Lullaby
“The giant from Hubei and his friends have arrived!”
At the coachman’s shout, a servant who had been waiting hurried forward and led the carriage toward the main building.
Three young scholars stepped down from the carriage, all of them dressed alike in scholar’s robes and wearing the square caps of learned men.
At a glance, it was obvious which one of them was Yi Yun-jae, the man who had passed the provincial exam.
He was tall, broad-shouldered, and held himself with great confidence. His open, good-natured face, that of a man in his mid-twenties, practically glowed with the joy of someone who felt he had the whole world in his hands.
The other two were smiling as well, but there was a bitter edge to it; their eyes and mouths were just slightly out of sync, as if the sight of him had left a sour taste in their throats.
Even their backs, as they walked shoulder to shoulder into the main building, carried different weights.
Much later, a large, sumptuous carriage drawn by four horses rolled into the alley.
The coachman on the seat was no ordinary driver. He wore the official robes of a military officer and carried a sword at his waist.
“It’s the prefect! The prefect is here! Clear the way and step back!”
Bang Jo-in recognized him at once and quickly called over a servant before retreating to the side. I did the same and moved aside by the door.
Apparently knowing no one would try to stop him, the carriage didn’t slow at all and passed straight through the gate, heading for the main building.
A plain, large carriage followed at a slight distance.
It stopped behind the prefect’s luxurious carriage, and armed guards poured out, fanning around the main building to keep watch.
Just from the way they moved, the look in their eyes, and the set of their posture, it was obvious they hadn’t just been picked at random to fill out the numbers.
They were the real thing—trained men with actual field experience.
“That’s a nasty bunch. They do this every time the prefect comes?”
Bang Jo-in lowered his voice, covering his mouth with one hand as if scratching his lip.
“Of course. He’s the highest authority in Chongqing, isn’t he? This level of protection is nothing. If he really traveled in full force, a hundred government troops would be marching in front and behind him, glaring at everyone.”
Even now, a few of the officers were watching us and Bang Jo-in with narrowed eyes, murmuring among themselves.
Which was only natural. The only people around carrying swords were them and the two of us.
Once the escorts had taken their positions and reported that the area was secure, the door of the luxurious carriage finally opened.
An aging high official, dressed not in his court robes but in silk.
He wasn’t a large man, and his lean face was drawn so taut it looked like a metal spike.
He had the air of a stubborn idealist who had spent his whole life bent over books.
He didn’t look like the highest power in Chongqing so much as some incorruptible scholar-official who cared nothing for bribes, status, or wealth.
It was an impressive face, but you couldn’t judge a person by the surface alone.
Everyone knew that the stench grew worse the higher you climbed in the bureaucracy, from the lowest clerks in the yamen all the way up.
This was a world where you couldn’t do a thing without bribes and connections.
If he really had been flying alone like a crane, how could he possibly have broken through the territorial greed of the crows and climbed to the lofty position of prefect?
And the way they were throwing a banquet in honor of this splendid carriage only made it more obvious; no doubt the man looked very different behind closed doors.
With someone as important as the prefect arriving, the manager, the servants, the courtesans, and even the giant Yi Yun-jae’s party all came out to greet him.
At the very front of the courtesans bowing politely was a middle-aged beauty in a striking blue skirt and jacket, smiling brightly.
“Is that the house madam?”
“Looks like it. She’s definitely from a courtesan background, but nobody knows her former name. She isn’t so breathtaking that she’d drive men mad, but she should’ve been famous enough. Strange, isn’t it?”
“And Ye-hyang?”
“The woman in the pale pink robe standing right behind her.”
Delicate features, elegant and pure.
Her eyes were so pitiful they made me think of a deer lifting its head at the rustle of grass while grazing in the morning mist.
With a face that mysterious, and the added touch of pipa music, she would be more than enough to steal the hearts of ordinary men.
After the prefect accepted the welcome and entered the main building, several guards accompanied him inside.
The entire hall burst into noise, filled with laughter and music.
A few more carriages arrived, letting off their distinguished guests before heading off to the stables.
Since I didn’t have to deal with anyone directly, the shift was pretty easy. I yawned, stretched, and then my stomach started growling.
When was supper coming? I licked my lips and looked toward the inn farther beyond the hall, where the quarters were.
That was when another carriage rolled in.
“Oh, damn...”
Bang Jo-in startled and quickly straightened his sloppy posture.
Wondering what was wrong, I looked over and saw a driver in the livery of the Yongcheon Escort Agency sitting on the coachman’s seat. That alone told me who must be inside.
The driver stopped the horses in front of the main gate.
“So the escort agency chief is here. Has the prefect arrived yet?”
“About half an hour ago, sir.”
Bang Jo-in replied, pointing toward the officers standing guard around the main building.
The escort master clicked his tongue softly.
“I urged the road to be cleared because we were in a hurry, yet we’re still late.”
Then someone opened the carriage door and stepped down.
