Ancestral House (3): Male Superiority
Namjon Yeobi. Men are noble, women are lowly. A philosophy that had all but vanished in the modern world, surviving only in the annals of ancient Joseon.
"Who would've thought something like this would be on the family motto list."
The moment I saw it, I selected it without even glancing at the other options. Of course, the people here had their perceptions altered to fit the "Joseon era" setting, so they already had some baseline of namjon yeobi ideology baked in.
"Still, they went out of their way to include it in the family motto options, so there must be a reason."
There was a clear difference between having a mild inclination and explicitly enshrining it as a house rule. The way it was highlighted separately like this suggested it carried real weight.
...But how do I implement this setting? Come to think of it, the MC OP's perception alterations weren't omnipotent. It wasn't like people's brains went beep boop! the instant a setting changed. It required me to utter a keyword or for them to check their phones—now transformed by the app—for the update.
But this was the Joseon era setting. Did these people even have cell phones? With Mi-hye, I'd triggered the "title" change by calling her differently, but namjon yeobi was too abstract a concept to invoke verbally...
Hmm... What should I do?
"Young master. Before paying respects to Madam again, perhaps you should change into this attire..."
The woman in the dark blue hanbok looked at me with concern as I hesitated before the master bedroom door. She was holding out the hanbok demurely, clearly not giving up on dressing me in it.
Eh, whatever. First things first—I needed to learn this woman's name. Calling her "dark blue hanbok girl" in my head was getting messy.
"I'll wear the clothes you've brought, so could I ask one favor?"
"A favor... you say?"
I mimicked the speech from historical dramas as best I could. According to the app's guidance, I too had to act in line with the Joseon era setting.
She looked about my age, and upon hearing my words, her face flushed red.
"Whatever it is, just say the word, and this humble girl will obey..."
She covered her mouth shyly as she spoke. Whatever I want, huh? Was it the slave setting? Her loyalty was off the charts.
"Uh... well, you see..."
How should I put this? Asking "What's your name?" outright might come off as rude. Even if I was the young master of a yangban household and she was a slave, basic human decency...
"Ah... Are you worried Madam might hear? Please, come this way for a moment..."
As I pondered, she twisted her body coyly—what was she thinking?—and tugged at my sleeve, leading me to a secluded corner room.
In the dim space, she whispered,
"This girl is ready, young master."
She slipped into the deepest, darkest corner. Along with her voice came the soft rustle of fabric.
"No sound from here will reach Madam's ears... So please, speak your mind. Whatever the young master desires... this girl is prepared..."
Was the Joseon setting messing with her head or something? Her reaction felt off. Anyway, she told me to speak, so...
"What's your name?"
"...Eun-bi, my lord."
There was a brief silence, as if it wasn't the question she expected. It sounded like the name of a gisaeng from a historical drama. Eun-bi... I was expecting something more everyday like Soon-sim, but this was unexpected.
Mission accomplished, I turned to leave, but Eun-bi stopped me.
"Young master...?"
Her voice whispered faintly in my ear. From the dark corner, she murmured low,
"Have you forgotten something?"
She smiled seductively. That alluring grin suggested she hadn't been a mere housekeeper even before the perception shift. Ah, maybe she was a junior actress close to Hong Min-jeong? With that face and figure, it made sense.
"Didn't you say you had a favor to ask this girl...?"
She lifted her skirt slightly, revealing her thigh, as she asked.
...Like some old Western curtsy? Guess they did that in Joseon too. Learn something new every day.
Oh, right—clothes.
"I'll change into the ones you brought outside."
I said that and shut the sliding door. As I left, Eun-bi's expression looked betrayed, but I had no idea why.
I changed into the hanbok in an empty room while checking the MC OP app.
The 'Family Motto' setting has been completed.
The current family motto set by the member is 'Namjon Yeobi'.
The same messages as before appeared on MC OP. It didn't confirm whether the motto had taken effect on the people here, just like last time. Unlike with Mi-hye, where I could toss out random phrases, I didn't know how many people were around or who I could treat casually.
"This is getting complicated."
Eun-bi seemed the easiest to talk to, so I figured I'd head back and ask something dumb like, "Hey, what's our family motto?" But—
Clank clank—
The little room where she'd dragged me was locked. Was she napping? Slaves had it good. Anyway, thinking it over, asking Eun-bi probably wouldn't help. She already saw herself as beneath me by default.
