Chapter 17
Deep inside the inner quarters.
The inner quarters were filled with a subtle fragrance, and expensive objects were piled everywhere.
A document chest decorated with mother-of-pearl lacquer, A table made of rosewood, Calligraphy works that appeared to have been written by a master calligrapher, and so on. There wasn’t a single item that didn’t look luxurious.
Even the teacup Hayun was drinking from had been crafted with exquisite workmanship.
Slurp.
Hayun took a sip from the teacup while watching Madam Choi’s reaction.
The tea inside the cup was also a high-quality green tea that was difficult to obtain, leaving a delicate fragrance lingering in her mouth for a long time.
“So, what is the item you wanted to show me?”
Madam Choi asked in a dry tone.
“This is it.”
Hayun carefully held out the cloth bundle. Her hands were trembling slightly, but she desperately maintained her composure.
“……”
Madam Choi looked down at the cloth bundle indifferently.
She still didn’t seem to have particularly high expectations.
“What is this?”
She had met countless merchants and seen more rare goods than she could count. To someone like her, an ordinary cloth bundle did not make much of an impression.
“Why don’t you see for yourself?”
At Hayun’s words, Madam Choi slowly began untying the bundle.
Rustle.
As the knot came undone and the cloth was unfolded, the wooden box hidden inside was revealed.
“Oh.”
For the first time, Madam Choi showed interest upon seeing the wooden box.
The craftsmanship of the box was extraordinarily precise. The surface made of paulownia had been polished smooth, and the joints at the corners were perfectly fitted without even the slightest gap. At a glance, it was clearly a handcrafted work made by a seasoned artisan.
A product of this level of quality was not something one could easily come across.
“This is…?”
Madam Choi’s gaze shifted toward the lid of the wooden box.
Small, intricately carved letters caught her eye. The handwriting was elegant and neat.
There was only one thing she disliked about it… the words written there.
“Man-sang, Yeonggwang Gulbi?”
Madam Choi frowned upon seeing the inscription.
She had expected something rare and precious, only to find that it was merely fish.
Madam Choi asked with some disappointment,
“Surely there isn’t gulbi inside this?”
“That’s right.”
Hayun answered calmly.
Upon hearing the answer, Madam Choi’s gaze turned cold.
The curiosity she had shown at first seemed to have disappeared.
Her body, which had been leaning slightly forward, reclined backward again.
“You caused all this commotion just to show me some gulbi?”
“This isn’t just ordinary gulbi.”
“Then?”
Hayun didn’t answer.
Instead, she showed her through her actions.
Click.
When the wooden box was opened, a subtle fragrance of paulownia spread out, beginning to fill the room.
“Oh…!”
The neatly arranged gulbi inside the wooden box seemed to radiate a brilliant light.
The surface of the gulbi gleamed golden, sparkling almost like a jewel.
“Isn’t that silk thread?”
Madam Choi’s eyes widened when she realized that the thread binding the gulbi together was silk.
“That’s right. As expected, you recognized it at a glance.”
Even for Madam Choi, who had seen countless precious products, this was the first time she had encountered such a tasteful product.
Madam Choi leaned forward again, showing renewed interest.
“Why did you tie the gulbi with such precious silk thread?”
“This is a secret, but…”
At Madam Choi’s question, Hayun pretended to look around. As though making sure no one else could hear.
“This gulbi was originally an item intended to be presented to the king. However, circumstances arose, and the delivery was delayed.”
It wasn’t a lie. She really would present it to the king someday.
The only difference was that the order had been reversed.
Hayun had that much confidence in herself.
“A tribute item…!”
Madam Choi’s eyes wavered at the words tribute item.
The highest-grade goods given only to the King of Joseon, the one who wielded absolute power.
Tribute goods were things that could not be obtained even if one offered an enormous fortune.
“Is this truly the gulbi that the king eats…?”
“That’s right. This gulbi box was specially made to be presented to the king. That’s why even silk thread was used, wouldn’t you say?”
“Oh….”
After hearing Hayun’s story, the item seemed even less like an ordinary product.
Madam Choi’s gaze remained fixed on the gulbi inside the wooden box.
Noticing this, Hayun added another explanation.
“Normally, we would have to wait until the next delivery date, but could we really do that? Who knows how spoiled this gulbi might become by the time it is placed on the king’s royal table?”
“That is true.”
Madam Choi nodded as though she understood.
“So while I was wondering what to do with this item, I thought of you, Madam, and came here first. After the king, who else in Uiju could possibly be more suitable?”
Hayun smiled at Madam Choi. Perhaps the flattery had worked, because Madam Choi also showed a rather satisfied smile.
“A tribute item…”
Madam Choi’s gaze returned to the wooden box.
Her expression had changed considerably by now. Her fingers lightly brushed along the edge of the wooden box.
Swish.
The wood grain was smooth. The weight of the wooden box was just right. Needless to say, the quality of the silk thread and gulbi was excellent.
Even the size of the salt crystals placed on top of the gulbi was perfectly appropriate. No matter which aspect she examined, it was obvious that great care had been put into it.
“It certainly seems to be of good quality.”
“As expected, you have an extraordinary eye for these things.”
Hayun added an appropriate compliment.
‘She’s halfway there!’
