🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 20
“Wang Eunyoung, age ten, married just a month ago. She’s young, but stories like this aren’t uncommon. You know, right? During the chaos of the Byeongja Year, everyone rushed to marry off their daughters so they wouldn’t be taken away.”
Since it wasn’t the first time Nahee had rambled on about something, Hari simply folded her arms and watched her quietly.
Every now and then, like a blind squirrel finding a nut, Nahee would accidentally blurt out the very clue needed to solve a case.
“So the custom of marrying girls off early really did spread after that. It’s still happening. But ten years old is just too much.”
Hari already knew the history well.
Parents desperately trying to prevent their daughters from being taken to Qing China.
Some had even hidden their daughters inside cesspits so the Qing soldiers wouldn’t find them.
How could anyone condemn or curse a custom born from such desperate circumstances?
But this case was different.
“Finish reading first.”
Hari said.
Nahee read the document to the end before letting out a horrified scream.
“The husband is—what?! Seventy? Seventy years old?! How is that even possible? Has everyone gone insane?”
As though she had just seen something revolting, Nahee flung the papers onto the desk.
Maintaining a calm expression, Hari carefully straightened the case record.
“An Hari, aren’t you angry at all? She’s only ten! She probably can’t even cook a proper meal yet! And they married her off to a seventy-year-old man who’s practically got one foot in the grave?”
Seeing Nahee explode with rage, Hari realized that even in Joseon, this wasn’t considered normal.
She had been so furious after hearing the story that her head had spun, but watching Nahee shout at the top of her lungs strangely calmed her down.
“Attorney An, you’ll help Eunyoung, right?”
“Of course.”
That was exactly why she had painstakingly organized the consultation records and spent hours sitting in her chair until her backside ached.
“Then let’s hurry and file that thing… what was it called? At Hanseongbu. Right, the petition! We have to write it!”
Just as people say that even a dog that spends three years at a village school learns to recite poetry, Nahee had become something of a semi-expert after personally going through a divorce and watching Hari work.
Hari wanted to draft the petition immediately.
She had already outlined everything in her head. Once she picked up her brush, it would take less than half a shikgyeong to finish.
But there was a problem.
“The child is only ten. An adult male from her family has to declare the intention to file the lawsuit.”
The woman who had come to Hari wore old, tattered clothes, but she was a yangban.
Originally, regardless of age, a yangban woman could not initiate a divorce lawsuit herself. An adult male from her family had to file it on her behalf.
Just in case, Hari had sent Maldong to Hanseongbu to confirm.
He returned with disappointing news.
“They said it’s not possible.”
Then how had Nahee managed to file her own lawsuit?
That was simply one of the novel’s conveniences—that adult women were allowed to sue directly.
Nahee was just lucky.
Resting her chin on her hand, Hari let out a long sigh.
“We’ll just persuade Eunyoung’s father! This is obviously coercion. There’s no way a father would willingly marry his ten-year-old daughter to a seventy-year-old man.”
“Do you really think so?”
Hari stared directly at Nahee.
It was strange.
Nahee herself had been forced into an unwanted marriage because of her father, yet she was still choosing to believe the best of this situation.
Nahee flinched before puffing out her cheeks.
“Hey! Don’t look at me like that. I know my father was a terrible person. But I was sixteen. She’s only ten! This doesn’t make any sense. Even animals wouldn’t do something like this… Wait… don’t tell me… was it really…?”
As Hari remained silent, Nahee arrived at the answer herself.
Her mouth slowly fell open.
“That crazy bastard.”
She finally let out a curse.
It was as though she wanted to open a zoo—Nahee constantly compared people to every kind of animal imaginable.
Hari ignored it and rubbed her forehead.
“So… does that mean Eunyoung has to live with that seventy-year-old old man? He’ll probably die before she even grows up.”
If only that were true.
Hari’s eyes gradually darkened.
The little girl might spend more than ten years nursing him with her tiny hands.
After all, bad people always seemed to live long, miserable lives.
“Isn’t there really any way? You’re the best attorney in Hanyang!”
Hari hadn’t earned that reputation yet.
But to Nahee, she already was.
“If it’s money you need, I’ll pay.”
Nahee certainly knew how to spend money.
“It’s not about money.”
“Don’t you think you can win?”
“As if.”
The problem was that there wasn’t a single adult man from the Wang family willing to step forward for Eunyoung.
What should she do?
Hari was pulling at her hair in frustration when—
“Ah!”
