Chapter : 08
You Look Like a Dog Wagging Its Tail to Please Me
Ui-chwi took the slave contracts from Sim Hyeok and handed them to Apa.
Apa quickly checked the documents, bowed respectfully to Sim Hyeok, and then pulled on the ropes. But there was no way the fifteen servants would obediently let themselves be dragged away. They struggled desperately, refusing to budge.
In the end, the steward ordered the other servants to drag them out immediately.
Even after being thrown outside the main gate of the Sim residence, the servants still refused to obey. Apa wiped the ingratiating smile from his face, pulled out the whip he always carried, and swung it mercilessly.
The thin whip sliced through the air before wrapping around the servants’ bodies. Since injuries to their faces would lower their value, Apa deliberately targeted only parts of their bodies that would not be visible.
Desperate screams rang through the air, but the whipping showed no sign of stopping. Rather than being shaken by their cries, Apa wore an even more sinister smile.
“I’ve met at least a hundred fools over the years, but I’ve never seen anything like you lot. I wonder just how much of a beating you pampered servants of a great household can endure. Can’t you move already? Anyone who keeps resisting will have their legs broken! Then you’ll have to survive by begging in the streets, won’t you? Tsk, you should have behaved yourselves. You brought this upon yourselves.”
In truth, since Apa could not beat Madam Seong herself, he was taking his anger out on them instead.
“That old hag wasn’t satisfied with stealing our master from me. She even tried to seduce my son! Spit! That sly old fox. Don’t think you can get away with anything just because you have pretty faces. The men will be sold to brothels and thrown onto the beds of old women who amuse themselves by tormenting their partners with chains and candle wax. As for the women, I’ll sell them to some remote mountain village where they can live in utter poverty without even a shred of refinement.
“I’m not exaggerating. In those backward villages, the men pool their money together, buy a woman, and keep her as their wife. With those weak little bodies of yours, do you really think you could withstand what those thugs would do to you? Do you think I won’t actually do it? If that’s how you want to live, then go ahead and keep resisting!”
After the commotion finally subsided, Madam Sim Seol’s face had turned ashen. She turned around, intending to return to her residence in Wonrak. She no longer wanted to remain here.
But Sim Hyeok smiled sweetly and called her back.
“Mother.”
“What is it now?”
Sim Seol’s words came out harshly.
“You gave me such a wonderful gift, so naturally I should return the favor. Madam Seo used to serve you, so perhaps that’s why she was extremely dissatisfied when she came to work for me. I considered selling her, but she’s too old to fetch much money. If I simply handed her over to Apa, he’d probably have trouble selling her and only end up burdened with her. So I’ve kept her here. You should take her back with you.”
Madam Seo, who had been cowering in fear after the unexpected turn of events, trembled when she heard Sim Hyeok’s words.
Madam Seo had been deliberately appointed by Sim Seol for the sole purpose of keeping an eye on Sim Hyeok. But if she were expelled from Sim Hyeok’s residence, would Sim Seol continue to treat her kindly?
A shadow fell over Sim Seol’s face.
“Madam Seo, are you deaf? Follow me! Do I need to call an eight-man sedan chair and have you carried away?”
Sim Hyeok called out to Sim Seol once more in a gentle voice.
“Mother.”
Just how far did Sim Hyeok intend to push her?
Sim Seol’s anger surged so violently that she could barely breathe. She was not only malicious by nature but narrow-minded as well, and she had little ability to control her emotions. The fury blazing in her eyes looked as though it might swallow Sim Hyeok alive at any moment.
“Joro was the maid I cherished most. She was capable enough to manage all the other servants. It would be such a waste to have her merely sweep the courtyard in Mother’s residence. She’s very capable with her hands, so please treat her well.”
Ui-chwi handed Joro’s slave contract to Sim Seol.
Fine. The moment I get back, I’ll make sure to deal with that girl Joro first! Hah, what a waste? Starting today, I’ll torment her as much as I please and make her empty my chamber pot!
At last, Sim Hyeok turned her gaze toward Steward Oh.
