The Love They Never Had: The Nam Mansion

Chapter 82: Yeogjeon (Turning the Tables)

My soul utterly left is body when heard my baby sister begging Nam-Jeon of all people in the palace right in front of the Emperor himself. Just what on earth was she up to now? Why couldn't she just listen to my instructions? I was almost beginning to sympathise with Seon-Ho at this point, she must have given him such a hard time, no wonder he was acting foolishly around her. "My Lord..." "Seo Yeon, the beloved daughter of Seo Geom. Let us see exactly what that sister of yours has planned....and you are not to speak a word of this to anyone, do you understand me? You are lucky enough to get away with your life...for now." "Yes, My Lord." I was instilled with a fear that I had not felt for years now, ever since i had to witness my valiant father throwing himself in a boiling cauldron so we wouldn't be dragged down for his so-called crime for he rest of our lives. What was going to happen today? Was i going to loose my sister to Nam-Jeon? Or to the third prince? Or to the Emperor himself? Was I going to die with my sister? Today? Would that be the end of my father's line? Will the Seo's lineage just stop with me? Not even my sister could marry, not with her condition, so was this it? 20 years of a miserable life filled with poverty, conspiracy theories and a game that clung onto my sister's life? Was this really how my life was going to end? And Seon-Ho...

"...Wait! This girl is under my care, so who does Nam-Jeon think he is, trying to take her from the palace? I wonder what he has to hide?" "My Lord..." "Tell me Nam-Jeon, who is this young woman to you? She looks old enough to be your daughter, but as far as i am aware, you do not have any daughters at all. Why is my ward claiming to be your hostage? And what is she saying about her brother, being trapped into slavery? And this instigation between myself and your son? Just what on earth is going on here?"

"MY LORD NAM! My Lord..." "What is it! What has happened? Who are you, damned servant, to interrupt the prince when he is..." "My Lord! It is the concubine! She has miscarried your grandchild! Please forgive me..."

Nam-Jeon's life as he knew it had come to an end the minute that my sister dragged me to take her to the palace. Now i could tell that she had timed it all so perfectly, to the point where I felt myself collapse on the spot. All 4 years of stress, anxiety, fear and repression just seemed to ooze out of me from the moment that my baby sister saw the look on my face and she ran towards me and caught me before I sustained even more injures. My sweet sister, my soft sister, my sister who was the only healing balm in my life, she had recognised me right on time and now she had me in her arms and she refused to let me go. It was the wrong timing, i know, but i couldn't help but to nuzzle myself into her neck for warmth like i would do with my mother before she passed, whilst watching the drama unfold before my very eyes.
"Nam-Jeon? You...have held Seo Geom's children as captives? To go up against me?" That old bastard was simply too stunned to speak and collapsed only a few minutes later himself, right in front of the Emperor himself. He looked like he was suffering from a heart attack, not that anybody rushed to his aide. In fact, no-one moved an inch as they watched one of the most feared men fall over like a stack of cards without his son to collect him. In fact, where was Seon-Ho? Why wasn't he here to defend his so-called father? Or did he not have the nerve to face me now that his family looked like it was on the brink of collapse.

But apparently the disaster relief was more important that a member of the privy council who was facing health issues, so the Emperor completely ignored it and called upon my sister with the help of the prince to go over her concern's with Seon-Ho's plan just as the rest of the men had entered the palace halls.

"Seo Yeon, is it? The daughter of Seo-Geom, the swordsman?" "Yes My Lord." "My son will assist you in your claims of being a hostage after you have addressed these concerns you have with the victims of the devastating flood in the northern part of the country. My officials are going over this plan and they find no fault in it." "Of course they will not, Your Highness, because this plan works in their favour, which is something that the Young Master Nam is trying to avoid." "Oh really? How are you so sure that he isn't on the same path as his father?" "Because if he was, he wouldn't have been coincidentally arrested right before his own plan could be announced in his presence. He could have stayed here like he did minutes ago and just watch without raising any objections at all." "Very well, it is highly unusual to let a woman speak her mind on politics like this. But as you are doing this on behalf of the disposed Young Master, I will allow you to speak only about the disaster relief plan currently."
"Your Highness, there are far too many disruptions to the plan; when the disaster relief supples are handed out, the clerks and the team leaders will hold all rights to the funds. If they make use of that to gain benefits, and they will, it will lead to false reports and..." "How dare you? How dare a woman question the imperial system?" "It is because I am a child myself who has been left behind by the system? Are you officials really going to deny how much benefits that you retain from almost every natural disaster?" "You...do you mean to say that His Majesty has made a bad judgement in appointing his officials?"

"Of course His Majesty has chosen officials who know exactly how to offer him their assistance when the situation calls for it, without questioning exactly where your resources come from. But helping the people who make up the Emperor's kingdom should take priority over everything and helping as many victims as possible. If His Majesty only focused on his officials and keeping them happy, what nation should he rule if there are no other people in it? Unless the officials want to go ahead with a corrupted plan that only benefit themselves and neglect a quarter of his kingdom now that they no longer posses any value since their riches were wiped away with the flood?" "How dare you speak so tactlessly? A sharp-tongued and overly confident woman is the most dislikable type! It is clear to me that you have no mother who has taught you any manners!" "I am indeed an orphaned woman, along with my brother, and my father was boiled alive in a cauldron publicly. We still have no idea who it was who punished him on that bogus charge, shall I look into who was responsible for that?"

"My Lord, this child speaks the truth. I have also witnessed the local authorities pocketing the funds for themselves. I have warned you about that on the day that we were informed of the flood and it is a serious issue that needs to be tackled. If we still need theses greedy people to relieve the victims of the disaster, then they need to be closely supervised. This is a very urgent situation and no mistakes can be made; the best that we can do is to slow things down..." "Alright! I have heard enough! Until i decide what to do, the Seo siblings will stay in the palace under the watchful eyes of the third son, since he is the most aquatinted with them. I will also discuss this plan with this servant of the Nam's who is taking credit for his master's work, and the General Inspector Nam himself. This court is dismissed!" "What about Nam-Jeon's plot to overthrow me, father?" "You will start to carry out the investigation, i shall hear no more about it until i get all of the facts, including the statements from the Seo's and their company."

She had done it. My baby sister who was educated by our father himself had successfully saved us all without shedding any blood. Nam-Jeon was done for, his plot had been exposed and his son was out of his reach to act like his own personal shield. And i had my sister back, that was all i caed about...well, almost all I cared about...

"My Lord?" "Seo Hwi, I still have yet to come up with a conclusion about you after what you have done to me..." "My Lord, I leave my judgment in your hands without saying another word. I know that i have no reason to ask anything of you, but if you will...please do not torture Nam Seon-Ho, or kill him. After everything that he has done, he as still raised my sister in my absence. And he...he helped me; he tried to come up with a plan to avoid bringing you in at all. He wanted to expose his father through his own plan and it has worked. Please give him some leniency..." "I will consider it only for your sake, but do not think to ask me for any more favours during this time until I bring you to me again, do you understand?"