"So you are linking me too having affairs with a monk in full view of my husband's servants everyone I go there? And how did this so=called bracelet fall into your hands if it was my possession? Do you have any of my maids woking for you aunt?" "Red agate and carnelian are similar in both texture and colour, any cultivated person would know the difference…" "You are forgetting that my brother worked as a blacksmith for many years to support us both before The Liadong War, so I am familiar wih this rule, but I myself am not cultivated in jewellery as I do not wear them as much as my husband wishes I did, so I barely noticed it at all." "Nobody in my family clan is capable of getting this wrong, so…" "But to accuse a monk of such thing is not a light accusation tot make at all, so I hope that you have more evidence than that to accuse me of adultery." "Well I suppose that I could show you the letters that we have found, but I suppose that you would only explain them away as well…" "I have not used my inkstone and brushes since I stepped foot in these quarters for the first time as I have had no reason to, so I wonder where these letters are coming from suddenly. You do not have to worry about me and show them to my husband instead now that he is here in front of us." "Madame Nam…" "It was in fact my own husband who taught me calligraphy in the first place, the one that closely resembles his own so he can tell the sincerity of my calligraphy. It may have escaped your attention, but I stayed in the palace for a few months and I also transcribed quite a lot of Buddhist texts myself, so do not hesitate to get the palace officials involved in this case as well so that I can clear my name from this sin that still has no substantial evidence. In fact, just to be more helpful, why don't we also interrogate the servants on their own calligraphy skills just to rule out the suspicion that somebody has framed my writing?" "You…!" "It sounds rather reasonable to me, unless The Big Madame has more evidence to suggest for this case?"
"I…yes, I have a witness! I have one of her servants that caught the interaction, and I…" "You are saying that a servant who should be active in her duty and exhausted with her chores has consistently had the time to watch my interactions with a monk? Very well, even if the slightest possibility of that is true, then I only have one question to ask her to confirm my own innocence, is that something that I can do as the accused, husband?" "It is since you pose no imminent threat, butt you have to cal upon the Inspector General here for his permission." "Well, I suppose it won't be too bad, but let us sick to the agreement that you will only ask her one question, My Lady." "Very well, let us get this over with quickly please as I really need to get some sleep soon." "Very well My Lady, let me set up my team in this household to interrogate the servants of both households at the same time whilst I call in this witness for you, making your pregnancy into consideration, we shall take a break for you from there and convene once again when we have the results of this investigation which should only take a few hours thanks to the efficient work that The Lord Nam has done for us." Thee was no sufficient evidence against me, but that did not stop me from holding back tears of sheer humiliation that I felt for this morning. I could barely look at my own husband who was burning a hole into my head with his eyes, but I was feeling very strangely emotional in this moment and I did not know how to deal with my pain in front of my enemies.
I adored my parents in my head and I gave them enough respect worthy of a Royal couple, but even my brother admitted to me in his early childhood that there were times that my own father would get jealous of the attention that my mother got sometimes just for her beauty alone, so much so that he kept her locked up in the home fully when she was pregnant instead of giving her the space to walk around and maybe find her own identity outside of him. And now here I was coming to the realisation that I had been chosen by a man who go irrationally jealous, who had a higher sex drive than most and was ambitious enough to toe the line with his own pregnant wife…god only knows what he will eventually put our children through if he was determined enough. Wouldn't he love them though? Truly? Genuinely? Like he loves Chul? Or would he be even harsher than his own father to my twins that he could parade around like show ponies? No, I had to get the hell out of here whilst I sill could and raise my children away from him if I had to go that far to protect them, even if it killed me to do it. "Do not even think about it wife; I can already tell what you are thinking about from just a single look on your face and I can promise you that if you act on those impulsive thoughts of yours, then I will make you and my children pay for it for the rest of your natural lives!"
