Disclaimer: The SKKS-verse belongs to the creators of Sungkyunkwan Scandal.

Chapter Eleven

The so-called "new Joseon" is nothing but the same system in new clothing. For all the king's promises, the people are still starving in the streets and power remains concentrated in the hands of those who are more interested in protecting their own selfish interests than actually being of service to the people. We need to see real change, not just hear new words from the mouth of the king. The government must—

Ka-hai tossed the blue leaflet into a nearby trash heap with an impatient snort. "I have no idea what this person is trying to say," she muttered.

She was turning away from the trash heap when she was suddenly swept off her feet by a pair of strong arms. "Noonim!"

Disoriented, it took her a while to realize that one of her brothers had picked her up in a big bear hug. "Oof, she's heavy!" Ka-sar complained to Ka-chun, who was standing by and watching. "I think she's getting fat."

"She could be pregnant," the younger brother pointed out. "Are you pregnant, noonim?"

"No, I'm not!" she said, blushing. "Put me down!"

Despite their making fun of her just moments before, Ka-hai couldn't help embracing her brothers once Ka-sar set her back on her feet. She hadn't seen them since her last visit to her father's house, which was, she realized, quite a while ago. "What are you doing here in town?" she asked them. "Business for Appa?"

Ka-chun nodded. "How about you?"

"Just some shopping." Besides buying a few things for herself, she was also placing orders for her father-in-law's birthday celebration, but decided not to mention it just yet. She wasn't sure yet whether Minister Moon was going to invite his in-laws to the party.

"I'm heading home shortly," she went on as Kwan-sook emerged from the bookseller's with the parcel of books for which Ka-hai had been waiting. "Would you like to come and visit for a while?"

"My lady," the maid reminded her in a low voice, "are you sure that's a good idea? The young lord is on duty today. Don't you remember the last time you had guests while he wasn't around?"

Ka-sar held up his hands. "You don't have to feel obligated to invite us if Ma-hyung won't allow it," he said. However, he couldn't resist adding, "But I have to admit I'm curious to hear about what did happen the last time you had guests while he wasn't around."

"Nothing happened," his sister told him flatly. "And I wouldn't invite you if I wasn't allowed to have guests. I'm just supposed to let Jae-shin know, that's all; and I think he's just at headquarters today, so it'll be easy enough to send him a note. Perhaps he can even join us.

"You must come to the house and take some tea," she pressed further. "I'll show you around the house and you can see Chul-moo."

That convinced the brothers, who had sheepishly admitted that they couldn't do a thing with the chestnut before sending him to Ka-hai. "He's still alive?" Ka-chun asked, surprised.

"Of course he is! I don't think I've completely gentled him yet, but he's much more tame now than when he first arrived."

Mindful of the marital disaster that occurred the first time she entertained without her husband present, Ka-hai did send a note to police headquarters to inform Jae-shin that her brothers were visiting and invite him to join them, but the messenger returned saying that he had been called away to assist with an emergency.

The emergency turned out to be a street fight, which caused Jae-shin to come home wounded as well as late. His armguard had taken the worst of the blow, so the slice across his forearm was neat and not too deep as to require stitches, and it had been treated before he got home, but Ka-hai insisted on seeing to it herself.

"An apothecary near the scene saw to us once things had settled down," he told his wife as he watched her dress the wound with a poultice that fortunately didn't smell as bad as her infamous horse liniment. (It stung a little, though.)

"I don't like the looks of a lot of those apothecaries in town," she said darkly. "Some of them don't seem to be any better than a bunch of quacks."

Jae-shin, of course, knew quite a bit about treating injuries on the fly and the man who had treated him appeared competent enough; but he decided not to say anything. He quite enjoyed having his wife fuss over him. "His hands did look a little dirty," he fibbed.

"There, you see?" Ka-hai unwound a length of clean cotton for a bandage and busied herself with binding his wound. "Abeonim should speak to the Minister of War about retaining physicians on the force. Or maybe he should go straight to the king? I don't know, but the government really should take better care of its police officers."

He smiled fondly at the top of her head. "Where were you when I was getting shot at on a regular basis?"

Looking back, Jae-shin felt as though his days as the Red Messenger were characterized by periods of heart-pumping excitement punctuated by moments of loneliness and even terror. There were times when he'd had to heal himself by sheer force of will alone; when he denied himself the healing of slumber, dozing only when the pain and fatigue finally overcame him, for fear that he wouldn't wake up and no one would ever know what had happened to him. He hadn't been pleased to discover that Minister Moon had been on to him, and hadn't wanted to let the rest of the Jalgeum Quartet in on his secret, but the good thing that had come out of having others know was that he didn't have to face that pain and fear alone again.

