Chapter 39: Ginjang Gojo (Rising Tensions)

Yeon's behaviour was completely off with me, not that I should have expected anything else, but once again her antics were getting under my skin and I found myself making mistakes left, right and centre. And who else could I vent my anger towards except the vile woman who was hell-bent on becoming my concubine when she wasn't even literate. She was the biggest failure I had ever come across and worthy of every single insult that my father shouted at me every single chance he got. But that wasn't all that I had to worry about; Hwi was on his way here and as despicable as it was, I had to find a way to draw Yeon out from her quarters so that she could show herself to him so that my father could initiate her as leverage. It was the very last thing that I wanted to do, but it was the only way that I could think of to ensure both of their survivals at the same time. I knew that Yeon was suffering mentally from her memory loss and that somebody as intelligent as her with a hunger for knowledge, she wouldn't be able to handle it. It must be driving her crazy and I was already taking a huge risk to let her run my father's household and the servants. But maybe, just maybe, if she also saw her own brother in person, it would pique her curiosity and she could at least begin to put the pieces of her memory together from the confines of her quarters. I could at least give her that much, as long as she did it from my line of sight and at home so she couldn't get into trouble.

But time seemed to slow down as soon as I got wind of Hwi's plans and waiting for him to confront me after everything that he had been through was a slow torture plan that was putting me on edge. And it was making me do things I never thought that I would do, such as clinging onto the very last person that I should have under her circumstances and trying everything in my power to make her happy, even if I was personally suffering myself. At least it eased my guilt a little bit anyways.

"Young Mistress, I beg your forgiveness of our negligence. I will personally handle all maintenance issues of your quarters since it has been out of service for 20 years...." "You mean that you will fix the requests that I have had for almost a year now, Dal? Now out of all times? Right after your master locked me up in here for no reason at all?" "I..." "Forget it, do what you want. This is your home anyways." "And as for your day out..." Forget it, I do not wish to be burden on anyone." "Young Mistress?" "If I was given more leniency, then I would have already been allowed out more than my allotted time. The fact that I haven't shows that it will be difficult for the Young Master to arrange. So just tell him to stick to his words and just forget all about it. If he wants to lock me up here, then I will not take a single step outside! So do not bother to berate your servants, or they will think that I am to blame for their misery. I do not need a scapegoat to ease my anger." "We will try to serve you better in the future." Even in the distance, I could hear Yeon slamming the door in Dal's face, I had personally never seen her this angry before, so I knew that I had a lot to do to make it up to her. "She did say to forget taking her out at all. She won't take a single step through her front door even if you sleep outside there for a week." "Why do you look like that?" "Like what?" "Why has your face gone all red? It isn't like she slapped you...did she?" "I have no idea what you are talking about." "So she didn't even mention me? At all?" "Don't you have some work to be getting on with? Why are you so focused on her again?" "Hwi is coming." "Oh. So you are trying all means to draw her out for her brother to see?" "Why else would I be focused on her? Besides, I am at the bottom of the list at work anyways, thanks to my father. So it turns out that I have plenty of time on my hands." "When are you going to handle the concubine and her family once and for all?" "I will handle her this week hopefully. She must be the reason why Yeon is so frustrated." "Sure, that is why she is angry, it isn't because you locked her in her room at all." "Shut up. She really didn't mention me?"

Before I could even get an answer form him again, the neighbouring family that supported the concubine living in my home suddenly barged into our home, taking advantage of my father's mysterious yet common absence to draw out my so-called cousin. "Where is she! Where is that orphan! Who dares to put down our concubine and frame us!" "Big Madame, what on earth are you talking about?" "What am I talking about? My family have been the subject of gossip for weeks and I only find out about it now? My husband is a subject of ridicule in the Emperor's court and is being bullied every which way possible? Even the most naive and incompetent of concubines cannot be this stupid unless she is also being bullied into making the decisions that she has made..." "You sent me an illiterate orphan as a spy in my home and you dare to blame my orphaned cousin for it? Have you lost your mind?" "Your orphaned cousin upon whom you pity has no talent, no virtue, she is disloyal and unfilial for sowing discord between yourself and the concubine which you have taken in on a whim! Aren't these crimes in itself? I am afraid that I would not have even gained entry into this home anymore if I didn't bring my men with me to break down the gate!" "My cousin can only follow the orders of myself and my father, so you had better think twice about who you are really blaming here!" I had to admit that I saw this coming, but this was never supposed to be about Yeon at all. I was the one who mislead the concubine, I am the one who tortures her on purpose, and I was the one interfering in their plans to takeover my father's position in the Emperor's court before I had the chance to save the Seo's, never mind use his power to consolidate my own and fulfil the promise I made my mother to help powerless people like her...and the Seo's together. I only drew Yeon into my plans because of her housekeeping skills...my god, did I really make a mistake by drawing too much attention to her at once? This was all spiralling out of control and I had no idea how to make the women of the household backdown without resorting to violence.

