Blooming even in the mud - Chapter 9

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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, Chapter 9

Emperor Xuanwen asked Chief Eunuch Gu, who was respectfully picking up and tidying the cast-aside Silk Handkerchief.
“Were there any incidents at the Princess’s Palace?”
Under Emperor Xuanwen’s ultimate favor, there was only one princess who had received her own palace. Chief Eunuch Gu bowed deeply.
“I am pleased to report that Princess Sukjeong is safe and well, Your Majesty.”
“That child has grown so much.”
The elderly eunuch, who remembered Yoo Seo-hwa’s childhood, merely offered a faint smile.
When she was young, Yoo Seo-hwa was such a tomboy that she once climbed a tree in her skirt, fell, and broke her leg. That troublemaking little girl had already grown so elegantly into a woman who knew love. Chief Eunuch Gu thought to himself:
‘It was only after she married Gyeong Won-ui that Princess Sukjeong, who used to cause so many commotions, suddenly became so gentle.’
Emperor Xuanwen was thinking the exact same thing as Chief Eunuch Gu as he stroked his grizzled beard.
‘Years have flown by in the blink of an eye.’
As he kept delaying the wedding, precious time slipped away fruitlessly for several years, and Emperor Xuanwen’s only cherished and beloved daughter had already passed the ideal age for marriage.
‘If I delay any longer, she’ll reach an age where people gossip about her being an old maid.’
Though she never nagged her father, he knew Yoo Seo-hwa was growing anxious as her marriage was continually delayed.

Emperor Xuanwen recalled the report he had received from the eunuch of the Princess’s Palace. A faint, peculiar smile lingered on his lips.
The suspicion that had always settled like dregs whenever he thought of Gyeong Won-ui seemed to have vanished completely from his expression.
Due to his nature of starting with suspicion whenever he dealt with people, his heart that had withheld permission for their marriage until now was sincere. At the same time, his wish for Yoo Seo-hwa to live happily ever after with the husband she loved was also sincere.
‘What a truly wicked disposition I have.’
Emperor Xuanwen mocked himself.
Amusingly, the one who tied those two contradictory feelings into one was Gyeong Won-ui. Gyeong Won-ui’s attitude of pouring sincere affection into Yoo Seo-hwa blurred Emperor Xuanwen’s suspicions.
‘The Crown Prince is the older brother of the woman he loves so dearly. Even if his mind wavers because the Crown Prince is an inadequate fellow, he will never make the woman he loves sad.’
That was not all.
Emperor Xuanwen knew his daughter better than anyone else.
‘Sukjeong is a woman of the Imperial Family.’
The Crown Prince and Yoo Seo-hwa could not be called an affectionate brother and sister.
However, as a child of imperial blood, Yoo Seo-hwa was not one to abandon the duties she carried. She would absolutely never allow her husband to harbor treasonous desires against the Imperial Family.
‘In the end, it is Sukjeong, not the Crown Prince, who holds the hilt of the sharp sword named Gyeong Won-ui.’
It was both bitter and gratifying.
It was bitter that the child who would succeed the world he had built remained an inadequate person who could not even wield a single sharply forged sword. And it was gratifying that the daughter who had seemed like nothing but a troublemaker had grown up so reliably and claimed that sword as her own.
‘As expected, Sukjeong should have been born a son…’
It was a painful disappointment that lingered in his heart time and time again. Emperor Xuanwen shook off the disappointment with a deep sigh and motioned to Chief Eunuch Gu.
“I shall establish the Marriage Bureau.”
In the current Imperial Family, there were two unmarried princesses who had reached marriageable age, but it was clear where the Emperor’s mind was directed.
‘I must quickly deliver this joyful news to Princess Sukjeong.’
Chief Eunuch Gu quickly retreated out of the Imperial Presence.

* * *

The Zhuangyuan of the Military Examination that year was, as everyone expected, Gyeong Won-ui. Who else could have achieved the top score but Gyeong Won-ui, who had achieved numerous military exploits as his father’s subordinate general even before commissioning?
In fact, considering the merits he had achieved on the battlefield, he could have entered office without even needing to take the examinations. However, the stubborn, principled Gyeong Baek-jong did not favor his son, and Gyeong Won-ui also proudly passed the examination with the top score through his own strength.
“My warmest congratulations, Master Gyeong.”
Yoo Seo-hwa’s face was filled with joy. Furthermore, as the wedding date approached, another small but welcome event occurred. Her father had granted her permission to freely go out to Gyeong Won-ui’s Private Residence.
“Ah, is this the very tree where the kite was caught?”
She had heard about it from Gyeong Won-yeong before. When they were young, a kite had accidentally gotten caught in the branches due to Gyeong Won-yeong’s mistake.

That night, she fell asleep crying because she was so upset. When she woke up, she found a kite that Gyeong Won-ui had spent all night making for his little sister right by her bedside.

