Chapter 35: Banhang (Rebellion)

"It is just because the senior maids have worked longer that she is able to look so decent and innocent! She never gets the chance to let anyone forget that she is the trusted aid of her previous Mistress who has allowed her to enjoy such private luxuries for all of these years. And now that she cannot do that anymore, she causes a scene just for attention every chance that she gets!" "What is there to be proud of? As long as all of the maids unit agains them, they won't be hard to take down, especially after that disastrous banquet. The Master Nam is now desperately looking for a reason to kick all of them out and be free of the trouble that they constantly cause day in and out now. And if we do this for the Young Mistress, you will all be protected for life here and enjoy well-deserved benefits of helping a household such as this one. Even when bandits join a group, they must first show loyalty and devotion to their Master." "Do you mean...." "Hopefully, they will all be kicked out before the week is over, and we can all start to live in peace like you have never experiences before. The young maser himself cannot and will not tolerate any corruption under this roof." "But no matter what I do, they just keep on stealing and converting everything they can get there hands on into silver. Then they cause of us of being busybodies since it isn't their money that they keep eating up." "Just come to me with any complaints you have, and I will personally pass them onto the Young Mistress directly."

No sooner than a few hours later early in the morning, all of the servants who were brought over from the neighbouring home were caught red-handed by their own evil deeds. And just as they all had been rounded up by the guards, they all started a very big fight in the kitchens for the last time on such a scale that half of the village woke up to the ruckus merely hours before daylight. And the concubine who was supposed to be in charge of them could not handle the matter at all. She was so set on leaving her past as a maid behind that she had mismanaged them entirely and had allowed the people to work for her to pawn expensive items from the home, to even steal from her and the gifts that Seon-Ho received from his job at work. And it was because of her fixation on becoming the next Chun-Ae that she had way more responsibilities than this woman did and she did not know how to handle anything at all. So I was the one who had to wake up at 3 am in the morning and I had to resolve the situation before Nam-Jeon woke up and unleashed his anger at all of us. "Unfortunately, we cannot keep anyone who was involved in this fiasco. But considering that you are all old servants of the marquis manor, it is also not convenient to expel all of you at once either. So you will all be transferred to other properties or sold off entirely, depending on your part of this fight that has completely destroyed this kitchen, no matter what your reasons were for this to happen." "But it wasn't our fault! We were only defending our Mistress..." "Are you then suggesting that your tensions with each other are my fault? Or that of the marquis, our neighbour? Or if one of you accidentally ends up killing each other, will you also claim that injustice on my behalf? You are all to stay and recover in your quarters until I decide what to do with each and every one of you in the morning. You are all dismissed."

"Young Mistress?" "Yes Dal?' The Young Master wishes to meet you in his quarters now." "Forgive me Dal, I am still half-asleep. Please tell him that I will come to see him in the morning just before breakfast." "But he..." "forgive me Dal, but I still have to sort out this mess before his father blames him for anything and everything. Please convey this message to him and tell him to go back to bed, he still has to go to the palace early in the morning." Despite my inclinations towards him, I was also getting a feeling that I shouldn't be too subservient to him, especially after how long he ignored me for. That will teach him a lesson not to ignore me again, especially in my circumstances.

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"Where is she? Are you sure that you have called for her?" "Young Master, she is currently busy with cleaning up the maid's mess before your father has a chance to vent at you again. She says she will visit you in the morning before breakfast." I knew that Yeon was a particularly petty person in her young age, but I had to admit that I was really not handling it well without her brother to laugh it off with. It was one reason for me to ignore her since I had my reasons, but as for her? What was her excuse? Didn't she always run to me when I called her? Wasn't she the one who always made any excuse she could come up with to hang around my quarters and spy on me for her amusement? I knew she was only doing to it to try to regain her memories but still, she shouldn't just turn me down like this. I even had a secret breakfast plate made up for her in my room so I could take this opportunity...to just check up on her. That was all. I could see her hanging from the tree today and I really could not help myself but to giggle like a naughty child every single time that I caught a glimpse of her skirt just blowing in the wind. The strange sight actually managed to give me some peace of mind after such a long time. Her persistent behaviour was now similar to a balm that was made just for me...I was starting to not feel so alone anymore, and I know it was because of her. But I still couldn't talk to her about anything, especially in her condition. But that was also why I was starting to appreciate the time that we had together.

