A Historic Date in Suzhou
Of course, given Hwiyeom's meticulous nature, he refused to leave everything solely in the hands of the Tanli.
Information gathering is the foundation of any plan.
Having enlisted the aid of the local Tanli forces, Hwiyeom put the question to Dang Su-jeong and Lee Jinmyeong as well, once they joined him on the road back from the Jumaji faction to their lodgings.
"I've been meaning to take Yunmae out and about as a bit of compensation for all the work that's made her feel neglected... Any good ideas? Especially you, Auntie. From a woman's point of view, what sort of things would Yunmae enjoy?"
"Something a woman would like?"
Dang Su-jeong hummed thoughtfully, then broke into a sly grin.
"A martial duel? Or a brand-new set of hidden weapons?"
"...."
Suddenly understanding exactly why his aunt had remained a spinster into her years, Hwiyeom fought to keep his expression under control and turned to Lee Jinmyeong.
"...This is a serious problem."
Lee Jinmyeong wore an intensely earnest look, as though he were wrestling with a weighty matter.
"Young Master, the truth is I don't know Suzhou all that well myself, do I?"
"I suppose not."
"And the same applies to women. I've never even courted a single one."
"And?"
Hwiyeom asked, carefully ignoring the way Dang Su-jeong's ears had perked up. Lee Jinmyeong continued.
"As you well know, the reliability of information gleaned from hearsay is exceedingly low."
"And?"
"Therefore, in order to supply more trustworthy data, what if Manager Dang and I tour Suzhou together and conduct a preliminary survey of venues suitable for a man and woman to spend time?"
"...."
They've both lost their minds.
Hwiyeom stared blankly at Lee Jinmyeong for a moment, then turned to Dang Su-jeong. From the aunt who was pretending to study distant mountains with complete disinterest came a sound transmission.
[Secretary Lee works himself half to death. How about cutting him some slack once in a while?]
The pair of them have completely lost their minds.
Hwiyeom finally understood, just a little, why the younger staff in his previous life would clap and chant "Date them! Date them!" whenever they spotted workplace flirtation.
They're advertising it across the entire Central Plains—why aren't they together yet?
He drew a pouch of silver from his robes and pressed it into Lee Jinmyeong's hand.
"Market research is important. This is official business, so don't dig into your own pocket, Secretary Lee. Use this."
"I'll submit the receipts."
"Forget it. You want to get slapped asking a street vendor for a receipt? Just take the money I'm giving you and make sure you guide Auntie properly. And Auntie?"
"What now."
[Stop acting all prim and aloof. If Secretary Lee pulls, go along with it a little. Looking at you, it's not as if you're entirely uninterested.]
[W-who is spreading that kind of baseless rumor? Huh?!]
[Your ears are bright red, Auntie. Secretary Lee is a solid catch—kind, capable, and devoted. And you're beautiful and still young enough that anyone who saw the two of you standing side by side would call you a perfect match.]
[Auuuuu....]
In the end Lee Jinmyeong left the alley leading a suddenly head-bowed boiled-octopus of an aunt.
The Dokwadae escorts snickered among themselves.
"Wow, you really never can tell with people. Who would have guessed those two would end up with that kind of atmosphere?"
"Is Young Master all right with it? If Manager Dang and Secretary Lee marry, by kinship he'd become your uncle-in-law... doesn't that mean you couldn't boss him around as a secretary anymore?"
"Work is work, and kinship is kinship."
If kinship were everything, the twenty-first century north of the peninsula would never have produced slogans like "Uncle-in-law, uncle-in-law—firing squad!"
"Those two know how to separate public from private. Just look at Manager Dang Unhwa, for starters..."
"Ah."
The Dokwadae members nodded in understanding.
In any case, consulting the pair had only traded one boil for another. Far from receiving useful advice, he had effectively lost both his bodyguard and his secretary.
"Hmm..."
Ordinarily Sama Yun's information and common sense would have been a tremendous help, but this particular matter must not reach her ears, so she was out. That left only one other source...
How about asking Branch Leader Seol Baek of the Haomun?
As the queen of the courtesans she would certainly be an encyclopedia of entertainment. Yet appearing in person for purely personal reasons risked awkward misunderstandings, so Hwiyeom sent a single Dokwadae member in his stead.
"Oh my, how adorable."
