Blooming even in the mud - Chapter 36

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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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Mud in Bloom Chapter 36

“Princess!”
“Hong Ok-geum…”
Ok-geum, whose sleeves were already drenched with tears, sobbed uncontrollably as she held onto Yoo Seo-hwa. The inside of the Jade Sedan Chair, cramped enough for just the two of them, was quickly filled with her weeping.
Unable to speak, Ok-geum could only cry out loud, and Yoo Seo-hwa gently patted her back in silence.
As if crying on behalf of Yoo Seo-hwa, whose tear ducts had dried up so much that she could no longer shed tears or vent her sorrow, Ok-geum could not stop her grieving for a long time.
It was only after a long while that her sobbing finally subsided.
“I am so sorry I couldn’t come to see you sooner… Until recently, I thought His Majesty had sent you to a detached palace. I heard that out of consideration for Your Highness, who was deposed, he had sent you to a secluded detached palace…”
Ok-geum choked up from time to time as she spoke haltingly.
For the first time, Yoo Seo-hwa realized a certain truth. Contrary to the Emperor’s intentions, her presence in that estate was likely due to Gyeong Won-ui’s wishes.
Before she could even ponder the meaning of that, Ok-geum cradled Yoo Seo-hwa’s hand with trembling hands. Tears fell drop by drop onto the rough, chapped, and hardened back of her hand.
“Princess, your precious body has been greatly harmed…”
“Do not call me that. Respecting a sinner who has been deposed to commoner status will only bring harm upon you as well.”
“I do not care. If that happens, I will stay by your side and take over your grueling chores instead.”
“What about Seol-i? She was always exceptionally weak in the winter, is she healthy?”
“She has been well so far without any major illnesses. A few days ago, she even threw a tantrum saying she wanted to see you.”
Ok-geum still had only one daughter under her care. Thinking of little Seol-i, who used to follow her around so well, Yoo Seo-hwa lowered her gaze.
“Do not worry. She is just a child, so she will forget about me soon.”
“Please do not say such things.”
As the rims of Ok-geum’s eyes were about to brim with tears again, Yoo Seo-hwa changed the subject. Ok-geum’s devotion in coming directly to meet a deposed sinner was so moving that a corner of her chest throbbed with gratitude.
However, she did not know if it was proper for her to enjoy such affection.
“I must head back now. If I leave my post for too long, I will be scolded by the head slave.”
“Princess, I have prepared something, so please take it from the maidservant outside. I heard from the maidservants that the cold is the most grueling thing to endure during the dead of winter, so I brought it separately. Please forgive me for not preparing more since I came in such a rush.”
Yoo Seo-hwa declined, saying that she did not need to do that for a mere slave, but Ok-geum did not bend her stubbornness either. It must be because her hands, which had become very rough from doing unfamiliar work, kept weighing heavily on her mind.
Ultimately unable to win against Ok-geum, Yoo Seo-hwa accepted just a single pair of beoseon.
Leaving Ok-geum, who was deeply reluctant to part ways, she returned to the estate. She tried hard not to pay attention to her heavy, lagging footsteps.
Only when she reached the servants’ quarters did Yoo Seo-hwa stroke the beoseon she held in her arms. The outside was ordinary cotton, but fur was used for the lining and it was quilted with cotton wool, giving it a thick, plush feel. Unlike her, Ok-geum was highly skilled in embroidery.
‘How much care must she have poured into every single stitch for a sinner like me?’
Into her heart, which was covered by a cloudy, hazy film and sinking precariously, something slowly washed in like a gentle wave. It was gratitude and boundless apology.
How wonderful would it be if she could fully appreciate her friend’s unchanging heart with pure gratitude?
“What’s that now?”
A dark shadow suddenly appeared and snatched the beoseon away before she could even stop it.
“Wow, did that man you met earlier give you this? Seeing how a mere servant managed to get such a luxurious item, he really must be your secret lover.”
“It is not like that.”
“What do you mean it’s not?”
Dal-rae scoffed and shook the beoseon ostentatiously.
“What do you think will happen if Aunt Deok-sun finds out that you’re running around meeting a secret lover outside?”
“Do not do this.”
She did not care what happened to herself, but she absolutely did not want Ok-geum to be put in a difficult situation. Dal-rae smirked.
“All you have to do is stay cooped up in the corner of the room and move your needle. The one who needs warm, good beoseon is me, not you, right?”
She didn’t know what kind of relationship the master of the house had with this nobody, but since she had caught her weakness of running around to meet an outside man, the woman wouldn’t be able to say anything.
Dal-rae, who was gloating over having caught a good weakness, flinched.
Even when she intentionally picked a fight and talked about a secret lover, the nobody’s calm expression had never changed, which only made her more irritated. But now, her face changed for the first time. It was as if something incredibly precious and important had been plundered from her.
‘What is so special about a pair of beoseon like this? It’s something valuable that’s hard for a slave to possess, but it’s not a jewel, it’s just a pair of socks.’
In front of the bewildered Dal-rae, who was flustered by the unexpected reaction, the nobody slowly clutched her chest. Then, she calmly bowed her head.
“It is a gift given to me by someone precious. I hope you will wear it preciously as well.”
“Huh? Uh, yeah…”
Passing by the bewildered and stammering Dal-rae, Yoo Seo-hwa cast one last look at the beoseon in her hand and quietly turned away.
Forgetting that she had to hurry back to the Banbitgan, Dal-rae stared blankly at her retreating back.

