The innkeeper smiled broadly and shook an empty jar.
Sahyeon glared at his unpleasant face and wiped the moisture from his face.
“Hyun, I’m really worried. If you meet some rough guys late at night, it won’t be easy to escape riding that weak horse. I’ll be waiting in front of the Unkyunggung gate…”
“Don’t even go near the palace! You haven’t even settled down yet, let alone manage your own duties. If you make a mistake at a time like this, it won’t be something that can be resolved by simply begging on your knees. Both of us would lose our heads!”
“No, no, I’m not saying I’ll do anything; I just wanted to quietly stand in front of the gate…”
After spending a long time with Ogwang, Sahyeon had come to realize something.
This man is a great troublemaker who creates problems even where there are none.
If he’s allowed to come near the Unkyunggung gate, he will surely get into a shouting match with some palace lady or prince, or collapse in front of the noblemen’s carriage causing it to tip over.
And if questioned, he’d boast that he is Sahyeon’s elder brother from the Unkyunggung archives, rattling off things that would make Sahyeon clutch his neck in frustration.
“I clearly warned you. Stay in your room quietly and read your books. How far did you study yesterday?”
Only then did Ogwang shut his mouth and look away.
It was a mystery why the guy at home or in the palace hated reading books so much despite having good eyesight.
Even the old monk read the bamboo slips laboriously letter by letter at a distance close to his nose after his eyesight deteriorated.
“Then what on earth did you do yesterday? Don’t tell me you went back to the cockfighting ring again?”
“How can you say that about your elder brother?”
“Do you want me to tell you how I see you?”
Ogwang looked at the innkeeper with a pitiful expression.
“I didn’t commit a crime, so just tell the truth.”
“Well, that is…”
The innkeeper clicked his tongue, frustrated, and answered for Sahyeon.
“I went to see the blacksmith.”
“Why the blacksmith?”
“The kitchen knives got all chipped, you know?”
“I mean…”
With his rough finger missing half the tip, the innkeeper placed his hand on Sahyeon’s shoulder.
Then he whispered quietly to the bewildered Sahyeon.
“He’s not causing trouble, so just keep an eye on him for a while. I’ll take responsibility and won’t let him come near Unkyunggung.”
Sahyeon reluctantly nodded, glancing alternately at the innkeeper, who nodded as if asking him to trust him despite his unreliable face, and Ogwang, who was hiding behind him like a coward.
Since the innkeeper was the only one who could watch over Ogwang while Sahyeon was in the palace, he had no choice but to trust him at least to that extent.
“Once I settle in, I’ll recommend you too, elder brother. Until then, prepare yourself. You should show the dignity of a longtime disciple of the master.”
Ogwang’s expression became gloomy again.
It was unclear whether he was disappointed because it would take a long time for Sahyeon to settle down or if he simply hated the idea of ‘preparing,’ which meant studying.
***
Pushing open the now-familiar gate of Gamcheondang, the youngest palace guard sweeping the yard greeted him with a bright smile and a respectful bow.
Judging by his expression, he was likely carrying a basket full of dried persimmons to offer him again.
“Has the prince gone out again?”
The youngest palace guard shook his head vigorously. Sahyeon thought all sorts of things and peeked at the doorstep.
The wooden shoes of Dan Ijae were neatly arranged on the pale gray stone.
“Well, even princes can only play around for a day or two before their health starts to fail. Today, I’ll definitely…”
As Sahyeon strode toward the pavilion, the youngest palace guard grabbed his sleeve tightly.
When Sahyeon turned around, the guard shook his head so vigorously he wondered if his head might fall off, his thin lips trembling.
Suddenly, Sahyeon realized he had never heard the youngest guard speak.
He awkwardly scratched his cheek and stopped his head-shaking.
“Is it not okay to enter now?”
The youngest palace guard nodded.
“Are other guests here?”
He shook his head again.
“Then, is someone upset?”
Again, he shook his head.
“Then what on earth…”
The guard blinked his large eyes, folded his hands neatly, placed one on his cheek, and gently tilted his head. Could it be…
“Are they sleeping?”
He nodded.
“The sun is high in the sky, and they’re still asleep?”
Logically, it didn’t matter what time an idle prince wakes up.
After all, if ignored for a few more days, the troublesome teacher who will soon be dismissed and forced to leave Unkyunggung wouldn’t care about waiting for him all day without even getting two hours of sleep.
