4. The Wanted Picture
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Aheummmm – Used to signify clearing the throat in that long and raw way you see in so many sageuks (historical dramas), or among older people in modern day dramas.
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The Prime Minister’s Residence…
Meanwhile, an unsuspecting seventeen year old girl, was currently plotting ways to seduce the one who couldn’t marry (Yoon Dae Woo)…
Jung Ha Na had made up her mind at some point during the day that, if she was to marry some boring noble and live out her life stuck in annoying boundaries, she might as well marry one with such an impactful face!
Surely, she could just look at him whenever she was having a hard time…
‘Haaaa. Accosting him in the streets would be too forward…’ She thought to herself, the book she had been reading, abandoned in her lap. ‘Perhaps I’d need to-.’
“Did everything go well today?” Her father’s voice cut into her thoughts.
“Ye?” She glanced up hastily, pushing Yoon Dae Woo to the back of her mind, temporarily. She was seated primly in her father’s ornate chambers, while he addressed letters…
This was apparently considered a privilege amongst the nobility…
Ha Na privately found it immensely boring!
Thankfully, she was usually allowed to read, instead of embroidering, which most women did at times like this.
“Did everything go well today?” Lord Jung repeated, assuming she hadn’t heard him. He had also opted out of the Award night festivities, because while other High-ranking officials argued over brilliant scholars, a sizeable number of the brilliant scholars chased him!
Most noble young men wanted to work in the office of the Prime Minister…
He dipped his feather pen into an ink pot, observing her as she looked up at him with wide, almond-shaped, innocent eyes.
“Ye, Abeoji.” She answered sweetly, a polite smile on her face. “There were absolutely no problems today.” She bowed slightly.
It had been a little over two years since she was found, but she still didn’t remember anything before age ten. She didn’t remember the man she had come to regard as her father, or even her mother, who was currently harrying the servants to serve an elaborate dinner… But, she respected that they had never given up on her.
Plus, her parents were adorable… They were so easy to get around!
“Oh ho!” Lord Jung studied her with clear suspicion on his face. “This is that innocent look that means something happened, right?” He asked in accusation.
“I don’t understand Abeoji’s meaning.” She replied politely.
“Th- this girl!” He dropped his brush in mild frustration, effectively staining the scroll he had been writing on.
He didn’t like to consider what his daughter had been taught in that place, but her constant ability to twist he and his wife around her pretty fingers was certainly a constant reminder that she had grown up there!
“Aigoo…” He sighed, discarding the stained parchment and replacing it with a fresh one. “Your expression is too supicious… I’ve already told you many times to abandon the ways of that place.” He added a bit sternly.
Hana changed tactics in the blink of an eye.
“Abeoji~~.” She whined with a pretty pout on her face. “How can you lack utter trust in me like this? It unsettles my heart… Besides, even if I wanted to misbehave, shouldn’t you trust Soo Ha-ah (pronounced Ha-ya)? She may be a commoner, but that girl did her best to constantly remind me of my duties throughout today.”
“Ani. What does that have to-?” He realized what she was up to. “Are you trying to change the subject? You never listen to Soo Ha!”
“Ah. You’ve realized…” She bowed slightly again, her polite smile back in place, then she pouted again. “Tch! Why does Abeoji still try and punish her if you know?” She mumbled the last part under her breath, but he heard her.
“Ya! Do you not why? It’s to teach you a lesson!” He punctuated each word by jabbing his brush in her direction. “Perhaps did I annoy an ancestor? How did I get a daughter like this? Surely you’re the most troublesome daughter in the entire Capital!”
“Joesonghabnida, Abeoji.” She bowed in apology, an amused smile on her face now.
“Ahheummmm!” He cleared his throat, apparently mollified by her apology, insincere as it might be, and Ha Na smiled in mild triumph.
He had forgotten he had been asking her about her trip to the palace…
He resumed his writing, and she resumed her reading.
Of course what she was actually doing was mentally plotting ways she could win over Yoon Dae Woo!
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The next Morning…
The market places around the Capital buzzed with even more activity than usual. Early that morning, the Capital Law force had posted the drawing of a masked man in every market place. Under it read:
Wanted.
For the attempted assassination of the King.
Any one who catches the culprit will get:
Fifty Taels of Gold.
A promotion to Noble Status.
An immediate Official Government Position.
Of course, this caused quite a buzz! It was mostly Nobles who received Government Positions… Even if commoners managed to attend a school and pass the State Exam, they were rarely ever given Government Positions!
And more importantly was the promotion to noble status… It was incredibly hard for a commoner to become a noble!
Even noble families lost their noble status, if they committed crimes against the throne, kingdom, or couldn’t produce a government official in four generations!
And here was a rare opportunity for a person’s status to change overnight!
