"Chul, it is time to get to bed, please start getting ready now." "Just a few more minutes mother, I know that my aunt and uncle are coming for me today, they promised me!" "Chul, you have been looking outside of the window all day long and you have hardly touched your food! Come on, I haven't seen your little face all day long and…" "Why do you care about my face? You only care about Geom now?" "Baby you know that isn't true, I gave you the same exact attention when you were his age. Babies need a lot more care until they can walk and talk just like you. And you have plenty of friends to keep you company in the meantime." "I only like BoGeom but she was busy wither father today so i couldn't see her today, but I want to play with my aunt!" "Why? So she can hold you all day long like the spoils brat that you are turning out to be?" "My aunt says that you were a much bigger brat with grandfather, father." "Oh did she now? And what else did she say about your father exactly?" "That is a secret between us that I can only talk about when I am older." "What a spoilt brat! And look at what she has done to my son! She has him wrapped around her fingers as anyone else's!" "She is only doing her filal duties as our son's aunt, what did you expect?" "It is enough that I miss her, I do not need my son running around in circles and chanting her name as well!" "You are jus jealous of your baby sister my love." "No I am not; I never have been and I never will be." "Whatever you may my love, but it is your bedtime also, so why don't you grab our son and…" "Mommy! Aunty is here! I told you that she would be!" "Chul! Be careful! No running at nighttime! And you know you are not supposed to run outside without me…do you even think that he can hear me, husband?" "Not now that my sister is kissing his cheeks until it falls off. Let us get he guest room prepared for them and we will hold a big breakfast spread tomorrow. Chul! Come on and…wait! What is going on! Where the hell is your husband taking my son, sister?" "My husband may or may no have missed your son so he is taking him for a special horsehide. And do not worry about putting him to sleep, he will stay in our room for the night." "Sister!" "Brother! I am only doing my duties as an aunt! Do no interfere with that a least! I will give your wife a break also so she can focus on Geom." "And since when are you so considerate enough to give me a break, sister=in=law? Is there a reason why you have come here so late and without warning?" "Well…."
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"…what seems to be the problem ladies?" "Madame Hwa=Wol; we are sewing pearls and these limited gold threads that we have for the front image, but the feathers of this Phoenix…" "Ok ladies, let us gather around and think about this embroidery that we can gift to the newly wedded couple, shall we? These homes of nobility, especially The Royal Family are long lived and are used to seeing all sorts of treasures around the world, are they not? We need to focus on making something that they will wear in their daily lives and if it is to splendid, it will become a wasted eyesore, especially at night." "What if we make a blanket for them? To bind their union even more?" "That is a good idea Hyeon; and look here at these Phoenix feathers? They sport an heir of pride and they usually have hundreds of clustered flowers around them in popular designs, so there is no need to choose overly sumptuous ones. In fact, to make something rare, I think the best course if action is to use the less popular colours and designs, don't you all agree?" "I have met this Princess before Madame Hwa=Wol; I heard that she always wore a dark purple necklace that was left to her by her mother. So why don't we use some dark purple silk threads to match, and for every 8 shares, we can mix in some silver shares to make it a little more dim at night? Under the candlelight, these colours should carry a soft and warm hue, and use the minimum amount of Phoenix feathers as possible, use one for each share if possible?" "We can also use some purple crystal beads sparingly and more tourmaline beads if possible. These will enhance our purple threads more and the tourmaline carries the calming effect that we need at nighttime." "Aren't tourmaline beads also known as 'longevity stones?' The colours overall should surely cover the splendour of the silk threads and maybe we should also use some beeswax stones by the Phoenix's head? These signify auspicious prayers…"
"This all looks like very good progress ladies and do not forget; if we manage to successfully have this gift taken in by the couple, then I myself will personally double your pay out of my own pockets!" "That is all well and good brother=in=law, but do you mind retuning my son to me? He has not left your side since you both arrived in the middle of the night and I am afraid that I have already forgotten what he looks like." "Forgive me, but it isn't my fault that he is attached to my hip, when do I get to see him otherwise? You are so busy with your other son as well?" "Brother=in=law…" "Very well, I shall return him to you for mealtimes and bedtime only, but I get my nephew for the rest of the time at least." "And how long will that last exactly?" ""My family will leave as soon as your embroidery piece is done." "Then you will have it done by tomorrow where I shall collect my son, in one piece if you do not mind." "Very well sister, but until then…" "Brother=in=law! Wait! Do not be so reckless with him…" "There is no point in saying anything to him sister, even my BoGeom follows him around endlessly. Yeon will take good care of our children whilst her husband puts us to work." "Just let him wait until he has his own children, then we shall pay him back for this." "We surely will sister, don't you worry about it."