Ka-hai looked a little puzzled, which was only to be expected because she had no idea what he was talking about, but she smiled and bantered back, "I believe I was out in the country, doctoring horses and dreaming of the day when I could tend a real, live wounded warrior."

"Well, this warrior is going to be just fine, thanks to you, my lady," he answered, grinning and leaning over to kiss her. "But even then, I still got a little beat up. You'll need to be gentle if you want to have your wicked way with me."

She kissed him back willingly, but blushed and shot him a faintly disapproving look at the joke that followed. "I can't believe you can still think about that at a time like this!"

"Why not? I'm wounded, not dead."

Minister Moon was glad to see that the quarrel between his son and daughter-in-law seemed to be over. In fact, judging from the flush on their faces as they entered the dining room, they had apparently settled their differences so well that it would only be a matter of time before he was dandling a grandson on his knee.

"Please pardon our tardiness, Abeonim," Ka-hai apologized as she and Jae-shin took their customary places on either side of him. "I was busy tending to my lord's injury."

Minister Moon eyed the bandage on his son's arm with some concern. "How is it?"

"I'll be fine, Abeonim," Jae-shin assured him, grinning at his wife. "Ka-hai did a most thorough job."

She shot him a withering look, but nodded briskly. "It's nothing to worry about," she confirmed as she poured tea for everyone and directed the servants to bring out the food. "I've seen much worse on my brothers."

"Speaking of your brothers," Minister Moon said, "did you have a nice visit with them, Ka-hai?"

"Oh, yes," was the cheerful reply. "They told me all the news from home. Ka-sar says he might start looking for a bride soon."

"Best of luck to him," Jae-shin commented, looking faintly amused at the idea of his rambunctious brother-in-law getting married and settled.

"That's what I said," Ka-hai snickered. Minister Moon couldn't help smiling at the mischievous glances that passed between the two. "And I showed them around the house a little bit, so they could see where I live." She glanced down and picked at a tiny snag in her skirt. "They were curious about how I was doing."

"And... what did you tell them?" her husband asked quietly.

"I told them I'm doing just fine, and that I'm happy," she replied. "Being married is a lot better than I had imagined. I love being in charge of my own house, and Abeonim is very kind to me."

Her father-in-law gave her a fond smile. "I'm glad to know that you're happy here, my dear."

The tension left Jae-shin's shoulders at Ka-hai's response, but his carriage stiffened right back up again when he realized that she hadn't mentioned one very important thing. "And what about your husband?" he asked, giving his wife a quizzical look. "What do you think of him?"

Ka-hai pretended to think for a moment. "Oh, he's all right, I suppose," she replied finally with a little wrinkle of her nose. "He leaves his clothes on the floor and sometimes he can be grouchy, but he has his uses."

Minister Moon had to laugh at the outraged expression that crossed his son's face. "I do not leave my clothes on the floor!" Jae-shin protested.

"Really?" she teased. "Then I suppose you just brought home some new rugs to decorate our room." She gave a small, long-suffering sigh. "They're not really to my taste, but if you like them so much, then I guess I can live with them."

Her husband narrowed his eyes at her, but there was a smile playing around his lips as he said, "I'll get you for that, woman."

Ka-hai gasped and she rounded on her father-in-law. "Did you hear that, Abeonim?" she demanded, her eyes comically wide. "He threatened me, and after I said I was prepared to put up with those ugly rugs for his sake! I should have let that wound fester."

This last she said with a reproachful look at Jae-shin, who hid his bandaged arm behind his back. "That's a nice thing to say to your husband, who got wounded in the line of duty," he huffed. "Well, you can try to get your bandages and your medicine back if you want, but I'd like to see you try to use them again."

"That's enough, now, children," Minister Moon interjected. "Or else you're both going to have to eat in the kitchen."

"She started it," Jae-shin said defensively as he and his father sat in Minister Moon's study after dinner.

"Be that as it may, someone had to be the adult at that table," the older man said with a wry smile. "Be careful with your arm."

"It's fine, Abeonim."