“Ya! Did you hear?…” This seemed to be the first thing those who had not seen the poster heard. From left to right, East and West, it was all everybody could talk about!
“Someone tried to assassinate the King!”
“Seolma!”
“Wah! Who would try to assassinate the King under the Heavens?”
“Jeonha is promising high rewards for whoever catches the assassin!”
“Jeonha must really want him dead!”
“Omoh! It would be nice to become a noble!”
“And to hold a government position!”
“Ya! Ya! Ya! This is no joke, right? If I lay my hands on that killer, I’ll Hwak!” He made a grabbing motion. “Catch him with my two hands and claim the rewards!”
And so it went on…
The people could discuss little else as they went about their day, each of them watching out for anyone suspicious, hoping to win the rewards…
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Meanwhile, that same morning, Yoon Dae Woo awoke with a raging fever.
His eyes flew open, as he heard his doors open.
“Doryeonnim!” Man Dok had entered his chambers at the sound of his ragged breathing. “Doryeonnim, kwaenchanha (Are you okay)?”
“Get out this instant!” Dae Woo forced out vehemently, throwing his drinking bowl in his general direction. He made sure his aim was off, and he hoped Man Dok was too focused on him to notice the blood-soaked clothes and rags that were slightly shadowed, near the feet of his blanket.
It worked.
Man Dok jumped backwards a good three feet, nearly tripped and then ran out of the chambers.
“Doryeonnim~~.” Man Dok whined, after sliding the doors shut.
Inside, Dae Woo forced his breath to become steady.
“I told you I would read all night… What did you eat that made you bold enough to barge into someone’s chambers so early, Uh?!” He asked menacingly, wincing as a sharp pain in his side nearly made him lose consciousness again.
“Jo- Joesonghamnida, Doryeonnim! You sounded unwell, and you were not responding, no matter how many times I called you!”
“Forget it.” Dae Woo painstakingly reached for the bloody clothes and rags. He shoved them under his covers.
He had lost quite a bit of blood, so he splashed a little water on his face, so he wouldn’t look so sickly. He wiped his face, then looked up at the doors.
“Bring me chamomile tea from the kitchens…I want to remain in bed for a short while.”
“Ye, Doryeonnim.”
Man Dok returned a short while later with a kitchen boy, who gently placed the tea and fresh water before him. He also set down a few snacks, and two drinking bowls, one to replace the shattered one Man Dok was currently cleaning away.
“Man Dok-ah.” He gestured for Man Dok to come closer, when the kitchen boy had left. “Pass a message to Abeoji. Bring me ink and parchment.”
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“Daegam, there’s a message from Doryeonnim.” Lord Yoon Do Hyuk looked up when his aide called from the doors.
“Inom-ee (that fellow). Why is he sending me a message? Isn’t he in the compound?” He asked. Dae Woo should currently be answering petitions from the Palace and government sectors by now. He himself was currently declining a ton of appeal letters from new graduates.
Had Dae Woo gone out?
“He is in his Chambers, Daegam.”
His eyes widened a little at that. Dae Woo wouldn’t send a message if he was around… He would come here and request audience.
“Bring it in.”
His aide slid the doors open, affording him a brief glimpse of Dae Woo’s aide, who stood awkwardly to one side. Yoon Do Hyuk reached out and took the folded piece of parchment from his aide.
He opened it and gasped.
It was blank!
“Cho Yong-ah.” He addressed his aide, squeezing the parchment. “Go to the kitchens tell Sang-ah to prepare the necessary things, and wait for my order. Then fetch physician Seo. Have him dress as a noble and bring him here as one.”
“Ye, Daegam.” He bowed and left, while Yoon Do Hyuk hurried to his son’s chamber.
“Nappeun Inom-ee!” He muttered loudly when he got to the front, knowing the servants around would hear him. He was holding a shoe in his right hand. “So because you received the best scholar award yesterday, you dare to summon your father?” He turned to Man Dok.
“Clear everyone away from here this instant! If I see a single soul asides from Cho Yang, I will have that person beaten to an inch of his life! And have the Head of the Kitchens bring me a meal right now… I’ll need my energy after disciplining my son. Aheummmm!”
He stormed into the chambers…
Man Dok hurriedly cleared everyone away, spreading the rumours in the process…
The Prim and proper young Master had disrespectfully summoned his own father!
They were all pitying the young master when Man Dok told them of Lord Yoon’s orders, and they were wondering what he was going to do to him.
Of course, because of the same orders, no one was suspicious when Jong Un, the Head of the Kitchens went into the same chamber with a covered tray. Or when Cho Yang, the Master’s aide, entered the same chamber with a noble they didn’t recognize…
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기지배! (Gijibae!) 