"My Lady? "Young Mistress Seo? I just came over to offer my condolences and….please, Young Mistress Seo? Will you please allow me to address you in person? Young Mistress Seo?" She made me and my new team of servants wait on her for an hour on my hands and knees with all sorts of gifs in hand until she finally came out with her nephew in hand looking quite flustered. I did hear some shutting between him and his uncle, so she probably wanted the nephew to accompany her when facing his family head on well after breakfast time. But to my surprise, she wasn't wearing anything too elaborate at all compared to myself and The Mistress Han. In fact, she was dressed to blend in with his family with the least amount of accessories which now I realised was something that I should have thought about, even if The Mistress Han failed to inform me herself. But it was the look of surprise on her face that was beginning to really irk me a lot; was she just pretending to feign innocence? Or did she always come across that way?
From what I had observed from serving kisaengs and concubines; women like Seo Yeon who were bold, sharp, intelligent and yet submissive as will were the type of woman that noble men all fantasised about, even if they were already married to women who suited their statuses for an elegant family image of their wealth and prosperity. That I could accept, but what puzzled me was that usually 8 out of 10 men would leave that women when they had mental breakdowns even if it took them a lifetime to obtain such a woman, but it looked like our Lord Nam had no intentions on leaving her, even if she betrayed him over and over again. Seo Yeon did have her soft fennel and insecure side to her as well just like my Mistress did, but observing them together was also making me realise that she managed to bring out the best in him whilst The Lord Nam was always on the verge of a murderous rampage when he was confronted with The Mistress Han. The Mistress Han proclaimed her love for him over and over again, but she never worshiped him like Seo Yeon did or even treat him as an equal at all. And there were only a handful of men in our era where they considered women their equals, so maybe that was why Seo Yeon was always cherished more? Is that why he thought less of my mistress, despite them knowing each other for a long time now? The Mistress Han had never accepted any man as her equal despite her constantly seducing them for power, and she seemed the type to have it her way all of the time, maybe even in intimate aspects as well. But The Lord Nam only had softness and affection for his wife, who must be indulging him in every way possible. He was probably more than a lord to her since they grew up together and knows how to put in him in place without making him angry or confronting him as The Mistress Han always did. And all of this was making me realise that men and women were not so different after all. We all want peace, and having titles and wealth did not mean that they should constantly fight for their rights. His work was related to Seo Yeon, it always was, as it was connected with her father's morals and values that he displayed in the palace. His only friend growing up was her brother, who was the only other person that he could truly be himself around and despite his bad reputation growing up, only she loved him and submit to him at her will. He chose her wardrobe and makeup, he chose her living accommodation, he even chose her hobbies to keep her occupied without him. What was I doing here when we clearly had no chance of winning this war at all? She was a real person to the rest of the world and his personal fantasy that he could create at will whenever and wherever, so what was the point in breaking them up at all, because it simply wouldn't work? She consistently lived up to his expectations, and most men turn out to be abusive if women didn't do that.
The Lord Nam was living in his obsessions and real life with his woman, whilst it seemed to be the opposite for her. She saw his flaws and still accepts him; she was truly unselfish and kind and patient to him, which must want to keep her by his side even more. He maybe wanted to be normal without all of this trauma, and only she can help him with that. He wants to be her protector, and what better way than to keep dropping her in these unsafe situations with him as her constant backer? That was how The Seo's kept winning the public over, by helping The Lord Nam defeat public official enemies that were tied to the palace, just like my Mistress Han. And in that way, nobody would be able to oppose him if he wanted to marry the girl, even if he wanted to marry her as his official wife then he could, instead of a concubine as her status suggested…
"Concubine? Hello? Concubine, why are you on your hands and knees for? Please regain your composure and…" "Mistress please forgive me for not greeting you in person yesterday, and to make up for that, I have brought you some gifts to show my sincerity…" "Are you sure that you are feeling alright? You appear to be flustered and your face as lost colour, shall I send for a physician to check up on you?" "Thank you for your consideration, but I am fine. Please accept these gifts on my behalf to make up for my lack of propriety towards you." "Well, this is all good quality items indeed, but I had better ask my husband for permission first as he dislikes me accepting items from strangers." "My Lady, we are all one family and we should feel at ease enough to accept a few trinkets between us." "Is that so? Since you haven't consummated your marriage with my husband, then we are hardly family as of yet. And as for these brightly coloured silk and satin materials are rather inappropriate for me to accept doing my husband's illness and the flooding of the southern river, leaving entire cities devastated in their wake. It also doesn't take a genius to figure out where these gifts came from, due to your lack of funds and social standing to even acquire such items in the first place. But as she is a temporary guests, then I will accept her kindness as the legal hostess of this yangban." "My Lady?" "Are you so uneducated that you still do not understand the concept that a guest can never be a hostess in somebody else's home, no matter how much power they possess? Everybody in this unruly home needs to be put in their places, staring with you?" "Me, My Lady? But how can I…" "The Lord Nam is an intelligent and sharp man who appreciates an educated woman who observes traditional values; he wants a woman who can attend to chores and duties with minimal use of servants. A woman who isn't afraid to cook her own meals to his taste, who can be submissive without feeling humiliated by it, who can take on criticism without throwing a tantrum, who can personally take care of his guess and entertain them accordingly., who have good enough manners to increase his good reputation, who doesn't waste unnecessary time doing unnecessary things, who can manage her time properly, who devotes herself to his needs and…" "Forgive me, but is The Lord Nam looking fora real women or a diety at this point? That ideal sort of woman must have died out within the last century…" "The ideal woman exists under Confucius laws." "But I thought that you didn't adhere to these laws?" "That is correct; I haven't followed them since my father's death." "But then how…" "That is for you to figure out I am afraid, now going back to these magnanimous gifts, I think that I can find a much better place to suit these…servants? Take them from her and bring them back to The Lord Nam for his approval, he should understand what I mean when you bring them to him and mention the key words; currency. As for you concubine, I shall allow you rest, but you still should not abstain from your punishment whilst I carry out a formal investigation on why we all fell ill the first time and what happened to my husband now. You may be excused."
It was just as I had suspected all along; The Lord Nam liked power and control and he needed a soft woman who could carry out that control in his own household. Seo Yeon was both powerful in her own right, but she was also adhering to rules that she usually did not abide by, so she was breaking her own boundaries for him. And from what The Mistress Han told me, he almost sabotaged her under his father's roof, most likely to protect her. Seo Yeon incurred murderous jealousy in my mistress, she projected her rival's insecurities with her own unstable status and habit of breaking rules freely without repercussions and she is the only one The Lord Nam will break all the rules for himself. He would probably kill anyone who tries to harm her whilst hurting her on her own to control her without any selfish games involved. From what I could see, it was only a matter of time before we were all beaten down and thrown out of this splendid yangban, and I still had a life debt to repay towards my mistress before I sought to seek out my own relations with my new husband. And from then on, all of my hard work would have been worth it; I could finally get an allowance to match Seo Yeon's, I could start using silver cutlery instead of wooden ones like a mere maid, and i could be honoured in front of my family and focus on their personal growth and development. I could share out my rewards and festivity bonuses, I could finally have a little attention for myself and hopefully I would never do anything to be punished like this ever again.