Surviving as Jang Hee-bin's Child Court Lady - Chapter 14

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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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Chapter 14. Yellow
My first Lunar New Year morning as a palace maid of Joseon.
The day’s duties naturally began with the ritual bow of respect.
“Hee-bin, I wish you abundant blessings in the new year.”
“Indeed. So Hwang Bong-bong has turned four now. May you grow to be an obedient and healthy child this year as well.”
Hee-bin, offering her auspicious words, wore noticeably lighter makeup than usual.
Gazing upon her radiant face, luminous as a pale pink peach blossom, my own spirits lifted in turn.
‘But then… where is the New Year’s money?’
To me, with eyes sparkling with anticipation, Hee-bin presented a small silk pouch.
The moment I received it, I understood—what lay within were candies, not coins.
‘Tsk. If only she’d given me actual money…’
Though in truth, even palace maids’ stipends were paid mostly in grain or bolts of cloth, so it was hardly surprising a child would receive no currency.
After the ritual bows came the special meal.
Tteokguk—rice cake soup!
‘Pheasant tteokguk, no less. I’ve never tasted anything so delicious before.’
As I patted my full belly and sipped the sweet rice punch, Chwisuondang grew quite bustling.
The palace maids, who always wore identical servant robes and their hair in the standard style, changed into everyday clothes and arranged their hair in topknots.
‘It’s the New Year, so everyone is heading home.’
The maids departing Chwisuondang with cheerful expressions carried heavy bundles in their hands.
Bolts of fabric and sacks of rice—gifts bestowed by Hee-bin for the holiday.
Royal Palace welfare—not bad at all, really.
“Seol-hyang, my lady. Why aren’t you going home?”
“I went early last month. Someone must remain at Chwisuondang.”
“Ah, I see…”
I glanced sideways at Seol-hyang.
‘My lady, I shall take the holiday shift this year.’
‘You, Seol-hyang? You who despise duty shifts—what brings this on?’
‘It’s just… Hwang Bong-bong would be alone otherwise. That troubled me.’
Days ago, I had happened to overhear a conversation between Han Sang-gung and Seol-hyang.
‘Truthfully, I had hoped to remain alone.’
Yet despite this, I felt genuine gratitude for Seol-hyang’s consideration.
“Hwang Bong-bong. Why that expression? Are you disappointed you cannot go home?”
“No! I’m not disappointed at all!”
Of course not. After all, I was someone who didn’t even know where my own home was.
“Then let’s spend these two days eating until our bellies burst and sleeping like the dead! Most of the senior maids won’t be here anyway.”
“I love that!”
“Excellent! From now on, this place is ours!”
“Hurray!”
I bounced excitedly and cheered along like an excited child.
Though in truth, I had a separate goal in mind for this New Year celebration.
‘I shall take charge of Chwisuondang during the Lunar New Year holiday. Mark my words!’
***
With the palace maids gone, Chwisuondang fell into a silence as profound as death itself.
Seol-hyang, exhausted from the Lunar New Year preparations, had succumbed to an afternoon slumber.
After confirming she slept deeply, I slipped cautiously outside.
In truth, I had been counting the days until today arrived.
The day when not only Chwisuondang, but most of the Royal Palace’s inhabitants would be absent.
‘I cannot afford to squander such a golden opportunity.’
I intended to meticulously search the places I had yet to examine, hunt for clues I had overlooked, and methodically organize my plans for what lay ahead.
I was crossing the Inner Courtyard, mentally rehearsing my packed schedule, when it happened.
The silhouette of a woman standing at the entrance of Chwisuondang.
‘Who could that be?’
Before I could even see her face, an inexplicable sense of foreboding washed over me.
As always, my instincts proved true.
“So it is you. What a clever little maid.”
…Good heavens. Why of all days, today?
“Ah, good day to you.”
I quickly lowered my head to conceal my flustered expression.
“Go tell the Hee-bin. Suk-jeong wishes to see her.”
“…Yes, madam.”
When I cautiously raised my head, I met Suk-jeong’s gaze fixed intently upon me.
Her eyes seemed to bore into me, yet they were hollow—utterly vacant.
The sight of her lips, parched and cracked, involuntarily conjured the image of her gnawing on wall posters, and I found myself swallowing hard.
“Ah, wait a moment.”
Suk-jeong called me back as I turned toward Hee-bin’s Private Chamber. She set down a silk bundle she had been holding.
Whatever was wrapped inside was quite substantial, the bundle bulging considerably.
“Child. I believe I promised to bring you something next time.”
…Yes, such a conversation had occurred.
‘Little one. Next time I visit, I shall bring you a beautiful doll bride.’
The day I first encountered Suk-jeong.
She had thrust a curse doll upon me while speaking those very words.
“You seem not to remember what it was. Well then, take this instead.”
Suk-jeong rummaged through the bundle and produced something, extending it toward me.
“Accept it.”
“….”
Truthfully, I could not even muster false gratitude.
What Suk-jeong offered was a single piece of taffy, crumbling into powder on the verge of complete disintegration.
‘Does this woman take me for a beggar?’
Or was this her way of telling me to go eat taffy?
“Be grateful. Children like you rarely get to taste something so fine.”
“…Yes, my lady.”
Unwilling to exchange further words, I gave a perfunctory reply and turned to leave.
Something visible through the loosened knots of the bundle caught my eye.
These were no ordinary objects.
