Chapter 22
Translator: uly
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: The Black-Haired Storyteller of Chilgok County - 1
Chilgok County.
A place located at the edge of Hubei Province, on the route to Anhui Province. When people think of Hubei Province, they usually recall the famous Mount Hua Sect, but Chilgok County is located far to the east of the Mount Hua Sect.
However, being on the route connecting Hubei and Anhui, it sees a considerable flow of people. A significant flow of people means commerce is developed and the movement of money is active.
In a place like this, there should be people willing to open their purses to hear a storyteller's tales.
With such high hopes, I arrived in Chilgok County, but for a month now, I haven't even been able to start my work as a storyteller.
"Mr. Wang!! Are you really going to do this?!"
At the cloth shop of Mr. Wang in Chilgok County, introduced by the head carpenter. I was raising my voice at the pot-bellied Mr. Wang.
"I said no!!"
"If you agreed to get them for me, you should sell them at a fair price!! Do you think this price makes any sense?"
"I went to great lengths to find these, so why wouldn't it make sense?!"
"With this money, I could eat three full meals a day at an inn and sleep on a soft bed for two months. How can I pay this price?"
"Then you shouldn't have asked me to get them for you!! Do you know how easy it is to get items from Joseon?"
The reason we were arguing was because I had asked Mr. Wang to procure Joseon goods for me.
Since he runs a cloth shop, I thought it would be easy for him to get the items I wanted. But I never expected him to demand such an outrageous price.
"Sir, when you first said you'd get them for me, you said it would take three days. Right?"
"T-that's right."
"I came back after three days, and you said you couldn't get them, telling me to come back in a week, so I waited until then. But then you said you still couldn't get them, so I waited until today. I've waited over a month now. Trusting only you, sir."
If I suddenly appeared in the middle of the marketplace wanting to work as a storyteller and started talking, I'd just be considered a madman.
Even personal streamers prepare, and likewise, I needed preliminary preparations.
For that preparation, I asked Mr. Wang for help. But I never dreamed it would be delayed for a whole month.
"I'm sorry about that. It was harder to get the Joseon items you requested than I thought."
"Sir, I'm living in a shantytown right now. I've been getting by on one meal a day, just a lump of flour bread called mantou and some salt. Why do you think that is? Because the items you said you'd get in three days didn't arrive. I endured like that, waiting to somehow pay for the items, but if you quote such an absurd price, what am I supposed to do? If I buy this, I'll have to starve starting tomorrow."
Actually, I wouldn't starve. The head carpenter gave me plenty. Living in the shantytown is pretty comfortable too. At least I don't have to sleep rough in the rain anymore.
But I needed to shift the blame for my pitiful situation onto Mr. Wang.
"I'm sorry. But this is really at cost. Considering the effort of running around to get the items, I'm actually taking a loss. Do you think I'd try to swindle you, who came recommended by my good friend the head carpenter?"
Watching him do business, he did seem like the type. Still, it's true that Mr. Wang is the only person I can trust here.
"Of course not. If you are a close friend of someone as noble as the head carpenter, you must be a person of character too. How could you do such a thing?"
"Ahem, that's true."
Perhaps embarrassed by my flattery, Mr. Wang gave an awkward cough.
"Mr. Wang, if you absolutely must sell the items at this price, may I ask for one favor?"
It was time to bring up the real reason I raised my voice in the first place.
"What is it?"
"As you can see, my appearance is very shabby right now. My clothes are worn and torn, almost no different from a beggar. If you happen to have any old, unused clothes lying around, could I have some?"
Over the past year, focused on survival, I couldn't pay attention to clothes. I washed often when there was water, but my clothes were torn and worn. I look worse than a homeless person at Seoul Station. In this state, I can't work as a storyteller.
"...... Alright. You came recommended by my friend the head carpenter, it won't do for you to go around dressed so shabbily. I feel sorry for getting them to you so late too. I'll give you some of the clean ones among the old clothes I've saved."
"Thank you!"
"You should also try on the Joseon items I brought, so come inside."
I followed Mr. Wang's lead and went inside the cloth shop.
After going inside the cloth shop, washing up cleanly, and putting on the provided old clothes, I gathered the Joseon items.
"Well, well. You're more handsome than I thought."
The pot-bellied Mr. Wang said, looking at me.
"Thank you. The clothes are quite stylish, more than I expected."
