"Madame Nam? To what do I owe the pleasure of this surprise visit? Without your husband? Or any of his servants accompanying you for that matter? If you are here to see my wife, then I am afraid that you have just missed her…" "I am here to see you and settle scores with you before my departure My Lord." "You departure? I am afraid that I have no idea what you mean, or what this has to do with me at all?" "Forgive me, but would you allow me to seat myself firs before we continue this conversation? I will not keep you for a long time, but my feet are too swollen for me to stand on for too long." "I can imagine; my wife was more lethargic than you are now during all of her pregnancies. Come and let me seat you in my office away from prying eyes." "Thank you My Lord…forgive me, but why do you keep looking at me like that?" "Forgive me, but the resemblance between yourself and your mother is quite uncanny, you could almost pass yourself off as her twin instead of her daughter, although you have your father's eyes and his blunt and intelligent personality that he just could not hide no matter what. Your brother on the other hand had a much more subtle personality much like your mother despite his obvious talents that he displayed in the military exam, the Liadong war and by the side of The Third Prince. But if he was even half as intelligent and ambitious as you were, I am sure that he would have made a fortune for himself decades ago." "My brother like my father is not comfortable with wealth as we have all watched how that has corrupted people into doing things that hey would never do without it. My father has set my brother onto a straight path without curves or bends and my brother would rather die with dignity than to be corrupted even in the slightest." "Unlike you who casually goes along with her husband's plots and schemes, although I suspect that is why you now wish to leave?" "What can I say, I found my other half in a man who was broken by factors of his life that he has no control over. But you are right about that fact, so I am leaving before my brother finds new reasons to become disappointed with me." "So am I to assume that your brother is indeed alive then?" "Why, didn't The Third Prince tell you anything? Or your Mistress Han?" "Excuse me? I am afraid that I have no idea what you are talking about…?" "Are you sure about that? Because I can see plenty of hints in your office that would leave to believe otherwise."
The silence between us was palpable and it gave me enough time to go over everything in my head before I went in for the kill. My father was rumoured to have great abilities to mentally disarm his enemies before he had to resort to violence and now was the time to see if I could match him in this aspect. "Forgive me if you would, but would you care to explain…?" "Actually I have come to ask you about that, since there is one thing I am rather clueless about in this feud between yourself and my husband." "And what could that be I wonder?" "Your wife's involvement in the entire issue; we both know that she is a childhood friend with my husband's uncle's wife, but their friendship ended a long time ago right about the time that they both got married, so why does she now come in and out of her residence as if your wife was the one to own it? What is the reason for her to involve herself in these strifes against us, unless she was being forced to?" "If you mean that I have insisted my own wife in matters that she has no place in…" "And yet she does, so if you are not involving her, then who is? For example, your wife has recently switched to a new floral scent in her perfume that I am rather familiar with from The Palace, including The Third Prince's harem, as I am sure you are familiar with the scent that The Mistress Han drowns herself in each and every time that you visit her bed chambers. And not just the perfume either; are you aware that all harem members and The Mistress Han all wore specific satin materials that The Third Prince distributed amongst his women? And of course he was rather fond of his red robes that he wears throughout all 4 seasons of change, so he likes to gift his woman rubies instead of the usual high quality jade that all noblemen go for…" "Madame Nam! If you do not have a shred of evidence to back up these claims of yours, then…"
"Your son, the one who died, he had become oddly arrogant in his last year, did he not? Especially after his comings and goings with his new employer, The Third Prince? He was repeatedly defying the other seniors around him to the point where he was getting into multiple fights and he needed you to clear them up, didn't he? So going through all of that, what clear and precise evidence did The Third Prince give to make you believe that my husband had anything to do with his death, apart from the fact that he is my husband's enemy? But despite that fact, The Third Prince is a Prince indeed, so he could just frame my husband and order his killing, right? So why won't he?" "He…will not…because…" Because Nam Seon=Ho is the son=in=law of Seo Geom, the friend of the only man that he has ever trusted, which is Seo Geom's son and is the husband of his precious daughter, which is myself. The last time that The Third Prince himself was associated with my family name, it was when he failed to assist my father, his own personal tutor to fight against simple slanders of thievery that ended with a mos brutal punishment that was more suited to murderers than anything else? My only solace in this corrupted issue is that my father lies in the arms of my mother in paradise instead of wandering