Sama Yun's Concerns
Before pushing forward with construction plans for the Second State-run Ironworks Joint-Stock Company, Hui-yeom decided to move first to monopolize the coal mines of the region—though Emperor Sungui would claim the lion’s share, the remaining stake was still his target.
The trouble was that this was not Sichuan. Plenty of places refused to honor promissory notes issued by the Sichuan Dang Family or the Hwieon Conglomerate, so Hui-yeom had no choice but to have a substantial sum remitted from the main family.
“Looks like I’ll have to make a trip back to the main house after all… Hmm…”
The efficiency-obsessed Korean instinct that occupied one corner of Hui-yeom’s soul immediately threw up a roadblock. A round trip to Sichuan would waste more than a month on the road alone; simply traveling for the sake of traveling felt like an unforgivable waste.
Visiting Shaolin Temple can wait until the construction schedule is properly set and I go to inform them. In that case…
Just as he had inspected Angang on the way up, perhaps he should look in on Nokshan on the way back. Hui-yeom made his decision.
He had already persuaded Im Deok-sul, King of the Green Forest, to establish Nokshan branches from Sichuan all the way to Yunnan, yet measured against the entire realm that foothold remained tiny. Especially now that Nokshan had carved out undeniable merit in holding back the Chagatai, no one would even dream their origins lay with mountain bandits. And even if someone did learn the truth, he could simply point to their wartime contributions and declare that they had thoroughly repented their past sins and sworn loyalty to the nation.
It was a weed-like organization that could never be fully uprooted anyway. Now that it had transformed into a reliable local force and helped repel foreign invaders, any accusations of treason would quietly wither away.
It would have been dangerous before the Chagatai invasion, of course.
So this was what they meant by misfortune turning into fortune. Hui-yeom smiled.
“On the return journey I plan to meet Im Deok-sul, King of the Green Forest, again and discuss the expansion of Nokshan.”
“This time through Guizhou?”
“Yes. Roads and railways need to reach Guizhou as well if we want tighter trade and a proper circulating structure for goods.”
Now that Caffe the One had begun full-scale operations, the sugarcane produced in Guizhou had become an extremely important resource.
And it’s about time rubber products started spreading into the Central Plains too. Aigoo, why is there always so much to do…
He might mutter “aigoo,” but Hui-yeom was not the sort to be crushed by the disasters he himself summoned. He was a true workaholic who actually enjoyed them. The usual faint smile rose to his lips.
“This’ll be fun.”
“Not fun at all.”
Sama Yun returned to her room, tossed the documents down with a dull thud, and flung herself onto the bed. For a while she rolled left and right like a caterpillar, a far cry from her usual elegant, pure bearing, then finally stopped with a heavy sigh.
“Just what is the problem with my husband?”
She reached out and pulled the mirror from the vanity closer. The highest-quality mirror produced by Niccolo’s glass workshop of the Sichuan Dang Family reflected her face with a clarity that silver and copper mirrors of the past could never match. Even to a woman’s eyes—sometimes even to her own—it was a beauty that drew involuntary exclamations of wonder.
From before she was old enough to understand, people around her had praised her looks. At first she assumed it was empty flattery because she was the legitimate heir of the Sama Clan, but that belief gradually changed as she grew older. Even the young master of the rival Jegal Clan had stammered and produced a clumsy poem the moment he first saw her. What possible reason would he have to flatter her? A political marriage? Ugh.
Of course, martial artists who had cultivated themselves or politicians long practiced at hiding their true feelings would, once they recovered from the initial “shock” of seeing her, skillfully mask their inner thoughts. But the only person who treated her with complete consistency from beginning to end was Hui-yeom.
When he first met her he treated her like a cute younger sister while still maintaining perfect courtesy. During their engagement he was always polite and kind yet carefully avoided crossing any lines. Even after marriage it remained the same. She found his gentlemanly demeanor and the unwavering attitude that never seemed swayed by her looks genuinely cool, but…
Still… doesn’t it feel like I’m the only one doing all the chasing?!
“Up until now, except for exactly one time, every kiss was one I begged for. And the bed…”
Well, they did share a bed. Nights with Hui-yeom always left Sama Yun thoroughly satisfied. She was certain Hui-yeom felt the same; otherwise spending “those” nights so regularly would have been impossible. The problem was—
It feels like he only does it deliberately on days when his schedule happens to have a free slot.
Nights with Hui-yeom went roughly like this. While reviewing the schedule and discussing work, Hui-yeom would remark in passing:
“Hmm, nothing particular on the evening of the first this month?”
“No, why?”
“Then let’s meet privately that night.”
Was that an invitation to cozy overtime with the fun and enjoyable Chairman, or to a passionate night as husband and wife? Truly a man with zero sense of atmosphere.
