Well Played
Nok Jong hurried swiftly toward Qinghui Courtyard.
All this while, Nanny Dong had given Chunyan nothing to do, and Daegnang and Chun Tao had kept constant vigil at the mourning hall—Chunyan hadn't even had the chance to show her face before Daegnang. Restless with unease, Chunyan had begun making one favorite snack of Daegnang's after another in the kitchen, hoping that when the lady thought of her again, she might be permitted to serve at her side once more.
A maid cleaning Qinghui Courtyard came scurrying to the kitchen, brushed the snow from her shoulders, and turned her head to speak to Chunyan.
"Chunyan, some Nok Jong is outside looking for you."
Chunyan frowned and was about to protest that she was busy when suddenly the Liang King flashed through her mind. She set down the fan she'd been using to stoke the fire, smoothed her hair, and stepped out of the kitchen toward the entrance. Sure enough, there stood the very same gatekeeper Nok Jong who had delivered the Liang King's message to her the day before.
The moment Nok Jong saw Chunyan emerge, he hurried toward a spot where no one could see them. Chunyan caught on at once and followed, clutching her handkerchief tight in her anxiety.
"What does His Highness the Liang King want to say to me?"
Chunyan's ears burned red. That noble, strikingly handsome man—how she longed to see him.
"Of course, of course. Lady Chunyan, do you have any idea what terrible risks I've taken coming here! When you rise high someday, don't you dare forget this humble servant!"
Nok Jong said with a smiling face.
Chunyan hastily slipped a bracelet from her wrist and pressed it into the man's hand.
"I know you braved great danger to come, Mama. Thank you so much! Hurry and tell me—if anyone sees us, it'll be disaster."
Nok Jong weighed the bracelet in his palm and slipped it secretly into his sleeve.
"Dong the servant boy from His Highness the Liang King's household is waiting outside the gate. He says he must see you. Earlier there were too many watchful eyes for him to come, so it took him great effort to get here at all. Dong has been waiting a long while. Before coming, I checked once more on your behalf—and he's still there at the gate! He seems to have something terribly important to tell you! Go, quickly!"
With that, Nok Jong glanced around warily and hastily slipped away.
Chunyan's heart grew tangled. She bowed her head, brushed every trace of flour from her pale blue ogun jacket, tidied her hair, and hurried toward the entrance.
The moment Chunyan left, Yin Shuang leapt down from a tree and stole silently after her.
Nanny Dong had promised Yin Shuang that the moment Chunyan left Qinghui Courtyard she was to tail her, and that if she could remember every single word Chunyan said and to whom, without omitting so much as a syllable, she would be rewarded with candy.
* * *
Chunyan raced to the side gate and caught her breath in front of the entrance. Then, straightening her hair and clothes once more, she stepped out beyond the side gate.
At the sight of the carriage, Chunyan's heart pounded wildly.
"Is His Highness here too?"
"Why are you only coming out now?"
Dong Gil, seeing Chunyan emerge, couldn't hold back his grumbling.
"I'm so sorry! The gatekeeper Nok Jong waited until the eyes of the others were elsewhere before telling me!"
Chunyan stole glances at the carriage.
In the past, the Liang King had come here in a servant's carriage to avoid people's gazes. So Chunyan assumed he had come again.
"His Highness did not come! You needn't crane your neck staring like that!"
Dong Gil's tone turned icy with irritation.
"His Highness has given an order."
Dong Gil drew several letters from his breast and repeated to Chunyan, without omitting a single word, exactly what the Liang King had instructed him to say.
At the news that the Liang King held her in his heart as well, Chunyan's heart beat faster and faster, and her face flushed crimson.
"If you see this task through, Lady Bai will marry into the prince's estate, and His Highness will then ask for you, Lady Chunyan, and take you in as his concubine! So you must not, under any circumstances, fail. And you must absolutely not open these letters. He said that if you do, everything will be exposed. His Highness said that Duke Zhenguo would never be the sort of man to open the letters of those beneath him."
