Chapter 53

A solemn silence hung over the Emperor’s study. The man’s hands roughly crumpled the memorial he was holding.

“Self-willed, in any case…”

Seonjae threw the crumpled memorial down. He stopped trying to dip the vermillion brush in red ink. Wan Taegam pretended not to notice the Emperor, who was leaning his elbow on the desk, covering his forehead with his hand.

“He is so excellent.”

A low voice muttered his displeasure. The bowed head seemed to show the Emperor’s deep distress. His broad shoulders, hunched over the desk, heavily heaved, unable to contain his anger.

“So impudent. Utterly without manners.”

“Your Majesty.”

Neung Sa-hyeon subtly revealed his hidden presence. He was sipping tea at a close distance from the Emperor, organizing a report on the screwed-up flood control project. He had been summoned here immediately upon reporting for duty. To the person involved, it felt like he had practically been dragged. He was currently patching up the missing and incorrect parts of the chaotic memorials the Emperor had angrily thrown.

The Emperor was said to have skipped his dawn hunt and horseback riding to review the memorials. Perhaps he disliked this, as he occasionally threw out grumpy complaints, and as time went on, the symptoms worsened. He muttered menacingly in a low voice, like a cursed doll revealed in the earth by the rain.

‘Is his condition not too poor?’ Neung Sa-hyeon glanced fearfully toward Wan Taegam. The eunuch smiled faintly and shook his head.

Self-willed, excellent, impudent, and utterly without manners. Neung Sa-hyeon did not dare utter the irreverent thought, ‘Is that a self-introduction?’ to the Emperor.

Wan Taegam, Wan Seop-hyeon, who had served Woo Seonjae for over ten years, was quick-witted. He often said, ‘An eunuch must correctly read the Emperor’s heart.’ Despite the scary atmosphere created by the Emperor’s ferocious muttering, Neung Sa-hyeon did not forget Wan Taegam’s advice.

As the eunuch had subtly advised, he kept his mouth shut when he didn’t know. However, there was a limit to keeping quiet.

“Are you speaking of Consort Gwi-bi Mama?”

Wan Taegam gently stepped forward, as if bestowing grace upon the perplexed Neung Sa-hyeon.

“Who else in the Imperial Palace is so hateful and ridicules me besides that fellow?”

Neung Sa-hyeon pushed the memorial aside and focused on drinking tea. Confusion flickered across his face. His eyes quickly darted between the Emperor and Wan Taegam. Recently, the Emperor had been getting along well with Consort Gwi-bi.

It wasn’t merely ‘getting along well.’

The Emperor increased the frequency of his nightly visits, matching the rank of Consort Gwi-bi. However, apart from going to his chamber, he did not seek him out separately, and still only sent the bare minimum of standard gifts. He also occasionally punished the Consort Gwi-bi on the grounds of his lack of virtue.

For this reason, it might superficially look like neglect, but the Emperor bestowed dozens of gold pieces upon the Consort Gwi-bi every time he visited Giryung Palace.

The Emperor did not speak much about this. The Consort Gwi-bi claimed that the Emperor, highly appreciating the effort of his geum (zither) performance, had given him the gold as payment. It was baffling how he played the geum to receive more than a hundred gold pieces as payment for a single visit, in some cases.

Officials at court often criticized the Consort Gwi-bi for his lack of virtue these days. Although the Emperor was using his personal assets, they loudly protested, arguing that it was a problem for a concubine to selfishly covet gold.

‘Did the Consort Gwi-bi coat his zither strings with gold, for heaven’s sake!’

‘What enlightenment has a Consort Gwi-bi barely past twenty attained to receive such a great payment, which would only be given to a master zither player? Does the Consort Gwi-bi even know anything about the zither?’

Some officials were extremely displeased that the Consort Gwi-bi claimed the gold received from the Emperor was payment for a performance. This was the polite way of expressing it; honestly, they seemed like petty, jealous individuals.

Most of the musical compositions played on the geum were set to old poetic verses that were widely read and highly regarded. While some were set to beautiful poetry, they were primarily valued for the deep imagery and realization they contained. Thus, zither players also required a considerable level of realization.

That was why playing the geum was ranked first among the leisure activities of learned gentlemen who had retired from office or elderly scholars who had reached a high level of spiritual realization. Naturally, the world highly rated the geum performances of scholars.

‘The zither requires enlightenment to be proper. Is it not a perverse attitude to demand so much gold as payment just because it pleases the ear somewhat? That is not the proper attitude of a musician. You must stop the Consort Gwi-bi’s greedy zither performances!’

‘The favor bestowed upon a single concubine is excessive!’

‘The continuous thunder and lightning over the past few days are ominous. Is this not heaven’s will to punish the Consort Gwi-bi’s greed for gold?’

The elderly ministers found fault with the Consort Gwi-bi’s geum every three days. Each time, the Emperor would use violent words to protect the Consort Gwi-bi.

“All of you, silence. You ministers shall bring me the answers to the pending issues I have assigned. I shall assume that anyone who adds unnecessary noise is confident in solving the assigned problem and will shorten their deadline.”

The ministers criticized the Consort Gwi-bi even more strongly due to the Emperor’s firm protection. Now, insulting the Consort Gwi-bi’s greed for gold had become commonplace at court. So was insulting the Consort Gwi-bi’s probably crude geum performance.

On the rare occasions when good-natured ministers questioned the Emperor about the Consort Gwi-bi’s geum, the Emperor’s answers made some feel conflicted.

Is the Consort Gwi-bi’s zither so expensive as to have gold-coated strings?

