Blooming even in the mud - Chapter 52

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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 Episode 52

“Your Majesty.”
“Yes, yes. What is it?”
“Do you know what Her Highness Princess Sukjeong did on the night the Capital City fell?”
Yoo Jeong blinked at the sudden change of topic.
“I understand she was captured as a prisoner by the Rebel Army that very night…”
“According to her Royal Nursemaid, she came to the Imperial Palace to stay by Your Majesty’s side. That was the exact moment Your Majesty intended to abandon the people and flee outside the Capital City.”
“…….”
“The reason Her Highness could not reach the Imperial Palace was because she prioritized evacuating the palace servants who served her. As you well know, the most dangerous place that night was the Imperial Palace where Your Majesty resided.”
“Yoo Seo-hwa must resent me, so why would she…”
“Of course she would resent you. What woman would fondness for an elder brother who not only forced her into marriage but even encouraged a husband trying to violate her?”
Truly at a loss for words this time, Yoo Jeong tightly clamped his lips shut.
“Her Highness cast aside her personal feelings and performed her duty. Her duty as an imperial descendant not to abandon the people, and to protect the Emperor.”
“…….”
“My serving Your Majesty at this Exile Location is also my duty, and because I am a sinner sharing the burden of Your Majesty’s sins.”
Yoo Jeong’s face flushed red with shame.
“Are you rebuking me for being an inferior human being to my sister, just as my father did?”
“The late Emperor certainly committed wrong deeds. Though these are blasphemous words, it is only natural that you resent him. However, the others were guiltless.”
Yoo Jeong felt he understood the words Lee Nam-seon deliberately left unsaid.
The guiltless ones. All the people who suffered under his reign, and the sister he avoided and distanced himself from his entire life, only to ultimately push her off a Cliff.
He had known since childhood that his sister was not at fault. Yoo Seo-hwa had never once flaunted or wielded the late Emperor’s affection before him.
‘……If not for my father’s twisted favoritism, we might have been a good brother and sister.’
But what was the use of that now? He was no longer an Emperor, just a mere sinner. The wounds left by his father had not even healed.
Lee Nam-seon gently placed her hand over the back of Yoo Jeong’s hand. It was a rough, cracked hand from waiting on him.
“Your Majesty.”
“Do you have more words to scold me with?”
“I know your imperial heart is anxious. Do not worry. Whenever Your Majesty departs, I will follow behind you, so your path will not be lonely.”
“…….”
“Why not have some rice cakes before Dinner? Did you not even skip Breakfast?”
“…….”
Yoo Jeong silently took a bite of the bean rice cake. He kept munching and chewing the hard, tasteless cake.

* * *

The corpse discovered in Cui Shecheng’s hometown was not him.
Although heavily damaged, the physique was similar to Cui Shecheng’s. Even a Hopae was found nearby, making it almost certain to be Cui Shecheng, but the physical characteristics heard from a courtesan Cui Shecheng frequently visited were different.
Unlike Cui Shecheng, the corpse did not have a large wart on its left forearm.
The pursuit had essentially returned to square one.
‘Let’s think positively, positively.’
Wang Jeong-mun organized the details to report to Gyeong Won-ui.
It wasn’t that there were no results at all. At least it meant there was a reason for Cui Shecheng to fake his death and flee. Furthermore, that someone was trying to kill him.
The investigation after that had been sluggish so far.
He went to find Gyeong Won-ui with the Report, but he was absent.
“He went out? Did he say when he would return home?”
“He gave no other words to this servant, sir.”
“Understood.”
Wang Jeong-mun turned back without any results.
It wasn’t a matter requiring urgent haste. The report that they were tracking individuals suspected to be Cui Shecheng was the same as last time.
Wang Jeong-mun’s daily routine ended with secretly storing away the Report.
‘I was planning to report to the General today and rest in the afternoon, but…’
Perhaps because his planned schedule had fallen through, he felt strangely unfulfilled for some reason.
‘Should I go to the Training Grounds?’
Watching the soldiers’ training and lightly warming up his own body would be a nice change of pace.
The Training Grounds were outside the city. Wang Jeong-mun quickly finished his preparations to leave, and as he turned past the Guest Room where the Retainers stayed, an unexpected person caught his eye.
‘Her Highness? Where is she going?’
Yoo Seo-hwa was walking a long distance away.
‘Does she have business somewhere?’
Since there were separate Servants who tended to the Guest Room, she wouldn’t have business at the Guest Room. Of course, there was no way she had business with Wang Jeong-mun either.
Briefly imagining Yoo Seo-hwa looking for him, Wang Jeong-mun became extremely embarrassed.
In the meantime, Yoo Seo-hwa was moving with quick, short steps. She seemed to be heading toward the side door around the Guest House. It was the door through which servants passed.
Before he knew it, Wang Jeong-mun was following her.
As expected, Yoo Seo-hwa pushed the side door open. Watching Yoo Seo-hwa’s receding back as she left the residence, Wang Jeong-mun hesitated.
‘Following her secretly is not the right thing to do, but… an unexpected accident might happen if she goes out alone…’
Was she not in the status of a Slave? If she met with an accident outside, there was no one to protect her.
Muttering the excuse that it was to protect her, Wang Jeong-mun stealthily opened the back door. He could see Yoo Seo-hwa not far away.
Unlike when she was at the residence, she had messy soot smeared on her face and kept her head bowed low, making her look like a completely different person. There was no way for Wang Jeong-mun to know that this was Kkot-bun’s advice to hide her beautiful features.
Perhaps because she concealed her face as much as possible, no pedestrian took notice of her. Wang Jeong-mun followed Yoo Seo-hwa from a moderately far distance so as not to cause misunderstandings.
‘Is she going to the Marketplace to buy goods?’
This time, his prediction was wrong.
Yoo Seo-hwa’s feet did not head in the direction where the Marketplace opened. She was walking around the vicinity, looking around and asking pedestrians for directions as if finding her bearings in an unfamiliar place.
After walking between areas packed with noble estates like the Gyeong Clan Residence, Yoo Seo-hwa finally stopped walking. It was a residence with a luxurious exterior.
An appetizing aroma and a cheerful melody drifted over the high wall as if a banquet were taking place.
‘Whose house is this? Was she invited to a banquet?’
Although months had passed since he began staying in the Imperial City, for Wang Jeong-mun, who mainly traveled back and forth only between the Gyeong Clan Residence, the Government Office, and the Training Grounds, it was a completely unknown place.
Regardless of his question, Yoo Seo-hwa spoke a few words to the gatekeeper at the back door and then stepped inside.
‘Should I wait until she comes out for now? I must watch over her on her way back as well.’
To find a place to pass the time without drawing strange suspicion, Wang Jeong-mun looked around.

