"Over my dead body! That slut of a girl caused this heaven-offending disaster herself! And that is your own retribution for taking in a concubine that nobody else wanted! So you want your already married daughter to clean up this mess for you!" "Old Madame, please watch out for your health!" "My health! If you were worried about my health, my son shod have raised this daughter of his better! This illegitimate child who has lived like a divine princess for all of her life! We taught her to be versed in principles and raised these 2 daughters like flowers, it is not for this family to waste any of them as you like, not like you all have done for the entirety of their lives! The first daughter's husband is a loafer and a drunk and this second daughter's fiancé is feared under his Master, The Third Prince! He got his fiancé pregnant and now he is willing to clean up his own mess? What sort of man do you call this? One that needs a shiny doll of a wife to uphold his own corrupt image! If that girl wants to whore around like her mother, then let her do so! But do not drag this entire family into that pit of hell with her!" "But if we do not agree to this, how can we marry off the other children? It isn't my fault that your son insisted on having a harem of his own! I tried to stop that but youth berated me for it, and now look at what misery it has brought us!"
"Do not try to scare me wit that girl1 it isn't my fault that you cannot manage your husband's concubines! His daughter committed this seamless act, whoever wants her should take her without a dowry at all! Or simply beat her to death with wild canes! We can regain our reputation that way because our children are good children!" "My husband's child has gone to the extreme with us now, she knows that we have to France consent to save us face and even go as far as divorce my own daughter! Can you imagine! There have only been 2 divorce cases in the whole country, must there be a third case from our family? And what if they go back on their word if this divorce does happen? Who will take them in and look after them? They would become a laughing stock and no better than the lowborn class!"
"Forgive me, I know this matter does not concern me as I am an outsider, but this deal might just work." "What are you talking about, Seo Yeon?" "Your legitimate daughter is stuck in as abusive marriage where her own children are snatched away from her. So maybe as a woman, she has the chance to experience something different from this second marriage? To agin her own face, she can have her family back and then start building up yours with the efforts she will take to make this second marriage last, what do you say?"
*********************
"Yeon! Where in the heavens have you been! We were all so worried about you! My brother-in-law, did you drug him?" "So he admitted it to it did he? Trying to drug me so that I could what? Sleep my life away and be at his beck and call? This man has known me for almost my entire life, he knows that he cannot contain me like this because I have my reasons for doing so! So yes, I swapped our drinks this morning so that I can slow him down in whatever race he is participating in and make him rest a little and…" "…and keeping him away from The Mistress Han for as long as you can?" "So the rumours are indeed true then? She is back in the picture ad holding something over him that he cannot tell me about, that is why he broke up with me so suddenly? Because she forced him to…very well, if it is my man that she wants, she will have to collect him herself then, won't she?" "Your man? Seo Yeon?" "Look at what the same man who wanted nothing to do with me did to me last night! Look at the bruises that have sustained in his anger! He is not….this man in my quarters is not the man that I have known since childhood! Yes, he can be intense, unending and demanding, but he would never hurt me like this! Not ever! Something is going on with him, and I need to figure it out and help him before I loose him entirely, and I am not wiling to let that happen…even if I have to have him in my bed so soon after…" "it is painful?" "Not really….no matter how demanding he is, he is never forceful with me."
