"My Lady! Who are you to just barge in here yourself and just…" "And who are you to let the wife of your nephew's enemy interfere in your own household matters like you do? Your sister's nephew is this clan's only hope for redemption along with his unborn son, so who are you to strike his face like this! She acts as if she was raised here in The Nam yangban when she is really feeding informant about you all to her husband!" "My Lady, I think it best for you to lessen your words and decrease this biased dispute that you have against us." ""So let me make this clear to you know, The Yangbang of Seo are waiving your rights to visit until the child has been born. Even if you come on your own or summon her here, she will not see you at all upon the physicians's orders. She will not enter a home where maids are poisoned, potential concubines are beaten to death or raped, and in the instance of your sister, one corpse yet 2 lives were carried out on stretchers. Hw many lives has passed through this family's hands, can you even keep count of it?" "My Lady! You are maliciously slandering our Nam Clan as of now!" "I am not the one who comes and goes as she pleases to leave you breadcrumbs about her husband whilst you sell out your sister's nephew! I am not the one who seeks anyone and everyone for silver anytime that I can get it. Do not forget that your so=called friends are my clients and they all know just how much wealth you and your husband has embezzled to keep up your shops that are almost empty by now. I am not the one that sits in her family home like a cancerous tumour that is hard to get rid of and…" "Since I was young, I have never been spoken this harshly in my entire life!" "The Lord Nam has claimed that his home to be exclusively occupied by his wife and she alone can control who comes in and out of her home." "What an openly insolent and disrespectful girl she is turning out to be! Hw dare she prove a quarrel like this as soon as she gets the chance to! So I am mistreating her, am I? My discipline honours her as the main wife to prevent her goring conceited like she is now!"
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"Master, if you look at this agreement that you signed with The Senior Scholar who gave you the investment on these shops; it clearly states that we needed to sell at least 400,000 bolts of materials per year that should be equally divided into the monthly quarters. But we have barely sold 100,000 bolts since we opened up shop." "But why? Does this have anything to do with the new delivery service that new shop has put in place?" "All of the travelling merchants have agreed that if we do not lower the price because of that and the bulk purchase, that they will no longer do any business here." "Those profit=seeking snobs! There is no way we can sell the agreed shipment even if we did lower the price, isn't that right? I cannot even make my security deposit back this way, can I? What if we offer cheaper mending services?" "I am afraid not Master, it will hardly make a dent at all. I hear that new shop has its own mechanical weaving bureau, whatever that is supposed to mean." "What does that mean? They have more workers than we do? Is that is?" "What else can it mean, Master? Aren't your own in=laws revered in embroidery themselves? Wasn't that why the now Nam woman had a problem with Seo Geom's wife? Because she was just as equally gifted?" "Yes I remember something like that happening. Very well, I shall ask them for help, but right now it looks as though I will have to secure a loan to pay The Senior Scholar his half of the investment and I need to do it soon. I have already pledged my family and my in=laws assets and wealth and even all the land that we have on these 3 shops! I cannot go bankrupt just as my son got married off to a Princess of all people! I need to do something before the rest of the investors show up in a craze and demand things from me that I do not have at the moment!" "Master, where do you plan on going? Who can you ask for help? Your sister=in-law's nephew?" "What other choice do I have? The Senior Scholar has cut ties with me recently and I have no idea why, but I need help and I need it right now!"
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"Well well, look at who is truly the distinguished one out of us after all with your pointy belly, Seo Yeon. I originally thought that you would have had a hard life after your days in the brothel and I was sure that nobody would want you after that, but your childhood friend Nam Seonho proved us both wrong, didn't he? Now you live elevated in your moment for being able to bring our husband an heir." "My husband, not ours. He never was your husband and he never will be HuiJae, not everything will go according to your wishes in life. I see that you still have not sired an heir for my husband despite hanging around him the most for example." "You are only a little more fortunate than me by getting pregnant, that is all. There is a gain for every loss…" "But I fear that your gains will not cover your losses at all HuiJae, some people try all of their lives to scheme, only to en up losing everyone's trust and support in the end." "I just came over because I heard that you fell over and…" "Do you know that there is a saying for Inspector Generals? That the criminals are usually the first ones to return to the come scene…." "It was not me Yeon, so do not even think about bringing me more harm than you already have." "Why? Have you finally learnt to fear me?" "My goodness, they do say that an expecting mother can channel her unborn son's energy, so I guess your son must be an angry one indeed just like his father. Your true colours are now showing, but it must be that pregnancy brain of yours that is clouding your judgment, because you know you have more than one enemy in this village, and I know that you carry a rare talent for you to frame anyone and everyone for other's crime as per your will." "What can I say? It was the only talent that my mother lacked in her life, otherwise she would be my side and aiding me in my pregnancy. And what about you, HuiJae? After everything that you have done and schemed, I wonder what your own mother would say about you now? That is a very nice fragrance that you are wearing by the way, but it is making me dizzy enough to want to get some more rest and stop walking around my courtyard for exercise." "You have become a lot brasher and shallow since your pregnancy announcement I can see as well. Very well, I shall leave you alone for the sake of your husband's heir for now, but this is not yet over between us." "And I shall miss your insidious nature and deep guile in the meantime."
