Blooming even in the mud - Chapter 15

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Blooming Even in the Mud, Chapter 15

Two prison guards dragged in the unconscious Gyeong Won-ui, his body trailing along the floor.
“……!”
Chu Se-gu flinched to his very shoulders, completely aghast.
The boy’s state was even more critical than Gyeong Baek-jong’s. It was a gruesome sight, closer to a blood-soaked corpse than a living human being.
As the guards shoved him inside, Gyeong Won-ui tumbled onto the floor like a corpse.
“My boy…….”
Gyeong Baek-jong managed to move his body with great effort to stroke his unconscious son’s face. Heavy tears dripped steadily onto Gyeong Won-ui’s blood-streaked cheek.
“I—I shall take my leave now.”
Unable to bear watching the scene any longer, Chu Se-gu stammered and backed away.
Gyeong Baek-jong did not even realize Chu Se-gu was leaving; he simply held his son close, weeping endlessly.

Emperor Xuanwen was cunning. Having carried out purge after purge, he knew exactly how to gnaw away at a person’s soul.
Gyeong Baek-jong, who had never yielded to any torture or pain, broke completely when his son was tortured before his very eyes.
An single father’s heart was torn into countless shreds as he watched his son’s raw flesh sliced, bones crushed, and skin charred day after day.
“It is still not too late. If you confess to the charge of treason now, I shall commute the sentence to a simple decapitation.”
Pouring out tears of blood, Gyeong Baek-jong bowed his head deeply to Emperor Xuanwen.
“This humble subject…… committed a capital crime by colluding with the Zhanghou State, so please put me to death…….”

* * *

The atmosphere of the Imperial Court was highly unsettled.
Judging that this was the final opportunity during his lifetime to prune away obstacles and solidify the foundation for the Crown Prince, Emperor Xuanwen’s purge was fierce.
Three generations of Gyeong Baek-jong’s family were dragged away under collective punishment. Lieutenants and staff officers who had served under his command were also investigated, and if even the slightest shred of suspicion was found, they were arrested.
Even those who had no connection were ensnared based on Emperor Xuanwen’s judgment.
“No future trouble must remain.”
Males aged sixteen and above were executed, while underage children and women became public slaves.
Lady Zhang and Gyeong Won-yeong also became government slaves and were dragged away to Ganam Province. Ganam Province was renowned as the harshest terrain in all of the Songyang State.
In Xichang, the ancestral home of the Gyeong clan, sacrifices at the family shrine were strictly forbidden.
Finally, the execution date for Gyeong Baek-jong and Gyeong Won-ui was set.
“Execute them by decapitation.”
Emperor Xuanwen kept that one final promise.
It was decided that the father and son, who had committed high treason, would suffer neither dismemberment by chariots while alive nor death by a thousand cuts, but a simple decapitation.
For a long time, the Princess’s Palace had its eyes and ears blocked until winter arrived, and the truth was barely conveyed to it on the day before the execution.

