Blooming even in the mud - Chapter 2

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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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The Blossom That Blooms from Mud: Chapter 2

I.

Two boys were walking side by side through the Imperial Palace, which was filled with the fresh scent of early spring.
One had a lighthearted impression, while the other was exceptionally tall and sturdily built for his age.
“Can’t you wipe that look off your face and just smile on a day like today?”
“A day like today… What do you mean by that?”
As Gyeong Won-ui tilted his head in confusion, Chu Sim-yang put on an exaggeratedly dumbfounded expression.
“It’s the day you’re going to see His Imperial Majesty as the new Buma!”
“Ah.”
He nodded to show he understood, but Won-ui’s expression remained as utterly blunt as ever.
Sim-yang let out a smirk, thinking to himself that his friend was always such a bore.
To put Won-ui’s situation simply, wasn’t he a son-in-law going to meet his future father-in-law? As a son-in-law, he ought to be stiff with nerves, yet his complexion was as calm and unbothered as any regular day.
Moreover, his counterpart was the august Imperial Family, and the Emperor himself.
Feeling mischievous, Sim-yang deliberately lowered his voice and whispered.
“You’ve never laid eyes on Her Highness Yoo Seo-hwa before, have you?”
Unlike Sim-yang, who frequently drifted in and out of the Imperial Palace as the Crown Prince’s Baedong and was well-acquainted with Yoo Seo-hwa, this was Won-ui’s very first visit.
“You’d better brace yourself before you’re granted an audience. She’s quite the tomboy—no, let’s say high-spirited. It’ll take some serious sweat to handle her.”
The Emperor, called Emperor Xuanwen because his era name was Xuanwen, had many concubines, but he had only ever held one Empress.
Emperor Xuanwen, who had left the seat of the Empress vacant since she passed away from an illness years ago, doted on Yoo Seo-hwa—the Empress’s sole biological child—so intensely that he felt she wouldn’t hurt even if he placed her in his eyes.
Though anyone of imperial blood should have been betrothed around the age of ten, he had kept her shielded in his embrace without even a formal engagement until she turned thirteen.
Won-ui had also heard through rumors that Yoo Seo-hwa, who received the undivided love of Emperor Xuanwen, possessed a lively disposition unbefitting a girl of noble birth.
‘Still, it is improper to gossip about Her Highness’s character behind her back.’
Just as he parted his lips to point this out to Sim-yang, a eunuch approached and bowed deeply from the waist.
“Are you the eldest son of the Pyogi Great General?”
“I am.”
“His Majesty is waiting for you.”
Sim-yang, who had guided him through the palace, offered a bright grin as if wishing him luck. Won-ui followed the eunuch toward the Great Hall.
Watching his friend’s retreating back grow distant, Sim-yang muttered his inner thoughts aloud.
“If it were me, I would never take that precarious seat of the Emperor’s son-in-law, even if a fortune of billions was promised.”
That was the problem.
To be the son-in-law of an Emperor who had purged not only numerous ministers but his own brothers for the sake of power. The closer the blood relative or in-law, the more the smallest flaw would catch his eye.
“To Emperor Xuanwen, who even killed his own brothers, a son-in-law’s life must be infinitesimally light.”
Since he was stepping into that position, his only choice was to prostrate himself flat and crawl so as not to be faulted.
Sim-yang shook his head from side to side and turned away.

* * *

As he passed through the high gate and walked along the paved stones, a young girl suddenly came running toward him. She was a Saenggaksi clutching a large bundle, seemingly on an errand.
“Whoa!”
Just as he thought that running while looking down at the ground seemed dangerous, the Saenggaksi, who failed to see Won-ui in her frantic haste, let out a short shriek and slammed right into him.
Though young, Won-ui was a trained martial artist. In contrast to Won-ui, who didn’t even budge, the Saenggaksi tumbled onto the ground the moment she collided with him.
He was startled by the sudden collision, but he became worried about the Saenggaksi, who remained sprawled on the ground as if she had taken a hard fall.
‘I couldn’t see her face, but her frame is tiny, making her seem younger than me.’
It reminded him of his sister, and since she had dropped the bundle that looked like an errand for a superior, she was bound to be in quite a predicament.
“You brat! Where do you think you are to be running around so recklessly?! Do you know who this is?! He is a precious guest of His Majesty!”
The eunuch barked fiercely at the fallen Saenggaksi. For some reason, the scolding eunuch’s voice sounded awkwardly forced, as if he were reading from a book, and gave off a strange impression that he was watching Won-ui’s reaction.
Even so, Won-ui paid it no mind and promptly bent his waist to extend a hand. The eunuch’s reaction wasn’t what mattered.
“I am unhurt. Are you injured anywhere, Agi Hanganim?”
Still keeping her head buried low, the Saenggaksi merely glinted her eyes to peek at Won-ui’s extended hand before coyly taking it to pull herself up.
Seeing that the tiny palm squirming within his grasp had been grazed, Won-ui instinctively went to tear a piece of his robe before pausing.
‘I am currently on my way to an audience with Emperor Xuanwen, so my attire must not be disheveled.’
Instead, he remembered the Silk Handkerchief he had received from his mother before entering the palace, drew it from his breast, and wrapped it around the Saenggaksi’s wound.
“If you treat a small wound lightly, it can easily fester or leave a scar. Go see a physician-woman at once.”
She must have felt deeply ashamed of committing a blunder before a strange man inside the Imperial Palace. The Saenggaksi couldn’t even lift her head.
When he gathered the bundle, dusted off the dirt, and handed it over, the Saenggaksi couldn’t even voice a thank-you; she simply bowed her waist quickly and fled.
Even though she had just been reprimanded by the eunuch, her dashing feet were utterly unhesitant.
The court ladies, who had been peering over at the scene with flustered expressions, quickly took charge of the Saenggaksi and disappeared around the pavilion.
Leaving the sudden minor commotion behind, Won-ui moved his steps toward the Great Hall where Emperor Xuanwen awaited.