It was the first time since I’d become the night gatekeeper of Simhyangru that I’d gotten a proper look at the face of a passenger still seated inside a carriage.
A martial artist in his fifties, with white-gray hair at his temples.
He was of medium height and solidly built.
The face revealed beneath the hero’s headband tied around his forehead was refined, almost scholarly, but his eyes flashed like those of a general who had ridden through countless battlefields.
He didn’t seem like the sort of man who would ever stand under another’s command.
His martial skill was hard to gauge, but he was definitely not weaker than me. The very thought that I’d rather keep my distance from his blade range said enough...
On the left side of his dark blue martial robe, the words “Yongcheon” were embroidered in thread, and a sword of moderate length hung at the back of his waist.
This unremarkable-looking middle-aged man was the owner of the Yongcheon Escort Agency.
Flying Qi Sword Gam Hu-jeong.
“I-I greet the escort agency chief.”
Bang Jo-in bowed deeply with his hands clasped in front of him, his whole body stiff. I also folded my hands and returned the courtesy.
“Bang Jo-in.”
“Yes, escort agency chief.”
“How are you doing?”
“V-very well, sir. Heh heh.”
Bang Jo-in forced a smile and kept bending over himself.
If he’d had a tail attached to his backside, he’d probably have been wagging it like crazy. He was so servile it was almost pathetic.
Gam Hu-jeong’s eyes narrowed. As if refusing to look at such an ugly sight, he turned his gaze to me.
“You’re a new face.”
“I’m Jeong Dae-cheon. I was hired as security for Simhyangru this time.”
“Ah, you’re the one. You use a dao, I hear?”
“Yes, sir.”
Gam Hu-jeong studied me carefully with a fresh look in his eyes, then nodded.
“They say you didn’t lose to Manager Feng and that your technique was fair and square. You’re a rare one. A gatekeeper at a tavern like this will see his share of filthy, unpleasant things. Make sure you don’t lose your temper and go drawing your blade over every little irritation. If you wear the escort agency’s clothes and don’t conduct yourself carefully, the price won’t be light.”
Even while warning me, the escort chief didn’t forget to send a sharp glance at Bang Jo-in.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
As I lowered my head, I glanced sideways and saw Bang Jo-in bent nearly double at the waist.
Gam Hu-jeong walked through the main gate and headed toward the main building. The carriage that had brought him didn’t enter the courtyard; instead, it turned and disappeared back out of the alley.
Bang Jo-in let out a sigh of relief and slumped against the wall as if he’d just survived a brush with death.
“What did you ever do to the escort agency chief that made you freak out like that?”
“Do? What do you mean, do... Do I look like the kind of man who goes around committing crimes?”
Since I still didn’t take my eyes off him suspiciously, Bang Jo-in quickly changed the subject.
“But have you sparred with Manager Feng?”
“We only crossed wooden staffs for a moment during the interview.”
“Oh? So you didn’t get pushed around by that monster, huh? Looks like you’re stronger than you seem.”
Bang Jo-in gave me a grin that said he’d had to look at me again. He didn’t seem particularly wary or intimidated.
It didn’t seem to matter to him at all that some kid younger than him might be better at martial arts.
If I’d shown him a few cheating tricks with bone tiles, what would he have done? He probably would’ve gone crazy and begged me to teach him, his eyes practically popping out of his head.
That’s how hopeless gamblers were.
Even after that, five more carriages came in.
Counting all the distinguished guests who went into the main building, there were seventeen in total.
For a full eight-story building rented out for a banquet, that was absurdly few people.
Probably the point was to avoid running into other guests or drawing unnecessary attention from the public.
They must have decided that wasting a fortune on this kind of display was still cheaper than getting caught up in meaningless gossip.
The laughter from inside the hall grew louder, as if they’d finally stopped worrying about what anyone else thought and were really enjoying themselves.
“I’m going to use the privy for a bit.”
I passed by the main building and headed toward the quarters behind it, where the privy was.
The summer night air, not yet fully cooled, wrapped my face in a faint warmth.
Then I stopped without meaning to.
Somewhere, I could hear a low voice singing.
A small, thin sound drifting beneath the raucous laughter, soft and steady.
A strange melody with no lyrics at all, only a breathy hum woven together with loneliness and tenderness.
I looked around through the dim darkness, and my eyes came to rest on the detached building beyond the wall, some thirty feet away.
I listened a little longer, then started walking again. When I came back from the privy, the humming was gone, leaving only the dark.
*
No matter how grand the banquet, everything had its ending.
At dawn, the carriages one by one carried away their drunken guests and left Simhyangru behind.
The feast was over, but there were always some who couldn’t forget the afterglow.
That evening, as soon as the sun went down and the lanterns were hung, he returned to Simhyangru. He was probably one of those people.
The man who got out of the carriage was none other than the giant Yi Yun-jae, the protagonist of yesterday’s celebration for passing the provincial exam.
He was alone.
