“What in the world are they calling you for?”
After seeing the summons, that bastard Ju-hwan asked with wary eyes.
Chun-hyang was the same.
I already knew Chun-hyang could read, but the surprising one was Ju-hwan. As expected of trash too useful to throw away, the bastard knew how to read. He had said he had learned here and there in passing, but seeing him recognize a summons, it did not seem he had learned only one or two characters.
“It is exactly what it says. They say they want to invite me to a feast.”
At those words, the two of them twisted their faces subtly.
The contents of the letter were brief. It said that, in order to welcome the newly appointed Magistrate of Namwon Protectorate, they wished to hold a feast and would see me in Wansan five days later.
He was the one who had brought up the Imjin year and even the Byeongja year, saying that because Dire Gates kept everyone busy trying to survive, we should skip hollow formalities like the welcome observation ceremony. And now, all of a sudden, he would hold a welcome banquet?
His intent was so transparent I could see straight through it. But refusing the feast prepared by one’s superior would not be proper conduct for a subordinate, would it?
“It should be entertaining, no? Heh-heh.”
While I was at it, I should also take a look at what the household of Wansan, so famous for being rich, was like.
I hoped there would be something useful.
My heart swelled with all sorts of thoughts, and as I rubbed my hands together and grinned crookedly, the two bastards’ faces stiffened subtly.
Ah, why? What?
The Works Office had burned down, leaving me with a bitter stomach, so how could I refuse when he was giving me a chance to make up for it?
A laugh slipped out again.
***
Jeolla Provincial Office, the center of politics and culture in the Jeolla region, where the Jeolla Provincial Governor, who oversaw the administration of Joseon’s greatest granary region, resided.
At Gwanpunggak, where the banquet was being held, the magistrates of each town who had already arrived were seated in their respective places, tilting their wine cups.
I sat in the place prepared for me directly below the old man called the Jeolla Provincial Governor, commonly known as the Provincial Governor, and quietly tilted my wine cup.
The people who had come running at the Provincial Governor’s call numbered forty-nine magistrates from large and small towns belonging to Jeolla Province, which he administered. Excluding a few vacant posts and the Magistrate of Gwangju, who was absent due to illness, every person under the Provincial Governor’s command had gathered.
It was unusual for the magistrates of each town to gather in one place on the same day and at the same hour like this when there was no major matter at the national level.
In any case, below Gwanpunggak, the local clerks and tongin servants brought by the magistrates each occupied a place, and on the other side, people dressed like Special Military Officers had gathered together and were receiving banquet tables.
Then I heard the magistrates nearby conversing.
“Oh my. So you simply let her go?”
The one who set down his wine cup with a sigh was the man who had introduced himself a little while ago as the Magistrate of Sunchang County. The one nodding and answering him was, where was it again, the county magistrate of some place.
“Instead, I confiscated all the farmland and slaves, and within a few days, she came looking for me on her own. She said she would do as I told her, so please just let the children live.”
He was talking about how he had obtained the concubine he had recently taken in.
No, “obtained” was not quite the right word.
The concubine he had taken in was a young widow who had recently lost her husband. Her husband, he said, had been a Revenue Clerk under that county magistrate. After the husband was caught overlooking farmers who had failed to pay their taxes on time, he had been beaten with cudgel strokes and died from the resulting infection. After that, under the pretext of making up the lacking tax revenue, the county magistrate confiscated the dead Revenue Clerk’s property.
The woman, who had lost her husband overnight and been thrown into the streets with her two children without a single coin, was then offered by the county magistrate the chance to remarry as his concubine. She held out for several days, but eventually came to him on her own feet and begged to be allowed to enter as his concubine. That was the story.
“Haha, that is quite a marvelous trick.”