“Steward Oh.”
There was not the slightest hint of friendliness in her eyes.
Cold sweat poured down Steward Oh’s face. He desperately wanted to disappear from this place immediately.
“How long have you served my father?”
“……About twenty years.”
“Exactly twenty-three years. I know that my father personally took you in when you were still young. Not only did he have a physician treat you when you were barely clinging to life, he also kept you close and entrusted you with important responsibilities. I’m still young, but I know perfectly well what it means to be ungrateful.”
Steward Oh was unable to say a word.
Everyone was selfish by nature. Although Sim Oe had once favored and promoted him, Steward Oh believed that he had already repaid that kindness by serving him faithfully for so many years.
Sim Hyeok’s tone suddenly turned icy.
“I hear your daughter-in-law is about to give birth soon.”
“……Yes.”
“You’re about to become a grandfather. If I were you, I’d accumulate some virtue for the sake of your descendants.”
With those words, Sim Hyeok struggled to rise to her feet. Without even sparing Sim Gu or Sim Seol a glance, she turned around.
Sim Gu, who had been watching Sim Hyeok’s actions in silence for some time, finally moved.
The smile had disappeared from his face long ago.
“Sim Hyeok.”
For the first time, he no longer called her “Yangyang,” as though he were finally taking off his mask.
“You’ve heard the rumors circulating outside, haven’t you? I believe you’re the one behind them.”
Sim Hyeok had deliberately spread the rumors and escalated the situation because she believed that Sim Gu would, just as she wanted, bring Sim Seol over and force her to kneel.
It had been a bold move, one in which she was even willing to sacrifice the reputation of the Sim family.
Sim Hyeok pressed her lips together and said nothing.
For an instant, a murderous glint flashed through Sim Gu’s eyes.
“I’ve already recovered the Eastern Pearl. I’ll let this matter pass this time. But if something like this happens again, I can’t say what I might do.”
His tone was exceptionally gentle, but his words were anything but friendly.
As if refusing to accept any rejection, Sim Gu forcibly placed the Eastern Pearl into Sim Hyeok’s hand. Then he carefully fastened her dou peng—the hooded covering over her head.
Sim Gu’s hand brushed against Sim Hyeok’s face.
His hand was clearly warm, yet the chill she felt from it was colder than a winter wind.
Unlike usual, Sim Hyeok silently allowed Sim Gu to touch her.
“You’ve had your fill of venting your anger, so you should stop now. After all, you’re a young lady raised in a prestigious household. Naturally, you wouldn’t know whom you should look up to and whom you should bow your head to.”
A meaningful smile spread across his face, accompanied by a sinister glint in his eyes.
It was extremely threatening.
“Are you finished?”
Sim Hyeok’s tone remained cold.
She knew very well that Sim Gu was not only unable to do anything to her, but also had to take great care to keep her alive for his own sake.
Sim Seol had bowed her head today, but that was not enough to satisfy Sim Hyeok.
The people Sim Hyeok hated most were Sim Gu and the members of the Yi family.
Sim Hyeok met Sim Gu’s gaze head-on.
Her clear, bright eyes contained the arrogance that was uniquely hers. There was even a trace of utter contempt for Sim Gu.
“Do you know something?”
She smiled coldly.
“The way you’re trying to placate me right now makes you look just like a dog desperately wagging its tail to please me.”
A plain-looking carriage slowly left the capital, Shengjing.
Its wheels rolled over the thickly snow-covered road, producing a crisp crunch, crunch beneath them.
Although the carriage looked ordinary from the outside, its interior was extremely spacious and magnificent, practically resembling another world entirely.
A zisha tea set decorated with plum blossoms sat upon a camphor-wood tea table. Several white jade Go stones lay scattered haphazardly across a pinewood Go board. Purple curtains embroidered with gold thread hung along the carriage, while tiger-skin rugs covered the floor.
The sight was enough to make anyone’s eyes widen.
Choi Woon sat upright, turning the pages of a book with his bony hands as he read.
