The Greatest Exile Ground in the Central Plains - 2
Yu Bok-tong's exile was an incident that caused ripples even among the founding merit subjects. He had been active from the early days of Taizu's uprising, so his career wasn't short. He had conquered numerous cities, so his achievements weren't lacking. As a Chojeoljeong master, his martial prowess was more than sufficient. Though not quite on the level of the Hwagyeong kings who had farmed every merit under the sun, he had risen to the rank of duke, right below them, as a founding hero. If one had to pick a flaw, it was his somewhat fiery temper—but honestly, there were plenty of more eccentric people among the merit subjects than Yu Bok-tong. A slightly rough personality hardly qualified as a defect. Thus, Yu Bok-tong was fated to live out his days strutting about as a duke of Daesong.
'Until he headed to Haenam.'
A duke and founding merit subject of Daesong, he had been sent to Haenam, the greatest and worst exile ground in the Central Plains. From the perspective of the merit subjects who had unified the continent alongside him, it was bewildering. But Taizu's will had been too firm for anyone to object. The charge was even plotting rebellion. If Taizu had been a monarch like Liu Bang or Zhu Yuanzhang who actively purged his generals, one might have seen it as a pretext for brutal cleansing. But Taizu cherished and protected his merit subjects. If even he called it plotting rebellion, then it truly was.
No one knew what Yu Bok-tong had actually done to earn a "You're plotting rebellion."
'Plotting rebellion isn't a crime that ends with just solitary exile.'
That was why the merit subjects at the time had been deeply confused. Plotting rebellion meant deceiving the emperor and toying with one's superiors—a crime that wouldn't be strange if it ended in beheading in a Confucian absolutist monarchy. Yet Yu Bok-tong, despite the charge, was merely exiled peacefully. Considering his status as a merit subject, exile to Haenam was harsh treatment. But given the charge of plotting rebellion, it was an exceedingly merciful punishment. His eldest son even inherited the dukedom and lived on unscathed.
'Is it because of the original history?'
As I mulled over that bizarre situation, the thought suddenly struck me. In the original history, Yu Bok-tong had been the power behind the throne, propping up Taizu's son—the current Baekryeon Cult Leader—as a puppet. Perhaps Taizu, displeased by that future, had shipped him off to exile. It was a reasonable suspicion. But it ended there as mere suspicion. Sending away a power broker for that reason? Three of the current Yi-ja Kings had been leaders of factions themselves.
"Well, um..."
At my question, Yi Beon rolled her eyes hesitantly. Pressing her would only make her shrink further, so I waited a moment. If she tried to run or lie, I'd have to call in the executioners—but speaking slowly was understandable.
"Ah, I wanted to pay my respects at the place where Father is buried..."
"Yu Bok-tong bore the crime of plotting rebellion alone, and in exchange, contact with his family was forbidden. This was Taizu's decree, unchanged even after death. Have you forgotten?"
At my words, Yi Beon's eyes began to tremble. I felt sorry for pressing someone already tense, but there was no choice. The reason Yu Bok-tong's family remained intact was Taizu's conditional mercy. Violating that condition would inevitably cause problems. No matter how doubtful the merit subjects were about the exile, if the family defied Taizu's will, they'd tear into them like dogs. Yu Bok-tong's plotting rebellion might be a mystery, but the family's defiance was clear fact.
"I-I'm not Father's daughter, so it's fine! I'm not included in the family Taizu mentioned!"
"What?"
Her unexpected nonsense furrowed my brow on reflex. Calling him Father so boldly, yet claiming not to be his daughter? What did that even mean?
'Some kind of illegitimate child?'
If she couldn't call her father "Father," the only option was an illegitimate... No, she was calling him Father far too confidently for that.
"Explain in detail. What do you mean by that?"
"Just before Father left for exile, I was adopted into another household!"
"Ah."
That made sense. If she'd been adopted, there was no denying it.
'Adopted blood kin are exempt from guilt by association.'
Biologically a criminal's flesh and blood, but legally a member of another house, she could narrowly escape the guilt-by-association system Taizu had decreed for "Yu Bok-tong's family." Calling her non-legal father "Father" so persistently was probably just her clinging to blood ties.
"If you were truly adopted, then you're not family."