“Oh dear, I do hope I didn’t make a mistake.”
The eunuch who finished guiding Won-ui hurried back with brisk steps toward the spot where the commotion had occurred earlier. Behind the pavilion, the court ladies gathered around the Saenggaksi were buzzing with anxiety.
“I’ve fetched medicine from the royal physician, so please apply it quickly.”
“Is your knee alright?”
“Did you perhaps sprain your ankle?”
The eunuch also quickly bent his waist and begged the Saenggaksi for forgiveness.
“I am deeply sorry for raising my voice at Your Highness.”
“It is fine. More importantly, you might be tasked with something like this again in the future, so practice diligently. What on earth was that acting? I thought I would be found out by Young Master Gyeong.”
Yoo Seo-hwa gave him a sharp, coquettish glare.
“Princess, what will you do now?”
Asked the court lady who was applying medicine to the scrape and wrapping a bandage. It was Seo-hwa who, out of sheer stubbornness to see her betrothed with her own eyes, had disguised herself as a Saenggaksi despite the opposition of her nanny-court lady.
She had ventured out with the resolve that if he proved to be an unsatisfactory man, she would immediately storm into the Great Hall where Won-ui was holding his audience and plead that she couldn’t marry him.
Seo-hwa pouted her tiny lips.
“Eunuch Wang, carry me on your back quickly.”
“Pardon?”
“It’s a waste of time to wait for the palanquin. Must we not return to the palace swiftly before Young Master Gyeong arrives? I have to change my clothes, and there is much to prepare.”
The princess who had threatened to protest to her royal father had vanished, leaving behind only a young girl eagerly awaiting her betrothed’s visit. Holding back their laughter, the court ladies helped the eunuch lift Seo-hwa onto his back.
As she rode on the back of the sweating eunuch running toward the Princess’s Palace, Won-ui—who hadn’t shown an ounce of displeasure despite a strange Saenggaksi’s rudeness—flickered through Seo-hwa’s mind.
‘Surely he didn’t recognize me?’
For some reason, her heart tickled with a soft, fuzzy feeling, causing Seo-hwa to beam with a bright smile.

Upon returning to the Princess’s Palace, Seo-hwa quickly washed herself and changed her garments. As a court lady styled her hair, Court Lady Lee smiled at the sight of her sitting before the mirror, holding up a flower hairpin then a jade hairpin to compare them this way and that.
“You’ll be meeting him from behind a screen anyway, so does it truly matter which one you choose?”
“What if he catches a glimpse through the gaps of the screen?”
“Your Highness looks lovely no matter what you wear. How was Young Master Gyeong?”
This was the topic Seo-hwa had been waiting for. A radiant blossom of a smile bloomed across the shy girl’s face.
“Are all men like that? He is barely two years older than me, yet he stands a full head taller, and his body is so solid that I thought I had struck a wall when I bumped into him. His hands are large and thick just like imperial father’s. It felt as though his hand was twice the size of mine.”
Seo-hwa, whose exposure to boys her own age had been extremely limited due to her upbringing, marveled continuously. The Crown Prince and Chu Sim-yang possessed ordinary builds, and any other boys she encountered were merely eunuchs who could not function as whole men.
Generally, a person’s true nature is laid bare when dealing with those of humble status. She had pulled off a rather reckless stunt to observe his reaction when a mere Saenggaksi committed an insolent act. The result was thoroughly satisfying.
‘Truthfully, I had many worries while drafting that reckless plan to intentionally collide with him…’
Since she had never keeping company with a man, she had been anxious over what she would do if he carried a strange odor, and worried whether she would cut a ridiculous figure by tumbling onto the floor alongside him.
‘But it was all a needless worry.’
Far from an unpleasant scent, he carried the crisp fragrance of a refreshing breeze, and despite her rude collision, he showed absolutely no sign of irritation and instead worried for her.
‘I never knew a person’s physical form could be that solid…’
The firm chest she had felt when their bodies touched and the large hand that had helped her up kept flickering before her eyes.
“Young Master Gyeong comes from a martial family, so he will only grow taller and grander from now on.”
Seeing Seo-hwa’s cheeks flush crimson—when only this morning she had pouted her lips and vowed never to marry if her betrothed turned out to be an odd man—Court Lady Lee wore a gratified smile.
Feeling suddenly self-conscious under that warm, knowing smile, Seo-hwa feigned a sullen expression. It seemed she had spoken too excitedly.
“His disposition appeared kind, but what if he is the sort of man who throws flirtatious glances at any Saenggaksi just because she is a woman? He might be a wicked sort who hides his true nature and extends kindness to any female.”
“Is that why you dislike him?”
Seo-hwa cleared her throat with a few coughs and let her words trail off.
“It’s not that I dislike him… Just make sure to wash this Silk Handkerchief cleanly and bring it back to me.”
As Seo-hwa glossed over her feelings while holding out the Silk Handkerchief, Court Lady Lee bowed her head with a smile. The sight of the princess, who looked poised to nurture a deep affection with her husband, brought her endless joy.
Having finished her preparations in a hurry, Seo-hwa repeatedly commanded her attendants to perfectly arrange the refreshments Won-ui might enjoy, then waited beautifully adorned.
However, Won-ui’s promised visit was a little late. A little too late.

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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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