"My Lady; I have seen The Village Head's wife in and out of the embroidery house, leaving her husband alone and unattended to…." "That is not quite true, I have seen her tend to her husband more since her sister=in=law has come by and is taking care of her eldest son. I myself have even heard them at night a lot more when I need to fetch water for you." "Even if that girl had proven herself to be highly fertile, she still isn't good enough for him." "Butt My Lady, what about the rumours that she comes from a wealthy family…?" "That is exactly why she doesn't suit him and this village at all; what does a woman of noble birth know about the sufferings that come with poverty? Her poor husband breaks his back to give her the jewels and little wealth that she has now; she knows her capabilities well but she doesn't know that a wise woman must always submit to the circumstances that she is facing. My family were the ones who were managing this village before she came along and stole my position as Seo Hwi's potential wife; my family were going to arrange for a matchmaker for us right about the time that he started courting his sister's friend." "I remember how much he changed back then; he was miserable in his sister's absence then he was happy to find someone who tended to him just like she used to. I have heard that her own husband is so enchanted by her, that he refuses to entertain the idea of taking in concubines, and the same goes with her brother." "She will become a problem for me later on, which gives me all the more reason to push whatever little authority that I have left into my favour." "What do you mean, My Lady?" "They are all up to something in the embroidery house, I need to take whatever it is The Madame Seo is up to, to regain my favour in her husband's eyes now that his wife is far too busy to tend to her man. Even her own husband's sister has taken over managing her household for her and her own husband is far too busy with the children to pay attention to anything else. So I shall just dive up the embroidery house accordingly, and I need one of you servants to watch out for me and watch over my family in case anyone tries to visit them in my absence! You both know that we can loose everything that I am working for if anyone figures out my secrets…"
"…My Lady, this isn't right at all! I have been serving The Madame Seo for years now, and I have never seen or met anyone who would dare to bring over items with this kind of haphazard quality for the main wife's court!" "Calm down servant and tell me what you mean exactly?" "This is the wrong portion of clothing that has come from the embroidery house, and it isn't the first time." "What do you mean? I have this embroidery house registered under my sister=in=law and HwaWol's name, so who dares to bite the hands that feed them? This is the main source of income for this village, so who would…" "this matter concerns ones position and status in the small village of ours." "You mean…this is done by the sister=in=law of the sickly woman that I was briefly warned about?" "I am afraid so My Lady, but The Village Chief's wife hardly pays any attention to her at all…" "Which has resulted in this bully of hers becoming more arrogant; I have never let anyone bully her and I never will, but my brother will be put into a tight spot if he hears of this due to this family's rule amongst the villagers long before we discovered them." "My Lady, there is nothing more vital than status here which is the order of ethics and moral principles followed…" "Even in a village like this where the people forgotten survivors of war and calamity?" "Well…." "Servant, please be honest with me." "I hear that her father was able to collect enough taxes from us to be able to afford her an education…" "Taxes? What taxes? My brother doesn't charge taxes? Who dares to act so impetuously when everyone here is suffering from poverty? Do I really have to deal with such delusions even in my father's village, where we all come here as equals? We were supposed to be the only village with no such labels of status and economical power…servant? Where are you going?"
"Servant! Stop right there and hand over My Lady's proper clothing portion this instant!" "Excuse me?" "I know who you serve so let me ask you why you were snooping on our conversation! And what quality of clothing did you bring over to us! You do not even work in the embroidery house, so wha are you doing here at all!" "I…I just…." "I know that you are sabotaging My Lady just because yours still hasn't gotten over The Village Chief, but she needs to move on! My Lady has provided him with 2 sons already and she is on her way to give him a third, so stop whatever plans you have to overthrow her, because her husband will chase her to the ends of the nation to reclaim what is his!"