Looking at the large mirror in the cloth shop, I was quite surprised myself. It's probably because this is the first time I've dressed this neatly in almost a year.
As expected of the number-one playboy of the Joseon Kang Family. The reason Kang Yun-ho was popular with the gisaengs wasn't just because he had a lot of money.
"Is it because you're Joseon? Wearing Joseon clothes, you definitely look more like a young master from a foreign land on a tour than a barbarian."
"Haha. That can't be."
Actually, that's the correct answer. I was the young master of a wealthy family in Joseon. Though it all went down in flames due to treason.
The items I asked the cloth shop owner to get for me were things that would make it obvious at a glance that I was Joseon.
More precisely, they were a bamboo hat, a durumagi overcoat, and a fan.
"The durumagi was easy to get because Goryeo-style clothing was once in fashion, but the bamboo hat and that fan were the problem."
The bamboo hat is a gat made of bamboo.
What you usually see in historical dramas are ones woven from horsehair. Also known as a heungnip. The main material for a heungnip is called horsehair, the tail hair of a horse. A hat made from horse tail hair, can you even imagine how much it would cost?
Even yangban in the Joseon era, unless they were from a rich family, would buy one gat and keep repairing and using it. It's almost like a luxury bag made of crocodile skin.
There's no way I, who eats one meal of flour bread a day, could afford such a thing. But I needed items to make me look Joseon.
So what I found was the Joseon gat made of bamboo, the jukrip. Over this, I wear the old clothes inside and the durumagi as an outer coat.
In my hand, I held a Joseon fan, a hapjukseon. It's the kind of fan where paper is attached to ribs and can be folded and unfolded. The one I bought was also expensive.
Snap!
I unfolded the hapjukseon in one motion, covering my face, then snapped it shut against my palm.
Pretty cool, huh.
Totally a Joseon scholar.
It feels like I could sit leisurely in a pavilion, drinking wine while reciting, "Sal-uh-ri sal-uh-ri-rat-da. Cheongsan-e sal-uh-ri-rat-da."
"Hehe. When you asked me to get Joseon clothes looking like a beggar, I thought you were a strange barbarian. But dressed like this, you really do look like a noble young master from Joseon."
"I have to do at least this much. How much did it cost?"
I used most of the money I earned at the construction site on this. Living in a shantytown in Chilgok County but dressing like a noble young master.
This is totally a car-poor situation.
If a car-poor person uses a luxury car to hook women, I need to hook the people of the Central Plains now.
"So, are you starting your work as a storyteller in earnest now?"
"Yes. It's late today, so I plan to start telling stories from tomorrow."
"Alright. I'll spread the word in advance. That a storyteller has come to tell rare stories from Joseon."
"Thank you."
I bowed and left Mr. Wang's cloth shop. Should I go get something to eat for tomorrow?
"Welcome. Oh, a foreign young master has arrived."
When I entered the inn, a waiter, seeing my attire, exclaimed in surprise.
When I came to the inn dressed shabbily to buy mantou, they told me to get lost, you barbarian brat. Now that my attire has changed, their reaction is different too.
This is why what you wear is important for a person.
"Waiter. What's famous here?"
Settling into a seat, I called the waiter. It's already been a year since I arrived here, but I can count on one hand the times I've actually ordered food at an inn other than mantou. You need money to order anything.
But tomorrow is the day I start my work as a storyteller. To eat my fill and sleep well, I planned to spend money on food for the first time in a while.
I wonder what's famous.
If some unfamiliar food comes out, I'll just order something like noodles with bamboo leaf liquor.
"The hangover soup is famous!"
"What did you say?"
"The broth is thick and the meat is plentiful, so it's called the premier hangover soup!"
Just hearing about it, it sounds like a dish you could eat five or six bowls of in a day.
Right. This isn't a martial arts world, is it. It's a neighborhood that sells carbonara too. Once again, I felt that I hadn't fallen into a martial arts world, but into a martial arts dating sim world.
"Then give me one hangover soup. Put plenty of meat in it."
"Yes! One hangover soup is 30 copper coins."
Handing over the money and waiting for the hangover soup, I heard the voices of a few men chatting next to me.
"Have you heard about the Sheng Family Manor in Daxing County?"
"What about it?"
"You don't know the story that's famous these days?"
"Stop beating around the bush and just say it."