"...You young people alway forget the grace that your elders give you. You dare to torment the concubine that my family handed over to you out of our own goodwill? Isn't this a lack of courtesy at the very least? We gave an illegitimate bastard like you a gift from a noble home such as ours, and you treat us like this? Since you have no mother and no other senior woman in this household, it looks like it is up to me to discipline that orphaned brat once and for all! Men! Grab her and bring her onto my knees in front of me!" "Don't you dare touch her!" "How dare this filthy bastard bark at me like the dog that he is!" "You..." "ENOUGH! How dare you barge into another noble home without the owner's permission! How dare you address the young master in such a manner and treat him this way! How dare you take advantage of a palace official's absence! Have you all lost your minds!"

If I didn't personally witness Yeon shouting at the top of her lungs in exactly the same way as her brother did when he was pushed to his limits, then I would have never have believed it even if a hundred people told me. But she really was outraged, to the point where she actually stomped her way across the courtyard and grabbed the concubine by the hair and dragged her back so the big madame had no choice but to release the hold she had put me in with her guards. And the worst thing of all was that she had left why father's doors wide open for people outside to come in and witness her act of treason. "Ho dare you...!" " You may be of noble status, but the master of this household is a member of the council that was formed by the Emperor himself! Going against Nam-Jeon also means going against his majesty's wishes! Big Madame, are you sure you want to keep humiliating this household so viciously!" "Your family isn''t the only member of the Emperor's royal court! Why does everyone look down on my family compared to yours! Just because nobody knows how that insidious man rose to power, it does not mean that he is better than the rest of us! At least my family was born into nobility rather than.." "Than what? Do you know how many founding members of this empire are illegitimate? Are you even aware of the rumours of our Emperor's own mother? That she is not only Chinese, but an illegitimate daughter herself? Why else do you think our Emperor only got the throne by climbing up the ranks of war, unlike all his predecessors?" "You...you lowborn orphan...how dare you speak of such political matters and try to teach me! Your senior! Everyone present is giving me the face to discipline you! And here you are, making me out to be the bully! Me!"

Before I could even think to intervene, Yeon had already slapped the servants who were coming at her to restrain her as they did me. "You...you dare to harm my servants? What sort of a woman are you! How dare you shame me like this! What a vulgar family that lacks any sort of common decency!" "Well at least I am literate, which is more than I can say for your concubine! I can guarantee that I have not made a single mistake in managing my cousin's household unlike her! And that is not all! I know humility, unlike someone present who commits shameless acts over and over!" "What...what are you..." "Big Madame Park, it is not also common knowledge that you climbed into your cousins bed to steal her husband away from her when she died under mysterious circumstances more than twenty years ago?"

Who on earth was this woman who I knew as a frail and timid woman for all of her life? Her intelligence and wit was one thing, but this? She could potentially get us all in trouble and magnify the situation a lot more than I had intended to. But when I looked over at the Big Madame and I saw that all of her blood had drained from her face in that very moment, I had a little voice in my head tell me to trust Yeon no matter what. She wasn't like other girls who got overly emotional, even when she had every right to be, so I was sure that she knew what she was doing and what her own limits were. But the way that she was defending me and the lengths that she was going to...I had never seen anything like it. I was even powerless to defend my own best friend and vice versa but Yeon...what did she have to gain by defending someone that she knew was lying to her? That she couldn't even remember? Why?