"I converted that song you played onto the zither as a singing song for you, did you hear it when I played it this morning?" "Young Master please stop saying such things; your father will only rebuke you once again if you continue to do improper hogs, like chasing his concubines. You are far too young and…" "I do it because I know that only you care about me in this manor!" "Young Master! I being to your father! You cannot do this to me unless you want us both to loose our lives!" "But I know that you care for me! Not even my own mother sees me the same way ever since we were forced to take that bastard into our home! I no longer care about titles and positions anymore!" "Young Master, please leave me alone! I am warning you for the very last time now!" "Am I really not on the same level as my father! My heart only has you in it and he is already on his deathbed! I am of the age to marry now and I just want you and nobody else! I swear hat I will be faithful to you and you only! I have no tolerance for anyone else and I cannot and anyone as virtuous as you are!" "Somebody help me! Please!"
"…My Lady! You are being called into your husband's office…and he really is angry this time. I haven't seen him this way since the death of his brother…" "My goodness, what could have possibly happened now? I hasn't even been a week since that poisoning incident and now…." "My Lady, you do need to hurry up before The Master Nam kills your son!" "What! What are you talking about? What has happened exactly? Please tell me before I face only god knows what…."
"What has happened? What has happened! How on earth do you educate your own son, woman! To chase his father's concubines when he is bored! To harass them! To write secretly to them! To stalk them! To never give them a moment's peace! To even climb into their fucking windows, and for what! Doesn't he have his studies to occupy his time! The ones I am funding from thin air since our salary has been reduced drastically in the palace! And what about his weaponry lessons, even though he hasn't picked up any of his weapons for months now! He doesn't read, he doesn't practise his calligraphy, he doesn't show up to palace court, he has no ambition for anything apart from spending all of my wealth on my own damned concubines! He isn't even married yet! No one is wanting to even make a betrothal with us because they all side with that rouge nephew of mine! He isn' even married yet and do you what that ill=fitting creature does for him! She helps him in his work! She sets up charities under his name! She donates a portion of his salary to orphans! To fund books in schools! They even have a weaponry school named after him since he used to spar with Seo Geom's son and he knows only a fraction of that man's moves that have kept him alive in every single war he has taken part in!"
"Enough husband! If I have to hear about you going on about that nephew that you used to speak about with venom right alongside his father, I would rather bury myself alive next to my own relatives! And if you keep bringing up that disabled whore of his, then I would rather cut my hair off and live in a Buddhist temple for the rest of my life! Husband! Can't you see that it must be your sluts who are seducing my son in their free time! What else did you expect when you started squandering our money for those brothel women!" "I only bought the women that our nephew was rumoured to be involved with!" "So what! Are you really competing with your nephew who has early entered his 30's? Is that why you break my heart each and every day by leaving me to guard and empty bedchamber whilst you loiter around with those whores! If you can be seduced by women who pass themselves around, then so can your son!"
"So you refuse to take responsibility for your son even to this day! Very well then! To that concubine of mine in particular who complained about this to me; her behaviour has been improper, she seduced my son and has conducted some sort of witchcraft onto him o make him forge his duties and I offer her the typical suicide options. And as for my son, he will be punished by flogging 10 times before I send him off to the lowliest office in the palace, hopefully that will inspire him to some degree. I have to forgive him to save face and nothing more since he is utterly useless to me since his birth. This family has already lost a lot of face and we do not need to loose anymore!"
"Father! Please! Take back your punishment! The girl is innocent and I wish to buy her freedom!" "Are you hearing this wife! He wishes to buy the freedom of my dead concubine! And with what money to you think you can accomplish this with, since I own everything that you have! You do not even have a salary to keep you subsided! My god, can you be any more stupider even if you tried!" "What! She is dead? Father, you didn't…you couldn't have…." "And what exactly did you expect me to do! If you have even fraction of your bastard cousin's ambition, you would have had a family of your own by now instead of chasing my women! Do you have no shame, boy! She dies because of you! My newest concubine barely lasted 2 weeks in this home before your greed killed her, the same greed that possesses your uncle and contributed to his own downfall! No, this cannot continue, I cannot eep spoiling you like this into a lazy pice of shit! Your mother's coddling will not serve you anymore and it is time you became your own man! Go and work and provide for the family who has always provided for you! You do not know how high the sky is, you do not know how thick the earth is and you have no knowledge of basic ethics and feudal order! You are to kneel outside all day and night long for 3 days and repent for your errors!" "Father! Please forgive me! Father!"
"Cousin? What on earth has happened to you? Why are you kneeling…." "Get away you bastard! What are you even doing here!" "I have come to see your father, why else would I be here for?" "Can't you stay away from him! You are always chasing after him, what do you want from him now?" "Have you forgotten that his birthday is coming up? Obviously I have to wish him well, since I have already gotten him a birthday gift." "How is that possible? You have barely left this yangban since you arrived here, so how could you have possibly have had the time to…" "gifts are not always physical things you fool! I have an idea that can bring this family back to the top in the palace and we can start living in luxury again!" "What are you talking about now? Are you that desperate to get into my father's good graces? By lying to him this way?" "You may not like me cousin, but when have I ever lied about anything since I arrived here? But it isn't my problem if you do not believe me…"
"Wait! Tell me first, so I can see if it is a good idea or not? I am his firstborn son after all and I know him better than you ever will!" "Oh really? And how can I trust that you will not seal my idea to get yourself out of trouble?" "Why would I steak ideas from a bastard like you!" "Very well then, tell me what you think of this; The Royal Nieces and Nephews are still living in the palace, right?" "Of course." "I will make a suggestion to your father on his birthday to release The Emperor's brothers from their confinement and suggest a family reunion to unite this kingdom and repair The Royal Family. This family based idea will restore my uncle's reputation and build this family back up to what it used to be. The Emperor can rest in peace with the rest of his family at his side and we can crush my uncle who dared to separate from his own family." "You really are thoughtful, even I didn't manage to think about this at all despite being highly educated myself…"
"…father, what do you think of my idea? I waited for your birthday specifically to…." "You bastard! Have you taken leave of your senses! How dare you utter such rubbish in front of my esteemed guests! I was going to give you a great responsibility by the end of the month to become an envoy in the palace, but you have just tarnished what little dignity this family had left! The Emperor is currently weeding out those disloyal officers and are exiling or killing their families and you just killed us all! Quickly, you must leave this place and never return! Before we all have two pay for the consequences of your actions, you good=for=nothing…" "Father! Do you not want me anymore! Please, you have to help me…" "Enough! I shall not sacrifice our entire family just for you, you unless prick! It is already bad enough that you have barely repented for everything you have done against me in these last few months, but now I have no elder son like you anymore! Go now and never come back1 and I…I need to do something about this! I need to save us all by…by covering this up! Yes, that is it! I may not be able to recover the money I have spent on a birthday party that barely lasted 2 hours, but I can see this family by going after someone else…like Seo Hwi and that book that was supposedly found in his home! Yes! I've got it! Servants! Quickly spread the word and gather the people of this town with lit torches, pitchforks and even their swords! We shall bury our family scandal with The Seo Siblings, just like we did to their parents all that time ago!"