117. Beijing (5)
Beijing (5)
117. Beijing (5)
They had shopped to their hearts' content in the commercial district of Beijing, the capital of the Central Plains and the greatest city in the East, and now they practically sparkled. It wasn't the kind of browsing where you hesitate to buy something interesting but not truly necessary—it was the kind of no-holds-barred, fill-up-the-household shopping driven by clear purpose, and perhaps that was why, after several hours, they came back from the shopping street and appeared right in front of us, laden with mountains of luggage.
"Thank you, Sect Leader. You're an honored guest, and we're so grateful you even carried our things for us."
"Not at all, Madam Do. We'd only ever been stuck in the corner of Liaoning, so it was our first time seeing such a large shopping district, and we genuinely enjoyed ourselves."
"Back when I was in Yeongsan, I went to buy things every time too, but that was the first time I'd ever seen anyone bargain like that. Merchants really are different."
Son Yeong spoke to Do-hwa, their intimacy having clearly skyrocketed.
"That's because you're so beautiful, Miss Immortal, so they cut the price for you. And this young lady, she really knows how to pick things out, doesn't she? I've truly lived without, so I never learned how to spot good things. It's such a relief."
"I lived without, too. It's just that I worked as a servant for a rich family and saw fine things, that's all."
"I already received a house and a huge sum of money—is it really all right to accept this as well?"
"Yes. Medicine Immortal is already deceased, but she was unmistakably my master. Madam Do and I are practically family."
"Then can I call you Eun-ha?"
"Of course. I'll call you unni."
Do-hwa pulled Lee Eun-ha into a tight embrace and buried her face in a bosom so ample that even I'd never had the chance to do the same. Lee Eun-ha, who hated lesbian play but had herself lived in a foreign land without a single family member, held Do-hwa tightly around the back.
"Was my son a good boy? It's nice having a pretty noona carry you on her back, isn't it? Son. Our luck has finally turned. From now on, Mom isn't going out to work—every day I'm going to hold you!"
Do-hwa spoke happily to the baby on Cho-ryeong's back. The infant, knowing nothing, merely beamed a bright smile and welcomed his mother.
"How is our cute young lady so good with babies? Truly, thank you."
Perhaps embarrassed by Do-hwa's praise, Cho-ryeong handed the baby over to Do-hwa and scurried over to her master. Maybe the sight of a parent and child like that made her a little envious.
"Now, Eun-ha, prepare the table, and Yeongmok, prepare the memorial rite. We'll hold a rite for Medicine Immortal so that Madam Do can live happily in this house from now on."
"Yes, Master."
What was there to preparing a memorial rite, really? Master had already made plenty of talismans, and we only needed to invoke Hwangseong. Though simple, the rite observed the minimum formalities befitting a Taoist sect. First came a rite to the household god of the new home, then a rite of thanks to the Medicine Immortal, and finally, as Do-hwa wished, the first memorial for her husband. His character had been terrible, but he had still left her the son she treasured more than anything. Given her circumstances, Do-hwa said she had been unable to hold even the Third-Day Memorial Rite, much less the Forty-Nine-Day Memorial Rite. It was now the fifty-fourth day since her husband had died, so we roughly treated it as the forty-ninth-day rite and held his memorial as well.
I could not say about her husband or the household god, but the Medicine Immortal's soul was not in heaven. As she watched Do-hwa's happy face, she thanked me several times.
"As promised, starting tomorrow, I'll guide you around Beijing. First, the Forbidden City. It's where the Son of Heaven resides. We can't enter, but even from a distance, it's an immensely magnificent palace. And Changling Tomb. It's where the Yongle Emperor rests. The Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven were all built by the Yongle Emperor.
"Oh, right. Yeongsan Sect is a Taoist sect, isn't it? You absolutely must visit the Temple of Heaven. It's the supreme imperial altar of the Ming Imperial Family, where the Son of Heaven personally offers prayers."
Do-hwa chattered away like a skilled tour guide. Honestly, since I hadn't even managed to travel to nearby China in my past life, I was a little curious myself. What's more, the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven had been completed only a few decades ago. To see those places, which had become mere relics of the past by the twenty-first century, in such a vivid state.
"And the Gongsun Clan is a famous place, too. When I was thinking of joining Red Flower Pavilion myself, it secretly made me uncomfortable, but now that it doesn't matter, I'll guide you well."
Another giant sect that, unlike the Yeongsan Sect of the past, could be extremely sensitive if it faced us now. But Do-hwa, with the sensibilities of a commoner, naturally introduced the Gongsun Clan as if it were just another tourist attraction.
"And Beijing Duck! If you don't eat this, you can't say you've been to Beijing. I know a place that's a little expensive but delicious. Actually, every restaurant on this street is a very high-class establishment. The place I'd like to recommend is Joseon Tofu House."
"Pardon? Joseon tofu?"
Lee Eun-ha, surprised by the name of her homeland, asked.
