"Did you see that? Did you see what that arrogant girl did? I did everything that you said Lee Geom, and she gave away my special gifts to someone that was lowlier than her in social status? She even gave her that flower...that blue flower from my childhood." "What are you talking about? Are you drunk or something? Even after your own concubine selection?" "I am full sober now and I have women all over this kingdom waiting upon me just to dine with them. And then I have this woman who not openly mocks me, but she helps other concubines have a chance with me?" "So? Di you take in the other concubine or not? That Kim girl?" "Did she expect me to throw some sort of fit when I saw her regift my own gifts? Of course I accepted her! Not that I want to of course...and what about you? Didn't you promise me that you would get me some whores from that Ihwaru Brothel that you run? Just a few mind, I cannot upset my father and ruin the balance of the politicians and so on..." "I have been thinking about that; the women need to be protected in order for you to enjoy them, isn't that so? In that case, it is best that you keep them secret from the palace instead of me bringing them all the way to you. Especially around your Mistress Jeong; she will kill anyone who comes from the same platform as herself, isn't that right?' "I suppose so...how I wish I could be there tonight instead of having a stupid dinner with that stuck up cow Nam Yeong. No, you just watch; I shall make her life a living hell with my absence now. I truly do not know what you saw in that girl, but I only picked her out because you are pretty much my only friend in the world at the moment." "That is because Mistresses and whores aside, you need a woman that can help you climb up to power and take your rightful place within The Royal Family, isn't that right? You cannot let your father's mistreatment of you for all of these years be in vain, isn't that right?" "Is that why you haven't selfishly put forward a girl of your choice in front of me? I have already accepted the physician of your choice on your behalf, so why not a woman? Do you not want to climb up the political ranks?" "I run a brothel; that alone hands me power to control any minister or any official that I want; and as long as I have your investments secured in the place, then you can as well." "Are you being serious? You will let me choose who I can send to whom?" "We are friends like you said, isn't that right? And honestly, you should go to see that girl seeing as how early you picked her out first. If you ignore her tonight, she will be torn to shreds by everyone in your harem and even your father before you get to have your fun with her." "Very well, I shall see you sometime this week though, isn't that right, friend?" "Absolutely."
"My Lord, I have come here with a report of The Mistress Jeong as you wished; she was very late to greet your adopted sister as usual. And then she smarted her with some comments about serving everyone last season's tea, which was then met with the same remarks about her current residence which is claimed to be haunted by the ghosts of old enemies of the kingdom. As for the warriors daughter; she is getting into unladylike conflicts with everyone even within her own rank and forever showing off her family's favour. She even lectures the staff around her and The Mistress Jeong already took care of the concubines residence with the help of the staff that she could bribe." "Goodness Gracious me, I will be very relieved when I can find the excuse to rid myself of that clingy girl once and for all! That is indeed your fault Geom." "Hey! What did I do? You wanted a powerful kisaeng and I brought one to you, what do I have to do with what she does?" "I swear that I do not know how men can juggle so many women at once!" "You know it is rare but there are some men who never take in any concubines at all..." "Yes I know...my uncle was devoted to his wife, so much so that he physically destroyed any woman who tried to come in between them, and trust me, there was a lot of women." "He seems like a devoted man to me." "He was just as much of a monster as I am, he was just lucky enough to find a woman naive enough to worship the ground he walked on to feed into his ever growing ego." "Was that woman truly stupid? She sounds like a hero to have survived a man like that." "She was a hero...she was the only woman to have ever truly loved me, even more than my own mother. If only I could find her..." "Well, it sounds as if I should take my leave then and leave you to your new wife in peace."
"My Lord, the report is not finishers; your father is extremely upset about the reports coming in on the kingdom. He angrily declares that every province is in deficit by millions, he complains that taxes are always deferred, how the people are suffering and he has no idea where all the money from the treasury has gone." "It is funny how he always has the same complaints ever since my uncle left the palace. Apparently, things are not how they used to be and everyone is complaining, that is why he feels so under pressure to fix things that my uncle usually would even though he is past his prime. Has he already messed with my concubine name plaques?" "It was The Mistress Jeong that commanded that your other mistress needs a break to ensure a safe pregnancy and..." "...she keeps complaining that I have forgotten her, is that right?" "Yes My Lord." "I want you to find this scored Attendant Kim and give her a special mission on my behalf. If she does a good job, then I shall call her in to serve me this week, do you understand me?" "Yes, My Lord."
