Chapter 80: Jang-Aemuk (Obsructions)
I could have sworn that I felt something touching me shortly after I fell asleep in the early hours of the morning. Or i may have been dreaming about it with the memories of what happened last night. But i could have sworn that somebody kissed me on the lips, or maybe my imagination was just playing tricks on me into believing that what almost happened was something more than it was. The Young Master was just trying to deter me from marriage so he could keep me as a hostage under his father's roof for as long as he possibly could, that was all....
The very first thing that I wanted to work on when i woke up was to work on that draft and perfect it so i could leave it as a parting gift to the Young Master before i found the time to find my brother and give him a potential plan to work through so we could escape whilst the Nam's would possibly still in the palace. But panic soon overtook me when i couldn't find the disaster relief plan that I put down on my writing table. It wasn't possible for Seon-Ho to have taken it; he would have known at the first glance that it wasn't fully developed yet. Then who...no, it couldn't have been Nam-Jeon...could it? He would never come here. So that could only mean...
"Well well well, it looks like the Nam men will be far too busy to come home anytime soon. And it looks like i am feeling well enough today to finally pay some attention to you." "My Lady, you may as well take the time to get some exercise for that bulging baby bump of yours. Unless you think you are far too spoiled to take precautions like other expecting mothers to expect the hardships of labour. And wouldn't that be a waste of your unfounded arrogance" I didn't even have the faintest idea of what i was saying to make sure it made sense. I needed to get out of here before Dal shamed his entire family or humiliated the Young Master in any way. But the concubine was still heavily pregnant and I could not risk working up her anger like i usually did in case something happened to both the baby and its mother.
"Thank you for your concerns, but the Young Master has already done his part to look out for me in his absence. He had Lord Nam himself send me this luxury cream from the palace itself. It only nurtures the skin; I would sell you some but you are not married off. Yet." "Well, lucky you. and it seems like it was tailored made for you, how can i possibly be so shameless as to take what is yours." "Exactly, this is token of the Nam's family care for me and their hopes that I deliver this boy..." "Well god luck to you..." "you seem to be in rush , Seo Yeon? Which is pretty strange, since you are always confined to the walls of your rather luxurious quarters." "Well, i guess we cannot all be modest like you, so i shall bother you no further. You have already been exposed under the sun and wind, you had better not melt that kindness away." I was trying my level best to annoy her so she would just leave me alone whilst trying not to be distracted by the fact that a large number of cats had starting jumping over the courtyard and coming towards us every time this mad woman opened this so-called luxury cream of hers. I had heard something about cats being irritated in spring time, but there was something off with this. What exactly had the Lord Nam given her? and why was he suddenly being so generous in giving her gifts when he hadn't given anything to his only son first...
"Servants! Hold her and bring her to her knees." Before i knew it, servants that I hadn't seen before
"Like i said My Lady, your makeup is running, you should fix that before the Young Master comes home..." "Do you have any idea how much I have suffered because of you? Who are you to take everything from me? The Nam's compliment you, they reward you, my husband favours you more than anyone i have ever seen before, and even that lowlife Dal is obsessed with you! They were all supposed to be mine! I worked so hard for them! I slaved away as a maid to get to where I am now!" She slapped me with each sentence that she uttered whilst she had some more servants come in and tear the Young Master's room apart. I was getting more angrier by the second and I still needed to ride to the palace and make a scene so the emperor could notice me, purely so I could inform him about Nam-Jeon and my brother.
"Look what we have here. Since when did you turn into a thief, cousin?" "What are you talking about?" "Whose fan is this?" Fan? What fan? What was she talking about? "Was it gifted to you last night from the Young Master?" "If i tell you it was from him, would you be happy about it? Is that what you want to hear?" "He is my husband. He promised to make me his woman when he took me from my owner. He told me he would marry me because he liked me. But he changed ever since that banquet, I remember how he could never take his eyes off of these quarters where you were. When he wakes up in the morning, he takes the long route to the front gate just so he can pass by you when you are still asleep. He has gifted you so many things and he leaves the servants to deal with you. He only eats your food, until that bitch from the brothel come about." "What?" "Haven't you noticed that that he stopped asking you to cook for him? That is because she steals the food that you make and she passes it off as her's."
"What does that have to do with me! If Nam-Jeon sees even a mark on me, he will have your head for this! Now let me go!" "How can i let you go? It is only if i make you disappear that the Young Master will remember his promises to me! I will take back everything that you stole from me! So let me ask you again, where did you get this fan from?" "Listen to me! I have no knowledge of that fan, I have never seen it before! But I need to see the Young Master before we all get into trouble! Let me go!" "I cannot believe this! even in your last moments, you are still obsessed with the Young Master? You will not say anything else? Very well then, let us see if you will change your mind after some needle pricking! And do not blame me; if you hadn't stole him from me last night like you do every single night for years, then we could have co-existed peaceful." "I don't care about this! i am only friends with the Young Master! I need to see him about the plan that Dal will hand in..." "Enough! You are an orphan with no formal education! Even if you are sophisticated and self-taught, women have no say when it comes to politics! You just cannot stand anyone being smarter than you, even the men! The Young Master's career has been stagnant enough, it is high time that he receives a promotion!" "So much for a talented concubine, you cannot even concoct a plan from scratch, so who are you to comment on it! Let me go!" "How dare you! You dare to look down on me! Beg me for mercy! Otherwise, do not blame me for not showing you any mercy?" "A maid showing mercy to a lowborn like me! Whoever heard of such and absurd notion?"
Who knows what on earth she could have done to me if the group of cats that had been running rampant behind up suddenly ran into my quarters through the open doors and it scared all of us half to death. It was not just one cat, it was maybe 5 different strays all had pounced on her specifically as soon as a servant of hers accidentally knocked that stupid cream over onto the floor. I had never seen anything like that, but I didn't have time to cater to her, as heartless as that sounded. If i didn't get to the palace as soon as possible, the Young Master would be heavily punished for Dal's mistakes. And if the Young Master was disposed, then myself and brother didn't stand a chance of making it alive the next day.
As i had been doing with Dal who helped me find work, i managed to climb the lone tree in the narrow passage of the side courtyard and I climbed over the wall with great difficulty in my chima. And after all of that trouble i went through earlier, luck must have finally be on my side as I almost dropped on top of my brother himself who seemed to be very concerned with all of the noise that was coming out of the yangban that only he seemed to hear. He managed to catch me in his arms just in time, but he instantly let go of me as soon as he touched me. I could see the fear in his eyes and I could feel it just as deeply, but I needed his help now more than ever if I wished to save all of our lives. And because i had to get him involved because of this obstruction by the concubine, i swore to myself that I would not let her off , no matter what state she was in now. If she wanted a war against me, then she was going to get one by all means necessary.