Episode 255
The older sister, who was not good at expressing herself, and the younger brother, who was not good at expressing himself, had their first real conversation.
It was a shout mixed with swearing.
Although the only swear words they could utter were ‘idiot’ and ‘idiot’, they expressed their feelings for a long time.
‘There was an arranged marriage involved.’
The Admiral’s decision was as follows.
While the older sister becomes one of the six ministers and pursues a career in government, the younger brother marries a foreigner for the sake of the family.
Going to a faraway country to marry someone whose face you don’t know and whose personality you don’t know.
After an arranged marriage like that, you have to become a bridge for your family and constantly live for the empire.
“Your father came like that too!”
“okay. My mother cared deeply for my father, who was an immigrant. But do you too? So-ah, will you care for me that much too?”
There are cases where people get along harmoniously even after an arranged marriage, but there is no one who does not know that in most cases, this is not the case.
“Father still communicated well, So-ah. The conversation made sense. But this time, the culture is different and the writing is different. “How are you going to go to Mallita where you don’t know anyone?”
“is it so. It must be difficult. But that is no reason for her to die.”
“There was only one seat and if someone had to go… I should have gone. “Soa.”
“My grandfather did not allow it. “Everyone knew how outstanding my sister was from a young age!”
Han Yi-jeong answered calmly.
“So I will die. If I use illness as an excuse to die as naturally as possible, then…” “
…Then how will I live?”
At that moment, Han Yi-jeong and Jin Cheon-hee’s eyes met.
She glanced out the door at Jin Cheonhee with a confused expression.
Jin Cheon-hee went out to the quiet wedding reception.
Suddenly
the door closed.
Crying and shouting rang out repeatedly inside.
‘Master said you are young. ‘It’s a choice you can make because you’re young.’
The older sister wants to prevent the marriage even at the cost of her life, and the younger brother wants to save her.
Is the taste of power really this bitter?
It’s like the tea we drank at today’s meeting.
‘This is something that Uigakju had to consider.’
Humans are creatures of emotion, and no matter how well we draw lines to separate them, there are some things that are impossible.
It would be a good idea to wait until the two sisters come to a conclusion.
But… then a scream rang out.
“sister! Sistereeeee!”
At the sound of calling for a doctor, Jin Cheon-hee hurriedly opened the door and ran to find her older sister, Han I-jeong, suddenly fainting from extreme dizziness.
‘okay. Illness doesn’t wait for you.’
Even at this very moment, the time bomb in my brain continues to tick.
It’s as if he doesn’t know about human circumstances.
Indifferently.
* * *
Normally, Jin Cheon-hee would just wait for the results since she would have even talked to the guardian who came with the patient.
However, if the reason for not undergoing surgery is not simply because of concerns about aftereffects or surgical risks, but because of the purpose of suicide due to the arranged marriage of the younger brother…
‘Oh, I don’t like it.’
It can’t be helped that my foolishness as a member of the National Assembly continues to spread.
“Hmm. Immigrants. “It is certain that people psychologically have feelings of rejection towards other ethnic groups.”
There is no need to go as far as racial discrimination.
In this day and age, there is discrimination just because you have a different last name in one village.
“Where is the place where arranged marriages take place?”
“I understand that the place where marriage talks have been taking place recently is a small country beyond Namman. “The second prince is famous for being very debauched and violent.”
“Could it be that second prince…?”
“That’s right.”
It’s ruined.
So, it was natural for my sister to want to stop it, even if it meant committing suicide.
After hearing the story roughly, it is said that among the three princes, the third is the only one who is sane.
“…But is the country running well?”
“Well, I’m not a madman who beats people’s necks every day. Even if it is a small country, it can somehow be maintained as long as its geography and resources are sufficient for its population. Of course, the current emperor’s policy is to strengthen the empire rather than expand it.”
“Still, the Admiral, since he loves his granddaughter, wouldn’t he want to have an arranged marriage with the third?”
There is a second best option called the Third Prince, but even so, you probably don’t want to send your granddaughter to a guy who beats people up.
“I don’t know that part.”
Master quickly wrote something down in his letter.
When important information is conveyed using ciphertext consisting of dots and lines rather than Chinese characters, it is divided like this.
Because he interacts with many groups, he uses multiple ciphertexts instead of just one ciphertext, so even Jin Cheonhee does not know how to solve all the ciphers.
This is because the information that Master shares with Jin Cheonhee is still only partial.
“what. Do you know? “Perhaps the Admiral’s position is fully aware of this situation and he may be planning his own strategy behind the scenes.”
“It’s difficult.”
I would like to at least have a secret meeting with the third person in advance, but Jin Cheon-hee is a lawmaker and not an old man.
“Well… your expression is so unpleasant, let me say this as a teacher. “If you think good thoughts and eat good things, things like this will take care of themselves.”
Is there any chance that this will work out well?
When the disciple’s expression did not calm down, the teacher chuckled.
After writing the password and sending the telegram, I got up.
“I think I could talk about it.”
“Master?”
“Hahaha yeah. So don’t worry too much.”
Do you have a solution to this situation?
* * *
Master walked leisurely to Han Yi-jeong’s hospital room.
When asked if she could come in, Han Yi-jeong hesitated for a while before opening her mouth.
