My Lordship's Alliance

Chapter Four : The Proposal

My lordship's Alliance

Chapter four

The Proposal

The incident in the market somehow reached Lord Gim. He was really angry that his own daughter caused a ruckus at the market for a mere Nobi. For him, the merchants and their well-being was at the topmost priority. In fact, Bak Sunghoon was appointed by the Royal Investigation agency to look into the involvement of Lord Gim in the corruption regarding the tribute tax paid by the peasants.

In the Joseon, people tend to pay the tax in terms of rice. There were unimaginable amount of corruption occuring in the province in this regard. It was mandatory to for landlords and farmers to pay tribute to the kingdom in the form of rice and other cultivars. The rule is that these tributes will be used by the Royal family and the rest will be distributed to the poorest section of the society. But the local authorities made the farmers pay a large amount of tax (rice) and about only 50% of it goes into the provincial treasury. The rest are resold at the market and the profits are shared by the officials. Lord Gim being the Moksa of the Gyeongju County, is responsible for most of these corrupted acts.

When he learned that his own daughter was going against him, he immediately confronted the girl. But she refused to accept any wrongdoing from her part and. told him that she wasn't even in the market that day, to begin with. This very much angered him, and he wanted the girl to get married as soon as possible. He was eager and soon was searching for suitable grooms for her. He didn't know that it was Sunwoo who disguised as his daughter and created a scene in the market!

Lord's daughter Da-hee and Sunoo were like siblings! As she was the youngest, she saw Sunwoo as her little brother. Although interactions between yang ban and Nobi were frowned upon, Da-hee didn't care about it all! She knew how Sunoo goes on for small mischiefs with his friends and it was she who gave Sunwoo her dress to get ready for the bet he had with his friends. The most amazing thing was that both Sunwoo and Da-hee looked alike and could easily be mistaken for the other if the former wore women's clothing. Too much resemblance that there is an inside rumour going on in the household about Sunwoo being the so-called illegitimate child of Lord Gim.  Unfortunately, this was not the case. He was merely the son of a lowly house worker.

Upon hearing the news of lord Gim searching for a suitable partner for his daughter, Bak Sunghoon sent his parents to the house of the Gims to ask his daughter's hand in marriage. Unknown to all, Gim Da-hee was in love with a scholar named Shim Jayoon   who was a junior of her brother Gim Taehyung. While Gim Taehyung got into the prestigious  Seonggyungwan, Shim Jayoon was studying in the local Seonwoo as a Seonbi.

The marriage was fixed by both families and the Bak family have already sent the "Sajudanja", the betrothal letter and boxes of bridal gifts to the Gimhae family. The boxes contained the groom's horoscope, two golden rings, clothes for the bride and other gifts. The marriage (Hollye) is fixed and there is no going back.

Da-hee was deep in distress and her fate was written just like that. But she was not someone who wouldn't go without trying. And thus just before the day of her marriage to Bak Sunghoon, she decided to do something drastic as a last resort to save herself from the impending event of her betrothal.

In the evening, Sunwoo was returning to the workers quarters after his routine works. He was in a rush to eat the rice and banchan cooked by his mother. But as he was returning, he saw rather sad Da-hee sitting beside her bedroom window looking all gloomy and hopeless.

"What happened, Noona?" Sunwoo came close to the window and enquired about the reason for Da-hee's anguish, but she was unable to speak.

"Are you not happy with the marriage?" Sunwoo asked again. This time Da-hee looked at him with a weary smile.

"From the words of the villagers, the groom is said to be from a highly reputable learned family." Sunwoo said, "You will be happy there. They will look after you like a princess!"

"I'm in love with another man!" Tears fell down from Da-hee's eyes, "I can't give love to anyone except him!"

Sunwoo was shook by her revelation. He saw her pathetic condition and helplessness feeling pity on her predicament.what should he do?

"How can I help you?" Sunwoo innocently asked.

Da-hee was waiting for such a reply from Sunwoo. On hearing his question she became a little satisfied. She replied, "You must help me flee this place tonight"

Sunwoo was shocked, "no,no,no,..." He waved his hands in disagreement, " if lord knows this, he will kill me."

"If I can't live with the person I love, I will commit suicide!" Da-hee cried.

"Sister, you can't do that!" Sunwoo was in a dilemma. He took a deep breathe and without thinking agreed to her demand.