"They say the current emperor's grandfather, Emperor Shengde, absolutely loved Joseon tofu. So he brought a Joseon tofu artisan to the Forbidden City and had him make tofu. The current owner of the Tofu House is the grandson of the artisan who came to the Forbidden City back then."
Ah... Emperor Shengde. A fellow who was extremely ambiguous from Joseon's perspective. There was talk that he was a great ruler worthy of being called Ming's King Sejong, and indeed his reign overlapped with King Sejong's. Since he liked Joseon quite a bit, as Do-hwa said, he asked for a tofu artisan to be sent over, and he demanded gyrfalcons for falconry, which seemed to have caused Joseon considerable hardship. Still, it was said he helped a lot with trade and relations, and he'd even taken a Joseon consort, so the man was a Joseon enthusiast.
"Having tasted the food you made for me earlier, it was truly delicious, so you probably have very discerning taste, Eun-ha, right? Still, even if you go to the Tofu House and it doesn't suit your palate, you must absolutely not curse Joseon people. I don't know why, but in Beijing right now, insulting Joseon people causes serious trouble."
Do-hwa spoke to Lee Eun-ha with concern. I knew the reason. During the reign of Emperor Zhengtong, the current emperor's father, an unprecedented event in Chinese history had occurred. The Ming, the greatest unified empire in East Asia, personally set out to subjugate the Mongol tribal nation of Oirat and was soundly thrashed, the emperor taken prisoner. Because of that Tumu Crisis, the captured emperor's son, Emperor Chenghua, had his position as crown prince deposed before dramatically becoming the current emperor. During that period of deposition, a Lady Han, the Joseon consort of his grandfather Emperor Shengde, had looked after the current emperor well, so as a result, within the Forbidden City, the highest-ranking elder after the emperor was now effectively a Joseon person. That atmosphere must have been transmitted intact even to the streets of Beijing.
"Unni. I'm a Joseon person."
"Oh? Really? Then that's a relief. You've been longing for food from your hometown, right? You'll definitely like it."
The altar where the emperor offered prayers. A restaurant specializing in Joseon food, the kind the emperor would summon. At Do-hwa's explanation, our anticipation soared, just like the country folk we were.
"Tomorrow, I'll have to call Seungju unni and ask her to watch our son. No, wait—instead of rent, should I just hire unni as a wet nurse?"
Do-hwa was beside herself with happy imaginings. In my past life, the lottery, after taxes, was a little over a billion won. Of course, a billion won was such a huge sum that an office worker with an annual salary of fifty million would have to save every penny for twenty years, but with that money, even a jeonse deposit on a luxury apartment in Gangnam was out of reach. But she'd gained something beyond even that fortune, so I understood Do-hwa's joy. Just like that, in Do-hwa's new house, we bundled ourselves in new blankets and rested comfortably, and as we were finishing breakfast, the courtesan from yesterday came calling.
"Unni! I was just about to look for you, and you came at the perfect time! How did you find our house? Isn't it cool? I'm really rich now. Unni. You know, you have a child too, so why don't you quit the pleasure house and just watch our son?"
Do-hwa spoke happily upon seeing the courtesan. Contrary to Do-hwa's hopes, the courtesan probably couldn't quit Red Flower Pavilion. An ordinary courtesan couldn't have possibly learned martial arts like that. A place called Red Flower Pavilion was probably an unorthodox sect—given its nature as a pleasure house, it was likely an organization that dealt in information rather than money. That was how she'd so easily found Do-hwa's house in this vast Beijing the very day after she moved. If my guess was right, Red Flower Pavilion wasn't a place you could just retire from.
"Oh my. Congratulations, Do-hwa. Your friend gave it to you as a gift, right? That's truly wonderful.
"But Do-hwa. Can I talk to you for a moment?"
"Huh?"
Quickly snatching Do-hwa's hand, the courtesan led her into the building planned as the workshop. She seemed to want to share a secret, but with my qi sense now, I could hear every conversation in this entire house. Come to think of it, back then with Murong Hyeok-jung—masters probably had their share of troubles too. He'd have had to hear the vivid sounds of his son, grandson, and granddaughter having sex.
"Do-hwa! It's a huge problem! You have to run away quickly!"
"Run away? Why? What's going on? Is it the Gongsun Clan? Should I ask my friend for help?"
"No, you idiot! Your friend is the problem!! Do you even know who that person is? You've never seen him except when you were kids, right?"
"Eun-hyeok? What about him?"
"Did you even stop to think why Jeonchu Finance House groveled like that?"
"They were trembling right away at that bluff about being sworn brothers with a Peng Clan direct line."
"You crazy bitch! It wasn't a bluff—it's real! That man is truly the person who toppled five Peng Clan elders at once!"
"Elders? Aren't those just old men? Then of course Eun-hyeok would win."
Though I couldn't see her, I could picture the courtesan hitting her chest in frustration.
