An Advertising Genius Falls into the Joseon Era - Chapter 8

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 8
Click.
The sound of chains echoed through the cell as a jailer shoved Ha Yun forward roughly.
“Move along. Further back.”
“Ugh!”
“We’ll call you for interrogation soon enough. Keep quiet and don’t cause trouble.”
Bang!
With that, the jailer left.
Silence and darkness descended at once.
“Ugh, the smell…….”
Rotting straw, mildew, the nauseating reek of countless unwashed bodies—it all crashed into her nose at once.
Even covering her face didn’t help against such a stench.
“Of all the places in the world, I’ve ended up in a cell…….”
Ha Yun slid down the wall and sank to the ground.
Water dripped from the ceiling in a steady rhythm, and moss clung thick to the stone. A single crumpled mat lay crumpled in the cramped cell.
“An Identification Pass? There’s no way I’d have something like that.”
Ha Yun tried to sound brave, but the situation was graver than she wanted to admit.
Those without status were treated as something less than human.
This was an era where people could be bought and sold like goods.
She had survived this long only because she’d met Mun Sik, a blessed encounter.
Had she met anyone else, she might have been sold away long ago.
“Well, I don’t know what else to do. Let me just lie down and sleep.”
Having no better option, Ha Yun gave up and stretched out on the mat.
The moment she let her guard down, exhaustion washed over her in waves.
That was when it happened.
“Keke, how does a young woman end up in a place like this?”
“Gasp!”
A sinister voice cut through the darkness.
Ha Yun lifted her head.
Several shadows appeared beyond the cell bars.
“W-who are you?”
“Who? We’re your seniors, that’s who.”
“Come now, shouldn’t our new junior introduce herself properly?”
“Let’s see this pretty little junior’s face, shall we?”
The criminals who had been locked up before Ha Yun pressed closer to the bars.
They recognized her at once and let out a cry of surprise.
“Wait, is that—isn’t she the woman from the Ininsaeng Tavern?”
“You know who I am?”
“Of course we do. Who in this town wouldn’t know you?”
“Especially with that unusual hair of yours.”
Ha Yun, who had become the most famous person in the town, found their attention turning toward her with keen interest.
“But what brings the woman who was serving soup to a place like this?”
One of the prisoners asked curiously.
Ha Yun hesitated for a moment, then began to tell them her story.
About the missing Identification Pass, the inability to prove her status, and the suspicion that she was a runaway slave.
“No Identification Pass?”
Murmur, murmur.
The prisoners shook their heads sympathetically after hearing her account.
“Hmm, this looks like you’ve been caught up in something bad indeed.”
“Since when do they lock someone away just for lacking an Identification Pass?”
“Bet my life it’s Choe’s doing. Who else would pull such a stunt?”
“Choe?”
At Ha Yun’s question, the prisoners began rattling off all the misdeeds Choe Hyangsu had committed.
“Yeah. Choe Hyangsu—the worst corrupt bastard in this entire town.”
“We got thrown in here because we couldn’t pay him the bribes he demanded.”
“I fell out of his favor five years ago, and he’s been harassing me ever since.”
“Listen, young woman. No matter what you’ve done, hold firm until the end! One wrong word, and he’ll pile every charge imaginable on your head!”
At the prisoners’ warnings, Ha Yun nodded frantically.
“Don’t give up for anything! We’re all on your side!”
“When we get out of here, we’ll come eat your soup, so hang in there until then!”
“Don’t forget! Never admit to the charges — not under any circumstances!”
“Yes! Thank you all so much.”
The prisoners, having experienced Ha Yun’s kindness, had sent their passionate support her way.
Bolstered by their backing, Ha Yun—who had been half resigned to her fate—began to steady herself again.
‘That’s right! Even if you’re dragged into a tiger’s den, as long as your mind stays sharp, you can survive. I’m Ha Yun! I won’t give up in a place like this!’
Time passed, though she couldn’t say how much.
Click.
The long silence shattered as the prison door creaked open.
“Come.”
The jailer pointed at Ha Yun.
“Interrogation.”
“……!”