Seol Baek, receiving Hwiyeom's message, cheerfully shared every scrap of her knowledge...
And so, after a full day and a half of reconnaissance and preparation,
two days later, Hwiyeom and Sama Yun's historic(?) Suzhou date began.
"Yunmae, today let's head out to Guanqian Street."
Guanqian Street was the Suzhou equivalent of modern Myeongdong: the beating heart of shopping, thronged with tourists. Rather than the celebrated night scenery, the daytime pleasure lay in strolling, sampling street food, and hunting for souvenirs.
"Yes!"
Sama Yun answered with her usual unclouded, bright smile. She was beautiful as a celestial maiden, yet an unspoken pressure lingered in her expression. After all, watching her husband bury himself in work even after arriving at a tourist destination must have left its share of quiet disappointment. She understood the necessity, of course, and never let it show.
Hwiyeom had resolved to devote the entire day—no, an entire week if need be—to giving her unforgettable memories and the feeling of a true holiday.
They left the lodgings by carriage, and once they reached Guanqian Street he took Sama Yun's hand and led her straight into the bustle.
"Oh my."
Even in the relatively open-minded world of the murim, it was still uncommon to see a young couple walking hand-in-hand in public. Curious and envious glances flew their way. Hwiyeom, oblivious to the way his wife's eyes had sharpened beside him, simply gazed at Sama Yun until he noticed a man who had just stepped on his own foot, and then he gave a wry smile.
"Well now, the merchants of Guanqian Street are finished for the day."
"Pardon?"
"Everyone's looking only at you. It's making me a little jealous."
Pleased by the words, Sama Yun smiled and linked her arm through his.
"But I already belong to my husband, don't I?"
"...I've been too buried in work. I'm sorry."
"It's all right. Everything was for the Dang Family and the Sama Family. There was a war, too..."
Looking back, Sama Yun's married life had been anything but fortunate. The moment the wedding ended, before they could even take a honeymoon, war had erupted and months of crushing schedules had followed. On a battlefield, the actual fighting is only the tip of the iceberg. Once a conflict reaches the pre-modern stage of fixed front lines and organized supply, the mountain of administrative work it generates defies imagination. That Hwiyeom had been free to exercise his strategic genius on the front lines was due, in no small part, to Sama Yun's tireless support of logistics and administration in the rear.
The instant the war ended they had been dragged back to Beijing for another round of political intrigue; the moment that concluded, they had barely begun to rest when this work-obsessed husband of hers had once again caught the scent of money multiplying and stirred up yet another storm—this time overturning the Haomun in the middle of a tourist city.
The patience Sama Yun displayed was nothing short of superhuman. She endured for exactly two reasons: because she truly loved Hwiyeom, and because she had watched every one of his actions return enormous profit to both her natal Sama Clan and her marital Sichuan Dang Family.
Even today she had been silently bracing herself—This will just be more market research, won't it? or He'll meet some merchant and start pitching a business deal. If he keeps scattering projects everywhere, who handles the actual work? Me... again?—barely keeping her facial muscles under control.
And then a single sentence from Hwiyeom melted every last residue of resentment.
I used to think women who let themselves be exploited by freeloading husbands were fools... I shouldn't have been so quick to judge.
Love is like that. Just as Hwiyeom had sworn at their wedding, it is the anxious, restless need to give everything and still fear it is not enough. The feeling knows neither gender nor age.
Hwiyeom chose a clean-looking stall—one that Lee Jinmyeong and Dang Su-jeong had scouted the day before under the pretext of "preliminary research"—and bought fruit skewers for Sama Yun.
"Mmm, these are a bit disappointing compared to the tanghulu at Caffe the One."
There was no crisp snap of candy coating, and without the hardened sugar the sweetness was far milder.
"Today we don't talk about work."
"Ehh, really? You're not going to run off after some mysterious merchant and suddenly launch into 'I have a proposal regarding business'?"
"...When have I ever spoken like that?"
"You absolutely do! Your voice goes exactly like this: 'To you, sir, I shall make an offer you cannot re-fuse~'."
"Pfft—ha! That one was actually pretty close."
"Right? Perfect, wasn't it!"
Having fully expected the conversation to veer into business at any moment, Sama Yun gradually lowered her guard when Hwiyeom truly refused to mention work and continued to escort her with gentle attentiveness. She began to tug him this way and that.
