"Mother, why did you send her all of the servants whilst I am left alone to tend to myself!" "Left alone? We are inundated with embroidery work for your father, do we even have the time to let the servants tend to us at all?" "So you also do not mind embarrassing our own household with those law quality servants? You even sent my brother's old lover over to her, do you have any idea of how much trouble you will cause?" "And why do you care?" "Mother! I am supposed to marry The Prince, I need a spotless family reputation and she hasn't done anything to us at all!" "Do you still have that silly idea in your head? The Prince does not want you at all, he stopped writing to you and sending you gifts long ago!" "That is because nobody lets us meet anymore; my cousin should take me to the palace but you have offended him so much that he has stopped coming to this home altogether!" "I will do everything in my power to make sure that slut stays over there and you complete your filal duty towards me and stay by my side! And I shall find you a husband when your father's business turns around and one that will be living with us…" "And have me turn into the laughing stock of the entire kingdom? Which noble groom lives with his bride's family!" "One that will be lucky enough to marry you, so you just shut up and put your expensive embroidery lessons to use!" "Why can't you look after me like how her brother looked after her!" "Because we can no longer afford that!" "The Seo siblings were brought up in poverty after what you did to her parents, and he still looked out for her enough to hand his precious sister over to his rich best friend who dotted on her enough to become faithful to her only! You are not even half the parent that Seo Hwi is even before he got married and had children at all!" "I care enough about my son to marry him off when the opportunity came by, but now I have nowhere to put my face due to his shoe maid that we have kept on. She was the reason why he kept failing the civil examination, but at least she has the use of feeding me information now as long as she feels the pain of separation from him…" "What about me?" "..and she still needs to respect my prestige, so she cannot rid herself of the new servants, not straight away at least…not even taking away their salary as punishment will be enough. A steward doesn't only manage gains and silver, the houses's reputation and keeping the atmosphere tension free is also pivotal. And because she is my sons's whore, she cannot punch her too heavily either…"
"She is still no weakling mother, she will most likely use you to rid her of the servants yourself." "If she is too weak, then I need to highlight that flaw instead of helping her like you say that I will, because I will not let anyone undermine me at all. I sent in my people to cut off her own number of spies that she placed in our own household…." "My Lady! Pardon me for the interruption, but the servants all got into fight and The Madame Nam is collectively punishing them all at this very moment!" "What! Already! But I didn't expect this already! I must go over there and…" "Madame, are you forgetting that your husband had placed guards outside your quarters to ensure that you get on with your embroidery work without any distractions at all? You cannot leave even if you want to!" "I sent over 20 servants too her, she cannot possibly handle them all at once, not in her state of pregnancy that she is in now…"
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"So you are the rather arrogant maid that has been clang havoc in my home, aren't you? Even though you have no man to show for your arrogance, you still didn't hesitate to break everything in your touch, isn't that so?" "Please forgive me madame, I was just so lost in thought that I…" "So how are you going to pay for the damages that you have incurred? My poor hardworking husband has spent so much silver on these items, how do you expect to pay him back for all of this?" "You are delicate, pretty and pitiable, and I hear that you can recite poems, arrange flowers and make good tea when you want to. You sure act like a good hostess instead of acting like you are here to serve us at all!" "I…only do those things when I am leisurely free…" "As a maid and a new one at that, when do you ever get leisurely time to yourself at all? When did you even get the time to be a passing fling to The Young Master of my husband's relative's household?" "I…" "Enough of this! I will have you caned 10 times to serve as a warning to all of you that you are here to serve instead of becoming mistress's yourself!" "Madame forgive me please! It was The Young Master who seduced me first! He pulled me away for talks first and…." "I want the rest of the servants to count the canings for me!" "Madame! I am just doing what you did back at the Nam yangban!" "Oh really? And what did I do exactly? Why don't you tell me since you were there to witness it all apparently?" "You seduced The Lord Nam in his youth!" "I did that? I seduced a man that I could barely remember at the time? Tell me how I did it then lest I get accused of not being able to manage my own household properly?" "Your own husband has left your quarters, so you have lost your favour now, haven't you?" "So, you are the maid who manages the other's salaries, rotas, and hold their rewards and punishments in the accounting books, aren't you? "Excuse me?" "I see that your previous master also made a young and inexperienced girl such as yourself inc charge of kitchen purchases, and you have noted down all of those details as well. So can you explain to me how the accounts for those purchases are 30 percent higher than usual?" "They are just expensive food items that my master's prefer, that is all…" "So you will have no issue with me comparing the prices from other stores, will you? Or would you much rather talk about your embezzlements from the feared Nam Clan so far?" "Madame! Please do not…" "I may come from an inferior background even compared to you, but ti was forced to learn about financial responsibility at a young age, even when I suffered through poverty. So you are charged with the crime of deceiving your maters to fill up your own pockets." "So what will you do? You cannot run this household without us!" "Who says that I can't? I have lived without them so far and I have no issue in doing it again. Besides, my husband has already relocated our old servants and still most likely bring them home tonight." "Madame please forgive me! Please!"
