Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 378

378. A Brief Interlude (4)

After that, Sejong proceeded with the matter at breakneck speed.

Kim So-ryang, Kim Dam’s father, received the royal decree via express messenger who had ridden through the night. He rushed up from Wonpyeong-hyeon—present-day Paju—in one breath.

Having arrived, Kim So-ryang heard the general story from Jeong Cho, who was with Sejong.

“So, Sub-Director Jeong Cho here found out that the two children were fond of each other and offered to mediate. I also think they would make a good match. What do you think?”

“It is an honor to my family!”

Kim So-ryang had no choice but to accept Sejong’s proposition immediately.

Frankly speaking, Kim So-ryang had no other choice but to accept.

This was because there was the example of Yi Sok, whose family was ruined after refusing to take a princess (옹주, *ongju*, a king’s concubine’s daughter) of the previous king, Taejong, as his daughter-in-law. (Note 1)

No, in Yi Sok’s case, there was at least the excuse that the bride was a princess. However, Princess Jeongui was Sejong’s legitimate second daughter.

As Kim So-ryang agreed, half willingly and half forced, Sejong continued with a satisfied expression.

“Ah, and have your family come up to Hanseong [present-day Seoul] with you. Now that you have become a member of the royal family, you cannot remain as a magistrate, can you?”

At Sejong’s words, Kim So-ryang prostrated himself and replied.

“Your grace is boundless!”

“A position has been prepared in the Ministry of National Defense, so you must come up as soon as possible.”

“I shall obey your command!”

The position Sejong had Kim So-ryang appointed to was the head of the 2nd Administrative Office of the Ministry of National Defense. It was a fairly high position, but not so high as to cause gossip.

Of course, Sejong did not just pick it randomly. It was the result of examining Kim So-ryang’s performance evaluations and merits and demerits.

“He is skilled in administration, so this position will be perfect. The Minister of National Defense has been complaining that he lacks someone skilled in administrative work.”

* * *

In the history before Hyang’s intervention, and in the history after the intervention, Kim So-ryang received the reflected glory of his son.

In the history before Hyang’s intervention, Kim Dam rose to become the Minister of Personnel and was posthumously awarded the title of Minister of War with the rank of Jaheondaebu (追贈, *chujeung*, giving high official titles to the deceased father, grandfather, or great-grandfather of an official of the second rank or higher).

And, in the history after Hyang’s intervention, he became a high-ranking official while still alive.

* * *

As the situation was settled, job postings were soon posted on the bulletin boards of government offices nationwide.

-To commemorate the safe first birthdays of the Crown Prince’s son and the Prince, and to celebrate the marriage of Princess Jeongui, the Monopoly Bureau will hold a discount event for five days. The dates are….

“It’s up!”

The people who were checking the contents written on the job postings clenched their fists and focused on the postings. What the people were most interested in was the event date and the discount rate.

“What’s the discount rate? What does it say?”

“Let’s see…. Across the board…. Across the board, 50%!”

“50%!”

“And across the board!”

“Long live His Majesty!”

The people who were reading the job postings all shouted ‘Long live His Majesty’ at the content that said ‘50% discount on all items’.

Meanwhile, veteran managers who were watching the scene at the entrance of the Monopoly Bureau gave warnings to the new managers.

“It will be quiet for a while, so rest and build up your strength. There will be wailing when the event starts.”

“Is it that bad?”

“You will realize what it means to say, ‘People will flood in like a river’.”

At the veteran manager’s words, the faces of the new recruits turned pale.

However, the veteran managers, who had accumulated several experiences, researched and shared appropriate methods.

‘Only accept a suitable number of people at a time.’

‘Hang a rope in a zigzag pattern to prevent people from entering all at once.’

‘Make a firm request for support from the police station.’

At the same time, ships and carts loaded with goods to be sold flocked to the Monopoly Bureaus across the country.

* * *

While the whole of Joseon was buzzing with anticipation for the discount event, another event was taking place.