Inexplicably, I got angry to the point where I threw away the plate that I had decorated myself for the very first time and I tried to go back to sleep. But I knew that Yeon would be away for a long time and despite me having to go to work so early, I knew Hwi would kill me if he knew how headstrong his sister had become to the point of forgoing sleep. So when I had confirmation that my father was still asleep, I didn't hesitate to find her and take a look for myself at how she could handle such a task at his young age.

"Nanny? How are your injuries? Do they hurt?" "With my old skin and face, I am barely alive. I am just regretful to the Young Mistress by my embarrassing actions." The Young Mistress? They very same Young Mistress that they always bad-mouthed? Who they stole from and tried to tarnish her reputation everywhere that they went? "Do not worry, the young mistress will amply punish everyone who was in the wrong for this situation. She will most likely sell them off into the marketplace on her next day off. As for the rest of the maids, they will be transferred elsewhere to do manual labour." "Those evil whores, they really crossed the line this time. The Young Mistress is right to handle them that way. But with so many maids being expelled, this manor will surely lack help. Tomorrow, I will do my best to recruit some more people..." "Young Mistress knows that you are frail and hurt, she doesn't want you to worry about household maters anymore." "I..." "You shall be transferred to an infirmary for your severe wounds, you just need to be at ease and recuperate well. There is no need for you to worry about anything anymore. The Young Master also agrees with her and has his own servants waiting to escort you outside." "No! I mean...I am well enough to work..." "you do not need to be so courteous, whether you leave now or later, you will all still be leaving."

Hearing the maids pleading to Yeon in the desperate manner that nobody will ever do to me gave me a great deal of satisfaction, so much so that I almost collapsed to me knees by the door where I was hiding and really think about what I was doing. Dealing with the servants was only a small part of my plan, but it was already working out so well, and now it was up to me to come up with the rest and rectify my mistake as quickly as I could so I could live up to my mother's promise and make the world a better place not only for illegitimate children like myself, but people like the Seo's who had no way out as well. I would show Hwi that everything I had done wasn't in vain, including the pain I was causing him each and every day that he was parted from his dear sister. This was working, my plans were going to work out...as long as I had Yeon by my side. This wasn't the only plan that I had tried but I kept failing all the time. maybe...maybe I wasn't meant to carry out this heavy burden alone. Maybe, despite everyone's harsh comments against me, I could have...my own person. Someone who thought like me, who shared the same views as I did and had a smilier drive like me to deal with corruption and injustices...but it couldn't be Yeon, not in the situation that we were in. No, my only hope was to look for Hui-Jee once again and try to make it work with her once again.

"Young Master? What are you doing here? Didn't you get my message..." "I made breakfast for you, but you didn't come to me, so I just threw it all away." Why? Why on earth did I say that? Hadn't I trained myself all of my life to be careful of the words that came out of my mouth? I was never even this talkative in front of her brother, and yet here I was just saying anything that came to my mind just like she did. But how? How was she so...unreserved? How was she so comfortable just being herself and not following the standard etiquette that all women should by Confucius laws?

I expected Yeon to be full of remorse for her actions and ignoring me, but what I did not expect was for her to look at me with a strange look on her face before she stared bursting out laughing. Just who the hell did this girl think she was? Why was she treating me like a child? Was she really going to do this to me after I had only ignored her for a few days? It wasn't like I had a choice myself! If I could, I would let her keep me company all day long until the day came when I had to return her...

"Stop, do not just walk off like this..." "Go away." "Seon-Ho?" "Get lost!" "My my, what a temper you have on you. Anyone would think that you were..." "were what? Go on?" "That you were upset that someone as amazing as me cannot keep you company all day long." I couldn't deny that remark was funny, especially when another little giggle escaped from my lips and was probably loud enough to be heard by everyone, especially her. I tried my best to become stern with her like I should have from the moment that she lost her memory, but she started batting her eyes at me in such an innocent manner that I could not do anything at all. It was a deadly trick that she always used on her brother to make his heart melt and become unable to refuse any request that she had. But it was her first time using it on me, and I could do nothing except to just stand there like a log of wood and hear my heartbeat increasing by the minute. And there wasn't a single thing that I could do about it at all. In fact, I wasn't sure if I wanted to anymore.