Empress Handbook

Chapter Fifty-Three | Biting Down

The lamp shed a sharp light on the amber mahjong tiles. The exquisite pieces clack against each other's ruby gilding as Mrs Ryu reshuffles them across the velvet tablecloth.

Yeoreum struggles to see the tile Mrs Ryu pushes out under the blinding light that shines across the table in full beam. She intuitively puts it into her line and freezes for a moment before a bright smile spreads across her lips.

"Mahjong," Yeoreum gushes. She reveals her hand, which consists of tiles all from the same suit. "I won again."

Jaehyun claps. "You have such good luck, Your Majesty."

The woman adjacent to Yeoreum bursts out in laughter. Her black moiré satin qipao crinkles at her gently tremoring body. "Your Majesty are you sure that this is your first time playing?" she says in Mandarin.

"Yes," Yeoreum responds coyly, still timorous over her mandarin pronunciation.

"I know, right, Mrs Zhao? It feels like Her Majesty has secretly been an avid Mahjong player." Mrs Ryu smiles at Yeoreum. "Shall we swap seats, Your Majesty?"

"You are so wicked, Mrs Ryu," Mrs Zhao says, squeezing Yeoreum's hand with a warm smile. The jade ring on her index finger presses cold against Yeoreum's fingers. "Do not trust Mrs Ryu, the player sitting in front of the window will never win the game. Their luck will leak from the window."

Yeoreum responds to Mrs Zhao with a grin. "Thank you, Mrs Zhao, but I am happy to swap positions with Mrs Ryu."

"You need to trust superstitions sometimes, Your Majesty," Mrs Zhao utters.

"I know," Yeoreum says as she deepens her gaze. "But luck is different because my action determines how much I have of it, not the position I sit."

"Oh my." Mrs Zhao chuckles. "I really admire you, Your Majesty."

Yeoreum widens her smile at Mrs Zhao's warming attitude, which contrasts with the aloofness she has displayed earlier. Jaehyun has taken the liberty to invite Yeoreum to a mahjong game his wife, Mrs Ryu, hosts to welcome a Chinese government official's wife, Mrs Zhao. Mrs Ryu and Mrs Zhao are on good terms because they were classmates when Mrs Ryu studied in China.

According to Jaehyun, Mrs Zhao's husband holds enough power to influence the relations between the two nations. Perhaps aware of her husband's authority, Mrs Zhao was careful with her attitude towards Yeoreum at the beginning. Still, with Yeoreum's mention of her half-Chinese background and beginner-level mandarin, things are starting to look different.

"Right, Your Majesty," Jaehyun says before Yeoreum stands up to swap seats. "I have recovered His Majesty's calligraphy piece. Would you like to collect it today?"

The mention of Taehyung brings the air in the small mahjong room to a daunting low. Suddenly, all the eyes in the room find their way to Yeoreum.

"Yes," Yeoreum says instantly, with sorrow watering her eyes. "Could you please let me see it now?"

"Go. I will play for you, so do not worry about your winning streak," Mrs Zhao says, patting Yeoreum's shoulder. "I am very sorry for your loss, Your Majesty."

Yeoreum thanks Mrs Zhao and follows Jaehyun out of the room after organising two servants to join the game. His mansion is not extravagant, but the exquisite pieces of calligraphy and sculpture collection add a solemn air to the building.

Jaehyun closes his office door and bows at Yeoreum.

"Thank you so much for coming, Your Majesty. I apologise for asking to meet up at such short notice."

"Do not worry about it. Mrs Zhao will be a good help to us. It is very thoughtful of you to arrange this, Mr Ryu."

"That's nothing, Your Majesty." Jaehyun lowers his head. "On a bad note, the situation in the parliament is taking a bad turn for us."