The reason why both men were in the study that night was that King Jeong-jo was considering amending the kingdom's labor laws, and Minister Moon thought it would be a good idea to discuss the proposed changes with his son. They occasionally discussed matters of state when their respective schedules allowed it; not only did Jae-shin provide a fresh perspective, but Minister Moon also wanted to give him the chance to become as competent in interpreting the law as he was in enforcing it. Although the boy was connected with a different Ministry and seemed to be doing well there, his father saw no harm in making other career options available to him (provided, of course, that he proved to be qualified for said options).

That night, however, it seemed that discussing the amendments to the law would have to wait, because they both had other things on their minds.

Minister Moon accepted the cup of wine that Jae-shin poured for him and sipped thoughtfully. "When Ka-hai said she was happy here... she wasn't just saying that to spare my feelings, was she?"

"I think she was speaking the truth," he assured his father after giving it some thought. "You are very kind to her, as she said, and she likes you very much."

The older man nodded, mollified, then chuckled. "And how about you? Does she like you at all?"

"Of course she does. If she didn't, then we probably wouldn't—" Cutting himself off, Jae-shin cleared his throat and took a sip of his own wine. ""Look, Abeonim, I'll admit that Ka-hai and I hit a few rough patches in the past, but we were still getting to know each other then. I don't know if it's obvious because we still argue with each other, but we get along much better now."

"Then I'll worry when you stop talking to each other." Minister Moon put down his cup and gave his son an inquiring look. "And do you like her?"

"It's a little late to be asking me that, isn't it?" he asked in return, reddening and glancing away. "After all, we're already married."

"Just answer the question."

Jae-shin hid behind the wine bottle for a while, wondering how to do just that. He had talked about women with Yong-ha before, but his side of those conversations had always been about how they gave him the hiccups, made him break out in hives and caused other nervous reactions that may or may not be true. "I guess..." he said slowly. "She likes to make fun of me a little too much and sometimes she can be a nag, but at least she's smart, and she's not silly or boring like a lot of girls can be." He shrugged. "So... I suppose... things could have turned out much worse."

His father looked pleased despite the rambling reply. "I chose well for you, didn't I?"

He couldn't help smiling at that. "Yes, Abeonim, you did."

Preparing for Minister Moon's birthday celebration meant treading a very fine line: while things had to be simple, because government officials were obligated to set a good example for the people, they also had to be tasteful enough to impress the politicians and businessmen who were attending. With the help of the Moons' servants, Ka-hai strove to strike the right balance and do her father-in-law proud; the fact that her father was coming, too, made her doubly motivated to do well.

Fortunately, everyone in attendance seemed to appreciate their efforts. Minister Moon beamed proudly as he watched his guests eat and drink their fill, and chat pleasantly with each other. "Ka-hai did a wonderful job putting this all together," he said to Lord Cha, seated on his left. "You were absolutely right about her being trained well."

The other man smiled. "And were you right about my daughter suiting your son well?"

Minister Moon glanced at his son, who was sitting on his right and trying to discreetly loosen the ties of his hat, and grinned. "Yes, I think I was," he replied.

The fathers had spoken quietly to avoid being overheard by anyone, especially Jae-shin. However, the younger man seemed to sense that something of relevance to him was being discussed, causing him to stop fidgeting and give his father an inquiring look.

"I was just telling my in-law that Ka-hai did a wonderful job with the party," Minister Moon told him. "I wouldn't have thought of hiring musicians."

"Oh. Yes, I suppose she did," Jae-shin agreed, looking at the quartet of gisaengs sitting and playing musical instruments just outside the door. He wasn't an expert on music, but he knew what he liked and this group was actually quite decent. He also had a feeling that Ka-hai had found them with the help of her new friend, Cho-sun.

Suddenly, his wife's face popped into the open doorway, as though summoned by his thoughts. She surveyed the room, then looked at her husband and smiled when she saw him smiling at her.

Her father-in-law saw her, too, and beckoned for her to come in. Blushing, Ka-hai demurred at first, but eventually edged her way inside, giving Lord Cha a warm smile on her way to take a seat by Jae-shin's side.

"My lords and honored guests, this is my daughter-in-law, Cha Ka-hai," Minister Moon announced to the room at large. "She is responsible for everything that we are eating, drinking and seeing tonight."

She bowed low to the guests. "I hope that everything is to your liking," she said to them, her blush deepening when they vociferously assured her that everything was just perfect.

