-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: The Murong Family's Scoundrel Fiancé - 4
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Does that man keep treating me like a courtesan?!!"
Murong Sang-ah threw the Joseon Women's Conduct Guide she had been reading against the wall in a fit of anger.
How long had it been since she had been this furious?
She hadn't been this angry even when she was overwhelmingly defeated by her brother in front of the family members. At that time, bewilderment and shame had come first. But she had felt a similar emotion not too long ago.
Yes. She had been just as angry when she first met that man.
'A woman like a kite with a broken string sure talks a lot. Shut up and just pour the wine, you wench! Whether I pay for a gisaeng or our family buys you, it's all the same! What? You can't pour wine? Then get ready to put on a show in bed.'
That face, drunk and appraising her like an object. Those eyes gleaming with desire. And the abusive language she had never heard in her entire life.
To think that the only other time in her life she had been this angry was also because of that man. Once again, a deep-seated hatred for that fiancé of hers welled up from the depths of Murong Sang-ah's heart.
The contents inside were not an explanation of Joseon's culture or the etiquette a foreign woman should have.
How a woman courts a man.
How a woman acts cute to a man.
How a woman supports her husband.
How a woman provides sexual service to a man.
The most shocking among them was 'How to provide sexual service'. The others could at least be thought of as methods for living harmoniously with one's husband. But sexual service? Isn't that something only courtesans do?
Of course, Murong Sang-ah also knew how babies were made.
Her mother had passed away when she was born, but she had learned through the sex education from an old maid or from books that explained it implicitly.
However, that was, at most, a method for making babies, not a method for sexual service.
It was a shock akin to showing a child, who thought they had mastered swordsmanship by swinging a branch, the sword energy of a true martial artist.
It was utterly shocking and also deeply unpleasant.
This book was said to have been edited by Kang Yun-ho. If so, didn't that mean he wanted her to learn these things and serve him? How was this any different from a courtesan?
Of course, enjoying the clouds and rain pleasure between a man and a woman didn't inherently mean that.
But for Murong Sang-ah, who only knew how to make babies, receiving such a book from a man who had treated her like a courtesan felt like an insult.
Murong Sang-ah assumed a meditation posture for Energy Circulation Breathing to calm her mind. As she took a deep breath, her pectoral muscles moved greatly, making her already prominent chest assert its presence even more.
She had to regain her composure.
Even if that man had handed over this book to insult her, the fact that she would be tested on it did not change. If she failed to overcome the insult and refused to take the test, then the next day she would have to take the test in front of the family members.
'Among the service acts, there is one done with the chest. What is its name?'
'Ch... chest...'
'Hmm? I can't hear you well. Speak louder.'
Murong Sang-ah imagined that man's sarcastic voice. The wedding guests mocking her, the family members looking at her with pity, and her subordinates seething with anger. Could she endure such a situation?
Her body trembled at the insult of that hypothetical scenario.
Such a situation must never happen. To prevent it, she had to accept that book not as an insult, but as knowledge.
Having suppressed her anger, Murong Sang-ah looked at the book she had thrown. Her heart was still not ready to accept that book. In that case, she should first read the Joseon Folktale Collection, which she hadn't read yet.
Thus, Murong Sang-ah made a concerted effort to ignore the Joseon Women's Conduct Guide and opened the Joseon Folktale Collection.
*****
"She should read the folktale collection properly."
Lying quietly in the room prepared after meeting the elders of the Murong Family, I murmured softly.
The Joseon Women's Conduct Guide was a fake Joseon customs book I had created, considering the possibility that someone other than Murong Sang-ah might see it.
If she was told she would be tested on Joseon customs and etiquette, who would check the 'Joseon Folktale Collection' first? Of course, she would look at the 'Joseon Women's Conduct Guide' first.
The 'Joseon Women's Conduct Guide' was made with the intention of making the reader click their tongue in disbelief at the bizarre customs of a foreign people.
Of course, it's true that a bit of my female fantasy is mixed in there. But since it's the kind of fantasy that would also make one click their tongue, it shouldn't matter.
The Joseon Women's Conduct Guide contains enough content to make even the composed Murong Sang-ah angry upon reading it. But unlike others, Murong Sang-ah cannot simply discard it as a bizarre book.
She clearly must read and study it. And very meticulously at that.
Then, she will first read the folktale book, which contains somewhat normal content.
My plan lies within that folktale book.
"Please work out well. Work out well."
Since the Princess heroine was physically weak, you must be the intelligent one, right? Murong Sang-ah, please notice it.
*****
'The Masked Princess'
A story from the folktale collection caught Murong Sang-ah's attention.
The story was about a cursed princess. An event that took place in a land far, far away from the Central Plains and Joseon, in a distant, foreign land.