“Please come in.” When
I
went inside, my younger sister Han So-jeong’s eyes were swollen.
Perhaps embarrassed by his messed up face, he turned around, roughly wiped his face with his sleeve, and ran outside.
‘It looks like they were fighting the whole time.’
No matter how much I wiped my eyes with my sleeve, the tears wouldn’t stop, so I ran out to calm them down.
Rather, her sister’s expression became calm, indicating that she had completely accepted death.
Before Master could speak, my older sister Han Yi-jeong spoke first.
“There is nothing to show your respect for. it’s okay. “I’m just sorry that you won’t be receiving treatment.”
“Are you willing to accept death?”
“Yes… I would like to. “If my grandfather finds out, he will force me to destroy it, so I will have to be prepared to commit suicide at that time.”
She may be an adult in this era, but in Jin Cheon-hee’s opinion, she is still in her late teens.
It wasn’t something a child in his late teens would tell. But his expression was extremely stern.
Baek Lin-ui-seon laughed bitterly.
“I’m speaking as a senior who accepted death a few years ago, but life as a terminally ill person wasn’t that fun.”
“it’s okay.”
“Even if I ate rice, I couldn’t taste it. “The end is in sight anyway.”
“That’s okay too.”
“No matter what book I read, I become a little blind.”
“I have never liked reading books. It was simply out of a sense of duty as the eldest daughter. it’s okay.”
“They say that the pear blossoms are so beautiful in the patronage of the Admiral Tae-gam. It is said that every May, it blooms white and the scenery is spectacular. “I also heard a rumor that my two granddaughters particularly enjoy walking that path.”
“…It’s okay since we won’t be able to walk together anymore anyway.”
“….”
Master said no more.
He just smiled faintly.
It was a teacher who once lived a terminally ill life.
It was a smile given to a child who was trying to walk the same terminally ill child.
“Waiting for the end is really boring.”
“That’s strange. “You know it’s going to end anyway, but you’re bored?”
“yes. A life conscious of the end is always boring. One minute will be like 10 days. “If you live like that, you will soon be older than your age.”
“…I am okay.”
“You’re already old enough to talk.”
Han Yi-jeong closes her eyes at Zhuge Lin’s words.
A drop of thought flows out from under the closed eyelids.
It’s like an obsession in life that we naturally have as humans.
Finally, Master spoke.
“What would you do if we could walk down that pear blossom road together again?”
“yes…?”
“If I could walk that pear blossom road with my younger brother again. However, the path is not an easy one.”
Han Yi-jeong couldn’t figure out what that meant, so she just rolled her black eyes.
Master spoke to the young man who was not yet terminally ill.
“Can you swallow poison? Can you get blood on your hands?”
After saying that, he handed her a note folded four times.
There was a stamp on the corner of the note, but it was not visible from Jin Cheon-hee’s seat.
“You must be my grandfather.”
“Good things always fade away easily. What remains at the end are always poisonous species. In that sense, my grandfather was once a good man, but now he has become a vassal of the imperial palace.”
What does that mean?
She clutched the letter tightly with trembling hands.
Zegalin said.
“If you open it, you will walk the same path as your grandfather. But you will survive. “Poisonous things always survive for a long time.”
Master’s eyes softened.
“You can decide. Either die good or live bad. It’s not a big decision. “If you survive, this is something you will worry about more often than what you will eat in the future.”
She worries and worries again.
“….” The letter
,
crumpled in my hand, screams.
It was also the moan of innocence that remained in young Han Yi-jeong.
“Youth is a good thing. Purity is also a good thing.”
The sound of Master’s laughter was like the breathing of a cold-blooded animal.
“….”
In the end, Han Yi-jeong was unable to say ‘It’s okay’ just this once.
She eventually opened the letter.
What filled the small piece of white paper was an array of dots and lines.
It was a password that Jin Cheon-hee did not know.
Eventually… Han Yi-jeong’s expression, who had been reading it for a while, became as crumpled as the letter.
She curled up and moaned.
“Ugh… Ugh…”
Anger and devastation, but at the same time determination and resolve.
“…Grandpa… what the hell… ugh…!”
Her moans tasted like a lump of mud mixed with joy and sorrow.
Finally, after taking a deep breath, Han Yi-jeong answered in a voice that was bloodless.
“…Please destroy it… Please destroy it as quickly as possible.”
Master responded to those words with a faint sneer.
“I told you. Life with a terminally ill child is not fun. A happy life awaits you now.”
“Baeklinuiseon… what are you….”
Instead of answering, the teacher bowed deeply to her.
“I congratulate you on becoming Your Majesty’s next Concubine.”
There was no laughter in the voice like before, and rather it was even solemn.
“….”
Han Yi-jeong looks at Zhuge Lin wordlessly with pitch-black eyes.
Eventually, the last remaining innocence turned into a dead end and flowed down her cheeks.
“…The teachings of my grandfather and Baekrin Uiseon. “I will never forget it for the rest of my life.”
She stood up and handed Zhugelin a handshake.
Strangely enough, the venom that was said to be grateful was seeped into it.
It wasn’t hostile, but it wasn’t friendly either.
In black and white, the two showed respect to each other.
It was a very strange sight for Jin Cheon-hee.