His expression was lonely and cold, yet he possessed the unmistakable air of a gentleman.
“Choi Woon, have you ever seen Elder Brother Hee Deung?”
The speaker was Hee Heul, who sat lazily across from Choi Woon.
Choi Woon did not answer, but Hee Heul continued without caring.
“He’s so dark and scrawny that he doesn’t look like an imperial prince at all. When I first saw him, I thought he was some kind of monkey. He spent eight years living as a hostage before finally managing to return, yet Father didn’t even bother to look at him. He merely gave him an old, run-down residence.”
There was a trace of bitterness in Hee Heul’s voice.
His biological mother had merely been a cairen, a low-ranking palace woman. She had died in childbirth while giving birth to Hee Heul, yet she had never even been posthumously honored with a higher title.
The Emperor had considered Hee Heul unlucky because he was born on the Ghost Festival, the Ghost Month celebration of Zhongyuan. He refused to keep him by his side and, disliking even the sight of Hee Heul wandering around before him, had sent him away to a detached palace at an early age.
Even so, Hee Heul considered himself relatively fortunate compared to Hee Deung.
“There’s even water leaking through Elder Brother’s residence. He doesn’t have a single decent servant to wait on him, and apparently he doesn’t have a single copper coin to his name either. I secretly visited him last time and saw him chewing on grass roots. He must have been starving terribly.”
Whether Hee Heul chattered or not, Choi Woon continued silently turning the pages of his book.
“Anyway, what happened to you? You were living peacefully enough, so what suddenly possessed you to go to Fengzhou?”
Hee Heul began thinking of various possibilities before suddenly straightening his back.
He had just remembered the rumor that an exceptionally beautiful and talented courtesan had recently appeared at a pleasure house called Baihua Tower in Fengzhou.
Just how extraordinary could this famous courtesan be for rumors about her to have reached even his ears in Shengjing? He had been curious about it.
Hee Heul’s voice grew louder.
“So you’re no different after all. There really isn’t a man in this world who doesn’t lust after women. That refined image you showed in Shengjing was nothing but an act. In the end, you’re willing to travel a thousand li just to enjoy yourself with a courtesan? So this is your barbaric nature, buried deep within your bones. You must have had a hard time living behind that mask all these years.”
In Shengjing, there was hardly anyone who did not praise Choi Woon.
Apparently, one had to behave differently on the outside and inside, just like Choi Woon.
Hee Heul regretted that he had never thought of such a method himself.
Choi Woon still did not take his eyes off the book. He simply turned another page.
In the end, Hee Heul could no longer stand it. He leaned over and closed the book Choi Woon was reading.
“What kind of attitude is that toward an imperial prince? Can’t you hear me?”
After talking continuously for so long, Hee Heul’s mouth felt completely parched.
Choi Woon frowned slightly and looked up at Hee Heul as though he had no idea what was going on.
Then, without the slightest embarrassment, he calmly pulled out a pair of earplugs made of cowhide.
They were stuffed full of cotton on the inside.
“You—you…….”
Choi Woon spoke without the slightest hint of apology.
“Your Highness, Seventh Prince, I apologize, but could you please say that again?”
“You want me to say it again?”
Hee Heul, who had been talking to himself the entire journey, suddenly felt like a complete fool.
Choi Woon had put in his earplugs and leisurely read his book without hearing even a single word he had said.
Well, who else can I blame?
Hee Heul might not have been favored, but he was still a member of the imperial family. Even outside the palace, he had spent his entire life surrounded by flattery and honeyed words.
After being treated with such complete disregard, how could he not feel furious?
Unfortunately, his opponent was Choi Woon.
The men of the Choi family had always been proud and high-spirited.
Since all the prominent men of the Choi family, except Choi Woon, had died on the battlefield, even the current Emperor, Emperor Hyeok, treated Choi Woon, the second legitimate son of the Choi family, with a certain degree of respect.
“Since I personally accompanied you, you should be attending to me. Yet ever since we got into this carriage, you’ve completely ignored me. Do you really think such behavior is in accordance with proper etiquette?”
