Not Exactly Playing House
As he scooped out the ointment with a tiny ceramic spatula, the mighty Renju of Cheonsaryeon couldn't help but feel a bit ridiculous. The cotton bandage had been cut to the perfect length to wrap around his hand exactly twice. This, too, was undoubtedly the work of Baekri Yeongso's deft fingers. Pulling one end of the knot tight with his teeth, Banya wondered what it would have been like if he had let his wife apply the medicine instead. She had been fretting over the back of his hand the entire way back to Cheonsaryeon, so she surely would have poured her heart into a task as simple as applying ointment. To think he had missed out on that. He felt as though he had suffered a great loss.
"Perhaps I shall test your skills tomorrow, then." Would Baekri Yeongso blow gently on his wound to soothe the sting? He nearly let slip a chuckle, amused that he was now curious about such trivial things.
For a long while after, Banya continued to dwell on his wife. One particular question crossed his mind: Has she ever burned with desire while thinking of me? If she never had, he hoped she would start now. Many times over. Every single day, if possible. Because for Banya, every time he thought of his wife, he felt as though all his blood was rushing to a single place.
Farewell to the Hwa Banya of yesterday, who had sunk to the very bottom of despair. Today, Banya woke up with a radiant, refreshed face the moment the morning sun rose. He smiled so warmly while handing out vegetable porridge and steamed buns to the beggars that those waiting in line reportedly felt their knees knock in sheer terror.
"The Renju is smiling..."
"I finally got used to him enough to take the porridge without my hands shaking, and now he smiles like that?"
"Is it actually poisoned today?"
Regardless of their whispers, Banya's happiness was at an all-time high. Today was the day Hwa Mujin would be publicly flogged in the courtyard of the government office.
"My lady, how about wearing this hairpin set with rose quartz and jade? It looks a bit plain on its own, so let us add a coral ornament as well." He had slipped into Yeongso's bedchamber first thing in the morning, making quite a fuss as he personally selected her hair ornaments.
He looks like a child getting ready for a long-awaited picnic... Yeongso could not bring herself to tell him to restrain himself, so she merely offered a faint smile. Seeing this, Banya promptly brought over a dangling hairpin adorned with thirty pearls and slid it straight into his wife's hair.
"Is this not a bit too extravagant? We are not going to a festival; we are going to the government office to witness a punishment."
"What do you mean, my lady? We are indeed going on an outing. It just happens to be at the very office where the sentence is being carried out."
Treated almost like a dress-up doll, Yeongso was adorned entirely according to Banya's tastes. Her personal maid, Chocho, was even more excited, chiming in with, "The Renju truly has impeccable taste!" as she helped style Yeongso.
Dressed so magnificently, Yeongso headed to the government office alongside her husband, who was dressed even more extravagantly than she was. Since the man receiving the punishment was no ordinary citizen but the mighty Palace Master of Jeokhwa Palace, a massive crowd of onlookers had gathered. In the wide courtyard, a T-shaped wooden flogging bench had already been set up. As the drums rolled to signal the start of the execution, Hwa Mujin, his wrists bound and his ankles in shackles, was dragged out by the constables.
"My lady, thank you for killing me back then."
Yeongso's eyes widened at her husband's sudden, out-of-the-blue confession. "Pardon?" Right now? Here? What if someone hears you! But Banya seemed entirely sincere.
"If I had not died then, I would never have thought to use the authorities to deal with that bastard, nor would I have known the sheer ecstasy of this very moment." Banya pulled his wife's hand and pressed it against his chest. "Can you feel this fluttering?"
Yeongso had no idea about any fluttering; she was too busy frantically scanning their surroundings. Banya pressed her hand even firmer against his chest. "It is the pulse of pure joy."
"Yes, yes."
"Ah... That bastard has finally looked our way. It was well worth dressing up more lavishly than usual just to make his stomach turn."
So that was your reason? If so, you should have just dressed up by yourself. Yeongso looked at Hwa Mujin, who was being bound to the bench. He was glaring in their direction as if he wanted to tear them to shreds. Banya briefly suggested they both smile at the wretched fool, only to suddenly decide he would be the only one to do so. "Your smile is far too precious to waste on a creature like him."
