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Chapter 5 …
“Of all days to die, it had to be on the wedding day. She never even got to hold her husband’s hand, yet she’s already a widow. How pitiful.”
Hari opened her eyes at Maldong’s clicking tongue.
“But that young lady is remarkable too. She completed the full three-year mourning period for a husband whose face she never even saw.”
They said she still went to the family shrine every day to burn incense.
From the age of sixteen, Nahee had faithfully observed every duty and virtue expected of a wife, despite never once seeing her husband’s face during the four years she had borne that title.
“My lady, say something.”
“I’ll do it.”
“Pardon?”
Maldong jumped in surprise.
“You asked if I’d do it. So I said I would.”
“But… why?”
“Because the lady is right. I never saw his face, never even held his hand. We never lived together as husband and wife. If there was no married life, can we really call it a marriage?”
In the Republic of Korea, a prolonged absence of married life could itself become grounds for divorce.
She couldn’t use such reasoning as a legal charge in Joseon, but from Hari’s perspective, it was absurd to claim that Nahee had ever truly lived as a married woman.
“And besides, he died before the wedding was actually completed.”
Which meant the marriage could be declared invalid.
“But, my lady, shouldn’t she have simply walked away back then?”
Maldong argued that since Nahee had gone through with the wedding despite knowing the groom had died—and even completed the three-year mourning period afterward—it meant she had accepted the marriage.
Hari smiled as she gently patted Maldong on the head.
“You’re getting pretty good. Lord Panyun will probably say exactly what you just did.”
That was why Hari needed to prepare her second move.
And that move was—
Hari sprang to her feet and opened the door.
As she slipped her feet into the neatly placed shoes by the stepping stone, Maldong hurriedly held out her veil.
“My lady, where are you going?”
After stepping into the courtyard and pulling the veil over her head, Hari turned back toward Maldong.
“I need to meet someone who knows exactly what happened back then.”
“Who? It was already four years ago. Is there really anyone who remembers it in detail?”
“There is.”
Hari smiled confidently.
“Someone who would definitely remember.”
“Who?”
“The matchmaker.”
Assuming everything Nahee had told her was true, there was something suspicious about the marriage.
The Choi Champhan household and Nahee’s family had no connection whatsoever.
It wasn’t as though every marriage had to be arranged between families that already knew each other, but Nahee’s family stood far below the Choi family in social standing.
Although Joseon had the saying that daughters-in-law should come from poor families, reality among the upper class was quite different.
“People married within their own circles. Mrs. Kim’s family and the Choi Champhan household weren’t on the same level. And one more thing… Mrs. Kim didn’t even know her future husband was sick. If that’s true…”
Hari’s eyes sparkled.
* * *
“What? She moved away long ago?”
The moment Hari enthusiastically began her investigation, she ran into her first obstacle.
The matchmaker, Yang Heoyeong, had disappeared without a trace.
“You don’t know where she moved?”
“I told you I don’t know! Stop asking questions and move aside! You’re getting in the way of my business!”
The fabric shop owner waved a long dusting pole, chasing Maldong away.
Shoulders drooping, Maldong crossed the street and approached Hari, who was waiting in the alley.
“My lady… he says he doesn’t know.”
Thanks to both the loud shopkeeper and Maldong, Hari had heard the entire conversation from across the alley.
She nodded thoughtfully.
“Why would she suddenly abandon such a good business and disappear?”
A matchmaker serving noble families in Hanyang earned quite a comfortable income.
The profession was difficult to enter because it required extensive connections, but once a single marriage was successfully arranged, business flowed as smoothly as silk.
That was why matchmakers almost never left the neighborhoods where they had established themselves.
Building those relationships from scratch was incredibly difficult.
Yet Yang Heoyeong—a woman who had apparently been quite famous—had vanished overnight.
And the timing was exactly four years ago.
Without telling anyone…
Without even selling the house she had lived in…
Where had she gone?
It certainly wasn’t an ordinary move.
She had even left unpaid debts at the fabric shop she frequented.
“My lady… will it be a disaster if we can’t find Madam Yang?”
“Not really.”
Hari had only thought that, as the woman who arranged Nahee’s marriage, Yang Heoyeong would know the circumstances better than anyone else.
It wasn’t as though she had no alternatives.
“What should we do? Shall we keep looking?”
They searched Yang Heoyeong’s house, the surrounding area, and every shop she used to frequent.
They spent half the day searching diligently.
Yet they failed to uncover even a single clue.
Let’s give up on Yang Heoyeong for now.
Hari quickly made her decision and began walking.
“We’re going to meet someone else.”
“My lady, wait for me!”
Maldong hurried after her.
With her veil pulled low over her face, Hari walked briskly until they arrived before the residence of the Choi Champhan household.