"I didn't do anything at all! I didn't…! And your Lady will not be favoured forever!" "You little…" "Servants! Enough of this!" "My Lady! You must seek justice for me! Your servant just slapped me across the face with no warning at all! Look! Look at me face!" "I am not blind servant; I have seen and heard everything that just happened here now!" "But the offender is complaining first!" "I fear that you are the servant who is gathering a crowd around to make disturbances and creating troubles on your own! So you should be the one who is punished according to the general household rules since we do no have a criminal justice system put into place yet! You shall be flogged 10 times for now instead of 20 as I abhor violence and if your Ladyship wants to manage this village once again, that is a discussion that she needs to have with my brother separately. Where is she?"
"My Ladyship is currently busy tending to her ailing sister=in=law and is unable to receive visitors at the moment!" "Is that so? Then I can ask MoonBok or anyone of his family members to accompany me for the home visit." "Madame! Forgive me My Ladyship, but that will not be possible due to our personal physicians instructions that the patient cannot be disturbed…." "Unless it is her own sister=in=law who is currently disturbing her at the moment?" "Forgive me My Lady, but…." "I am also unaware of anyone physician being brought into this village apart from MoonBok, are you therefore telling me that this family has been hoarding this physician in a village where the people needed constant medical care and treatment? Servants! Lock up this vile wench in my husband's quarters and inform him of her crime before I discuss this with my brother! And where is this so called Lady?"
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"Well well well, look at all of this fine material that hey have been storing in this embroidery workhouse, and they have put it all on The Madame Seo's pile! I wonder how on earth they were able to afford all of this, and why they were hiding it from the rest of us? If only the rest of this village knew how corrupt these people were, then maybe my family would gain back it's rightful power and The Village Head can think about what sort of woman he married after all. But anyways, I should get the best of tailors to make me some clothes out of this material, I am hoping that His Lordship should like it at the dinner banquet tonight, just like the time that we first met." "My Lady, are you talking about the time that you played your pipa for him?" "Even I was surpassed that he called me out for playing the wrong note, even though I was doing it purposefully to catch his attention only. I even told him that I was delighted that the took notice, because it showed me that he was actually paying attention to me, even if music wasn't his hobby at all." "But then how did he…?" "Apparently his sister is quite learnt in the zither, so he knows at least a little bit of music etiquette. He always tries to learn whatever hobby interest her in the moment, so he is sort of educated I guess you can say." "But his wife is something else; apparently she makes her eldest study from the crack of dawn until the sun sets without giving him any breaks at all. She pushes him intolerably day and night and force all of those illnesses onto him, but not even that stop her from pushing him to study as much as she can! She even goes to the extent of transcribing sutras with her own blood at times like that to ensure his success and future fortune."
"If that really worked, then what use do we have of physicians, such mediocre religious nonsense is no longer accepted in the cities of the kingdom, so why is she using such punitive measures in this day and age?" "MoonBok has treated him over and over again, but it has come to the point where they can only preserve him now and hope that he reaches adulthood safely and soundly." "What a wolf in sheep's clothing she turned out to be after all." "My Lady? Are you alright?" "I asked him…I came up to him afterwards and I begged him to divorce his wife so that we could…or that I could be taken in as concubine, but he refused as soon as she showed up on his arms…and now the diety's are on my side again and I have this last chance to win him over once again…"
"…My Lady? What can I do for you exactly?" "My Lord, I hope that you do not mind me bringing you in some snacks, but you have always been rather busy with work…" "And what is your point, My Lady?" "Well I cannot help but to notice the absence of your wife and I just made you some…" "My Lady, are you waring my wife's garments right now?" "I can assure you that I had my own tailor make this for me!" "My Lady, you are educated, are you not? Can you then inform me of the five poisons?" "The five poisons? They include; desire, anger, greed, ignorance and pride as the five poisons." "These are the five poisons of the heart; if the heart has too many desires, then you will start to covet things that do not belong to you. We have order here in this village, so who are you to covet what doesn't belong to you?" "My Lord…" "How are you? Your callous and selfish nature is exactly why I sought out my own bride and why I have been lucky enough to have been blessed with a woman who puts myself above everyone else, unlike you." "My Lord…"