The day of the banquet had arrived, and even though I knew that I wasn't officially invited, I had to make myself known one way or another, as it was my only chance to rise up from my obscure little place of misery, just as I was in a brothel where I was forced to watch my sisters climb up the ranks before me as mere kisengs over and over again, even though their seductions never gave them a prominent part in those men's life. At most, they would attain the title of mistress or concubine for a short while before being dumped by the mains wives and eventually having to return to the brothels and start all over again. Yes, at the time I was far too proud to take part in their activities and I was waiting for Seo Hwi to return to me as a fully devoted woman to him and him only. If only Seonho hadn't conceded his return to me, then I would have had my own family right now with a man who was capable and competent enough to become the right hand man of one of the most feared Princes of our age. But instead, I now have a secret relationship with a damned eunuch and I had to break up a marriage before it could even be completed before it even took place.
"…our kittens have really toiled for this meal mother; it was especially hard to find berries in this season, but I simply had to acquire it since they are my husband's favourite and he has been craving them more and more recently. I have even had a whole bark of tree sent in just for him, which should be arriving here anytime soon to be honest…" "Madame, your present has arrived, would you and your husband both unveil this at the same time?" "We will unveil this in a moment servant, since I have some news to share with my family and our friends here first." "Wife? What news do you have for me?" "I have some news regarding our son's marriage; we have had an offer from a Princess of the Royal Palace. She is the daughter of one of the older Princes and she is perfectly suited to marry our son in terms of gracefulness and education. What do you think, husband?"
"Education? What education does our son possess? He had barley passed any of his civil exams and he hasn't even made any accomplishments in that field alone?" "Husband! Please! We still have our dignity and we must make the best of it when we can. And husband and wife are one no matter who is richer and poorer, and right now tyou cannot deny that we can use all of the help that we can get at the moment." "Do you really mean to overtake me with our son so early, wife? Because of what has occurred recently… you really do know how to climb up in all things, don't you? That is probably why you gave him his namesake…" "Our esteemed guests! Please let us raise a toast for my son's sake and congratulate him on this achievement together! For my son has just lived up to that special namesake that I have given him!" "Yes, your son really does work diligently, doesn't he? I remember when we almost put him up for your cousin to foster to improve his luck, since he was born lesser than his elder brother, my pride and joy." "That was just because my cousin didn't have legitimate son at the time, and it was her idea not mine to…" "Our son was deficient, even as a baby! Why deny it to our friends here who saw everything already! He had to make medicines with his milk! He was endlessly fatigued as a baby and wouldn't even drink! He tested me as soon as he was born, showing me his true colours and…" "Our son was born prematurely thanks to all of the stress you have me with you endless yearnings about wanting this and that woman and so on…we were not even sure if he would even live beyond 10 years of age…" "there is no need for such a weakling like him to take-over my work just yet after marriage wife, so you can keep that in mind!" "What are you talking about husband? You already made plans to retire this year long ago! Why are you now changing your plans without informing me? And on today of all days! Do you have any idea how much effort I have put into tonight on your behalf? And that of your mother! Do you!" "Wife, if you swear to me now that you have never undermined me in our marriage, then I shall accept this proposal right away! But if I find out you are lying later on, then I shall divorce you in seconds and let that useless son that you are so proud of to fend for you both instead!"
"I swear upon my ancestors that I have never done such a thing towards you husband! What do I know of palace affairs and whatnot? My father never educated me because it is simply not my place to know of these things as a woman, wife or mother! I shall fall into hell and never resurrect if I am telling lies! Now what about you, husband! What exactly have you done to put us in this precarious position we are in now? Who did you harm to drag us down like this!"