"Yes! So I came to Haenam—"
"But just because it's legally unproblematic doesn't mean it's ethically advisable. You know that, which is why you snuck aboard the ship."
Yi Beon's face, which had brightened faintly, darkened again. Legal and ethical issues don't always align. There are matters one might think, 'That's a bit much,' even if not punishable by law. That's why she'd boarded secretly. No matter the adoption, if word got out that Yu Bok-tong's blood had gone to Haenam, trouble would follow. She knew it, so she'd tried to slip in quietly—only to get caught red-handed by the Left Vice Inspector General.
"If this comes to light, people will see it as Yu Bok-tong's blood defying Taizu's great will. That could bring harm to his quietly living family and the house that took you in."
I mentioned the fallout if the incident were exposed. Two households could shatter because of you alone.
"That won't... probably happen."
But despite my warning, Yi Beon only looked dejected, showing no worry for the two families.
"The house that took me in already died from a plague, and Father's family treats me as if I don't exist."
My brow furrowed again. Another hard-to-fathom statement.
'Died from a plague?'
The family adopting a duke's daughter would be a prestigious or wealthy house. I hadn't heard of any such house perishing from plague. And Yu Bok-tong's family ignoring her was odd too. They were famously harmonious before, and even more united after the head was exiled. They'd pity an adopted daughter losing her new family, not ignore her.
... 'Could it be.'
Sensing something, I stared at Yi Beon intently. A duke's daughter, but not adopted into a good house, and shunned by the original family...
"What was your mother's status?"
At the blunt question, Yi Beon quietly lowered her gaze.
She was a true illegitimate child, as I'd suspected. Yi Beon was the child of a lowborn mother. The "adoption" was just Yu Bok-tong freeing her and her mother from slavery and entrusting them to some random house right before exile. Positively, it was securing a lifeline for the mother and daughter as his shield vanished.
"A plague."
Yet the haven Yu Bok-tong had prepared was swept away by plague. A pity. If he'd been on the mainland, such tragedy might have been averted—but he was at the southern tip of the Central Plains in Haenam, and no one could intervene. His family on the mainland? They'd likely cut ties the moment he freed the mother and child.
"Before Mother passed from illness, she told me who my real father was. So I went to his family with hope..."
"You were turned away at the gate."
"They said since I carry Father's blood, I shouldn't starve, and gave me plenty of money."
I sighed inwardly at Yi Beon's bittersweet smile. Regrettable for her, but they'd done their part by giving money. They'd even taken care of the illegitimate child from the exiled patriarch's late indiscretion, whom he'd freed and sent away himself. If they'd harbored ill will, they could have killed her outright.
"I don't resent them. I was freed so young I have no memories before adoption, and Mother said she was never mistreated. It's just that the people I'd lived with as family my whole life all died... So I went to them grasping at straws..."
Hearing that, I understood why she'd come to Haenam and why she'd claimed to be Yu Bok-tong's daughter. All she had left was his grave. With her adoptive family wiped out by plague, their bodies would have been collected, burned, and mass-buried. No original family to meet, no grave to tend, no new family— so she clung to the one remaining grave of Yu Bok-tong.
"That must have been hard."
Ak I-yeon, having heard Yi Beon's brief life story, gently took her hand with a face full of sympathy.
"What Miss Yi wanted wasn't ample money, but a warm family. Even if she has money now, she'd surely prefer the old days when things were tougher but she could laugh with family."
Yi Beon's eyes moistened at the comforting words.
"Brother."
"Ah, yeah."
"Now that we know her story, won't they understand in Kaepyeong too? A young woman who can no longer be with family traveled far to tend her late birth father's grave."
It wasn't wrong, so I quietly organized my thoughts. In this era, loyalty, filial piety, rites, and righteousness outweighed strict laws. Even an inspector rushing with executioners might retreat before a tearful "Boo-hoo, just to serve my parents...!" Yi Beon's actions qualified. A bereft child with no grave to tend had come seeking her birth father's tomb. Even merit subjects outraged at defying Taizu might waver: 'Well, she's practicing filial piety...' Especially since she was legally outside guilt-by-association.
"...This isn't for me to decide on-site. It's Taizu's will; interpreting it arbitrarily feels off."
"Is that so...?"
"Still, since we're already in Haenam, let's at least let her pay respects at the grave."
We'd come this far anyway; one grave visit couldn't hurt.