Blooming even in the mud - Chapter 16

* * *

The new emperor, Emperor Geumche, who chose Geumche as his reign title, blatantly revered the White Head Sect the moment he ascended the throne.
“From this day forth, anyone who insults the White Head Sect by calling it an evil cult shall be beheaded!”
He initiated massive construction projects within the Imperial Palace to build a luxurious palace disguised as a Daoist temple, and doted upon a White Head Sect priest named Taeguang Zhenren.
Despite having emerged under the pretext of serving the people, the moment the religion grasped power, it took a mere instant to degenerate into an entity that plundered the populace.
Because the emperor was entirely absorbed in an evil cult and the priest who held his favor deeply intervened in state affairs to exercise absolute tyranny, the Imperial Court fell into chaos. This was the miserable result of the bloody purges the late emperor had repeatedly carried out just to strengthen the imperial power.
“I shall bestow an imperial edict upon Princess Sukjeong.”
Emperor Geumche, who had harbored a deep sense of inferiority toward his sister ever since he was the Crown Prince, issued an imperial edict commanding Yoo Seo-hwa to undergo haga to Park Kwon-bok of the Hyoju Park clan. It was an insignificant family that could not even be compared to the Xichang Gyeong Clan.
“Your Majesty, this servant wishes to shave her head and enter a temple, so please rescind your imperial edict.”
“Privately, I am your elder brother. How can an elder brother sit idly by and watch his sister live her entire life as a dreary Buddhist nun when she is in the flower of her youth?”
Emperor Geumche snickered amidst the unsettling atmosphere where the mantras of the White Head Sect echoed from all directions.
He shouted aggressively at Yoo Seo-hwa, who was attempting to plead with him once more.
“Are not the family members of the traitor still alive in Ganam Province? I hear the mother and sister are government slaves?”
“……!”
“If you upset your elder brother, will they truly remain safe?”
It was a base and wretched threat. Yet to Yoo Seo-hwa, it was a threat more terrifying than anything else.
As she stood there, left with no choice but to drop her head and prepare to withdraw, Emperor Geumche waved his hand.
“Since you are already here, leave an offering before you depart.”
Without a word, Yoo Seo-hwa pulled out her hairpin and handed it to a White Head Sect follower. It was a young boy.
“You shall enjoy blessings and happiness in the next life.”
The young White Head Sect follower grinned broadly and recorded it in the ledger.

* * *

It was a shabby wedding, conducted in such a rushed and sloppy manner that it was embarrassing to even call it the marriage of an imperial princess.
“Not even a woman of a commoner household would have a wedding that feels so much like being cast out.”
Court Lady Lee fumed with resentment inside, but the grand ceremony itself did not matter to Yoo Seo-hwa in the slightest. The same went for the man who was her husband in name only, Park Kwon-bok.
For there was only one husband who was bound to her soul.
From the very first night, she used all sorts of prepositions to avoid hapgung. Sometimes her excuse was her menstruation, sometimes it was because she felt unwell, and other times it was because her dreams were troubled.
Though she only found out after the marriage, Kwon-bok, whom Emperor Geumche had chosen, was a follower of the White Head Sect. Furthermore, he was a man who took charge of all their filthy and underhanded work. His role included traveling across the country to forcibly induct beautiful young women into the White Head Sect and offer them up to Emperor Geumche and Taeguang Zhenren.
When Emperor Geumche asked Kwon-bok, who never shied away from any sort of foul deed, if there was anything he desired, the man had the audacity to presumptuously demand the late emperor’s precious daughter, who was widely renowned for her peerless beauty.
For Emperor Geumche, who had been looking for an opportunity to brush his sister away into an insignificant family, it was a perfect chance. The emperor granted the marriage with Yoo Seo-hwa as if bestowing a piece of property. She was flung to Kwon-bok like an object. It was a petty and narrow-minded retaliation.
When Yoo Seo-hwa later learned the truth, she could not suppress her utter devastation.
“Heaven is watching. For how much longer do you intend to live committing such sins?”
She repeatedly tried to dissuade Kwon-bok, but he merely scoffed. His vulgar gaze crawled over her skin like an insect.
“A lowly servant like me, who originally would never have been fit to even gaze upon Your Highness’s skirt hem, has become a buma of the Imperial Family through this work. For the simple task of dragging in a few women and wiping the backsides of those priests, is this not a truly excessive reward?”
He was truly a husband perfectly suited to be chosen by Emperor Geumche.
Yoo Seo-hwa’s voice reached nowhere, and resonated with no one.