Yoo Seo-hwa was immersed in joy upon seeing with her own eyes the tree from the old memories she had only heard about. It was a torreya tree whose leaves remained green even in autumn.
It was so tall that she could barely see the topmost branches even by tilting her head back completely, making it hard to believe that the young boy had climbed up there just to get his sister’s kite.
“What if you had fallen? Why did you climb the tree so recklessly?”
“I felt sorry because Won-yeong was crying, and…”
Gyeong Won-ui followed her gaze, tilting his head back to look up at the tree.
“My martial arts are not so shallow that I would fall from a tree of this height.”
At his calm but unwavering confidence, a bright smile spread across Yoo Seo-hwa’s lips.
If she had heard it from anyone else, she might have whispered that they were bragging, but not Gyeong Won-ui. It wasn’t an act of putting on airs at all, and above all, it was a fact without a single grain of exaggeration.
“I once fell while climbing a tree when I was young. I was worried that my child might be a tomboy like me and fall while playing in a tree, but since you are here, there won’t be any problem, right?”
“Ah, that…”
“If that child flies a kite and it gets caught in a tree, you must bring it down.”
Understanding the hidden meaning between his words at once, Gyeong Won-ui’s cheeks flushed faintly.
“Please show me other places as well.”
The smile never left Yoo Seo-hwa’s face as she tugged at his hand.
Originally, it was the law for an imperial princess to build a new palace estate when she married, but she had earnestly petitioned Emperor Xuanwen to set up their newlywed home at Gyeong Won-ui’s Private Residence. She wanted to live together with her new family.
Guided by Gyeong Won-ui, she looked around other parts of the residence.
The residence was incomparably small compared to the Imperial Palace, and it was also modest because the family custom was frugal. Even if they welcomed an imperial princess, nothing would change. Nevertheless, Yoo Seo-hwa liked this place very much.
‘Our child will also be born and raised here, in this place where Master Gyeong was born and raised.’
Thinking that way made her feel a sense of affection.
The footsteps of the two eventually headed toward Gyeong Won-ui’s quarters. In a sense, it was the first time in her life opening a man’s room. Yoo Seo-hwa’s heart thumped with a secret flutter.
“There isn’t much to see, but…”
Gyeong Won-ui gave a dry cough as if embarrassed and opened the door slightly. Stepping inside with quiet, graceful steps, Yoo Seo-hwa let out a soft exclamation of admiration.
Amidst the same frugality she had seen in the rest of the residence, the rugged ambiance of a warrior lingered.
It was a pity that she couldn’t see the full bloom of the peonies planted outside the window, but she endured it. They would bloom again next spring when she would be together with Gyeong Won-ui.
“It has the exact same atmosphere as you, Master Gyeong.”
“What is my atmosphere like?”
“Hmm. A feeling just like this room?”
Gyeong Won-ui let out a chuckle at the light banter. When did this man, who used to seem indifferent because of his shallow emotional depth, begin to laugh often in front of her? Was it before the peonies bloomed, or after?
As she looked around the room with such amusing thoughts, her gaze fell upon a Hanging Scroll on the wall. The words ‘Serve the Country with Utmost Loyalty’ were written in a grand, powerful script.
After staring for a moment at the simple scroll that bore only four characters without even a seal, she asked.
“Was this Hanging Scroll written by General Gyeong?”
“Since it’s a scroll in my room, did you not think that I might have written it?”
“Your handwriting is different, Master Gyeong.”
Gyeong Won-ui’s handwriting was neat yet possessed a sharp, martial edge, just like his personality. It had a different elegance from the grand power of the scroll.
“…”
It was an ordinary question, but Gyeong Won-ui’s lips closed. Seeing his hesitant expression, Yoo Seo-hwa quickly changed the subject.
“I didn’t mean to pry. I apologize if it was an uncomfortable question.”
“No. If I had something to hide from you, Your Highness, I would have placed this scroll out of sight.”
Gyeong Won-ui closed and opened his eyes once, his gaze quietly turning toward Yoo Seo-hwa.
“I do not wish to hide anything from you.”
He was a man who did not whisper vain banter or clever, sweet words. Those who didn’t know the circumstances might judge his words and actions as indifferent.
But Yoo Seo-hwa knew. She knew the tender affection and trust of this man contained within his gaze and his single, sincere word. Just like right now.
Her heart filled with the feeling of being loved.
Only after making sure there was no anyone else outside and closing the door and windows did Gyeong Won-ui whisper in a low voice.
“This Hanging Scroll was written by Jiang Huang of Zhanghou State.”
“…”
Yoo Seo-hwa’s eyes widened in surprise.
There was a reason why Gyeong Won-ui had thoroughly checked the surroundings and whispered in a cautious voice. Jiang Huang was none other than a general of an enemy nation.
If it became known that he was keeping the original handwriting of an enemy general, even having it framed, it was more than enough grounds to frame him as a traitor.
“How do you happen to possess this writing?”
Suppressing her shocked heart, she asked carefully, even hesitant to utter Jiang Huang’s name.

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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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