Chapter 01 …
Hanmun Jeoknyeo Yugo-gwan
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Chapter 01 …
Rice Flower
On a beautiful autumn day in August, the sun shone down fiercely from high above.
The endless fields were filled with golden rice. As a gentle breeze passed, the rice swayed in layered waves.
Amidst the rippling golden waves stood a young girl wearing green clothing, her hair tied high on both sides. She closed her eyes, arms spread wide, and blissfully enjoyed the scent of the rice.
“Do-hwa! Do-hwa!”
A boy’s clear, innocent voice—full of energy and free of worry—grew louder as it approached from a distance. The voice carried on the breeze, quickly spreading across the golden waves.
The girl opened her eyes and tilted her head at the sound. Then she saw the boy, carrying his voice on the wind, running quickly toward her along the ridge of the rice field, waving his hand.
As soon as she saw him, she smiled brightly, her eyes crinkling with joy. Waving her hand toward him, she called out:
“Third brother, I’m here!”
An Mun-do’s face lit up with delight upon seeing the girl, and he quickened his long-legged stride to reach her.
The girl in green amidst the golden waves wore a faint, sweet smile. Though she did not shape her eyebrows or apply anything to her lips, they were naturally red. Her eyes shone like stars, and her skin was fair and soft.
An Mun-do had seen this younger sister of his for nine years, yet she always seemed beautiful. It was as if a jade maiden had descended from the side of an immortal into the human world.
“Third brother, how did you get here?”
When the boy arrived, the girl spoke with a smile. Her fair, smooth cheeks were slightly flushed in the sunlight, making her look even more innocent and cute.
“Are you asking because you don’t know? It’s so sunny—why are you out here? Aren’t you worried your skin will get dark?”
An Mun-do, upon arrival, took off his straw hat and carefully placed it on the girl’s head.
“Look at this. Your face is all red from the sun. When you get home, Grandmother will surely scold you.”
The girl stood obediently as he adjusted the hat. Once it was on, she took his arm casually and spoke in a teasing, sweet voice:
“If Grandmother gets mad, you’ll speak up for me, right?”
“You little rascal!”
An Mun-do poked her forehead with his finger, speaking in mock annoyance, but his expression softened as he continued.
“Let’s go. We need to return quickly. A letter has arrived from Uncle. Grandmother is waiting for you to read it.”
“What?”
The girl paused, then asked again:
“Why did a letter come at this time?”
An Mun-do shook his head.
“It’s almost harvest time. He probably wants to ask when we’ll come to the county town where Uncle serves as magistrate.”
The girl shrugged lightly, showing she wasn’t interested. An Mun-do laughed at her reaction.
“Why? Don’t you want to meet Uncle and Aunt?”
The uncle An Mun-do referred to was the girl’s father, who passed the civil service exam the year she was born. The following year, he was appointed seventh-rank magistrate at Dongjin Temple. At that time, the girl was still young, and Grandmother was unwell, so he couldn’t take them along. The girl and Grandmother stayed in their hometown, and eight years passed that way.
Seeing his sister, who had rarely met her parents, for nine years, An Mun-do felt a twinge of sympathy.
“I want to meet them!”
The girl answered casually. Life in the countryside, free and unrestrained, was far preferable to being confined in the household of a noble family. If possible, she wished to spend her life freely in this village.
At that moment, the two siblings entered the village main road. People began appearing around them.
“Oh, it’s Do-hwa and Mun-do!”
“Third Uncle!”
“Oh, Elder Wu!”
“Sixth Aunt!”
“Fifth Uncle!”
As the siblings greeted everyone warmly, smiles began spreading across the villagers’ faces.
“It’s so sunny—why are you out?”
“Why else? Do-hwa must have come to check the fields again.”
The villagers laughed heartily, and the girl laughed along.
“I couldn’t ignore it. That’s the only thing our family will harvest.”
“Do-hwa, listen to this lady. Since your father is the magistrate, a noble girl like you doesn’t need to toil like us. Enjoy your privileges at home.”
The girl replied with a smile:
“Lady, even a magistrate needs to eat!”
“Hahaha! Look at Do-hwa! So young, yet she knows how to help her household. No wonder Grandmother loves her so much!”
“Well, anyone would! If I had such a granddaughter, I’d treasure her too.”
The villagers joked cheerfully, and the girl kept smiling brightly. Holding her brother’s hand with one hand and letting the other run through the rice stalks, she hopped along toward the village’s most impressive mansion.
As the siblings moved away, a few voices carried over:
“What good is all that flattery? She’s still just a girl!”
“Lai’er, speak less nonsense. Did Do-hwa offend you?”
“I just don’t like seeing everyone fawn over that girl! If her father really cared, she wouldn’t have been left in the countryside for eight years!”
“Don’t speak without knowing. Do-hwa is serving Grandmother in place of her parents.”
