You can’t turn “The Rise of the Tang Family” into something belonging to the Sichuan Tang Family.
If “The Rise of the Tang Family” simply becomes a written work about rescuing Hwa-rin or a record of the Tang family’s secrets, my novel will end up as something from the Sichuan Tang Family.
At this point, there’s no reason to continue “The Rise of the Tang Family,” and even if I wanted to, the Tang family could stop me. But the story about “The Rise of the Tang Family” that has already spread can’t be gathered back.
What should I do?
I must separate reality from fiction by using Hwang-a’s will, whom the Tang family head loved, as a shield.
First, I brought up Hwang-a’s story to land a hit on the Tang family head before diving right into the task.
“The characters in ‘The Rise of the Tang Family’ are not real people.”
Tang Jung is not Tang Baek-ho, and Du Eung-hyang is not Hwang-a.
To achieve my goal, the first step is to get the Tang family head to recognize that the characters in “The Rise of the Tang Family” are fictitious.
“You mean Tang Jung isn’t me and Du Eung-hyang isn’t Hwang-a?”
“Tang Jung, Sichuan’s best beauty, Hubei’s best courtesan, Poison Kill Space, Triple Poison. Most of the content in ‘The Rise of the Tang Family’ is what I’ve created; it’s not based on real events. I’ve only mixed in a little bit of reality that people from twenty years ago might barely recognize.”
If I continue my serialization, I must not be misunderstood as if the characters from “The Rise of the Tang Family” are real people.
If “The Rise of the Tang Family” contains the secrets of the Tang family and the characters turn out to be actual people, the Sichuan Tang Family’s influence will surpass my own. I would end up being the guy who wrote “Colored Heroic Stories” about my own parents out of nowhere.
What I’ve taken from reality is just that a hero of the Tang family loved a courtesan, and that the Color Demon really existed.
To legitimately claim rights to “The Rise of the Tang Family,” it must be acknowledged as a fictional story that only took a concept from reality.
If “The Rise of the Tang Family” is recognized as a novel, I can continue my serialization.
“Right. I also read your story, thinking it was my own, and it all just feels like a story that doesn’t really belong to me.”
Thank goodness. He didn’t say I wrote Poison Kill Space during my youth. If he did, I might have asked if he could run at the same speed as a knife over a hundred times!
It just can’t be the same as reality. The Tang family head chased after a Color Demon over twenty years ago, but rather than alone like Tang Jung, he chased alongside his subordinates.
“Exactly. Tang Jung isn’t you. Du Eung-hyang isn’t my mother either. ‘The Rise of the Tang Family’ is just a story of the hero I’ve always admired, but could never find.”
At that same time, I cast a bait to the Tang family head to make the characters in “The Rise of the Tang Family” into fictitious ones.
“You admired them, but couldn’t find them?”
I opened my mouth while gazing at the Tang family head, mimicking a son recalling his beloved mother.
“Coming to the Central Plains, I wanted to meet the hero my mother told me about when I was young. However, among the black-haired barbarians in distress, there were no heroes who would lend a hand.”
“……”
Doesn’t it seem my son is suffering greatly in the Central Plains? The Tang family head couldn’t speak while imagining my struggle in the Central Plains.
“During my hardships, I met Hwa-rin. She was a child born like me, a bastard child bearing many scars, yet her heart was warm.”
Her chest was big too.
“I heard both of you had a lot of hardships.”
“I wanted to become a hero for her. But rather than being a hero, I was in danger of being tossed out onto the street. So I thought—my mother’s story about the hero. The story of the hero I wanted to see. How about I write it into a novel?”
“Isn’t it to inform the Tang family of the hero’s news?”
“I wished, but couldn’t be sure. Yet I was certain of my writing skill; I was sure I’d earn money. They say in Joseon that if you have money, you can even summon ghosts, so I thought if everything else fails, I’ll use money to escape the crisis.”
I poured in the hero I wished to see into “The Rise of the Tang Family.” Contacting the Tang family was a wishful act.
Without damaging the original intent of writing to save Hwa-rin, I’d slightly alter the objective.
“What would you do if you failed?”
“Even if I were not here, I’d still do my best for my woman every moment, but whether that was successful or not, I cannot say. However…”
I stopped speaking and silently gazed at the Tang family head.
