Early afternoon (1 PM).

Kwon Jwa Woo awoke from sleep and blinked her eyes.

Was it just a dream?

Everything that happened last night felt distant.

Hong Woo Geon’s face, which had filled her mind all morning, was now blurry as if it were a lie.

It would be easier to think of it as a dream.

Yes, let’s do that.

Kwon Jwa Woo shook off the stirring emotions that were slowly resurfacing.

Then she opened the window.

“Young lady!”

As if she had been waiting, Eon Nyeon poked her head in.

“How long have you been there?”

“I’ve been guarding here the whole time you were sleeping, young lady.”

“Where are the old woman and old man?”

“They went to the field. I told them you had a cold and would sleep all day today.”

“Well done.”

At Kwon Jwa Woo’s praise, Eon Nyeon’s freckled nose bridge wrinkled as she burst into laughter.

“Since you did well, let’s do one more thing, Eon Nyeon.”

Kwon Jwa Woo gestured towards Eon Nyeon.

It meant for her to come inside.

Guessing something, Eon Nyeon made a reluctant expression.

“Are you going out again?”

“Why aren’t you coming in already?”

“But…”

“Hey!”

When she put on a pretend scary face, Eon Nyeon reluctantly entered the room.

“You must have been tired from dawn until now. Rest here for a moment.”

Kwon Jwa Woo patted the spot where she had been lying until now.

“Young lady…”

Eon Nyeon’s words trailed off.

Ignoring her, Kwon Jwa Woo opened the wardrobe and took out clothes.

It was clothes and a hat that her late father used to wear.

Eon Nyeon watched anxiously as she changed clothes in an instant.

“Grandmother will find out eventually.”

“She won’t, if you help me well.”

“This girl’s liver will shrink so much it’ll disappear completely.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve heard of people with swollen livers, but never of someone whose liver disappeared.”

“Young lady, do you really have to do this Hwaseop thing or whatever it is?”

Kwon Jwa Woo shook off Eon Nyeon, who was clinging and whining like a child, and hurriedly left the room.

She had something to do.

More precisely, it was something she should have done yesterday.

Choosing who would pass the upcoming civil service examination by receiving the selection of Hwaseop from Myeongnyebang.

To finish that task, Kwon Jwa Woo left the house and walked briskly.

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How much time had passed?

Dressed in nobleman’s attire with a neatly worn hat, Kwon Jwa Woo looked every bit like a young man.

As she appeared to be a scholar slightly smaller and more petite than ordinary men,

No one on the streets looked at her suspiciously.

Thanks to that, she was able to easily enter the alley of Myeongnyebang through Namchon without any interference.

Turning left along the wall at the entrance of the alley, a second wall comes into view.

On the wall are inscribed the four cardinal directions – east, west, south, north – along with the character for ‘house’.

East House, West House, South House, North House.

Passing by these inscriptions that looked like children’s scribbles, walking about fifty paces and turning left, a third wall appeared.

This time, along with the cardinal directions, the character for ‘gate’ was inscribed, with different numbers written next to it.

Gate Five meant the owner of the fifth gate.

Gate Three referred to the third house.

Kwon Jwa Woo scanned the code words written on the wall as she circled the Myeongnyebang alley once.

Entering the alley again with leisurely steps as if out for a stroll, she suddenly took out a portable fine brush in front of the second wall with the cardinal directions.

Standing still for a moment to look around, no one was in sight.

Thinking this was her chance, Kwon Jwa Woo hurriedly drew a large circle on North House, then busily moved her fine brush over Gate Seven on the last third wall.

With this, it was decided.

The successful candidate for this civil service exam would be the owner of the seventh house in the north district.

I wonder if anyone saw?

Kwon Jwa Woo, who had been drawing circles around Myeongnyebang alley, looked around as if doing a final check.

Fortunately, not even an ant could be seen in the alley.

Finally feeling relieved, she looked up at the sky.

The shadows of night were seeping into the edge of what had been a bright sky.

“I should go before it gets later.”

Thinking of Eon Nyeon who would nag like a summer mosquito, Kwon Jwa Woo quickened her steps.

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A black horse galloped out beyond the four main gates of Hanyang.

The horse ran like the wind.

About half an hour might have passed.

The black-clad warrior riding the horse stopped in front of a huge mansion in Gyeonggi Province.

The gatekeeper guarding the front of the mansion’s main gate bowed his head to the man in black warrior’s clothes.

The man handed the reins to the gatekeeper and quickly entered through the gate.

The inside of the house resembled a small fortress. A moat was built around the house to strictly forbid the entry of those who dared to enter without permission.

Warriors stood guard at invisible outposts. To enter the inner part of the mansion that was so strictly controlled, one had to pass through seven inner gates.

The man who quickly passed through the seven inner gates stood in front of the room where the master of the mansion resided.