“Hmph! That’s just an excuse for others to hear! And I hear the magistrate took a concubine from a scholarly family and she bore twins. The daughter is supposedly very pretty. If the magistrate favors her, then Do-hwa being a country girl makes no sense…”
The rural voices carried far across the open fields, so An Mun-do and Do-hwa could hear snippets of the conversation even at a distance.
“Brother, what are you going to do?”
Do-hwa grabbed her brother as he turned to respond. At just 13, An Mun-do was already nearly the height of an adult man, making it almost impossible for Do-hwa to hold him back.
“They say you can’t get ivory from a dog’s mouth! I’m going to punish that insolent boy who spouts nonsense like him!”
Do-hwa laughed at her brother’s pouting.
“Wow, Brother, you even know fancy words now!”
An Mun-do, known for hating studying, felt his anger soften a little at her teasing.
Do-hwa used the opportunity to guide him along, saying:
“You don’t need to take seriously whatever meaningless things people say behind your back.”
An Mun-do wanted to pat her head, but the straw hat blocked his hand.
“Do-hwa, don’t listen to their nonsense. You are the eldest legitimate daughter of the An family. That daughter the magistrate favors can’t compare to you. Even if… even if…”
Do-hwa tilted her head at his flushed face, then rolled her bright, round eyes and asked with a cheerful smile:
“Even if what?”
An Mun-do gritted his teeth:
“Even if Uncle really favors that concubine’s daughter, you have nothing to fear! You have Grandmother and us. We’ll make sure you’re never slighted!”
The girl smiled, showing her dazzling white teeth. She ran her hand through the rice stalks, spotting a deeper green rice flower on her palm, which made her smile even more.
“That’s right. With Grandmother here, no matter how high my father’s rank, I can’t go against her, right?”
There was no trace of worry in her voice.
“Do-hwa, you naughty girl! Aren’t you going to run to this old lady? Do you want your skin to be burned like charcoal?”
From a distance of about 12 feet, a booming voice called out. Just from the sound, one could tell the speaker was strong.
The girl shivered, then dashed toward the main gate with her short legs, shouting loudly:
“Grandmother! Your cute granddaughter Do-hwa is coming!”
“Did you know you had to return?”
As soon as she entered the gate, a sharp tap hit her forehead.
“Oh, Third Brother, save me! Grandmother’s scolding me!”
The girl’s clear voice echoed through the mansion, followed by a chaotic commotion.
“You naughty girl! Even for a few days without a scolding, you run wild! In this sun, don’t you care your skin will burn? Do you think there’s gold in the rice field? Or silver? What are you so happy about?”
“There is gold! Grandmother, if you look at the golden waves of rice, doesn’t it feel like gold?”
“What kind of nonsense gold is that? Other daughters stay home all day, and you—you’re out burning your skin!”
“Grandmother, I’m not trying to burn! I know my skin doesn’t burn easily, so I can go outside! You gave me good skin, didn’t you?”
“Nonsense. If you ruin good skin carelessly like that, what’s the point?”
Do-hwa in green darted around the garden like a fleeing rabbit, while No Tae-tae followed swiftly, keeping his neatly tied hair intact.
“An Do-hwa! Can’t you stop there?”
“I can’t! Grandmother, you stop first!”
“Today, I’ll catch you for sure!”
“…Grandmother, I was wrong. I won’t go out in the daytime anymore.”
“No ‘anymore’ this time! There is no ‘anymore’ for you!”
“I can’t!”
The child and the young girl ran tirelessly, drawing admiration from the onlookers beneath the eaves.
“Mother! Her health is improving more and more!”
An family’s third son, An Chi-gang, laughed as he watched them. His wife, Lady Oh, responded with a pout:
“Exactly. As long as Do-hwa is around, Mother never has a quiet moment. People need to move to stay energetic and alert.”
An Mun-do looked at his parents, bewildered by their encouragement.
“Father, Mother, try to intervene. If it’s this sunny, what if they get heatstroke?”
Hearing this, An Chi-gang quickly removed the smile from his face, rushed into the garden, picked up the flushed Do-hwa, and addressed No Tae-tae:
“Mother, I’ve caught Do-hwa! You can scold her now.”
Do-hwa, looking at her third uncle’s muscular arms not hidden by clothing, didn’t struggle. She simply panted slightly, watching the quickly approaching No Tae-tae with a sympathetic look.
“How can someone so young have so much strength? Can she endure being carried like that?”
Seeing his eldest granddaughter carried by the third son, No Tae-tae frowned, glared at An Chi-gang, and quickly took Do-hwa from him.
An Chi-gang rubbed his nose awkwardly, already expecting this result. No Tae-tae cherished Do-hwa most of all in the family. It was fine for her to be scolded by her grandmother, but if anyone else touched her, the scolding would immediately stop.
