"My Lady!" "What on earth is the matter, servant? Why are you so panicked? What has happened? And where is the other servant that usually reports himself to me?" "My Lady…he is dead…" "What? What did you just say?" "My Lady…." "What on earth is going on here? Wha are all of you doing here? The concubines of The Third Prince…you shouldn't be here at all! What are you doing outside of the harem…no, wait! Stop! How dare you throw rubbish around in this room of mine! Stop putting up talismans! What on earth is going on here?" "Widow Nam, we are just doing this for your own good since you do not know how to appreciate having children at all, even more so, a son!" "What business is that of yours, concubines!" "Even The Emperor himself deems you as bad luck! So we made a trip to the closest temple on your behalf and retrieved these talismans and buckets of water to derive the evil sprits that reside from within you! Quickly, servants! Put these up everywhere in every single corner that you can find!" "Stop! Enough of this! Stop spraying the water everywhere like that! Have you all lost your minds! Who are you t find me auspicious at all? It is not your place to judge me at all!" "You selfish bitch! You bear ill fortune to your false widowed status that comes from your criminal husband who don't even want you! Well! Is it true that begged your previous master to marry Seo Yeon instead! Therefore, your ill fate concerns us all! It was only when you lived with us that our husband started his downfall!" "But I have nothing to do with…" "…so do not forget that these talismans will not work unless you burn them all!"
Never in my entire life have I been so humiliated like this, not even when I was a maid under The Lord Nam's father's roof…and that was because Seo Yeon always defended me, even when I came from the most humble origins…she always protected me no matter what…and now…
"My Lady, we have run out of charcoal, and we probably won't get a refill after a month now, so please use this hot water to cool yourself down…" "we only have a little hot water remaining; which we need to use for bathing and drinking. How can I app ford t use this to heat myself up in the midst of this harsh winter season? It has already snowed several times and it has gotten a lot colder lately, we do not even possess that many quilts for all of us. We would already freeze to death if it wasn't for the underground heating here in the palace…would anyone even care if I froze myself to death?" "My Lady, we have all come again to bring you the charcoals that you desperately needed! We are all sisters and we know when one of us is lacking, so do not worry about it and just how could we all leave you to survive without it at all this winter?" "But how did you…" "…but the tide shave changed in your favour and we are unable to provide you with anything high quality at all, so we have brought you some of our leftovers that we have collected for years now." "What are you talking about? Charcoal from the bottom of the barrel? The smokiest ones?" "I see that The Widow Nam has raged her memories from her maiden years…." "…stop it! The sake I s suffocating me already!" "But how can we expect you to survive without this!" "Enough of this! As head of my quarters, I order each and every single one of you to leave! Leave me alone and never come back!" "Even if you are the dead of your own quarters, you are never favoured, so why would we fear you at all?" "I…I…" "Your life is more miserable now compared to the palace servants here!"
"My Lady! There is more bad news afoot!" "What? What is it now?" "My Lady, it has been reported to The Emperor that The Third Prince wrote something really bad in a letter for the auspices signs under heaven." "What happened? Was it simply a writing error? What exactly happened! Tell me!"
"He wrote the dignified phrase wrong to the point where it infuriated The Emperor himself! He actually kept the letter aside for evidence against him in the future!" "So…wait a minute, let me gather my thoughts. The Third Prince's servants have been investigated and punished for treason, and I very much doubt that he would listen to me at all if I wrote to him to demonstrate his loyalty towards his father…" "Right now The Emperor has already rounded up the officials to discuss the matter." "And? What are they saying about it?" "I have it from a good source that they are discussing how The Third Prince abuses his power and indulges in his arrogance. They discuss how they accumulate power and indulges in bribery, prorogues dissidents and gathers supporters. They say that he clearly is embezzling in this country's wealth and how he kills innocents for his own gain. His crimes are uncountable and he has deceived this entire kingdom with his ruthlessness and the common people are calling for capital punishment despite his own vast supporters." "Are they saying…that he will attempt a military coup?" "The officials are all asking The Emperor to consider immediate condemnation and extreme punishment. They say The Third Prince does not observe his obligations and therefore…" "Therefore?" "There is no need to keep him in The Royal Heirdom at all." "And if The Emperor disagrees, how else can he restore the anger of the people and the order of the government? And if any of his supporters reman faithful to him or even think of further betraying this country for their own interests, they will surely be convicted of treason and punished severely also…then what about me? Who will support me in the palace? Who will…even keep me company and invite me to festivities and…even look at me? No, I have to do something about this, I must try at least…I must send him a letter, even though I am barely literate…"
**********************
"So, it seems as though The Master Chung himself has written up a memorandum to The Emperor himself to formally display his everlasting loyalty to this Goreyo Dynasty and so on. If you look at it; his words are reasoned and include such a detailed list of his boasted achievements along with The Third Prince to somehow intimidate us all." "Lord Nam, are you saying that The Third Prince dares to overstate his merits even at a time like this? Just when his own father is on the verge of banishing him from The Goreyo Kingdom?" "It is apparent that they both wish to clear their names to avoid their impending punishments. It is also apparent that they are venturing to pose whatever little power they have left as a menace to their masters and kingdom. It seems that they think that without them, we officials or even The Emperor himself cannot bring peace and stability to the nation that they themselves have corrupted. The Third Prince and his gang have always flaunted their achievements nonstop and they have been repeatedly tolerated and coddled like little children. And if we did not intercept this letter, we could have had a full-fledged rebellion on our hands including the efforts of The Emperor's deposed brothers themselves."
