Chapter 8
Clank.
The sound of chains rang out as the jailer roughly shoved Hayun in the back.
“Go inside, all the way to the back.”
“Urgh!”
“I’ll call you in for questioning soon, so don’t try anything funny and stay quiet.”
BANG—!
With those words, the jailer walked outside.
At the same time, a silent darkness descended.
“Ugh, what a smell…”
The disgusting stench of rotten straw, mold, and various body odors mixed together assaulted her nose.
It was such a foul smell that even covering her nose with her hand was useless.
“To think I’ve ended up in prison of all places…”
Hayun leaned back against the wall and sat down.
Water dripped from the ceiling, and moss covered the walls.
Inside the cramped prison cell, a single straw mat lay crumpled on the floor.
“Seriously, a hopae? Of course I wouldn’t have something like that.”
Hayun tried to sound cheerful, but the situation was more serious than she had thought.
People without an established social status were not treated as human beings. This was an era when people were bought and sold like objects.
She had simply been lucky enough to survive until now after meeting her benefactor, Munsik. If she had encountered someone else, she might have been sold off somewhere by now.
“Ugh, I don’t know. Let’s just lie down and get some sleep for now.”
But with no particularly good solution in sight, Hayun gave up and flopped down.
After being constantly on edge, exhaustion came rushing over her.
That was when it happened.
“Hehehe, I wonder how a young lady like you ended up in a place like this?”
“Gasp!”
A gloomy voice suddenly came from the darkness.
Startled by the voice, Hayun raised her head.
Several shadows appeared beyond the bars.
“W-Who are you?”
“Who do you think? Your senior.”
“Well, if a junior has come in, shouldn’t she greet her seniors?”
“Let’s see just how cute our new junior is.”
The criminals who had entered the prison before Hayun approached the bars.
And soon, they recognized Hayun and cried out in surprise.
“Wait, who is this? Isn’t she that young woman from Insaeng Jumak?”
“You know me?”
“Of course we do. Who in this town doesn’t know you?”
“Especially with that unusual hair of yours.”
The men showed interest in Hayun, who had already become the most famous person in the town.
“But how did someone who was only selling gukbap end up in a place like this?”
One of the prisoners asked in a curious voice.
Hayun hesitated for a moment before beginning to explain what had happened.
That she didn’t have a hopae, that she couldn’t prove her identity, and that she was suspected of being a runaway slave.
“All because she doesn’t have a hopae?”
Whisper, whisper.
After hearing her story, the prisoners clicked their tongues and worried about Hayun.
“Hmm, looks like you really got caught up in something nasty.”
“Even if she doesn’t have a hopae, does it make sense to lock her up like this?”
“It’s obviously the work of that Choi fellow. Who else would pull something like this?”
“Choi fellow?”
At Hayun’s question, the prisoners began telling her one after another about the various misdeeds Choi Hyang-seo had committed.
“There is a man named Choi Hyang-seo. He’s the most vicious bastard in this town.”
“We were dragged in here unjustly because we couldn’t pay that bastard’s tribute.”
“I’ve been getting harassed by him for five years now because I got on his bad side.”
“Hey, young lady. Even if you’ve done something wrong, hold out until the very end! If they manage to find even one thing to use against you, they’ll obviously pile all sorts of charges onto you!”
Hayun frantically nodded at the prisoners’ advice.
“Never give up! We’re all on your side!”
“When you get out of here, I’m coming to have a bowl of gukbap, so you’d better hang in there until then!”
“Don’t forget! You must never admit to any of the charges!”
“Yes! Thank you, everyone.”
The prisoners, having experienced Hayun’s kindness, gave her their enthusiastic support.
Their support gave Hayun, who had been half resigned to her fate, strength again.
‘That’s right! They say that even if you’re dragged into a tiger’s den, as long as you keep your wits about you, you’ll be fine! I’m Im Hayun! I can’t give up in a place like this!’
How much time had passed like that?
Click.
The sound of the prison door opening broke the long silence.
“Come out.”
The jailer pointed at Hayun.
“It’s time for questioning.”
“……!”
