Painter of the Night: The Runaway Agassi

Chapter 1

One year later

Who would imagine that the daughter of a yangban was currently harvesting many mandarin oranges in a farm orchard that was owned by a wealthy merchant family of a small village?

She was extremely tired but the former young Agassi had chosen this kind of miserable life serving the merchant family as a slave and decided that she will endure these hardships to survive and not giving up. The former Agassi was wearing a plain hanbok that was different compare to what she had worn last year after she had escape her reluctant fate of being a young wife of an elder nobleman.

The fabric of her hanbok was cheap but durable with light green and brown soil unlike her years of being an Agassi in her yangban family that she wears many colorful and bright hanboks that her dear mother always purchased for her as she was been a spoiled child of their family.

Now...she was treated like a filthy rat in this household.

"Ae Shin! Get over here!" She heard a woman's barking voice from inside the mansion of the wealthy merchant. Ae Shin sighed and placed her heavy basket of mandarin oranges to the kitchen staff and the young woman immediately went to the Madam of the Ahn Household who was impatiently waiting for her arrival and she lowered her posture and tried not to look at the arrogant woman in the eyes who was the second wife of the wealthy merchant. The older woman was wearing a bright hanbok and she was a beautiful woman but on the inside is that she was the most despicable person that Ae Shin ever met.

"I'm here.....Madam Min." She said in a calm tone while prostrating her head on the bamboo mat floor and her heart skips a beat if she's going to get beaten...again. Her arms and legs were filled with old bruises and wounds as she committed a minor offense last year mainly, failed to understand her assigned job, and been punished by either the merchant or her superior in the servant quarters.

The Madam glared down at her as she was standing before the prostrating young woman, "A servant just told me that you steal something in my bedroom? Is that true?" She glared harshly at the female slave.

Ae Shin was surprised at the false accusation, she didn't dare herself to steal anything on the Madam's personal belongings. She was always on her duties in the mandarin  orange orchard or even in an errand in the village.

"It's a lie! I didn't even dare to step foot on the Madam's things! Please believe me, Madam Min!" She denied and the frightened Ae Shin wondered who would dare to accuse her this way.

Then, footsteps came from outside the paper sliding door and the individual prostrate before the Madam and Ae Shin's coal eyes widen at the familiar female slave who was very close to Madam Min and was been favored because of her talkative behavior.

"Madam Min, I found this in Ae Shin's room in the servant quarters and it disappointing me that I'd never expected that someone like Ae Shin will steal something that does not belong to her." The female slave said while smirking at the furious Ae Shin.

The Madam was shocked that her valuable items such as her expensive binyeo, necklaces, and jewels from Qing were all inside a cheap cloth on the other female slave's hand and the evidence is clear; Ae Shin is the culprit.

Ae Shin immediately stood up and glared at the arrogant female slave, "You bitch! You set me up, didn't you!?" She wanted to pull the female slave's braided hair but she was grabbed by two male slaves in each arm.

Madam Min's chest was furious and she lifted her red chima and she slapped Ae Shin's cheeks from left to right, "You traitorous bitch! How dare you betrayed the one who sold you out from the streets! If it weren't for your pretty face, my husband will not buy you out from pig's pen!" The Madame shouted angrily as she refuses to believe the young woman's explanation and looked at the criminal-looking male slaves, "Prepare a straw mat and punish this greedy bitch with fifty whipping and banish her to my mansion this instant!" She instructed with an angry voice much to Ae Shin's shock and she was on a verge of tears.