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Chapter 8 …
Three days later, Maldong returned with a letter.
“Miss, Lord Siyoung of Punguibang stopped by.”
Hari immediately opened the letter.
As she read the neatly written handwriting, a smile slowly spread across her face.
As expected of Punguibang.
The saying that they handled matters as swiftly as the wind had not been an exaggeration.
Hari carefully folded the letter away, tucked it safely into her sleeve, and stood up.
“Let’s go, Maldong.”
“Where are we going, Miss?”
“To Hongyeongak.”
“Hongyeongak? You mean the place that’s said to gather all the finest gisaeng in Hanyang?”
Hari took the sseugaechima hanging on the wall.
“That’s right. Is it really that famous?”
“Very. The food is amazing, and they even have liquor you can only drink there. But the greatest attraction is Hongju, the mistress of Hongyeongak.”
Hari knew of Hongju as well.
She had played a fairly significant role in the novel.
So talented in every field that she seemed modeled after Hwang Jini herself, Hongju was frequently invited to perform at royal banquets, where she often crossed paths with the novel’s heroine.
“How extraordinary can the mistress of Hongyeongak really be?”
“They say even the highest-ranking officials line up just to hear Hongju play the geomungo.”
Unlike other gisaeng, Hongju played the geomungo, an instrument traditionally associated with scholars.
Ordinarily, she would have been severely punished for daring to imitate scholars, but because her performance was so exceptional, everyone praised her instead.
As expected, once you become the very best, even the barriers of gender can be overcome.
Hari once again resolved to become Joseon’s greatest divorce oejibu before continuing on her way.
Hongyeongak, located in the center of Unjongga, was very close to the oejibu office Hari had acquired.
It was less than a ten-minute walk away—close enough to say it was just around the corner.
Yet the atmosphere was completely different.
As soon as they passed the Hansungbu government office and rounded Hwangtohyeon Hill, the air itself seemed to change.
The calm dignity of Yukjo Street vanished, replaced by the lively chaos of Unjongga.
Hari walked confidently into the bustling crowd.
Scholars, housewives, and traveling merchants were all mixed together when a woman carrying a wooden box wrapped in plain cotton cloth across her stomach approached them.
Every step she took made the pieces of yeot inside the box clatter softly against one another.
“Miss, please take a look! This is premium pumpkin taffy. It’s been boiled in a cauldron continuously for ten days and ten nights.”
The woman’s earnest voice stopped Hari in her tracks.
“I’ll take ten.”
“…Pardon?”
“I said, give me ten.”
“Y-Yes, Miss. That’ll be five pun.”
The woman quickly wrapped the pumpkin taffy in coarse paper and handed it over.
“Keep the change.”
When Hari handed her one nyang, the woman’s mouth fell wide open.
Her face plainly read, What unbelievable luck!
Meanwhile, Maldong clicked his tongue.
“Miss, you’ve just been taken advantage of. Who pays five pun for ten tiny pieces of pumpkin taffy? Three pun would have been enough. But you gave her an entire nyang!”
“So what? She’s happy, isn’t she? That’s enough.”
Thanks to Jeong Hari’s memories, she knew perfectly well the pumpkin taffy had been overpriced.
Still, whenever she saw someone wandering the streets selling goods without even owning a shop, she was reminded of her mother.
Jeong Hari’s mother, Jeong So-young.
After her divorce, the woman had done every job imaginable just to survive.
For a time, she sold kimbap to commuters before dawn.
No matter whether it snowed, rained, or a typhoon raged, she stood outside Yeouido Station.
Then, during the day, she handed out flyers.
Hari could still vividly remember her pleading with passersby.
“Please just take one.”
How could Hari possibly look down on people like them?
Especially when behind that woman stood a little girl who looked exactly like her.
She couldn’t have been more than five or six years old.
She looks just like I did when I was little.
To be honest, Hari wanted to give her even more.
But excessive kindness often created problems, so she restrained herself after becoming nothing more than an adorably easy customer.
“Well… since we already bought them, shall we try one?”
Maldong’s eyes sparkled.
Hari chuckled and handed him the entire bundle.
His cheeks immediately lifted into a broad grin.
He looks that happy, yet he scolded me just moments ago.
With only one nyang, she had made several people happy.
That alone made it worthwhile.
As they enjoyed the lively streets of Unjongga, Maldong suddenly stretched out his arm.
“There it is!”
A flag embroidered with the words Hongyeongak fluttered in the breeze.
Unlike the noisy streets they had just walked through, the area in front of the building was remarkably quiet.
“They haven’t started business yet, so there aren’t any customers. Come back around sunset. By then it’ll be so crowded you won’t even recognize the Unjongga we just walked through.”
