"What about your nephew, husband? He cannot be left alone…" "Don't you worry about that, my father's clan will milk everything they can from the boy before they abandon him." "Husband? Do you not wish for me to commit all responsibilities to him as…" "Wife, we have both been through so much throughout the years that I am starting to realise that it is taking a toll on your body, and that is why it is taking you much longer to get pregnant than anyone else that we know. I have to depart for my mission now, so I will arrange for a carriage to bring you home to your brother and you will wait for me until I return for you, and there will be no more obstacles or plans to stop our wedding. And if you get better and you get pregnant, I shall bring him home to you so you can stop worrying about him. I know that you are probably the only person in the world to cherish that boy…" "Yeon? What are you thinking about? You have become so quiet ever since your arrived here, and your brother s hardly speaking to you at all…" "My brother is a big softie, he cannot ignore me until dinner time at least." "Is that why you are also pouting like an upset child right next to me as you keep your hand on my belly?" "It isn't like I will get any chance to get pregnant myself, so I am just going to live through you from now on." "He is only incessant on having children because of his feelings for you; other wise he has had plenty of chances and opportunities to impregnate other women." "That is true i suppose but he really is getting carried away with it now."
"Jung was the name your gave your late sister=in=law? When has she ever lived up to that meaning? How ironic indeed, and what a grace shown to the living." "Come over here and cuddle with your auntie Yeon, Chul! Come over here…my goodness, what a big and strong boy you have become in such a short time. And yes, my fiancé must cover his reputation well, no matter what he does I suppose." "He had to protect his prestige like any man or woman would do." "Having exclusive enjoyment of grace, isn't this directly related to loosing one's clarity due to the delusion of favour." "Why do you sound so melancholic today? This isn't like you at all."
"I miss him terribly already, why else do you think I am squeezing your child to death in your own bed? And I did sort of have a friendship with that woman for a while before she turned on me, so I can help but to mourn her death a little. She should have been favoured when she was marred instead of being left alone a much as she was without the favour of her husband." "Wasn't he in love with you?" "No he wasn't, he was just in a constant competition with his brother for his father's acknowledgment at the very least. But she still shared a pillow with someone who dared to plot against her this whole time…plotting our glory and graces, ranks and titles, can't women live without being calculated at all?" "So you got rid of her to give her son a chance to live?" "He isn't the easiest boy to tame, but he is still my husband's family and I do feel responsible for him. All of this moving around and being passed around family members will just irritate him even more." "It is true that she went mad in the end?" "I think she was plagued with nightmares or something, I heard her servants talk about it when I went to see her." "Yeon, are you really prepared to look after that boy? Your brother isn't happy about it at all and this is the first time I have seen him act coldly towards a child before." "Seon=ho is the same way, he tried his best but he just says that he reminds him a lot of his father and brothers." "You need to talk to your brother about this, because I truly have never seen him this angry before." "Very well, I shall talk to him with his son in my arms so that he cannot be too angry at me even if he wants to."
********************
"…Your mother just passed away lately, aren't you going to pay your respects for her?" "She was a lowly slave who lived with her delusions of grandeur, I owe that woman nothing at all." "Are you sure about that boy?" "Why would I associate myself with a criminal that was locked up in the cold palace?" "Well, although you are not my child at birth, it seems that fate brought you to my doorstep instead of keeping you with your useless mother. I hope that we can become 'a caring mother and child' and enjoy a harmonious family life together." "I am eternally grateful for your magnanimity aunty, and I cannot make up for hat woman's offences, but I will study to the best of my ability to help this clan with their burdens. This way I can repay you for your care towards me," "As long as you put in the effort, everything else shall fall int place accordingly. What does your tutor say about you?" "He compliments me on my quick learning, even though I started quite late compared to everyone else." "I see, run off to your new quarters and get yourself settled in now."