"Have you seen your aunty, Chul? I haven't seen her since breakfast time." "Uncle, I heard that there was a woman who was bedridden in the village, so my aunt has gone to see her." "Oh really? And when did you hear of this?" "My aunt was summoned when you saw my father this morning." "What else did you hear, boy?" "I heard my aunt discussing this woman with my mother; this woman is widowed and her in=laws have put their eldest daughter in charge of family affairs, and treats this sick woman harshly. Something about the sister in law turning out all of the woman's dowry servants and she agreed, or her only option would have been to marry an old man instead and…why are you looking at me like that uncle?" "I do not know whether to scold you for imitating women's gossip or to be impressed with your memory skills." "Father works to much to play with me and mother is always busy with my brother, so my aunt taught me to listen to everything and be aware of what goes on in my father's village so that I can shoulder his burdens more." "Is that so? What else did she teach you?" "I will only tell you when you put me on your horse again!" "You've already tired out my poor horse already." "Please uncle? Who do you love more? Me or your horse?" "Alright you little brat, come over here and…" "And me too uncle! Please!" "Very well, you can get behind Chul, BoGeom, although you are old enough to start riding yourself. I shall have to talk to your father about your education it seems." "And how old were you when you first started to ride your horse uncle?" "I was about years old and I only got to do that because my brother insisted that I join him…" "You have a brother, uncle? Why haven't we net him before?" "He died a very long time ago, that is why. Now you both tell me what I want to hear and I might have a few screws desserts lined up for you."
"My aunt taught me to pay attention to how my mother cooks and cleans because she will not always be alive to do it for me and when I go off to war, I cannot even take a servant to look after me so I need to take care of myself. I also watch the ladies work when I am tried of training by myself since my mother worked hard on our family trademark and I need to help out with the business when I am older. My aunt says I should also have a basic knowledge of medicine as well."
"And what about you, BoGeom?" "Aunty Yeon encourages me to give equal time to my other studies that are separate from medicine. She also told me that a woman pursuing medicine can get dangerous for me in the future, and the fact that my father was a brilliant warrior in The Liadong War was the reason why he survived at all, so I need to learn how to train just enough to defend myself as a girl." Girls learning to defend themselves and receive the same education as men? And men learning the family inside and out and using them as extra spies that no adult would possibly suspect since they generally treated children just as badly as they did their women in the kingdom? Especially mine who were always going to be half lowborn like myself, despite the fact that I would never raise them that way. But my wife was a different story; she survived and pushed past her many obstacles in life that could have swallowed her whole based on her survival instincts as a lowborn orphaned woman with epilepsy and living in poverty. She understood the people in both low and highborn classes that I was still an amateur at myself and I knew that she would raise my children to survive in this world without us, even at the risk of treating them as lowborn themselves, which aligned perfectly with my plans for my flesh and blood to carry on my work in the future.
"What else can you tell me about this woman, Chul? Family disputes are quite rare in a village as small as this…not that we have any attorneys or criminal justice system set up here anyways…" "I asked around uncle as my aunt taught me to; since the passing of his son, the father has dedicated himself to Buddhist cultivation and no longer cares about family affairs. And his wife is also severely ill herself, and her servants are arranged by her daughter herself." "Is that so?" "Uncle? What is wrong? Why do you look so worried?" "Never you children mind; go and return to your parents to have your lunch and I will try to catch up with you later, I promise you." Something wasn't right about this matter at all; I made it a personal mission to memorise all of he families of this village which was less than 100 just in case my brother=in=law needed my help, and this seemed to be a family that I wasn't familiar with at all. And what motive would here be to show off one's prestige in a priorly developed village like this where the people were still living in poverty? Unless….somebody had found out the location of this place and had sent in spies? But who? The Emperor? The Third Prince? HuiJae? My paternal clan? And why would they want to see my wife of all people instead of her brother who was the Village Chief after all? My ever=patient, ever kind and ever nurturing wife, I wonder who is out to get you this time?