"They are acting irregardless of the law and natural morals of this land! How dare that orphan girl show up back here with my husband! She even says she is married to him! And pregnant! A disabled orphan like her, is that really possible at all? No, this cannot be, not now and not ever!" "But My Lady, both she and The Lord Nam confirmed it themselves! I even saw them ordering their physician to prepare her prenatal herbs before she rejoined the lunch group!" "So despite our careful measures, we were unable to defend ourselves against her pregnant belly! This just makes all of my effort to capture him for naught! He won't even come to me when she is fragile in health like that, just like how he always defended her epileptic seizures!" "We must soon come up with a way to eliminate the roots of the weed before The Nam Clan gets involved!" "What do you mean, concubine?" "Mistress Han, think about it clearly; The Nam Clan only got together to regain their status from The Lord Nam himself right? But he rejected them and they still haven't left your residence, isn't that a little odd?" "Are you suggesting that they are clinging onto this baby to do what his father couldn't?" "It is the only thing that makes any sense My Lady." "Oh for goodness sake, this isn't even the most important matter at hand! I will need to be the one to marry off the cousin once and for all before this all gets out of hand and The Senior Scholar crushes this family!" "But My Lady, your affair with him…?" "There was no funeral, no money needed and his wife was at home when I came running in there! He accused me of embarrassing him and he cut me off completely! We wants to crush The Lord Nam and myself along with him to bury out affair! So now instead of having his help to humiliate my husband in every single way until he saw sense to leave that orphaned girl in the past, I must now fix the mess that I have made of our own union and be the one to win his favour by resolving this issue for him! He must be so embarrassed that I forgot to tell him about this lunch that I put together for him! Call upon The Madame so that I may speak with them privately and…"
"My Lady, look! They are all outside and are interacting with the lunch group! Both mother and daughter! They seem to be dressed exceptionally well for this and even her son seems to be getting quite drunk already!" "What! Didn't you say that they were isolating themselves in their quarters because The Madame was adamant against any marriage talk pertaining her daughter!" "Mistress Han, I wasn't lying at all! But now suddenly…well, I have no idea what happened! They are just all out there and feasting on the lunch!" "Very well, if she will not come to see me, then I must gain back my reputation by solving this crises in public. And as for Seo Yeon…go tell my servant to prepare a special soup for her, and do it in the same of The Senior Scholar's wife." "My Lady, are you sure about this?" "We have a home full of ministers here, there couldn't be a better timing to create another issues whilst already dealing with one."
"Good afternoon My Lady, do you mind if I sit besides you for this lunch?" "Mistress Han? What brings you here?" "I am your junior, and I have come to dissipate your worries." "Is that so? Not even a room full of ministers could peacefully resolve this situation, so what can you do about it?" "Well wha do you think about this then? I ask that you go up to all of these ministers right now to strenuously emphasis the benefits of marrying off your daughter to The Prince." "Mistress Han! Don't you think that your words are too harsh! You are stabbing me where it hurts and you know it!" "Madame! Please keep your voice down for goodness sake! Will you at least listen to my reasoning before you…" "You have already stated them! Why must I listen to them again if I didn't agree the first time around!" "Bu only this marriage can unite the court, the harem and this family! Why won't you think of us at all!" "And who are you to me exactly! You are not my family! You have barely borne any fruit to unite us at all and neither you or your concubine are married to The Lord Nam, so why are you always hanging around him like a bad smell? You have no rights to even live in this yangban without marital or blood relations, so for goodness sake just leave us alone and return to the brothel whence you came from!"
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Never in my entire life did I think that it would be a member of The Nam Clan that would put that wench in her place and so openly as well. She was causing a really big scene and up until then, none of the ministers paid any attention to her at all. But now that The Madame was s publicly shaming her, everyone seemed o recognise her as The Third Prince's Mistress and it was a more priceless reaction than my nephew looking for me as soon as he woke up from his little nap. And as for HuiJae herself, she looked like she was about to burst into tears and she excused herself once again just as The Senior Scholar and his wife took her place to try and convince The Madame to marry of her daughter to The Prince publicly so that they could show off their prowess in front of his colleagues I am sure.
