Secret of the Red Lotus Flower (빨간 연꽃의 비밀)

Chapter 16

Zhuang Ah Kum thought himself a lucky man. He grew up as minor nobility in the Liangguang province. While his clan was old, having seen the rise and fall of dynasties, the entailed land was small and the family lived modest lives. However, he had been certain that he was destined for greater things. He had sold his birthright to his younger brother for the funds to purchase as much Qing jewelry as he could get his hands on and travel to Joseon, telling his betrothed that he would return once he found his fortune.

Unfortunately, life as a merchant was harder than he had initially thought it would be. The people of Joseon showed a lot of ambivalence towards anything Qing after tying their culture to the Ming dynasty for centuries and the war with Later Jin was still fresh in their memories. Zhuang had very little luck in his attempts to sway the yangban with the idea that purchasing Qing jewelry would put them at the forefront of fashion. His funds began to rapidly dwindle.

Just as he was getting ready to give up and return to Liangguang in defeat, Zhuang chanced upon a nobleman at a kisaeng house one night. On a whim, before returning home to his old life, Zhuang had decided to spend what little coin he had left on one last night of pleasure, and luck appeared to grace his decision. The nobleman, Choi Gyu-su, was a recent graduate of the Sungkyunkwan Institute. Academically, his test scores were near the bottom of his class, but his family had served as minor officials at the royal palace for generations so his future was secure. The two young men struck up an instant friendship.

Gyu-su told Zhuang about the upcoming wedding banquet. While the yangban had little money of his own, he had hoped to purchase a few pieces of jewelry to make an impression on the guests and officials at the dinner. Zhuang saw an opportunity in Gyu-su's request. He offered to loan more pieces to the former student in exchange for being brought along to the party in hopes of finding more future buyers of his wares. He was certain that his luck was finally turning around.

"Is that beardless youth the future king of Joseon?" Zhuang asked Gyu-su as they sat in one of the outer bays. The food and music were divine, and he had made a few contacts already among some of the other guests. Even if he was only able to finalize half the sales promised that night, he would be able to return to Liangguang a wealthy man and perhaps even go through with that betrothal after all. "I thought the Crown Prince was older."

"That actually is Crown Prince Ha-neul and he is twenty-five years old," Gyu-su told the merchant. "I guess he shaves or something."

"You Joseon men are strange. I heard that everyone in the court was a Confucian. A good Confucian would never dream of dishonoring their father by cutting any of their hair," the merchant said, incredulous. "Or is the Crown Prince merely impious?"

Gyu-su momentarily laughed at his new friend's jest before remembering where he was and tried to be serious again. "Be careful what you say. You are in the royal palace and who knows who might hear you."

"Oh please, I'm only saying what everyone else is thinking," Zhuang said. The expensive wines from the royal stock were starting to go to his head. "He may be twenty-five and the king's son, but he looks like-"

Zhuang stopped suddenly when he saw a man in black a couple tables away glaring at him. Something about that man's eyes terrified him and Zhuang shivered despite the night not being cold. There is no way he heard me over all this noise. I'm being paranoid, he thought, instantly sober. He suddenly had the desire to be somewhere, anywhere, else at that moment. He turned back to Gyu-su.

"I, uh, suddenly remembered that I have an early morning engagement tomorrow," Zhuang lied to the young nobleman. "We can meet later to talk about the rest of the payment for the jewelry."