31. Promise (1)
Promise (1)
31. Promise (1)
"Junior Brother! Your eyes are so hollow! Nothing's wrong, is it? Is it because of the expedition ceremony?"
With my useless brain refusing to work, I agonized all day, but no answer came. Master? Or Senior Sister? If I chose Master, Senior Sister would have to shoulder Master's burdens alone. If I chose Senior Sister, Master would be left all by herself. In this short time, they had become like family—we ate together in the same place and laughed together—and like lovers, we had pressed our bare skin together. I missed the days when I would have laughed off a man's dilemma in this situation as the bellyaching of some lucky bastard. After spending the whole night agonizing, I skipped the library and sat blankly in the shade of a tree at the training ground. She was the one who found me there.
Right. This Senior Sister, at least, wasn't personally involved and could judge the matter objectively. She probably had a rough idea of the situation too. When I poured out my worries to Lee Eun-ha as though clutching at a straw, she offered a remarkably simple solution.
"So you're saying you don't dislike either one, right? What's there to agonize over? Junior Brother, you're rich. Just take them both—that's all there is to it."
"Whaaat?!"
Had the shock hardened my head? Why hadn't such an obvious thought crossed my mind all this time? This wasn't the twenty-first century. Even my own father right now had two wives. Polygamy. If you had the means, you could take not just two but as many wives as you wanted. Wasn't it said that three wives and four concubines were the baseline for a hero? I wasn't a hero, but I at least had the ability to feed and support two women.
"Judging by your face, it seems the thought never even occurred to you. No wonder. For an ordinary person, taking a beauty like Senior Sister Jeong—or Master—as a wife would normally be unthinkable."
The youngest disciple would take both his master and the chief disciple as wives. There was no avoiding the world's censure, but compared with the problems they faced—and with the luxurious future of having them both—it was more than worth the price.
"If that happens, then the next sect leader—no, the last sect leader of Yeongsan Sect—would be me."
Half teasing, half serious, Lee Eun-ha quietly murmured.
"You, Senior Sister? What about Senior Sister Son?"
"Senior Sister Son should be married off. She's different from us, after all. If she marries into a martial family like yours, Junior Brother, she'll be able to learn high-level martial arts reserved for the direct bloodline. Then she will reach a realm no one can look down on, so there's no need to worry about her. Ah, but you don't need to worry about me either. I was never suited to martial arts, and I have no intention of spending the rest of my life here serving as Sect Leader. With a little help from you, Junior Brother, I'll look after Junior Sister Cho until she grows up, then leave the mountain at an appropriate time. As you know, I have all sorts of little talents, and I'm a servant by nature, so I'll find a new position in no time."
"Ah, come to think of it, after I leave the mountain, how about I just enter your household, Junior Brother? You could take in at least one maidservant, could you not? I'd still be able to see Master and Senior Sister Jeong, and my Joseon cooking would certainly satisfy you."
Lee Eun-ha spoke with a cheerful laugh. Unlike Son Yeong, the realistic Lee Eun-ha had never harbored anything like a martial artist's pride, but making her work as a body servant would be absurd, of course. Still, my head had cleared. This kind of worry really had been nothing but bellyaching after all. From the standpoint of a freeloading extra mouth at Baek Clan Estate, I couldn't take responsibility for two women, but Baek Clan Estate was no longer my future. I didn't even need to remain a martial artist. If I could summon the soul of a master calligrapher like Wang Xizhi, I could support them well enough as a literatus, and if I found the soul of an imperial court chef, I could live quite comfortably as the greatest chef in all of China.
The moment the answer appeared with such laughable simplicity, I realized that Master, Senior Sister, and I had all been impatient. Even at the earliest, it would be three years before I left Yeongsan Sect and took them down the mountain with me—perhaps even longer. Yet they had been impatient, and they had demanded an equally hasty conclusion from me. Why? Their situation was far more desperate than I had imagined, and I had still given them no certainty about the future.
How shameful. This should have been a matter between a man and women, not one between master and disciple or senior and junior disciples. They had set aside their shame and approached me so openly, yet I had failed to give them confidence in me as a man. That was a man's disgrace. My agonizing was over. I thanked Lee Eun-ha and headed straight for Master's room.
