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chapter 56
The next day.
Danyeop began his inquiries, visiting shops and the market.
He was searching for someone who had lost a child fourteen years ago.
However, no one could recall events from as long as fourteen years prior.
As dusk fell, he returned to the inn.
For dinner, he was served hobing (Western-style bread) and mutton soup.
Jumsoi, who placed the food on the table, asked casually as she passed by,
“Back again? What are you doing?”
“It’s not really work. I’m looking for someone.”
“Who?”
Danyeop let out a small chuckle and asked back,
“How old are you?”
“Fifteen.”
“Then even if I told you, you wouldn’t understand. This happened before you were born.”
“You shouldn’t say that.”
“What do you mean?”
“People today know Confucius and Mencius well. By that logic, I shouldn’t know about events before I was born.”
“Is that the same? Confucius and Mencius are famous.”
“If it’s someone unknown, who would remember something from fourteen years ago?”
Danyeop couldn’t help but be impressed by the child’s reasoning.
“Alright. I’m looking for someone who lost a four-year-old child fourteen years ago.”
“Oh, I see. I hope you find them.”
Jumsoi, satisfied with her curiosity, didn’t ask further and walked away.
Shaking his head, Danyeop reached for the food.
After finishing his meal and drinking tea, Jumsoi, clearing the dishes, asked,
“Were they from a noble family?”
“Me? No.”
Danyeop gave her a sullen look.
He was dressed plainly, so he didn’t understand why she would say that.
“I meant the child who was lost, not you.”
“Why?”
“I asked our owner just in case. They said that about seven or eight years ago, someone in silk clothing also came looking for such a child but eventually left.”
Danyeop’s eyes widened.
It was similar, but the subjects were different.
He was searching for the family who lost a child, while the person in silk had been searching for a child.
“So, did they find the child?”
“Probably not. They wandered around Nakang County for a few days like a guest and then disappeared.”
“I see. That person was from the family who lost the child?”
“No, of course not. Which family would quietly wait for six or seven years before searching?”
“That makes sense.”
Danyeop handed Jumsoi five coins.
“Thank you.”
She quickly pocketed the coins and took the empty dishes away.
Darkness had fallen outside.
Danyeop stared silently at the now-empty street.
It had been two days.
His search for his parents had made no progress.
Even though it had been fourteen years, if his parents had been searching for him, someone would have remembered…
But there was nothing.
“Could the child the person in silk was looking for be me?”
It was possible, but unlikely based on circumstances.
His parents had not searched immediately after losing him.
At that moment, the old woman he had seen yesterday appeared again.
As Danyeop stared blankly, the innkeeper approached and said,
“Grandmother Jang was fine when she worked at the Jin family house.”
“Do you know her?”
“Yes. Her son used to work in the inn’s kitchen. That’s why she still lingers around the inn after sunset.”
“Ah!”
Danyeop sighed, touched by the story.
The innkeeper continued,
“Grandmother Jang originally worked at the Jin family. When the precious daughter of the Jin family married into the Gwak family, she went along. She lived well there, but as time passed, things became strange starting last year.”
“Strange?”
“She began speaking nonsense to the Gwak family’s only grandson.”
“What did she say?”
“Every time she saw him, she asked, ‘Do you know you have an older brother?’ That implies that the Jin lady had a child with another man. It was a miracle Gwak didn’t punish her. It was considered dementia, so she was forgiven. Later, thinking of the old affection of the Jin lady’s maid, she was quietly sent away.”
“Such noble people.”
“Since her mind has declined, even her children avoid her. I worry she might die in the street.”
“I see.”
Danyeop looked at the old woman with newfound sympathy.
Even she must have had a youth once, and growing old is truly sad.
Just then, she slipped on the ice, and Danyeop quickly ran to help.
“Grandmother, are you alright?”
She grasped his hand tightly and said,
“Oh, how kind. Thank you.”
As she tried to walk again, she slipped once more, falling backward.
Danyeop reached out, but her flailing hand grabbed his collar.
His tightly fastened shirt came undone, revealing a portion of his neck.
“Oh! I’m sorry. I—”
The old woman’s gaze fell on the mark on his neck. Her hands trembled.
“Oh my, miss. Don’t do that. The child will die. How could the child have done anything wrong? Don’t do that… oh, poor child, poor little one…”
Tears streamed down her face, and Danyeop awkwardly patted her.
“It’s okay, grandmother. Don’t cry.”
He thought she was crying over the child she had raised at the Gwak household.
But her next words froze him.
“How did your neck get that wound? You’ll harm the child, you will…”
Suddenly, Danyeop realized that “the child” might not refer to the Gwak family’s grandson.
“Grandmother, was your child born at the Jin household? Or at the Gwak household?”