"Hey! Do you even know how terrifying a master a Peng Clan elder is? A single Peng Clan elder—whether it's Jeonchu Finance House or Red Flower Pavilion, even a hundred of them wouldn't be a match!"
"No way? The Peng Clan must just be so great they cower on their own."
"Exactly! In that great Peng Clan, excluding the Clan Head, the strongest people are the elders! Five of them were defeated by that master, and the strongest one even entered under Yeongsan Sect. You may not know this well, but the Peng Clan is a clan far larger and more powerful than the Gongsun Clan. A master who defeated the Peng Clan like that! I don't know what he was thinking seeking you out, but that person is far too dangerous.
"Quickly, grab Seungho and come out. You have to run away quietly without ever letting on!"
"What are you talking about? There's no way Eun-hyeok would do that. Even if Eun-hyeok is a master, what could he possibly do to me? Eun-hyeok can't do a thing in front of his master. Do you know how kind his master is? She truly took great care of our Seungho, and when she went grocery shopping with me, she carried all my things."
"Aigo! You bitch! You've really and completely lost your mind! How terrifying is the Yeongsan Sect Leader, and you made the Yeongsan Sect Leader carry your luggage? In Liaoxi, there was an underworld group called Blacksmith Gang. They were about twice the size of Jeonchu Finance House. Their sect leader made lewd remarks toward the Yeongsan Sect Leader, and right there, his own sword cut his throat. And the thirty-two martial artists of Blacksmith Gang became corpses overnight."
"Oh, come on. No way? That's nonsense. She looks like she couldn't even kill a fly. And there's a twelve-year-old kid in the group too. You're telling me such dangerous people travel around with a little girl?"
"Do-hwa! The martial world is a place you can't even begin to imagine. That child is stronger than our Pavilion Mistress! A child who's achieved the Indestructible Vajra Body!"
"Puhahaha! Unni, you're only jealous because I got a house, are you not? Don't worry. I know how to repay kindness. I'll give you the house where I used to live. Or bring Jin-ah and move into my place to look after my son."
The courtesan's maddening frustration transmitted itself all the way to me.
"And unni. Honestly, Eun-hyeok may have been a friend I saw when I was really young, but right now, he's a person I'm too grateful to. I've decided to live like sisters with Eun-ha. I'm someone who's lived without, so I may not have learned much, but I've got a sure eye for people. Eun-hyeok and Yeongsan Sect aren't people who would harm me.
"I also know what you're worried about. I know that mingling with people from the martial world can drag me into trouble for no reason. Even if an enemy of Yeongsan Sect cuts my throat someday, the people of Yeongsan Sect will take responsibility for our Seungho and care for him."
Do-hwa now spoke to the courtesan in a serious voice, too. Even if she didn't know the martial world, could a woman who'd survived like a weed out here possibly not understand the world? Do-hwa was trusting her own eyes.
"If that's what you think, I won't say another word. Just never let that person mix with the Gongsun Clan people. In the current situation, if the Gongsun Clan gets close to a master like that, things will become genuinely hard for us."
"Is Eun-hyeok really that strong? Then should I ask him to punish the Gongsun Clan?"
"Please, I'm begging you, don't say a word. Those people are the Orthodox Faction. If the Orthodox and Unorthodox fight, would they ever help the Unorthodox? We've lost, so we'll be moving to another region before long. Just until then, please, just don't get tangled up with the Gongsun Clan."
"You guys are moving?"
"The Pavilion Mistress decided it yesterday. We're looking into a new region, and I was planning to take you too, but seeing how you are, I guess you have no intention of following."
"If you leave, unni, what am I supposed to do when I get bored? You have a baby too—is working as a courtesan not difficult now? Just quit that place and come live with me in the new house."
"Whew. Truth is, I'm the one you shouldn't be close to anymore. When you lived in the back alleys, I must have been a help, but now that you've come out into the sunlight like this, you might end up in trouble for no reason because you associate with me.
"Fine. Since your eye for people is sure, try to get along well with that friend of yours. Looking at the women next to him, it doesn't seem like your body is his goal, and maybe it really is a kindness he's extending out of old affection."
"Huh? You're a courtesan, unni, and you're that naive? You think a man next to beautiful women won't look at another woman? I had a round with Eun-hyeok yesterday. Unni. You know. Eun-hyeok—that guy's cock is seriously bigger than the biggest Wooden Root I ever made. And he's so good at it, I'm getting wet just thinking about it now."
Do-hwa. This wench. She seriously just goes around broadcasting other people's sex lives everywhere, doesn't she?
"If that's his goal, then that's actually a relief."
"You should do it once before you go, unni. I told him I'd introduce you. Really, it's no joke."
"Absolutely not! Don't say such horrible things!"
Just then, someone approached from outside. In place of the host Do-hwa, Lee Eun-ha went out to greet the guest and spoke to Do-hwa.
"Unni. A guest has arrived. She says she is the Red Flower Pavilion Mistress."