Sama Yun did not yet know the concept of “duty sex,” but had she heard the term she would have slapped her knee in instant recognition—nights with Hui-yeom carried exactly that obligatory flavor. With things always proceeding this way, she had even begun the completely unnecessary worry of Maybe I just have no charm?
Isn’t there supposed to be something for newlyweds? Where just locking eyes sets off a fire, and they confirm each other’s feelings without caring about time or place…
“Kyaaaaah!!”
At the lewd image that had sprung unbidden into her mind, Sama Yun yanked the blanket over her head completely.
“This is wrong!”
Staking her pride as a woman, she clenched her fists tightly.
“I will definitely—on the way back—seduce my husband until he can’t live without me!”
Know yourself and know your enemy and you need not fear a hundred battles. Sama Yun first inspected herself. Beauty: though she said it herself, she was already called one of the Four Great Beauties of the Realm. No verification required.
But what if it isn’t my husband’s preference?!
Beauty came in different flavors. Sama Yun, if classified, was the pure essence of demure feminine grace. What if Hui-yeom simply did not care for that type of woman?
Come to think of it, his reaction to Jegal Eun-ryeo was strangely favorable…!
Because of the karma of Hui-yeom blurting out something as outrageous as “Left Gongming, Right Zhongda” on their very wedding day, Sama Yun had begun to suspect that Jegal Eun-ryeo might be Hui-yeom’s ideal woman.
Does he prefer intellectual women? Then…!
Sama Yun redid her makeup and changed clothes. Normally she wore the lightest possible makeup that emphasized her clear skin as if she wore none at all, but this time she went for a completely unadorned, simple look. She applied a calm shade of lip rouge and skipped the blue on her lashes, only brushing them lightly upward with black ink so the lashes alone appeared longer. She also simply let down the hair she usually put up elaborately with ornaments, fastening it with a single hairpin.
A demure, intellectual beauty who looked made-up yet not was born—looking three or four years more mature than usual, an intellectual woman no matter who saw her.
With this…!
Having so adorned herself, Sama Yun went to find Hui-yeom at afternoon tea time under the pretext of a report. She handed over the materials on Beijing trends gathered by the Sama Clan, then began showing off beside him—tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, gazing at him fixedly with a faint smile that resembled his own.
Even this dense man finally seemed to notice. He looked at her and smiled.
“You look different from usual. Been busy?”
“…What?”
“Your usual brightly adorned look is pretty, but a natural look like this isn’t bad either.”
What the hell is this bastard saying right now?
Of course, from Hui-yeom’s perspective it was praise that her natural, unmade-up appearance was also beautiful. From Sama Yun’s standpoint, after agonizing over the look she had guessed was his ideal type and putting her heart and soul into the makeup, the reaction amounted to a careless Oh, full glam not today because busy? Well, not bad either~.
For the first time Sama Yun felt genuine murderous intent toward her beloved husband; her fists trembled.
“Yes, this young lady is far too busy, so I shall take my leave now…!”
“Ah—uh?”
Unable to bear the resentment and anger at her clueless husband who failed to appreciate her efforts, and with her pride as a woman blazing, Sama Yun could not keep this to herself. Yet a problem that touched a woman’s pride could not be discussed with just anyone. Gritting her teeth, she sought out a trustworthy counselor and poured out her grievances.
Suddenly hit with Sama Yun’s complaints like a bolt from the blue, Dang Su-jeong said:
“Are you trying to make me jealous right now?”
Dang Su-jeong… her age this year: forty-one. Once she had been known not as Sichuan’s greatest beauty but as Sichuan’s greatest villainess. Once she had been ranked not among the Seven Flowers of the Murim but as the foremost of the Seven Madwomen of the Murim, inspiring both fear and awe. She herself had hoped for the moniker “Flower That Understands Speech,” yet in reality she had been called the Man-Eating Flower.
Anyway, the woman who had once made the hearts of countless men across the Central Plains pound—with terror—was now, under the merciless flow of time, feeling a growing darkness about her gradually wrinkling future. Living alone was not so bad. Female heroes of the murim often found ordinary men not worth their attention, so quite a few women chose solitary lives. But Dang Su-jeong had never particularly intended to live alone, and she had possessed a fair number of suitors; she simply could not understand how things had come to this.
And now a young woman who was called one of the Four Beauties of the Murim—pretty no matter who looked—came to her and said what?
My husband seems lukewarm toward me? How do I pull his heart more firmly to me? If I knew that, would I still be alone at this age!!
Yet Dang Su-jeong, as a murim person of rich experience (why did even that feel like mockery?), held the hot tea in her mouth and forced herself to stay calm. Just as she was about to spit out a refined version of “Could you get the hell out of here?”, Lee Jinmyeong entered carrying tea and nodded with a serious air.
“Indeed. Without a striking beauty like Manager Dang that seizes the eye, it would hardly be an easy task.”
“Pffft?!”
“……?”
