Chapter 131
Chapter 131
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 131
Chapter Title: Kwon Ram and Han Myeonghoe (1)
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People often say that meddling too much in others' affairs can ruin your life.
In fact, there are more than a few cases where someone does a good deed out of kindness, only to have their life go down the drain.
Like picking up a wallet from the street and turning it in to the police the next day, only for some lunatic to sue you.
Or performing CPR to save someone's life, and that crazy bastard sues you for sexual assault.
If you get tangled up with one of those lunatics by sheer bad luck, you might not end up in jail even after the investigation proves your innocence, but you'll at least shell out ten million won.
In lawyer fees and settlements, that is.
In Joseon, where propriety and law hold sway, trying to file a lawsuit over something like that would get the accuser branded as less than human and flogged for false accusation.
That's why Joseon is a great country for acts of kindness.
"Gap-seok, let's take those kids who ran away from home back to our place. At this late hour, two children wandering around might run into some disaster."
Gap-seok shook his head at my words.
"My lord, this humble servant is ignorant and doesn't know who owns that household. But anyone with a grand mansion like that in Bukchon must be a person of great power. Getting involved in their family matters carelessly will only make things blow up. Family issues should be handled by the family themselves—let's head back home."
Gap-seok was right.
The master of that house is Kwon Je, former magistrate of Jincheon County, who once held the rank of provincial governor at Jeong 2-grade before his bribery scandal got him demoted.
Moreover, Kwon Je's father is Kwon Geun, one of the top ten founding merit subjects, so their family prestige is immense.
Joseon is a land of propriety and etiquette, where good Samaritans won't face injustice, but it's also a patriarchal society.
When a patriarch like Kwon Je gets drunk and beats his kids, it's just loose talk from a loose tongue, and even when that bastard ended up killing his own daughter (unintentionally, he claimed), he faced no real punishment.
The annals just note, "That guy is trash," and that's it.
"Getting involved in someone else's family affairs will only bring harm to you, my lord."
I had no rebuttal to his words.
Everyone was right.
But I couldn't just walk past those poor children.
Part of it was recognizing the fleeing boy as Kwon Ram, but more than that, it reminded me of my own childhood back in Korea.
That social worker who had helped my family materially and morally during our impoverished days—he knew things could get complicated, that it might backfire on him, yet...
"You're right about everything, but as a human being, how can I pretend not to see those children? If they were from poor families, maybe, but they're the young lady and young master of a yangban house—they'll surely fall prey to the riffraff of Hanyang."
In 21st-century Korea, a runaway minor sleeping on the streets might get by without too much trouble most of the time...
But in CCTV-less Joseon, a boy and girl in fancy clothes wandering around will catch the eyes of thugs and get kidnapped for sure.
And once kidnapped, ransom and release is unlikely.
Because even the thugs know they'll be arrested the moment they show up demanding money.
So they'll sell them off as slaves in some remote village, claiming they're from a noble house.
And then they'll be lost forever.
"Let go of the reins."
"Oh, my lord..."
As I spurred my horse, Gap-seok let go of the reins with a helpless shake of his head.
As we approached the children, they froze.
Who wouldn't panic seeing a mounted man charging toward them late at night?
"My name is Kim Dae-bung. I serve as Jeong 4-grade scribe in the State Council. People call me the Petition-from-the-Frontier Kim Dae-bung, and I've heard they even say 'Petition Lord' in the markets."
"Petition... lord? You don't mean that famous..."
"I'm the very Kim Dae-bung you're thinking of."
The young Kwon Ram and the girl behind him looked terrified.
They must have seen their father drunk, flipping tables, and beating their mother—it had to be horrifying.
And upon closer look, the girl's face was bruised.
How desperate must they have been to flee into the night without a thought for what catastrophe might await outside?
Thank heavens they ran into me.
"What are your names?"
"I'm Kwon Ram, and this is my sister Kwon Yeong."
"I see."
As expected, the boy's name was Kwon Ram.
I would have protected him even if he wasn't, but since he's the one who'll become Grand Prince Suyang's advisor in the future...
I need to build a connection, protect him well, and educate him properly so his personality doesn't go astray.
History shows he had exceptional talent, but rotten character led him to all sorts of evil deeds.
If I can fix his temperament, won't he grow into a great asset for the nation?
Kwon Ram's shivering sister asked cautiously.
"You're not telling us to go back home?"
"I've seen young children like you flee your home in the dead of night—how could I heartlessly send you back? There must be circumstances, after all."
The biggest reason I couldn't ignore their escape was my past life coming back to me.
Back in Korea, I was born into dire poverty.
My father died in an accident when I was young, and my mother raised me alone until overexertion gave her cancer.
With no cancer insurance, she didn't know what to do about the huge treatment costs.
Actually, I learned later as an adult: she had refused treatment and planned to just die because she couldn't bear going into debt to save herself—it would be like killing her child to save her own life.
But as a child, I ran to the district office, throwing a tantrum begging for help, and that's when I met a social worker uncle about to retire.
Even though it was technically someone else's problem, he went all out for our family.
He helped with all the paperwork to qualify us for basic livelihood support, expedited the process so we'd get medical aid as soon as possible.
Thanks to that, treatment costs were fully covered, Mom didn't miss her treatment window, and she survived.
And with living and housing allowances, we didn't starve during her recovery.
These kids aren't poor like I was, but how terrifying must their drunken father's violence have been to make them flee like this?
Thinking about it, I couldn't treat it as someone else's business.
"Let's go to my house first and rest. And just in case, I'll call my physician too."
"Thank you... But are you sure this is okay?"
"What do you mean?"
"Our father is a former provincial governor. If you get involved in our family matters..."
I'll be in deep trouble.
Meddling directly in the family affairs of the son of founding merit subject Kwon Geun, a former provincial governor.
It's poking at his sore spot—he might even try to kill me.
But I can't ignore children I can save.
To brush off Kwon Ram's words, I patted his head.
"Haha, a child should accept an adult's kindness purely and innocently. If things go wrong, sure, I might face impeachment from the Office of Inspectors. But that's my concern, not something for children like you to worry about."
"But, my lord..."
"You're a thoughtful child for your age. But a child who isn't yet an adult doesn't need to judge coldly like one or consider others' circumstances so deeply."
Impeachment could lead to demotion after demotion, even dismissal and exile.
So what?
Even in exile, our family has plenty of money—we'd live well.
Life comes once, death once.
At least I shouldn't live in a way that's shameful to me.
That way, I'd have the face to meet the social worker uncle who helped my young self and family so selflessly.
"I'll ask again: will you come with me?"
"We'll be in your debt, my lord."
And so, I rescued the two children from the rampaging drunk Kwon Je and took them home.
Winter was surprised when we arrived, but once I explained, she promptly summoned the physician.
The physician said early intervention meant no permanent scars.
And as dawn broke the next morning, our expected uninvited guest arrived.
Kwon Je.
The moment he saw me, he snapped like he was scolding a subordinate.
"No matter how much favor you have with the two princes at court, isn't meddling in another family's affairs overstepping your bounds?"
What I did was overstepping.
By Confucian values, even if parents beat or try to kill their children, the children must forgive and fulfill filial piety.
In such a world, berating me for sheltering his runaways makes sense.
Hmm, time for a counterattack.
"My lord, you got drunk and abused children—is that truly righteous? Can you stand tall before everyone?"