandit or villain, or like a vagabond. He appeared wilder than before.
Cale could not help but smile as he saw his group’s appearance. He thought that with this group, the chances of people picking a fight with them would lessen. Cale checked the sack where Number Seven was in before moving his gaze to Sangseon. He politely said to Sangseon that they could go. Sangseon paused for a moment at Cale using polite language at him before bowing his head and moving on.
(Cale was a guest of the empress dowager, so in a sense, he was of a higher rank than the eunuch, a servant. That was why Sangseon was surprised when Cale spoke using polite language to him.)
Cale asked Sangseon if the dragon should hide, and Sangseon looked at him. Sangseon could see the gentle smile on the messenger’s face, but knew that he was not that gentle inside. Sangseon replied that it was fine inside the Moon Flower Palace, but suggested for the dragon to be hidden outside. Cale let out an exclamation, and remarked that the empress dowager must have only kept tight-lipped people here.
Sangseon did not give any answer and just continued to lead the group. Cale then asked the hunchbacked old man why he kept looking at him. The old man laughed and with a smile, asked Cale how strong he was. Cale snorted, wondering what nonsense this old man was talking about. He wanted to ignore the old man, but thought otherwise since this old man was an ally and looked strong.
It seemed like this old man was the strongest or the second strongest in this palace. That was why the filial emperor had sent him to stay by the empress dowager’s side. Thus, Cale thought that he should be honest to gain some assistance from this old man. Quite a lot of his ancient powers had been sealed than he expected, so any help was welcome.
Cale replied, “I am weak. I am a bit weak.” But he did not voice out what he wanted to say next, “So now, please help me.”
***
The empress dowager asked the female guard kneeling in front of her. She inquired on what the hunchbacked old man had said. The female guard bit her lip. The old man was the female guard’s great grandfather. Although he had long disappeared from the murim world, he was still one of the strongest. She was said to have the potential to surpass her great grandfather, but presently, she was still very far from his level.
Her great grandfather had such a strong aura that she would not even dare lift her sword at him if it was not for their sparring matches. He had spoken of the Messenger as someone who did not reveal everything. That dominating aura from that man was not all his power. The old man had stated that if he had fought against the Messenger, it would be a close tie.
The present murim world had the 5 Saints and the 5 Demons. The generation before that had the 3 Kings and the 9 Overlords. The hunchbacked old man was one of those 3 Kings. He was known as Fist King Mok-hyeon. And the female guard, his great granddaughter, was named Mok-hee. Mok-hee lowered her head and relayed Mok-hyeon’s words that it would be hard to win. At her words, the empress dowager tightened her grip on the table.
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TL/N
▪︎ In murim novels, Shaolin Temple, Wudang Sect, Kunlun Sect, and Beggars’ Sect are all part of the Nine Great Schools.
▪︎ The Beggars’ Sect has a ranking system. The number of knots on the cord they wore on their waist denotes their rank. The lowest is one knot, and the highest is 9 knots. So the beggar described to have 5 knots in Part 2 Chapter 80 is around the middle ranks.