Chapter 146: Domination 1 (Jibae)

"Hui-Jae, you know that you really shouldn't see the Young Master Nam…" "You saw the letter that he wrote to me, Hwa-Wol! What am I supposed to do? Just ignore him?" "You've done a pretty job of it so far." "Hwa-Wol! It is different now! You know that I have already tried to my best to find a patron for the brothel, but even the princes who come there are no longer interested! Seon-Ho really is my only support, and I need to treat him well and bring him back to the capital so we can move on with my plans…" "To hand over our brothel to some unknown person? Are you really going to do that to us? To the family that you have grown up with?" "Hwa-Wol, I am sorry! I know my dream was to run the brothel by Hwi's side when he finally managed to grow his own source of power but…but Seo Hwi has been dead for a very long time, and I have a fool of a man who is so in love with me, that he is willing to give me the life of a wealthy married woman, just like every kisaeng dreams of! I can sill have the power of running the brothel behind a new owner and I can just live in a life of pure luxury as the Emperor himself acknowledges him more and more…" "and what about…" "who says that a woman can only choose one path of income? Or lifestyle? I know what I am doing, so just let me get on with things…do you hear that? The music of the zither? Where is it coming from?" "It seems to be coming through the only noble home in this street…isn't that where he lives? Seon-Ho?" "Reverberating music that lingers on, it is a great zither indeed. His own zither is unadorned, simple and unimpressive, but the sound of this one is mellow, sweet and lingering. It is obviously being played by a woman, I haven't seen him in over a month and he says he is busy finalising the details of the disaster relief plan, so where did he find the time to find a female friend? And why wasn't this reported to me by the maid I had sent with him? Why hasn't she sent me anything at all?" "Only a noble woman with talent can play the zither like this, she must have bribed her way to get near him…since he is so loyal to you." "Let us see exactly how my man is spending his time away from me when he should be working in the palace to pull himself up from the mud that his father left him to drown in. He wouldn't even be this high up in the palace if it were not for my hard work and support that I gave him from my brothel. Wait, Hwa-Wol, do me a favour, I want you to send a letter to the prince about the upcoming banquet that he has. Tell him that I found a good zither player for his musicians."

I made my way inside the yangban without waiting for his servants to wait on me and just as the music had come to an end. The home was illustrious indeed, but I was worried that it would make my own best friend jealous of my own fortune, so I sent her to find the girl in his home and write to a prince that I was close to in the brothel and make a few new suggestions to the banquet that he wanted to throw for his concubine mother in the palace. But it looked like he had already anticipated my arrival, as he had a small feast set up in my honour, along with a couple of glasses that were already half-filled, like he had been drinking with a woman moment before I had arrived at all.

"I see that you have written to me out of loneliness and per usual, I am even impressed that you remembered that plum wine is my favourite….Seon-Ho? Are you drunk already?" "You have dressed up well for a brothel madame, you practically look like royalty yourself." "This is the first time that you have invited me anywhere, of course I wanted to look my best for you. I had to admit that I was pretty happy to see your letter, I could tell how much you missed me from it. Don't you have anything else to say to me? At all?" "The weather is pleasant today, but I have already eaten and drank enough. Thank you for your hospitality and…" "I could hear from outside that you have lost your favourite zither. So I made you a new one as a gift by my own hands, do you like it?"

"Thank you for your kind gesture, but I have done nothing to deserve just…devotion from your part, especially since you have done nothing else for me at all, so I cannot accept it." Just who the hell did he think he was to reject me like this? Didn't he have the slightest idea of who I was? "Where is your friend Hwa-Wol by the way? I do not see her with you?" "She is busy." "What can she be so busy with in my home that she has never seen before? Bring her over here, I am sure she is just as hungry as you are after your long journey. Both of you eat up, rest and refresh yourselves…" "and what about you?" "I have some meetings to attend to in the afternoon and I need to sober up before then. I have been up all night and I need to get some rest…"

"But I personally worked on this zither from its embryonic state to the stringing of the instrument. Look at my fingers, they are covered in cuts and bruises and…" "which will heal in a day to two without needing any treatment at all. I am an untalented musician without any virtue, and undeserving of your sudden devotion. I have a new friend that plays for me anyway and…" "the maid that I had sent for you has no talent at all, how can she play for you?" "She cannot since she has found new employment elsewhere." "What! Why wasn't this reported to me! What did she do!" "She set fire to Yeon's home after filling it up with snakes. She was caught and the situation was beyond my control, so she was sent to serve another family." "Are you sure that it was because of that? Or was it Yeon that chased her away? Because she now lives with you?" I came here to enforce my dominance over this man, only to end up bring driver mad by petty jealousy. I could feel my eyes burning with hot tears and my sharp nails digging abasing my skin in order to restrain myself from tearing his head off right there and then. How dare he entertain other women behind my back and didn't bother t report this to me? If he wanted my help, he needed to keep me updated with every single detail of his plans so I could act accordingly.

"There are many things that I do not need to mention; such as…" "I know that you dress modestly as a defence mechanism to protect your life. But you can easily use me as your shield, as long as you continue to fund the brothel and not interrogate me on behalf of an epileptic orphan who has nowhere else to go apart from you!"

"Ever since you…chose me, I noticed that t you have treated me as your possessions. I am not allowed to have any companions and confidants, and no joy in my life other than you when you will not even touch me. Loving someone in the way will suffocate them and…" "Oh for goodness sake! I am only protecting you! Do you know how many people in the Emperor's court still want you life because of your father?" "Pardon me for not being able to bear this kind of protection, but nothing is coming out of it. I am sick and tired of you lording your contacts over me and giving me nothing in return. It is time for our collaboration to come to and end and for us to go our separate ways."

I could feel my face contort with rage and my jaw clenching beyond my control; how dare he do this to me? To us? Has he any idea of how much I degraded myself just to be seen with him? To accompany him? I even lay with this man so he could fund my lifestyle and now? After separating me from my lover just so that he could have me for himself, and now he wanted nothing to do with me as he became a rising star in the palace? Was he being for real? Was this what his love was wort? Absolutely nothing at all? "So you do not wish to accept my gift…but the one you have gifted yours to may not live long enough to keep it either!" "Hwa-Wol is welcome to stay here for a day or two, but as for you, you have no reason to stay here at all. You can just go back to your brothel and…" "and what?" "I expect a full refund on the expenses that I have paid for it, since I have no reason to go back there ever again. I have already kept an invoice of everywhere that my money has gone to and I expect it back by the end of the year at the very least." "No!" "No?" "Seon-Ho…look…my feelings for you has already been fused into my blood & my thoughts. I want to be with you in any corner of the world, anywhere at all is fine. If you agree to stay with me, then I will do anything at all for you…" "Jae…" "…and I will let you have as many concubines as you want to build up your power in the palace if it will help. I am a madame anyway, so I know to how manage women on a daily basis. I just want to be with you, please…I am already taking a step back and I will consent for a lower status…" "A lower status? What do you mean? As you come from a brothel, you can only ever be a concubine yourself."

"Hui-Jae, listen to me well. The only reason why I was ever attracted to you was because of your abilities and how I could use them to my own advantage. And we have never even touched each other, so we have no emotional ties at all. You have been promising to help me fora while and you have done nothing for me as of yet, and I am not a patient man at all. I have no feelings for you at all, so why should I wish to marry you or take you anywhere with me? How on earth can a brothel woman help me at all?"