around like a broken spirit like your son as he watches his parents fold into the embrace of the man who murdered him." "What proof…do you have…" "Your schemes have never worked against us, what more proof do you need? My husband goes to the palace to work under you without fear or shame, what more proof do you need? Your wife is also actively parking in the downfall of my husband's paternal clan seemingly out of nowhere despite your disproval, and you are currently drinking the same tea that I myself was gifted in the harem more than once, supposedly by your wife, isn't that right? Do you even know where she goes as soon as you leave for the palace? Or what she has to talk about with the elders of The Nam Clan after so many years?" "I…do no believe that I should be holding myself accountable to you just because I respect your father…" "If you really respect my father, then why are you working for his killer? And the Prince who murdered your son and framed my husband for it for years without definite proof?" "Seo Yeon…"
"Years ago, The Third Prince lost my brother as his supporter and everyone knows that he wasn't exactly happy about it. There also came the time where he was suspicious of his fifth brother just before his downfall and he was quite close to your son at the time. And he just happened to have disappeared right before the downfall of that Prince and even The Second Prince?" "Wha exactly are you trying to imply here? I really am loosing my patience with you now and…"
"I have also just learnt that around the same time, he ordered a lot of material from your stores, presumably for his secret army at the time, which probably incurred the jealousy from a lot of your competition, including The Nam Clan, my husband's uncle's brother=in=law to be more specific. They might have tried a few underhanded tricks to try and usurp you at the time, like faking some materials most likely. This is something that you are probably unaware of this at the time since you were preoccupied in the palace, but I believe that there was an investigation that was carried out to investigate this matter, correct? And it was all around that time when your son disappeared, right? And forgive me for asking, but I suppose that you never found your son, so you have no idea in which manner he died? Sobbing, burning, wrangling, nothing? Just like a number of people around The Fifth Prince that disappeared? Just out of nowhere without any clues right? I heard from my husband that the only thing that you found was his weapon? Which suggests that he disappeared quietly? It is just a shame that The Nam clan did not understand that no matter what they did to your business, they were never going to get that order." "Are you implying that my son found out something that cost him his life?" "Many men have been killed for less, and what business will the kingdom loose with you if The Third Prince continues to support you and make you no dwell on the situation anymore, unless it was connected to my husband? And as for your wife, she hasn't even made any mention of it since she has been constantly spoiled with gifts from the palace out oof nowhere, even though she is not involved with your business in the palace or even your own embroidery shop, isn't that right? You were probably happy for them to give you a tip about my husband to even realise that you were hoodwinked by them, as my own brother was. Why else do you think he is the first and only man to leave the feared The Third Prince's side willingly and publicly as well? That was simply his insurance to make sure that nobody comes after him and finishes him off for doing so, and now he has a family to raise happily and silently, unlike yourself." "And why are you telling me all of this?" "Because I didn't get married to raise my family alone, and my son needs his father, as does my nephews. You joined offices in the palace to make changes to this nation just like m y own husband, and no cause misery and unload empty revenge for which there will be no happy endings for anyone. And just in case that doesn't work, just take a look at those people who have gone against The Seo Clan and see where they have ended up now? Even The Emperor himself wishes to eradicate The Nam Clan, just like I did wih the clan of The Third Princess Consort, including her own sister."
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"…tell me this isn't true, wife! Tell me!" "Husband! Please stop earring our home apart and listen to me! I thought that you already knew about all of it! I was given materials and new fabrics to handle out of nowhere and on my own in front of The Royal Family, what on earth was I supposed to do? I was told that we were being honoured with such a task and I was scared of being scolded by everyone around me if I got this wrong! But why are you asking me about this now? About something that happened so many years ago! Husband! Where are you going now! Husband! Servants! How dare you no warn me about his nasty temper today! How dare you let me be humiliated like this! What good are you for, apart from assisting my husband in his various affairs! Why didn't anyone step in to help me! Can nobody see me in this household at all! How dare you all laugh at my expense like this! You bunch of ingrates! You all came with me as part of my dowry, so how dare you all urn against me like this! Where is he going now! Tell me! Whose wife or concubine is my husband close to now!" "Madame, I believe that he is getting rather close to The Mistress Han again…" "Again? What does that mean? When did he start seeing her in the first place? TELL ME!"