He looked thoroughly exhausted, as if he hadn’t slept properly after going home. Shadows had settled beneath his eyes, and even the bright spark that had once flickered there now seemed blurred under a heavy haze of worry.
Yi Yun-jae glanced around and followed a servant into the main building.
Bang Jo-in snorted.
“Fell for Ye-hyang, did he? Seems like he’s fallen hard. You get those sorts of weak-willed scholars sometimes. They spend their lives reading until they can recite Confucius in their sleep, but when it comes to women they’re eunuchs with balls, knowing nothing but their own mothers. Then they catch one whiff of powder from a pretty courtesan and lose their heads. That’s why they say late-blooming thieves are the most dangerous...”
And this from a gambling addict who couldn’t keep his hands off his bone tiles?
Even when I stared at him with a silent look, Bang Jo-in didn’t stop sneering. It seemed he was badly jealous of Yi Yun-jae.
That day, too, several other customers came to Simhyangru.
After letting the carriages through and standing watch for a long while, I took a brief break to use the privy.
As I walked along loosening up my stiff body, I sensed someone nearby and turned my head. In the dim passage leading from the back of the main building to the detached quarters, someone was standing there.
He was wearing loose-sleeved clothes and had no weapon at his waist or on his back.
The lanterns hung all the way up to the eighth floor made the hall bright and glamorous, and the moonlight was clear enough to make out his face easily.
Standing there with his hands clasped behind his back and looking up at the sky was Yi Yun-jae.
He must have come out to look at the moon and cool off the heat of the drink.
There was worry all over his face.
Just yesterday he had looked as though he’d won the world; today he seemed as if he had lost everything.
I’d never had a romance with a courtesan, but I knew what a man in love looked like.
Yi Yun-jae seemed to be troubled by something deep.
But I could have bet half a silver nyang that it wasn’t because of desperate longing or lust. Not that I was bragging, but I’d never lost a bet like that.
His gaze was directed toward something farther away, and darker, than that.
It wasn’t my place to ask him about his troubles and listen to his worries, so I just kept going.
As the direction of the wind shifted, a faint singing drifted past my ear.
It was unfamiliar, but for some reason it also felt strangely familiar. Not just a feeling, either—I’d really heard it before.
The only difference was that it wasn’t a hummed tune this time, but a low, wistful voice singing it aloud. The melody was definitely the same as the one some woman had been humming yesterday.
The pleasure house was noisy, and the singing was soft, so I couldn’t make out the lyrics.
Yi Yun-jae kept murmuring the song as he looked at the moon, as if making a wish.
After I finished and returned to the main gate, Bang Jo-in had left his post, saying he was going to the privy.
A carriage came in. I called a servant to let it through, then resumed my spot at the gate and watched the alley beyond.
Now and then I saw martial artists wandering around with swords at their waists, but none of them were foolish enough to come all the way to Simhyangru and start trouble.
By the time the night had deepened and it was almost time to head for a late-night meal, Bang Jo-in still hadn’t returned.
Was he stealing liquor from the kitchen in the pleasure house or something?
Whenever you got hired to work for a gang or organization, there were always people like that—pathetic fools who thought doing your job properly was a loss and constantly looked for ways to slack off.
It was only much later that Bang Jo-in finally came back, his face blank.
He seemed to have fought a hard battle in the privy; his legs had gone weak, and he was staggering. His expression was half absent, his eyes dull and unfocused.
“What happened to you?”
“Huh? W-what is it?”
Bang Jo-in flinched and lifted his head.
“You said you were going to the privy, but you didn’t come back for over half an hour. Of course I’d wonder.”
“Ah, well... did I? Already that long? I lost track of time while straining my ass off.”
Bang Jo-in brushed it off with a shameless chuckle. His face looked like there was definitely something making him uneasy.
Back at his post, he fiddled with his bone tiles and quietly hummed to himself.
And that was when a strange sense of wrongness crept over me.
Last night it had been some woman, earlier it had been Yi Yun-jae, and now Bang Jo-in was humming the same tune.
“What’s the name of that song?”
“This? Isn’t it a lullaby?”
“A lullaby?”
“You said your hometown was here, right? Then I guess you might not know it. They say it’s a lullaby that was popular in ordinary households in Hubei. I don’t know the lyrics either.”
“Are you from Hubei, Brother Bang?”
“No. Still, there are things you just know. Strange as it sounds, luck smiles on me now and then and I even end up with free money.”
Whether he’d really found silver somewhere or not, Bang Jo-in looked delighted and kept humming under his breath.
The twitching at the corners of his mouth made it obvious he wanted to keep talking, but uncharacteristically, he held himself back and bit his lip.
Instead, he kept rubbing his left side. Unlike before, the cloth there was bulging outward.
The pouch with his bone tiles was tied at the back of his waist. Whatever he had stuffed inside his robes looked like a money pouch.
I wondered briefly where the silver had come from, but if he’d stolen it, there was no reason to get tangled up in it, so I pretended not to notice.