"You may not want to stand too close to the oleander tree, sister." "And why is that?" "The sap and the pollen of this tree is poisonous, so you must be careful not to touch them. But fortunately, they only pose a problem for pregnant women." "And why is that?" "Oleander can damage the heart and cause miscarriages; don't you remember all of the pregnant woman staying away from it in our hometown? You would know of such a crucial matter if you had paid attention to anything other than men in your entire life." "Shut up! You have no right to interfere in my life ever since the day that you abandoned my family and was recruited by The Young Master Nam! How closely are you tied to him that you leave us and make father put me to work just to find you? As a god-damned slave? How selfish can you be?" "Selfish? The Young Master Nam takes care of me better than anyone else has! He feeds me, he clothes me, he teaches me how to read and write and he invites me to banquets and he…" Banquets! You are invited to banquets when our family is riddled with debt and poverty? And why wasn't I invited when we are from the same family and we wrk in the same place?" "That is because I am on his side whilst you daydream about your inflation with The Master Dal. And in case you haven't noticed, he is the true Young Master around here whilst Dal is only his servant." "Shut up! He is more than that! He is the true mind behind The Young Master." "And yet I am the only one who is rewarded with gifts for simply following his orders. And how abut you? What do you get in return for following The Young Master around?" "I…I…" "I have made a name for myself amongst his connections whilst The Master Nam follows The Young Mistress Seo around like a lost puppy. Wait, where are you going? Sister!"
"I want to see these gifts for myself! I am younger than you, prettier than you and I have much more opportunities than you, s why should you be the one to be given this new luxury life over me! What is this? Is this the outfit that you wear to these events? These fancy robes that do not suit our social status?" "Put it down! You cannot possibly afford to repay The Young Master Nam if you tear at it!" "Give it to me! I want it!" "Why should I give it to you! You didn't do anything to earn it, like it have! You wouldn't know what hard work looks like even if it slapped you right across the face! You were not even invited, so how can you claim something that isn't yours!" "So why wasn't I invited?" "I have already told you! How many more times do I have to repeat myself?" "You deliberately kept it from me! You have become bolder with the more power that you have now, but you are not the only one here who can do that! Men! Quickly! Smash everything in this room! On behalf of The Master Dal! And catch this servant before she escapes! Quickly!" "I am your sister! How can you do this do me!" "You abandoned us first! You no longer have a family, remember! And what do we have here? Who gifted you such personal gifts? Whose fan does this belong to with such intricate embroidery? Well? Or are you sleeping with The Young Master to gain his favour?" "Sister! Please!" "So now you recognise me as your sister? Well, it is too little too late now. Men! Hand her from the banner of her ceiling before anyone notices…" but of course, her Young Master was much more vigilant that mine was, since he threw his danger right at the cloth that was wrapped around my sister's throat before she could hang herself. I had been caught in the act following the orders of The Master Dal who conveniently enough, wasn't here to save me like The Young Master Nam was.
"Just what the hell is going on here under my father's roof! Somebody explain this to me! Men! Bring that servant to me on her knees!" ""Young master! I just…" "How could you do this to your own sister! Hw! Tell me! And if you even dare to lie to me, then I can have you meet the same end in only a matter of minutes!" "Young Master! It was her! She wanted to kill herself out of shame for owning a man's fan that she has been having an affair with!" "Oh really? And where is this fan now? Show me!" "It is true! I only saw that when I got here and I tried to save her but you came here just in time and…" "I told you to show me!" "It is there, right on top of her bed. As her younger sister, I can only adhere to the family rules about servants unless I want my whole family to suffer for her baseless crime, so I should discipline her as well, seeing how she lost her senses." "Did she really?" "After rounds of investigation, she refused to give up the name of the man who gave her the fan so I had to ground her…" "Really? You interrogated, rifled though this room and sought to discipline your older sister instead of coming to myself or my father, s the rules strictly states? Tell me, what rules have you looked though in which a family of nobility who works in the palace will expect a younger sister to overpower her older sister, even if you are salves? Doesn't that go against Confucius itself? Do you think this family is a joke or something?" "I…I just wanted to maintain order…who knew that she would try to take her own life…my family failed to discipline her as she acted seamlessly and brought disgrace to this family…" "That is funny, because as fat as I know, your stepmother was the one who brought disgrace to your family when she overspent your family's savings and put you into debt! And as for this fan and all of these gifts that you have smashed, they personally came from me! I spent good money to reward my hard-working servants under Yeon's advice, and this is wha you do? Or what you're Master Dal taught you to do? But of course, he must have accidentally missed out on this detail when filling you in, right?" "What…are you saying, I…do not understand…." "Men! Get this servant treated and no-one is allowed t enter her quarters! And where is Dal! Take me and this lily servant to him straight away!"