Ha Yun walked toward the Interrogation Chamber, her legs trembling beneath her.
Outside, the sun had already fallen; only the dim glow of torches lit the way.
Moments later.
The Interrogation Chamber door opened, and the County Magistrate’s clerk, Choe Hyangsu, came into view, seated within.
“Sit.”
Once Ha Yun had taken her seat, Choe Hyangsu gestured to the jailer.
“You’ve done well. You may go now.”
“Yes.”
With only Choe Hyangsu and Ha Yun remaining in the Interrogation Chamber, a heavy silence settled over the room.
Choe Hyangsu regarded Ha Yun with eyes full of contempt.
“So you are Ha Yun, are you?”
“I am.”
Ordinarily, such interrogations were the County Magistrate’s prerogative, but Choe Hyangsu, the town’s long-time power broker, had taken to exercising all manner of authority without restraint.
The newly appointed County Magistrate had so far turned a blind eye to Choe Hyangsu’s overreach.
For now.
“Your Identification Pass—where is it? If you were a subject of this realm, you would have received one, would you not?”
Ha Yun, who had already anticipated the question, answered firmly.
“I lost it.”
“Hmph. As expected. That’s what all the runaway slaves say.”
Choe Hyangsu, having already branded Ha Yun a slave, let out a derisive snort.
“Then tell me: where did you live? You should at least know that much.”
As the questions continued, Ha Yun’s mind raced.
‘If I mention an obvious place, I’ll only invite suspicion.’
Names of several cities famous throughout the Joseon era came to mind—Hanyang, Gaegyeong, and others—but she knew only their names; she had no idea what those cities actually looked like.
If he asked about the distinguishing features of those places, she would have no answer at all.
So Ha Yun held to her position of feigned ignorance.
“I’m afraid I cannot recall. I lost my memory in an accident.”
“So that’s how you’ll play it? Very well.”
Choe Hyangsu slammed his hand on the table, pressing Ha Yun harder.
“Then when did you come to this town? Surely you remember that much.”
“About a month ago, I believe.”
“A month, you say? And in that time, you’ve managed to cause quite a stir.”
Choe Hyangsu continued his interrogation with a sneer.
“I hear you’ve done quite the renovation of the Mun family’s tavern?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Where did you learn such skills?”
For a moment, the answer ‘From the future’ flashed through her mind—but of course, she could never speak such words aloud.
Yet she could not afford to fumble her reply either.
The prisoners’ warning echoed in her thoughts: never admit to the charges.
Ha Yun met Choe Hyangsu’s gaze steadily and answered.
“I cannot say.”
“Insolent wretch! Who do you think you’re addressing with such an answer!”
Choe Hyangsu pressed her harder, his voice growing rougher.
In this town, there was hardly a soul who could hold their head high before Choe Hyangsu, who wielded the power to make even birds fall from the sky—except, perhaps, for the County Magistrate himself.
Yet here was an outsider.
Moreover, a woman.
A mere slave, no less.
Refusing to bow her head so easily, and Choe Hyangsu felt his temper beginning to ignite.
Yet despite it all, Ha Yun refused to yield.
Instead, she raised her voice.
“How is that relevant to my crime?”
“What did you say?”
In an instant, Choe Hyangsu’s brow furrowed sharply.
“That Mun Sik refurbished his tavern—what does that have to do with why I’ve been brought here? If you wish to question me about a crime, question me about mine alone.”
“……You, you wench!”
Caught off guard by her answer, Choe Hyangsu found himself momentarily speechless.
Usually, when someone entered the Interrogation Chamber, they trembled and confessed everything.
But Ha Yun was different.
There was fear in her eyes, yes—but threaded through it ran an iron will that refused to break.
“Very well. One final question, then.”
Seeing that Ha Yun showed no sign of capitulation, Choe Hyangsu prepared what he believed to be his decisive blow.
“Which household did you work for as a slave? Speak truthfully.”
“A slave?”
Ha Yun shook her head firmly.
“Absolutely not. I am a Free Commoner, nothing more and nothing less.”
“This woman persists in her lies!”
Choe Hyangsu’s voice rose.
