Spring 1636: Year of the Rat
Ganghwa Island - The Fortress
"Such glowing pretty skin....you should not stay out for so long in the sun, it will spoil."
The old woman ran her wrinkly fingers over her cheek gently.
Dandelions peaked from the stone embankment in abundance. The wooden bridge they crossed hung over a dried ravine winding its way through the valley below, which was coloured yellow and green with broad strokes of spring.
Kim Min-Jae pressed her fingers into the older woman's elbow, looking up at the sun, soaking its energy.
"Who cares about that, Grandmother? It makes me feel alive." She spread her left hand horizontally, making a slight arc. "Isn't it precious?"
"Are you staying back for the kite festival, Minjae Unnie?" A young voice chirped from behind. The gaggle of children following her held colourful, rectangular papers with a bamboo spine and cross spars, the elaborate wings tailing them to catch the wind. The fabric tote that hung on her free arm carried the spools.
"I have to go someplace else. I cannot stay back," Kim Minjae said.
A chorus of protest erupted.
"My kite is going to fly the farthest; you need to see it, Noona," a scruffy boy with two missing teeth held up his blue treasure with pride. The kite's tail ran from his forehead to his knee, fluttering proudly as if in agreement.
"No, it is going to be mine," a little girl no more than five held her pretty yellow kite triumphantly.
"You never stay back to watch us. I thought you would be flying a kite too," another disappointed voice said.
"Noona has to go and help someone," a young woman's voice chided gently.
Kim Minjae looked back fondly at the young woman following her with the children. Petite and of average height, Im Ji Won could be mistaken for a child herself.
"I will hurry back if I can," she promised.
"The soldiers are joining the competition; it should be fun," One of the village men, following with a large group of men and women, called out from behind.
"They crowd the place," pat came a complaint from the group ahead of her.
"How can we compete against those giants?" Added another.
Im Ji Won giggled. Kim Min-Jae looked back and winked.
"Kite flying needs skill, not brute strength," Kim Minjae said cheerfully.
They headed down the hill that opened into a large, sprawling field. Large swaths of azalea shrubs punctuated the landscape, overlooking the vast coastline opening into Gyeonggi Bay's shimmering water surrounding the island. In another month, the hills would bloom with buds of azalea, carpeting it pink, thick patches of it appearing like a pink cascading waterfall.
"No matter who competes, they cannot beat our Cha Moon-Sik," someone chimed in.
Kim Min-Jae felt dozens of eyes fly to her face to see her reaction, and she steeled herself not to blush. Cha Moon-Sik's infatuation with her was a well-known secret, and it behoved her to keep her thoughts about the situation to herself.
She was hardly a candidate for the taking, but the village people of Ganghwa lived with a code of their own. Conduct of the opposite sex that could attract ostracising, flogging, and even beheading anywhere else in Joseon was looked upon with an indulgent acceptance in the least to a mild displeasure at the most. Very few Yangban families lived on the island, primarily because of its isolation and the challenges of travelling to the mainland. Those who did live kept to themselves in the north and were rarely seen outside their expensive homes, except the soldiers. The island saw most gentry during conflicts when the royal family would descend to seek refuge from enemies.
Ganghwa was a fortress island, the soldiers were a fixture here. Even though all of them were Yangbans either by birth or through clearing the Gwageo, they usually chose to mingle with the locals, loosen their stuffiness, and learn to be a little less Confucian, at least when they were out of supervision.
Their exuberance often shone through during the kite festival that lasted a week, the Azalea flower festival that would commence in a month and the Buddha's birthday after that.
Exclaimations of happiness burst around her at the sight of the ground. People of all shapes and sizes were unspooling their strings attached to the colourful kites that were at various stages of flying. Some kites were already scaling the clouds, while others dragged on the ground, much to the frustration of their owners.
Minjae patiently helped her grandmother cross the outer perimeter of the field, leading her to an area where most watchers sat.
"Im Ji Won, did you wear your yellow ribbon this year too?" A woman even older than her grandmother called out.
"Yea, it brings Moon-sik luck, he must win. The mayor has kept the prize big this year."
Im Ji Won coloured like a pumpkin, her small, round face flaming like a tree in the fall. The entire village knew she held a candle for the village hero, and everyone except for him was aware of it.
