WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Oblivious
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◈ Murim in my Hometown ◈
Chapter 15: Lullaby
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“Provincial Graduate Yi and his friends from Hubei have arrived!”
At the driver’s shout, a waiting servant hurried over and guided the carriage to the front of the main building.
Three young scholars in identical scholar’s robes and caps stepped down from the carriage.
It took only one look at their expressions to tell which of them was Yi Yunjae, the one who had passed the provincial examination.
Tall, with broad shoulders held proudly back, the man looked to be in his mid-twenties. His open, friendly face was bright with the joy of someone who had gained the whole world.
The other two were smiling as well, but perhaps because their insides burned with bitterness, the expressions around their eyes and mouths were subtly discordant.
Even their backs, as they walked shoulder to shoulder into the main building, rose and fell at different heights.
Some time later, a large, luxurious carriage pulled by four horses entered the alley.
The driver sitting at the front was no ordinary man either. He wore a martial official’s uniform and carried a sword at his waist.
“It’s the Prefectural Magistrate! The Prefectural Magistrate has arrived! Clear the way!”
Bang Join recognized him and quickly called for a servant before stepping aside. I moved beside the gate as well.
As though it knew no one would stop it, the carriage passed through the main gate without slowing and headed for the main building.
A plain, large carriage followed some distance behind.
It stopped behind the Prefectural Magistrate’s luxurious carriage, and armed martial officials poured out to secure the area around the main building.
Their movements, eyes, and stances made it clear they had not simply gathered whoever they could to fill the numbers.
They were proper martial officials with actual combat experience.
“That’s intimidating. Is it always like this whenever the Prefectural Magistrate comes?”
Bang Join covered his mouth as though scratching his lips and lowered his voice.
“Of course. He’s the most powerful man in Zhongjing. This level of protection is nothing. When he makes a proper official procession, more than a hundred government soldiers surround him front and back, glaring at everyone.”
Even now, several martial officials were staring steadily at Bang Join and me as we whispered together.
Naturally. We were the only two people nearby carrying blades besides them.
Once the martial officials had taken their positions and reported that the area was secure, the door of the luxurious carriage finally opened.
An elderly high-ranking official stepped out, dressed in silk rather than official robes.
He was not particularly large, but his gaunt face looked as rigid as an iron skewer.
He gave the impression of a stubborn man of principles who had spent his whole life buried in books.
Rather than Zhongjing’s most powerful man, he looked more like a scholar-official who would not even glance at a bribe and had risen above fame and wealth.
His appearance was convincing enough, but one could never know a person by appearances alone.
Even children in the neighborhood knew that the stench grew worse the higher one climbed, beginning with the lowest officials in the yamen.
It was a world where one could do nothing without bribes and connections.
If he had fluttered alone with the noble grace of a crane, could he really have risen to the high position of Prefectural Magistrate while enduring the hostility of crows?
The lavish carriage and this extravagant celebration made it likely that he had a wholly different face behind the scenes.
With a figure as important as the Prefectural Magistrate arriving, the manager and servants came out to greet him, along with the gisaeng and Yi Yunjae’s party, who had arrived earlier.
At the front of the respectfully bowing gisaeng stood a beautiful middle-aged woman in a blue court gown, wearing a radiant smile.
“Is that the Pavilion Master?”
“That’s her. She was definitely once a courtesan herself, but no one knows her courtesan name. She may not have been beautiful enough to make men lose their senses, but she would have been quite famous with looks like that.”
“What about Yehyang?”
“She’s the one directly behind her in the light pink floral robe.”
Her features were elegant and pure.
Her delicate eyes reminded me of a deer grazing in the morning mist, lifting its head in alarm at the sound of rustling grass.
With beauty that mysterious and pipa playing to match, she would have more than enough to capture the hearts of countless men.
The Prefectural Magistrate entered the main building amid a warm welcome, accompanied by several martial officials.
Laughter and music soon made the hall lively.
Several more carriages arrived, dropped important guests before the main building, then headed for the stables.
Since I had nothing to deal with myself, work was easy. After yawning and stretching, my stomach began to growl.
When would they serve the late-night meal? Smacking my lips, I looked toward the lodgings beyond the hall.
That was when another carriage arrived.
“Oh…”
Bang Join startled and quickly straightened his sloppy posture.
Wondering what was going on, I looked over and saw a driver in Yongcheon Escort Agency attire sitting at the front. It was easy enough to guess who was inside.
The driver stopped the horses before the main gate.
“It’s the escort agency master. Has the Prefectural Magistrate arrived?”
“He arrived about an hour ago.”
Bang Join answered while pointing toward the martial officials standing watch around the main building.
