SH | Chapter 2.4

Seeing the grand tiled-roof house, Donggu barely managed not to have his jaw drop. The people in the procession kept whispering among themselves. They said this was the most fertile, prized piece of land in all of Hanyang.

As soon as the rooster crowed at dawn, the group hurried along at Yoongong’s urging. Everyone moved their feet with half their souls gone. Because of that, they had entered Hanyang earlier than expected.

Seolseol and the older nanny, having walked the long road without rest, were truly exhausted. Even inside the inn they had sat beside Donggu and barely gotten any sleep, making it hard to keep their eyes open.

But the moment they arrived at the grand tiled-roof house, they were jolted awake. There was no turning back now. The two rubbed their eyes and steadied themselves.

They caught Donggu, who was laboring out of the palanquin. They set his headdress straight and arranged the ribbons. They took out face powder and touched up the makeup that had smeared and faded.

Before the groom stepped across the front gate, there was one sharp gaze that watched the new bride’s hurried adjustment of clothes and makeup without looking away. Junggil was observing Donggu keenly from among the crowd.

‘Sure enough, with that height and that build…’

He wasn’t a woman.

“My, thank you for your hard work. Thanks to you warriors, we arrived safely without incident.”

During that brief moment while Donggu was getting himself presentable, Ducheon approached Junggil and the escorting men, who were standing there blankly.

“Here is the remainder after deducting the advance payment for the request. I even added a little more than we agreed.”

“Much appreciated.”

The head of the escort team accepted the money pouch Ducheon handed over, checked it, and nodded. Then he distributed the money to the waiting comrades.

“But I caught a glimpse, and the new bride is quite impressive.”

Ducheon, who had been turning away after paying and giving a perfunctory farewell, jolted. When he casually turned his head, there was the unusually neat-looking man among the martial men, busily checking his own payment, smiling faintly.

“I’ve taken escort requests for bridal processions many times, but I’ve never seen a bride marrying into such a fine family. And I’ve never seen a bride this striking either.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Ducheon’s heart pounded. A bad feeling swept through his body like a chill.

“I mean she’s beautiful. What else would it be?”

“…Ah.”

Junggil chuckled, tossed the fee into the air, and caught it. The pallor that had drained from Ducheon’s face quickly returned.

“Aren’t you leaving? It looks like the new bride’s been dressed and sorted out.”

“Goodness! Then, I suppose we should be off. Everyone, take care now.”

At Junggil’s tilt of the chin toward the back, Ducheon, having confirmed Donggu, rushed away.

“What are you babbling nonsense for all of a sudden?”

As he watched Ducheon hurrying off in confusion, a comrade draped an arm over Junggil’s shoulder.

“Just because it seemed interesting.”

“Honestly, you oddball. I still don’t understand what your standard for ‘interesting’ even is.”

His comrade made a dumbfounded face, then immediately grinned playfully and tightened the arm around Junggil’s shoulder.

“The fee’s generous, and it’s not often we come to Hanyang. How about Maehyangru for old times’ sake?”

Yoongong followed slowly after the bride as he crossed the gate. Or rather, the bride could be said to have been dragged along helplessly by the firm grip of Seolseol and the older nanny on her arms.

“…Not really tempted. Go with someone else.”

Still watching the bride’s back as it crossed the gate, Junggil answered carelessly.

“Ah, if I go with you, even if we pay the same, the liquor table and the courtesans get fancier, I told you that several times…”

“Have a good trip! See you next time.”

Ignoring most of his comrade’s mercenary calculations, Junggil turned away coldly. Watching him go, his comrade looked disappointed.

The others in the procession followed the groom and bride one by one through the gate.

Seeing Yoongong’s parents, the Left State Councillor and his wife, who had come out to receive the new bride, Donggu swallowed hard. Behind them, a massive number of household staff stood visible. Seolseol lightly patted Donggu’s frozen shoulder and made him bow his head.

“From here on, you must stay sharp, Lady. No, little madam!”

At the title Seolseol called him in a low voice, Donggu’s heart thudded down heavily. Steadying his trembling body, he stole a glance at the Left State Councillor and Lady Junggyeongbuin standing before him.

So this was what they meant when they said even birds in flight could be shot down. The Left State Councillor really did radiate that kind of razor-sharp presence. It was easy to see at once who Yoongong had taken after, in height and in the hard strength of his body.

The councillor’s white jeongryeongpo and the jeongjagwan on his head were so clean they almost seemed dazzling, almost pure. His face was sharp and straight, with a firm beard, dark brows, and a tiger-like, cold stare. The middle-aged man, with some white threaded through his beard, was quite an excellent-looking figure.

‘Lady Junggyeongbuin is graceful and beautiful even at her age. As expected, the children of a powerful house are different.’

Beside the councillor stood Lady Junggyeongbuin in a reserved posture. Though older, she was a woman of exquisite beauty, with a refined face, brows like a crescent moon, large clear eyes, a delicately shaped nose, and full red lips.