"Please indulge me and allow her to join us for a while," her father-in-law went on. "I think she would be happy to see you enjoying the party, after all her hard work, and a man really should have his family near on his birthday."

Ka-hai smiled shyly as the guests responded that she was more than welcome to stay. "I just peeked in to check if everything was going smoothly," she muttered to Jae-shin. Servants hurried over to bring her her own little table and set it with food and drink.

"You don't have to speak to anyone if you'd rather not," he murmured back. "It will be fine if you just excused yourself after a while."

However, there was no danger of Ka-hai sitting around tongue-tied, because her father was more than happy to engage her in conversation. "Your mother and brothers send their regards," he said, smiling fondly at her. "You are well?"

"I'm very well, Ap—Abeonim," she assured him, remembering at the last minute to address her father more formally in front of company.

"I'm glad to hear that. Nevertheless, we all miss you a lot."

"I miss you, too." Ka-hai looked deferentially at her husband and father-in-law. "Perhaps we can visit my family sometime, Abeonim?"

"I think that's a marvelous idea," Minister Moon replied, nodding. "Jae-shin and I will figure out when we can both accompany you, and we will make arrangements."

She smiled. "Thank you, Abeonim."

Ka-hai had returned to her childhood home a few times since she was married, but neither her husband nor her father-in-law was ever able to accompany her on these trips. It would be nice if all of them could visit this time: spending time in the country would definitely do Minister Moon, whose work never seemed to be done, a world of good; and she could show Jae-shin all her favorite places on the estate (as well as that shed where Ka-sar had been caught frolicking with one of the maids last summer).

"What's so funny?" Jae-shin whispered in her ear.

She came back to earth with a start. "What?"

"You're smiling."

"I am?" Blushing, she managed a light little laugh. "I'm just looking forward to our visit, that's all."

To head off any more questions, she pretended to be interested in the discussion involving the rest of the guests, which turned out to be about King Jeong-jo's plans to improve the laws protecting laborers' rights.

"I think that protecting workers' rights is a fine idea," said one of the businessmen, "but those of us who earn our living in trade must know exactly what is involved before we decide whether or not to support any proposals. If the new law will make it more expensive to pay our workers, we might have to raise our prices and that won't be good for business, especially with free trade that makes it cheaper to just import goods instead of make them ourselves."

"It's true that we must keep costs down and prices low to be able to compete," replied a man whom Jae-shin recognized as the Minister of Commerce, "but our economy is built on the blood and sweat of our laborers. It's only right that some of their interests be considered as well in the crafting of the new laws."

"My lord the Minister is right," said Jae-shin's father-in-law. "I hear my neighbors talking about problems with their tenants all the time, and it seems to me that a lot of those problems could be avoided if they just listened to the people and thought of ways to help them. You can't possibly give your workers everything they want, but I can tell you from experience that a little goodwill can go a long way." He smiled self-deprecatingly. "Now, mine may not be the richest estate in the kingdom, but I daresay I have some of the happiest workers in the area, and happy workers work harder."

"Getting the input of the workers themselves is a novel idea," Minister Moon said. "If we know what they want, and are able to balance this with the interests of our merchants, then we would have a law that is truly responsive to the needs of all."

"How might we do that, though?" another guest asked. "There are hundreds of workers in this city alone. Asking each and every one what they want from the government would take forever."

To Jae-shin's surprise, the next person to speak was the woman at his side. "Why don't you ask the guilds?" Ka-hai blurted out. She blushed when everyone in the room turned to look at her. "I'm sorry for interrupting. Please don't mind me."

"No, go on, my dear," Minister Moon said. "What were you saying about the guilds?"

She looked at him uncertainly, but pressed on when she received encouraging nods from her family. "Well, I-I understand that there are all kinds of workers' guilds in town," she said. "Maybe you can get them to send someone to tell you what their members are thinking. That way, you'll speak to less people, instead of having to see each and every person, and I'm sure they'll pick someone who can express their ideas clearly.

"Besides," she added, "I think it's important to ask the workers themselves about this kind of thing. If they feel that the government is listening to them, then they're more likely to support whatever laws you put together. Like my father said, happy workers work harder."

"That is a very astute observation, Lady Moon," remarked the Minister of Commerce. He didn't sound like he approved, but he didn't sound disapproving, either. "Are you, by any chance, a scholar like your husband?"

"No, my lord," she responded modestly, giving her father a smile. "Just a country girl whose father taught her to keep her eyes and ears open."