The princess was born beautiful and grew up loved by all. She was so kind-hearted that she would even take pity on a beggar she found on the street, personally arranging food and a place to sleep for them.
The palace was abuzz with praise for her, and the entire country blessed the princess's future. All except her stepmother, who was jealous of that sight.
The stepmother cast a sorcery spell on the princess, obtained from a certain cult.
A spell that forced her to wear a ghost-possessed mask forever. Country's many Taoists and monks tried to cure the princess, but they could not break the spell.
The princess suffered from auditory hallucinations and reached a state where she could not maintain her senses due to visual hallucinations. The demons in the mask tormented her incessantly.
The people who had loved her so much soon disappeared from around the princess. Her father, who had refused to give up until the end, was poisoned to death by the stepmother, and the country fell into the stepmother's hands.
'A wench who cannot remove her mask has become a broken-stringed kite mask. Could anything be funnier? Leave. There is no place for you in this castle.'
Broken-stringed kite mask. It meant a pitiful situation with no one to rely on. She left the royal castle, but there was no one to care for a woman possessed by ghosts.
Except for one man.
A wealthy young man took her as his bride. Even as people pointed fingers, the young man paid no heed and accepted her as his wife. Moved, she swore to the heavens that she would love her husband forever.
The Masked Princess was happy that she could be loved again. But that was her misconception.
From the first day of marriage, her husband tormented her incessantly. He pushed her relentlessly, both physically and mentally.
'Just kill her.'
'Put poison in her food.'
'Strangle her neck while she sleeps.'
Even the ghosts, appalled by the sight, told her to kill the young man.
"No. I will continue to love my husband. There must be something wrong with me."
But despite such thoughts and efforts, her husband did not change. Eventually, even the demons grew weary of the sight.
'Boring.'
'Even after showing her auditory and visual hallucinations, she lives virtuously. I'm sick of it.'
The ghosts within the mask began to leave, one by one.
Finally, when the last ghost left, before her eyes was her husband, shedding tears.
"Madam. Actually, I am the beggar you saved when you were young."
Her husband revealed his identity to the princess and continued.
"When Madam was under the sorcery spell, I traveled the country and found out how to break the curse. I heard that if you do not lose your virtuous nature and your heart that loves others, even in a situation too difficult for ghosts to endure, the spell will be broken. Although it was to break the spell, my heart was torn to pieces while tormenting my benefactor. But for the spell to be broken like this... It feels like heaven helped. Now, leave someone like me behind and return."
"No, my lord. I did not lose my love for you even when I was in the state of a broken-stringed kite mask. How could my love for you change just because my situation has improved? Now that the spell is broken, I have truly become a broken-stringed kite. Let us live happily now."
It is said that afterwards, the princess reclaimed her kingdom and lived happily ever after with the man who truly loved her.
****
The content is suspicious.
That was Murong Sang-ah's impression after finishing the story.
The content takes the form of a folktale she heard as a child. A story of a persecuted protagonist overcoming trials and finding happiness. It was in the form of containing a moral lesson.
If one had to pick just one moral from The Masked Princess, it would be 'Even if your husband treats you terribly, there must be a reason, so respond with love.' But something about the content felt off.
'The content is too similar to my situation.'
Falling victim to a family conspiracy, marrying into a wealthy family's husband, and even that husband's personality being extremely vicious... If Kang Yun-ho edited this folktale book too, there must be some intention.
'Does it just mean to become a wise mother and good wife?'
If he left the Masked Princess story with that meaning, it was even stranger. In the end, the husband was actually a good person, wasn't he? But Kang Yun-ho is nothing but a scoundrel.
And the term 'broken-stringed kite mask' mentioned in the story was also problematic. A mask with a broken string. In Joseon language, it would be...
'A woman like a kite with a broken string.'
That becomes what he said to her when they first met and at the very end today.
Something is suspicious.
Murong Sang-ah began to read the text of the story again, slowly. As she slowly reread it, Murong Sang-ah discovered a peculiarity in the Masked Princess text.
'The font of specific words is different.'
Upon closer reading, she could see that the same words were repeatedly written in a different font. It was hard to dismiss as a mere coincidence; the words in the different font were written with a thin brush, making them slightly thinner compared to the other characters.
The character with the most noticeably different font was undoubtedly:
'Ma (Demonic)'
Could it be...? Murong Sang-ah hurriedly brought paper, brush, and ink and began to transcribe the words with different fonts, one by one.
"Wh-what on earth is this...?"
Murong Sang-ah couldn't even blink her eyelids as she looked at the characters written before her.
[Demonic] [Cult] [Danger] [Secret] [Real] [Great] [Fire] [Circle] [Involvement]
A chilling shiver ran down her spine.