At a *gisaeng* house [a traditional Korean house of entertainment] in Bukchon.

The ministers were gathering for a drink after a long time.

“How long has it been since we had a drink together?”

“Haha! You’re right!”

The ministers laughed and enjoyed the banquet.

As the ministers said, it was a drinking party after a really long time.

‘Focus on internal stability instead of speeding up.’

Under this pretext, the process of reviewing and coordinating policies continued, and they were living a life of ‘home-office-palace-office-night duty room-palace-(repeat)-home occasionally’.

There was a break in the middle when Lee Jik died, but they had to go to the funeral and endure more than a day at the mourning house.

In the midst of all this, ‘Princess Jeongui’s marriage’ was decided. As Sejong’s workload decreased due to his concern for his daughter’s marriage, the ministers had a long-awaited break.

As the glasses of alcohol went back and forth, the ministers asked Jeong Cho, who was attending the drinking party.

“How did you become a father-in-law of a royal relative, Minister?”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

At the ministers’ questions, Jeong Cho emptied his glass with an embarrassed expression and opened his mouth.

“Well… weren’t they both receiving education at the research institute? When I took a peek, I saw that affection was budding between the two of them. So, I stepped in to be the matchmaker. They are both young, and if I didn’t, there might be a scandal, right?”

Having said that, Jeong Cho emptied his glass and sighed.

“Hoo~. I thought it would be okay if I did that….”

As Jeong Cho vaguely trailed off, the ministers nodded. It was because they had heard the rumors that had been circulating in the palace for a while.

Seeing the ministers’ reactions, Jeong Cho concluded his explanation.

“Thanks to that, things progressed quickly. If that hadn’t happened, we would have chosen an auspicious day and proceeded according to the proper procedures.”

“Well, they are both young….”

“Still, it happened after permission was granted, so isn’t it a good thing?”

The ministers said that and wrapped up the situation.

* * *

As the drinking party broke up, the ministers left the *gisaeng* house one by one.

“Minister Hwang.”

“Why, Minister Maeng?”

Maeng Sa-seong, who had called out Hwang Hee, looked around and asked in a small voice.

“What do you think?”

“About what?”

“Princess Jeongui’s marriage. Do you think that order is correct?”

At Maeng Sa-seong’s question, Hwang Hee answered immediately.

“There is a saying among the common people: ‘Pretend you don’t know even if you know, and don’t try to know if you don’t know.’ Do you think the other ministers just overlooked it because they didn’t know?”

At Hwang Hee’s words, Maeng Sa-seong nodded slightly. Seeing Maeng Sa-seong’s appearance, Hwang Hee continued.

“Now that we’ve been talking about it like this, the rumors will soon spread. With that, we have done our job well.”

“Hmm…. I suppose so.”

At Hwang Hee’s words, Maeng Sa-seong nodded.

Like Hwang Hee said, the ‘love story’ that Jeong Cho had been talking about at the *gisaeng* house spread to Hanseong in an instant. And, before long, it spread throughout Joseon. The Milwi (secret agents) were also playing a part in spreading the rumors so quickly.

* * *

While the rumors were spreading, Princess Jeongui’s marriage was taking place.

Sejong had prepared a house in Bukchon for Princess Jeongui. At the wedding held in the yard of the house that smelled of newness, Hyang, who attended in place of Sejong, muttered inwardly as he watched Princess Jeongui and her husband.

‘Could this lead to the birth of the Curies of Joseon?’

Princess Jeongui and Kim Dam were both affiliated with the research institute and were dedicated to the work of the research institute. Therefore, it was not absolutely impossible.

‘No, since this is faster, are they going to be the Jeongs of France, not the Curies of Joseon?’

As he continued his thoughts, Hyang burst into a chuckle.

‘And one of the children says that he is the shame of the family.’

* * *

The second daughter of the Curies, unlike her parents and older sister, entered the field of culture rather than science.