"You did well tonight," Jae-shin said to his wife later that night, after the party had ended and they were lying in bed, nestled together like two friendly (and rather sleepy) spoons.

She gave a satisfied sigh. "The party was very nice, wasn't it?"

He smiled in the darkness. "It was, but I was talking about you speaking up when they were talking about the labor laws."

"Oh." Ka-hai laughed and snuggled deeper into his embrace. "Did I really?" she asked, sounding pleased. "I thought I was going to die when everyone looked at me. I sounded so ridiculous."

"You sounded just fine," he assured her. "Sometimes scholars and government officials forget what it's like out in the real world, so they probably hadn't thought about the guilds until you mentioned them. Besides," he added grimly, "if anyone had laughed, they would have had to answer to me."

"I'm sure you would have been very impressive if that had happened."

"Naturally." Jae-shin smoothed her hair aside and kissed the nape of her neck. "Where did you learn about the guilds, anyway?"

She shifted in his arms as she shrugged. "I hear people mention them in the marketplace, and Yoon-hee lent me this book about the government that talked about giving the people a greater voice in how the kingdom is run. I kind of just put them together," she said on a yawn.

"You're borrowing books from Yoon-hee?" he asked, surprised.

"I do know how to read, you know."

"I'm sure you can read very well, but I just... well, I must admit that I never really pegged you as the reading type."

"You'd see me reading if you didn't make me drop everything and attend to you every time you walk into the room," Ka-hai told him tartly, then relaxed and laughed. "I never had much time for reading out on the farm, so I never got to enjoy it until I came to live here."

"And I actually started with a few books from the Sungkyunkwan library," she went on. "Yoon-hee borrowed them for me. She said you had read every book in there."

"And you believed her?"

"Well, your name was in the little cards in the backs of all the books I read." She sighed and patted the arm he had wrapped around her waist. "What was it like, going to a big university?" she asked then.

"I liked it. Living with other scholars, having classes and athletic contests... it's very different from the world outside." Jae-shin chuckled. "I liked it so much, I failed classes on purpose just to stay longer."

"I'm sure you did it more to annoy your father."

"That was another reason why I did it," he admitted with a grin.

"I bet it was fun going to a place like that," she mused, sounding almost wistful. "I loved growing up in the country, but we were always so busy. It's nice to imagine a place where you mostly just sit around and learn."

"We didn't study purely because we wanted to. Sungkyunkwan is where you go to prepare for the civil service examinations. We went there to learn how to help run the country and serve the people."

"Well, going to class still sounds like a lot more fun than shoveling manure out of the stables."

"When you put it that way, it does," he agreed, laughing. "Unfortunately, you wouldn't have had a choice a few years ago. It was only recently that King Jeong-jo ordered that women be allowed to attend university, too."

"That's all right," his wife said. "It may be too late for me, but not for our children. Maybe we'll have a daughter who'll grow up to become a doctor."

Jae-shin's eyes widened. "Are you trying to tell me something?" His arm tightened reflexively around her, then loosened again when he remembered that a child might be in there right this minute. "Are you pregnant?"

"What?" she sounded shocked. "No! No... I don't think so. What made you think I was?"

"Your talking about our children, for one thing!"

"Well we're bound to have some someday, aren't we, if everything is working the way it should?" Ka-hai must have felt his heart pounding against her back, because she turned so that she lay facing him. "Are you all right?"

"I'll be fine," he told her, taking a deep breath and willing himself to calm down. "My heart just seized up for a while back there."

"If anyone has a right to have a fit, it's me — after all, I'll be doing all the work." When her retort failed to get a reaction from him, his wife felt around in the dark and leaned over to give him a kiss. "I'm sorry I scared you," she went on in a gentler tone. "If it happens, I promise I'll tell you right away, all right?"

"You had better," he replied, managing a laugh and kissing her back. "Now, we should probably go to sleep."

Jae-shin gathered her close and felt her relax against him as she dropped off into slumber. He wished that he could fall asleep, too, but his brain was still afire from the initial panic. Even though she said she wasn't pregnant (yet), he couldn't help picturing Ka-hai's body ripening with his child, of her cradling a baby in her arms. It led him to wonder whether they would have a son with his skill at archery, or a daughter who would sound just like her mother when she laughed. Perhaps they would even have both.

He blew out a breath and closed his eyes. It was just a false alarm, he told himself as he tried to relax and go to sleep; there would be plenty of time to become a father in the future.