NTH 38

At that moment, Yunhyeong saw a worn-out resignation in Makdongi’s calm expression.

Looking back at history, there were rare instances where a few people from the lowest class or slaves displayed their unique talents, were freed from servitude, and rose to official positions.

However, behind their ability to do so, the power of a powerful benefactor always played a role. This was because a vast amount of wealth or farmland was needed for a slave to be freed, and even if they became a commoner, a high-ranking official had to recommend them in order for them to attain an official post.

Setting aside an official post, what would be the most realistic profession for Makdongi to showcase his talents immediately after being freed? Yunhyeong, who came up with the answer without a second thought, went to the Junior Sixth Rank Official in charge of managing the geodals and servants of the Office of Royal Stables and asked.

“Excuse me, Mr. Park, the Junior Sixth Rank Official. Is it possible to privately purchase a government slave who works at the Office of Royal Stables?”

“It is not impossible, but it is expensive.”

“How much does one cost?”

“A privately owned male slave between the ages of 15 and 40 can usually be bought for 300 bolts of cotton cloth, but a government slave costs 400 bolts. A female costs an additional 100 bolts because she can bear children, and they are a bit cheaper if they are under 15 or over 40 because their labor power is lower.”

“400 bolts of cotton cloth….”

“If it were me, I would rather buy a privately owned slave, but is there a slave here that you have your eye on by any chance?”

“That is correct. It is a boy named Makdongi, and after observing him for a while, he seems very intelligent and takes excellent care of animals, so if he were not a slave, it seems he could easily become a horse physician. It is a true waste of his talent to keep him as a slave, you see.”

“I know that fellow, but, well, that is quite….”

“What is it?”

“Does your lordship know about his dirty conduct?”

“Dirty conduct, you mean his temperament of avoiding people and speaking rudely?”

“That, and also… there is a rumor that he engages in pederasty with one of the geodals from time to time. They say he is a male prostitute who offers his bottom to anyone, with his pretty face, slender body, and a strange allure. Why would your lordship choose that fellow of all people….”

“That is enough of such talk.”

Feeling somehow displeased, Yunhyeong cut off the Junior Sixth Rank Official’s words and turned away.

An enormous amount of wealth would be needed to free a government slave and make him a commoner, but he could easily afford the 400 bolts of cotton cloth it would cost to buy him as a privately owned slave. If he brought Makdongi in as a privately owned slave, Yunhyeong would have ownership of him, so if he burned the slave certificate and let him go, he could immediately become a commoner.

Of course, before letting him go, he planned to teach Makdongi to read and have him study at his own house. So that he could become a horse physician immediately after being freed.

Those engaged in professions that required specialized knowledge and skills, such as physicians or interpreters, were mostly from the middle class, not the nobility, and among them, horse physicians were often taken on by commoners because the work was harsh and everyone avoided it. There would be no position more suitable for Makdongi, who had spoken with a shining face about wanting to be with horses until he died.

When his thoughts reached that point, Yunhyeong decided to proceed with the plan as soon as the day’s important schedule was over.

In the afternoon, the king’s procession began.

The king sat in a magnificent palanquin with four pillars, called a daeyeon. Dozens of soldiers carried the royal palanquin, which was decorated with golden clouds and dragon patterns on a vermilion background, on their shoulders. Right behind it, the crown prince and grand princes followed on horseback.

Heukpung, the black horse that Makdongi cared for most dearly, was being ridden by Grand Prince Seungan, the crown prince’s immediate younger brother. Having just turned twenty, he could not become the crown prince as he was the second son, but he was the son most favored by the king.

As the procession was underway, a deer suddenly popped out from somewhere in the distance and darted across the front of the royal palanquin. Seeing this, Grand Prince Seungan shouted in a booming voice.

“Although it is a mere dumb creature, how dare it block His Majesty’s procession, this is highly audacious! Bring me my bow at once!”

When the soldiers presented him with a bow and arrow, Grand Prince Seungan aimed the bow at the deer. The arrow narrowly missed the deer’s body, and the startled deer began to flee.

Seeing this, Grand Prince Seungan spurred his horse and galloped forward. He, who was usually confident in his hunting skills, wanted to show his father, brothers, and officials a fine display of him shooting and hitting the deer.

It was when Grand Prince Seungan aimed his bow once more at the fleeing deer from atop the running horse. Suddenly, Heukpung reared up on its hind legs and thrashed about.

“Heeeeigh!”

“Oh, no!!!”

Grand Prince Seungan, who had let go of the horse’s reins to aim his bow, ended up rolling onto the ground. The officials and soldiers rushed to Grand Prince Seungan in a panic.

“Grand Prince!”

“Quickly, attend to the Grand Prince!”

Fortunately, Grand Prince Seungan was not seriously injured, but he was flustered and embarrassed by the fall, the first he had ever experienced in his life, and his face turned bright red. The king, in a voice full of great anger, shouted thunderously.

“Behead that horse at once, and strictly interrogate the officials of the Office of Royal Stables to thoroughly uncover the truth!”

The Office of Royal Stables was turned upside down by that incident.

From high-ranking officials to slaves, they were all dragged to the State Tribunal for interrogation, but the problem was a small, sharp needle found in the right knee of the beheaded Heukpung.

It was suggested that when the procession’s speed was slow, it would have been somewhat prickly but he could have walked tolerably. However, when Grand Prince Seungan spurred the horse to run in order to catch the deer, the needle would have dug deeper and deeper, causing the pain to become unbearably severe.

This meant that someone had deliberately stuck the needle into Heukpung’s leg. Therefore, Makdongi, who usually fed Heukpung and was in charge of his care, and who had been attached to Heukpung all morning on the day of the procession, was identified as a prime suspect and immediately thrown into prison.