The Escort clicked his tongue quietly.
“We hurried as much as we could, but we were still late.”
Then someone opened the carriage door and stepped down.
Since becoming Simhyang Pavilion’s night gatekeeper, this was the first time I had gotten a proper look at the face of a guest who arrived by carriage.
An aging martial artist with white streaks at his temples.
He was of average height with a solid build.
The face beneath his hero’s headband was refined like that of a scholar, but his eyes flashed like those of a general crossing a battlefield.
He did not look like a man who would serve beneath anyone else.
It was difficult to judge his martial ability, but he was certainly no weaker than I was. The fact that I instinctively did not want to keep him within a blade’s reach said enough…
The name Yongcheon was embroidered over the left breast of his dark blue martial uniform, and a sword of moderate length hung at the back of his waist.
This extraordinary middle-aged man was the master of Yongcheon Escort Agency.
Flying Steel Sword Gam Hujeong.
“G-Greetings, Escort Agency Master.”
Bang Join stiffened, made a fist-and-palm salute, and bowed deeply. I clasped my hands and greeted him as well.
“Bang Join.”
“Yes, yes, Escort Agency Master.”
“Are you doing your job well?”
“O-Of course, sir. Hehe.”
Bang Join forced a smile and bowed repeatedly.
If he had a tail, he would have been wagging it desperately. He was so terrified that he looked downright pathetic.
Gam Hujeong’s eyes narrowed. As though turning away from the ugly sight, he shifted his gaze to me.
“You’re a face I haven’t seen before.”
“I’m Jeong Daecheon, recently hired as a guard at Simhyang Pavilion.”
“Ah, so you’re that fellow. You use a saber?”
“Yes.”
Gam Hujeong looked me over carefully with renewed interest, then nodded.
“I hear you did not yield to Head Escort Pung, and that your techniques were fair and upright as well. You are a rare kind of martial artist. Working as a gatekeeper at a pleasure house will bring many unpleasant and irritating incidents. Do not let your hot blood get the better of you and draw your saber at the first provocation. If you wear the escort agency’s clothes and act carelessly, the price will never be light.”
Even while warning me, the escort agency master did not forget to glance at Bang Join.
“I will keep that in mind.”
As I lowered my head and glanced sideways, Bang Join was bent nearly at the waist.
Gam Hujeong walked through the main gate toward the main building. The carriage that had brought him did not enter and instead turned around, vanishing from the alley.
Bang Join let out a breath of relief. Like a man returned from death, he leaned against the wall and sagged.
“What did you do to the escort agency master to be so terrified?”
“What do you mean, what did I do? Do I look like someone who goes around committing crimes?”
When I continued to look at him suspiciously, Bang Join hurriedly changed the subject.
“But did you spar with Head Escort Pung?”
“We only exchanged a few moves with wooden sabers during my interview.”
“Oh? You did not give ground to that monster? You must be stronger than you look.”
Bang Join grinned with amused eyes, as though seeing me anew. He did not seem wary of me or intimidated at all.
He did not care in the slightest that someone younger than him might be stronger.
What if I showed him my gambling tile tricks? His eyes would probably pop out, and he would make a fuss about learning them somehow.
That was how hopeless gambling addicts were.
Five more carriages arrived after that.
There were seventeen important guests in total who entered the main building.
That was far too few people for them to rent an entire eight-story pavilion for a celebration.
They were probably trying to avoid running into other guests or attracting unwanted attention.
They must have decided that pouring a fortune into such wastefulness was cheaper than getting caught up in needless rumors.
The laughter inside the hall rose as they enjoyed themselves without restraint.
“I’m going to the toilet for a moment.”
I passed the main building and headed behind the lodgings, where the toilet was located.
The summer night breeze, not yet fully cooled, wrapped warmly around my face.
Then I stopped without realizing it.
A low song drifted from somewhere nearby.
A small, thin voice that settled beneath the boisterous laughter and lingered in the air.
It was an unfamiliar tune, a mixture of loneliness and tenderness, with no words at all, only a soft hum.
I looked around through the dim darkness, and my gaze stopped at an annex beyond a wall roughly thirty meters away.
I listened a little longer before walking on. By the time I came back from the toilet, the humming had vanished, leaving only darkness behind.
* * *
No matter how grand a banquet was, it had to end eventually.
At dawn, carriages carried their drunken guests away from Simhyang Pavilion one by one.
The celebration was over, but there were always people who could not forget their amusement.
That evening, as soon as the sun set and the lanterns were hung, the man who returned to Simhyang Pavilion seemed to be one of those people.
The person who stepped down from the carriage was Yi Yunjae, the provincial graduate and guest of honor from yesterday’s celebration.
