Hongdu - The King's Men - Chapter 30

Hong Woo Geon and Lee Gyo Young slept tightly pressed against opposite sides of the room. Thanks to their consideration, Jwa Woo was able to sleep comfortably as if using the spacious room alone.

Perhaps due to the exhausting schedule?

Jwa Woo fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

In contrast, the two men, Hong Woo Geon and Lee Gyo Young, were unable to sleep properly, with dark circles under their eyes reaching down to their chins.

Just as they were about to fall asleep, Jwa Woo would roll over and cling to Hong Woo Geon and Lee Gyo Young, who were pressed tightly against the walls on either side.

The main subject of the sleep talking was ‘father’.

Yes, it’s an age when one might miss their father… but this seemed excessive. The two men eventually gave up on sleep.

Hong Woo Geon and Lee Gyo Young came out to the main hall and shared drinks.

A bottle of alcohol that Hong Woo Geon carried for emergencies thoroughly soothed their troubled minds.

“Why did this joint appointee jump into such an appointment?”

Hong Woo Geon asked Lee Gyo Young after two rounds of drinks.

Lee Gyo Young silently tilted the bottle.

As it wasn’t a question expecting an answer, Hong Woo Geon was about to refill his empty glass when an unexpected reply came.

“I came because I was tired.”

“Tired?”

“I was so tired and pitiful of myself, bound by the invisible shackles of being an illegitimate son, that I felt I had to do something. Then I received His Majesty’s call.”

“Why? Did you think His Majesty would remove this joint appointee’s shackles and let you fly freely?”

“…”

“If you entered this joint appointment with such thoughts…”

“…?”

“You’ve barked up the wrong tree.”

“What do you mean?”

“Why don’t you know that His Majesty is also a bird trapped in the golden cage of kingship? Do you think such a person could remove your shackles?”

“Is that so…?”

Lee Gyo Young’s self-deprecating voice settled calmly in the night air.

After thinking for a moment, he put down the bottle with a thud.

“Still, I believe. A world where the king is truly a king. A world where everyone, nobles and slaves alike, can live as human beings. I believe without doubt that our His Majesty will create such a world.”

“Haha, what exactly did His Majesty say to persuade you?”

“…”

“Our His Majesty, it seems he should have become a religious leader rather than a king.”

Hong Woo Geon let out a cheerful laugh along with his half-joking words.

As the laughter subsided, the playfulness disappeared from Hong Woo Geon’s voice.

“As this joint appointee says, His Majesty wants to create a world where all people are equal. But customs that have continued until now don’t break easily. To break this, one might even have to risk their life. Can you do that?”

Instead of answering Hong Woo Geon’s question, Lee Gyo Young downed the remaining alcohol in the bottle in one gulp.

“I was born human but have lived until now as if I weren’t. Do you know what my mother’s and my wish is? To live like a human being in this Joseon, even for just one day. If I could do that, I would give not just one life, but ten.”

“Will such a day come to this Joseon?”

“It will. If not immediately, it will surely come in the distant future.”

“Your determination is admirable to see.”

Hong Woo Geon, who was looking at Lee Gyo Young with reassuring eyes, suddenly looked over his shoulder. Through the slightly open door, he could see Jwa Woo sleeping, rolling this way and that.

Suddenly, a deep sigh escaped him.

Lee Gyo Young, who was also watching Jwa Woo, moved his lips a few times as if he had something to say, but stopped.

The sharp-eyed Hong Woo Geon couldn’t miss it.

“What is it? What do you want to say?”

“This is… nothing.”

“No, if you’re going to speak, speak. If not, don’t move your lips at all. Where did you learn such indecisiveness?”

At Hong Woo Geon’s rebuke, Lee Gyo Young reluctantly opened his mouth.

“There is a special remedy for people with bad sleeping habits…”

“If there is such a thing, you should have said so earlier. Now that you’ve mentioned it, I’m not the only one who has suffered from Kwon joint appointee’s strange sleeping habits.”

Hong Woo Geon made an aggrieved expression while unnecessarily adjusting his collar.

“But it’s a bit inappropriate to use on a sleeping person…”

“I’ll decide whether it’s appropriate or not after hearing about it. Come on, tell me.”

Lee Gyo Young finally gave in to Hong Woo Geon’s persuasion.

“When learning martial arts, one also learns about acupressure points.”

“Acupressure points…”

“It’s like a kind of finger acupuncture, you could say. By accurately pressing these points, you can make a struggling person calm, put a fully conscious person to sleep in an instant, and…”

“And make someone with bad sleeping habits behave properly.”

“That’s right.”

Hong Woo Geon suddenly shouted at Lee Gyo Young who was answering.

“This person, you’re going to cause big trouble!”

At Hong Woo Geon’s shout, Lee Gyo Young made an ‘oops’ expression.

No matter how bad Jwa Woo’s sleeping habits were, using such a method was not…

“If there’s such a method, you should have told me earlier.”

Hong Woo Geon sat close to Lee Gyo Young.