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"Just how the hell did that lowly spice slut get accepted as aa concubine here! What a small world for enemies this place is indeed! Don't you even think of addressing me in this place as I do not wish to be seen with the likes of you! Well! What are you staring at me like that for! You should at least give me your greetings, isn't that so? On bended knees and all!" "My Ladies, I am here to report that the gift from The Princess are coming in and we all need to be in our rooms to receive them!" "Gifts! What gifts can this lowly attendant possibly receive? She isn't even worthy of..." "My Lady! Quickly! We must go lest we give The Lord Nam a reason to dislike us already! I hear that he is quite close to The Princess, so we cannot afford to upset her either! I hear that The Mistress Jeong is also sending out gifts to new concubines, so we have to collect those as well before going in for our greetings!" "Just you remember Attendant Kim; it I son one else's fault apart from yours how poor you are, and do not expect to receive as may gifts as my family name shall bring to me. In fact I want all of my gifts from The Princess to be hung up in my wardrobes immediately so that I can wear her robes to greet her with specifically! They are all incomparable competed to the gifts that a mere mistress can bring us all!" What a damed slut! Her voice pierced my mind like a siren song, but I still hid behind the nearest bush so that I could observe what new circus my adopted father had brought to me. The women of my harem were filed with the relatives of his own and I knew how much he was relying on this idea from my sister to work out. But if they were the ones that were creating endless dramas between themselves, then who was I to say or do anything about it? I didn't even know if this idea would work our for him or not and who was I to change anyone? I still had to have my dinner with Nam Yeong, but I wanted to personally see what mine harem was up to in my absence and see how my sister would be able t handle it all. As for this new wife of mine, I could clearly see with my own eyes that she wasn't short on the gifts that she was able to send out to this Attendant Kim, which included more necessities and even the maid that I had personally assigned to her. Just what on earth was she up to? Why was she helping out her own competition so much? I couldn't read her mind when she was first in front of me during the selection and even now...what was I going to do with her?
"...Greetings Princess, greetings Mistress Jeong!" "I do hope that I am not late, my greetings to you Princess." "Were you feeling unwell to greet me at the proper time, Mistress?" "Forgive me, but your brother does give me the option to sleep in late, so you cannot blame me for my tardiness here in the palace harem." "You do not even have a title and yet you can disregard the rules by this much? It is truly no wonder why he refuses to do so after all. And you can drop that excuse since he has all of these new concubines to take up his time with. It is also time for them to kneel now I should think." "The jadeite that I have received this month is overly light in colour; but I suppose that it what happens when you come into possession of such a rare item..." "You are indeed far too young for a dark coloured jadeite, not that it matters at this particular moment!" "Then maybe I should just hand them over to you instead Princess? You are already very well attired, so your dress must be particularly expensive? Are you even going to tell me the secret on how you have obtained such rare silk in all of this kingdom?" "That is for me to know and yourself not to worry about Mistress. Let the concubines up from the floor so they do not wrinkle my gifs for them which they all seem to be wearing today." "I wonder who exactly is Nam Yeong? I hear that she has an air of elegance with a pretty little mouth to match?" "You can still see her stand out despite her vague attempts to do the opposite in the dress that she is wearing now, will you greet my brother in that dress?" "Forgive me Princess, I shall change my outfit if you think that I should." "My brother has an exceptionally keen eye for beauty, so I do not expect anyone here to let him down, lest you become the cause that he seek pleasure elsewhere, and then what will the politicians have to say I wonder? Your family hands rest with their words, so everyone should put in their best effort into bearing children for my brother."
"Your Highness has the face of a peony, whereas we are all as pale as candlelight in the radiance of your smile!" "Oh? Is that coming from the warrior clan's daughter? Isn't that line more appropriate to describe The Princess, just as you declared her gifts were? Isn't that why you wore her dress today instead of mine?"
"The Princess is as beautiful as a Sudan peony, while The mistress has the face of a shaoyao peony and we are all incomparably inferior." "It seems as though our Lord Nam has a taste for sweethearts here in the palace. Putting the education's aside, our priority is to increase the number of Royal Heirs that this harem can produce so that our Lord Nam can descend into becoming a Prince in the bear future. You must not displease us with petty jealousy or rivalry and you must certainly not give the ministers in the inner court anything to gossip or take action with against us as this harem is an experiment for now until we can produce some results."
"Wow, I really did not expect Attendant Yeong and Kim to butter up to The Princess and Mistress so much! How very well played indeed! What will you do next? Buy off the rest of the concubines here?" "Are you suggesting that we are trying to overthrow The Mistress Jeong on our first day here?" "Maybe you should all be punished to kneel on the floor for your offences? You would do that if you were truly innocent, would you not?" "And who are you to make us do such a thing?" "Enough! I am tried of your constant back talk! Kneel in front of me before I impose something worse upon you!" "Here comes Mistress Jeong!"