He was alone.
Perhaps he had not slept properly after returning home, because his face was full of exhaustion. Shadows lay beneath his eyes, and the sharp brightness that had shone in them yesterday was now clouded by deep worry.
Yi Yunjae looked around before following a servant into the main building.
Bang Join snorted.
“He’s fallen hard for Yehyang. There are always scholars like that. They study until they can recite the Master’s words from beginning to end, but they do not know a woman other than their own mothers, eunuchs with cocks. Then they catch one whiff of a flowerlike gisaeng’s perfume and lose their minds. That’s why a vice learned late is frightening…”
That was rich coming from a gambling addict who could not put down his tiles.
Even when I stared at him pointedly, Bang Join did not stop sneering. He must have been terribly jealous of Yi Yunjae.
Many guests came to Simhyang Pavilion that day as well.
After letting a carriage through and standing watch for some time, I went to the toilet for a moment.
As I walked back while loosening my stiff body, I sensed someone’s presence and turned my head. Someone stood in the shadowy passage leading to the annex behind the main building.
They wore clothes with wide sleeves and carried no blade at their waist or back.
The hall was lit extravagantly all the way to the eighth floor, and the moon was bright enough to make their face easy to recognize.
It was Yi Yunjae, standing with his hands behind his back and looking up at the sky.
He seemed to have come out to cool off from the wine and look at the moon.
His face appeared heavy with worry.
Yesterday, he had barely been able to contain his bursting joy, as though he possessed the entire world. Today, he looked as though he had lost it all.
I never had an affair with a courtesan, but I knew the expression of someone in love.
Yi Yunjae seemed to have a deep concern.
But I would have bet half a tael of silver that it was not because of yearning or desire. It was not much to boast about, but I had never lost a bet of that kind.
His gaze was fixed on somewhere farther off and darker than that.
We were not close enough for me to ask about his worries, so I simply continued on my way.
The wind changed direction, and a faint song brushed past my ears.
It was unfamiliar, yet somehow familiar. It was not merely my imagination. I had truly heard it before.
The difference was that it was now being sung aloud in a low, wistful voice rather than hummed, but the melody was unmistakably the same song a woman had hummed yesterday.
The pleasure house was noisy, and the song was too quiet for me to make out the lyrics.
Yi Yunjae continued murmuring the song while gazing at the moon, as though making a wish.
After finishing my business and returning to the main gate, Bang Join left his post, saying he was going to the toilet.
A carriage arrived. I called a servant and let it through, then returned to my place before the gate and watched the alley.
Martial artists carrying swords occasionally passed by, but no one came all the way to Simhyang Pavilion to pick a fight.
The night grew deeper, and it was nearly time to go eat the late-night meal, yet Bang Join did not return.
Was he stealing liquor from the pleasure house kitchen?
When I worked for gangs, there were always miserable bastards like that. They thought honestly standing watch was a loss, so they always tried to cut corners somehow.
Only much later did Bang Join return with a dazed expression.
His legs wobbled as though he had fought quite a battle in the toilet. He looked half out of his mind, and his eyes were unfocused.
“Did something happen?”
“Huh? Wh-What do you mean?”
Bang Join flinched and lifted his head.
“You said you were going to the toilet, but you did not come back for over an hour. Of course it seemed strange.”
“Ah, well… Was it really that long? I was so busy straining that I lost track of time.”
Bang Join put on a show of joking his way through it. His guilty expression made it seem as though something was bothering him.
After returning to his place, Bang Join fiddled with his gambling tiles and quietly hummed.
A strange sense of unease came over me.
Last night, a woman had hummed this tune. Earlier, it had come from Yi Yunjae’s lips. Now Bang Join was humming it.
“What is the title of that song?”
“This? Isn’t it a lullaby?”
“A lullaby?”
“You said your hometown was here, right? Then maybe you would not know it. I heard it is a lullaby commonly sung in Hubei households. I do not know the lyrics either.”
“Brother Bang, is your hometown in Hubei?”
“No. Still, there are ways to find things out. Oddly enough, there are days when good luck brings you unearned money.”
As though he had really picked up silver somewhere, Bang Join happily hummed to himself.
Judging by the twitching corners of his mouth, he was itching to brag, but unlike himself, he showed restraint and pressed his lips tightly together.
Instead, he kept rubbing his left side. Unlike before, his clothes were bulging there.
The pouch holding his gambling tiles hung behind his waist. What he had tucked into his clothes appeared to be a money pouch.
I was a little curious about where he had gotten silver so quickly, but if it was stolen, there was nothing to gain by getting involved. I pretended not to notice.
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