Sahyeon understood.
He had to.
“I’ll work until the prince wakes. May I enter?”
Sahyeon clenched his fists tightly, took a deep breath, and steadied his mind.
He decided to stay in the prince’s quarters with the hope that if he showed this waiting side for long enough, he might eventually feel sorry.
“Why are you so busy?”
One palace guard kindly rolled up his sleeves and began to grind ink for him.
Sahyeon spread out the bamboo slips with only sparse annotations on his desk and sighed lightly.
“The head of Paekyeongbu, who manages the finances of the Grand Minister Pasa. He requested me to add commentary to the writings of my master, Chae Gong.”
Though the request didn’t come directly from the Grand Minister but from a lower official under his jurisdiction, who delivered a mountain of empty bamboo slips, Sahyeon had no choice but to accept the proposal gratefully.
The Grand Minister was a prime minister-like figure who advised the king closely and decided the most important national matters.
For such a person to show interest in Sahyeon meant he had to give his best.
However…
“There are dozens of disciples who have studied under my master for decades in Yugang, all competing to publish commentaries. Whether I, who have only served for a few years, can add proper commentary is the real question.”
The writings left by Chae Gong were limited, and even now, many disciples were rushing to produce commentaries on those limited texts.
By comparing the commentaries on the same book, one could measure the depth and insight of the commentator’s scholarship.
Someone like the Grand Minister wouldn’t request commentary from Sahyeon without reason.
On the bright side, it showed that Jeonghanggung was paying attention to Sahyeon to the extent that the Grand Minister was interested.
On the downside, this might expose the bare minimum of Sahyeon’s learning that he had skillfully concealed with eloquence.
“Sigh…”
Sighing, he rolled up his sleeves.
The black patches at the sleeve ends climbed up to his elbow, revealing his pale arm.
Though tanned during the summer sun, his skin looked pale under the dull winter sky, which displeased Sahyeon.
“Oh my, Chief Archivist, aren’t you too thin? I knew it when I saw you weren’t eating properly.”
Because of this problem of looking more fragile than he actually was, before he could even protest his sturdiness, the burly palace guard shouted loudly.
“Hey, our Chief Archivist needs to gain some weight, so bring a basket full of dried persimmons!”
What was with ‘our Chief Archivist,’ and the request for dried persimmons was obviously filled with personal affection…
The youngest palace guard seemed to have been waiting just for those words.
He came carrying a basket of dried persimmons as big as his own body, placed it down in the middle, and smiled, showing his white teeth.
“Everyone really loves dried persimmons, huh?”
Sahyeon dipped his brush into the ink that had been carefully ground and asked.
The burly palace guard took a few of the plumpest dried persimmons from a clean bowl and placed them next to Sahyeon as he replied,
“You have to eat them while you still can. There are still plenty of dried persimmons left in other places now, so no one says much about it, but just wait a month. Those who have eaten all their share will rush to Gamcheon Hall and steal all the dried persimmons.”
“Master Gong doesn’t eat snacks often. Since visitors don’t come frequently either, the dried persimmons pile up through the winter.”
“Master Gong gives any leftover dried persimmons to us, but honestly, it’s annoying to see them get raided as if they were entrusted to someone else.”
It looked like their greed—or rather irritation—was making them eat the dried persimmons even more aggressively.
The eyes of the guards chewing the dried persimmons looked determined somehow, so Sahyeon also bit into the dried persimmons on the plate to support their struggle.
“Master Gong seems to be very generous with those close to him?”
Then he casually asked the question that had always been on his mind.
Giving out fabric received as a gift and fairly distributing leftover dried persimmons—hearing things like that, Dan Ijae really seemed like a warm and caring lord.
But Sahyeon had never seen Dan Ijae treat the palace guards kindly during his visits to Gamcheon Hall.
The guards themselves avoided being near him except when necessary to serve, even though they didn’t seem like people who disliked talking, given how they all clustered around whenever Sahyeon entered.
“Hmm, rather than generous…”
The burly guard hesitated to use the word ‘generous’ and trailed off.
“In a way, you could say he is generous!”
The guard grinding the ink hurriedly tried to smooth over the situation.
“That’s right. This guy was kicked out of all other pavilions, but only Master Gong took him in.”
The youngest palace guard nodded at that remark.
In the ruthless palace ecosystem where even a slight problem at work meant being thrown out, not kicking out a guard who couldn’t speak was indeed a generous act.