I wonder what he thinks of my gaze. He must be curious, right?
“However?”
“If even a small bit of what my mother told me is true, if the heroes I dreamed of actually exist, I believed they would save Hwa-rin.”
My gaze, meeting that of the Tang family head, contained trust.
The woman he abandoned told stories of heroes modeled after him to his son, who grew up to become the hero who wrote stories for a woman unlike him.
The characters in “The Rise of the Tang Family” are fictitious.
The story of “The Rise of the Tang Family” is also fictitious.
But the unchanging truth remains: if it’s the Sichuan Tang Family, they would certainly come to rescue her.
My logic might seem like wild leaps, but the Tang family did come and rescued Hwa-rin. Normally, if the result is given, you just have to wrap it up nicely.
What must the Tang family head be feeling right now?
Maybe he’s unable to sort out his feelings, as he lowered his head and closed his eyes for a moment.
————————-
“Of course, it didn’t go as planned. I expected a hero to come, but a fellow wanting to cut off my arm showed up instead.”
With a light tone, trying to lighten the mood, I chuckled to explain my feelings after organizing my emotions.
Honestly, I thought I was going to die. But thinking back on what would follow, I realized I got a cheap vaccination and gained an ally.
“I heard about it from the head of the guard. Tang Mu-ki is really sorry. He kept praising you all the way while joining halfway. I hope you won’t dislike him too much.”
Maybe since he’s my closest associate, the Tang family head spoke with affection, defending his foolish friend.
“I harbor no ill feelings. It’s not the first time seeing a black-haired barbarian hated without reason.”
There were considerable troubles with the head of the guard, but in the end, he became a strong ally, so no ill feelings remain.
“There’s a reason.”
Unexpected words slipped from the Tang family head’s mouth.
“What do you mean? There’s a reason?”
“It’s inappropriate to mention the family matters of a friend and subordinate, but since it’s more painful for you to harbor misunderstandings about Tang Mu-ki, I should tell you. When he was young, his mother ran away with a black-haired man.”
“Ah.”
Things like that happen? Misunderstandings can arise from witnessing a mother’s infidelity as a child. Still, isn’t the hatred for black-haired people a bit too intense?
“On top of that, his childhood friend and fiancée were also taken away by a black-haired person. I still hear his wails from that time.”
“Hahaha…”
In that case, he’s justified in his hatred.
Truly, fiction can’t surpass reality.
It wasn’t for nothing that the head of the guard discriminated against black-haired people like it was second nature. To him, I must have looked like a golden-tanned young hoodlum straight out of a walking NTR story.
He deserves to have his discrimination acknowledged. Rather, having overcome that bias to support me should earn him recognition as a true positive faction.
After hearing the shocking backstory of the head of the guard, I couldn’t help but smirk while listening to how he had risen from his wounded state to find a partner again.
————————-
I took a sip of bitter ginseng tea to calm the awkward atmosphere for a moment.
“How did Hwang-a live in Joseon?”
The Tang family head carefully asked about Hwang-a’s movements.
I don’t know. I need to tread carefully when talking about Hwang-a. Being too detailed increases the chances of revealing the truth.
Thinking of my deceased mother, I made a face like a son overwhelmed with emotion and set my cup down.
“She was a loving mother. The wisest wife above all. But during an epidemic in the village when I was young, she couldn’t escape the grip of illness. As she realized her end was near, she revealed the truth she had buried in her heart to me.”
“Did she tell you the truth just before dying?”
“It’s the way of mothers to lead their children so they do not stray, right? Since coming here, I miss my mother. As I aged, I can barely recall her voice. When I close my eyes, the image of her face that used to come to mind instantly now takes a moment of thought to recall. How about you?”
“……I can remember her face, but not her voice.”
“That’s why I wrote ‘The Rise of the Tang Family.’ The stories about heroes my mother told me remain in my heart. As a son, I wanted to pack the tales of the heroes that my mother and I longed for into a book.”
This is what can make Mount Wu’s Taiji Sword Technique cry in defeat—this story of “The Rise of the Tang Family.”
As I turned my gaze to “The Rise of the Tang Family,” the Tang family head stared at it for a moment before speaking.
“Unlike Du Eung-hyang in this book, your mother wasn’t the best courtesan in Hubei. She was a promising trainee courtesan being educated at the Gyobang. She hadn’t even served customers yet, and I saved her when she was about to fall into the arms of a Color Demon. And we fell in love.”