“What are you talking about? The first child was, of course, born at the Jin household.”
“So that’s why you said the Gwak grandson had an older brother?”
“Of course. Do you think I’d say something false? Am I crazy?”
“What happened to the Jin family child?”
“I lost them.”
“Lost them? They couldn’t find the child at the Jin household?”
“No. A maiden who hadn’t married yet had the child. How could they have searched?”
“Oh, I see.”
The old woman stared at Danyeop and asked,
“But who are you?”
“Me? Just a passing traveler.”
“And the mark on your neck?”
“Ah, this? I almost got strangled when I was a child. That’s how it happened.”
“Oh, scary. Don’t talk about such terrible things. Our young lady almost killed her own child. I was so worried the child might die.”
“Why would she want to kill the child?”
“She was attacked at Gwangbul Temple and accidentally gave birth. That’s all.”
“Was the child’s father a monk?”
“I don’t know. I only heard about it during an argument between the lady and the temple master. Let me see your neck.”
Danyeop opened his shirt and showed her the wound.
She studied it carefully and muttered to herself,
“How could it be exactly the same? Just like the mark on our child’s neck.”
“Did you marry into the Gwak family after the child disappeared?”
“Yes, the following year. I went along with the young lady then.”
“What was the child’s name?”
“None. No one at the Jin household named them.”
“Who else would know about this child?”
“I served the young lady since the Jin household, so only I know.”
“I see. Grandmother, live long and well.”
Danyeop took a silver coin from his pouch and handed it to her.
She gasped in surprise and quickly tucked it into her clothing.
With nothing more to say, Danyeop slowly turned to leave.
From behind came her voice:
“Take care of yourself too.”
Danyeop paused, raised a hand in acknowledgment, and entered the inn.
Sitting and staring into space, Jumsoi approached.
“Excuse me, sir. It’s closing time. Will you stay the night again?”
Danyeop, lost in thought, asked,
“Do you know where the Gwak household is?”
“Of course.”
But the young Jumsoi didn’t point directly.
Danyeop smiled bitterly, took out a coin, and placed it on the table.
She reached for it, but he was quicker, covering it with his palm.
“Where is it?”
“If you leave the inn and go along the left road for a while, you’ll see it on the right. Look for the sign ‘Gwak Taek.’ You’ll recognize it if you can read it.”
When he lifted his hand, she quickly grabbed the coin.
Danyeop gathered his things from the room and went out.
Following her directions for a long while, he still saw no sign of the Gwak household.
Thinking he had been tricked, he was about to turn back when he finally saw the sign, Gwak Taek.
His heart raced.
“Calm down. It might not be it.”
He muttered, “It could just be the ramblings of a senile old woman,” and stood before the gate.
Bang. Bang. Bang—
He knocked, and after a while, the gatekeeper came out.
“Who are you?”
“A passing traveler. May I stay for the night?”
The gatekeeper glanced him over and reluctantly said,
“Wait a moment. I’ll ask the master.”
After a short while, the gatekeeper returned.
“Come in. Why wander in such cold weather?”
“The past exams were in autumn, so it’s late now.”
“Explain your circumstances to the master.”
Inside, on the main hall’s wooden floor, an elderly man stood with his hands behind his back.
“Master, a traveler has come.”
Meeting the elder’s eyes, Danyeop bowed respectfully.
“Respected sir, I am Danyeop. After failing the past exams, I stayed at an inn in Chang’an, but I ran out of money and am returning home.”
The elder glanced him over and said,
“I see. We’ll talk in detail tomorrow. For today, rest in the guest hall.”
Without looking back, he entered a room.
The gatekeeper led Danyeop to the guest hall.
Danyeop asked quietly,
“You’re very kind. Do you usually treat uninvited guests this well?”
“Consider yourself lucky. If our young master hadn’t been preparing for the exams, it wouldn’t have been possible.”
“You mean the young master?”
“The grandson of our master.”
“I see.”
Danyeop nodded, understanding.
Since the grandson was preparing for the exams, it made sense to host an experienced examinee.
“How old is your grandson?”
“Thirteen this year.”
Danyeop felt a strange emotion.
There was only a five-year age difference between him and the grandson, so the young lady must have married the next year and had another son.
“Then, rest.”
As the gatekeeper disappeared into the dark, Danyeop entered the room.
But he did not lie down.
“What would dull Danyeop think if he knew where this was?”
He chuckled mischievously at the thought.
Sitting in the darkness, he lit a lantern and took out the Book of Songs from his pouch.
A passage appeared as if heaven had provided it at just the right moment:
“My father gave me life, and my mother raised and cared for me. Oh, my sorrowful and loving parents! How much hardship and effort you endured to give me life and nurture me.”