Dong Gil cautioned her.
"His Highness has instructed you again and again—commit it all firmly to memory!"
Chunyan's hands trembled uncontrollably. His Highness meant to take her as a concubine... Her heart swelled with joy.
Still, slipping these letters into Duke Zhenguo's study would surely be no easy feat. But if she could become the Liang King's woman, she would gladly brave that danger.
Besides, what respectable family would take a woman like the lady, one who could bear no children? The Liang King was a prince of the blood—a prince who had given her his whole heart. What better choice could there be than to marry him? She was doing all this for the lady's sake. That was what Chunyan told herself.
Without hesitation, Chunyan took the letters from Dong Gil's hands.
"Please tell His Highness the Liang King: this humble servant will find some way, however it must be done, to place these letters in Duke Zhenguo's study."
"The day of the duke's estate's funeral procession is today—that's the finest chance there will be. Miss today, and who knows when another will come! And if... if any mishap should befall the lady's marriage in the meantime, there will be no hope at all! Remember it well!"
Dong Gil emphasized the point one extra time, fearing Chunyan might simply freeze up in fear and ruin everything.
If anything went wrong with the lady's marriage, she would never see His Highness the Liang King again. Chunyan's face went white. She understood, too, just how urgent this matter was.
Clutching the letters tight, Chunyan nodded.
"Tell His Highness not to worry. I will see this done properly today. And once it's done, I'll find a way to send him word!"
Just then, the Bai family's funeral procession, returning home, was passing through the alley ahead. Dong Gil turned his head to glance down the lane once and spoke hurriedly.
"There's no need to send word! I'll wait right here... The procession is already on its way back. Delay any longer and the chance will be gone. Plant the letters quickly and come back to tell me."
Before Dong Gil had even finished speaking, the side gate suddenly flew wide open. A dozen-odd guards and burly servants came surging out and seized Chunyan—who held the letters in her hand—along with Dong Gil and even the Liang King's carriage driver.
"What is the meaning of this! Unhand me! I am a servant in the Liang King's retinue! How dare you lay hands on me!"
Dong Gil shouted.
* * *
The rear side gate of the Duke Zhenguo Estate saw little foot traffic. But as it happened, the funeral procession was returning and passing through that very alley. At Dong Gil's shouts, the people halted mid-step and turned their eyes toward the commotion.
Nanny Dong folded her hands and placed them over her abdomen. Her face, already grave with mourning, grew darker still, making her look more solemn than ever. She looked at Chunyan and spoke.
"Chunyan, your gall has swollen far too big. Have you forgotten what you were flogged for last time? The wounds have barely healed, and already the pain is forgotten! You dared to consort privately with a servant of the Liang King's estate again, and worse—you meant to use these letters to force the lady into marriage with the Liang King? Magnificent. You truly do as you please, don't you!"
A hulking servant pressed Chunyan down to her knees. Trembling with terror, Chunyan shook where she knelt.
"Mama! Mama, it wasn't me! I didn't do anything!"
"There are witnesses and physical evidence both, and still you deny it! Are my eyes blind, then?"
Nanny Dong raised her voice in anger.
"I should have beaten you to death last time!"
"Mama, spare me, I beg you! I did it all for the lady's sake!"
Chunyan pleaded through her tears.
Nanny Dong gave a cold snort.
"This matter cannot simply be allowed to pass! It concerns a prince of the blood and our lady—I believe I must report it to the Grand Princess!"
Nanny Dong fixed Chunyan with a gaze sharp as a blade's edge, then turned her eyes to Dong Gil.
"Bind them! We'll pass through this alley and go by the main gate. And we shall hand these wretches over to the Grand Princess!"
Having said her piece, Nanny Dong led the way. The Bai family's guards bore down on Chunyan, Dong Gil, and the Liang King's carriage driver, and dragging the prince's carriage along, they walked toward the main gate.