Nothing but hollow, futile years drifted by.
Yoo Seo-hwa lived her life in a way that was no different from breathing solely for that single moment when she sent letters and provisions to Ganam Province, from where not a single reply had ever returned.
Until that day when the Rebel Army occupied the Imperial City.
Until that day when her lover, whom she believed to be dead, returned alive and pointed a blade at her throat.

II.

It was a moonless night.
Yoo Seo-hwa set her brush down and quietly pushed open the barred window. The chirping of the grass insects in the garden grew a little louder. The cold air of late autumn drifted into the room.
A chilly breeze brushed down Yoo Seo-hwa’s cheek. Her pale face, bathed in the darkness, appeared even more fleeting and desolate.
Without even realizing that her body, which once possessed a warm glow, was growing cold, Yoo Seo-hwa peered past the deepening darkness. Even though five years had passed, the shadow of the deceased Won-ui on this moonless night still held dominion over her.
“Your Highness, the weather is very cold, and I worry you might catch a cold. Please close the window now.”
Unable to bear watching her sit blankly any longer, Court Lady Lee spoke up softly. Yoo Seo-hwa closed her eyes once and opened them.
“Because I am alive, I can still catch a cold.”
Won-ui, who had returned as a cold corpse and had his head severed and displayed on a pike, could no longer catch a cold.
How bitterly freezing must his final breath have been, exhaled upon that frigid snowfield.
“Your Highness.”
Court Lady Lee bowed her head with an apologetic expression.
She had not intended to make Court Lady Lee uncomfortable. Yoo Seo-hwa closed the window and gripped her brush once more.

[The winter in Ganam Province is already the fifth. Are you staying healthy? I am sending some newly made winter clothes and a small amount of broken silver, so please take care of your health.]

After a moment of hesitation, she added one more sentence.

[If there is anything you require, please tell the messenger who brings this letter anything you need.]

Over the past five years, she had never received a single reply, let alone a verbal message, yet Yoo Seo-hwa concluded her letter in that manner. As soon as dawn broke tomorrow, she would dispatch a messenger to Ganam Province.
As she neatly folded the letter once the ink had dried, Court Lady Lee brought rice cakes that had been warming over the brazier and chrysanthemum tea to the writing desk.
The chewiness of the soft rice cakes, in which sweet honey had melted, was not bad.
“Today is already the last day of the month, so there are only fifteen days left until the scheduled date for hapgung.”
“Has it already become that time.”
Chewing the rice cake in her mouth, Yoo Seo-hwa secretly swallowed a sigh.
She had refused to share a bed since their very first night by employing all kinds of excuses, but Kwon-bok, unable to endure it any longer, had reported it to the emperor. Consequently, it was two months ago that they received an official date for hapgung from the Gwanseongam.
When she suddenly refused on that designated date, claiming she was having her menstruation, Kwon-bok had forcibly burst into her bedchamber.

Utterly reeking of alcohol, Kwon-bok had laid hands on her and attempted to tear her clothes. At Yoo Seo-hwa’s screams, Court Lady Lee and the other palace maids had rushed in, and by some stroke of luck, no greater disaster occurred. However, the shock Yoo Seo-hwa received was by no means light.
Without the silent Yoo Seo-hwa’s knowledge, Court Lady Lee had subtly conveyed the news to the Empress’s palace. Emperor Geumche, who was greatly startled and subsequently heard the full details of the incident from the Empress, actually flew into a rage instead.