"Mother! What on earth are you doing with that bastard of a boy? Have you forgotten about your really children already?" "Enough son, if only you were as dedicated to your studies as he is, then we wouldn't have had to take him in at all, would we?" "He is still a good=for=nothing bastard! He is an orphan no matter who's home he is passed off to." "He has already memorised the book 'The Great Learning and he is half your age! What about you boy? What have you accomplished recently? You are your father's son and there should be no comparison between you both, but your father cannot seem to get enough of him! He puts in so much effort in everything that he does, he might achieve greatness sooner than we think." "Not if I can help it."
"…Young Master Nam, you may fall ill if you keep studying day and night like this…." "I was fortunate at all to have a place to stay since I was taken away from my mother; and my uncle here keeps asking me about my studies every time that he sees me. If I can't even do well in my studies, then what else am I good for here? Nobody shall respect me in the future as they do with The Lord Nam." "But Young Master, you do know that your uncle here is more influential…." "He hasn't been since his brother was tried and punished for freedom. It is his son now that holds the most power in the palace after The Emperor and that is who I aspire to be like, not like these old men here who are already past their primes and indulge in vices now instead of trying to reclaim their glory." "But….very well, here, your late night snack is ready. I have prepared mung=bean soup for you which is very good for your eyesight. Please have some before you continue in your studies." "There is no need for it, you can have it instead." "But I have spent hours making this jus for you!" "I never asked for anything in this place and I never will, do not worry about that. If you have it then you will talk less and I can get some more studying done. I cannot sleep until I memorise this entire chapter and…nanny? What is wrong with you? Why did your face go pale like that? Nanny? Nanny! Somebody help! Help me please! My nanny has been poisoned!"
"Nephew! What on earth is going on here! And so late in the night as well!" "Aunt! Please take a look! My nanny has collapsed with blood coming out of her face! Please save me!" "Who….what…why…what on earth…nephew! Go to the servants quarters immediately and stay there until we prepare some new rooms for you to stay in. Servants! Call for The General Inspector to come and inspect this case!" "Aunt! I know that I am look down upon due to my low status, but do I really have to stay with the servants? I haven't done anything, so why am I the one being punished here! You have so many free rooms and…" "What do you want me to do? I cannot clean up a room in a second, it takes time boy and you have nowhere else to go. You have nobody else here to look after you and I need to vestige how this could have happened to us! To you!" "But My Lady, many hands must have passed through that soup, where do we even begin to investigate?" "That is why I am calling for The General Inspector…" "My Lady, have you forgotten? That office is under the thumb of your wayward nephew, what if he hears about this? And accuses us of trying to harm the boy and take him away from us again? After all of the effort that we acquired to posses him in the first place…." "For goodness sake! We cannot live in this city without that bastard of a man watching us everywhere we go! If only he died in place of his father, then we would never have fallen into this state at all! If this investigation escalates even further, that would just add scandal to this family's already declining reputation! Now what do we do?"
"My Lady, who do you think is responsible for this?" "My mind is as clear as a mirror; who else is threatened by my nephews presence here other than my very own children?" "But they have a much more stable background in comparison to him, so why should they care at all?" "It is precisely because of that, they are children of noblemen, so why should they have to tolerate his presence here at all? My family is becoming more and more unscrupulous and my husband and the rest of the elders simply no longer care about keeping this family in order. If this carries on; our Nam bloodline will wither away and there will be no descendants left. And as for my nephew…there is no way in hell that I will allow him to mix his noble lineage with that of a disabled orphan girl, no matter who her father was! He was the only special case in a lost noble lineage that hardly anyone can remember and as for his wife! That whore from the brothels just like her damned daughter! Even the other kisaeng was a better choice since she never was actually one in the first place! How could such an unfit creature bewitch a man of our family with our social standing! They are both witches! Like mother like daughter, these Seo girls! And even if they do manage to procreate, then I bet everything that I have that their daughter will fall into the same pit as they did!"