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Chapter 28
As the sun set, lanterns began lighting up one by one along the street in front of Hongyeongak.
Before long, the brightly illuminated Hongyeongak looked as if it were broad daylight, drawing in swarms of moths searching for a single night’s flower.
Watching the bustling crowd filling Hongyeongak, Hari came to a sudden realization.
‘Is loving alcohol and entertainment written into Korean DNA?’
With an unamused expression, Hari watched people who were already staggering around drunk. Some of them openly harassed the gisaeng without caring that others were watching.
Not a single one of them looked normal.
They’ll probably go home and pretend to be good fathers, husbands, and sons.
‘Even pretending would be better. They could be even worse at home.’
The gentle behavior they showed toward the gisaeng at Hongyeongak might very well be the kindest they were capable of.
Just like Hari’s father.
Outside, Hari’s father had been known as a wonderful man, and he had been endlessly affectionate toward his mistress. But not at home. Never toward his own family.
‘I’d love to find out where those bastards live and hand out my business cards. I really am going to print them someday.’
To calm the anger boiling inside her, Hari took a deep breath of the cold night air.
She was just about to head inside when someone grabbed her from behind.
Startled, she turned around and found Un standing there.
“What brings you here?”
“Why are you here, my lord?”
They asked at the same time before staring at one another.
Un spoke first.
“I’m here to meet a client.”
“At Hongyeongak?”
Hari glanced around Hongyeongak. At that very moment, an old man shoved his hand inside a gisaeng’s jeogori.
She frowned.
Having witnessed the same scene, Un’s face turned bright red.
“That’s not why I’m here. Don’t misunderstand. I’m truly just here to meet a client.”
The Qing merchant who had kept postponing their meeting had finally made time today.
“You must really want to impress this client. You’re dressed quite extravagantly.”
Un normally dressed rather lavishly.
But today’s attire was excessive even by his standards.
He wore a top-quality horsehair gat so sleek a fly could probably slip off it, a hat string woven with alternating amber beads and jade, a pearl-purple robe obviously made from silk imported from Qing, and the finishing touch—a pair of tinted glasses dangling from his chest.
He shone even brighter than the full moon overhead, dazzling to look at. Combined with his captivating beauty, the extravagant clothing made him look like a nine-tailed fox.
“Ah… well… it’s an important guest. More importantly, what brings you here?”
Unable to explain the real circumstances to Hari, Un quickly changed the subject. It was extremely rare for a woman to visit Hongyeongak at night, and he couldn’t help worrying.
“I’m here to meet Attorney Ryu Gyeonghwan from the opposing side.”
Un’s expression instantly darkened.
He didn’t know who the man was, but anyone who summoned a woman at night was already a scoundrel, and to choose Hongyeongak as the meeting place made it even worse.
“He doesn’t sound like a good person.”
“Whether he’s good or bad doesn’t matter. As long as we can communicate, that’s enough.”
She had never expected the opposing attorney to behave like a gentleman in the first place.
“Could you postpone the meeting? How about I go in with you?”
“My lord, I’m not a child. I’ll handle my own affairs, so please take care of yours. Well then.”
After giving a polite bow, Hari picked up Maldong and headed inside.
As Un tried to follow after her, Siyeong stopped him.
“Young master, we’re already late.”
It had been difficult enough arranging a meeting with such an influential Qing merchant. If they postponed it now, there was no telling when another opportunity would come.
Perhaps it’s better to finish my business quickly and come back afterward.
With great reluctance, Un withdrew his lingering gaze.
Attorney Ryu Gyeonghwan.
At the age of thirty, he had already earned a reputation as the finest attorney in Hanyang. He was a sturdily built man with a hooked nose and long, narrow monolid eyes that gave him a fierce appearance.
Hari quietly observed the man across from her as he poured wine into his own cup.
His efficient movements and habit of wasting no words told her he valued efficiency above all else.
And judging by the lack of ink stains on his hands and fingernails, he was also meticulous.
Hari mentally reviewed the cases Maldong had uncovered about Attorney Ryu Gyeonghwan.
The desecration of a gravestone.
Runaway slave retrieval disputes.
Farmland litigation.
Challenges to autopsy results.
Civil or criminal—it didn’t matter. He handled everything.
He had won the vast majority of his cases.
Even when victory wasn’t possible, he had successfully negotiated settlements in many of them.
