Chapter 10
“Hey, doesn’t Sase Samgong mean a family produced three prime ministers over four generations? And Sase Ogong means five prime ministers over four generations, right? So why do they call our family both Sase Samgong and Sase Ogong? Since five is better than three, wouldn’t just calling it Sase Ogong be enough?”
Not knowing something isn’t a sin. There was no reason to get angry. Moreover, they had promised not to scold him. Yeheon calmly explained.
“‘Samgong’ doesn’t mean three prime ministers—it refers to the three highest ministerial positions: Taewi, Sado, and Sagong. These are the highest offices a non-royal can reach. A Sase Samgong family is one that, over four generations, produces at least one person in each generation who holds one of these top three positions.”
“Then what about Sase Ogong?”
“Sase Ogong is a family that produces five ministers—‘gong’—over four generations. Our Jang family consecutively produced ministers over four generations, totaling five. That’s why we are called both Sase Samgong and Sase Ogong.”
Jehun clapped his hands as if he’d just realized something.
“Our family… is really amazing?”
“Now you understand?”
“Yeah! Now I really get it!”
Then he started making excuses.
“Adults explained Sase Samgong and Sase Ogong before, but I only heard it roughly and didn’t understand. I felt awkward asking again later.”
It was true.
Even for a child raised in a Sase Samgong and Sase Ogong family, the terms weren’t familiar. While Jehun tended to neglect scholarly pursuits, he wasn’t foolish by nature. It was simply that the terms were difficult.
“‘Sase Samgong’ and ‘Sase Ogong,’ a prestigious family that consecutively produced five prime ministers over four generations. How could a girl even hope to marry into such a family?”
Yeheon repeated Layeon’s words in his mind. Such vocabulary could not have come from a girl born and raised in Yangcheon.
He opened a bamboo slip and wrote ‘Sase Samgong’ and ‘Sase Ogong’ next to the phrase ‘familiar face.’ It was his habit when confused.
“So why did she lie about her birthplace…”
But it wasn’t just that. He also wrote the words ‘marks on the wall.’ The brush strokes were as neat as her face.
“When she pointed out the marks on the wall, that elder’s expression was unusually suspicious.”
If it hadn’t been the bamboo slip with the orchid drawing, what could it have been? What was so urgent that it had to be removed?
“The saying, ‘A ruler’s slightest word can weigh a thousand catties on the people’…”
He added that line too. What else was suspicious? He looked over the slips at a glance.
His hand slipped for a moment, and the edge of a slip hit the floor with a dry sound. Yeheon bent down, picked it up, and lightly dusted it off.
It was then that another slip came to mind.
“A word flowing from the tip of a tongue can become a weight of a thousand catties pressing down on the shoulders of the people. A single careless step can shake the livelihood of the people. Words are brief and light, yet their meaning can cause someone to lose their means of living or wrongly brand an innocent person as a criminal. Thus, Heaven considers that a ruler’s words should not simply express one’s intent, but should be measured as a weight that the people must bear.”
It was a memorial submitted to the emperor. Several years had passed, and it probably hadn’t been delivered. His cousin had intercepted it.
Though gentle in tone, it was clearly criticism aimed at the Jang family. Reasonable criticism, but the Jangs saw it as a challenge directed at them.
“Right, that person… was Seo Myeong-ho.”
An upright and steadfast official. At the time, he was certainly the Chungnangjang of the Ministry of Revenue. He managed taxes with such thoroughness that he would never overlook embezzlement or exploitation. Naturally, he earned the Jang family’s dislike.
And now he had submitted a memorial. Of course, the Jangs would dislike him. He was a good man. That’s why Yeheon had cautioned him several times.
“If iron is too strong, it will break. I understand your dedication to the country, Chungnangjang, but please proceed carefully. If I could reach a higher position, I would support you.”
Seo Myeong-ho looked at him with contempt. Yeheon was also a member of the Jang family, so contempt was inevitable. Still, Yeheon liked Seo Myeong-ho. There needed to be more officials like him.
“If only it hadn’t been for the bandit suppression…”
Had he stayed in the capital, he wouldn’t have been treated as a traitor and killed. He would have used his influence. He was young, but capable. Unfortunately, Yeheon had been away on bandit suppression in Yangcheon at the time.
“Ah.”
His fingertips trembled slightly and then stopped. His closed lips parted minutely.
He realized the source of the déjà vu. The familiar face wasn’t the girl’s—it was Seo Myeong-ho’s.
Change came slowly to Seochang. Even compared to seven years ago, when she lived with her father, not much had changed.
The village lake was the same. She felt she could still sit by the lakeside with her father and compose poems, even if they were more childish back then.
Layeon threw a stone into the lake for no reason.
“What would Father have done?”
She muttered softly. No answer came. Still, sometimes she wanted to speak to him.
“He wouldn’t have caused trouble like me, right?”
But he wouldn’t have scolded her too harshly. After all, he always gave in to his daughter.
Would there be another father like him in the world? Believing in and supporting his daughter, even though she was a girl, in every way.
He let her study whatever she wanted. He proudly boasted to the world. “Our daughter wields a sword. Her skill is remarkable. This poem? Our daughter wrote it…”
“Good day again. Was it two days ago?”
A voice she didn’t expect made her lift her head. Jang Yeheon.
Someone she didn’t want to meet. Yet the sunlight on his face made it impossible to look away. His unrealistically perfect features radiated dignity.
“…Do you follow me around?”
“Of course not. I swear it’s a coincidence.”
It was true. He wanted to talk with her, ask about what he’d discovered, but he hadn’t gone looking for her.
“Then how come you’re here…?”
“I went out for a walk to clear my head. I hadn’t noticed a place like this before.”
Yeheon approached.
Being from a prestigious family, Layeon could feel uncomfortable being alone with a man. She thought she could excuse herself and leave.
“You seem uncomfortable being with me.”
“Oh, no.”
She denied it instinctively, worried she might seem suspicious. She could have just said she was uncomfortable being alone with a man.
“Then may I ask you to keep me company?”
She could think of no reason to refuse.
“Ah, yes.”
Yeheon’s eyes curved slightly. He smiled.
“Then…”
He naturally sat nearby but maintained a proper distance, as befitted the head of a prestigious family’s branch. Branch head? Was he a branch head? Where had she heard that?
“Do you know why I came?”
“Wasn’t it to investigate the incident?”
“That’s correct. I came on His Majesty’s order to investigate. Then, Lady, why do you think the emperor ordered this investigation?”
The question was sudden.
“How could a young girl know the affairs of the court?”
“You seem quite intelligent. Elder Baek Yoon-gi also praised you.”
“Uncle values me only because I’m family…”
Yeheon ignored her modesty.
“It is because of that ‘writing.’”
“Excuse me?”
“The arson at the shrine wasn’t a major issue. It’s shameful for local officials to exploit shrine construction or rites as an excuse for levying extra taxes, but the court already knew.
If it were merely a matter of commoners, tired of paying tribute, setting fire to the shrine, that would have been understandable. But…”
“…But?”
“Rumors reached the court that words appeared on the walls as they burned.”
His narrative tone carried tension, as if telling a fascinating story.
“What do you think of those words, Lady?”
“How could a young girl know?”
Even now, that was the only answer she could give.
“Didn’t it feel like a message from Heaven…?”
