The Jeonju Yi Clan
Against a horizon painted in the long and short shades of sunset, three riders galloped across a vast plain where rice fields stretched endlessly.
The most striking figure among them was the woman leading the way. A massive bow, five cheok in length, slung diagonally across her back, she scanned the lands her clan had tilled for generations with eyes sharp as blades.
One hundred and twenty years. It had been that long since her clan's founder fled Jeonju with hundreds of followers and arrived in Dongbuk-myeon. In just over a century, her family had come to dominate those lands, and now tens of thousands lived under their rule.
At first, the clan had sworn loyalty to Goryeo. But when signs of Goryeo's fall to the Mongols appeared, they abandoned it, surrendering to the invaders to secure official posts. They served as Mongol lackeys and officials until the Mongols showed signs of decline, then returned to Goryeo, joining King Gongmin's campaign to crush the Ssangseong Commandery and reclaiming their status as Goryeo folk.
Throughout it all, endless inheritance disputes raged among the sisters, and the principle of primogeniture was rarely upheld. Her mother had killed her own niece; she herself had effectively banished her eldest sister, the rightful heir. Yet no one in Dongbuk-myeon dared curse the clan. How could they, when they survived on its lands?
A pleasant spring breeze rustled the green rice stalks with a soothing whisper. Orange sunlight glinted off the long, straight black hair of the woman at the fore. Yi Seong-hye, fifth head of the Jeonju Yi clan, reined in her horse amid the fields, lost in thought.
"Mom. You said you had something to tell me before I head to Seonggyun-gwan."
Yi Seong-hye turned to look beside her. A horse had drawn up alongside without her noticing.
Yi Bang-ul, her youngest daughter, clad in light pink armor that contrasted sharply with her mother's crimson plate, gazed up at her. Yi Seong-hye stared silently at Yi Bang-ul for a moment. The spring breeze whispered between them.
Yi Seong-hye's gaze drifted to the distant mountains. Then she turned back and began to speak.
"My daughter. From where the mountains begin to where they end—that is our clan's land. Our army is stronger than Goryeo's own. Even three-year-olds in the mountain valleys of Gangwon sing our praises in lisping tongues, and barbarians who cross the rivers beg to live on our soil."
A faint smile, one she rarely showed, touched her lips as her red eyes met Yi Bang-ul's own. The unfamiliar kindness and warmth from Yi Seong-hye felt burdensome.
"And yet, our clan has never produced a civil official. I never even dreamed one of us might trade the saddle for a scholar's cushion and wield a brush. But you—you passed the gwageo, the first in our family. Do you know how proud that made me?"
Yi Seong-hye placed a hand on Yi Bang-ul's left cheek, stroking it gently. Yi Bang-ul flinched in surprise.
"From childhood, I worried you'd never draw a bowstring, sickly as you were compared to your sisters. But now you'll wield a brush instead of charging through dust and dirt—I've set aside those fears. I'm truly proud you're going to Seonggyun-gwan. You are our clan's pride."
"Uh... yeah... thanks, Mom."
This was a courtesy Yi Seong-hye would never normally offer. Yi Bang-ul accepted the caress in a daze.
"Good. I heard your seonju is Lee Seung-in, known as Do-eun. With a seonju like that, your path to office should be smooth. Any among your dongmun from the Prime Minister's collateral houses? A good seonju is paramount, but connections to prominent families among your peers matter too."
Yi Bang-ul realized the woman before her had shed her momentary softness, reverting to the true Yi Seong-hye. Her porcelain red eyes locked onto Yi Bang-ul's, valuing not the fact of her daughter's entry to Seonggyun-gwan, but the benefits it would bring the clan upon her return to the capital's elite circles.
"Haven't met her yet. Planning to first time at Seonggyun-gwan. But is it really that important?"
"Daughter. There are only fifteen Prime Minister collateral houses in all Goryeo. Forge ties with even one—through friendship or marriage—and a path of silk will unfold before you. To rise in Goryeo, you must seize marriage ties, academic networks, and official patronage. Link with a Prime Minister house, and you claim all three at once. Be sure to learn their surnames before deciding whom to befriend."
