7. Baek Clan Estate (6)
Baek Clan Estate (6)
7. Baek Clan Estate (6)
"Eldest Young Master... perhaps I misheard you?"
Lady Tang—no, my second mother—looked at me in disbelief and asked again.
"What is so strange about calling you 'Mother'? I know Dan-yeong is your precious biological son, but I am a son of this house as well, so please do not discriminate so openly."
Crash. This time, Dan-yeong dropped his cup. A man who aspired to become Clan Head should not show his shock so plainly...
"How... astonishing. I never expected that I would ever hear you call me 'Mother' from your own lips. Then what business brings you, at this late hour, to your younger brother's chamber?"
"I simply wanted to talk. We are the only brothers either of us has, yet we have remained far too distant. As a result, Manager Jeong and Commander Kang have been glaring daggers at each other."
Realizing that my business concerned the matter of the successor, Lady Tang's expression instantly shifted.
"Is this about choosing the Young Clan Head?"
"Yes. So, I wish to speak with Dan-yeong for a moment.
"Hey, you. No matter how unpleasant you find my face, your older brother is standing here, and you don't even have a greeting?"
At those words, Baek Dan-yeong glared at me with a frown.
"He intended to greet you once our conversation was finished. Waiting until one's elders have finished speaking is also proper etiquette."
Before Dan-yeong could open his mouth, Lady Tang intervened to defend him. So helicopter mothers existed in this era too. Then again, the saying about Mencius's mother moving three times for his education hadn't been created thousands of years ago for nothing. I could only sigh.
"Hey. Have you got no mouth? How old are you, and you're going to keep your lips sealed until your mother speaks for you?"
"No, hyung. Welcome."
"A forced bow if I ever saw one."
My complaint only served to irritate the mother and son even further.
"Enough. Let's keep this short. Between you and me, which of us is better suited to become the Young Clan Head of the Baek Clan Estate?"
Talking around the issue would only make it more complicated. I opened the conversation with the blunt question.
"Wh-what are you saying, Eldest Young Master? Choosing a Young Clan Head while the Clan Head remains in the prime of health is far too premature!"
Lady Tang cried out urgently. She knew it too: although Dan-yeong had greater potential, I held the advantage for now. My natural aptitude was poor and I had no support from my maternal family, but the experience of my past life had given me a proven record of handling the estate's affairs, and in a Confucian society, the status of eldest son was no trivial qualification. She had therefore delayed the choice again and again while waiting for Dan-yeong to mature. That was how the Baek Clan Estate had ended up in this mess.
"Not you, Mother. I want to hear your opinion. Baek Dan-yeong."
Even then, Dan-yeong glanced at Lady Tang to gauge her reaction. Honestly, that brat had the makings of an excellent clan head if only he weren't such a mama's boy.
"Of... Of course, Older Brother is better suited. But such a crucial family matter is not for us to decide among our..."
"Cut the bullshit. The Young Clan Head will become the next Baek Clan Head. We are not choosing whoever obeys best; we are choosing the man who can lead the family."
Perhaps at a loss for words, Dan-yeong swallowed. He was excellent in every other respect, but far too young—not only in age, but in maturity. That was precisely why I needed to make him bear the responsibilities of the Young Clan Head now instead of remaining Lady Tang's pampered son. The position would force him to grow.
"Don't look to her for cues. Just speak. You? Or me?"
"Did I not say you were better suited, hyung?"
"Why?"
"Th-the eldest son is traditionally supposed to lead the family."
"Tradition? Don't make me laugh. Are you giving up on becoming Young Clan Head, then? Think carefully. Depending on your answer, I will report it to the Clan Head immediately."
Dan-yeong trembled. He probably thought I was testing him or trying to sound him out. If he revealed his ambition to my face, he would lose face in this Confucian society; if he backed down, I would take it as surrendering his claim to the succession.
"Eldest Young Master. I understand your intention to open your heart and converse with your younger brother, but it seems improper to burst in late at night to discuss such a grave matter. Let us choose another day and discuss it calmly."