I steadied my breathing for a moment, then quietly knocked on the Master's door. The word "knock" didn't exist in this world, but this basic act of announcing one's presence was the same everywhere.
"Master. It's Eun-hyeok. I've come because I have something to say."
"Come in, Disciple."
The Master was seated in lotus posture on her bed with perfect poise. Her cheeks, flushed bright red, meant she had probably been doing qi circulation and breath regulation—not with the Taiji Art, but with the Yin Blossom Art. I acknowledged its curious effects, but when it came to building internal energy, to accumulating qi, it was a truly useless internal art. Still, the Master seemed genuinely pleased with the realm she had recently attained.
"Have you decided, then, Disciple?"
Apparently believing I had already resolved to train the Fourth Stage of the Yin-Yang Art with Jeong-hyang, Master asked in a calm tone. The time had finally come to tell her how I felt. I looked straight into her eyes and began speaking as calmly and firmly as I could, so that my sincerity would reach her.
"Master. I understand how you feel, but if you rush too much, you'll ruin things. I'm not leaving tomorrow. I may not even leave right away after three years."
"I know, Disciple. Still, if you decide quickly now—if you say you'll take responsibility for Hyang-a now—then from now on, you can spend your remaining time at Yeongsan Sect with Hyang-a the way you've been spending it now."
"About that—actually, there's a Senior Sister I promised first."
"What? Who? Yeong? Or Eun-ha?"
Startled out of even her seductive composure, her eyes went round as a rabbit's.
"Neither. It's Senior Sister Cho-ryeong. Ah! Don't look at me like that. I'm not a lunatic. I made a promise with Senior Sister Cho that I wouldn't take anyone away until she was fully grown. Master, I understand how you feel, but there is nothing to hurry over. Even if Yeongsan Sect is in danger, it can stand on its own now. Things are different from before. You have me now, do you not—a Daoist reliable enough for the Murong Clan to summon? You said it yourself, Master: desire between men and women is natural. You were right. But if you force it forward unnaturally, those feelings might crack. So trust me and wait patiently. I'm not an irresponsible bastard, am I?"
In her large eyes, just the faintest hint of tears began to form.
"Can I trust you? Is it really all right to trust you?"
"Of course. Be honest. Who could possibly give up beauties like you or Senior Sister Jeong?"
"I... I'm included too?"
"Yes, you too, Master. After seducing me this much, you're not going to back out now, are you? There's no need to worry. To take with me a master who's done nothing but worry herself sick over the sect and her disciples, I decided to take responsibility for the remaining Senior Sisters and for Yeongsan Sect itself. I will start preparing now so that Senior Sister Son, Senior Sister Lee, and even Senior Sister Cho can all live happily after we leave. Someday, when that day comes and you're satisfied, Master, I will take both you and Senior Sister Jeong down the mountain with me."
The Master, who had never even imagined I would choose her. But even more than that, the Master—who had borne the fate of Yeongsan Sect on these small shoulders all this time—was deeply moved by the future of Yeongsan Sect that I described. No, to the Master, Yeongsan Sect might not truly be what mattered most. Her disciples. Ensuring that her disciples' futures, at least, were freed from this harsh and treacherous life by whatever means necessary—that had probably been the Master's true goal. But now, she no longer had to carry this burden alone. Because I had now decided to become not the eldest son of Baek Clan Estate, but a Daoist of Yeongsan Sect—and their man.
"You're right, Disciple. I think I was a little too hasty."
Once her trembling subsided, Master spoke quietly. I handed the pouch I had prepared to her.
"Please accept this."
"What is it?"
"Open it."
Master tilted her head and opened the silk pouch. Then she dropped it on the spot.
"Wh... what is this?"
"What do you think? Ten taels of gold."
"Heav... heavens above! Ten taels of gold—that's a thousand taels of silver!"
"Yes. You said Yeongsan Sect could survive a spring on ten taels of silver, so ten taels of gold should carry it through a hundred seasons—twenty-five years—should it not?"