“Father! Please rescind your command!”
With her hair disheveled and her clothes in total disarray, Yoo Seo-hwa had rushed to the Great Hall in frantic panic, a single streak of blood trickling down her neck.
It was the mark of her screaming at the guards blocking the Princess’s Palace, holding a blade to her own throat and threatening to harm herself if they did not step aside immediately.
If she had not gone to such lengths, she would never have been able to leave the Princess’s Palace. She would never have been able to audience her royal father.
Emperor Xuanwen stopped in his tracks and spoke with absolute gravity.
“This is no matter for you to concern yourself with. I shall overlook this instance, so do not add another word and withdraw, Yoo Seo-hwa.”
“Do you not know General Gyeong’s absolute loyalty?!”
Emperor Xuanwen’s words did not even register in Yoo Seo-hwa’s ears. She failed to see the awkward, troubled expressions of the palace attendants following closely behind Emperor Xuanwen.
Prostrating herself entirely before Emperor Xuanwen, she slammed her forehead hard against the stone floor of the Great Hall over and over. The thin layer of lingering white snow on the floor was instantly stained crimson with fresh blood.
“Yoo Seo-hwa! What do you think you are doing?!”
Appalled, Emperor Xuanwen hurriedly pulled his daughter up. The fresh blood streaming from her split forehead ran down Yoo Seo-hwa’s haggard, hollow face.
The crimson blood passing over her brow and eye sockets to flow down her cheeks looked exactly like tears.
“I beg of you to investigate the matter once more!”
“The decision has already been made! How dare you interfere in state affairs?!”
“He is a man who dedicated his entire life in loyalty to you, Father!”
“Step back!”
Emperor Xuanwen desperately averted his eyes from the wound of the pleading Yoo Seo-hwa and bellowed.
“What are you all doing instead of taking Yoo Seo-hwa away?!”
Caught in the sudden outburst of imperial wrath, the palace attendants hurriedly and frantically tried to escort Yoo Seo-hwa away.
“Father! Father!!”
Even after Emperor Xuanwen turned his back and took heavy steps away, Yoo Seo-hwa’s wailing echoed before the Great Hall for a long time.
Only when the wailing finally subsided did Emperor Xuanwen look around and issue a strict command with a bitter expression. Fortunately, there were no historians or close officials nearby, only the palace attendants.
“Not just today, but everything that happened to Yoo Seo-hwa after the capture of the Gyeong father and son—and everything that happens moving forward—must be kept under strict silence. This is an affair of the Imperial Family, so it must absolutely never reach the ears of outsiders.”
An imperial decree is absolute. All the desperate struggles Yoo Seo-hwa had made to save Gyeong Won-ui and Gyeong Baek-jong were buried in darkness by the solemn imperial command.
The cruel man who had purged and killed countless fathers and sons without blinking an eye found it difficult to look upon the tears of blood shed by his own daughter, and so he erased everything.
‘Was it my mistake? Was it too hasty a decision?’
He had anticipated that Yoo Seo-hwa would be heartbroken, but her utterly disastrous state, which surpassed his imagination, left the Emperor feeling deeply uneasy. However, he soon shook his head.
‘It could not be helped. Before I pass away, this was the only way to firmly solidify the imperial power and protect the Crown Prince. Once time passes and she calms down, Yoo Seo-hwa will understand as well.’
Offering excuses to himself, Emperor Xuanwen moved his heavy steps along.

Dragged back to the Princess’s Palace, Yoo Seo-hwa was completely confined to a narrow inner room by imperial decree. There was no such thing as postponing the execution or commencing a reinvestigation.
However, an unexpected incident incited Emperor Xuanwen’s furious wrath.
“How could a fellow who could not even walk on his own two feet escape from prison?!”
When they opened the prison doors to transport the prisoners to the execution ground, the only thing inside was Gyeong Baek-jong’s corpse.
Taking advantage of the lax security in the Imperial Prison once the decapitation was decided, he had helped his son escape and then took his own life. To ensure that his son’s whereabouts would never slip from his mouth.
Emperor Xuanwen flew into a towering rage.
“Apprehend the traitor Gyeong Won-ui immediately!”
To Yoo Seo-hwa, it was a single ray of hope. Praying to the gods of heaven and earth until the skin of her fingertips wore thin, she begged for Gyeong Won-ui’s safety.
It was a futile prayer.
On a moonless night. Trapped within the Imperial Guard’s Heaven and Earth Net, Gyeong Won-ui could not even flee before he perished. It was a corpse so brutally hacked and mangled that it was difficult to easily discern his features. The futilely retrieved head of the traitor was hung high on public display.
That very night, Yoo Seo-hwa hanged herself.