The Magistrate of Sunchang County laughed with eyes shining as if sincerely impressed. The other man nodded at him, then glanced this way and said,
“I learned a thing or two from our Lord Magistrate here. When he served as Deputy Magistrate of Pyeongyang, the rumor spread all the way down to this southern region that he took another man’s wife, famous there as Pyeongyang’s greatest beauty, in just that way.”
Ugh, I wondered when those words would come out.
With a sigh, I lifted the wine cup placed before me.
The rumor that the Deputy Magistrate of Pyeongyang had once taken another man’s woman as his concubine was known to almost everyone with even a little ink on their hands throughout all Eight Provinces. In fact, he had not even taken her as a concubine in the end, only toyed with her, then left for his next post as she was...... so he could be called a bastard even more vicious than the rumor.
“I nearly had my head cut off because of that.”
Because of the trash bastards looking this way with expectant eyes, I swallowed the revulsion surging up inside me along with the wine and spat the words out dryly.
It was true that he had nearly had his head cut off. The woman Byeon Hak-do had forced himself on had eventually been unable to endure the humiliation and taken her own life.
......No matter how much of a ruined man one was under heaven, there were lines that had to be kept.
At the sigh that rose up in me, I tilted my wine cup once more.
If Clerk Jeong had not run around until sweat poured from the soles of his feet, and if the main family had not spent a considerable sum to smooth it over...... there was no way he could still be sitting here today, holding his neck stiff and playing the role of local magistrate. There was even a saying in Pyeongyang to this day that whenever the Deputy Magistrate’s palanquin appeared, young ladies from respectable households all went into their rooms and locked the doors.
Every time I was reminded anew like this that I myself was that ruined man among ruined men, the kind of bastard who could be beaten to death and still not make up for it, my mood inevitably sank. It felt as if I were walking among people wearing clothes stained so deeply that no matter how much they were washed, the stains would not come out.
In any case.
Because of that trash, whether a county magistrate or county prefect whose name I could not remember, the surrounding gazes that had already been glancing this way now focused openly on me.
‘No, but why is he still not coming after calling people here?’
I scowled hard and tilted the wine bottle once again. When I poured for myself, openly showing my displeasure, the gisaeng sitting beside me grew restless and shifted anxiously.
“H-haha. I had no idea about that. Thank you for the warning, my lord.”
Ignoring the man who spat out anything he could in an attempt to smooth over the awkward atmosphere, I tilted my wine cup again and drained it in one swallow. Then the entrance grew noisy.
“The Provincial Governor arrives.”
A tongin servant shouted loudly.
At that sound, the magistrates seated around me and the gisaeng they had beside them all rose from their seats at once.
Good grief. Did he think he was a king or something?
Ignoring the movements around me, I poured more wine from the bottle, and the gisaeng sitting beside me, unable to stand with the others yet unable to remain seated like me, grew teary-eyed and hovered in an awkward half-standing posture. I glanced at her, then slowly tilted my wine cup again.
‘You have had a hard day after meeting the wrong partner.’
Today, I came here to overturn the board.
Despite the tongin servant’s shout, seeing me remain seated and tilt my wine cup as if I had not heard, the air around us gradually turned strange.
“Ahem!”
“Hm, hmm.”
“Hm-hm, hm.”
Those who could not bring themselves to point out my attitude, yet also lacked the courage to face the Provincial Governor’s entrance like this, let out meaningless coughs, large and small.
“How strange. Did all of you suddenly catch a cold together? If you are not feeling well, perhaps it would be better not to overdo it and go home. Surely the Provincial Governor is not someone without that much generosity.”
When I deliberately muttered crookedly, several men who seemed to have weak nerves went deathly pale. Then—
“Oh, we finally meet.”
A refreshing voice rang out.
I raised my head and looked toward the source of the voice, and a middle-aged man with a finely trimmed beard was walking in.
‘That is the Provincial Governor.’
I looked anew over Im Yang-hong, the Jeolla Provincial Governor, as he slowly walked toward me through the people.
