"Madame, you must be tired after making the funeral arrangements for your son. Here, let me message your legs for you." "Please go easy on me servant, my legs are not what they used to be anymore. Even the children have developed mouth sores due to the poor exhaustion of this funeral and my husband also cannot bare to stand or kneel for so long anymore. Please get home honeysuckle and make drinks for everyone present, including those who are asleep for now." "My Lady, after all these years and after everything you have been through, you still understand the essence of filial piety. You have worked so hard today and you still have to take your medicine for today." "Servant, have you heard anything about The Seo's? Have they been found yet? We haven't heard anything since we set fire to their home, we haven't even fund any bodies at all! I do not like this, what if they come out back to society at any time and find out the truth? They can accuse us of doing it and bury us all alongside Nam Jeon…" "My Lady, I have done everything in my power, but ice have not heard anything at all about The Seo's. But we have heard about The Lord Nam…" "Already! That was rather quick of him….did he say or do anything about that girl he was obsessed with?" "He burnt down the brothel that she used to frequent just last night after expelling the ksiaeng girl from his home." "What is he doing? Why can't he make it work with that girl at all? Wasn't she the one he fell for first?" "According to the sources I have, he never once fought like that with the disabled orphan girl, not even once."
"Listen to me cousin, it is very important that you do not cry anymore at the next funeral procession, do you understand me" "But how comes? Isn't this a sad occasion? My older brother died and…" "And it is because of that your father needs his children's support now more than ever, do you understand me?" "I suppose so…." "You do want to help your family with their burdens, don't you? You want people to take you more seriously after what happened to your older brother, right? He almost got your entire family killed and it is luck only that he didn't drag this entire family down with him, but for how long can we rely on that for? If you can show that you are not an emotional wreck, then your parent's will rely on you more, isn't that right? Here, drink some ginseng soup to regain your energy for the rest of the day."
"My my, this nephew of my husband's seems to have finally settled in this family for good, he is even going so far as to help his cousins out in their time of need. Come over here son, and tell me what is in this 4 ginseng soup so that we can show off to extended family later on?" "Mother, I believe that this ginseng soup is composed of; purple powdered ginseng, southern and Northern sand ginseng and even black ginseng. This should make the ginseng soup bitter and sweet at the same time, thick and thin at the same time and restore energy to someone who is fatigued…" "Fatigued? My boy, since when did you learn such big words?" "Mother! I am studying quite a bit you know! I have to after what happened to my brother…." "Hush now! You know not to mention her everything again, do you want the entire kingdom falling on our heads! We are lucky enough as it is to get away with our lives at all at the point and you just so recklessly….very well, go and follow your cousin back to the ancestral hall." "I even tasted it for you mother, so be sure to have some!" "What a filal child indeed, you must be so proud, My Lady." "Finally, my family may have some hope to see again after all."
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"Son, it is your elder brother's funeral today, why do you not shed a tear for him?" "Father, this family has already been extremely burdened by this loss and that you need help managing these arrangements and the guests since we were cut off from the palace. So I dare not to be overly sad, in order not to mess up my duty as the next in line…" "Next in line? For what exactly? We have lost everything! We cannot work in this kingdom and we have no wealth left to our name at all!" "But father, I still need to assist you in…" "in what? We have nothing! There is nothing to do but to loiter around since nobody will interact with us at all!" "Father! Do not loose control of yourself! We can always figure something out! We must remain clearheaded at all times and regain what was taken from us!" "You bastard! And what plans do you have then? What do you have to back up your big talk? That bastard nephew started making plans for himself when he was only 10 years old and started carrying it out just before he turned 20! And you? You are already aged 24 and do not have anything to show for yourself at all! The excuse of sharing my burden is a questionable motive! How can I have an ingrate such as yourself as my son! You are just as lazy army brother was! And look at how life treated him in the end!" "Father?"
"Husband? Your son is just worried about you, how could you possibly accuse him of having other motives?" "Is this how you raise my children for me, wife! Children who cannot think for themselves and wrk independently! Look at how that epileptic orphan girl changed our nephew around in a month compared to the rumours that we heard about him! You have had nearly 3 decades with our children and they are like spoiled children who cannot do anything without my help at all!" "They are just worried for you now and are not being disrespectful in the least! Even my own maternal and paternal family have cut ties with me over this scandal and you do not hear me whining about it like you are constantly every single day!"
"If my children are like this unintentionally, then just imagine how they are when they intentionally disrespect someone other than their own father! I should just take in my nephew's woman as a nanny myself into this family to do wha typo have failed to do yourself!" "Husband, I am still not clear on what you are angry about, but please clam down for the sake of our guests here!" "Guests! These meals 10 people! Our halls used to fit up to 100 people every 2 weeks, where are they gone now? They vanished due to my family's stupidity and your family just abandoned us! And now my own son is harbouring greedy intentions? Just because my eldest died, it does not mean that you get to take his place right away!" "Father! I never held such greedy intentions! Why must you misunderstand me like this!" "You dare to say that you do not have them at all! You have been seeing to these gusts yourself as if to hold your own faction after your brother's death with hi every friends! You don't deserve to be my son! You don't deserve to take over your brother's place! You have no sense of filial devotion at all!" "Husband! Stop beating your own son like that! We still have an audience and…" "I am loosing my mind! You drive me crazy! Nobody understands me here….nobody understands me at all…!" "Husband! Why aren't you listening to me!"
"Because this is all your fault! You failed to make our children anywhere close to the level that my nephew is! They talk big with no plans to lead us out of this misery! Can't you see or understand what sort of misery we are facing! It is better for me to be dead than face anyone of you right now! At least Seo Geom's children make him proud beyond the grave! And you! Wife! It is also your fault for not using your family connections earlier to raise them the right way! What use are you noble people in one family if you are this useless! Tell me! You were always jealous of your older brother and now you are happy that he is gone, isn't that right!" "But…" "Wife! I am putting an end to this family before any one of these ill fitting creatures that you call our children end up finishing us with their mistakes, just like our firstborn did!" "What do you mean…" "I am officially divorcing you and I want you out of this home! You and your children! Now get out and leave me in peace with my women!"
I couldn't believe what was happening to me; in a single second I had lost my son, my family, my husband and even my home, which was the very last thing that we owned together after our second downfall. "Mother? What is father saying? He doesn't want us anymore? What is going on? I only offered him my support and he just…mother! It is raining! We need to find shelter! We need to go back to the home and…" "Didn't you hear your father? We have been expelled from his family yangban and his family, we no longer have a home to reside in and nobody in this kingdom will take us in due to our punishments from The Emperor himself…we have lost everything…ever since we plotted against the children of our first victims, we have now lost everything…the servants? Where are my servants! I cannot survive without them either!" "Mother! Look! I think father is selling them back into the market place!" "We are done for…we are finished son…" "Mother, we have no choice but to go to my older cousin for help, we really have no other way now…"
