Blooming even in the mud - Chapter 60

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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 Mud Chapter 60
 
 
 
“I don’t know that much. He said the fewer people who knew, the better, so only my husband heard the destination.”
“Thank you. If anyone else comes looking for me and asks, please describe my appearance the opposite way. Say it was a tall, slender young man.”
The Tracker threw in two more Silver Bottles to keep her quiet.
Leaving the port, the Tracker fell deep into thought as he walked back to the tavern.
‘Fishermen’s boats can’t go out to foreign countries, so Cui Shecheng’s destination must have been the nearby waters.’
That narrowed down the possibilities.
First, hiding on one of the many large and small islands south of Yanghang.
Second, boarding a foreign merchant ship smuggling goods on an uninhabited island to avoid customs.
Since the sea was said to be so rough, he probably didn’t reach his destination safely.
‘I just wish I could at least know whether he’s alive or dead.’
 
The Tracker’s reasoning was accurate.
Cui Shecheng had intended to flee to the Wu State on a merchant ship engaged in smuggling. Although it all came to nothing when the boat was wrecked by the storm.
‘Still, hiding out here doesn’t seem like a bad thing…’
It was a remote village that smelled bad and had lots of bugs, but he really liked that communication with the outside world was almost completely cut off.
Fortunately, Gyeong Won-yeong didn’t seem to notice him either.
‘Well, I only ran into Gyeong 낭자 a few times while monitoring her confinement at the private residence, and since I’ve changed so much compared to five years ago, she wouldn’t recognize me.’
Secretly feeling out the islanders, they said that Gyeong Won-yeong, or Eulsu’s wife, had never gone outside once since she first came to Eogu Island five years ago.
There was a high probability that she didn’t even know the fact that her elder brother had returned as the Emperor’s favorite official.
‘Even the people here probably know that the throne changed due to a Restoration, but they wouldn’t know the names of the ministers. They wouldn’t care either.’
Even though the situation was beneficial to him in many ways, his chest pricked. It was the guilt that had remained inside him all along and revived upon encountering Gyeong Won-yeong.
The face of the girl who had begged to let her get medicine for her mother simply would not disappear.
“Mister, mister.”
“……”
“Mister, why is your belly so big?”
“……”
“Did you eat a lot of delicious food?”
“……”
Even though he kept ignoring him, Dong-i didn’t even show shyness as he kept poking Cui Shecheng’s thick belly with his finger.
When he looked down with a deliberate frown, the child burst into a giggle as if finding the reaction amusing.
Cui Shecheng wasn’t particularly fond of young children. He wanted to push this annoying kid away immediately, but those clear, bright eyes kept lingering in his mind.
‘My child was exactly this age…’
The memory of his only son, who died five years ago, brought a sting to the tip of his nose.
“You rascal! If you keep poking me, this mister will lock you up in his belly too!”
When he lifted the child high up to amuse him, the boy laughed boisterously, even clapping his hands.
After playing for a while, it became time for dinner. Eulsu walked in carrying freshly boiled, steaming potatoes in a bamboo basket.
“Daddy, I want to eat too.”
“Dong-i, let’s eat over there with Mommy and Daddy.”
“Thank you, I will enjoy the food.”
Holding the whining Dong-i up with one arm, Eulsu looked at Cui Shecheng, who was blowing on a hot potato to peel it.
“Seeing you move around, it looks like your body has recovered well enough, right?”
“Th-that’s true, but…”
Cui Shecheng’s heart dropped, wondering if she was trying to kick him out empty-handed when there wasn’t even a boat going to Ganam Province.
Fortunately, she wasn’t trying to kick him out. It was just an unexpected direction.
“Then shouldn’t you earn your keep?”
“Earn my keep?”
“Surely you didn’t think you could just keep eating and playing?”
“N-no! How could that be! Then should I join you on the boat starting tomorrow?”
“Since you’re a landsman, you’ll probably get terrible seasickness, so please help with the farming even if it’s just chores. Most of the men go out to sea, so we’re always short on male hands.”
“Understood! Though I may look like this, I don’t lack strength, so I will work hard to earn my keep!”
Cui Shecheng laughed heartily on purpose and made a grand promise. Whatever it was, it was better than being kicked out or suffering from seasickness.
He could do anything as long as he could stay hidden safely.
And he regretted his grand promise the next morning at dawn while being overworked by grueling farm chores.
 
* * *
 
Ever since she began associating with Yoo Seo-hwa, an annoying routine had been added to Dal-rae’s day. It was the slaves making requests because of Yoo Seo-hwa.

Of course, she didn’t introduce these pathetic pathetic fools to Yoo Seo-hwa.
She hadn’t known back when she hated Yoo Seo-hwa simply because she came from nobility. Now that she looked at it from a different perspective, there were quite a few slaves who wanted to become close with Yoo Seo-hwa.
The male slaves obviously had ulterior motives, and the female slaves were also walking on eggshells for fear of offending the loud-mouthed Dal-rae.

