Chapter 34
- Butcher Village (1)
The wind blew.
Traces of the wind swept across the endless reed field like waves.
The woman's hair also scattered like smoke.
Unlike the neatly arranged hairstyle of a Joseon woman from a common family, her hair was tied up haphazardly and fluttered in the wind.
Bong-dan, a Butcher woman, was looking at the vast reed field.
Her life had been like those reeds swaying in the wind, moving aimlessly from place to place.
But wherever she went, it was the same.
Cold stares followed her like a tag, calling her a lowly Butcher, or of barbarian blood, and therefore unable to mingle with them.
'But now, all that must be forgotten...'
Bong-dan smiled lightly.
The bitter resentment she once held towards the world would now become a distant memory.
And a new life would unfold for Bong-dan.
The world would not change at all, but everything would change for Bong-dan.
It was then.
"Bong-dan, Bong-dan!"
She saw a village man running towards her breathlessly from afar.
Dressed like Bong-dan in a sleeveless outfit, his forehead exposed with his hair tied up without a manggeon, the attire of a Butcher.
But why was he in such a hurry?
"Uncle, what's the matter?"
"Bong-dan, you... you must, must hide yourself!"
"Yes? What do you mean?"
The village man, who had run in haste, was panting as if he were about to lose his breath, but he blurted out the urgent words first.
"There are people looking for you."
"Looking for me?"
"Why, didn't you say there was a fight in the capital a few days ago? I think that's probably why."
The village man already looked terrified, as if something terrible had happened.
It wasn't unusual.
If a serious crime such as robbery, theft, or murder occurred in this area, the first place the authorities would raid was this Butcher Village.
Then and now, if a serious crime occurred and the culprit was not caught, public sentiment became uneasy.
The government had to show that it was catching and punishing criminals in order to maintain order and establish authority.
In these cases, the 'easy targets' who were pointed out as criminals were ultimately the Butchers.
Unlike ordinary farmers, they did not live by cultivating land, so they did not pay taxes, and their residences were not fixed, so it was difficult to keep track of their numbers.
Moreover, they were a group that was scorned by other people, so no one would protect them even if the authorities raided them.
After all, it didn't really matter who the real culprit of the crime was.
In order to maintain order, a scapegoat was needed to appease the people's anger.
The records of numerous Butcher criminals that fill the Veritable Records may be a product of that.
"You, you must hide yourself first!"
Like a Butcher who had been taught to run away as soon as people from the government appeared, he grabbed Bong-dan's arm and urged her.
Even if there was no clear suspicion, the Butchers might be framed for crimes, and Bong-dan had even caused a great commotion in the capital a few days ago.
If she was caught like this, it wouldn't end with just one or two strokes of the club.
But Bong-dan shook her head and forcefully shook off his arm.
"There's no time to be doing this here! I have to go back quickly!"
"Bong-dan, Bong-dan! Where are you going!"
Leaving the village man's urgent cries behind, Bong-dan began to run as fast as she could.
She wasn't running away.
The place Bong-dan was heading to frantically was the Butcher Village where her family lived.
A little while ago, Chuncheon Dohobusa government office.
Those who were tied tightly with ropes, with wooden plaques that read 'Corrupt Officials' hanging around their necks, were hanging in the front yard of the Dongheon.
It was Dohobusa (Prefect) Jo Sang-ro of Chuncheon, and his clerks.
'…If I just keep them tied up like this until I return to the capital, the information that I am traveling incognito won't leak out.'
But that would only be for a day or two at most, so he had to find those Butchers as soon as possible.
Yeonsangun held out the cowhide he had found in the inner office warehouse to the H room's face.
"Where did this item come from?"
"Th-th-that is, a tribute that came from the Butcher Village..."
"Butcher Village...?"
"Yes, it's a village established by Butchers who were scattered in Yangju and driven out, and gathered in this area."
Yeonsangun inwardly clicked his tongue.
It was definitely his order to empty the entire Gyeonggi Province to create a training ground.
At this time, Ji-young suddenly interjected.
"By any chance, among the group of Butchers who came to offer tribute, was there a woman among them?"
"H-how do you know that?"The H house showed a surprised expression at the question."
As expected.
It would be rare to see a Butcher woman butchering animals, so anyone who had seen her even once would not be able to forget her easily.
Hearing those words, Yeonsangun seemed convinced and asked the H room again.
"Where is this Butcher Village located?"
"I-if you go northeast for half a day, you'll find it."
"Summon someone who knows the way. I will go there right away."
While the soldiers who would act as guides were gathering, Ji-young organized the events that had happened so far in her head.
'A Hongmungwan official disappeared suddenly with a box containing secrets, the Geumdeung, and then Butchers with paper used in the Hongmungwan appeared... Following the trail of those Butchers, the King himself came all the way here...'
Thinking that far, Ji-young's spine suddenly turned cold.
As a modern person, Ji-young could roughly guess what was inside the Geumdeung containing the secrets of the court.
It was clearly the decisive trigger that would drive Yeonsangun into a frenzy.
The late Deposed Queen Yun's relics.
'If he sees that, the man who still has at least a minimal human heart will go crazy.'
But according to history, Yeonsangun would soon find out about that fact...
Ji-young shuddered at the mere thought of it.
'...Besides, there's something fishy about this.'
Is it really true that the Butchers attacked Lee Jang-gon and stole his belongings?
If that's true, then why?
Several question marks kept popping up.
'...Well, I'll know for sure once I go there.'