Hayun walked toward the interrogation room with trembling steps.
Outside, the sun had apparently already gone down, as only the faint light of torches illuminated the path.
A little while later, the door to the interrogation room opened, revealing Deputy Magistrate Choi Hyang-seo sitting inside.
“Sit.”
Once Hayun sat down, Choi Hyang-seo gestured toward the jailer.
“You’ve done your job. Leave us.”
“Yes.”
Only Choi Hyang-seo and Hayun remained in the interrogation room, and a heavy silence settled over the place.
Choi Hyang-seo looked at Hayun with contempt.
“You’re Im Hayun, are you not?”
“Yes.”
Normally, interrogations like this were conducted by the magistrate, but Choi Hyang-seo, a long-established local power broker, freely abused his various authorities.
The newly appointed magistrate had been quietly overlooking Choi Hyang-seo’s misconduct.
For now, at least.
“Where is your hopae? If you are a citizen of this country, you should have been issued one, should you not?”
Hayun answered firmly, having anticipated the question.
“I lost it.”
“Hmph, naturally. That’s what runaway slaves always say.”
Having already branded Hayun as a slave, Choi Hyang-seo scoffed.
“Then tell me where you used to live. Surely you remember at least where you lived.”
At the next question, Hayun’s mind began racing.
‘If I name an obvious place, I’ll only arouse unnecessary suspicion.’
The names of several cities representative of the Joseon era, such as Hanyang and Gaegyeong, came to mind, but she only knew their names. She didn’t know what those cities actually looked like.
If he asked about their characteristics, she wouldn’t be able to answer anything.
So Hayun continued to feign ignorance.
“…I can’t remember. I lost my memory in an accident.”
“So that’s the story you’re sticking with… Fine.”
Choi Hyang-seo slammed his hand against the desk and pressured Hayun.
“Then when did you come to this village? Surely you remember at least that.”
“…About a month ago.”
“A month… You’ve certainly caused quite a bit of trouble in that time.”
Choi Hyang-seo continued the interrogation sarcastically.
“I hear you’re the one who renovated the Mun family’s tavern.”
“…Yes.”
“Where did you learn such skills?”
For a moment, the answer “From the future” came to Hayun’s mind, but obviously she couldn’t say that out loud.
At the same time, she couldn’t give some clumsy answer, either.
She remembered the prisoners’ advice: never admit to any of the charges.
Hayun looked directly into Choi Hyang-seo’s eyes and answered.
“I can’t tell you that.”
“You insolent wench! Do you know who you’re speaking to?”
Choi Hyang-seo pressured Hayun even more aggressively.
In this town, there was no one other than the magistrate who could hold his head high before Choi Hyang-seo, a man with enough power to bring even a flying bird down from the sky.
Yet an outsider…
A woman, no less.
A mere slave.
She refused to bow her head easily, and Choi Hyang-seo was beginning to lose his temper.
But even then, Hayun did not yield.
Instead, she raised her voice.
“What does that have to do with the charges against me?”
“What?”
Choi Hyang-seo’s brow instantly furrowed deeply.
“Renovating Mr. Mun’s tavern. What does that have to do with me being arrested and brought here? If you want to question me about a crime, then only ask me about things concerning me.”
“…Y-You wench!”
Choi Hyang-seo was momentarily rendered speechless by the unexpected answer.
Normally, once people entered an interrogation room, they trembled in fear and confessed everything.
But Hayun was different. There was fear in her eyes, but there was also a firm resolve that overcame it.
“Ahem. Fine. Then I’ll ask you one final question.”
Since Hayun showed no sign of yielding until the end, Choi Hyang-seo prepared his trump question.
“Which household did you serve as a slave for? Tell me the truth.”
“A slave?”
Hayun firmly shook her head.
“That’s absurd. I am most certainly a ‘yangin’ (良人: commoner).”
“This wench is still lying to the very end!”
Choi Hyang-seo raised his voice.
In fact, Choi Hyang-seo still had one trump card left that could establish Hayun as a slave.
Not just the circumstantial evidence he had now, but definitive physical evidence.