* * *

Because the palace attendants had been watching her closely due to Yoo Seo-hwa’s alarming condition, her life was fortunately saved.
Hurrying to the Princess’s Palace in total panic in the middle of the night, Emperor Xuanwen grasped his daughter’s hand. Not a single shred of vitality could be felt from her limply extended hand.
“Just how great an impiety are you trying to commit against your father…….”
“…….”
Closing her eyes, Yoo Seo-hwa did not answer. Emperor Xuanwen could find no other words and merely looked down at his daughter, who was so gaunt and emaciated that her cheekbones protruded sharply.
After a long silence, Yoo Seo-hwa parted her cracked lips.
“……Why were you so terribly cruel to him?”
The resentment that leaked out with great effort drove itself deep inside him like a giant iron stake. And even that resentment could not linger, scattering away.
Vitality, desire, pain, resentment—everything had vanished into vanity, and there was nothing left inside her hollow shell anymore.
“Yoo Seo-hwa……. Look at your father, I beg of you.”
“Father, your daughter practically died on that day, so please just let me follow my husband before it is too late.”
For the first time in his life, Emperor Xuanwen regretted the blood he had smeared upon his own hands.

Whether he had exhausted all his energy on the final purge, or whether his daughter’s state of mind was too great a shock, Emperor Xuanwen passed away before that winter could end.
The Crown Prince, Yoo Jeong, ascended to the throne as the new emperor.
Having refused all food since her suicide attempt, Yoo Seo-hwa barely clung to breath under the care of Court Lady Lee. Court Lady Lee desperately tended to her, pouring gruel into the mouth of the princess who refused to eat.
Even when the harsh winter withdrew and the season brought brilliant spring sunshine through the window, the Princess’s Palace remained bleak and desolate.
“Your Highness, the weather is beautifully clear today.”
“…….”
“Around this time of year, you used to love rice cakes and tea infused with flower petals, did you not?”
“…….”
Lying on the bed with her eyes closed, Yoo Seo-hwa did not offer a single word of reply, but Court Lady Lee spoke to her with practiced familiarity.
“Please try to catch even a little bit of the sunlight.”
Deliberately making conversation while tidying up the room, Court Lady Lee pushed the window open. The bright spring sunshine cut through the stale, heavily sunken air. A fresh, fragrant scent of spring rushed inside.
It was only then that the brow of Yoo Seo-hwa, who had been closing her eyes listlessly as if she were a corpse, twitched.
“This fragrance is……?”
“Ah, Your Highness! Are you awake?”
Court Lady Lee hurriedly flustered to help Yoo Seo-hwa sit up. Her slow gaze followed the floral scent drifting through the room and turned out the window.
Red peonies were blooming in magnificent profusion.
Court Lady Lee bowed her head deeply.
“I transplanted the peonies that were at the Gyeong estate.”
“……Those were the Peony Seeds I gave to him. The flowers have bloomed.”
During their childhood, she had once handed him those Peony Seeds. When the peonies first bloomed in full, Gyeong Won-ui had even drawn a painting to show her.
They were peonies she had believed she would one day enjoy at his estate as his wife. Yet, she had never once been able to see them.
Only after he died did she finally get to smell their fragrance.
Even though he had already left her side and vanished far away to a place of no return, his traces alone remained precariously behind.
‘Why am I not dead?’
Yoo Seo-hwa stroked her thin, emaciated neck.
The marks from hanging herself had vanished, but at one point, hideous rope burns had tangled across her delicate skin.
Even though she had hanged herself like that, she had felt no pain whatsoever. Not a single tear fell either.
Yoo Seo-hwa was certain that even if she stabbed her own heart with a blade right now, it would not hurt.
Because pain is something only the living can feel.
‘Right, Gyeong Won-ui’s remaining trace was not just a single peony…….’
It felt as if Gyeong Won-ui’s presence was whispering to her, begging her not to forget him.
Yoo Seo-hwa closed her eyes once and opened them. Before this futile breath ran out, there was one thing she absolutely had to do.

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