"Yes Master, let us find out whom you hurt to become low in the palace? Who did you harm? Your wife has a right to know after all? Was it the Emperor? Or a Prince? Or the Crown Prince? Or maybe it was a rather feared and well=known master of the sword of our century? Senior Scholar?" My timing couldn't have been more perfect as I strolled in with the only good outfit that I had left and in front of all of the guests who were already squirming uncomfortably with the drama that was unfolding before their very eyes. "You can swear on the life and glory of your maiden clan if I am wrong, that is all that you have to do to win back everyone's trust here. These are all the people that you have left here anyways." "Mistress Han! What on earth are you doing here! Didn't' I tell you to never show yourself here in public!" "Il do this for you then, shall I? Shall I swear annihilation upon your clan?" Mistress Han! I am warning you…!" "Madame, I am afraid you have no place to talk, not after your constant meddling in the affairs of the Nam Clan right before their downfall, it is honestly a wonder how you survived it all. Then again, you were so busy with them that you have barely even noticed that your berries have withered away in the heat of Spring as you attempted to harm Seo Yeon and her clan over and over again." "What nonsense are you sprouting out about! How dare you defame your Mistress like this! You have not a shred of proof and you just…" "You made the poisoned prenatal soup and then dared to buy away her slaves and set them up in marriage upon a fabricated scandal! what more information should I divulge in public like this for you to take me seriously!" "You tried to harm her atnd you all know it! Now I wonder how the Emperor will react to that news!" Those were the words that I longed to say to make my mark upon this household, but before I had the chance to make myself known, the favoured concubine ran into a little incident with my masters eunuch who got a little too drunk after our most recent encounter and the sounds that were coming out of their corner of the banquet was not appropriate for anyone to be hearing in public. My so=called mother=in=law looked as though she was about to faint on the spot when the servants had no choice but to publicly arrest them both and brought out both parties in front of everyone since there was simply no point in hiding anything from anyone at this point.
"Husband! Never have I ever been so humiliated in my entire life! If you shall not make a decision for me know, then I simply cannot live anymore! Not after tonight!" "You foolish little…aren't you ashamed of making such statements in public! What on earth is the matter with you! Servants! Splash both parties with cold water to wake them up and bring them back to their senses!" "But Master! What about me! I haven't done anything wrong!"
Hearing her pitiful screams from a mile away gave me a great deal of satisfaction, it was almost as if I were witnessing Seo Yeon myself burn in acid rather than watching a little girl squealing about a little water, which was something that I would practically die for at the moment. It was rather ironic that the thing that was giving that little girl so much pain was something that I had always taken for granted.
"Husband! This wasn't my fault! How was I supposed to know that this manic would pounce on me in the dark like this! He instantly started tearing at my clothes! Didn't you all hear him wailing on me! He wasn't even speaking coherently! He must bet drunk! Or worse!" "But my eunuch isn't even on duty tonight! So how could he have just come out of nowhere! Even his new wife is crying in the corner about this incident! Please impose justice upon me and interrogate them fairly!" Luckily for me, this eunuch was already a heavy drug user, so they could never find anything linked to our non=existent relationship. All I did was to simply slip him some more of his pills that he was supposed to take for his so=called back pain, who was I to know it would make him out to be some sort of violent beast? And who was I to know this his newly wedded wife would also be blamed for his outlandish behaviour? Even her admissions of her being beaten, shamed and humiliated were not taken into account due to their lowborn positions, despite the evidence that was seared into her very flesh. In the end, they were both tried publicly as husband and wife and punished by having hemp cords stuffed in their mouths until they both suffocated to death in their quarters, along with the very concubine who was shamed against her will in front of half of the entire kingdom that showed up to this utter failure of a banquet. I did have my chance to make my mark tonight, but it would have been inappropriate after the deaths that had just occurred tonight; along with sever deaths of the servants who were severely beaten after the long night's events and how nobody put a stop to anything, which greatly humiliated her. And now she was so ill that she could hardly venture out of her own bed; she had lost her husband's favour, she had embarrassed her only remaining son and yet she barely had the time to respond to the letters of gratitude to his meals and clothes for the winter. And in no time, with no other women to entertain him in his misery, the Senior Scholar eventually found his way back to me, I only needed the right opportunity to present myself, and that was exactly what I did when he stumbled upon me dancing in my room simply to relieve myself of pure boredom, although it did not got amiss with the harsh commentary of his wife who kept shouting about the incident all week long from her bed, which only paved that her illness was indeed getting worse. And it was only a matter of time before her position would be filled with the right kind of woman who could build up this family to the reputation that it once held, before the Princess rejected the marriage proposal that she made with this family of course. Now I just needed to find a way to lure the Lord Nam's nephew over here so that we would become the perfect family once and for all; the kind of family that could easily out do Seo Yeon's family that she was attempting to build up for herself.