The night in the servants’ quarters, where several slaves slept huddled together in one room, was never quiet.
There were people talking nonsense in their dreams, people grinding their teeth, people snoring, and people groaning in pain. Usually, she would fall sound asleep from exhaustion without even noticing the subtle, continuous noise, but for some reason that night, Dal-rae could not fall asleep.
‘Why did she look at a person like that? It makes me feel like I committed a truly wicked deed.’
The texture of the beoseon, which she had hidden inside her pillow for fear of being interrogated about where she got it, uncomfortably poked at the back of her head.
‘It’s not like I actually thought he was her secret lover…’
The servant who had been waiting was merely an elderly old man, and furthermore, the voice calling out for the nobody had been laced with deep politeness.
‘That servant probably came under someone else’s orders too, right?’
An order from a superior that conveyed a devotion that still showed respect to a nobody who had fallen to the status of a mere slave.
Someone who knew the nobody from before. Someone who didn’t care about the disgrace of privately meeting a high traitor turned slave. Someone who gifted a carefully crafted pair of beoseon to a slave.
‘…I never had a single person like that.’
Dal-rae tightly closed her eyes. Sleep would not come.
Her shadow, which was quiet as usual but somehow felt lonely, kept catching her eye.

* * *

The current Emperor of the Songyang State had dreamed of revenge even before he was enfeoffed as King Feng. It was a blazing hatred in the soul of a boy who had survived miserably at the cost of his only full brother’s suicide.
In order not to arouse the suspicion of the deeply paranoid Emperor Xuanwen, he prostrated himself low on the ground to feign incompetence while secretly raising a powerful military.
“Though the enemy died before I could even raise an army, leaving my arrow as one that lost its target.”
The Emperor murmured as he moistened his lips with tea. It was a completely uninhibited conversation since all the palace attendants and historians had been dismissed, and he was meeting with Gyeong Won-ui in private within his inner chambers rather than the Great Hall.
Gyeong Won-ui merely kept his gaze lowered silently. Reading a flash of agreement in his silence, the Emperor subtly raised the corners of his lips.
“Fortunately, the deposed emperor was a foolish ruler steeped in delusion, which gave me a pretext of maladministration. However, even if the deposed emperor had been a saintly ruler second to none in our state, I still would have raised a rebellion. I would not have regretted it even if I were denounced by the whole world for it. For revenge is inherently such a thing.”
“Is it not only natural for a child to inherit the blood price of their father?”
Gyeong Won-ui, who had been silent all along, finally moved his lips. Having whetted the same blade of revenge against the exact same enemy, Gyeong Won-ui and the Emperor were co-conspirators who understood each other.
Looking at Gyeong Won-ui, who in a sense felt more like a son than his own biological children and like a younger brother with a large age gap, the Emperor reminisced about the past. It was a matter from several years ago, when Gyeong Baek-jong and Gyeong Won-ui had been dispatched to Qiheng Province as an expeditionary army to subjugate the leader of the White Head Sect.
The day before the expeditionary army returned to the Imperial Capital, he had received an urgent visit from Gyeong Baek-jong.

Gyeong Baek-jong was a loyal subject. Even if he let it slide right now, it would eventually reach his elder brother the Emperor’s ears. He resolved to raise an army immediately. Though his preparations were lacking, now that his elder brother the Emperor knew, the outcome of becoming a traitor was the same regardless.
However, what Gyeong Baek-jong said next was entirely unexpected.

Perhaps Gyeong Baek-jong had been constantly pondering a way to protect Gyeong Won-ui from the suspicions of Emperor Xuanwen, whose true wicked nature could manifest at any moment.
He readily granted Gyeong Baek-jong’s request and later secretly took in Gyeong Won-ui after Gyeong Baek-jong’s subordinates helped him escape. Then, he executed a death-row convict of similar age and build to Gyeong Won-ui and disfigured his face. He even fabricated marks of torture before tossing the corpse in front of the pursuing Imperial Guard.
The Imperial Guard mistook the corpse for Gyeong Won-ui and dragged it to the Imperial City. In that manner, Gyeong Won-ui concealed his face and used a false name for five years, living as a subject of King Ning’s Residence.
‘To have Gyeong Won-ui, who possesses a military talent even greater than his father’s, under my command was an immense pleasure for me as well.’
He was a co-conspirator who shared the same enemy, and a loyal subject second to none.
Therefore, his heart could not help but be continuously drawn to him. He wished for this young man, whom he regarded as his own blood, to fully reclaim his life.
The Emperor’s lips slowly moved.

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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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