Minjae rolled her eyes but smiled fondly at the rag-tag bunch of her grandmother's friends who loved to keep an eye out for the maidens of their town. "He does not need any good luck charm, Aunt So-Yin," she retorted crisply, even as Im Ji Won shyly brought her yellow ribboned braid forward, eliciting another eye roll from Minjae and a loud cheer from the older women.
Her grandmother pressed her wrinkled hand as the old woman settled down, her poor eyesight and ailing memory taking nothing away from the excitement on her weathered face. "Hurry back," she ordered Minjae.
"I will, grandma. Don't go anywhere until I come."
"Tch tch, I am here. Run along," Minjae heard Kim da Bom standing behind her.
"Ye, Unnie," she smiled, looking over her shoulder at the tall figure.
Tightening the knapsack on her back and securing her folded jang-ot over the crook of her arm, Minjae trekked back the way she came, hurrying past the enthusiastic crowd shouting over each other as the kites soared, tails flapping.
Her eyes drew to a group of kite fliers at one end of the field. Soldiers.
She smiled to herself. Most of the maidens dressed in their best and turned up to see the kite-flying to ogle at the men in uniform, much to the displeasure of the local men. At times, a pretty maiden would catch the eye of a handsome man in his fine livery. Nothing much came of it because their social class was too far apart, and once the men left the island to return to their hierarchical, conservative families on the mainland, they never returned. There had been a few cases where the commoner woman in question had agreed to be a concubine to a young Yangban soldier. Still, those cases had been rare, mainly because families, at the end of the day, wanted legitimate grandchildren.
Half an hour later, she climbed the stone steps that led to the massive, ornate gate that opened into a large courtyard. Meticulously laid stone pathways cut across the lush manicured lawns, and the neat rows of swaying orchid trees dropped petals of welcome around her. The stunning garden seamlessly segued into a spectacular building, spreading its wings wide in red, green and blue splendour. A young maid ran out of a pagoda in the middle of a large koi pond on her right. "Mistress Han has been waiting for you, Mistress Kim." A foreboding expression on the young woman's face made Minjae pause. She raised her eyebrows.
"Inspector Ka is here," the woman informed in a cautious tone, "And Mistress hurt herself."
"That's hardly new," Minjae intoned.
Minjae strode inside and threw open the jazzily decorated heavy maple door. Wooden floors, polished until they looked like mirrors, made one feel that they could glide on the surface. Elegant furniture with refined, clean lines adorned the waiting area. Minjae always had a weakness for the wall hanging and exquisite paintings that broke the monotony of the walls. Someday, she would have a house where she would buy one of these and hang it.
Minjae turned a corner in the long hallway and met Inspector Ka, who was walking out. She suppressed a groan. She had hoped she would miss meeting him, in futility, of course.
"Mistress Kim," the man gave her a surprised look, did nothing to control the glint that entered his eyes and gave her a lewd once over.
Her skin crawled.
She gave him a respectful bow.
"Hope you have been well," she said formally.
"Have you finally decided to be kiseang, Mistress Kim?" he licked his lips suggestively.
Minjae controlled her urge to kick him in the groin.
"I am afraid not, Inspector Ka, my temperament won't suit the job."
"We need some varieties here, don't you think?" He prodded laviciously.
Minjae hid her disgust with her eyelids, determinedly dropping her eyes as she looked at a point between his shoes.
Inspector Ka was a tall, thin, wiry man whose robes looked like they hung on a scarecrow. His face was angular, and his deep-set eyes reminded her of a hawk, but there was a peculiar flaccidity around him of a person who had not done a single day of hard labour, even though it was known that Ka could play dirty in a fistfight if the occasion arose. His short, beak-like nose and often upturned, thin, sarcastic mouth screamed of entitlement. That a lowly woman like her could thwart him was beyond his comprehension.
She gave a small laugh. "The twenty-and-three courtesans living here are hugely talented, Inspector Ka. And we are standing in the halls of perhaps the most talented one in Joseon."
She bowed and walked past him.
"You should think over it," he called out behind her.
The roach!
"Even my husband preferred his concubine over me," she threw it over her shoulder and pushed past the nearest door, slamming it behind her, stepping into a chamber that smelled of flowers and incense that was strangely seductive.