"And what exactly is going on here? Can't my wife get some peace and quiet without someone from your household interrupting her routine?" "Her routine?" "All pregnant women have routines, not that you will know anything about it HuiJae." "But I am not blind either husband, for your wife's belly is twice the size that it should be at this mark…." "Gossip never stops just like the winds, and if you waste your energy over such baseless rumours, then I have a far better use for you after all." "What does that mean?" "I shall spend the day with you soon and you shall find out exactly what is in store for you here as you know you are living with me against Confucius laws anyways." "And yet you have not done anything about it so far, so why would you now?" "Who says nothing has been done about the matter? Excuse me, my wife needs to rest…" "Very well I shall leave, I only came here with the elders new servants that need training since they are worried that that you will isolate yourself far too much during this time and even your husband must agree that you need all of the help that you can get at the moment." "My wife's servant can deal with them in the meantime, let us go wife." Even after all of this time, I couldn't help but to almost collapse into his embrace every single time that he came home and made a beeline straight to me and always had his hand pressed against my stomach to make sure that our child was healthy as well.
"Are you really that tired, wife? Shall I carry you to your bed?" "Husband…I have something to tell you. This is quite a serious matter, so you need to make sure that nobody can hear us." "Wife?" "HuiJae was right, my swollen belly is twice as big and it is for a reason…" "Here, whisper it into my ears." "I am having twins husband, and I am having them soon." Twins were a big deal in our nation as they were not socially accepted since The Royal Family themselves were not allowed to raise such children. Twins were either separated by death or raised in secret, which seemed to be our only plan, but I was frightened for my life in case this went against my husband's plan and having twins may be a big enough obstacle to throw us away all together. Butt I needed to know his plan just in case this put an end to our marriage and I was expected to raise these children alone. "I do not wish to cause any disturbances, and I wish to cary out my pregnancy in peace without many visitors and…husband? Where are you going? Husband, please talk to me…husband?"
"…such a great teacup that was a gift from The Royal Family, how are you going to make its up to your new Mistress?" "It is only a few teacups, I broke so many of The Young Master Nam's thing before and he never scolded me at all!" "Look around your girl, are you in your masters courtyard now? He has already married The Princess…" "Everyone says that The Madame Nam is well known for her sweet temperament…" "Does that mean that she has to put up with your clumsy hands on purpose? Breaking Royal gifts and other daly necessity items, The Young Master Nam's kites…" "They are not urgent items you know!" "So you like to talk above your superiors do you? You are no longer your master's prestige, but I suppose that your previous superior has never evens said a harsh word against you, have they?" "I can sill serve him if you all give me a second chance…!" "He sopped visiting your chambers as soon as he heard about his own marriage, so what use are you to him now? And why are you crying now? Do not embarrass yourself in front of your new mistress like this now; especially during her joyous occasion of her pregnancy!" "What is my crying to you! I am not provoking you in anyway, am I?" "Your tears are bringing bad luck into this family already, go to your new quarters whilst we settle you in, or I shall sell you off into the slave market myself!" "You are only so bossy because of the Mistress here, who gives you any importance otherwise!" "And who gives you the right to seduce you're masters? None have returned to you at all; even after loosing your chastity long before, you still have not been chosen as a concubine have you?" "You bitch! I am only doing what The Mistress was rumoured to have done when she was her own husband's hostage! She managed to seduce him and turn him against his own father! She killed him and still managed to marry him, even though she came straight from a brothel and…" "And the difference is that she is married and you are not; you are still a lowly maid and nobody is coming for you at all! He didn't dote on you enough to recruit you by his side for you to be a maid in the palace, so you stay here and get to know your role here well or you shall be turned out onto the streets!"