Choi Hyang-seo brought it up.
“If I search the slave registers and household registers, it’ll only be a matter of time before I uncover your identity! So confess willingly before you suffer something worse!”
“Household register!”
Hayun cried out in surprise at the mention of the ‘hojeok’.
The ‘hojeok’, a household register recording blood relations, contained the history of a family.
Who was born when, whose child they were, and what their name was.
In an era without a resident registration system, the household register was the most definitive evidence one could present regarding one’s identity and status.
That was why every household treasured its household register like a sacred family relic, carefully preserving it to prevent situations like this.
‘Wait!’
At that moment, something flashed through Hayun’s mind.
Her father, who had run an antique shop, loved telling old stories.
Fortunately, because Hayun had listened carefully to what her father told her, she knew exactly where her roots came from. Even if she hadn’t, it was all laid out in detail simply by obtaining a copy of her household register.
‘That’s it! If I use that…!’
Having come up with a good idea, Hayun took a deep breath.
Then she spoke in a clear voice.
“If that’s the case, I’ll tell you my ‘bon-gwan’.”
“You should have said that from the beginning.”
At the first proper answer, Choi Hyang-seo looked satisfied as he picked up his brush.
Saying one’s ‘bon-gwan’ was essentially the same as identifying one’s family registry. By comparing the ‘bon-gwan’ with the household register, the truth could be discovered immediately.
“Now, tell me your ‘bon-gwan’. I’m sure it’s nothing special, but go ahead.”
“……”
Hayun looked at Choi Hyang-seo for a moment.
His eyes were filled with certainty that Hayun’s lie would soon be exposed.
A moment later, Hayun held her head straight.
Then she began clearly stating her ‘bon-gwan’.
“I am Im Hayun, the thirty-second-generation descendant of the Jeonju Im clan.”
“What!”
Choi Hyang-seo’s eyes widened as though they were about to pop out.
His reaction was so extreme that it was actually Hayun who felt embarrassed by her own answer.
‘…Did I say something wrong?’
She immediately went over it in her mind, but there was no mistake.
Hayun’s ‘bon-gwan’ was definitely the Jeonju Im clan.
“Ugh…!”
Choi Hyang-seo’s pupils shook as though an earthquake had struck.
The Jeonju Im clan.
Fortunately, they were not a yangban family. Even so, there was a reason Choi Hyang-seo was so shocked.
A certain individual who currently held enormous influence over the entire Eight Provinces of Joseon belonged to that family.
If Hayun happened to be connected to him in any way, this could become a serious problem.
“You wench! How dare you impersonate another family!”
Unable to believe Hayun’s words, Choi Hyang-seo abruptly stood up.
“Do you have any idea how serious a crime it is to impersonate a family!”
Then, as though issuing a threat, he shouted.
“Impersonating a family is a grave crime that can even result in execution!”
“Execution…!”
At such an enormous charge, Hayun’s shoulders shrank.
She had only given her ‘bon-gwan’ to avoid being branded a slave, but now she was facing the threat of execution.
But realizing that she had already crossed a bridge she could not turn back from, Hayun stared directly into Choi Hyang-seo’s eyes.
“It isn’t a lie. My ‘bon-gwan’ is unquestionably the Jeonju Im clan.”
“This wench dares to keep lying to the very end…!”
Because Hayun refused to admit anything until the end, Choi Hyang-seo’s face flushed red.
“Fine. If that’s how you’re going to play it, then so be it.”
Hayun still did not know that Choi Hyang-seo’s attitude had subtly changed.
Although Choi Hyang-seo did not believe Hayun’s words, he was taking precautions in case what she said turned out to be true.
“I’ll send an inquiry to the Jeonju Im clan, so wait until then.”
“……!”
Whether Hayun’s words were true or not could easily be determined by asking the family itself.
If Hayun had lied to escape her predicament, she would receive an even harsher punishment than she was facing now.
Choi Hyang-seo spoke coldly.
“However, understand this: if your words are proven to be a lie, you may be sentenced to the ultimate punishment.”
With that terrifying warning, Choi Hyang-seo left the interrogation room.
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