Her disgruntled, liquid amber eyes met the amused light brown of Han So Ye's.
"Ka bothering you again?"
"What did you do this time?" Minjae countered with a question of her own. And she then gasped. So-Ye's wrists and ankles had ligation marks, and some skin had peeled. Her throat had slight bluish marks around it.
"Give me something that makes the marks go away. The darned thing hurts."
"Who did this to you?" Minjae was appalled.
So-Ye started laughing. "You are such an innocent, Minjae. Your Captain is not very creative, it seems."
"He is not my Captain," Minjae blushed furiously.
So-Ye kept laughing melodiously and laid back into the soft pillows, her lemon and white hanbok folded at sleeves. She stretched her unstockinged feet. "You should try this sometime, you know."
"You are mad."
Minjae unpacked her knapsack and took out several bottles. She brought out a mortar and pestle and ground some herbs. She transferred the mixture to a small jar. Using a small poltuce, she gently applied it to the angry-looking bruises on So-ye's wrists and ankles.
"Why would you let anyone do this to you?" Minjae asked, capping the wide-mouth jar and placing it on the table by the bed So-Ye was lying on.
So-Ye sighed. "You will not understand. I could have used silk ropes. But last night, I didn't want to." She wriggled her toes. "Last night, this man was something special...."
"He had to be. The bastard hurt you."
"Ah, language! You should not curse, it does not sit well on you. If nothing else, that good-for-nothing husband taught you how to speak like a Yangban, so don't. And he didn't hurt me. On the contrary, he didn't even want to do it. I had to teach him, but I must say, he picked up very quickly. Though I don't think he truly enjoyed it as much as I did, but he is by far one of the best I have had. I have seldom met someone who cares for the women they bed. He is stationed here for some time, so I hope to see him more." So-ye laughed huskily.
If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
Minjae looked at her as if she had suddenly grown horns. "Next time, call someone else for this nonsense," she groused.
So-Ye sat up and pecked Minjae's nose with the tip of her finger. "I will only call you, my friend. And I am sure you want more details on the last Friday information I gave, don't you?"
Minjae sat back. "Sometimes I can't figure out if I absolutely adore you or vehemently hate you."
"While you decide on it, have the tea I received from an admirer recently. It is the kind you have not had before." So-ye smiled and rang a pull bell. With incredibly graceful movements, she rose, went to the gayageum on one side of the room, and started running her fingers on it. The chamber filled with the soft, stuccoed sound of the instrument.
"Do you want to practice?" So-Ye asked without looking up.
"Not today. I need to go back to the field. Before that, I need to check on Madam Kang."
The women sat in silent companionship, listening to the melody So-Ye's incredibly gifted fingers were creating. A maid served aromatic tea; another ushered in plates of delicacies So-Ye's kiseang house was known for.
Minjae packed away her bottles and jars in her knapsack and reached for her cup of tea. "Don't do anything stupid until those bruises heal."
So -Ye rubbed her wrist gently. The truth was, the bruises on her wrist looked worse than they were. "He could have been much rougher; I have had worse. He was so gentle, yet I could feel a part of him so distant, almost as if it was a part of someone else....," she sighed.
"Can you drop it," Minjae couldn't stop her face from flaming red and shifted uncomfortably.
So-ye looked at Minje contemplatively, sipping her tea delicately.
"You are worried about Ka's pestering," So-Ye's keen eyes observed.
Minjae shrugged. "I am used to it. He wants me to be a keisang so he can buy me from the state."
"You should consider offers for being a concubine. Inspector Ka has his eyes for you and won't leave any opportunity to harm you. Your triflings will not amount to much. Those officers will not protect you. Your reputation for being picky about men has only served to whet his appetite. Your choice to be your own mistress does not sit well with Yangban men who are rank hypocrites behind their scholarly robes when it comes to being chaste with non-Yangban women."
"The laws aid them, So-Ye. I work as a physician and serve alcohol to drunk men in an inn run by a former Kisaeng. What do you expect?"
Logically, Sangmins (commoners) like her seldom became uinyeo (Physicians), a line of work mostly reserved for the cheonmin or slaves, and the sneaky relic couldn't wrap his head around the fact she was not an entertainer and was classified as a merchant because she had the license to sell herbs. "KA is terrified of the Mayor, so I am not worried," Minjae brushed it away.