“This humble one has returned.”

The man bowed his head in front of the closed door.

“Come in.”

A clear and lively voice was heard from inside.

The man opened the door and stepped into the room.

As if he had just started, the master of the room was drawing a bamboo tree on white paper.

“Did you find out?”

The voice asking without taking his eyes off the paper was directed at the man, Bo Jong.

Bo Jong knelt on one knee and prostrated himself.

“Yes, my lord.”

Bo Jong’s lord, Hong Woo Geon, slightly lifted the tip of his brush that had been gliding over the paper.

The bamboo finished with light shading was a young tree just starting to sprout.

As if quite pleased with the picture he had drawn,

A faint smile appeared and disappeared on Hong Woo Geon’s lips.

“So, who was it this time?”

Hong Woo Geon dipped the tip of his brush in ink again and brought it to the blank space on the paper.

Just as the base of the bamboo was being drawn,

Bo Jong answered.

“It’s the seventh house in the north district.”

“The seventh house in the north district…”

“It’s the house of a man named Lee Jang Hyung, who retired from office 8 years ago after serving as an inspector in the Office of the Inspector-General, following the incident of the sudden death in the Office.”

Suddenly, clunk.

Hong Woo Geon’s brush stopped as he was drawing the second joint of the bamboo.

“This one is also related to the incident 8 years ago?”

“That is correct.”

“Is it persistence or recklessness?”

“She is a woman of exceptional tenacity.”

At Bo Jong’s praise, Hong Woo Geon finally raised his head.

“Did she seem so?”

To his lord’s question, Bo Jong nodded.

“That makes her even more intriguing.”

As he resumed the brush stroke that had momentarily paused, the third joint of the bamboo was quickly drawn.

Soon, he drew the fourth and fifth joints in order, increasing the height of the bamboo.

After drawing the second bamboo in one breath, Hong Woo Geon stared intently at the picture.

As if looking for the position to draw the next bamboo, a small glint passed through his eyes as he scanned the white paper.

He smiled mischievously as if he had thought of something amusing.

Then he turned his gaze towards Bo Jong.

“Bo Jong.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Find me a skilled broker.”

“A broker, you said?”

“Yes. Have a broker skilled in property transactions ready by tomorrow.”

As Hong Woo Geon finished speaking, bamboo grew vigorously from his fingertips.

The white paper soon transformed into a lush bamboo forest.

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It is said that rumors travel a thousand li overnight.

The rumor that Myeongnyebang’s Hwaseop had chosen the seventh house in the north district spread secretly throughout Hanyang.

Naturally, people’s attention was focused on the main gate of the seventh house in the north district.

Some visited as guests, while others lingered in front of the gate all day hoping to meet Hwaseop.

As the house was bustling inside and out day after day, the house owner finally made a firm decision.

Until the civil service exam ends, prohibit the entry of outsiders except for family members.

The scholars who had been acting as guests were driven out of the house, and the people lingering in front of the house also retreated due to the servants coming out from inside.

The house was finally quiet for a while.

Now it would be over if only Hwaseop appeared.

Lee Jang Hyung, who had served as an inspector in the Office of the Inspector-General, paced the wooden floor clearing his throat.

One day, two days, three days passed like that…

After five days passed without any word from Hwaseop, doubts began to grow.

Could the rumor be wrong?

Could someone have played a prank on the Myeongnyebang wall?

Another two days passed.

Now Lee Jang Hyung’s doubts had turned into certainty.

It must have been someone playing a prank.

Otherwise, there was no way Myeongnyebang’s Hwaseop wouldn’t show up even after a week had passed.

His excited heart sank.

He felt unnecessarily angry.

As he was swallowing his anger, recalling how he had been excited like a child all this time,

The voice of a servant boy was heard.

“Master.”

“What is it?”

“Someone is requesting to see you.”

“I told you not to let anyone into the house…!”

Lee Jang Hyung’s voice, which had started to yell, trailed off.

He sprang up from his seat as if bouncing.

“Finally, they’ve come.”

It must be Myeongnyebang’s Hwaseop.

With a joyful and excited heart, he ran outside in one breath.

Below the wooden floor.

Next to the stepping stone stood a middle-class man with a sharp chin and seductive eyes.

Is this man the Hwaseop from the rumors?

At that curious moment.

“I’m Choi, the broker who lives outside Seosomun Gate.”

“Broker?”

Lee Jang Hyung’s brow furrowed.

“What business does a broker have at my house?”

“I’ve come to buy the house.”

“You crazy…”

Just as he was about to shout at him to get out of his house immediately,

A nameplate engraved on both sides appeared in broker Choi’s hand.

“The person who wants to buy the house told me to deliver this.”

Lee Jang Hyung’s eyes widened as he received the nameplate from Choi.

“This is…!”