Courtesans are trained at the Gyobang, a courtesan academy.
If one graduates with good performance, receiving an S-grade designation becomes a Blue (celebrity-level courtesan) focusing on drinks and dances, while receiving an F-grade designation means becoming a Hong (prostitute) focusing on prostitution.
Even though Blue courtesans may also engage in prostitution, they receive treatment akin to celebrities, and the prices for a night of their company can make even high-ranking officials tremble with exhaustion.
In my novel, Du Eung-hyang is a Blue courtesan, while Hwang-a is a trainee courtesan. The Tang family head’s words imply that she wasn’t even close to being a courtesan, then suggesting not to misunderstand about my mother.
“I know. That’s why ‘The Rise of the Tang Family’ is a novel.”
“This novel is undoubtedly a story you completely created.”
The Tang family head nodded in agreement with my words.
That’s right. I successfully established that “The Rise of the Tang Family” is a novel by taking Hwang-a as a hostage.
“I see now.”
“But…”
Why? Is there some challenge you want to raise?
I forced down my surprise and looked at the Tang family head. He met my gaze with a resolute voice.
“I loved her just like in this novel, no, even more than in the novel. More than anyone else.”
Now that’s a hit below the belt. What a world-class romanticist he is.
“I guess the family was more important than love.”
Had another person said that, the Tang family head would have slapped them back and forth. Yet, I am the only one allowed to make such a remark in this world.
I exaggeratedly rearranged my surprised expression and said to the Tang family head with a slight sneer, as if a touched son were clumsily rebelling against his father.
Overacting with my emotions too much would be fatal. I must continue distancing myself from him in order to safely leave the Sichuan Tang Family.
“When my mother came to find me, I was in a situation where I lost consciousness after being targeted by a Color Demon. My loyal subordinates drove her away for my own good.”
“If you intend to say it isn’t your fault, you’d better stand up.”
“No, it is my fault. I was swayed by the pleas of my subordinates during my travels and eventually didn’t conclude the final battle against the Color Demon. My subordinates mistook my silence for agreement; it’s not their fault. If I truly had chosen her, I would have done everything to find her, even if it meant giving up everything. Even if she resented and hated me for the rest of her life, I’d have no complaints.”
“You say she didn’t resent you?”
“Is that truly the case?”
“If she had resented and hated you, she wouldn’t have told me stories of the hero, would she? Rather, even before passing, she told me to just endure if I wanted to see my biological father.”
That is something I can state confidently to the Tang family head. I calmly unveiled Hwang-a’s feelings towards him.
“Hwang-a… did she really do that…?”
The Tang family head could not hold back the sadness swelling within him.
He stood up from his seat and turned his back to gaze out the window for a while.
—————
After gathering his emotions, the Tang family head sat back down.
“What are your biological parents doing right now?”
Step-father? Seems like he’s subtly claiming to be my real father.
“They’ve passed away, which is why I came to the Central Plains to find my way to survive.”
Did he have a certain amount of conviction? The Tang family head glanced at me briefly, his expression unshocked, and continued speaking.
“Not taking a new wife after losing my wife is perhaps due to the hope that Hwang-a might return someday.”
So, a man like the Tang family head refrains from getting two or three wives, simply because of that?
“I’ve heard your mother is currently absent.”
“If it’s alright with you, I want to formally acknowledge you as my son in front of the family elders and the ancestral hall.”
“What did you just say?”
“I said I’d like to officially adopt you as my son.”
This guy’s talking about some big things here.
Hey, Uncle Tang family head, we need to end this meeting right here.
Where’s my mother’s grave? Who’s my father? Which Gang is it? How’s Hwang-a doing? A trivial mistake or suspicion could cost me my head; how can I be someone’s son? This is crazy.
Plus, if I actually become his son, I won’t just become any ordinary son.
I’ll end up as the firstborn (longest son).
Even if I give up my rights of succession, even if the Deputy Head of Family recovers, being the firstborn will still lead numerous people in the Tang family to their doom.
“I’m your…”
“Tang Mu-ki!”
How should I say this? While I was choosing my words, the head of the guards stormed in quickly.
“What’s wrong?”
“Tang Hwa-rin has awakened! You need to head there immediately!”
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