The color combination of the pale egg-yellow jeogori, the wooden-colored dongjeong, and the red lotus-hued ties suited her perfectly. On top of that, the rich dark blue-green skirt and the red-and-yellow norigae draped over it naturally displayed the dignity of a highborn yangban matron.

Yoongong seemed to have inherited his handsome looks from both parents in equal measure, along with that formidable bearing.

“Welcome. It was hard work coming all this way.”

“Welcome, daughter-in-law.”

“We welcome you, little madam! Please come in!”

The master’s brief welcome ended. Then the many household servants standing behind them bowed at once toward Donggu and greeted him.

The thunderous sound seemed to pierce straight through Donggu’s stomach, and goosebumps rose on his skin.

Donggu, stiff as a tree, bit his lip. He could not keep standing there like this. Donggu shut his eyes tightly and wordlessly bowed low.

“Oh dear, it seems the little madam is tired, and also nervous to meet her in-laws. Please forgive her generously, Left State Councillor.”

Seeing Donggu remain bent and unmoving, Seolseol and the older nanny gave awkward laughs. Then they forced Donggu upright without making it obvious. Through the hands of the two women, Donggu’s rigid, tension-stiffened body was pulled straight. With the bride held between the two of them, Donggu’s own height, once straightened, stood unusually tall.

For an instant, it seemed the dignified mask of the Left State Councillor cracked.

To settle his feelings, the councillor quickly looked away from Donggu.

“Ahem, I was thoughtless. Our daughter-in-law must be tired from the long journey, so let us finish this quickly, my lady.”

“Yes, sir. That would be best. She does look very tired, so we should let her rest at once.”

No sooner had the words left their mouths than the servants behind them moved in perfect unison. Donggu was led along like a puppet, just as he had been on the day of the wedding.

All of it was watched in silence by Junggil from the roof of the grand house of the Left State Councillor.

“Oh dear, they’ve gone inside.”

Junggil, who had been stealing glances at the sturdy new bride being shuffled around, looked disappointed.

“Well, there isn’t anything particularly interesting. It’s just exactly the things a bride is supposed to do.”

He lay down on the roof as if giving up completely and stared at the sky with a blank face.

“Still, how did that big brute of a bride end up like that?”

At a glance, it was a man in a skirt. Even a village simpleton could see he was a man.

And yet that sharp-looking official did not bat an eye and called Donggu his daughter-in-law.

“This is getting more and more interesting.”

Donggu felt as if he could hardly breathe. He had taken off the splendid wedding clothes layered all over him and changed into the green top and red skirt worn by a new bride.

He could not remember when he had finished the wedding bows and received the ancestral rites, or when the rites for the woman’s head-dressing and coming-of-age had been completed. He did not know when they had carried out the rites for offering honeyed rice wine and the cup-and-bowl ceremony either. Since he was now wearing the green and red bridal clothes, it seemed he had also finished the ancestral shrine greeting, but the memories were scattered and patchy.

Donggu could not even move a hand before the tray of precious refreshments set before him.

‘Sitting here as a daughter-in-law before the Left State Councillor, who can’t be compared with some country Jinsa, my heart is going to shrink until it shatters into pieces.’

Donggu carefully ran his tongue over his dry mouth. His dry tongue brushed against the inside of his mouth with a soft smack. It only made him more frightened.

“I was worried because it looked like you had no intention of going through with the marriage, and yet it seems you went through so much trouble just to meet one so lovely.”

Donggu thought he had misheard. He lifted his head without meaning to. The razor-sharp Left State Councillor, said to be able to shoot birds from the sky, sat there with a stern face. And with that face, he was speaking kindly, without a trace of emotion.

“Indeed. He must have endured his parents’ pressure to make this match just to win such a lovely girl as his wife.”

Lady Junggyeongbuin gave a perfunctory smile that only raised the corners of her mouth. On the surface, they sounded like the kindest in-laws in the world. But their eyes were not something they could hide either.

‘Of course! Anyone can tell my appearance is just a man wearing women’s clothes.’

Broad shoulders, a large and sturdy build, sun-browned skin, a height smaller than Yoongong’s but taller than the average man, rough features that still showed even under thick white powder, strong fingers visible even when hidden by tugged sleeves.

No matter how much he hunched his shoulders, there was a limit. No, it was impossible from the start.

‘Wait a minute!’

Why were the Left State Councillor and his wife not asking a single question even though they could plainly see this ugly cross-dressed man as their daughter-in-law? Why were they offering such cordial welcome, even while looking grimly disgusted?

“Yes! I think so too. To win such a beautiful wife, one can say I spent all that wandering time for this!”

Yoongong laughed brightly as he grabbed Donggu’s hand, the hand he had tried so hard to hide in his sleeves. At that sight, the impassive faces of the Left State Councillor couple cracked. Donggu’s expression soured just the same.

‘…If you’re going to go mad, at least do it gracefully.’

The thoughts Donggu had been mulling over suddenly caught fire. Everything he had been piecing together burned to ashes in an instant.

The Left State Councillor and his wife immediately turned their eyes away from Yoongong’s shameless display. At their hurried act of pretending not to see, Donggu could not get a word out. He only kept his head down. He wanted to run away so badly it was maddening.

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