Dang Su-jeong turned her head without realizing it and sprayed tea everywhere. While Sama Yun stared open-mouthed with an expression that clearly said Whoa… this guy… is the real deal, only Lee Jinmyeong tilted his head in confusion.
“Why is that?”
“Lee! Secretary Lee! You’re teasing me, right? Right!”
“I am always sincere, though?”
“I-if you keep saying that, I’ll misunderstand? Huh?!”
“If misunderstanding, specifically what kind?”
“No, I mean that kind of thing! Th-that Secretary Lee likes me… as a woman or something absurd like that…!”
“? Why would that be absurd? I have told you before that I admire Manager Dang.”
“Kyaaaang?!”
Dang Su-jeong, a Transcendental Peak female master whose martial prowess ranked among the highest even within the Sichuan Dang Family, sank right there on the spot.
“……”
Watching them, Sama Yun’s eyes went cold and salty. She felt somehow foul-mooded. Looking at the man and woman suddenly performing an outdated comedy routine right in front of her made her suddenly want a bamboo spear even though she knew nothing of spear techniques. She rose abruptly with a smile as beautiful as a painting.
“Excuse me.”
The person she had thought an ally had turned out to be a deceiver. Sama Yun shook her head and sought someone else. Just then Ye-eun’s figure came walking from the other direction.
That woman is also someone to be wary of, but…
In truth Sama Yun had been consistently wary of Ye-eun from the very beginning. As a secretary she was always at Hui-yeom’s side even more than Sama Yun herself, and the bond between the two was already so complete that words were unnecessary; sometimes even Sama Yun felt it hard to insert herself. Plus that beauty. Honestly, though Han Ye-eun never dressed up at all in daily life, if she started making even the slightest effort it would not be strange for the Four Great Beauties of the Realm to become the Five Great Beauties the very next day.
It stung her pride to show weakness to such a woman, but—
No. A great general learns even from the enemy. Shame is momentary; glory is eternal. Just ask, Sama Yun! What sin did you commit? Ask confidently!
Though she was a little angry, Ye-eun had, after all, been watching Hui-yeom longer than she herself had. Perhaps she knew the secret of “how to make Hui-yeom like her more” that even Sama Yun did not. After considerable resolve and decision, Sama Yun asked Ye-eun.
“…So is there any advice Secretary Han might give?”
And Ye-eun—
“….”
For a moment she covered her eyes with her hand and became a stone statue gazing up at the sky.
“Now it’s even the kids’ bedroom problems…”
“Hm? What did you say?”
“It’s nothing. Madam’s beauty is at a level that would make Yang Guifei aghast, Xi Shi tremble, and Lady Wang faint, so please don’t worry needlessly. If you’re still anxious, just strip naked, smear aphrodisiac all over your body, and deliver a passionate bed-jump assault or something.”
“Ha—Secretary Han?! Was your way of speaking originally like that?!”
To the Sama Yun frozen in shock, Ye-eun let out a loooooong sigh and continued.
“In the first place, the Young Family Head is an eccentric. Isn’t it unreasonable to demand the same attitude as ordinary people from an eccentric? Let me rephrase. Isn’t it that the Young Family Head, for whom work is everything in the world, is so deeply into Madam that he deliberately creates openings in his schedule just to come see you?”
“…!”
“Well then, I’m busy, so I’ll be going.”
I can’t do this shit for real… The muttered complaint scattered like the wind together with Ye-eun’s afterimage, but Sama Yun did not hear it.
That evening Sama Yun carefully adorned herself and sought Hui-yeom’s quarters.
“I’m still working. What’s the matter?”
“Husband.”
“Hm?”
“Am I an obligatory existence to you, Husband?”
At the somewhat detached voice, Hui-yeom’s brush stopped.
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
“Actually…”
Sama Yun confessed everything she had been worrying over during the day. Hui-yeom listened quietly to the end, then sighed.
“I’m going crazy, for real.”
“What?”
“Now I can’t hold back anymore.”
“What? What do you mean—kya?!”
Sama Yun looked up with shaken eyes in surprise at Hui-yeom, who had suddenly seized her by the waist, but he gave no answer. He simply claimed her lips.
A kiss in which the boundary between them seemed to melt away, hot and sticky. When Sama Yun’s thoughts had half dissolved under the long, clinging kiss, Hui-yeom finally drew back just enough to whisper against her ear.
“I won’t hold back anymore.”
“Yeees…”
Sama Yun answered as if muttering, her expression dazed. Hui-yeom let go of the reins of reason.
The next day Sama Yun could not get up, and departure was delayed by a day. On the road at last, Sama Yun smiled happily with a somehow sparkling face as if she possessed everything in the world. Hui-yeom, by contrast, wore the face of a half-mummy and managed only a weak smile. Han Ye-eun grumbling at the sight.
And so Hui-yeom’s party turned the prow of their journey toward Guizhou Province.