"And the Governor?"
"The Governor values my skills as a physician too much to let Ka get away with hurting me. As long as I am treating his son, I am safe."
"For now. I heard the Governor might change," So-Ye ran a finger on the rim of her cup thoughtfully.
Minjae felt a shiver course through her. She put on a brave face, but the reality of shaking her comfortable set-up that warded off unwanted advances was intimidating.
"Why so?"
"There are hushed whispers of trouble brewing in the north with the barbarians. They might replace him with a more experienced military governor. I hear the Minister of Defence is on the island. Have you not noticed anything out of the ordinary?"
Minjae paused. There was indeed an influx of soldiers. There was a rumour of a few who had recently fought with the Ming to push back the barbarians being on the island as well.
"There are some new faces at the inn recently," She mused.
"The one I had yesterday was young, but he seemed to be someone of authority and appeared quite battle-hardened." A smile played on her lips. "He is one of the best-looking men I have entertained," So-Ye said dreamily. "I hope there is no war. It's a shame to allow such handsome men to go to waste."
"You mean it's all right to lose them if they are not good-looking?" Minjae asked tartly.
"You know I don't discriminate," So-Ye said coyly, and Minjae rolled her eyes.
"I have not seen any such paragon of perfection walking around, but I have seen more of them at the inn."
"You don't notice them because they are so busy noticing you and trying to make you notice them that you spend most of your time ignoring the poor sods. It's quite an art you have developed, Minjae," So-Ye laughed, observing her friend with the eyes of a connoisseur.
Golden, butter-smooth skin that tautly stretched over high cheekbones accentuating an oval face, jewelled by large dark liquid amber eyes that slanted up as if sketched by an artist in leisure with double eyelids edged with thick long eyelashes and crowned with two flawless arches, upturned sharp-tipped nose and a succulent bow for a mouth, Kim Minjae was a rare beauty who turned heads just not because she had a face that could cause a stampede, but because she carried herself with rare confidence and wisdom of someone who had fought her own battles and won. But it was a childlike vulnerability around her that attracted most like a moth to a flame.
Ka had not been the only one who had chased her after mistaking her for a keisang on one of her rounds to So-Ye's house on a physician's duty. Many of them invented ailments so they could get 'cured' by her or found themselves deep in the cups at her sister's inn, where Minjae helped out in the evenings.
Minjae's older sister, Kim Da Bom, a former kiseang herself, had worked hard to save enough money so her little sister would not have to go down the path she did. Da Bom and her father had married Minjae to a well-off merchant relatively young to prevent her from falling into the wrong hands.
Life had not turned out for Minjae as her dotting sister and father had hoped.
"Do you think the barbarians might attack?" Minjae asked, her voice pensive.
"They didn't tell me. I will let you know as soon as they do," So-Ye said, rolling her eyes.
Minjae sniffed in mock anger. "You mentioned the war."
"Do not worry. You know we at Ganghwa have nothing to fear. In fact, the last time the barbarians came, it was very good for business, what with the royalty and their entourage flocking in here and looking for something - anything - to keep themselves from going mindless with boredom."
"Should I remind you that you are a good year younger than me? You were a babe. You could not have remembered."
"Babe? What are you talking about? I remember climbing the daimyo trees in Moon-sung's backyard when I was seven. You would never come; your father would not let you. And your sister would give me an earful back here just because I tried to get you out of your house." So-Ye rolled her eyes. "How would I not remember something at twelve! I had already started as a kiseang a year prior. And by and by, you were already married for four years by then. If there is another war and the royalty escape here, I will make enough money by the time I retire a few years from now."
"How can you remember such details! To me, it seems a long time ago," Minjae sighed.
"It was exactly ten years ago. I suppose you can say it was a long time for us. We grew up."
Grow up, they did. By all accounts, Han So-Ye was a beautiful woman. Long, graceful limbs flowed out of a short body that seemed taller than it was, a heart-shaped face adorned with exquisitely crafted mahogany eyes and lips that looked more inviting than ripe fruits; she was the epitome of perfection trained to pleasure the elites. She wrote sad poetry, drew bold sceneries, played music like a magician and read extensively. She was the life of all Yangban parties on the island. But her biggest weapon was her exceptional intelligence and the ability to ferret out information.