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"Mother it is still too early to come to the temple, so why are we here?" "" Just heard that there is a very beautiful spring here on the western side of the monastery that I have just been dying to see. I heard that the scenery is quite divine." "Mother I cannot take these stops anymore, I want to rest!" "Already? How can you become The Crown Prince if you get this tired quite easily?" "Mother, haven't you learnt anything from this accursed Royal Family yet? We both would have a much happier life of I just stay as a simple Prince who os content with my work and marry a simply fertile woman…" "Don't you dare talk to me about that slut from The Declining Nam Clan; that girl isn't even worth to become your maid let alone your concubine." "So why do you continue to drag me here?" "It is rather unfortunate that the brilliant Seo Yeon ended up marrying the clan who held her hostage in the first place all of those years ago, but I bet she knows a lot of good women that I can set you up with. She was closer to The Royal Family in a way that I am not allowed to be." "Mother…" "Listen to me son, you already defied me by sneaking in one lowly woman in the palace and getting her pregnant behind my back…" "She is my soulmate that is why! Why else do you think I am humouring a low class girl like that girl from The Nam Clan? You agreed that I only needed to be officially married to keep my one true love, and think about The Lord Nam! Everyone knows he was framed against The Third Prince, and yet The Emperor still keeps him around! Haven't you thought about why he does that when has never given such an act of mercy before? He has to be worth a lot more than he is being lead to believe that he is! And don't you remember how he only shined when he had his wife by his side? And by the way, why aren't we talking about that?" "What do you mean?" "The Seo's clearly died in their home after a fire…" "My son, if you are referring to the crimes of The Nam Clan, then you need not say anything at all." "What do you mean mother?" "Why else do you think The Emperor allowed that clan to live after the death of the criminal usurper Nam Jeon? He wants to slowly watch that clan die out by means of humiliation, that is why he is secretly helping The Lord Nam with the promotion of his new shop." "Secretly? i really do not understand now…"
"Your comments about The Lord Nam is correct, but the only issue is that he has been through far too much to be mislead, controlled or used by anyone ever again, even his superiors. As for that fire, everyone knows who set it, but The Seo's are equally precious to this nation, so The Emperor is turning a blind eye on the matter until hey show themselves in the palace to give an account for that accident. He even knows that The Lord Nam married her despite them keeping their marriage a secret and he can't even say anything about it since he gave his permission for the marriage long ago." "So The Emperor truly treasures The Lord Nam?" "Ha values him as much as The Lord Nam's father-in-law in spite of what happened to him. And based on her past actions, The Emperor is waiting for either The Lord Nam or his wife to wipe away the existence of The Nam Clan just like they did with The Third Princess Consort's Clan, who was a detriment upon this nation and his lineage. No matter what happens to The Lord Nam, he will have his death table enshrined in the palace along with Seo Geom and his son." "And his wife?" "You know that women are not allowed the same luxury, although I am hoping that he will make an exception for her. Confucius always limit women's roles in society, so The Emperor has to be mindful of that as well. That is why it is her who I trust more than my higher connections both inside and outside of the palace. But I hear that she is currently pregnant and I shouldn't put too much pressure on her as I usually do."
"Mother!" "Even if you are a Prince, what decent woman would want to marry a man who has a concubine before a main wife? And a pregnant one at that? Your unborn baby will just have to wait until you marry…!" "Mother please! Do not punish my family because of me! I…have to relieve myself, I will come back shortly." "Do not take so long!" "Master, what are you…" "Quickly, I know that Nam girl or whatever always brings her servant here to watch me, I need you to find her and help bring her mistress tot me! My mother is not relenting and I need to act quickly so that my child can be born blissfully!" "So the letters and gifts that you told me to send her…" "Women are always suckers when it comes to those meaningless gift tokens; I need a bride and she loves me so much that she is willing to break her family apart for my sake! Be that as it may for collateral damage, but marrying someone that my mother disapproves of will also finally put a little long awaited distance between us! So find her and help her sneak into my chambers, just like you did the last time!"