“Your Highness!”
As soon as she heard the news of Yoo Seo-hwa’s visit, Hong Ok-geum ran out in a single breath and bowed deeply.
“Rise quickly. I told you that you do not need to do this.”
“It has been a long time since I last saw you. Has your precious body been without illness?”
“I only sit quietly in my room doing Needlework, so where would I get hurt?”
“Is Needlework not also extremely grueling work? If you hold onto work all day, your fingers, wrists, back, neck, and eyes—there is not a single place that does not ache.”
“It is not to that extent, so do not worry. Compared to the labors of others, it is relatively easy and comfortable work. I have grown used to it as well.”
“But…….”
Since it seemed Hong Ok-geum would endlessly list the pains of Needlework if left alone, Yoo Seo-hwa shifted the topic.
“What kind of day is today that things are so bustling? It looked very busy even on my way to the Inner House. It is not your birthday or your husband’s, is it?”
“It is the child’s birthday banquet. My father-in-law wished to hold it grandly.”
“Seol-i? That child’s birthday is not yet…”
Recalling Hong Ok-geum’s daughter Seol-i, Yoo Seo-hwa soon realized her mistake. Chu Sim-yang had another child besides Seol-i. It was the son born of his concubine.
The Songyang State allowed an Illegitimate Son to be registered as the adopted child of the Primary Wife to carry on the family line if there was no Legitimate Heir.
It was Hong Ok-geum who had been treated with contempt for failing to give birth to a son. Even if she did not show it outwardly, her heart must be in tatters. Especially on a day like today.
“Hong Ok-geum.”
“Do not pay it any mind.”
When Yoo Seo-hwa patted the back of her hand, Hong Ok-geum conversely gave a bright smile and called a maid.
“Child, go quickly and prepare a refreshment table.”
“No. I came out after receiving permission for a brief outing, so I lack the time to deeply share old memories. Since it is a birthday banquet, should you not also greet guests in the Inner House?”
“Even if a hundred such guests come, it is not more precious than the time I share with Your Highness.”
Hong Ok-geum pressed her hand to her chest, feeling sorrowful.
“May I ask one favor of you?”
“Of course! Please just say the word. This servant is very glad that Your Highness personally asks.”
“I ask for just two bolts of Cotton Fabric.”
While making clothes was something she could do in her spare time, procuring fabric was not easy.
A mere Slave could not demand fabric from a Chimmo for private business, could she? The person she thought of then was Hong Ok-geum.
“If you need not just two bolts but a hundred bolts, I must naturally give them to you. But if you are going to use fabric anyway, would Silk not be better?”
“It is cloth to make garments for the two Majesties at the Exile Location, so Cotton Fabric is enough.”
“Ah… I see.”
Hong Ok-geum, who looked ready to have Silk brought out immediately, understood.
If one wore silk clothes while holding the status of a criminal, they would face nothing but severe criticism. Since one bolt of fabric could make garments for one person, Yoo Seo-hwa had asked for exactly the amount she needed.
‘She could have asked for more.’
While thinking it was just like Yoo Seo-hwa, on the other hand, it was heartbreaking that Yoo Seo-hwa’s circumstances prevented her from even requesting fabric abundantly.
It was also frustrating that there was nothing she could do for her except pour Pure Well Water and pray for Yoo Seo-hwa’s reinstatement.
“Child, come here.”
Managing her bitter emotions, Hong Ok-geum called a maid and whispered in her ear.
As the maid withdrew to bring the Cotton Fabric, the two women shared a conversation. It was a brief but precious time.
“By the way, I do not know if it is appropriate to ask Your Highness, but…”
“Speak comfortably.”
“Have you met General Gyeong recently?”

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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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