The Love They Never Had: The Chase

Chapter 212: The Kim Funeral (Him Janglyesig)

  We had arrived at the funeral of a pitiful lowborn family, that was our first thought whilst getting off the carriage. It was honestly a little bit of a relief to be paired with a noblewoman like Hyeon who knew what to do and how to act around a room full of other nobles, especially the older generation who were mercilessly judgmental and cruel in their words. We seemed to have arrived as soon as it started and Hyeon took it upon herself to hold the fragrance powder for everyone to throw upon the graves at the end of the ceremony. Unfortunately, this caught the Lady Min's eyes as soon as we arrived and she was not happy at all. And I was still unfamiliar with the girl, so I didn't know how much she was willing to put up a fight especially with someone as powerful as her. But I was about to find out as she blew the fragrance pewter right over her face as soon as it was her turn in order to provoke her, and what Hyeon did made her pay back for this little push ten-fold, when I noticed her fold the corner of her robes around the nearest candle and cautiously step back. It was the funniest thing that I had seen for a while and it was really hard to suppress my laughter right in the middle of another one of my darkest moments.
"NO! Help me! Please! Stop burning...it is burning my robes! Put out the fire!" "Don't just stand there! Her outer robe is catching fire, you must undress her robe, lest she burns!" "No! Do no touch my robes!" "Young Master! You must undress her yourself!" "What are you talking about!" 'Just go! She will not harm you!" I couldn't believe that she actually pushed me onto the Lady Min and almost made me catch fire myself! But when I saw what she was hiding under her robes, a new plan came to mind immediately and I didn't waste any time. This would give me a window of opportunity that I needed to access those quarters back in the Prince's residence and get Yeon the hell out of there and back with me to our village.

"I have already told you! Do not touch me!" "My Lady, I know that you cannot bare to take off that ugly robe, but you shall burn to death otherwise! Please let the Young Master help you! Are you already tired of living! Wait, is that...is that a necklace! Are you wearing jewellery? To a funeral?" I had to really hold Hyeon back as soon as I took off her outer robe, which exposed a very expensive red outfit full of ornate jewellery full of rubies. At a funeral, the rules clearly stated that participants were only allowed to wear white as a sign of respect, and wearing anything else would result in a death punishment right there and then. Breaking the rules was something that the Prince Bang-Won was strictly against, especially when he was contending to become the Crown Prince. And one of the reasons that led to the Princess Consort's madness and hysteria was the fact that she had to abide to very strict rules, even stricter than the Empress herself. She had been strictly rule-bound since the day of her election and now that her sister was in the one causing a scene, let us see how the Prince uses it against his wife to divorce or depose her, if Hwi's information was accurate.
"You! It must be you, you bitch! You must be another one of his women! You must have done something bad to make me a fool out of myself on purpose!" "My Lady! I am this man's sister-in-law, the wife of Seo Hwi! I am also pregnant! So please refrain from hitting me! I only sought to free you from burning to death!" I immediately shoved the Lady Min onto the floor in anger just in time for Moon-Bok and Hwa-Wol to show up. I immediately handed over Hyeon to Hwa-Wol, who instantly took her back to my carriage, along with her husband who had his own work to do with Hwi when he would meet him on the way back to the Prince's residence, just as the Third Princess Consort's eunuch showed up to quickly interrogate the Lady Min and undoubtedly save her, but that wasn't going to happen, not whilst I was here.

"Lady Min! Who on earth told you to dress up this way! In the name of The Third Princess Consort, you are to explain yourself immediately when the Emperor himself has been relaying orders to stop lavish spending so soon after the death of his Empress!" That instilled fear into her eyes at long last, as I finally had her as vulnerable as I needed her to become right now. Just you wait for me, Seo Yeon, I shall be with you by the end of the day...
"...and yet you have clearly taken his decree for granted! Do you and your family really have little respect for the Royal Family!" "Eunuch! You must not drag my family into this! They have done nothing wrong!" "Your family is reportedly to have been involved in the Kim's clan to ruin this country through bribery! The Emperor and the Third Prince are still deciding if they should contuse keeping your sister in the palace as it is, so you shall have to put your wilful nature aside and answer these question, for your family's sake." The fact that the eunuch wasn't holding back at all and penny proclaiming all of this was very telling indeed and it was just the news that I was hoping for.
"I...forgive me I...came here at the last minute with very little preparation, so I had no time to prepare my outfit thoroughly, I could only cover what I was already wearing before being thrown into the carriage by my...ever so gracious sister. I did not do this on purpose, I could never offend the rules knowingly..."