“It did not seem like an ordinary zither.”

Is it true that the Emperor bestows gold as payment for the concubine’s zither performance? Is it plausible that he gives more than ten gold bars for one piece?

“It is not your concern if I give my gold to hear a performance. I am the one giving the gold.”

Does the Consort Gwi-bi play that well? How does he compare to the Imperial Musicians, who are at the pinnacle of performance technique?

“I cannot let you hear it. Because he is a concubine. Do you think I would spend gold like that if he were at the level of the Imperial Musicians? Do you think my gold is rotting away?”

The one who strongly defended the Consort Gwi-bi, who had become the main target of court criticism, was none other than the Emperor. But his muttering complaints about the Consort Gwi-bi like a cursed doll for several hours since morning was incomprehensible.

“Please do not be so upset.”

Wan Taegam comforted the Emperor with a benevolent voice. Seonjae frowned intensely.

“Does that fellow even know how much I defend him in court? He will not perform more than four pieces a day, and he will not perform for three consecutive days…! Truly, Master Go-eul-san himself has appeared in the Imperial Palace!”

Neung Sa-hyeon’s shoulder twitched at the Emperor’s sudden outburst. Seonjae looked back at the memorial he had thrown down.

“It seems Consort Gwi-bi is rather particular about his geum performance.”

Neung Sa-hyeon also pulled the pushed-aside memorial closer and looked at it.

“He is a precious person who must rest a full day after performing for two consecutive days.”

Neung Sa-hyeon suspected the Emperor had slightly twisted the words he had used to insult the Consort Gwi-bi earlier. He thought not performing for three consecutive days and resting a full day after two days of performance sounded like the same thing.

“Have you suggested giving him more gold?”

“He said he disliked it.”

“Consort Gwi-bi is a man of principle, then. Zither performance is greatly exhausting, so the musician’s will is paramount. I’ve vaguely heard from the eunuchs that the sound is tremendously solemn, and there is no one among the Imperial Musicians who can produce a similar sound?”

“Hmm, there is none.”

Seonjae’s reply was short and firm. Hearing the voice that suggested great disappointment, Neung Sa-hyeon hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“I cannot compare since I have not heard Consort Gwi-bi Mama’s performance… but I was fortunate enough to hear the performance of the master Your Majesty mentioned a long time ago. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] Only one piece, though. Your Majesty also heard Master Go’s performance, did you not? How do the two compare?”

Neung Sa-hyeon and the Emperor had both listened to the master’s performance because of the same person. That person was no longer in this world. Although the Emperor never said it directly, the Emperor was probably the one who drove him to his death. The Emperor’s highly discerning ear for zither music was also because of that person.

Seonjae only raised his gaze after finishing the official decision on the memorial he was looking at.

“They are completely different. The master’s zither sound had a power of expansion, as if it spread throughout the entire Crown Prince’s Palace. Perhaps due to the difference in the composition, its characteristic was a lyrical and mournful sound that seemed about to break but never did. The impression was a clear, sharp, and beautiful sound. The Consort Gwi-bi, who covets gold, also does not have a small sound, but it does not spread out as much as the master’s. However, wherever the sound is heard, the dense sound seems to strike the listener’s head. After delivering an impact to the head, it delivers a shock to the entire body with an intense resonance.”

Neung Sa-hyeon’s mouth subtly dropped open at Seonjae’s words. The Emperor’s standard for listening to zither music was exceedingly high. He found it hard to believe such a man would give such a generous assessment.

“Is that… not an incredible level?”

“Do you think I waste gold for no reason? Although their temperaments are different, neither the master nor Young Master Gyo makes a single trivial mistake. They seem to make mistakes only known to themselves, but even if I told others, the listener would not know. He shows no bad habits or peculiar tendencies, and he is just damn stubborn. He absolutely will not perform sentimental compositions.”

The Emperor tapped the desk with a loosely clenched fist. He looked like a person consumed by impatience. Neung Sa-hyeon felt he understood why the Emperor remained unmoved no matter how much court officials uniformly insulted the Consort Gwi-bi as perverse and greedy.

“If I have the opportunity, I, too, would like to treat my ears to such luxury.”

“You should prepare the gold, a great deal of gold.”

“How much gold would one need to prepare to hear the ‘Yeonhwa-man’?”

At Neung Sa-hyeon’s expectant words, the Emperor and Wan Taegam simultaneously shook their heads.

“Do you think the stubborn ox of Giryung Palace will perform a faint, melancholy, and lyrical composition? Why does that fellow like songs of triumph so much? Who is he trying to conquer? Otherwise, he only performs ridiculous songs about wandering in the celestial realm or genuine, preposterous tales of experience as flora or fauna. Why does he want to be a stone? Why does he do that with that skill?”

Seonjae tossed the memorial he had finalized, looking genuinely confused, and unfolded the next memorial.

“…”

Although he had not heard the Consort Gwi-bi’s magnificent performance, Neung Sa-hyeon felt he understood. Who the Consort Gwi-bi wanted to advance upon while playing a solemn song of triumph. And the reason why he wished to suddenly wander the celestial realm or dream of the life of a stone.

The answer was right in front of him.

“… Say what you need to say.”

He knew the answer to his own question but was clearly pretending not to.

“Nothing, Your Majesty. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] A song of triumph performed with a dense sound sounds splendid.”

Neung Sa-hyeon did not want to provoke the sensitive Emperor. Seonjae, who nodded in agreement with his words, muttered softly:

“That fellow is a violent person.”

Everyone in the room except the Emperor tightly sealed their mouths.