With that, Ji-young and Yeonsangun's party began to move towards the Butcher Village, led by the guiding soldiers.
"Wait, hold on, who are you!"
What Bong-dan saw as she came down breathlessly were strangers approaching the village.
The ones standing at the front were wearing black jackets and caps.
They were definitely soldiers from the government.
Bong-dan suppressed the feeling of her heart sinking and hurriedly stood in their way.
"Wh-what brings you here?"
She was out of breath, but she tried to maintain a calm face and examined the faces of the people who had come.
The people standing behind the soldiers who were guiding them were not the face of Lee Bang (Clerk) who came to collect tribute once every two months, but faces she had never seen before.
Two noblemen wearing traditional robes, and two servants wearing traditional hats and jackets.
'...Huh?'
Suddenly, Bong-dan felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
The man in the gown, especially the man with the pale face who looked like a woman, his face didn't look unfamiliar, was it just her imagination?
She definitely felt like she had seen him somewhere...
He also seemed to recognize her.
Just as she was thinking that, the man in the Navy robe suddenly threw a question.
"Did the Butchers here slaughter and sell cattle at the cattle market in Hanyang four days ago?"
"Ah... th-that is... well..."
Bong-dan inadvertently trailed off.
It seemed that the thing she had been worried about had happened.
It seemed that the government had come to investigate the riot with the Hyeonbang Half-men.
"Th-that is, what happened was... there was a bit of a misunderstanding between the merchants..."
While Bong-dan was stammering and making excuses, she slowly curled her fingers around the Pocket Knife hidden in her back waist.
If the worst came to the worst, she would have no choice but to use that knife.
Just then.
"...That's right."
The one who slowly revealed himself from behind was an Old man.
Another person Ji-young had seen in the cattle market, that is, the father of the Butcher woman Bong-dan.
"It is true that we did unauthorized slaughter in the capital, and it is also true that we caused a riot."
At the same time as those words, the Butcher Old man suddenly began to kneel on the dirt floor.
"I... I will make sure that the Butchers in this village never go near the capital again. I promise you that. Besides, the last incident was all caused by my stubbornness..."
"Ah, Father!"
"If you must arrest someone, arrest me. I beg you..."
The Butcher Old man clasped his hands together and bowed his head as if he were worshiping the Buddha.
Was it the heart of a father who wanted to protect his daughter at all costs?
However, the man wearing the jade robe, Yeonsangun, didn't even bother to look at such appeals and suddenly held something out.
"...If you are the ones who were in the capital, then you must know this as well."
"...Yes?"
Bong-dan, with a bewildered expression at the unexpected reaction, looked at what Yeonsangun was holding out, it was the paper that was used to wrap beef in the capital.
"Th-this is..."
"Where did you get this paper from? Tell me quickly!"
At the shout of Shin Su-hyeok, the man in the Navy robe standing next to her, Bong-dan suddenly came to her senses.
Only then did she realize.
The ones standing in front of her now were not from the government to punish illegal slaughter.
They were the ones who had come to find the source of that paper, which Bong-dan had been using without thinking.
Could it be...
That means...
Reaching that point, Bong-dan, in a moment, took out the Pocket Knife hidden in her back waist with all her strength and swung it.
- Swish
Following the sound of the wind cutting through the air was the sound of.
- Ting
The sound of sharp metals colliding.
The Pocket Knife that Bong-dan swung was already blocked by the sword of the man in the Navy robe.
Shin Su-hyeok, who had noticed that Bong-dan had been hiding a knife in her back waist since a while ago, had quickly drawn his Ring Pommel Sword and blocked the attack.
Beyond the blue blade of the Ring Pommel Sword, Su-hyeok's eyes were emitting a light full of anger.
The finest paper made by Jojiseo, if they reacted so sensitively to the question of the source of that paper, there was only one conclusion.
"You bastards... you really harmed Lee Gyori and robbed his belongings!"
The fact that Butchers had paper that was only used in the court could not be explained unless they had murdered Lee Gyori of Hongmungwan, who had disappeared, and plundered his belongings.
Lee Jang-gon, the Gyori of Hongmungwan who was his close friend.
The thought that he had found his enemy must have shaken the reason of the cold-blooded and principled Shin Su-hyeok for a moment.
Before he knew it, his blade was flying fiercely towards the Butcher woman.
- Chang, chang
The woman, who barely managed to parry Su-hyeok's fierce attacks twice with her Pocket Knife, could not hold out for long and dropped the knife from her hand.
- Clang
"Ugh!"
And, Su-hyeok's blade flew mercilessly towards the unarmed woman who had dropped her knife.
It was something that would never have happened under normal circumstances, but it seemed that Su-hyeok had already lost his reason.
Just then.
- Teeing!
A sharp metallic burst sound, different from the one a moment ago, echoed like a reverberation.
Another blade that blocked Su-hyeok's blade.
It was a sword that looked like a twin to Su-hyeok's Ring Pommel Sword.
And the one holding that sword, even though he was wearing old and worn cotton clothes, had a face that Su-hyeok could never fail to recognize.
His longtime friend.
The trusted subject of Hongmungwan who was favored by the King, and the possessor of excellent martial arts who was said to have the talent of a general.
And, the man who had disappeared with the Geumdeung containing the secrets of the court.
Lee Jang-gon, Gyori of Hongmungwan.
"...It's been a while, Shin Su-hyeok."
Lee Jang-gon and Shin Su-hyeok crossed swords and pressed them against each other, staring into each other's eyes for a long time.