Why would The Young Master Nam imply that The Master Dal kept information from me, as if he was planning on blaming me for everything. But that wasn't possible, because he loved me and retold me every single time he made himself comfortable in my bed. He loved me and I know that he did. "Young Master Nam; Master Dal is calling for you in your mother's quarters. An urgent situation as has arisen and he calls on you urgently." "For fuck's sake, now what is she up to?" "The concubine complains that her chestnut pastries are quite bitter and out of season, prompting an investigation which has shown that the pastries have oleander pollen and juice in them, which can cause miscarriages in pregnant women. The concubine is openly blaming The Young Mistress and she says that she will inform your father of everything…" "Over my dead body! Bring me to them immediately!"
"Young Master Nam, the oleander is cold in nature and rather poisonous; it can remove blood status and relive pain, but if it is mixed with cassia twig soup, the effect will double and kill an unborn baby for sure and impose lasting damage to the expecting mother." "Young Master! Yeon is clearly jealous of my favour and must have concocted this evil plan!" "Have you lost your damned mind! This child is an heir to the Nam's, my father will surely take his revenge on Yeon if anything happen to you, do you not think that she is aware of that? She isn't anywhere near as stupid as you are; but there is someone stupid enough to pull his off, isn't that right? Servant?" "Me? What could I have done…."
"I wonder which servant faked an illness to go visit the local infirmary to preview pre-natal tonics? Oleander with cassia twig is a good formula to terminate a pregnancy, to murder an heir!" No, no this simply was not possible. If the infirmary took records of its visitors, then The Master Daal would have informed me. So why didn't he?
"Are you saying that it was this lowly maid who tried to hill her? But why, Young Master?" "I think that you should know that answer better than myself, Dal." "Young Master, what are you…" "She has a family to think about and make plans for; so if she kills the concubine and blame The Young Mistress Seo, then she can collect a reward to help pull her family out of debt, to also pull her up in the social ranks…." "No! What are you talking about! I didn't…." "They will have no future with that debt looming over their heads…" "What an idiot! If this child would have died today, I would have found the real culprit after all since I am a General Inspector and inspecting crimes is my job after all. Your parents would have been hung thanks to my father and your brother would have been treated poorly due to coming from a depraved family and he would have had no hope at all." "But…but nobody was harmed after all!" "You still had the intention to harm the pregnant concubine and you cannot deny that by your actions! The only difference is that she didn't consume the poison fully and her pregnancy wasn't affected, which barely saves your life at all. But I still have to administer punishment, and therefore I am exiling you from this yangban once and for all." "No! Please! I need to stay by Master Dal's side!" "Do not worry, there are plenty of other women here who will serve him well." "No! Please, I am begging you! He needs me, I know that he does…." "is that why he just walked away without saying anything on your behalf at all?"
It was then that I found out Master Dal's true colours when he set me up to live with the sins that he committed when he indeed walked away from me without uttering a single word at all. But that was also the night that I fund out about my own pregnancy and I had no choice but to turn for him for mercy and shelter. I kept my pregnancy a secret until I simply couldn't hide it anymore and by that time he called me into the palace to testify for him, but I was truly sick of him then. I really thought that I could leave with The Young Mistress Seo and start a new life for myself, but my so-called husband decided to punish me for not helping him and now here I was as a mere scapegoat for all of the women who dared to flirt with The Third Prince, that was until I decided to confess what I had witnessed what was going on with that kisaeng girl and The Prince. The Third Princess Consort decided to treat me with respect then, but I was already disillusioned by the power the nobility had when the servants constantly kept me from my own baby. But what dis she tell me? That she could reward me with the title of being my husband's concubine? Then that meant that I had to do one last dirty work before I accepted the title, found my baby and my husband and take back everything that he was planning to give to The Young Master Nam's wife.