"Let go! I am a servant of the Liang King's estate. The Duke Zhenguo Estate has no authority to seize me! Let go!"
Dong Gil bellowed as he was pressed forward and dragged along.
Chunyan's legs gave out beneath her. Remembering the fate of Ming-ok, the maid who had once served at the Yi Estate, she was terrified out of her wits and begged forgiveness through her tears.
"Nanny Dong, this servant has done wrong! Please, forgive me! I'll never do it again! Please, show mercy—please don't drag me before the Grand Princess! If she learns of this, she'll have me killed! Nanny Dong, you've known me since I was a child! Mama, please—give this servant a path to live!"
Utterly unmoved by her pleas, Nanny Dong departed the alley with the guards and servants in tow, and walked through the crowd's watching eyes toward the main gate of the Duke Zhenguo Estate.
The Grand Princess had only just descended from her carriage, supported by Nanny Zhang, when Nanny Dong suddenly hastened forward, dropped to her knees before the Grand Princess, and cried out in a loud voice.
"Your Highness the Grand Princess, I beg you—resolve this matter for the sake of the lady!"
Startled, the Grand Princess turned her head and looked at Bai Jingyan, who had just stepped down from the carriage. Bai Jingyan, her expression blank with bewilderment, hurried toward Nanny Dong.
"Nanny Dong, what is the matter?"
The citizens who had escorted the Bai family's bereaved home had not yet dispersed. Having only just buried the Bai family's coffins, they now saw fresh trouble brewing and craned their necks to see what new affair had arisen.
"My lady! My lady, please save me!"
At the sight of Bai Jingyan, Chunyan thrashed violently, straining against her bonds in a desperate attempt to run to her—only to be pressed down again by the servants. When Bai Jingyan walked on without so much as turning her head, Chunyan felt despair seize her. Then Chunyan called out to Chun Tao, who was supporting Bai Jingyan.
"Chun Tao, save me! Please, help me! I once saved your life, remember... Please, I beg you, save me!"
At Chunyan's cries, hot tears rose in Chun Tao's eyes. But she steeled her heart and did not turn her head.
Chun Tao knew better than anyone how bitterly hard the lady's road to this day had been. Chunyan had grown up beside the lady since childhood, yet far from aiding her, she had been nothing but a burden at every turn. And now Chunyan sought to defile the lady's very marriage rites and force her into wedlock with the Liang King. It was beyond any forgiving.
Nanny Dong first bowed in Bai Jingyan's direction, then bowed again to the Grand Princess before speaking.
"The last time, Chunyan secretly consorted with the Liang King's servant and tried to arrange a private meeting between the lady and the prince. Over that affair, Madam cleared out the inner courtyard and sold off five servants and their families. The lady spared Chunyan's life out of old affection, for the girl had served at her side since childhood—but that treacherous creature, knowing no gratitude, met with His Highness the Liang King's servant in private once more! As it happened, Yin Shuang discovered it and reported it to me."
The Grand Princess had already heard of the earlier affair. At the time, she had privately thought Ayeon far too soft-hearted toward her servants. But she had also judged it improper for her to intervene in the affairs of Qinghui Courtyard's own staff. Now, however, she saw it plainly: a servant was only ever a servant... and such people were never to be pitied into leniency and left unchecked.
"I took the guards and strong servants with me to the side gate, and there I heard His Highness the Liang King's trusted servant tell Chunyan this: that during the confusion of the duke's estate's funeral procession, she was to plant a love letter from His Highness to the lady in Duke Zhenguo's study. He also cautioned Chunyan never to open the letter—saying that Duke Zhenguo would never, on his life, open the private correspondence of one beneath him. And that the Liang King would later have the letter discovered, blowing the affair up into a great scandal!"
The Grand Princess's eyes flew wide open in shock. It was a scheme to defile Ayeon's very marriage rites.