Wandering Through Vol. 2 Chapter 36 - Karma

This was not something that happened in some remote mountain valley but in the capital city of Hanyang, so there was hardly any real secrecy about it.  

 

Especially when it involved the affairs of the nobility.  

 

No matter how much their masters brandished canes and shouted at them to be careful and discreet, the servants in those grand tile-roofed houses were numerous. 

 

For those who had never even fetched their own wash water, servants were always hovering around, and a servant’s tongue could be loosened with just a handful of sweets.  

 

In truth, they didn’t even need the sweets.  

 

What fun would there be in huddling together if not to gossip about everything, whether it should be spoken or not? 

 

It was their daily routine, proving the wisdom of the ancestors who warned not to let servants idle around.  

 

Stories like which household’s master had taken a concubine, which family’s daughter-in-law had given birth, or which young master had cracked his head after drinking under the eaves on a rainy day—these dull tales had been circulating the bustling streets of the capital. 

 

But the news that a certain nobleman, after beating his sick wife and taking a new one, had now had a woman abducted by the Grand Prince was far more entertaining.  

 

Of course, it was only amusing to the lowly folk who had nothing to do with the matter.  

 

For Lady Shanggung, the palace maid who had to keep those lowly mouths in check, it was nothing but a headache.  

 

First, the newly appointed Grand Prince’s Madame (a title granted to the wife of a Grand Prince) had left the house on the very night of their wedding, waiting in vain for the Grand Prince, who never returned, before eventually retreating to her parents’ home not long after.  

 

For days, she had tearfully pleaded with the Queen Dowager and the Queen, lamenting that she could not live like this, until things escalated. 

 

Under the pretense of severe heartache, she sent servants multiple times a day to demand that the woman the Grand Prince had abducted be expelled immediately.  

 

At first, the Queen Dowager scolded her, but upon hearing that the Grand Prince had placed the woman in the inner quarters, she flew into a rage.  

 

Declaring that no concubine should ever occupy the inner quarters, she summoned Old Lady Shanggung and reprimanded her. 

 

But Lady Shanggung had nothing to say—how could she dare mention that the woman the Grand Prince had abducted was none other than his former wife, whom he had beaten after causing an uproar?

 

Otherwise, it wouldn’t just be a scolding—she’d be whipped for failing to serve her masters properly.  

 

“Send that woman to the rear quarters immediately, clean up the inner chambers, and bring the Madame back at once!”  

 

Though the Queen Dowager gave the order, when Lady Shanggung the palace maid returned to the Grand Prince’s residence, she couldn’t even set foot in the inner quarters.  

 

The Grand Prince had strictly forbidden anyone from entering, and even the eunuch sent by the King had to turn back after only reaching the outer wall. 

 

What could Old Lady Shanggung possibly do to force her way in?  

 

If only the Grand Prince weren’t there, she might have tried something. But the Grand Prince, who had barely stayed home long enough to remember where he lived, had now barricaded himself inside with his former wife after abducting her and refused to come out.  

 

The only one allowed in and out was a half-witted servant girl.  

 

“Our lady doesn’t eat things like this.”  

 

The servant girl—Ban, or something like that—pursed her lips at the pan-fried delicacies. It was as if only half her brain had developed, making conversation impossible.  

 

Every time she opened her mouth, it was nothing but ‘our lady’ this and ‘our lady’ that. 

 

Old Lady Shanggung had tried coaxing and pressuring her to at least relay a message inside, but later, when she checked, the girl would only say she had forgotten.  

 

It was a shame—the girl had the delicate face of a nobleman’s daughter.  

 

Where on earth had the Grand Prince found such a simpleton?  

 

“What exactly are the two of them doing in there?”  

 

Ban rolled her eyes. Her blank stare made it clear she didn’t understand why Lady Shanggung kept asking. 

 

Old Lady Shanggung could only sigh in frustration.  

 

“I’m just curious why they refuse to come out. Everyone is looking for the Grand Prince. Staying holed up like this goes against both filial piety and loyalty—”  

 

“What’s filial piety?”  

 

“…”  

 

She really was slow. It wasn’t even an insult—just a fact. Lady Shanggung rephrased her words as if speaking to a five-year-old.  

 

“The King is looking for the Grand Prince. The King’s grandmother is also looking for him.”  

 

“Ah. Why?”  

 

“…Why? Because the Grand Prince has your lady in the inner quarters. The inner quarters should belong to the Grand Prince’s rightful wife. And his rightful wife is someone else.”

 

‘I expected her to make a fuss about why her lady wasn’t the rightful wife, but she didn’t react as I thought she would.’ Old lady Shanggung thought.

 

It wasn’t that she already knew—she just didn’t seem to understand what a ‘rightful wife’ even meant.  

 

Ban asked innocently, “Then where should our lady be?”  

 

Old Lady Shanggung wondered the same thing. 

 

Yiseo was the Grand Prince’s former wife. She had never heard of a second wife becoming the principal wife while the first wife was demoted to concubine—it was absurd. 

 

Yiseo couldn’t even properly be called a concubine in this situation.  

 

What was the point of beating her, driving her away, and then abducting her back?  