Hayun noticed that Madam Choi’s attitude had changed.
Greed was beginning to appear in her eyes. She was pretending otherwise on the surface, but her speech had become slightly faster.
Hayun added another remark at just the right moment.
“As you can see, it’s the finest quality, so it’s perfect for giving as a gift. Who wouldn’t be pleased to receive something like this?”
“At this level of quality, certainly…”
Madam Choi nodded.
It was something almost impossible to imagine in the Joseon era.
A wooden box made from paulownia, with precious silk thread wrapped around the gulbi.
Just selling the silk thread attached to the gulbi would probably be enough to buy several sacks of rice.
Swish.
Madam Choi’s hand refused to leave the wooden box.
After thinking for a moment, she asked,
“How much does this cost?”
Hayun’s mind began racing.
‘If I name an awkward price, it might actually make it impossible to sell.’
Her customer was the finest yangban household in Uiju.
If the price wasn’t significantly different from ordinary gulbi, it would instead arouse suspicion. When naming the price, she had to make it definitively expensive. Only then would the true value of the product be complete. This was a moment that required bold yet precise pricing.
After a brief moment of consideration, Hayun answered,
“Twenty nyang.”
“Twenty nyang!”
A look of bewilderment crossed Madam Choi’s face.
Ordinary gulbi cost five nyang per dureum.
But twenty nyang?
That was four times the price of ordinary gulbi. Even a yangban who knew little about the ways of the world could immediately tell that it was expensive at a price like that.
“This is really worth that much?”
Suspicion appeared in Madam Choi’s eyes.
“I understand it may be difficult to believe, but it is.”
Hayun did not avert her gaze and looked directly into Madam Choi’s eyes.
“Only one hundred boxes were produced specifically for tribute purposes.”
“One hundred boxes…!”
At the mention of one hundred boxes, Madam Choi’s eyes wavered once again.
“Just looking at the silk thread here, you should be able to tell how precious this item is.”
Hayun pointed toward the gulbi inside the wooden box. The sheen of the silk thread sparkled in the sunlight.
“Even so, such an outrageous…”
Madam Choi let her words trail off.
The certainty she had possessed moments ago had cooled considerably upon hearing the price.
The issue wasn’t money.
Would the finest yangban household in Uiju really care about a mere twenty nyang?
What Madam Choi was concerned about was whether the item was genuine.
She had purchased countless items even more expensive than this. Even the furniture in this very room alone was worth several hundred nyang.
But if she were deceived by Hayun and bought ordinary gulbi for twenty nyang, there could be no greater humiliation.
Losing money was merely losing money, but losing one’s reputation was something whose value could not be measured.
“Hmm…”
Madam Choi’s gaze moved back and forth between the wooden box and Hayun.
She seemed deeply troubled, even tapping her fingers against the table.
“Phew……”
As the silence dragged on, Hayun suddenly let out a deep sigh.
“I’m disappointed.”
“What did you say?”
Madam Choi looked at Hayun as though she had misheard.
“I came here because I expected that you, Madam, would recognize the true value of this item……”
Click.
As she said that, Hayun closed the lid of the wooden box.
A look of bewilderment crossed Madam Choi’s eyes.
“If you don’t like it, then there’s nothing I can do.”
Then she began pulling the wooden box toward herself.
Swish.
Slowly, steadily.
Madam Choi’s gaze followed the wooden box as it moved farther away.
“If you won’t buy it, Madam, I have no choice but to find someone else.”
Eventually, Hayun began wrapping the wooden box in the cloth again.
This, too, was done at a visibly slow pace.
“Who knows? Perhaps the Choi Panseo household or the Park Champan household will recognize the value of this item.”
Hayun muttered to herself as she stood. Then she picked up the cloth bundle and bowed.
“I apologize for the intrusion. Then I’ll be–”
That was when…
“Wait.”
Madam Choi suddenly called out to Hayun.
There was urgency in her voice.
‘Stop!’
At the call, Hayun stopped walking. But she didn’t turn around.
She couldn’t let Madam Choi realize that she was smiling right now.
Instead, Hayun slowly began counting to herself.
‘One, two, three, four……’
While Hayun counted, tens of thousands of thoughts flashed through Madam Choi’s mind as well.
Her gaze moved back and forth between Hayun and the cloth bundle she was holding.
A moment later,
“I’ll buy it.”
Madam Choi, having made her decision, spoke firmly.
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Hayun’s mouth.
“I knew you would.”
Hayun turned around and asked with a bright expression, as though nothing had happened.
“Then how many boxes would you like?”
Hayun took a small ledger from inside her clothes. She had to finish the transaction quickly before Madam Choi changed her mind.
“Since this is your first purchase, I’ll provide as much as you wish, without holding anything back.”
Now the key question was how many boxes Madam Choi would actually buy.
“Hmm……”
With the final decision before her, Madam Choi fell into thought for a moment.
Hayun anxiously waited for her answer.
A moment later, when Madam Choi finally opened her mouth, Hayun’s jaw dropped.
“One hundred boxes.”
“Pardon?”
Hayun was so shocked that she dropped the ledger she had been holding.
“O-one hundred boxes?”
Madam Choi nodded. She looked directly into Hayun’s eyes.
“Give me everything you have.”
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