At last, Lady Tang intervened.
"Mother. I am currently asking Dan-yeong something. Even if Dan-yeong is young, do you see your son as such a fool that he cannot express his own will on a simple question like this? Or do you, Mother, simply wish to raise Dan-yeong as a child who merely does as he is told?"
"What do you mean by that, Eldest Young Master!"
Lady Tang was understandably furious. It would be hard to find a parent who could laugh off an insult to their child.
"And what of Older Brother's own thoughts?"
And it would also be difficult to find a child well-disposed toward someone who spoke recklessly to their parent.
"How dare you glare at your hyung? I'm letting it pass because your mother is here, but do not look at me like that again. And you asked a good question. I intend to make you the Young Clan Head."
An even more bewildered expression than the earlier shock spread across both their faces.
"Wh-what do you mean, hyung?"
"Exactly what I said. You know I'm not clever. If this were a scheme, I would have summoned you somewhere away from Mother. I will be gone for about three years. Establish yourself firmly as Young Clan Head before I return."
"... Why? Why would you do this, Eldest Young Master?"
"It's simple. I have no wish to become Clan Head, while Dan-yeong does. This should be happy news, so stop frowning and smile, Mother."
"A-are you serious, hyung?"
"Would I have come all the way here in the middle of the night because you and I are so close, just to crack a joke?"
The mother and son looked at each other's faces with expressions of disbelief.
"Believe it or not, as you please. I will leave within a few days. If you become Young Clan Head before then, there will be no room left for schemes. But say it clearly, here and now: you want to become Baek Clan Head. If you say you don't want it either, I'll have no choice but to fulfill my duty as the eldest son."
"...I do. I want to become Young Clan Head."
Baek Dan-yeong clenched his fist and looked straight into my eyes. For the first time, he looked to me rather than Lady Tang and confessed what he truly wanted.
"Fine. Congratulations.
"Mother. On such a happy day, I'd like to share a drink with my younger brother. And I have heard that you are such an excellent cook; might I perhaps have a taste?"
Still in a daze, Lady Tang rose quietly. She was the matriarch of the Baek Clan Estate and almost never entered the kitchen, however skilled a cook she might be. Yet I had heard that she personally prepared food for her precious son Dan-yeong. With the tension between us gone, I made the request casually. She seemed to head for the kitchen both to collect her thoughts and to verify what I had said.
"For the record, I've already told Father everything. You probably don't believe me, so ask him tomorrow morning."
"It's unbelievable."
"That's rich, considering you wanted the position badly enough to push your hyung aside."
"Well, that is true."
At last, this twisted younger brother of mine, for the first time in his life, showed a genuine smile in my presence.
"And I have one request. Yeon-hwa of Gyeongse Sect was sent to us as a pledge of loyalty, but don't treat her too brutally. Gyeongse Sect may be weak, but it is still a martial sect. Its leader may be willing to lick Father's asshole clean now, but once leadership passes to the next generation, things will change. An enemy nursing a grudge can bide their time beneath our heel for years, waiting for the right moment to stab us in the back."
"Did that bitch Yeonhwa go and tattle to you, Older Brother?"
"No. I saw her leaving the estate, covered in tears, snot, and bruises. You take after Father. I hear Heuk Jahwa's disciple is in the dungeon, a girl about my age. No one will care whether you stab her, burn her with an iron, shove a club into her vagina, or cut off her head when you tire of her, so play with her instead. As the future Baek Clan Head, you will have to learn how to interrogate women from the unorthodox factions anyway."
"W-Will... will Mother permit it?"
"Hey. It's good to be filial, but how long will you keep seeking Mother's approval for everything? You'll soon be Young Clan Head. You may be the younger son within the family, but inside the Baek Clan Estate you'll rank second. Mother genuinely wanted to make you Young Clan Head, so she must have raised you strictly for that purpose. Now that she has achieved it, she'll ease up on you."
"I... I see."