Standing before the towering main gate that seemed to reach the heavens, Maldong instinctively shrank back.
Noticing her hesitation, Hari spoke.
“Our house isn’t any less impressive than this one.”
“That’s true… but for some reason, this place gives me the chills.”
Perhaps it was because not a single sound escaped over the high walls.
As Maldong nervously rubbed her arms, Hari didn’t even reach for the gate knocker.
Instead, she leaned comfortably against the wall.
“My lady, aren’t we going inside?”
“No.”
“Aren’t we here to meet that lady?”
The “lady” Maldong referred to was Nahee.
“Don’t say such dangerous things.”
Hari shook her head.
“I’m not meeting her.”
Nahee had secretly come to meet Hari.
A widow wasn’t allowed to leave home without a guardian.
For a woman who had lost her husband, delicious food, pleasant conversation, entertainment, sightseeing—even laughter—were all forbidden.
She had to be cautious even about visiting her own parents or meeting old friends.
So meeting an oejibu?
There was no way she had received permission.
Which meant the meeting between Nahee and Hari, the oejibu, absolutely had to remain secret.
At least until the written petition had been completed and submitted to the Hanseong Office.
“Then why did we come here?”
“To wait.”
“For who?”
“For someone who can tell me exactly what happened inside this house.”
“Who would that be?”
* * *
“Wow, my lady! I already knew you were talented, but I had no idea you were such an incredible actress! You almost fooled me too!”
Only after they had walked far enough that the Choi Champhan estate was no longer visible did Maldong finally exclaim in admiration.
“I wasn’t bad, was I?”
“Not at all! I really thought your leg was broken. My heart nearly stopped. Next time you’re going to act like that, at least warn me beforehand.”
Maldong placed a hand over her chest.
The incident that had nearly given her heart attack had happened half an sijin earlier.
The gate of the Choi Champhan residence had opened, and a kind-looking middle-aged woman stepped outside.
The moment she did, Hari pushed herself off the wall and strode into the road faster than anyone could react.
Then she naturally collided with the woman.
“Ah! My leg!”
Hari bounced backward as if thrown, grabbed her ankle, and collapsed onto the ground.
The woman immediately turned pale.
After all, she had just collided with what was obviously the daughter of a noble family.
Terrified that she had injured someone of such high status, she hurried over, trembling.
Hari spoke gently.
“Do not concern yourself with my injury. But if you truly feel guilty, would you answer a few questions for me?”
For a commoner to injure a noble was considered a serious offense.
Even though it had clearly been an accident, who would ever listen to a commoner’s explanation?
The servant woman’s mind had gone completely blank.
She simply nodded.
Hari asked every question she had prepared.
Unfortunately, she didn’t obtain the information she truly wanted.
Instead, she learned something entirely unexpected.
“Am I the only one who thinks it’s strange that they replaced everyone in the household right after the second son died? Is something like that common?”
According to the woman, immediately after the second son’s funeral, the Choi Champhan household had dismissed every longtime servant.
Household slaves…
Wet nurses…
Everyone.
They brought in entirely new people.
“It’s not unusual for one or two servants to be dismissed. Some masters have no tolerance for mistakes. But throwing out more than twenty people all at once… I’ve never heard of anything like that. Though I haven’t lived that many years.”
“If even you haven’t heard of it, then it’s probably unheard of.”
Maldong was two years younger than Hari.
When she was five, a devastating drought had claimed her parents’ lives, and Hari found her on the verge of starving to death.
She had taken the girl in as her servant.
Though she called her a servant, Hari treated Maldong more like a close companion.
She even taught her to read and write, albeit in Eonmun.
Nor did she burden her with much work.
As a result, Maldong spent her spare time wandering all over Hanyang and mingling with people.
Naturally, she came to know many people.
And she overheard many things.
There was a saying among the servants of the Daesagan household:
“If you want to know what’s happening in Hanyang, go ask Maldong.”
It wasn’t an exaggeration.
“I need someone who can tell me more about what happened back then.”
Hari narrowed her eyes.
“Do you think we can find someone who worked there at the time?”
When something unprecedented happened, it was almost always connected to a case.
Not an accident—
A case.
Hari’s gaze sharpened.
“If we ask around, we should be able to find someone. But won’t it take a long time?”
What she really needed at a time like this was something like a detective agency.
“Isn’t there some kind of organization that finds people?”
“Well… there’s no place that specializes in finding people exactly.”
Maldong tilted her head.
“But there is a place that does jobs for money.”
As expected, there was almost nothing Maldong didn’t know.
“Where is it?”
“Punguibang.”
Then she hesitated.
“But, my lady… I don’t think we should go there.”
“Why?”
“Well… because… where it’s located is…”