He wasn’t quite on Seocho-dong ace Jeong Hari’s level, but he was undeniably one of Hanyang’s top attorneys.
Yet there was one thing that stood out.
He had never once taken a case involving a woman.
So why had he accepted this one?
After finishing pouring the wine, Ryu Gyeonghwan gestured toward the man seated beside him.
“I should introduce him. This is a friend who assists me with my work.”
The man sitting beside him had long hair flowing down his back.
He was strikingly beautiful, with delicate features and silky hair. As he slowly lifted his lowered gaze, the whites around his black irises appeared unnervingly pale.
“I’m Mirim.”
The moment those hazy, three-white eyes focused on Hari, an inexplicable tension ran through her, and she swallowed.
He’s not someone who should be working as an attorney’s bodyguard.
Instinctively wary of Mirim, Hari picked up her wine cup.
“Let’s get to the point.”
After draining a cup of clear liquor, she spoke first.
In negotiations, controlling the conversation was essential.
“Very well. Our client wishes for the divorce petition to be withdrawn.”
“Oh dear. I had hoped you came prepared to settle.”
Hari answered with a bright smile, and a crack appeared in Ryu Gyeonghwan’s composed expression.
“Dragging this out will only hurt both sides. If you’ve done your investigation, then you already know our client bears no fault.”
“Are you certain he bears no fault?”
“I am.”
“Did you investigate personally? Or are you simply taking your client’s word for it?”
“Do you think I’d come here without conducting a proper investigation?”
Ryu Gyeonghwan was visibly offended.
Regardless of his actual skill, he clearly took great pride in his work.
Hari continued without caring.
“You spoke with your client as well as our client’s father, didn’t you?”
Ryu Gyeonghwan tightened his grip on his cup as though she had struck the mark.
He emptied it in one gulp.
“Master Oknoye has offered to pay two thousand nyang immediately if the lawsuit is withdrawn, along with fifty majigi of farmland in Hanyang.”
The settlement offer was larger than Hari had expected.
But what mattered wasn’t the amount.
It was who would receive it.
“You mean to give it to Wang Eunyeong?”
“For the time being, it will go to her father. Since Lady Wang is still young, our side believes her father should manage the property until she reaches adulthood before transferring it to her.”
“Isn’t that rather strange? In Joseon, once a woman marries, she’s considered part of her husband’s family. So why should her natal family manage property that belongs to someone who’s already left the household?”
“Well, that’s because Lady Wang is still quite young…”
“Attorney Ryu Gyeonghwan, in Joseon, once someone marries and establishes a household, they’re recognized as an adult. Therefore, if a settlement is reached, shouldn’t Lady Wang manage her own property? Am I wrong?”
Ryu Gyeonghwan bit down hard on his lip before closing his mouth.
I thought this would be easy since she’s the daughter of the Chief Censor. Seems her head isn’t completely empty after all.
Still, she clearly underestimated the work of an attorney.
Otherwise, why would a girl of marriageable age wander into the legal profession on a whim?
Ryu Gyeonghwan wanted nothing more than to crush her arrogance.
That was precisely why he had accepted this insignificant divorce case, something he normally wouldn’t even glance at.
He hadn’t even needed to investigate much.
Everything favored Oknoye.
Besides, the seventy-year-old man had at least possessed enough conscience to offer the bride’s family a generous sum.
Yet this girl still stubbornly refused.
I suppose I’ll have to meet Wang Eunyeong and her mother myself before long.
To Ryu Gyeonghwan, Hari looked like someone blinded by the desire to win.
She’s definitely hiding Oknoye’s offer from them.
Who in this world disliked money?
He believed that the moment Choonja heard the proposal, she would undoubtedly withdraw the lawsuit.
“If there’s nothing more to discuss, I’ll be leaving.”
Hari had already learned everything she needed from Ryu Gyeonghwan.
Oknoye is desperate to avoid taking this case to court. There’s something he’s trying to hide badly enough to pay a fortune.
Hari and Maldong had investigated him thoroughly, but they had found no obvious flaws.
Only one.
What he had said to Choonja while drunk.
“Before Eunyeong’s wedding, he once came to our house and drank with my husband. He asked if we knew what happened if you removed a single dot from his name. He said our Eunyeong was going to give birth to a dragon.”
The moment Hari heard those words, she decided to take the case.
Because that was where the grounds for fault lay.