“That cannot be true! You all know well how much Makdongi cherished that horse as if it were his own flesh and blood!”

Yunhyeong shouted at the other officials, raising his voice in anger. The Junior Sixth Rank Official, glancing around cautiously, said in a hesitant voice.

“But he was originally in charge of that horse, and more than one or two people saw him sticking closely to it and taking care of it all day on that day.”

“That is because he had just returned after staying at my house for several days! There must have been someone who took care of the horse while Makdongi was away! Who on earth was that person!”

“Mr. Im, the Vice Director. That is enough.”

An official with a higher rank than Yunhyeong, called ‘Jeong,’ restrained him in a scolding voice. He was the head of the Office of Royal Stables. Yunhyeong tried not to lose his composure and retorted.

“Sir, I know Makdongi well. Although he is a slave, he is someone who has a greater attachment to horses than anyone else, and he is a person who has absolutely no reason to deliberately interfere with the procession or plot to harm the Grand Prince.”

“How can you be so sure that he was not instigated by someone!”

“Did I not tell you that I had him with me for several days. I let him stay at my private residence because I felt sorry for him after he was beaten up by some geodal for no reason. Who could have come to visit him and instigate him during that time!”

“Mr. Im Yunhyeong, the Vice Director! Do you even know how dangerous a statement you are making right now? That slave is currently under state interrogation at the State Tribunal as a traitor! If you are not careful, you could be suspected as an accomplice, so I am telling you to mind your words and actions!”

At his words, Yunhyeong looked around blankly. From the expressions of the officials who were pretending not to know, he could finally realize. That they were trying to cut their losses by offering up Makdongi as a scapegoat.

Yunhyeong immediately shot up from his seat and ran to the Geodalcheong. There, geodals who had just been released after being subjected to harsh interrogation were lying scattered about.

Yunhyeong found the elderly geodal he had spoken with before, called him outside for a moment, and asked urgently.

“Do you know who took care of Heukpung while I had Makdongi at my house?”

The old geodal, with a face full of sorrow, lowered his head and could not continue his words. Yunhyeong pleaded with him.

“Look, you know better than anyone how much Makdongi cared for the horses. If things continue like this, Makdongi will be framed as a traitor and executed.”

“……”

“Please, tell me what you know so that we can catch the real culprit.”

The geodal fell to his knees before Yunhyeong and prostrated himself. He said, shedding tears.

“My lord……. We have all suffered unjustly and have only just been released. I simply cannot handle this getting any bigger. I am truly sorry, my lord.”

The geodals were the same as the officials. An unspoken agreement had already been made without words that if the entire group could be at peace by sacrificing the life of one insignificant slave, then that was the wisest course of action.

Yunhyeong muttered with a devastated heart.

“Then that person, Jang Geon-ung, where is he now.”

The geodal hesitated for a moment, then answered with a sniffle and a stuffy nose.

“He took a leave of absence and left, saying he had to hold a funeral for a family member.”

“What did you say? When was that!”

“It was the evening right before the procession.”

As soon as he heard those words, Yunhyeong ran to the State Tribunal without looking back.

The fact that Jang Geon-ung had disappeared at this point was as good as saying he was the prime suspect. He knew that Sir Jeong’s words that he could be framed as an accomplice with Makdongi if he made a mistake were entirely realistic, but he could not possibly stay still.

Yunhyeong asked the guard standing watch at the Geumbugok, the prison of the State Tribunal.

“What happened to the slave from the Office of Royal Stables who was arrested in connection with the Grand Prince’s fall?”

“That fellow died last night.”

“Wha, what did you say?”

Yunhyeong’s eyes widened as if they would pop out. He was so stunned by the sudden confrontation with death that he could only open and close his mouth, unable to quite grasp it, before he finally managed to speak.

“Tell me properly and in detail! How can the execution have been carried out already when the execution procedure is so strict!”

“It is not that, he stopped breathing while being tortured.”

The State Tribunal, knowing that Makdongi was a slave and an orphan with no family, had surmised that this incident was not something he had planned and committed alone, but that he had been instigated by someone. They subjected Makdongi to harsh torture to find out who was behind it.

Makdongi had just kept repeating that he knew nothing, and when a red-hot branding iron approached his eyeball, he could not overcome his fear and his heart stopped, leading to his death.

“H-how could that be……. Then his body……, what happened to his body?”

“That fellow was a slave, and besides, he was a criminal who would have been punished for treason or crimes against the state anyway. The body of such a person is thrown out into the fields for wild animals to eat.”

To think that Makdongi, with whom he had been laughing and talking just the morning before, had met such a miserable end.

As Yunhyeong stood there, dumbfounded by the overwhelming sense of futility that washed over him, someone called him from behind.

“Mr. Im, the Vice Director, I need to see you.”

The person standing behind him was his superior, Sir Jeong of the Office of Royal Stables. Yunhyeong followed him with a coldly hardened face. When they reached a deserted place, Sir Jeong opened his mouth.

“I have received word that because the slave named Makdongi died during the state interrogation, the investigation into others will soon begin again.”

Yunhyeong listened to his story silently without replying.

“There is no one in the Office of Royal Stables who does not know that the slave was innocent. But what can we do. He has already passed away, so should we not protect the remaining people so they can live.”

“……”

“Read this.”

Yunhyeong received a single sheet of paper from Sir Jeong and unfolded it. On it, the following was written in crooked Hangeul.

「Some are slaves and have to clean horse dung from birth until death, while others are born into good families and live in luxury their entire lives. I want to see the high and mighty in trouble just once.」

Yunhyeong furrowed his brow deeply.

“What on earth is this?”