Chapter 4
4
“I don’t know my parents.”
As I shook my head, a shadow of sorrow crossed Madam Jin’s face.
“Blood is thicker than water. You look just like Ryeon. Your mother was the most beautiful woman in Seongdo.”
So, the secret to this beauty was my mother. I must have inherited good genes.
“I didn’t even know you were alive… If I had known you were so close, I would have taken care of you sooner…”
Lamenting, she began to examine my body, checking for signs of poisoning or injury.
“Your hands are so chapped. You shouldn’t be doing this kind of work. The Patriarch is so heartless.”
She even caressed my rough hands with pity. I stood there awkwardly, listening to her incomprehensible words.
Seeing her attitude change so drastically because she knew my mother, it seemed that connections, blood ties, and academic ties were also prevalent in the Martial Arts World.
Of course, this wasn’t a bad thing for me. Madam Jin was in charge of all the Maids. The better Madam Jin thought of me, the easier my life in the Tang Clan would be.
Thank you, Mother, whom I’ve never met.
I lowered my gaze, offering a silent thank you.
“Are you eating well? Your face looks gaunt.”
“Yes.”
“Is your sleeping arrangement uncomfortable? No, let’s go to your quarters. I need to see it with my own eyes.”
After asking me questions for a while, Madam Jin abruptly led the way. I don’t know the way.
I got lost a couple of times before finally finding the quarters I shared with Songji.
“How could they put my own flesh and blood in a place like this…”
Madam Jin looked shocked after seeing our quarters. She even seemed angry. Her strong reaction made me feel a little awkward.
The room I shared with Songji was bigger than my old studio apartment.
It wasn’t a bad size for two people, but it clearly didn’t meet Madam Jin’s standards.
“It’s probably difficult to move your quarters right away. Wait a little longer. I’ll have you moved within ten days.”
After saying those words with determination, Madam Jin hugged me once and left.
I watched Madam Jin’s retreating figure, pondering her meaningful words.
Who was ‘Cho-ryeon’? And if she was the most beautiful woman in Seongdo, my mother might have been a woman of high status.
As soon as Madam Jin was completely out of sight, Songji, who had been hiding some distance away, approached me.
“Hey. What did you do wrong that Madam Jin came to see you?”
“I don’t know.”
I replied insincerely. I resented Songji for pretending not to know that the laundry was poisoned. I asked sharply,
“Sister, why didn’t you tell me?”
“Tell you what?”
“About the Poison.”
“Poison? What are you talking about… The laundry? You said you were okay with it, didn’t you? You said Poison doesn’t work on you anyway.”
“I did?”
Did I say that? Songji glared at me, looking dumbfounded.
“Yes. You told me that none of the Poisons have ever worked on you since you were a child. So, you said you were okay with doing the laundry. I told you to tell Lady of the House Jin because those Sim-yang girls were bullying you! Are you blaming me now?”
She burst out in anger and flicked my forehead. The spot where her fist hit throbbed.
Why does she keep hitting me? I looked up at Songji with a tearful expression.
If what Songji said was true, ‘So-hye’ must have known that she was immune to Poison. Did she think that the Poison on the laundry wouldn’t be a problem?
What if it had been a deadly Poison like Seven Step Soul Severing Powder, which kills before one can take seven steps, or Bone Melting Powder, which instantly melts even the bones of a corpse? Well, in that case, the fabric would have melted too.
Usually, even those with immunity would avoid touching Poison, but ‘So-hye’, who would rather immerse her hands in Poison than clash with people, was no ordinary person.
Songji’s expression softened as she watched my varied facial expressions.
“So, that’s why Madam Jin came to see you? Good thinking. It’s about time those girls got a scolding. Let’s have dinner.”
Songji giggled and linked arms with me.
That none of the Poisons have worked on me since I was a child is important information.
Still, I should carry the antidote pills with me just in case. I gently stroked the wooden box inside my clothes.
I hope I don’t have to use them.
* * *
After Madam Jin’s visit, I no longer received laundry with Poison on it. Instead, the Maids tried to find other ways to torment me.
“From today, you will clean the training grounds. Since you have less laundry to do, you must have more free time, right?”
They were pushing me into the training grounds right after practice.
I scoffed and replied,
“I don’t want to. You guys do it.”
“What?”
The Maids’ faces turned fierce, as if they hadn’t expected me to refuse. I glared back at them without backing down.
What. Why. What. If you don’t like it, you go.
If the training grounds were ordinary, I would have cleaned them quietly. I could just sweep the bluestone floor a few times with a broom and be done with it.
