"My Lady, our makers are unwell and I know that you wish to take care of them, but as you have not yet consummated your marriage with The Lord Nam, it seems rather inappropriate to let you into his bedchambers, wouldn't you agree?" "But, I have to serve him! He is my…." "My Lady, we all know that nothing has happened yet, so he is nothing to you until that happens…" "Excuse me! What did you just…who the hell do you think you are? You are not fit to serve such a man with a loose tongue like yours!" "My Lady, I have been serving The Lord Nam for a decade now and he treats me well, so your opinion isn't really valued anywhere to be honest. Now that they are sick, the servants have their work cut out for them and the nephew needs looking after. He is expecting his breakfast at any moment now, so I will count on you to take care of that and I shall take care of the rest." "But…!" "My Lady, it is improper for 2 adults of the opposite sex to be that close to each other before your titling ceremony and trying t break into their chambers united can have fatal consequences for you. You even bought liquor with you; if anyone else saw this, then they would think that you were trying to get The Lord Nam drunk amidst his illness." "No, because this is his favourite…" "It is my second time seeng a bold last such as yourself who dare not to care about gossip, just like The Young Mistress Seo." "Enough! If The Lord Nam knew of your insults towards me, then he would have flogged you to death by now! Servants! Hold her and…"
"Enough! Who dares to punish the servants of The Lord Nam without his authorisation!" "And who are you…" "I am the wife of The Lord Nam's physician and a close friend of The Young Mistress Seo, entrusted by her older brother. And who exactly are you?" "I am…" "My Lady, I have no idea who you are but…that is a very familiar smell on you. I grew up with a kisaeng from the brothel before it got burnt down to the ground, a woman who always wore the same perfume growing up." "Forgive me, I…" "I care about the both of them too much t stand here and lecture you on your mistakes, so handle your business well and stay out of the way, little girl." "No, I should personally…" I was humiliated twice in one day and 4 times in 2 days by now, and there was nothing I could do to about it when all of The Lord Nam's associates and personal friends kept pouring in to visit the Maser and Mistress of this home whilst I was delegated to baby sitting issues, which made a turn for the worse when the nephew himself fell ill as well. I was ashamed to admit that I had never been more flustered in my life and all of the physicians were too busy with the masters. Never in my life with the status of concubine did I think that I would have to fall onto my knees upon the mud with my expensive dress and accessories on to beg for the attention of the close physician MoonBok to even treat the nephew, which he really wasn't happy about. He had managed to reduce me to tears with his lecture as his wife swooped into care for the boy, but that wasn't even the worst part! They were close to the happy couple and they were exhausted by the end of the day, so much so that I had to make last minute preparations to set up rooms for them inside of the main home of the yangban! They treated this home as if it was their own and they certainly looked as if they knew the place well and they certainly ordered a lot of food from the kitchens and made my own personal servants serve them all night long, leaving me to tend to the boy all night long myself without any help or a moment's rest. It was only later that I was informed that the Nam boys were allergic to something that I had put in the dessert and as for The Young Mistress Seo, nobody could seem to figure out what was wrong with her, but it looked like she had fallen ill from the dessert that I had made from scratch myself for the very first time. I couldn't understand it, as I ha personally watched her make this herself countless times, especially when The Lord Nam would visit her most days of the week and she always had those cakes prepared for his visit, just like a wife would do.