Kisaengs lived on a moral code of never disclosing what their patrons uttered within their earshot, no matter how delicate or dishonourable. A patron could plot to kill the King, and it was understood the kiseang would keep quiet about it. They were also never punished for not telling on their patrons. It was an unwritten code of ethics that even the powerful Yangban men followed.
However, some, like So-Ye, would occasionally bend the rules to do something far more consequential than breaking those moral codes would cause.
"Do you have any new information on those two girls?" Minjae asked.
"I know one of them was forcibly taken away by a Minister for failing to pay a loan and later sold to a slave trader. The other one seems to be an orphan."
"Have they been secured?"
"Yes, they have been."
Minjae reached out and squeezed her hand. "I will send out a word to Captain Park Hyun Ki."
∞
Lee Seung wanted to be drunk. Very badly. Yet all the spirits he had imbibed in the last two hours seemed to have evaporated from his blood like steam off a boiling pan. He ran his hand over his face. The sand felt soft under his bare feet as they sank into their coarse but spongy depth. His teammates were still sitting in the inn, no doubt drowning themselves in the liquid and hoping to find favour with one of the women serving there.
Seung wriggled his toes in the sand.
The petition to change his department had caused a few raised eyebrows as no one ever switched from civil to the military, and certainly not someone as meritorious as Lee Seung. Still, the King had granted his request without further questions. Perhaps it weighed heavily on King Injo's conscience that there had been no satisfactory resolution to his doomed marriage. Injo was a staunch opponent of divorces, so he might have thought sending the young man away was the best possible solution under the circumstances.
Seung's thoughts travelled back to the week before the day he had left Hanyang.
A day after getting the insulting letter from his wife, Seung had, without anyone's knowledge, made one last effort to meet his wife.
The result had been astonishing. Choi Si-wan had first sent his wife to fetch his daughter. The woman had come back alone, in tears.
Choi Si-wan and his wife had, shockingly, knelt in front of him.
"Son-in-law, we have wronged you gravely. I do not know where we went awry. My daughter's sins are unaccountable. But I beseech you, please do not divorce her, at least not right away. I will be ruined, my family will be ruined, I will lose the favour of the Court."
In disbelief, Seung had watched as Choi Si-wan presented him with a money chest and promised two bags of rice and two bags of beans every year to atone for their mistakes while his stepmother-in-law shed copious tears.
"You are still young. I have promised my youngest daughter to the Crown Prince when she is ten. And at that time, if my Choi Ji-na still has not come to her senses, I will ask the King for a divorce and set you free."
Half in disgust and half in pity, Lee Seung had left their home, vowing never to come back.
Two days later, he had been summoned by someone unexpected: the eminent scholar and a close confidant of the King, Kim Ja-jeom.
A man of average height and a heavyset face leathered with lines of wisdom and, perhaps, capriciousness, Ja-jeom had offered a strange insight. His father-in-law, Choi Si-wan, never did anything without considering long-term benefits. His daughter's refusal to stay with her lawfully wedded husband had become well known. And that Choi Si-wan was perhaps orchestrating it himself.
"I would request you not to slander my good father-in-law or my wife with street rumours," Seung had refused to fan the flames.
A gleam of respect had lighted up eyes.
The man had stroked his beard thoughtfully. Seung was no fool and wanted no part in court politics, but Ja-jeom had startled him by admitting as much.
"I want to bring Choi down with your help. I know you have faced some hard times. In return, I can help reduce some of that financial burden."
Seung felt the salt in the air, the chill chipping away at the weariness he had been feeling lately. He had to admit flying kites earlier in the day had been quite invigorating, too.
He had seen the stark hardship of the winter mountains up north, where one ill-timed blizzard, famine or plague wiped off entire villages, leaving the living to the mercy of the mercenaries across the border. Most villagers didn't live by the moral codes of the Yangban families. For them, survival came first. Selling off their children for food was commonplace. Maurading groups of ravagers wiped off what little self-respect they were left with. Women were the cheapest currency, exchanged for necessities without any second thought. Some were left behind after they were deemed useless to their owners and forced to fend for themselves in brutal conditions and wrote their ends by either selling their bodies or jumping into frozen lakes. Corrupt officials looked the other way.