Nahee suddenly cried out.
“What? Did you think of something?”
Maybe Nahee, who had grown up in Joseon, knew some clever solution.
Hari’s eyes lit up.
“A relative can file it too, right?”
“That’s right.”
“It doesn’t have to be someone from the Wang family, does it?”
“Hm?”
Hari tilted her head.
“We can just say they’re relatives from her mother’s side.”
“Ah… so you’re saying we should create a relative that doesn’t exist?”
“Yep!”
Nahee nodded vigorously.
Could they actually do that?
If Nahee suggested it, maybe it wasn’t a problem. This is Joseon, after all.
By the late Joseon period, even family registries were bought and sold.
Adding a single name to a genealogy probably wasn’t such a big deal.
“Thank you, Nahee. I know exactly where I need to go!”
Grabbing her veil hat, Hari rushed out of the room.
“I’ll come too—… she’s already gone.”
Nahee hurried after her, but the courtyard was already empty.
Through the front gate, just as it was closing, she caught a glimpse of Maldong’s skirt disappearing outside.
“They’re both so fast.”
Maybe she’d have to start practicing running if she wanted to keep up with Hari.
“Never mind. Have a safe trip, you two.”
Nahee gave up almost immediately.
There were simply some things no amount of effort could improve.
For Nahee, that thing was running.
The place Hari visited was Punguibang.
“My lady, what brings you here?”
Chilbok welcomed Hari and Maldong.
By now, he was no longer surprised by Hari’s sudden appearances.
After all, it wasn’t the first or second time.
“Is the master of Punguibang here?”
“I’m terribly sorry, but he’s not here today. It’s a shame you’ve come all this way. Why don’t you make an appointment and visit another time?”
“Will he not return at all today?”
“He will return eventually, but I don’t know when.”
“Where did he go?”
Instead of answering, Chilbok merely smiled.
Apparently, it wasn’t something he could disclose.
“Then can I see him tomorrow?”
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible either. He has business outside the city tomorrow.”
It wasn’t actually outside the city—he would be entering the palace—but either way, he’d be away from Punguibang all day.
“Oh…”
Hari let out a disappointed sigh before saying,
“I’ll wait.”
“Pardon? We don’t know when he’ll return.”
“It’s urgent. I’ll stay out of the way, so please don’t mind me. May I sit over there?”
She pointed toward the wooden porch.
“You may, of course…”
The thought of such an esteemed lady sitting indefinitely on the cold wooden floor made Chilbok feel guilty.
“If you’re determined to wait, perhaps you’d be more comfortable inside.”
“It wouldn’t be proper to enter someone’s room when the owner isn’t present. I’ll stay here.”
Sitting comfortably on the porch, Hari smiled brightly.
She looked completely at home, as though it were her own house.
The moment Chilbok spotted a tall figure entering the southern district, he ran over at full speed.
“You said you’d be back soon. Why are you only arriving now?”
“You’re scolding me the moment you see me?”
Un frowned slightly.
Even so, his ever-gentle eyes gave him a naturally warm appearance.
“Because you have a guest waiting.”
“A guest?”
Most of Punguibang’s requests came through Hongju of Hongyeongak.
Especially the profitable ones.
Punguibang in Namchon had been established so Un could quietly observe and help the common people.
It wasn’t intended as a place where clients regularly came and went.
Yet someone had come, found the owner absent, and simply sat down to wait.
His curiosity was immediately piqued.
He had a feeling he knew who it was.
And he found himself hoping that he was right.
“Attorney An Hari is here.”
“Ah.”
A low laugh escaped Un’s throat.
Siyoung watched him intently.
His expression transformed in an instant, like the clear sky after a rainstorm.
Until just moments ago, Un had carried an unusually gloomy air.
More specifically, ever since meeting Seon—his younger sister.
His expression had been so serious that Siyoung hadn’t even dared ask whether something was troubling him.
But the moment he heard An Hari’s name, everything changed.
Could it be… that he has feelings for that woman? That wouldn’t be good.
As Siyoung silently wondered, Chilbok followed behind Un and asked,
“Does Attorney An make you uncomfortable?”
“What?”
“The moment you heard Attorney An was waiting for you, your whole expression changed.”
“Please don’t be so hard on someone who works as diligently as she does.”
Listening beside them, Siyoung frowned.
Oblivious.
There truly wasn’t another person in the world as hopelessly oblivious as Chilbok.
As for Un…
He was so dumbfounded that he simply kept his mouth shut.
