Chapter 133
Chapter 133
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 133
Chapter Title: Kwon Ram and Han Myeonghoe (3)
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Kwon Ram countered upon hearing my words.
"What do you mean by 'sending him to the side of Goryeo'?"
"It means to eradicate him from this world, just like the previous dynasty Goryeo."
"Are you asking if I want to harm my own parents, who gave birth to me? Once born as a human, a child must fulfill their filial duties to their parents. How can you utter such outrageous words? Even if the parents are utterly wicked, I believe a child must still do their duty."
Kwon Ram's words were like that, but deep down, it seemed his heart was filled with the desire to get rid of his father.
If he didn't feel that way, when an adult like me said something like that, the normal reaction would be to defend his dad—"My dad's a good man, why say that?"—and come at me angrily...
But the kid hadn't said a word about how precious his father was. He'd just recited Confucian doctrine like reading from a textbook.
Proof that he was deeply intrigued by my proposal.
"You don't have to hide it from me. Because I have no intention of leaving your father alone either. He's my enemy."
"Why are you going this far for someone like me?"
I closed the door and took off my official robe.
Explaining why in words would take too long. It seemed faster to persuade him by recounting the episodes I'd gone through as this person.
Kwon Ram's mouth fell open in shock at my sudden action.
"Why do you have so many scars on your body, my lord?!"
"The last time there was a big fire in Hanyang, I grabbed hammers in both hands and rushed in to put it out. No one told me to, and I had no obligation to step up like that. I got some burns in the process."
Even now, thinking back, what I'd done was honestly reckless.
Does it make any sense for a civil official in official robes to be charging around the front lines of firefighting to save the people?
Still, by throwing myself in, I was able to protect countless lives and property.
"Can you guess why I did that?"
Kwon Ram tilted his head.
"It was a desperate desire to save even one more person trapped in danger, just like you. Aren't you suffering great pain because of your father right now? Seeing it with my own eyes fills me with pity, so I'm reaching out to you. At the same time, I want to punish the wicked one who tramples on the weak."
"......Is that really the only reason?"
There was actually another important reason.
Because you are Kwon Ram, the advisor to Grand Prince Suyang.
A talent too precious to leave under the inferiority-complex-ridden King Sejo.
I'm going to reform you and make you devote yourself to the development of Joseon.
Just like your friend Han Myeonghoe.
"It is said that the king must be kingly, and the subject must be subject-like. And a subject must cherish and care for all the people like a mother. From a young age, I've wanted to live by this duty I've learned, so I'm helping you."
In truth, neither Joseon's parents nor Korea's parents taught me to sacrifice myself for others like this.
When I nearly lost my family helplessly, there was a social welfare officer who treated my situation like his own.
I want to become like him, and to repay the true debt I owe him—that's why I'm devoting myself like this.
Kwon Ram hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"I hate my father. He's infatuated with his concubine, who was once a gisaeng, and he ignores and beats my mother. I wept and begged him desperately not to do it. No matter how much I begged and pleaded, he wouldn't listen. Instead, he even kicked me, saying I dared to interfere in my father's affairs."
"That must have torn your heart apart."
"Yesterday, my mother got beaten badly by my father again. But that wasn't enough to satisfy him, so when he tried to beat us too, my mother yelled at us to get out of the room quickly. That's why my sister and I fled outside. They say filial piety to parents is a person's duty, but how can I respect such a father? I'm not Shun; I can't do it."
Shun wasn't even human.
From the start, he's a fairy-tale-like figure from Confucian legends, a symbol of perfect harmony, who supposedly just laughed and dodged every time his father tried to kill him multiple times.
They say he did it to keep his father from sinning, but is that human?
"Even Mencius said a tyrannical ruler is no king. My father violates human duty and abuses his proper wife and children like this—why should I respect and revere him? My true feelings are that I want to get rid of him, just like the previous Goryeo."
"I'll make your wish come true."
"Really?"
While getting rid of that bastard Kwon Je, I should enact child abuse laws too.
In Joseon, if parents kill their child without intent, they often get let off—but does that make sense?