Before man and woman—her status was different, so I couldn't gauge changes from her attitude.
"Looks like there's only one way."
I headed to the master bedroom where actress Hong Min-jeong played the madam.
"May I enter?"
I wasn't sure if knocking was polite or not, so I skipped it.
A moment later, her voice came from the other side.
"Enter." Slide—
She waited in the same pose as before: a stern, mature beauty seated before the screen, eyeing me imperiously.
"What are you doing? Not even paying proper respects. You go off to Hanyang for studies, and you've forgotten how to greet your own mother?"
She clicked her tongue at the end, looking like she was barely containing her anger at her son's grave rudeness.
...No way she'd act superior if she saw herself as lowly. So the motto hadn't kicked in yet.
"Er, greetings to Mother."
If the motto wasn't active, I couldn't act arrogant. A full bow should do, right? Left hand forward... no, right? Digging up hazy holiday memories, I bowed deeply.
But she tsked again, glaring as if it offended her deeply.
"What kind of disgraceful display is that? It's painful to even watch. Forget your Hanyang studies—come home and relearn etiquette from the basics. And never show such ugliness to your father."
Her tone was ice-cold as she nodded toward the door. A clear dismissal.
Even though she was permanently rented to me via MC OP, her charismatic actress aura weighed heavy. Pressured, I started backing away—
—when the door opened right behind me. Some unfamiliar middle-aged man.
"Oh, when did you get back? You should've come to me first... Ah, you went straight to greet Mother, I see. Haha, your filial piety is truly..."
He grinned warmly, like a kind uncle. Who was this guy? Dressed like a high official from a drama.
He turned to seated Hong Min-jeong. "Dear wife, mind if I bring something into the room?"
"...If necessary. What is it?"
They used mutual formal speech. From their demeanor...
"Won't you greet your father? Insolent boy."
Hong Min-jeong snapped at me sharply as I sized them up.
My father? Ah, Hong Min-jeong's real husband. So in the setting, my dad. Makes sense— the app said, [Family members and servants' perceptions altered to believe this is the Joseon era.] All women would've been weird.
I preferred all women, naturally, but... Criticized for my bow earlier, I bent at the waist politely.
My "father" in the setting, too busy for greetings, placed a long folding screen panel behind Hong Min-jeong.
"A fine screen I just received from Minister Kim. Thought it would suit here."
He moved the original ornate screen aside as he spoke.
Hong Min-jeong frowned at her husband's casual handling.
"What do you think you're doing? Touching things in a woman's chamber without permission. Even as my husband, that's too much. You must show respect to your wife, no?"
Her tone was far sharper than toward me. The actress's icy fury was intimidating, even when not aimed at me.
But the chuckling man just smirked mockingly.
Hong Min-jeong furrowed her brow and turned. As she opened her mouth for a retort, she—and her husband—noticed the new screen.
The folding screen bore massive Hanja characters—exactly the family motto I'd set.
Hong Min-jeong's husband spat coldly,
"What respect for a mere wench."
"Son. Looks like I need to teach your mother how women should behave around men."
Hong Min-jeong's husband said that and left the room. A total reversal from his affable smile moments ago.
The charismatic actress who should have retorted froze the instant she saw the screen. His humiliating words pierced her ears, yet she couldn't muster a single comeback.
She stared at the screen, soul seemingly stolen, her lips parting slowly.
"Men... are noble... women... are lowly..."
She muttered like memorizing lines, drool even trickling from her dazed mouth.
Snapping to, she hurriedly wiped the saliva from her chin, blushing in shame as she glanced around and asked me,
"Has your father left?"
"Ah, yes."
"...I was so entranced by the new screen's majesty that I failed to notice him leave. Tell him later I'll apologize. A mere woman like me mustn't address her husband first."
Something had definitely changed. Her demeanor was still dignified like before, but the words slipping in were anything but ordinary.
Hoping, I probed gently.
"Do you like the new screen?"
"Yes. Its majestic script has stolen my soul—truly a fine munja do."
"...What does it say?"
"Namjon Yeobi."
"What does that mean?"
"Men are noble, women are lowly. Heh, how can you, the heir, not know? It's our house's ancestral motto."
She spoke earnestly, spouting nonsense. Seeing her like that, I couldn't help but grin.
Recalling the man's parting words, I told her,
"Mother seems unaware of how women should act toward men."
Now it was time to educate her.