"…as The Mistress Han was saying, there are some benefits of this marriage that will secure your fitting in your household and your own clan." "And what argument shall you present me with about this issue I wonder?" "I will present you with the fairest one of all; you will be more likely to preserve your daughter if you actively pitch her as a good wife to The Prince." "My Lord, do you hear yourself? How on earth will that work?" "It is because you are a subject of The Emperor's kingdom before you are a mother. There are currently other's who are waiting to pitch their daughter's over yours, but if you make the effort of doing the same thing, then The Emperor will have no reason to look down upon us, which will worsen your condition and standing and those of your children in your husband's family and his entire clan." "So let me summarise your reason; you want me to just pitch my daughter to marry The Prince in hopes that he will just not pick her at all? Is that right?" "It is the best comprise that I can come up with to meet everyone's needs. Whoever settles first will be able to keep their daughter; and there are many benefits to list, wouldn't you agree?" "This will pressure other families for the same right of marriage so that I can keep my own daughter by my side?" "Of course, now I suggest that you try to convince your daughter to be well prepared for the tests that will occur for becoming his wife; as you know that in lieu of this scandal, the hunt for his wife has come on much earlier." "What? Are you saying that I should talk to her right now, in this very moment?" "You do not have a moment to loose Madame, and us ministers here need to be assured that we have a plan to ease The Prince's worries." "Well, I suppose so, but my daughter's temperament isn't exactly a patient and understanding one, like myself really." "Then I really wouldn't mind sending my own wife to reason with her in your place, if I have your permission of course?" "Very well, I cannot see why not. Call upon The Mistress Han to bring you to her; but I have already warned you about her stubborn and difficult personality."
As soon as The Senior Scholar was out of sight, I noticed from the crowd that The Madame was silently breaking in tears and she had to quickly excuse herself just in time for HuiJae to emerge once again just as the lunch was staring to die down. Everyone was slowly starting to leave with a plan in mind about The Prince's marriage, but who knows what would happen if HuiJae kept getting involved in an argument that she had no part in at all. But there was only so much that I could do myself and I had already made my point as fairly as possible, so all I could do was to watch her mess up the situation as much as possible again before I went in to clean it up, but this would be for the very last time.
"My daughter, my poor daughter…there is no saving you after this. My goodness, why are my family so intolerably greedy! Just because of these blasted benefits, I must ruin my own daughter's life! She will have to deal with endless concubines just like I had to, and I didn't teach her how to overcome it since I myself still have no idea until this day! I have to constantly think of a clan that has done nothing for myself nor my family at all! This damned family will do anything and everything for their damned reputation! If only the people knew the truth about us and what we did to Seo Geom of all people! But it wasn't my fault! My sister was the one who was insanely jealous of her wife, so why are my own children paying for that price! Does nobody care that I am a mother at all! My sister has children of her own to sacrifice, even more so to build up her reputation as a divorced noble woman in old age, why on earth does my daughter have to be sent away from me! I have lived my life for these people, can't they just give me the small allowance of keeping my children by my side? Just this once? I will marry them off myself once I am ready and…"
"What a generous and giving mother you turned out to be; you will even spare your own daughter just as your own mother did to you without hesitation!" "I am warning you for the very last time Mistress Han to leave me alone and exit this yangban that does not belong to you!" "And what I choose not to? Because if you say that to me one more time, then I will just have to confess to Madame Nam what you just confessed to right now? Your generous mind should also be a benefit to your sudden ill health as well." "Says the woman who couldn't get a single one of her various men to commit to her at all. Your constant mention of your enemy's name only shows how reluctant you are to let the girl go. It is not her husband who keep dragging her back into your life, it is you yourself who keeps pushing an obsessed man to always bring her back no matter what she does." "Enough! You…" "And as for her who is a woman who was born into an actual family instead of being dumped and raised in a brothel with no father to your name, what do you know of celebrating and worshiping a man instead of trying to be his equal and humiliating him every single time that you cannot get your way? It is no wonder why no man has ever come for you hand at all, even the one that your are living with against his will and consent. Seo Yeon not only managed to get our of 3 brothels, but she did so whilst retaining the favour and love of her man whilst you will always be seen as a prostitute no matter what you do or say! You will never even experience the joy and sadness of motherhood and putting a smile over you're tears for them." "Stop grinding your sharp teeth over here!" "By the time that my daughter is married off, so shall your own time come to an end, Mistress Han!"