But pushing me into training grounds where yellow and blue Poison powders were flying around was basically telling me to die while cleaning. I had no intention of meekly falling for such a ridiculous trick.
“Ha? You’ve got some nerve, don’t you? What are you relying on…”
“That’s enough. I’ll talk to her.”
Just as one of the weasel-like women raised her voice, Sim-yang stepped in front of her.
Sim-yang was the leader of this annoying group, and she was good at making people miserable with her pretty face.
However, no one dared to say anything unpleasant to Sim-yang. Apparently, her mother was a distant relative who used the Tang Clan surname, so they couldn’t treat her carelessly.
It wasn’t like she was a Tang herself, so what did it matter if her mother was a Tang? But it seemed to be a huge honor for those who worked for the Tang Clan.
She soothed me as if I were a child.
“I understand that you don’t want to clean the training grounds. But So-hye, you have better Poison resistance than us. We can’t go into the training grounds because it’s dangerous.”
Her voice was gentle, but her words weren’t. She was saying so nicely that I should go in because they didn’t want to die from touching Poison.
“We received the same training, so what’s the difference between you and me? And if it’s dangerous, you shouldn’t make anyone clean it.”
What was she talking about, acting picky when we all drank the same medicinal concoctions and rolled around? I didn’t remember drinking and rolling around, but anyway, that’s how it was.
Sim-yang looked embarrassed when I retorted so clearly.
“Then there’s no choice. We’ll have to send Songji. Songji has weak Poison resistance, but what can we do? If it’s not you, the only other person who can go is Songji.”
I was infuriated by her shameless tone. Seeing her bring up Songji, I could clearly see how Sim-yang had been manipulating me all along.
She must have been threatening me with Songji every time. After all, she was the only person by ‘So-hye’s’ side, who had no family or friends.
Huffing and puffing, I glared at Sim-yang.
“…Where are the training grounds?”
I’ll put up with it this time. There won’t be a next time.
A smile appeared on Sim-yang’s face at my declaration of surrender. I wanted to kick that obnoxious face.
* * *
Half an hour later, I was holding an inner compound pass and a broom. I sighed deeply as I stared at the gate leading to the inner compound.
I was already looking forward to what kind of Poison would be waiting for me today. Damn it. Send me home.
“Are you going in or not?”
After standing in front of the gate for a long time, the Gatekeeper scolded me with an annoyed voice. His attitude made it clear that he didn’t want me loitering in front of him.
Reluctantly, I handed over my pass.
“Pass.”
The Gatekeeper roughly checked the pass and let me in without saying much. I wanted to ask where the training grounds were, but he looked like he would get angry if I spoke to him again.
After hesitating, I adjusted the broom in my arms and passed through the gate.
The inner compound was much larger than it looked from the outside. High-rise buildings lined the wide road, and there were several beautifully decorated gardens.
According to Songji, the direct descendants of the family and those of high status lived in the inner compound, while distant relatives and those who did menial work like me lived in the outer compound. So, everyone living in the inner compound was a Tang.
I had heard of clan villages, but this was the first time I had seen one in person. The fact that this vast estate was a space just for the Tang Clan was astonishing.
The pavilions and buildings, painted in luxurious but not extravagant colors, clearly showed what the Tang Clan was pursuing.
Isn’t it usually the most difficult to look effortlessly stylish? The Tang Clan was exactly like that. A subtle air of wealth could be felt in every tile and building.
As I gawked like a country bumpkin who had just arrived in the city, I realized the problem.
How am I supposed to find the training grounds here?
I should have just asked the Gatekeeper, even if I got yelled at.
Regretting my decision, I turned around, but the Gatekeeper was already a small dot in the distance. It was too far to go back.
Since it’s come to this, I wish someone would magically appear and tell me the way to the training grounds. Or that the training grounds would magically appear.
I sighed and began to wander around, searching for the training grounds.
Had it been about thirty minutes?
After wandering around through narrow and wide passages, I arrived at a large pond.
Plum blossoms were blooming by the pond, surrounded by bare willow trees.
It was the first flower I had seen in a while. The scent of plum blossoms, piercing through the cold air, tickled my nose. I approached the pond as if possessed.
Just as I reached out to a plum blossom branch, intoxicated by the strong fragrance, someone shouted.
“Who’s there!”
“Ah!”
Startled, I stumbled back and stepped on gravel. My unbalanced body moved closer and closer to the pond.
Uh oh. I’m falling. I’m falling!
It was an unavoidable distance. I closed my eyes tightly, bracing myself for a dip in the cold pond.
At that moment, someone wrapped their arms around my waist.
“It’s you. Still can’t remember the way?”