"Are you ever going to let him go? Because we both know that he will not." "He knows that I belong to the man that I give myself to, he knows that I will never leave him, because I love him far more than I ever should have." "But why? I cannot tell if it is love or obsession…." "Either one of those options are good enough for a lowborn orphan like myself with a disability. I am quite lucky, do you not think so? For getting the only man that I have ever loved, even if he is blowing it out of proportion. Him leaving me and what I had lost….are the hardest moments of my entire life. We are tied to each other, no matter what happens, and I am tired of pushing him away from me just to protect him. I never wanted him involved in my family affairs because I was afraid of what would happen to him if I did on top of what his father put him through…but I have known for some time that he has already taken over my plans unknowingly. Or not? Anyways, this thing between us seems to be so much stronger than we are, this is something that we can never escape from." "You are both addicted to each one like drugs." "Did you put him in my bed?" "Of course, but where did you go today?" "I went to the bride's mother as planned to sound her out as I could not bare to be in this man's presence after last night. Please forgive me, I know that this is your mission, but I really needed a break from him even if it was just for a little while." "So? What is the update?" "The bride shall continue in her wedding plans, but as a pregnant concubine whilst her married sister divorces her husband and even takes in her children." "What! A divorce! Nobody divorces under Confucius laws! How will you manage to convince them to do that!" "I already have." "Excuse me?" "Now we need to give them time to figure everything out themselves whilst I manage the brothel once again to help s many girls as I can to get out of there before my palace stay…" "Yeon! About that…" "what? What is it?" "It…it is nothing, do not worry about it." "Very well, I shall take a small nap before heading out again." "Very well."
I should have noticed it sooner, how upset she was, but all I yearned for at the moment was to sleep peacefully with my man without him molesting me as a husband should. I wanted to take in his image and burn it into my memory for he rest of my life just in case he really did forget me at some point in time. I know that I wasn't easy to handle, not by far, but I had my reasons and he knew it. But now…now I was simply exhausted and honestly I couldn't be more pleased that he had roped in his own sister-in-law to help me out because I wanted nothing to do with the palace and he knew that. But then again, if there was anyone who could put down The Third Prince, it was going to be me and only when he was gone, I could finally devote myself to my husband as he deserved, as his wife. How I longed for us to marry and move into our own little paradise where we could have each other to ourselves. I wasn't one for all of the nonsense and extra responsibilities that came with being a noble woman, but I longed for a large courtyard with a lot of greenery for our children to play on and make wonderful memories, as myself and my brother never could have even dreamed of. I wanted every type of flower and plant in my courtyard with cherry blossom trees and other trees, the type that bore fruit. I knew that my husband doesn't like me to be out of his sight, so I would spend my time making my own scents, my own teas and whatever else I could in our home. And I would wait for him to come home with open arms from work, and I can also keep him away from these women that seem to loose their minds around him, and their hearts…
"…what are you thinking so hard about?" "I am thinking about the home that you will marry me in." "Who says that I am still marrying you? After that stunt with the brothel?" "Then walk away from me right here and now and I shall simply find somebody else to marry." "Nobody will want you after that brothel stunt either, so…" "so what? I am not permitted to even think about marrying somebody else if you do not want me yourself?" "Exactly." "Well, I refuse." "Excuse me?" "If you do not want me, then I shall find someone else and you can go back to The Mistress Han. You marry her and come to my bed no longer if that is how you feel about me. You can leave until this sleeping medicine has worn off and never open my doors again." "Very well, I shall do just that, but I shall keep you under confinement for…" "for what? If we n longer have any ties to each other, what rights do you hold over me anymore? I am not an object at your neck and call anymore, I shall do as I please as I always have and there is not a damned thing that you can do about it, and you know it, for I shall kill anyone who dares to hinder me anymore with my bare hands."
"You will not survive in the world without me Seo Yeon." "The same goes for you, Nam Seon-Ho. If you want to play this game, then let us play its even when I am reunited with my brother once more." "If your right food steps out of these chambers again, then I will personally cut it off, even with your left foot. Even you do have outstanding beauty and intelligence, I shall make sure that nobody can exploit those traits of yours." "So you can exploit them, but nobody else?" "You were the one who let me down, you have nobody to blame but yourself." "It is funny how you were not saying all of this to me last night." "Where did you go today?" "Why do you care? What do you care about me anymore?" "You stubborn brat…wait, stop! Where are you going! Stop!" "Forgive me, but since you have cut off our ties, then I no longer have to listen to you, isn't that right? Nam Seon-Ho?"