And, when her parents, older sister, and even her husband received the Nobel Prize—in her husband’s case, the Nobel Peace Prize as the representative of UNICEF—she often made this joke.

“I am the shame of the family.”

However, instead of the Nobel Prize, she received the Legion of Honor.

* * *

After Princess Jeongui’s marriage took place, the first birthday party for Hyang’s three sons was held a little later.

Starting with Sejong, all the members of the royal family and the ministers attended the first birthday party held in Donggungjeon and celebrated the first birthdays of the three children.

“Now! Let’s do the *doljabi* [a Korean tradition where babies choose an item to predict their future]!”

On the birthday table, various items were placed for the *doljabi*. In addition to traditional items such as thread, rice, brush, and money, a compass and a knife were also placed. The Crown Princess and Yang Won and Yang Je placed the babies in front of the table.

“Now! Grab something quickly.”

No sooner had the words fallen than the other two children, except for the Crown Prince’s son, grabbed the compass and the knife like lightning.

“Haa~.”

Seeing that, the Crown Prince’s son let out a small sigh with a look of injustice.

‘Am I seeing things? Was that a sigh?’

‘A child sighed?’

Everyone was bewildered by the unexpected situation, and Hyang said softly to the Crown Prince’s son.

“Wan, no matter what Doo and Seul do, the power of personnel appointment is yours.”

As if realizing something from Hyang’s words, the Crown Prince’s son smiled and grabbed the thread and brush in both hands.

“Thread and brush…. He will live a long life and have a deep knowledge of learning. That’s a good thing. Doo grabbed the knife, so he will become a military officer, and Seul grabbed the compass, so he will travel the distant seas and expand the territory of Joseon.”

At Sejong’s blessing, Hyang smiled and bowed his head.

“I only hope that they will grow up as His Majesty wishes.”

“We must educate them diligently. By the way, I always feel this, but you have named them so well. Jade…. Yes, people must become like jade.”

Like Sejong said, the names of the three children were all words meaning good jade.

At Sejong’s praise, Hyang bowed his head and replied.

“I put my wish that they would become precious treasures like jade.”

However, there was something that Hyang did not say.

It was customary for the names of the royal family, especially the princes, to be chosen from rarely used Chinese characters. This custom, called ‘pihwi (避諱)’, was to prevent the common people from using the names of ancestors or kings, which was considered disrespectful.

For this reason, the names of the princes were mostly chosen from rarely used Chinese characters and attached as single characters.

And Hyang volunteered to take on this naming task.

“If they are given names with Chinese characters that are difficult to pronounce, it will be annoying for me.”

He took on the job to avoid being annoyed, but Hyang soon realized that naming was not an easy task.

“Damn…. This is driving me crazy….”

Hyang, who was worried about finding a suitable name, soon found a suitable method.

“It’s annoying! Let’s go with Wan, Two, and Three!”

After deciding on the pronunciation first, he searched the dictionary for Chinese characters with reasonably good meanings, which were Wan (琓, the name of jade), Doo (㺶, jade), and Seul (璱, blue marble).

* * *

After the first birthday party was over, in the deep night when everyone was asleep. Hyang, who was sitting alone in his study, pondered the events of the day and cocked his head to the side.

“No matter how I think about it, aren’t they in their second life? They seem to be in their second life…. No matter how smart they are, it doesn’t make sense that they already understand what I’m saying, does it?”

Hyang, who suspected that they were reincarnated like himself, soon shook his head.

“The strange thing is…. They’re being too obvious, aren’t they? Don’t they think they’ll be suspected right away?”

After thinking for a long time, Hyang finally came to a conclusion.

“What does it matter if they are reincarnated or not? If they are reincarnated, it’s a good thing because they will take care of themselves, and if they are not reincarnated, it means they are that smart, which is also a good thing, right? In other words, no matter what, the fact that they will be under my control doesn’t change, so why worry?”

And so, the brief interlude was coming to an end.

* * *