“Now, tell me. How can we make those fierce sleeping habits behave? Where should we press? Where should we press to make her sleep deeply and comfortably without waking up?”

A spark of interest appeared in Hong Woo Geon’s eyes.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Yawn, I slept well.”

It had been a long time since I had such a refreshing morning.

Ever since father passed away, I had been taking cat naps every day. I would wake up startled at the slightest rustle, and on windy days, I could barely sleep at all.

But last night, I was able to sleep comfortably without having nightmares or tossing and turning. The aches and pains I usually felt upon waking were gone as if they had never existed.

How nice it would be if every day could be like this.

Thanks to the refreshed feeling, I was full of energy from the morning.

“Everyone, wake up. We have a task to do, don’t we? Come on, get up everyone.”

Seeing Jwa Woo shouting loudly, Hong Woo Geon rolled up his blanket and covered himself up to the top of his head.

“This is a side effect.”

Lee Gyo Young replied to Hong Woo Geon’s grumbling.

“She looks energetic and good, why are you like that?”

“If she’s energetic twice more, she’ll ascend to heaven.”

“Anyway, as Kwon joint appointee says, we should get up now. Before breakfast, the magistrate’s son sent word that he would inform us about a few matters regarding those suffering from stomach aches.”

“What? Did you receive the same task as us?”

“It seems the matter is more serious than we thought.”

“As Kwon joint appointee said, is it a conspiracy?”

“What do you mean?”

“The fact that they entrusted such a serious matter to joint appointees like us.”

“Doesn’t it mean they trust us that much?”

“The interpretation is better than the dream.”

Just then, a cough was heard from outside.

“Did someone cough?”

“Who is it?”

When they opened the door, a young man with a youthful appearance, around twenty years old, was standing there.

[This is the timeline separator]

“I’ve been ordered to introduce this area on behalf of my father.”

It was the magistrate’s son.

Jwa Woo led the young man inside.

The young man who entered the room looked around carefully.

“Is there any inconvenience in your living arrangements?”

“As they say, when you leave home, you suffer. How could there not be inconveniences? We just endure it, thinking it’s to be expected. More importantly, what is it? What you were going to tell us.”

At Hong Woo Geon’s words, the young man smiled sheepishly and unfolded the paper he was holding on the floor.

“This is a map of the village. The people who suffered from stomach aches are in this house, this house, and this house here, and the house of Elder Jung, who is the wealthiest in this village. A total of seven places.”

The drawing on the paper the young man brought not only showed the layout of the village but also detailed the structure of each house and the location of household items.

“Who drew this?”

When Lee Gyo Young asked, the young man smiled shyly.

“I drew it.”

“It must have taken quite some time to draw so meticulously.”

At Hong Woo Geon’s praise, the young man waved his hands.

“It didn’t take much time. I just drew what I remembered after seeing it once.”

“You’re saying this is a drawing from memory after seeing it once?”

Surprised, Jwa Woo inadvertently raised her voice.

“What? What’s going on?”

Startled by the noise, Yoo Chi Sung, who had been sleeping in the next room, rushed in.

With sleep still clinging to his face, Yoo Chi Sung checked the faces of the people gathered.

“What are these fellows plotting here again?”

“What plotting? Wipe that sleep from your eyes and sit down quickly.”

When Hong Woo Geon gestured to the seat beside him, Yoo Chi Sung obediently sat down.

The young man continued his explanation.

“Today, you should visit this house, this house, and this house. I heard the other houses are all out of town on business.”

“You remember that too?”

Jwa Woo asked again in surprise.

The young man silently nodded his head.

“That’s a truly remarkable talent.”

“It’s a troublesome skill.”

For some reason, the young man’s face was filled with a bitter expression as he answered.

“What do you mean?”

“They say forgetting is a great grace that heaven bestows upon people. But I haven’t received that grace.”

“But you have a special memory that others don’t have. Surely you can use it in many ways?”

“Sometimes there are memories one wants to forget.”

That short sentence contained many meanings.

They had momentarily forgotten that not only loving memories are memories.

The sadness of losing love, the emptiness of loss… what would it feel like to live unable to forget all of these?

A deep silence fell in the room as if they understood the young man’s feelings.

How long had it been like that? There was a sound of movement in front of the door.

“Are you inside?”

A female servant from the government office stood outside the door with breakfast.

“Bring it in.”

When the young man gave permission, the door opened wide on both sides. Soon, a table set with a feast was brought into the room.

“This seems more lavish than expected.”

Lee Gyo Young looked at the young man with worried eyes.

Just then, a sweet voice was heard from outside.

“Don’t worry. This is specially prepared just for today.”

Everyone in the room turned their gaze outside.

A beautiful woman appeared where their gazes landed.

A pretty young lady wearing a jacket embroidered with plum blossoms, a pale pink silk skirt, her hair neatly braided with long red ribbons hanging down.

“Arang.”

Hong Woo Geon called the woman’s name familiarly.

“Elder brother Geon.”

A tender calling for Hong Woo Geon also flowed from the woman’s lips.