"So what treatment are they undergoing? Tell me! I didn't make your serve them to not give me information! Servant!" "Most likely MoonBok will use the turmeric detoxifying decoction remedy for everyone, including the boy, so…" "So I have to put up with that horrid smell in my own quarters! How long for?" "Maybe up to 3 weeks, My Lady." "No, no this cannot be happening! Why has everything turned on it's head in less than a week! I wasn't prepared for this at all…I cannot handle all of this pressure! Nobody will listen to me at all and I do not know what to do with myself! I may as well move in The Mistress Han into this spacious yangban and have her deal with all of this drama myself! I am simply not cut out for this at all!" "My Lady, the physicians have come to use thistle and purslane ointment onto the boy." "Very well! Have them come in immediately so that they can treat him…." "My Lady, we already seem to be out of meat and dairy products, we need to restock the kitchens as soon as possible!" "Just do it then!" "But My Lady, we need the funds to do so and…" "Forgive me My Lady, we need more blankets and sheets for the boy…" "My Lady, the boy has very sparse clothes and we need some more immediately…" "My Lady, the servants wish to see you…" "My Lady, the physician demands that we…" "My Lady!" "ENOUGH! What do you all want from me! What do you expect from me! I have no idea how this place works and I have no idea how to much such arrangements on such short notice!" "But My Lady…" "And I cannot tend to my own husband in case I contract this so called 'infection' myself! I have no chance to show my loyalty and devotion at all and I…!" "My Lady, what if you seal off the main chambers to prevent others from coming in and spreading this around? The very last thing that we need is for the entire household to fall on your first week here and have everyone in the palace blame you for it!" "Yes I…that is a good choice…let me know when the physicians have cleared the room so that I can finally try to visit him." "Very well, My Lady…"
"…My Lord' it is a clear night now and nobody can disturb as anymore. You have left me here on my own to deal with everything and I have no idea what I am doing without your guidance, without your approval and without you. How can I hope to flourish as your concubine without you? I promise not to court favour from you only if you give me a real chance to serve you, unlike the other women who only flock around you for rewards. I will whole heartedly pray for your recovery in the nearest temple, and I will personally make some scripture banners and hang them up for your blessings, no matter what it takes. I will not let anybody help me as it may ward off the effects of them and I will serve you until the end of my days. Even if you do not wish to see me, then I can cover up my face with a handkerchief, but please do not drive me away, I beg of you. What can I fear as long as you recover? I have even boiled some food for you for hours, so that you can…" "My Lady, he may be upset to hear that you only made enough for him and not anybody else, you are lucky that he cannot hear you right now and…"
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I stayed quiet with my eyes shut as this concubine went on to spew some things that sounded rehearsed and familiar, as I had heard it all from that woman she served before time and time again. I prayed and hoped to whoever listened to prayers in that fantasy place in the skies that this woman would leave us alone so that I could recover in silence from my temporary side effect from my sobriety…and take in the greatest news that I had received in my entire life, even more so than the pieces I had put together towards my own goals t get to where I was when I was at the pinnacle of my success. And I could't be happier that it was MoonBok who managed to be the one to give me the diagnosis to my wife's pregnany. At long last; I was almost starting to give up hope that it would happen at all and I was even more miserable with the prospect of training that slippery nephew of mine as my heir, especially when he could barely take his eyes off of my wife even as his young age. I would keep him on as I had my uses for him, but I wanted to keep my distance from him as much as possible and not to influence the children that my wife would give me along with MoonBok's children and my own nephews. I didn't want him anywhere around them but I couldn't isolate him forever, so I was going to have to find a way around this. He was a jealous, envious, scheming and dark person to be around; he was everything my father thought that he was, only to not live long enough to distinguish the differences between us.
My limbs were sore, my ears were ringing, my skin was layered with sweat that the concubine sneaked into clean every now and again but she couldn't wash me fully and soon enough I had to get up out of the bed that I was sharing with my woman who was still unconscious and unaware of the life that she was nurturing in her body. I would have woken her up sooner by force, but I could already tell at a distance that Yeon was extremely exhausted already, so I would allow her only a few hours of sleep before we both emerged from my quarters to join the rest of the world in the daily tasks of life. But for now, I didn't want anybody else apart from MoonBok's family to know that I was already in the process of recovery, and that I would secretly carry on my work in my large chambers until my wife woke up…and we can restart our lives again with this second chance that was given to us by someone in the skies who could see that we were worth it and he would not waste time arguing bitterly ever again.