Three Thousand Court Ladies - Chapter 108

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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 108
The sound of waves beat against his ears. Buyeo Hui, who had been gazing out at the great sea while buffeted by the briny wind, slowly turned his head. Ju-hong, who had returned carrying a bundle, spoke.
“I’ve prepared everything you mentioned.”
“Well done.”
“What will you use this for?”
“A gift.”
Ju-hong found it puzzling why such a thing would be given as a gift, but he kept his mouth shut and accepted it.
Buyeo Hui, who had appeared to be admiring the scenery, pointed with his fingertip toward a man unloading fish baskets from a moored fishing vessel.
“That man carrying the cargo there. How does he appear to you?”
“He looks frail, as though he couldn’t even scrape together a bowl of rice gruel. He seems to lack any knack for the work, but he’s industrious enough.”
“Do you believe a person can be reformed?”
“Rather than impossible, isn’t it simply extraordinarily difficult? The fact that stories of reformed villains circulate at all suggests such cases are rare enough.”
“That was an insightful answer, and for some time now. I think the same. Yet if a person is earnest, perhaps an attempt is worth making.”
Reading between the lines, it seemed that frail man was the target of reformation. From his build and the way he moved, he was no violent ruffian.
“Is his character the problem?”
“Gambling.”
Ju-hong’s brow furrowed.
“That will be difficult, I’d think. Though I suppose he won’t be able to gamble here.”
In a seaside village of merely three households, there would be no opportunity for gambling. Gambling required others to play with, after all.
“Even if he can’t be reformed, it will be enough if he simply stays alive. Let’s go.”
The two of them vanished from the seaside.
The man before the fishing vessel carried fish basket after fish basket without rest. Even as the reek of fish hung thick in the air, he did not so much as wrinkle his nose—and it was just as he lifted the final basket that a sturdy old man approached, rope coiled across his shoulders.
A robust old man carrying rope approached.
“Now then, Man-chun, you still haven’t finished loading?”
“This is the last one.”
The old man clucked his tongue in disapproval and scolded him.
“You’re so slow. How will you ever pay back your debts working like that? Do you know what your medicine cost? The medicine alone was hardly worth a day’s rice.”
“The work isn’t yet familiar to my hands. I’ll grow accustomed to it soon.”
“Go on and take your meal break.”
“Yes. I’ll be going.”
Man-chun, who answered with good cheer, moved to follow him, and the seaside was left to the sound of waves splashing.
“The poor fellow. He has nowhere else to go.”
“To work the field until your bones crack, then cast him out with nothing but the clothes on his back—that’s robbery plain and simple.”
“If he wears himself out trying to hold on like this, what then? I heard the Undefeated General has drawn near.”
“Dear heavens, is this a nation?”
Sam-cheon ate her broth quietly while listening to the people’s grievances. A-rang and San-cho, seated across from her, did the same.
A broth house on the road from Sabigung to Jeong-hyeon-seong.
The broth tasted exactly as she remembered it, yet it did not sit easy in her stomach.
Everyone around them was talking about the Gyeon-hun-gun.
‘It was good we left separately.’
The elite hundred of the Gyeon-hun-gun, led by Gye-san, departed from Sabigung amid the cheers of the masses. The accolades continued in every village they passed through.
Yet as they drew within a day and a half of their destination, the character of things began to shift.
At some point, the cheers of the people ceased, and those who eyed the military column with wariness or fear began to appear. Sam-cheon was not the only one to sense something amiss; the atmosphere of the march grew progressively heavier.
That evening, Sam-cheon left the column on Gye-san’s orders—ostensibly to scout the mood. Instead, she overheard a rumor that did not bode well.
Had it been ruffians illegally occupying the territory, as stated in the deployment orders, the troops would have been welcomed.
‘It’s not ruffians.’
She had known the mission would not be simple, but she had never imagined it would take this shape.
Sam-cheon set down her spoon, confirmed that the other two had finished their broth, and paid the bill. When she turned, A-rang and San-cho were already on their feet.
“How do you happen to know such a delicious place?” A-rang asked with good humor.
Sam-cheon smiled.
“I remembered coming here as a child. I ate well then too.”
“Thank you for the meal,” San-cho added politely.
They left the broth house. Only after the surrounding people had thinned did A-rang’s smile fade from her face.
“Something is definitely wrong.”
“Even if it takes time, it would be better to investigate further.”
There would be a guide waiting when they reached Byeolgung, she had been told. Before meeting with someone clearly close to the king, they needed to understand the situation—or risk being swept along without knowledge.
As Sam-cheon considered where to gather information, both San-cho and A-rang’s heads turned simultaneously.
Confused, Sam-cheon turned to look as well. A group of men was entering a tavern, apparently to drink. They seemed unremarkable, but as Sam-cheon tilted her head in question, she noticed something.
“Those men—their gait is different. They’re making noise intentionally now, but they moved without a sound as they approached us.”
Six men, nothing distinctive. Appropriately boisterous, seemingly friendly enough. Their manner of settling on the platform, ordering, and making small talk seemed entirely natural.
Without A-rang’s observation, Sam-cheon would have passed them without a second thought.
“They haven’t followed us, have they?”
“It doesn’t appear so. They haven’t so much as glanced in our direction.”
Sam-cheon studied them carefully. In case she met them again, she wanted to remember their faces—but just then, one of the men seated in the back turned his head.
The moment his face came into view, Sam-cheon’s lips parted slightly.
“That man.”
Sam-cheon recognized two of the six. It was something now past, but she had seen them in her dreams.
These were men who had hidden in her family home.
Whether they were also connected to Bonghwa-gol, she could not say. What was certain was that they were enemies.
“Wait here.”
Sam-cheon left San-cho and A-rang and stepped into the shade of a distant tree. There, she lowered her voice as much as possible and spoke in a whisper.
“I-re, I have a favor to ask.”
[What is it?]
“I need to keep track of those people’s location. Could you place a curse on the smooth-faced man sitting at the far right?”
[The one who looks like a pebble?]
“Yes.”
[Got it. But why?]
“I’ve seen him in dreams. He was waiting at my family home to kidnap me. I don’t have time now, but I want to track him down later.”
[Those crazy bastards? I’ll slap a curse on him real good.]
“Thank you.”
Sam-cheon offered her thanks and returned to the two figures who were staring blankly.
“We need to learn more about Bonghwa-gol. Not rumors—actual information.”
But doing so meant she would not arrive on time at the designated meeting point with Gye-san.
“San-cho, return ahead and report the situation to the general. Tell her we’ll regroup at the third checkpoint.”
“Understood.”
San-cho gave a light bow and departed at a swift pace. It had been wise to establish several backup meeting points in case of emergency.
Sam-cheon examined the men seated on the tavern platform one more time, then turned away.
It was as she and A-rang were passing Changgui’s Tomb at the entrance of the village that a rough voice cut between them.
“Follow me.”
An old, weathered hunter with a pelt draped across his shoulders was staring intently at Sam-cheon. From his appearance, she found herself recalling someone she had encountered long ago.
“Ah, that time back then…….”
Instead of answering, he turned and walked away. A-rang, watching between the hunter and Sam-cheon, whispered a question.
“Do you know him?”

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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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