Even from a Confucian view, that's nonsense.
And beyond violence, mad gamblers addicted to gambling sell their young daughters to gisaeng houses or as slaves to fund their habits.
I can understand it a million times over if it's to avoid starving to death.
But selling kids for gambling? No forgiveness.
"However, killing him outright might be impossible."
If Kwon Je's child abuse led to his child's death, I'd have grounds to demand that bastard's execution.
But since no one's died yet, the death penalty is tough.
And is death the only fitting punishment for that human scum?
"Instead, I can give him pain so severe he'd rather die, and make it last a long, long time."
"......How?"
"I'll impeach him and send him into exile. Normally, someone like your father lives comfortably in exile—in a nice house, taking in local concubines, hiring servants. But if I impeach him harshly and expose all his misdeeds, none of that will be allowed."
Exile is originally an extremely harsh punishment.
Just being sentenced and sent into exile costs a fortune.
And upon arrival, you have to live off the host family...
The host, forced to feed and house the criminal, nags endlessly, treats them like dirt, and works them to near death.
That's exile—indefinite, until the king pardons you.
"Your father likes his gisaeng concubine, but he won't be able to take her. Far from Hanyang, in some rural backwater, he'll do backbreaking labor he's never known, living in a shabby shed. No matter how hard he works to the point of death each day, all he'll get is millet and barley rice. For someone who's lived comfortably his whole life, falling to the bottom of hell—how agonizing will that be?"
Surprisingly, many human rights activists support the death penalty.
It's easy to think they're considering 'victims' rights,' but no—these folks are advocating for the rights of death row inmates.
They argue that sentencing someone deserving death to life imprisonment—forcing them to rot in prison for 10, 20, 30 years—is far more torturous.
They demand the revival of the death penalty.
I don't like coddling the human rights of scum who deserve to die, but the idea that 'life imprisonment can be more painful than death' is worth noting.
A bloody smile formed on Kwon Ram's face.
"Yes, that sounds truly agonizing."
"And living like that is painful enough, but the locals will point fingers endlessly—how humiliating a life that would be."
A trash heap who gets drunk, beats his wife and kids, and only cares about screwing his concubine—if he shows up in exile, villagers will recoil in disgust and treat him like less than human.
Truth be told, even if poor, to be treated as human in exile, it needs to be something clean like Jeong Yak-yong's 'political purge.' But exiled for scum behavior like that? They'll see him as utter trash.
"......Killing him to send him to join the previous Goryeo might be less painful than this. What do you think?"
There are plenty of suicides from bullying, gaslighting, and harassment in schools, the military, workplaces.
The reason? Being ostracized from your group feels worse than death.
Scum like Kwon Je deserves to live in that agony.
"Do you want me to make it happen?"
"Yes, my lord."
"Good. Then I'll tell you the price you must pay. Nothing in this world is free."
Kwon Ram swallowed hard at my words.
"From now on, you'll study under me. And bring your friend Han Myeonghoe too. That's the price."
"Pardon?!"
"Your father has abandoned all human duties, so you probably haven't learned right from wrong either. That's why I'll teach you myself."
"Is that really all?"
"Rumors say you and your close friend Han Myeonghoe will both become great men. I was curious if the rumors were true, but meeting you like this, I see you're prime material to rise even to Chief State Councillor."
Kwon Ram did indeed serve as Left State Councillor.
So even without my help, he'd make it big.
"My lord."
"Call me Teacher."
"Teacher..."
"Yes. From now on, I'll teach you how to live as a proper human and the ways of scholarship."
I said that, but teaching them to read would be left to some other scholar.
I'm too busy with state affairs to teach the Four Books and Three Classics from start to finish.
Instead, I'll fill their heads with good knowledge.
Like economics.
"For the time being, think of this place as your home and rest easy. I'll soon rescue your mother from that bastard Kwon Je's hands too. From now on, just see good things and think good thoughts. That's the privilege and right of a child."
And not long after, an appeal came up through the Office of Royal Decrees.
That bastard Kwon Je had bitten the bait and petitioned the king for divorce.