At my almost joking remark, Master looked utterly dumbfounded. Of course, twenty-five years was impossible. Ten taels of silver had been enough only in the old days, when five women survived on millet gruel and lived for no purpose beyond not starving to death. Now, with a big eater like me around, and with rice, meat side dishes, clothing repairs, liquor, and snacks to pay for, a single tael of gold would probably vanish in a year. Even so, it could sustain us for ten years. And I still had roughly another ten taels of gold left.
"Master. Our Yeongsan Sect will absolutely not go to ruin. There's no need to rush."
To be honest, ten taels of gold was no small sum even to me. The money I had slowly scraped together at Baek Clan Estate over more than ten years came to barely five taels of gold. Another five had come from Lady Tang when I quickly conceded the succession contest. For Dan-yeong to send this fortune must have been the gamble of his life. He'd prepared a sum so large that I would struggle to refuse it, ensuring I would never return to Baek Clan Estate. He had even borrowed from the elders of his maternal family, money he would probably have to repay after becoming Clan Head. Handing those ten taels of gold to Master was also a declaration of my resolve. I had originally planned to kill time at Yeongsan Sect for three years and never return, but its meaning had changed. Rather than live as a freeloading extra mouth amid the abundance of Baek Clan Estate, I'd chosen a future here with Master and Senior Sister Jeong.
"Ah... no! This is too much money. I know you're well-off, Disciple, but this is precious funds you should be using for yourself after you leave the mountain."
"I don't know every detail, but I heard it was the custom. When a Yeongsan Sect disciple leaves the mountain and takes a female disciple with him, he pays a dowry to the sect. I'm not giving this money to you personally. I'm offering it to the sect so that, when I someday leave the mountain, I may take you and Senior Sister Jeong with me. A man made this offer with the resolve to gain his wives, so please don't refuse it, Master."
Master's deeply rooted belief that men were superior to women made the words 'a man made this offer with resolve' pierce her heart like an arrow.
"I see. In that case, I have no choice but to follow your wishes, Disciple. Hyang-a, perhaps, but I cannot imagine what value an old woman like me could have. Still, the right to choose a female disciple was yours from the beginning.
"I never imagined it, but I'm truly happy, you know? That a young, handsome man like you, Disciple, would go this far to make me his wife.
"Understood. In the name of Chae Yeong-ok, sixth-generation Sect Leader of Yeongsan Sect, I grant Disciple Baek Eun-hyeok permission to take Jeong-hyang and me with him when he leaves the mountain. When that day comes, I too shall spend the rest of my life serving my husband as a wife, not as a master. However, this applies strictly after you leave the mountain. While you remain at Yeongsan Sect, Disciple, I will preserve our relationship as master and disciple."
A woman's happy smile paired with a Sect Leader's businesslike voice. The incongruous combination was extraordinarily adorable.
"Forgive me, Disciple, but this too is the sect's rule. It's a rule left by the ancient masters that one must absolutely not lay hands on a female disciple before leaving the mountain—please understand."
"Since I'm the one who asked you to wait, it doesn't matter, but that's a rather peculiar rule, isn't it?"
"It's an obvious rule. Think about it. If the chief disciple who brought me here had violated me whenever he pleased and sated his lust every day, then grown tired of me and refused to take me when he left the mountain, the sect would have suffered a great loss. He wouldn't have paid a dowry, and no one would take a woman like me after I lost my chastity, leaving Yeongsan Sect burdened with dead weight."
Even in this horrific story, Master spoke only of the sect's loss and never mentioned her own suffering, which would have been the most agonizing part. The one small mercy was that this ridiculous rule had allowed female disciples brought in as future brides or body servants for aging Daoists to preserve their chastity even within such a male-dominated structure. In truth, without that rule, every man in Yeongsan Sect would have drawn swords over Jeong-hyang.
"Still, don't worry too much. Since you've already paid the dowry, Disciple, I'll make a special allowance alongside the ancient masters' rule. Hyang-a will remain your senior sister and I your master, but I'll permit you to practice the Yin-Yang Art with us. That's good news, is it not? Now you needn't worry about your carnal desires, and you can attempt the Fourth Stage of the Yin-Yang Art without obstruction."
The Master even clapped her hands and beamed brightly. As recently as yesterday, this would have been a situation to recoil from in shock, but now—what did any of that matter? She was a woman I'd resolved to share a future with. I ought to grant her at least that much.