"The manor head of the Sheng Family Manor in Daxing County, Sheng Zhaolu. I heard he died suddenly not long ago."
The name of the late manor head is quite distinctive. If he went to school in Korea, it seems like a name that would make him the butt of jokes for life.
"That rich man died? But people die every day, what's so famous about that?"
"That's not the end of the story. He has a son, right? He's about to come of age, but it wasn't the son who became the manor head, it was Sheng Zhaolu's younger brother who became the manor head."
"How did that happen?"
"Sheng Zhaolu has a new wife, right? Not the deceased former wife. I heard that wife persuaded the bloodline members that the son is still immature and cannot lead the Sheng Family Manor. On top of that, she actively suggested handing over the manor head position to the younger brother, Sheng Zhilu."
"That's strange. Even if she's a stepmother, he's still her child, shouldn't she try to help pass the manor head position to her child?"
"That's why it's famous these days. From here on, it's just rumors, so take it with a grain of salt."
"What is it?"
"They say that new wife frequently went in and out of Sheng Zhaolu's younger brother Sheng Zhilu's room at night."
Wow. Love and war. Just hearing that, I know what's going on.
"He hooked up with his sister-in-law? That's immoral!!"
The voice of the man hearing the news for the first time suddenly started to rise.
Wow. Not liking Zhaolu, so she hooked up with Zhilu. I understand the sentiment, but the stepmother did something truly scandalous.
In adult novels and comics, hooking up with a sister-in-law is a common trope, so it doesn't feel out of place. But marrying a brother's widow is a barbarian custom. It's clearly a story that would be condemned here.
"It's practically an open secret. Everyone is hushing it up, but there's no other reason to hand over the Sheng Family Manor to the husband's younger brother instead of the son. That's why it's famous lately."
"What is the world coming to."
"Tell me about it. The hangover soup is here, let's eat."
With that, the men started eating their hangover soup.
"Your hangover soup is here!"
The waiter brought the hangover soup and placed it in front of me. Hmm. The broth really is thick and the meat is plentiful. It's delicious.
By the way, the Sheng Family Manor.
If I handle this well, it seems like it could be good material for my storytelling tomorrow.
The next day, people were already gathering around the platform in the empty lot in front of the cloth shop.
It seems Mr. Wang spread the word a lot.
"There he is!"
"Look at his attire. He really seems to be from a foreign land."
"Isn't that the black-haired beggar who's been wandering around lately?"
"My friend, look at that noble air. He's clearly a storyteller from a foreign land."
"Is that Joseon clothing? His attire is unique. But it also looks cool."
"Hurry up and tell us some rare stories!!"
"Coming through."
Pushing through the crowd talking about me, I went inside and climbed onto the prepared platform. The platform was set up by a previous storyteller to clearly show his voice and face.
It's higher than I thought. But the platform is wide, so it should be fine for performing.
"Greetings, everyone. I am a storyteller who has come from faraway Joseon to bring rare tales to the Central Plains. You may call me Kang."
Holding a fan in one hand against my chest, I bowed politely towards the audience.
"Joseon? Where's Joseon?"
"You know, where those black-haired people live. The country that produces ginseng. Look, he has black hair too."
"Ah! There! The place to the west?"
"It's to the east, you fool!!"
"I know too! East! Side! I misspoke!!"
"There are people who've been waiting since earlier. Everyone, shut up!!"
"Be quiet!!"
As I just bowed and stood there silently without speaking, people hungry for stories started to quiet the surroundings one by one.
This is a complete madhouse.
Making eye contact with the audience with an expressionless face, finally, no more noise could be heard.
"Thank you for waiting. Now, I shall begin the story from Joseon."
Snap!
I unfolded the hapjukseon widely and fanned once.
'When the storyteller from Joseon unfolds his foreign fan once, the story begins.'
That's the rumor I spread in preparation, for this fan.
The sound of it unfolding stylishly is also audible, making it perfect as the storyteller's trademark.
"Tell us the title first!!"
"If it's a story I've heard before, I'll just leave, so tell us the title first!!"
The title.
A famous rumor in Chilgok County.
A dead husband. A younger brother who seized the family. A lustful wife.
An unfortunate protagonist.
Then the story I'll tell is?
"The story I will tell you is the tale of Prince Hamuryeon of Joseon."
It's Hamlet.