Ashamedly, I didn't realise how many enemies this woman had now that her powerful family was on the decline until now, when all of the younger women of nobility came out to openly help the eunuch interrogate her, which seemed to overwhelm him. But as long as The Third Prince's family were not getting their way, then that suited my plans enough. "You as a noblewoman who receives a salary from the people, knew about the funeral arrangements in advance, since your sister's family were well-connected with them, were they not?" "If you want to ask those sort of questions, then you should ask my sister yourself since I do not reside in the palace and I am unaware of the plans that she makes." "Your family never seems to keep this country's people at heart, delisted your brother-in-law contending for the position of the Crown Prince. And we all know of the death of your various lovers, s shouldn't't you be put to death like the whores that your sister killed in the brothel that she ran herself?" "I didn't know anything about that!" "By the way, shouldn't her official salary be less than 300 prices of silver annually? But the jewellery that she is wearing looks like it costs over 2000 pieces of silver..." "she has been spending more lavishly than usual, since her sister confined her to her private quarters." "It is no longer a family matter when The Lady Min's financial resources are unknown." "So where did she obtain such wealth in a time of morning?"

"You bitches! It wasn't that long ago since you were all in my home and eating off of my plates! And now you dare to question me abut my wealth! I only made extra money from a business venture in a popular restaurant..." "Or she had shares in her sister's brothel more like, and that is how she became so rich so quickly!"
I had to quickly find a way to shut everyone's mouths about that damned brothel before Yeon's business was put out to the whole world before I had the chance to eradicate this stain on her reputation. And now it was time to use the help that Moon-Bok had so graciously given to me when I handed his new sister-in-law off to him.
"Sir, I need to accompany you in assisting the Lady Min back to her quarters, as I have a matter of great urgency to report to The Third Prince and the Emperor himself." "Young Master Nam, we all know about your rivalry with the Third Prince, what could you possibly have to say to him?" "As I have already stated, I have a matter of great urgency to report to them, and if you do not take me along with you, then I shall have no option but to expose the matter here and now in front of all of these people, as is my duty to The Royal Family, this kingdom and the country itself!" I already knew that he was going to do everything to brush me off, which again worked out perfectly for me. Yi Bang-Won, you cannot make an enemy out of me for this when it was your wife's stupidity that once again, gave me an opportunity to expose this rotten family that held unrealistic expectations to kill of half breeds such as myself, and that sort of person must not take the throne to a nation where concubines and illegitimate children were a staple of the Confucius laws to breed as many children for a family as possible.

"What is this nonsense now?" "This is a counterfeit coin that has been circulating in The Lady Min's fief that was just handed to me, according to the rumours in the palace." What! What counterfeit coin? Who is spreading these false rumours against me! Who is it!" "My Lady...this source comes from a woman who has become close to The Third Princess Consort, all I know is that she used to be a former kisaeng in the Ihwaru brothel." "That bitch! That whore! How dare that pregnant slut fame me!" "The law clearly states that any Royal family member who mine coins without authorisation will be guilty of treason!" Now the eunuch really was flustered and overwhelmed, to the point where the noblemen had to step in for him and essentially do his job for him.
"Is she trying to destroy her sister's reputation or what?" "I have just told you that I know nothing about this!" "The person who has counterfeited thesis coins has already been arrested and put to death without question, in his hometown of Silla." "But isn't that the Third and Fifth Prince's fief and under their supervision? And they somehow managed to flow into the fief of The Lady Min? Due to whose negligence?" "It must be The Third Princess Consort, she is the only link between all 3 parties involved in these fief's." "They should all be punished then! We shall go home and write up these memorandums now!" "We must all reclaim that mine before The Third Prince completely corrupts this nation with his vulgarity!" "More than that! We should ask for capital punishment!"