These were the words mumbled by the slaves who had joined Dal-rae in bullying Yoo Seo-hwa just a few months ago.
Hearing such things made her feel like she was the only bad person for no reason, so she glared at them, causing them to gloss it over and run away.
‘Bullying her for no other reason than that she was from nobility makes me a bad person indeed.’
A gloomy shadow fell over Dal-rae.
‘When Father was exiled and my older sister and I became slaves, I thought the whole world had ended…’
The young Dal-rae did nothing but cry every day and couldn’t even work properly.
Her older sister suffered even more than others to protect her from being scolded and mistreated. She herself had thrown tantrums, completely ignorant of her sister’s sorrow.
Her sister’s heart must have rotted away to black coal while looking after her immature younger sibling.
That was why Yoo Seo-hwa had been an eyesore from the very beginning.
That appearance of being quietly enveloped in a despair similar to her sister’s felt as if it were rebuking her.
‘I should apologize…’
Expressing gratitude and offering an apology were two completely different matters, so it was still not easy. Dal-rae lightly tapped her lips with her clenched fist.
‘Anyway, until then, I’ll have to kick out those cowardly and stupid men first. It hasn’t been that long since Yoo Seo-hwa’s family was completely ruined, so how could she be in the mood to meet men? How did Kkot-bun endure this kind of annoying stuff until now?’
Kkot-bun looked easygoing but possessed a surprising amount of fortitude. She probably smiled brightly while cutting them off cleanly, saying, “Absolutely not.”
With various thoughts in her mind, she arrived at the Servants’ Quarters.
Intending to catch some shut-eye even for a moment before preparing dinner, Dal-rae tilted her head.
“Hey, Kkeoksoe. What are you doing?”
Kkeoksoe, who was snooping around the corner of the Servants’ Quarters, gasped in fright. Following the direction he was staring at, Dal-rae glared.
“I heard you got rejected by Yoo Seo-hwa, so why are you here again? Don’t just loiter around, go do your work.”
“N-n-no, I didn’t!”
“What do you mean no? Yoo Seo-hwa isn’t here right now anyway, so stop wasting your time and go work.”
“Do I look like someone who’s just hitting on Yoo Seo-hwa?!”
Yelling furiously, Kkeoksoe stomped away around the Servants’ Quarters.
“Why is that guy suddenly raising his voice?”
After staring at Kkeoksoe’s back with an absurd look for a moment, Dal-rae walked to her room while yawning. It was probably nothing.
 
Now that the artificial flower work to decorate the private residence instead of flower viewing was finished, she decided to visit the clinic under the pretext of offering Buddhist prayers.
‘I’m going because I couldn’t win against Deok-sun’s nagging, but I really don’t feel like it. It’s just that my menstruation is late… Once it’s confirmed that I’m not pregnant, Deok-sun won’t say anything more either.’
Yoo Seo-hwa shook her head once and moved her steps toward the Servants’ Quarters.
As the private residence was completely restored, the scent of spring grew much stronger. The traces of the abandoned house, where desolation had quietly accumulated, vanished, and it was revived as the residence of a renowned general favored by the Emperor.
The fragrance of spring flowers blooming not just in the spacious garden but along every pathway between the pavilions wafted freshly.
The long and arduous winter had waned, and the height of spring had returned.
“Sigh…”
Yoo Seo-hwa pressed her chest gently and let out a heavy sigh.
The deep scent of spring softly enveloped her lungs. The bright fragrance holding the sunlight after passing the cold winter should surely seep in gently, yet every time the scent brushed past, it felt as if a desolate wind scratched her heart.
‘I should clear my thoughts for a moment before I go.’
If she returned to her quarters like this, she would only indulge further in useless sentiments. Yoo Seo-hwa turned her steps slightly toward the secluded pond.
‘This place has returned to its old appearance as well.’
As it became an abandoned house, the pond had also turned desolate. Fish floating on the water’s surface with their white bellies exposed had rotted away, and there was not a single living thing breathing in the pond that had lost its water clarity.
Now the water of the pond had turned clean, and various colorful fish swam vigorously beneath the green lotus leaves.

As she bit her lip once, the old memories permeating every corner of the private residence faded away. Peeling off memories was not such a difficult task.
Yoo Seo-hwa walked onto the bridge extending to the pavilion in the middle of the pond.
Staring at the pond, she reached one hand downward. Thinking they were being fed, the fish swarmed over, but upon realizing it was an empty hand, they shook their tails and fins to swim away again.
Yoo Seo-hwa looked into the pond.
Beyond the transparent water color, the bridge painted in deep orange, the lush weeping willows by the pond, and the brightly shining sky—everything was reflected.
Only Yoo Seo-hwa’s face could not be seen.
“Yoo Seo-hwa, where are you?”
Whispering her own name lowly, she scanned the water’s surface once more. Still, Yoo Seo-hwa’s face was not there.
Burying her invisible face against the railing, she crouched down.
There was still no sensation whatsoever in her flat belly. Yoo Seo-hwa simply could not bring herself to think that a life was sprouting within her womb.
Because…
“…?”
She felt the presence of someone carefully approaching.
‘I’ve been at the pond for too long.’
Shaking off her thoughts, Yoo Seo-hwa raised her crouched body.
No, she tried to raise it. If only a black hand extending from behind hadn’t pushed her.

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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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