He looked as though something had finally clicked and listened to his hyung with the innocence of an ordinary younger brother. I had been a fool as well. Why had I treated him like an enemy over a position as trivial as Young Clan Head? Over a little liquor, two brothers who had snarled at each other all their lives began sharing the stories they had never told. Surprisingly, Dan-yeong had envied me as much as I envied him. He truly loved his mother, but even he had sometimes felt burdened by her excessive love and attention.
We had lived as rivals all our lives and couldn't become inseparable brothers overnight. Still, with the great burdens lifted from both our hearts, we drank cup after cup and traded memories in unusually good spirits.
"I worry whether it will suit your palate. The cuisine of the Sichuan region is very spicy."
Lady Tang returned with food at just the right moment while we were drinking without anything to accompany the liquor. Calling her Mother must have shocked her, but the kindly smile she wore was equally unfamiliar to me. Mapo tofu—authentic mapo tofu made by a woman from Sichuan.
"I happen to enjoy spicy food."
"Indeed, the Eldest Young Master was said to be particularly fond of Joseon kimchi, was he not?"
Lady Tang was no fool. Before going to the kitchen after hearing such an unbelievable story, she had probably spoken to Father. That explained the affectionate expression and the care she had put into the dish. I lifted a spoonful of tofu to my mouth, and a wave of heat strong enough to make me sweat rose through me. Kimchi offered a cool, refreshing heat; this spiciness clung to the mouth. My god. Even as the son of a fairly wealthy family, I had never tasted food this good. Three cheers for Lady Tang, and three cheers for this ridiculous world-building in which mapo tofu existed openly even though chili peppers had supposedly not spread here yet.
"How is it, Older Brother? Mother's skill lives up to the rumors, doesn't it?"
"Wow. I am starting to resent my entire life up to this point. I should have handed over the position of Young Clan Head years ago and lived on free mapo tofu."
Baek Dan-yeong laughed happily at the sight. However, on Lady Tang's smiling face, a subtle unease still lingered.
"You eat so boldly, Eldest Young Master. Have you no concerns? I am from the Sichuan Tang Clan, you know?"
Ah. That issue was still hanging between us: the rumor surrounding my birth mother's death.
"Mother. I have never once, not for a single moment, believed that laughable rumor. Had I believed it, I could not have handed over the junior clan head position either."
"Do you not find it suspicious? Your mother died soon after I arrived, and then I took her place as matriarch. On top of that, I come from the Sichuan Tang Clan, famous for its mastery of poisons."
It was a tentative provocation born of anxiety, but the suspicion was absurd. My mother had died of tuberculosis: severe night sweats, rapid weight loss, and coughing up blood. I possessed no medical expertise, but I had suffered from the disease myself in my past life and could never forget its symptoms. Even as an infant in diapers, I had prepared myself for the fact that Mother would not live long after contracting tuberculosis in this era.
Even if the Sichuan Tang Clan's poisons rivaled twenty-first-century biological weapons, it would have been impossible to spread tuberculosis bacteria in an open environment while infecting only my mother. TB bacteria were not poison; tuberculosis was a respiratory infection transmitted through the air. Lady Tang had nursed Mother with what medical knowledge she possessed near the end. She would never have infected her with a disease that endangered herself as well.
"If you were truly that skilled with poison, why would you have left me alive? You favor Dan-yeong far too much, but you have still been an excellent matriarch of the Baek Clan Estate, Mother."
At those words, Lady Tang nodded with a complicated expression.
"I see. It seems it is not the Eldest Young Master, but I, who have gravely misunderstood all this time."
"A few of the household servants have been fanning the flames."
"What do you mean by that?"
"It's obvious. The more Dan-yeong and I fought, the more indispensable they could make themselves. I decided everything at once because I was sick of watching it. So, Mother, I plan to enter some strange sect in a remote mountain valley for about three years. Starting over as the youngest disciple at my age will be pure hell, so please make sure I have plenty of spending money."
Whatever she found so amusing, Lady Tang smiled brightly and nodded. As expected, I had to give up what was not worth keeping and take everything I could get in return.