‘Those are… shamanic implements, aren’t they?’
Five-colored flags of the sort used by mudang, bronze child statues fashioned in the image of infants, and countless other items whose purpose I could not fathom.
“Now go fetch Sang-gung, or report directly to Jang Hee-bin.”
“Yes, my lady.”
I quickened my pace, biting my lip.
‘That warning from before was utterly meaningless.’
A painful realization crashed over me.
Suk-jeong was not the sort to have her resolve shaken by a single caution.
She had returned fully prepared—a true villainess in her element.
She was the first mountain I absolutely had to overcome.
***
“What is all this?”
Jang Hee-bin’s expression stiffened slightly as she beheld the shamanic implements Suk-jeong had laid out.
“These are precious items received from a renowned mudang. I shall divine your fortune for the new year using these five-colored flags.”
Jang Hee-bin gazed at the variously colored flags before her.
Red, yellow, blue, white, and black—colors so vivid they dazzled the eye.
“Items from a mudang, you say? It seems somewhat…”
“My lady. What troubles you? This mudang is called O-rye, and she performs ceaseless devotions on your behalf, declaring that there cannot be two queens beneath heaven.”
“Two queens beneath heaven?”
“Yes. Her spiritual efficacy is beyond measure. Come, draw a flag and see.”
‘Be certain to have her draw three times, then tell me the colors. The child spirit shall surely grant an answer.’
Suk-jeong recalled her conversation with the mudang O-rye as she extended the flagpole.
“You need only draw three times, my lady. It shall surely be auspicious. Have no fear.”
“Very well, then…”
Jang Hee-bin drew a flag swiftly.
“Yellow. What does yellow signify?”
“Great fortune! It typically denotes the protection of ancestors or heaven itself.”
Relief bloomed across Jang Hee-bin’s face.
“Draw once more.”
“Let me see… Oh, yellow again.”
“How extraordinary. One final draw…”
“…Yellow again!”
Jang Hee-bin’s eyes widened like lanterns.
“My lady! This is surely no mere coincidence. In all my years, I have never witnessed the same color drawn three times in succession. This must be the will of heaven.”
“You said yellow signifies the protection of ancestors and heaven. Then perhaps…”
Could this divination mean the mandate of heaven itself?
Hope bloomed across Jang Hee-bin’s face.
“I shall go find O-rye and learn the full meaning of the divination, my lady.”
“Do so. I too am curious. Three times in succession, yellow… how remarkable.”
Jang Hee-bin spoke with noticeably greater ease.
“Then, Suk-jeong. Why don’t you draw one as well?”
“Ah, should I?”
“Yes. This five-colored flag seems truly blessed with power, so divine your own fortune.”
“Yes. I shall do so.”
True to her superstitious nature, Suk-jeong drew a flag with a tense expression.
“…Yellow.”
Once more.
“…Yellow!”
The yellow flag appeared again and again.
Suk-jeong drew the final flag.
“Black…!”
Suk-jeong’s face drained of all color.
Black on the five-colored flag signified misfortune—a deeply ominous omen.
“Suk-jeong. Are you well?”
“…My lady. Might I step outside for some fresh air?”
“Of course.”
Suk-jeong rose and made her way out of the Private Chamber.
Her hands trembled uncontrollably.
Three times for Jang Hee-bin, twice for herself.
Yellow had appeared five times in total.
This was no trivial matter—it was a clear sign of divine will.
‘Yet why did black appear at the very end…?’
And then there was that strange placard she had encountered west of Chwisuondang days ago.
‘So much yellow, and then black… what does this portend?’
It was then.
“…Ah!”
In a corner of the courtyard not far away.
Suk-jeong gasped in alarm upon discovering a young palace maid crouched down, scratching something into the dirt with a twig in her hand.
“You startled me!”
“Yes?”
Hwang Bong-bong lifted her head at Suk-jeong’s shout, blinking her eyes.
“I’ve been practicing writing characters this whole time…”
“Make some noise, will you! Give warning!”
Suk-jeong, who had been speaking harshly, suddenly fell silent.
The words the shaman O-rye had spoken on the day she received the five-colored flag suddenly came flooding back.
‘You must be wary of the child. To underestimate the child will bring great calamity upon you.’
“Child spirit….”
Until that moment, I had assumed O-rye, the mudang who served the child spirit, was simply urging me to honor the deity properly….
‘But “child” refers to a young one, doesn’t it?’
A chill crept unbidden across my skin, and I trembled.
Seized by an inexplicable curiosity, I approached Hwang Bong-bong.
“What are you writing?”
“I was practicing writing my name.”
“Your name?”
I repeated the question, my gaze drifting downward almost absently.
Upon the yellowed earth, crude and crooked characters were scratched.
“…Hwang?”
My face drained of all color.
“Hwang? Why on earth would you write that? Tell me!”
“Hwang…? It’s simply my name….”
“How could your name be Hwang? Your name is….”
Only then did I recall the child maid’s name.
The young maid’s name was Hwang Bong-bong, and her family name was….
“Hwang….”
“Yes. I am of the Hwang clan.”
“Hwang…!”
A shriek tore from my throat.
“…?”
Hwang Bong-bong watched me stumble away with perfect composure, casually picking at her ear.
As she dragged her foot across the character “Hwang” scrawled haphazardly on the ground, erasing it, the faintest hint of a smile played at the corners of her mouth.

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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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