Chapter 188 — The King's Request
The king changed the subject.
"Your resignation is not permitted."
"Your Majesty, please look deeply into this matter."
"Why do you keep speaking of resignation? Is your stipend too small?"
"No, Your Majesty. I already receive much."
At that moment, the matter of the bribe flashed through Youngwoo's mind.
"Your Majesty, when this low officer returned to Goryeo, I learned of a new matter."
"What is it?"
"They sent many gifts to my household without my knowledge. Knowing that my house had fallen, they sent things of value and sent slaves to care for my family. I knew nothing of it all this time, but Lord Ogemai told me when I was leaving. I feared it might be considered a bribe. Had I known in advance, I would not have accepted them, but perhaps fearing that, they sent them without telling me. By the time I learned of it, many days had already passed. Lord Ogemai said they were spoils of war fairly divided after battle, but it seems they sent quite fine things. Aside from that, they also sent sable pelts, horses, and slaves according to the season."
"Is that so? That sounds fortunate. But why?"
"This low officer… fears it may be seen as a bribe. I consulted Daejanggun Park, and he said it would be better to report directly to Your Majesty and receive punishment, so I report it now."
At the word bribe, the king's brow twitched.
The gazes of the daejanggun in the Jungbang turned cold.
"A bribe, you say."
"To be honest, I wish to return them."
At that moment, Jin Garyang stood.
"Your Majesty, that is a bribe."
The king laughed faintly.
Then he asked the banju,
"Who promoted that man?"
"Your Majesty did…"
The banju stammered.
Appointments were a very important matter.
One should not speak of appointments merely because a man misspoke.
"You submitted his name, saying he should be promoted. How would I know? You put up three mediocre men and told me to choose. What was I supposed to do? There was nothing to choose from, so I chose the man with a decent household. When trouble arises, there must at least be someone who can protest. What am I to do with this foolish fellow?"
The banju lowered his head.
"Your Majesty, this is a Jungbang meeting where free expression of opinion is permitted. If even that is suppressed, no one will speak."
The king turned toward Youngwoo.
"It seems they tried to hold your tail with those gifts. They must have known you would run away like this."
"I am ashamed, Your Majesty."
"You had not gone home, and no one had told you, so how could you have known? It is not a bribe. Leave it as it is."
"Your Majesty."
"Such things are called gifts. Jin thinks of you with such special regard. How could you slip away like this?"
"I am ashamed, Your Majesty."
"This is a matter of the state. How could it be done according to one person's wishes?"
"But Your Majesty…"
Park Geunsu seized Youngwoo's arm.
"Rest for a few days. We will hold a Jungchuwon meeting and call you."
"Your grace is immeasurable."
Youngwoo bowed and rose.
The generals of the Jungbang did not rise.
They remained in their seats.
Park Geunsu tried to follow him out, but Banju Choe Yanghak held him back.
"You wait a moment. The meeting will continue."
"Loyalty."
Youngwoo left the council hall.
With nowhere to go, he went to Park Geunsu's office and waited.
He intended to ask him what had happened when he came out.
Alone, he could do nothing.
Only when someone explained and translated matters for him could he fully understand their intention.
What he wanted to know was the king's intention.
His resignation had not been accepted.
I do not want this. What am I supposed to do?
As he waited, So Cheolun came in.
"Hm? Where did you go?"
"I went out and ate."
"I see."
At that moment, Youngwoo remembered he had eaten nothing.
"Do you have money?"
"There is a place I go."
"One must not eat on credit while serving in a distant post."
Youngwoo handed Cheolun his whole money pouch.
"No. I can pay next time."
"No. Go there, pay them, and ask them to deliver a bowl. I am hungry too."
"Ah! How am I supposed to carry that here?"
Youngwoo remembered that delivery had been possible before.
He did not know whether the house Cheolun had gone to was the same place.
"I do not know."
"Then you become the same kind of bad man, General."
"I am hungry. I have eaten nothing today. After talking so much, I am even hungrier."
"Aaai…"
"What is that 'aaai' like a child?"
He asked Park Geunsu's adjutant to tell Cheolun where food could be delivered from.
Then Youngwoo kicked So Cheolun in the backside and sent him out.
Whenever he entered Gaegyeong, that was always the first house he sought.
Deep in the alleys of Jeojeon, where smoke and the smell of people mingled.
The cauldron was always boiling.
Inside the thick iron pot, pork bones and innards had simmered for a long time, and the broth had turned white.
Oil rose in round beads and thinly covered the surface.
Each time it boiled, that film broke and gathered again.
When the soup was ladled into a bowl, it made a heavy sound.
The broth was thick, and when a spoon entered it, the fine film of oil split and revealed the hot depths beneath.
A handful of green onion was thrown on top.
Finely chopped garlic was piled on generously.
Steam surged upward, and the smell rose first.
The deep scent unique to pork laid the foundation, while the sharp heat of garlic struck the nose.
The green freshness of the scallions cut through it, and saliva gathered in the mouth.
When stirred once with a spoon, pieces of meat and innards that had settled at the bottom rose to the surface.
Thin slices of lean meat, chewy skin, and softly loosening innards mixed together.
When one spoonful of broth entered the mouth, the oil first coated the palate, and beneath it the hot soup spread.
Once seasoned with salt, the taste stood upright.
For those who sat with hunger in their bellies, this soup was not food.
It was heat filling the body.
White steam continued to rise above the bowl.
That warmth covered the face.
This was why the hand reached for it before any grand feast.
Youngwoo ate the hot gukbap almost as if drinking it.
Long fatigue loosened like tears.
If he ate until his stomach was full and slept in some corner, it felt as though all those memories would vanish like melting snow.
He chewed roughly and swallowed.
He drank it down with loud slurps.
"Is it good?"
At Cheolun's question, Youngwoo laughed faintly.
"This is the taste. The taste of home."
"That is true. Even at Seonchullyeong, the first thing that came to mind was this gukbap."
"The gukbap woman should receive a reward."
"We pay her money, do we not?"
Youngwoo spoke to So Cheolun.
"We have come this far. That is enough. You go home."
"What? No. I will assist you."
"I said go."
"How about your resignation, Brother?"
"His Majesty said he will give an order."
"Are you waiting for that now?"
"No. I am waiting for Brother Park Geunsu to come out. When he comes, I will ask what happened."
"So he is in a meeting."
"Hm."
Cheolun stepped back.
"Brother Cheollyong told me not to go anywhere and to stay stuck to you."
"What? What did he say?"
"He said to stay stuck to you."
"This…"
"I will not bother you. What was it he said? That you are like a little child set down beside water."
"That is something to say to a jungnangjang, is it?"