"My Lady, are you ready? I have brought in the servant for you, and I need to interrogate her myself…." "Bring her in, I shall not take long at all." "Greeting Masers." "So this is the maid who is a witness?" "Forgive me Madam, but I have a duty to reveal the truth and…" "Since this is your duty, there is a likely possibility that this will be your last time serving me, so here is my one question to you. Did you complete your duties before coming here? Did you clean the ashtray on my back table?" "Yes I did madame…what is it? Why are you laughing at me?" "My goodness girl, I am pregnant and nobody smokes in my household, so how can there be an ashtray in my quarters at all? There was a vase on my table, not an ashtray!" "Forgive me…yes, it was a vase after all…" "My goodness girl, when was the last time I brought my wife flowers? There is no vase on that back table, and yet you claim to witness my wife acting inappropriately with a monk in a temple…?" "Enough of this! There is only one way to prove that The Madame Seo's baby does not belong to my husband's nephew…!" "I think you mean ex=husband." "…and that is by taking a bloodiest." 'A blood test before my baby is even born? How do you propose that we do that?" "We take a few blood samples from the expecting mother to…" "You expect to bleed me dry of my own blood during my pregnancy? Have you lost your mind, woman!" "You will take no more than 2 drops of blood from my wife and no more since I am more than convinced that this child is mine!" "And how can you be so sure, nephew?" "Because I haven't been trying for years just for nothing! I knew that with my wife's ill health that it would take her more time to conceive, and that is why I had to start trying as early as possible…!" "Husband! Calm yourself down for goodness sake, ,are you hearing what is coming out of your mouth?" "As soon as we get the results of this baby back, I shall personally escort all of you miserable people back to your clan homes so that we never have to cross paths again!" I could only watch my husband unleash his fury onto his aunt as the physician took blood from me and just as I saw that one of my servants had gotten the message through to MoonBok as he crept his way into the front parlour behind the group of men that The Inspector General had bought in to witness this shameful scene. Just his presence alone made me feel as if I had both my father and brother watching over me in that moment and I could not be more grateful towards him out of all the times that he has helped my family so far. "There! You see! The blood drops are not matching the father's! I told you that my nephew cannot possibly be the father of such a large belly at that stage…!" "It can be if someone added oil to the water." "MoonBok? BoGeom? What are you both doing here…?" "Mother told me that my aunt needed my support, so I am here uncle." I could not be even more grateful for that beautiful girl who ran up to hug me right after she gave my husband his usual kiss on the cheek. I probably would have suffocated her to death in a big hug if my belly wasn't so big and she always kept her hands on it to detect any movement for her own delight.
"Oil? What on earth are you insinuating?" "If there is oil in the water, then nobody's blood can mix, but if there is alum in the water, then everyone's blood can mix together." "And what proof do you have to support such an accusation?" "You want proof? Fine, I shall provide you with it myself. Get yourself over here girl, you already know what to do." "Yes father, this was the very first thing that you taught me to do." "No! Do not harm the girl for my sake…!" But that brave little girl took the sharp needle to her skin to draw out no more than a single drop of blood along with her father's in the same water basin where no droplets of blood mixed together at all. BoGeom did inherit her mother's beautiful face and slim figure, but the girl has surely inherited her father's personality and nobody could debate the topic of blood types with her family. She was without a shadow of a doubt MoonBok's daughter, his precious daughter that I saw as my own and not even her own mother could stop me from spoiling her when she was in my presence. She even flittered to my side now when I needed her support the most and I was not going to let her go without showing her how much I appreciated her help for me tonight. "Are you alright, auntie? Did you miss me?" "I miss you more than you know girl; tell your father that you will stay with me tonight and he can collect you tomorrow." "Really? Wha can we do then tomorrow?" "Tomorrow we will go apple picking and make lots of pies for you and your family, and we can also pick up some flowers for your mother and sister." "Let us bring something back for Chul as well, he misses you and his uncle too much." "Very well, I shall write him some letters and pack him some little gifts, I shall also have his uncle write to him as well." "Shall I wait for you to go to sleep with me?" "Say by your uncle's side a little bit and then I will take you to my bed with me." "Can I also buy some books auntie?" "I shall buy you whatever you want princess."