It was Yeongso's first time seeing a real flogging. The wooden paddle was far larger and thicker than she had imagined. If it struck a vital spot by mistake, it felt as though just one or two blows could kill a person.
"Begin!"
On this bright autumn morning, the sound of a sinner's buttocks being struck echoed through the courtyard of the government office. By the twentieth blow, blood had indeed begun to seep through the seat of Hwa Mujin's trousers.
"How pitiful," Banya drawled, his words entirely devoid of sincerity.
Yeongso thought that her eldest sister and her husband would have been highly satisfied had they been here. Her eldest brother-in-law's influence must have played a significant role in securing such a harsh sentence. Word had it that thanks to the letters her eldest sister, Yeongra, had sent to noblewomen connected to the Baekri Clan, as many as nine silk shops operated by Jeokhwa Palace in the capital had been forced to close. Since those capital branches were where the realm's wealth gathered, the financial blow would be devastating. Jeokhwa Palace would have to keep a low profile for quite some time. Meanwhile, she would use this opportunity to safely smuggle the slaves from the annex to a secure location.
"Eighty-eight!" Thwack!
"Eighty-nine!" Thwack!
Banya leaned down slightly toward his wife and whispered, "I quite like how the executioners keep their lower bodies perfectly centered. Their stances are as solid as tree roots."
Once again, Yeongso had nothing to say, so she simply offered a smile in response. As long as you are happy.
In the meantime, the execution of the one hundred blows came to an end. Having endured it purely out of spite, Hwa Mujin could not even move his legs, his buttocks reduced to a bloody pulp. The waiting disciples of Jeokhwa Palace rushed forward to transfer their Palace Master onto a stretcher. Banya stepped through the parting crowd of onlookers and halted the stretcher. In a tone dripping with mock concern, he offered his enemy some parting words of comfort. "Do take care of yourself, you bastard."
When Banya finished his sentence by lightly patting the man's battered buttocks, a sound that was either a strangled scream or a stream of curses—highly likely both—burst from Hwa Mujin's throat.
"Good heavens... How could he even think to pat a backside in that state?"
"That is Hwa Banya for you... Even if he hands out porridge to beggars every morning, a tiger cannot change its stripes."
The onlookers shook their heads. However, given the gravity of the offense, a rare few actually took Banya's side. "Did he not try to lay a hand on his beloved wife? The Renju-buin even faithfully observed the three-year mourning period for her late husband. To think he tried to harm such a devoted wife—how could any husband not lose his mind?"
Now that the Jeokhwa Palace faction had departed, there was no reason for Yeongso and Banya to linger. Yeongso handed a handkerchief to her husband, whose hands were soiled with another's blood. Banya wiped his hands with a bright, beaming face.
"This was a hundred, no, a thousand times more satisfying than beating him with my own hands. I truly have never been happier." He marveled at the fact that such a day could come in his life. Inhaling deeply, Banya remarked that the air felt exceptionally clean today. "I cannot help myself. I must perform two good deeds today."
No, wait. Should I do three? Since I am in such a good mood, surely three is appropriate?
Yeongso watched Banya with a complex, bittersweet expression. He has such a bright smile. She wondered if it was truly something to be that ecstatic about.
While Banya refraining from killing and consistently performing good deeds was beneficial for both him and the world, it was detrimental to his reputation within the Unorthodox Path. For now, they tolerated it as the eccentric whims of a volatile Renju, but what about the future? Sarcastic remarks might arise, accusing him of completely defecting to the Orthodox Path after marrying into a noble clan. Actually, that would be a mild reaction. A movement might form to install a new Renju—someone far more ruthless and vicious than Banya. A true Unorthodox martial artist who fit the mold.
Yeongso pondered several ways to protect her husband's reputation. First and foremost, she needed to establish her own authority. Until now, she had merely been seen as the "Orthodox wench" whom he doted on blindly. Interacting with the female disciples and wives of Cheonsaryeon would be the starting point. Using the information she had gathered from the maids, Yeongso began drafting a list, meticulously noting down key details next to each name. Although a decent list had been compiled, it was still far from perfect in Yeongso's eyes. After all, she had been thoroughly educated to manage a massive household when she was set to marry into the Great General's estate. Although her marriage destination had changed, the training she had received back then had not vanished into thin air.
"I must ask him what I should watch out for when interacting with these people."