Something was different about the air in Ganghwa. People were still poor, but they tended to stick together. He was most impressed with how the community had found ways to care for their orphans and the poor. The freedom with which members of both sexes mingled with each other had shocked him. Lee Gil-ae would love it here.
A movement caught his eye. Two shadowy figures were speaking in the distance: a man and a woman. The sandy shore ended at a stone embankment that rose to meet the bottom of a hill, adorned with a smattering of small huts with thatched roofs. They seemed to be fighting. At first, Seung tried to ignore it. It was obviously a couple. He could see the woman had her hair tied up, her braids across her head secured with ribbons. But then the man's hand sneaked out and caught the woman's. She cried out and jerked.
"How dare you!"
He could hear the woman cry out in anger. He had seen enough. He could not stand by and see a woman getting molested. Even if they were married, they could take their discontentment behind closed doors.
"Hey!" He called out. He was awkwardly holding his boots in one hand and the lantern in the other. He raised his lantern, which no doubt illuminated his military attire of red and yellow dongdari and conveyed the clear message: lay off.
Both of them turned and looked at him. He could not see their faces, but he could make out the colour of the woman's dress. It was light peach and seemed vaguely familiar.
He didn't have to repeat. The man turned and left immediately. The woman seemed to be frozen on the spot. Worried, he stepped closer. "Are you all right -" Not sure how to address a woman of the lower class, Seung left it hanging. For, she was obviously one from the village.
The woman turned and left the spot without another word.
Seung shrugged. He remembered where he had seen the woman. She had been with the children, one of the five women helping them fly their kites. He remembered her because another one in a blue hanbok next to the peach one had caught his eye because of her well-endowed form, though she was too far from him to see her face.
"Commander Lee!"
Seung turned to see Wang Jung, his trusted companion and horseman, running at full speed, or at least as fast as he could, with his boots sinking six inches into the ground with every step. He came to a halt, catching his sides. "Here you are! I have been looking for you all over. Why did you not come to the inn?"
Seung smiled and turned his face towards the ocean. "You are drinking all alone again, sir. And I am sure you have not eaten anything."
Wang Jung had a flair for dramatics, but in this instance, he was not too far off.
"Sir, the rest of them have gone off to the kisaeng house, and they wanted me to fetch you."
Seung scowled. "I have no appetite for another night of debauchery there."
"She writes good poems and sings beautifully, don't you think, sir?"
A faint, foreign sound alerted Seung's keen ears, and he whirled around.
'So do the rest of the others," a new voice joined them. The sand had muted the footsteps. The man bowed. "You are too suspicious, Commander Lee."
Seung relaxed and gave a slight bow of acknowledgement. "Sargeant."
"Care to join me for dinner at the inn, Commander Lee? Everyone should taste their beef stew at least once in their life."
At the inn, Seung was surprised by how spacious it looked when empty. He had accompanied his men only once, two days ago, and half of them had lamented the absence of the 'pretty' one not at their service that evening. The gossip about the woman had irritated him. He understood the need for his men to be inane. Once alcohol flowed freely, they also became loose tongued. "She is picky, but she picks well" had been the flavour of the conversation. He had stayed away from them and the inn after that.
A woman with bold features and a sharp nose welcomed them warmly. At least a decade older than him, she was tall and full-figured. She was wearing a blue hanbok. Seung realised with a start she was the one who had caught his attention in the morning, and he felt embarrassed. A short, plump woman came out to take their order. Clearly, she was the younger, prettier one. She had her hair tied neatly at the base of her neck and had a homely, round face with clean features and expressive eyes. She was charming and quite young, but Seung was surprised that she could elicit men to write peans about her.
Seung reprimanded himself. He was never the kind who trifled with help or any woman for that matter. All that loose speak had gotten into his head. He shook it free and turned to listen to something Sargeant was saying.
And that is when he saw her. Using a ladle, she was pouring a liquid into a spouted pot. She then turned to face the table he was sitting at and gently placed the jar on a tray with drinking cups.
She raised her eyes to look in their direction, and Seung felt his breath leave his body.
Never had he encountered a woman of such exquisite beauty.