"Yeah..."
The weak reply hung in the air. Exhaustion weighed on Yi Bang-ul as she asked,
"Mom... aren't you happy I'm going to Seonggyun-gwan?"
She stared at the ground as she spoke. Her horse pawed the earth. Yi Seong-hye replied with a smile shadowed by something darker.
"Of course I am. You are my one proud daughter."
Yi Bang-ul said nothing. Silence drifted between them. After a moment, she spoke first.
"I'm gonna ride ahead a bit."
"Don't go too far. Be back before dinner."
Yi Bang-ul yanked the reins hard, spurring her horse toward the bamboo grove. The saddle jolted wildly. As if desperate to put distance between herself and Yi Seong-hye, she never once looked back. Her small hands clenched tight at her waist.
Only after a long gallop did she slow. In the heart of the dense bamboo thicket, Yi Bang-ul turned silently to her younger brother sitting behind her.
"Do you think Mom loves us?"
The boy, who looked about nine or ten, leaned slightly to the left to answer.
"Not really."
His red eyes, distinctive of the Jeonju Yi, flashed. Like their mother, he had ghostly pale skin, slightly long black hair, and delicate, jade-like hands. Yi Bang-ul dismounted first, then helped her brother down, his feet not quite reaching the ground.
"Mom's never really cared about us to begin with. Ever counted how much more time she spends in Gaegyeong or Hamheung over a year?"
Yi Bang-ul wasn't fool enough to ignore that Yi Seong-hye preferred Gaegyeong, with its offices and her 21-years-younger "new father." But she refused to admit she stood as distant from her mother's affection as Hamheung was from the capital, snapping in irritation instead.
"What do you know? Mom's busy with her duties in Gaegyeong—that's why she can't visit Hamheung often."
"Then explain why she doesn't bring us to Gaegyeong. And when we do visit, she sneaks out every night to sleep elsewhere."
The sharp words choked her retort. They stabbed like daggers into her heart.
"Mom showers love on her new husband and his kids, but barely notices our dad—or us. Expecting affection from her in this house is the real mistake."
"Hey, the more I see of you... Who are you to talk like you know her so well? Do you have any idea how much Mom suffers for this place? Everyone but you and Third Sis follows her everywhere—"
Her words cut off midway.
"Sis, who always begs Big Sis and still can't tag along—how do you say that so easily?"
A sharp slap echoed through the bamboo grove.
"Say you're sorry."
Yi Bang-yeon stared straight into Yi Bang-ul's eyes, demanding it without flinching or anger. Her hand trembled violently as tears welled up. Sobbing, she mounted her horse and rode off alone, leaving him behind.
As twilight faded and the sun dipped away, Yi Bang-yeon appeared at the bamboo grove's edge. Nearby, his horse paced restlessly, Yi Bang-ul atop it. Spotting him, she approached without meeting his gaze.
"Sorry about earlier."
"Whatever. Give me a ride."
Yi Bang-ul dismounted, seating him at the rear of the saddle as always after their fights—careful not to touch. As Yi Bang-yeon ducked his head, she remounted, and the horse bolted into the gathering dusk, the black twilight settling over the earth.
Faster than before, the saddle bucked wildly, Yi Bang-ul's waist hard to grip, and Yi Bang-yeon complained.
"Sis, slow down a bit. It's shaking like crazy back here."
Still harboring resentment, she ignored him and spurred harder. The saddle heaved dramatically. Yi Bang-yeon and Yi Bang-ul bounced up and down repeatedly.
"Sis! Enough—"
The horse stumbled into a furrow, its hind leg catching, rear lifting high. Yi Bang-yeon, at the back, flew into the air.
Yi Bang-ul whipped around in horror. Time slowed as if submerged in water, Yi Bang-yeon's memories flashing short and swift through his mind—from the bamboo grove moments ago, backward through his life's instants to infancy.
And in the final, brief glimpse before his head hit the ground—scenes from before birth—Yi Bang-yeon realized.
I'm reincarnated.
A moment later, his head smashed against a jutting rock, and he blacked out.