Originally, it was customary to stop by and greet the Provincial Governor before going to one’s post. But considering the long personnel vacancy in Namwon Protectorate, we had mutually agreed to skip that procedure. Because of that, despite him being my direct superior, today was my first meeting with Im Yang-hong.
‘Greeting him or whatever. In truth, he only wanted to meet Namwon’s famous gisaeng as quickly as possible.’
I muttered inwardly as I recalled the hopeless Byeon Hak-do’s thoughts at the time.
The Jeolla Provincial Governor, commonly called the Provincial Governor, was a Senior Second Rank regional governor who oversaw the province’s administrative, judicial, and military affairs, and concurrently held the posts of Army Commander, Naval Commander, and Magistrate of Jeonju. In other words, he was the core of regional power.
Moreover, since the position of Provincial Governor existed in only eight offices across all Eight Provinces, and since central authority had weakened after the Dire Gates erupted, these Provincial Governors had been gradually grasping more and more real power. The reason the central government had been so enthusiastic over the last few years about training and dispatching secret royal inspectors was to guard against Provincial Governors forming power blocs in collusion with local officials and local magnates.
When the country functioned properly, it was customary for Provincial Governors to be replaced every year or two. But this gentleman named Im Yang-hong had taken advantage of the unsettled political situation after the upheavals and continued eating from the same position for over four years straight. A truly remarkable person. The reason he had not received even one impeachment memorial until now while openly colluding with the Wansang Merchants and eating well for years was that he was one of the Noron faction, which had held central politics in its grip for years.
In any case, such an impressive gentleman had willingly acted as the Wansang Merchants’ frontman and set the board for me. As a subordinate, should I not play along faithfully?
I tilted my wine cup and answered in an indifferent tone.
“I waited and waited, but you did not come, so I began first.”
Perhaps my attitude of openly cutting at him from the start was unexpected, because the Provincial Governor paused for a moment. Then he laughed heartily, sat down, and said,
“Hahaha. I had been looking forward to meeting the newly appointed man, having heard rumors that he was a skilled figure famous in the northern region. Indeed. Your spirit is quite extraordinary.”
“I happened to be speaking about that with the magistrates here a moment ago. It seems many of them are striving to civilize commoners by using the methods I employed in the north.”
“So, did you give them any words worth taking as reference?”
At the Provincial Governor’s question, I set down my empty wine cup with a tap and answered shortly.
“I was just warning them that if they continue as they are, their heads will be cut off before long.”
“Ahem, hm.”
The people listening to our conversation gave uncomfortable coughs.
“Well then, since everyone seems to have gathered, shall we begin?”
The Provincial Governor, who had been staring at me for a moment, looked around at everyone gathered and opened his mouth.
“The reason I have called all of you together today is to celebrate Sangwol here newly taking office as Magistrate of Namwon Protectorate, a post that has been vacant until now—”
Who is Sangwol?
......Ah, me.
I had had so few occasions to use my pen name that I had forgotten it.
Sangwol.
Meaning Frost Moon, this pen name was one Byeon Hak-do had given himself.
It was not that he had any particular attachment to it, but unlike most literary men who made at least two or three pen names, and in many cases dozens, and used them in rotation, Byeon Hak-do had consistently used only this one. There was no special reason; he simply had little interest in the refined pastime of making and playing with pen names.
‘It might be more accurate to say he had no mental space for that because he was chasing women’s backsides.’
In any case, when the Provincial Governor finished his lengthy congratulatory speech and looked this way as if asking whether I had anything to say, I reluctantly lifted my wine cup and opened my mouth.
“They say the Jeolla Provincial Governor feeds all Eight Provinces of Joseon. Seeing it today with my own two eyes, I know it is no empty boast. Every table is a feast of delicacies, and even the wine tastes like honey. If this is not heaven, then what could be?”
At my words, the Provincial Governor’s stiff face loosened slightly as he said,
“Haha. Sangwol, now that I see you, you have a talent for lifting people up.”