"Husband! Let's go that way this time!"
"Uh, I don't think there's anything over there..."
"Even so! Just following a fixed itinerary is boring. The real fun is chasing sudden, chance encounters!"
"...You really don't seem the type, yet outside of work you're a complete P."
"Pardon? What did you say?"
"Nothing, nothing."
Sama Yun's impulsive, improvisational streak threatened to shred the carefully laid date plan, and the extreme J that was Hwiyeom felt a mild flare of gastritis coming on—yet he followed the picture-perfect smiling face without complaint. When the woman he loved shone with such lively, jewel-bright happiness, what did a ruined schedule matter?
They spent the morning on Guanqian Street and the afternoon enjoying a boat date amid the beautiful scenery of Jinji Lake. With every peal of Sama Yun's laughing melody tickling his ear, Hwiyeom found himself thinking:
So a person can be happy without watching a company grow or a balance sheet's net profit climb.
Every single moment spent with her felt as joyous as the shareholders' meeting after a record-breaking earnings announcement. He would have liked a more romantic comparison, but he had never known greater happiness, so none came to mind.
"Family, huh."
"Yes?"
"I never expected I'd meet someone as wonderful as you and build a home."
"Oh, stop, saying things like that out of nowhere."
"I mean it."
"...So do I. All I ever hoped for was that my political marriage partner wouldn't be some strange man. Looking back, that was so foolish. If I'd known you would become my companion, I would have counted the days from childhood. The Buddha must have deliberately hidden it from me."
"Heh. Maybe so."
Night fell. They strolled the canal-lined Shantang Street, famous for its night views, until Hwiyeom led her into a pleasure house recommended by Seol Baek.
"A pleasure house? Husband, this is..."
"I reserved the entire place for the night. I asked Branch Leader Seol Baek."
"Ahh..."
Sama Yun's expression said, Was that really necessary?
"Renting a building this size for a whole day couldn't have been cheap..."
Hwiyeom could no longer hold back a quiet chuckle.
"Why are you laughing?"
"I was just thinking we really must be a match made in heaven."
"Ah~ so you thought the same thing. But why rent it?"
"I'm the shy type, you see."
Hwiyeom smiled.
"What I'm about to do, I want to show only to you, Yunmae."
"...Only to me?"
Sensing an unusual atmosphere, Sama Yun fell quiet. Hwiyeom guided her down a corridor draped in peach-colored curtains and glowing lanterns, up to the finest private room on the highest floor. Inside, a wine table had already been laid. He seated her by the window, then took up the instrument waiting there.
"A Western pipa?"
"It's called a guitar. I was lucky enough to find one even in Suzhou."
That a guitar carried along the Silk Road by Western merchants had found its way into a Suzhou pleasure house was hardly surprising; the city was one of the great entertainment capitals of the realm. Though it differed somewhat from a modern instrument, Hwiyeom had already handled and practiced on it in advance.
He settled into a chair, crossed his legs, and cradled the guitar. Sama Yun's eyes sparkled with anticipation.
"Will you play a piece for me?"
"Of course."
Smiling, Hwiyeom began to pluck the strings. It was a song he had once loved—"May I Love You?"—adapted into sixteenth-century Chinese.
When the door opened and you stepped inside,
I knew at a single glance—
you were the one fate had written for me...
Take courage and say it:
May I love you until the day I die?
It's the first time for me—
I who knew only work—
yet I cannot bear to let you go.
Love has come to me at last;
to you I will always give only the best.
As the lyrical melody filled the room, Sama Yun's eyes slowly grew red. However carefully she had soothed and reasoned with herself, however rationally she had wrapped her feelings, the quiet grievances of a newlywed wife had piled up unnoticed. Those lingering sediments now melted, little by little, in the song her husband played.
At the earnest lyrics she finally laughed, and a tear slipped free.
When Hwiyeom finished, Sama Yun was silent for a long moment. Waiting for her reaction, he asked a little anxiously,
"...Was it that bad?"
"Oh, honestly."
She brushed the corner of her eye and declared,
"You thought one song would cover it? Not a chance. Tonight, don't even dream of sleeping."
"Haha, all right then—next song..."
And so the beautiful melodies and the lantern-lit night scenery flowed on like the river itself.