While listening to Maldong’s explanation, Hari called out to the gatekeeper.
“Is anyone there?”
Projecting her voice the way she’d seen in historical dramas, she shouted confidently.
Footsteps echoed from beyond the gate.
Moments later, the massive doors swung inward.
“Who are you?”
The man who emerged looked fierce enough to be mistaken for a bandit.
“I have an appointment with someone here.”
“So… who exactly are you?”
The man scratched his stomach and frowned.
He was one of the rough enforcers responsible for throwing unruly noblemen out of the gisaeng house.
There was a reason he, rather than a servant, was greeting visitors in broad daylight.
Women who came during the day almost always came searching for their husbands.
And without exception, they caused disturbances.
“Y-You insolent thug! Do you even know who my mistress is? Move aside at once!”
Maldong stepped forward, trembling with anger.
“What? Insolent? Why, you little brat—”
The man raised a hand as large as a pot lid.
Hari gently pushed Maldong aside and stood in front of him.
“Go ahead.”
“…What?”
“Do you know what happens when someone of low birth lays a hand on a noble?”
“…”
The thug fell silent.
Beside Hari, Maldong immediately drew a finger across his throat.
“Go on. Try it.”
Hari spoke with unwavering confidence.
The thug hesitated.
But he did not back down.
Today is the day an important figure from Punguibang is visiting.
Hongju had repeatedly warned him not to admit any outsiders today.
If any trouble broke out, Hongju would have his head.
The thug shook himself back to his senses and glared fiercely.
Just then—
Snap.
The sound of a folding fan closing came from behind him.
The owner of Punguibang, Un, stepped into view.
“They are my guests.”
“L-Lord of Punguibang!”
Under Un’s icy gaze, the thug immediately bowed deeply.
As Un approached, he repeated himself.
“They are my guests. Open the way at once. And never again treat my guests so rudely.”
“There will not be a second pardon.”
“Y-Yes, Lord of Punguibang!”
The thug immediately pressed himself against the gatepost.
At once, Hari’s view cleared.
“I had informed them beforehand, yet this still happened. My apologies. Please, come inside.”
Hari did not bother refusing Un’s apology.
As she gracefully stepped over the threshold, she turned back toward the thug.
“It would be a shame to leave without teaching you something.”
“If you had laid a hand on me today, you would have lost three things.”
“W-What do you mean?”
Hari lowered her sseugaechima, revealed her face, and smiled brilliantly.
“First, your livelihood.”
“Second, your backside.”
“And third, the pitiful little fortune you’ve managed to save.”
“What a pity. I could have stripped you of even your undergarments.”
The moment the thug met Hari’s eyes, he instinctively understood.
She’s not bluffing.
That woman truly possessed the ability to ruin his life.
His face turned deathly pale as he hurriedly bowed.
“I sincerely apologize, Miss.”
“So now you finally understand. You should have apologized to me from the very beginning.”
“Let’s meet again under better circumstances.”
After offering those parting words, Hari walked toward Un.
From a short distance away, Un had heard the entire exchange.
A helpless laugh escaped him.
Hari had not only stood up to Hongyeongak’s notoriously fierce gatekeeper—
She had even made him apologize.
He had worried she might burst into tears after being bullied by the thug.
He had even wondered whether he had a handkerchief with him.
Those concerns now seemed utterly ridiculous.
“Why are you laughing?”
Hari pouted slightly as she looked at him.
A woman’s boldness should have seemed improper.
So why did it make him want to laugh instead?
“That is a good question.”
With a faint smile, Un led Hari farther inside.
As they entered the quiet courtyard, doors began opening one after another.
The owner of Punguibang, Un—a man famous for treating women like stones—had personally welcomed a woman as his guest.
Naturally, everyone was curious.
Curious and wary gazes poured toward Hari from every direction.
But Hari never noticed.
Her attention had been completely captured by the intricate waves of tiled rooftops stretching endlessly before her.
“Just how many guest rooms are there?”
“Are you saying every single one of these rooms fills up every night?”
Staring in amazement at the dozens of buildings connected together like the body of a winding serpent, Hari asked Maldong.
“Yes. They don’t just fill up.”
“Like I said earlier, people even wait in line.”
Hari kept slowing down to admire everything.
Finally, Un turned around.
Standing there with her lips slightly parted, looking around in wonder, Hari resembled a rabbit that had wandered into another world.
At this rate, she’s going to trip.
“Watch your step.”
The words had barely left his mouth.
Hari failed to notice the threshold of the side gate.
“Ah!”
She caught her foot and stumbled forward.
Startled, Un threw aside his folding fan and strode quickly toward her.