"Does that mean there have been definite multiple letters between these parties prior to this one?" "It seems to, I have a team at hand to look into it all." "So we are the first to report this crime is what you are implying, Lord Nam?" "With this, we can slowly deprive him of all of his tittles and amenities, because the last thing that any kingdom needs is a prince that will so eagerly and openly turn on his father like this, never mind The Emperor himself." "And what exactly do you plan to do with The Chung Family?" "I shall have to strike them first before they can harm myself and my soon to be extended family. The Emperor has always been forced to treat that family generously on behalf on his son, and no matter how angry he was at them in the past he would always just reprimand them and give them a cut in their annual stipends. But now their troubles will never end until The Master Chung is dead himself. They will never live in peace as The Seo's did in their past…very well gentlemen, let us disperse and act on our agreement."
"Servant!" "Yes, Lord Nam?" "Bring my fiancé with me with her zither, she will play for me for the last time until I see her again at my wedding." "My Lord seems to be in good spirits today." "Everything that I have worked hard for almost a decade is about to pay off, please bring her in now, and make sure she is dressed up in the pink outfit that I have laid out for her." "Yes, My Lord, but she is still rather upset about…." "I know all about her troubles, so there is no need to comment on it, just do as I ask without me having to repeat myself over and over again." "Very well…"
"My Lord? Is something the matter?" I could have killed myself for every single tear that fell from her eyes, but now was not the time for it. I needed to get my work done so that I could return to her, and finally have a real chance to move on from our past. "Forgive me wife, but I have been rather busy with the state affairs recently, that is why we were interrupted early this morning." "Do you wish for me to play again for you now, despite my rusty fingers?" "Just for a little while, then I shall be sending you back to your brother until I come for you officially. What happened to your wrist? Why is it bruised like that?" "I accidentally tripped up this morning when you…" "stop using your own blood as a catalyst in my work wife, even if you think that it can boost my performance in my tasks." "But it has worked…didn't it? Husband?" "I think that our difficult days will be over soon and we can share our weals and woes together in peace without any outside factors to sow discord between us." "Can we…finally be together now? In peace?" "Yes we can, we can accompany each other every single day from the moment I return back to this village for you and we can…start anew elsewhere."
"My Lady! Please stop…." Quickly, tell me, is my brother=in=law inside? Can he see me, even for just a few minutes? So that I can pay my respect to him?" "My Lady, The Lord is busy being entertained by his fiancé at the moment." "So what? I can still see him…please, why are you keeping me from seeing him! Is it Seo Yeon herself who is blocking my access to him?" "My Lady, I dare no speculate on my master's personal time…please stop! I beg of you to reconsider your actions!" "My Lord! Lord Nam! Please help me! Is there anyway that you can possibly forgive him on account of his past merits? He is a Prince after all?" ",My Lady, what are you…" "I must kneel here until my brother=in=law is willing to see me…" "Husband…" "Wife, I have brought you here to play your instrument for me, so play before I see you off." "So you expected her to come after all." "I summoned you in order to avoid her, no matter how pitiful she sounds, so don't you dare be swayed by any of it. The days of people disturbing ur peace are behind us now, don't you forget that, and if she wants to make me angry, then she can cry harder." "So now that The Third Prince has lost his power, her position is all the more precarious in the palace…unless we put her to some use at long last." "Very well wife, I cannot wait to see what he future has in store for us after we put this nightmare behind us. Wife? What are you thinking?" "When you leave this place, I will tell you everything."