In truth, Choe Hyangsu still possessed a trump card—a way to prove Ha Yun was a slave.
Not mere suspicion as now, but solid evidence.
Choe Hyangsu invoked it.
“Once we search the Slave Register or your Family Register, it is only a matter of time before your true identity is uncovered! So confess willingly, before you suffer for your stubbornness!”
“My Family Register!”
At the mention of her Family Register, Ha Yun gasped.
The Family Register, which recorded bloodlines, contained the history of an entire house.
Who was born, and when.
Whose child they were.
And what their name was.
In an era without modern population records, the Family Register was the surest proof of one’s status.
This was why every family guarded their Register as jealously as a shrine deity, to prevent precisely such a crisis as this.
‘Wait.’
In that moment, something flickered across Ha Yun’s mind.
Her father, who had run an antique shop, loved to tell stories of the old days.
Fortunately, Ha Yun had listened well enough to those stories that she understood her own roots clearly.
Even if she hadn’t, a copy of the Register would lay out every detail.
‘Yes—that would work……!’
An idea lighting her face, Ha Yun drew a deep breath.
Then she spoke with perfect clarity.
“Very well. I shall tell you my Clan Origin.”
“You should have done so from the start.”
Satisfied by her prompt cooperation, Choe Hyangsu picked up his brush.
Stating one’s Clan Origin was as good as producing one’s Family Register.
Compare the Clan Origin against the Register, and the truth would be laid bare instantly.
“Now then. Tell me your Clan Origin. It scarcely matters—I’m sure it’s some insignificant house.”
…….
Ha Yun regarded him for a moment in silence.
His eyes burned with certainty that her deception was about to unravel.
A moment later, Ha Yun straightened, lifting her chin.
And word by word, she began to recite her Clan Origin.
“I am the thirty-second generation descendant of the Jeonju Lim Clan. My name is Ha Yun.”
“What!”
Choe Hyangsu’s eyes went so wide they seemed ready to burst from their sockets.
His reaction was so extreme that even Ha Yun, who had spoken, felt a flush of awkwardness.
‘……Did I misspeak?’
For an instant she traced back through her memory, but she was certain.
Her Clan Origin was unmistakably the Jeonju Lim Clan.
A sound escaped his throat—a wordless rumble.
Choe Hyangsu’s pupils trembled as though the earth itself had shaken.
The Jeonju Lim Clan.
Fortunately, they were not a yangban family.
Yet the reason Choe Hyangsu was so startled was that this household harbored a figure who currently held sway over the Eight Provinces of Joseon.
If Ha Yun were connected to that person in any way, this could only be catastrophe.
“You wretch! How dare you claim another family’s name!”
Unable to believe Ha Yun’s words, Choe Hyangsu shot to his feet.
“Do you not know how grave a crime it is to falsely claim a family name?”
He spoke with the force of a threat.
“Falsely claiming a family name is a capital crime worthy of death!”
“Death……!”
At the enormity of the charge, Ha Yun’s shoulders shrank inward.
She had merely stated her clan origin to escape the stigma of slavery, and now she faced execution.
Yet understanding that she had already crossed a bridge that could not be recrossed, Ha Yun met Choe Hyangsu’s gaze directly.
“It is no lie. My clan origin is indeed Jeonju Lim.”
“And still you lie shamelessly to the end——!”
As Ha Yun refused to relent, Choe Hyangsu’s face flushed crimson with rage.
“Very well. If you insist on this course, so be it.”
Ha Yun did not yet realize it.
But Choe Hyangsu’s demeanor had subtly transformed.
Though he could not bring himself to believe her words, he took precautions against the possibility that she might be telling the truth.
“I shall inquire directly with the Jeonju Lim Clan. You will wait until then.”
“……!”
Whether Ha Yun spoke truth or falsehood could easily be determined by asking.
If she had lied to escape her predicament, she would face punishment far more terrible than this.
Choe Hyangsu spoke coldly.
“But know this: should your words prove false, you may face capital punishment.”
With this grim warning, Choe Hyangsu turned and left the Interrogation Chamber.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————