 

If he didn’t want to let her go, he shouldn’t have beaten her in the first place. And now that he had already taken a new wife, why suddenly kidnap his former one? What was he trying to achieve?  

 

It would’ve been less scandalous if he had abducted some random gisaeng off the street.  

 

But two principal wives in one household? That made no sense. It was bound to become the laughingstock of the capital.  

 

Old Lady Shanggung had tried to suppress the rumors and hide the fact that the woman the Grand Prince had brought back was Yiseo, but it was impossible to keep it quiet for long.  

 

Just thinking about the argument she’d had that morning with Nanny Yeongseon, who had come running as soon as she heard, made her head throb.  

 

“Huh? Your Grace, where is our lady going?”  

 

Lady Shanggung massaged her temples and lied smoothly to Ban.  

 

“That’s what they’re calling her to discuss.”  

 

“Ah!”  

 

“So you must deliver the message that His Majesty and the Queen Dowager are looking for him. Understood?”  

 

Ban just rolled her eyes again. Lady Shanggung shoved a handful of scorched rice into her hands and pressed,  

 

“Do you understand? You must tell the Grand Prince that the King and Her Majesty are looking for him.”  

 

“But the Grand Prince just stays in his room. I only set the tray down in the hall and leave—how am I supposed to tell him?”  

 

“Just shout from outside that you’re bringing the tray in, then open the door.”  

 

“But the Grand Prince never told me to come in.”  

 

Of all things, she had to be sharp about ‘that. ’ Old Lady Shanggung shoved another handful of scorched rice at her and coaxed once again,  

 

“Do you think it’s proper to just leave the tray in the hall and expect His Highness to move it himself? Your lady might think you’re ill-mannered.”  

 

“But isn’t barging into his room without permission even more ill-mannered?”  

 

“No! Who taught you such nonsense?”

 

Yiseo deliberately hardened her expression, and Ban tilted her head in apparent confusion. 

 

Old Lady Shanggung quickly added, “So after shouting that you’re bringing in the meal, you must enter the room, deliver the message that His Majesty is looking for them, and bring back the reply.”

 

“Even if the Grand Prince and Her Ladyship are… engaging in intimate relations inside?”

 

“…”

 

What did she just say? 

 

Old Lady Shanggung doubted her ears, but Ban continued, tilting her head.

 

“They’d both be completely naked—wouldn’t opening the door be improper?”

 

“You… you shouldn’t say such things so casually.”

 

“What do you—”

 

Old Lady Shanggung hastily cut her off.

 

“Just open the door when they’re not doing that. Meals are brought in the morning, noon, and evening—it’s not like they’re doing… that every time.”

 

Ban tilted her head even more but eventually nodded in understanding. 

 

Old Lady Shanggung waited as Ban carried the tray and scurried into the inner quarters.

 

Not long after, when Ban returned, Old Lady Shanggung quickly grabbed her and asked,

 

“Did you deliver the message?”

 

Ban nodded. Old Lady Shanggung pressed anxiously,

 

“What was the reply? When did they say they’d go to His Majesty?”

 

“I only told them outside the door that the King was looking for them—I didn’t hear a reply. Inside, the Grand Prince was comforting Her Ladyship, who was crying that she’d be ill if he kept going…”

 

“…”

 

“Our lady’s bones will melt at this rate. She needs tonic herbs to rebuild her strength—how can he keep indulging like that, exhausting her small frame…”

 

“You—you mustn’t say such things.”

 

Ban glanced around and clamped her mouth shut. 

 

Relieved that she at least seemed aware of propriety, Old Lady Shanggung sighed—but her relief was premature.

 

“I wasn’t asking His Highness to prepare tonic herbs for our lady…”

 

Realizing Ban’s embarrassment was about something else entirely, Old Lady Shanggung was speechless. 

 

Ban, trailing off, shot a sly glance, “The Grand Prince wears silk robes every day—why fuss over just one tonic prescription?”

 

Thanks to Ban, who had left her spot so carelessly, Lady Shanggung was left alone, speechless. 

 

However, since eunuchs kept coming out of the palace to pressure her, she had no choice but to keep holding onto Ban and pleading for the Grand Prince’s answer.  

 

“I spoke up outside, but when there was no response, I grabbed the door handle—only to be told not to open it because His Highness was sleeping.”  

 

At this rate, she had even considered ignoring the Grand Prince’s orders just once, barging in, and asking for his answer directly.  

 

But as someone who had served the Grand Prince for so long, Lady Shanggung vaguely sensed that if she did that, even she—who had attended to him for over twenty years—would be cast out in an instant.  

 

So, she had no choice but to keep relying on Ban.  

 

However, because Ban kept saying embarrassing things every time she returned from the inner quarters, Lady Shanggung eventually warned her:  

 

“Don’t… don’t say anything about that… ‘indecent’ matter. In those cases, just say… he’s busy.”  

 

Ban nodded obediently.  

 

After that, whenever Lady Shanggung asked if she had received the Grand Prince’s answer, Ban would roll her eyes for a long moment before replying:  

 

“His Highness was just busy.”  

 

“…”  

 

“Very, very busy.”  

 

Before long, Lady Shanggung grew to hate the word ‘busy’—even though she had been the one to suggest it. 

 

It was fine once or twice, but why did the same answer keep coming back every time?