Lifting people up, my ass.
One has to listen to our country’s language until the end.
Pretending not to hear the Provincial Governor’s words, I continued.
“I simply found it strange. On the way here to Gwanpunggak, all I saw were dried-up fields and corpses dead of starvation. So I wondered, who grew this rice, and who cooked this food?”
“......”
The atmosphere, which seemed as if it might loosen a little, froze cold again in an instant.
Ignoring that, I continued.
“Unlike the desolate world outside, this place is so abundant and comfortable that I almost thought paradise on earth must be like this. Therefore, would it not be more fitting to call this place not Gwanpunggak, the Pavilion for Viewing Maples, but Jaechondang, the Hall in Heaven?”
At my words, everyone present was completely swallowed by silence. Some of the magistrates seated nearby did not even seem to think of closing their open mouths.
Well, it was understandable.
They were watching in real time from the front row as I crashed head-on into the Provincial Governor, who was a power no different from a king in this region. What did an open mouth matter?
“Are you truly Sangwol? You are quite different from what I heard.”
At the Provincial Governor’s question as he looked directly at me with unreadable eyes, I shrugged as if it were nothing and asked back,
“Is that so?”
“Or does one’s personality change after Awakening an ability?”
At those words, the surroundings stirred.
“Ability??!!!”
“Did you not hear? They say that gentleman, the Magistrate of Namwon Protectorate, closed a Dire Gate by himself.”
“I heard he beat a Special Military Officer until he was half-crippled and drove him out.”
“From what I heard, all of that was him taking out his anger after being rejected by a gisaeng.”
“Huh. But the gisaeng was the one who slapped his cheek, so why did he catch an unrelated Special Military Officer?”
“How would I know? In any case, they say he did that, then even picked a fight with the Wansang Merchants.”
“No, I did think his actions were no ordinary thing, but he was a man who lives only for today.”
No, but how did I end up as a narrow-minded idiot under heaven who got rejected by a gisaeng and took it out on a Special Military Officer?
As my attention was distracted by the voices of the people whispering as they pleased, the Provincial Governor opened his mouth again.
“I have heard stories of literary men Awakening abilities among my acquaintances, but I have never seen one directly like this. Seeing it in person is indeed fascinating.”
“Is that so? To my eyes, he does not appear particularly different.”
A middle-aged man with a goat beard and sparrow eyes cut in from behind. It was Administrative Director Yang, called the Provincial Governor’s right hand. That day, we had reproduced him roughly from a physical description, but seeing him in reality, his appearance looked a hundred times more like a treacherous official.
......Thank goodness it had already been dark, and I had filled the place only with our people and moved things along quickly. If there had been anyone with sharp eyes, he would have seen through it.
‘Well, it would be difficult for Dam to perfectly recreate this impudent trash atmosphere.’
I slowly looked over Administrative Director Yang’s ugly face, filled with puffed-up self-importance, and muttered inwardly.
In any case, power really is nice.
The attendants of the other magistrates, including Clerk Jeong, had all been unable to climb the pavilion and were seated separately below.
By contrast, behind the Provincial Governor sat not only the Administrative Director, but even his personal attendants and tongin servants on both sides.
Was this supposed to mean, If you are displeased, rise in the world?
In the meantime, I heard Administrative Director Yang open the conversation.
“Do you see something different about him?”
“He is different. Of course he is different.”
As if he had been waiting, the Provincial Governor stroked his beard and turned toward me. Then, in a clear tone meant for everyone to hear, he continued.
“Seeing him directly like this, does he not seem as if he has three or four lifelines?”
“!!!!!”
At the Provincial Governor’s words, the air around us froze cold beyond recovery.
I glanced over the faces watching me without even breathing properly, then tipped the wine in my cup into my mouth.
‘Kuh. As expected, wine from the Provincial Governor’s storehouse tastes special.’
A laugh slipped out on its own.