Chapter – 43
The Greedy Second Wife
The power of stories is formidable.
Especially oral tales—those old legends carried by word of mouth—have a presence of their own.
Why else would there be something called literary therapy?
Even though I’ve never actually tried it.
Back in her undergraduate years, Amang had taken a brief interest in literary therapy.
Writing as a way to face your true self, listing out all that has happened to confront your past, and so on.
Would that really help?
Who knows? I’ve never done it.
So Amang had absolutely no idea why the Empress suddenly wanted to tell her a “fun” story.
Grand Tutor Geum? What?
“Isn’t it quite interesting?”
“Amang, you would like it.”
On what grounds was she saying that?
Well… might as well hear it.
Amang and Geumjin scooted close to the table.
One of the Empress’s trusted attendants poured tea into their empty cups.
“Yes. This is a very old story. When I was still Crown Princess, an elderly court lady told it to me as I lay awake late into the night.”
The two children swallowed hard and were instantly drawn into the tale.
**『Once, there was a wealthy family.
A man from a humble background had risen through his own efforts and built up a household of prestige.
A crumbling old house had transformed into a magnificent estate, and his frail family suddenly found themselves of elevated status.
The family praised him. They called him the one who would bring glory to their lineage and said it was thanks to the ancestors’ virtue.
In truth, two women had helped him achieve success.
The first wife, Lady Gong.
She was virtuous and wise, a woman from a fallen noble family.
Her maiden family had supported him in every possible way.
Quietly, she had stood by him through everything, simply waiting for the right time.
“I believed in you, husband. That you would succeed.”
“It’s all thanks to you, my wife.”
They say that a couple who endures hardship together grows deep affection.
And so the love between them only deepened after they overcame poverty.
Even if their marriage had begun as a family arrangement…
“So now that we no longer struggle to feed ourselves… I’m thinking of taking another wife.”
Any other woman would have slapped him for such outrageous news, but not the first wife.
Her heart was generous.
“If that is my husband’s wish, how could I, as your wife, refuse?”
Anyone would harbor jealousy deep inside, yet she had none of that.
A woman raised with abundant love knew that her husband’s heart would not change.
Thus the man brought in a second wife.
The second wife, Lady Yeo.
She had grown up in the same village as the man, gathering herbs in the mountains with her father, an herbalist.
She was also the man’s first love.
Had he not married the first wife through an arranged match, the place beside him surely would have been hers.
The second wife truly loved him. She collected countless medicinal herbs to give him, her devotion unwavering.
Her tireless support finally bore fruit. No longer a poor herbalist’s daughter, she became the second mistress of a wealthy home—a long-dreamed rise in status.』**
No matter how stories reflect real people…
Isn’t this a little too blatant?
Honestly, from the moment the Empress introduced the two wives, Amang already had a rough idea of where this was going.
This was obviously her own story.
The virtuous, wise first wife Lady Gong is the Empress.
From previous stories, it was already clear: the Empress had been at Wudi’s side since he was a prince.
That cruel, ruthless man—she had stayed with him all along.
She must have feared the sharp blade of the prince who nearly killed her.
And when the prince who slaughtered her brothers ascended the throne, her family must have played a role.
A misstep could have meant treason.
History always stands with the victor. Prince Yangwon and Crown Princess Soyoung-ah had done the impossible.
She endured the storm, yet the place in Wudi’s heart belonged to—
Hwa-nyeong Consort.
Amang’s own mother.
But insulting the person’s mother right in front of them? Isn’t that a bit much?
Even if I don’t remember her, I know everything!
Was that illusion from the portrait real?
Amang could not be sure.
She truly remembered nothing.
“Amang, what troubles you so?”
“I’m curious about the second wife.”
“Oh? What of her?”
Amang swallowed.
She should at least point out one thing.
“What kind of personality does the second wife have?”
“Her personality… What do you think?”
As expected of someone married to Wudi. She was cunning in ways that resembled him.
It felt like the Empress was testing her.
No matter what I say, she holds the upper hand.
Then the wise choice would be to evade.
“I do not know yet! I would like to hear the rest of the story!”
“The two wives got along wonderfully. The generous first wife truly cherished the second. And one day, great news came to the household.”
“Did someone conceive?”
The Empress silently nodded.
“Amang, Geumjin. Who do you think became pregnant?”
She already said the answer earlier.
Obviously the first wife.
She had emphasized virtue and generosity several times.
Traditionally, those who did good were believed to receive blessings.
“I think it was the second wife!”
“Oh? Why?”
“Conception comes from deep affection! The man’s first love was the second wife, so surely she conceived first!”
A fool sat beside her.
Someone who couldn’t remember what the Empress said ten minutes ago.
Don’t look at me proudly like that.
That wasn’t the right answer.
“It was the first wife. She accumulated great virtue—surely the Three Spirits were moved.”
“Yes. Pregnancy isn’t necessarily tied to affection.”
That sounded dangerously like saying childless people lack virtue.
Perhaps even the Empress herself…
“As Amang said, it was the first wife. Upon hearing the news, the second wife flew into a rage.”
“So she wanted her own child to inherit the line?”
“Yes. Unlike the formal first wife, the second wife was a concubine. Only then did she finally admit her jealousy toward the first.”
**『Second wife Lady Yeo could not believe it.
First wife Lady Gong may be virtuous, but she was soft.
She knew nothing of how to please a man, a puppet of a woman!
Surely it should have been she—the favored one—who conceived first.
It was unfair.
Heavens above, why such trials for her?
Her frustration turned to indignation, then gloom, then finally malice.
“The child is not yet born. If it is not born… it is not yet a child.”
Her twisted love for the man reached its peak.
The second wife came up with a scheme.
She brewed a tea containing yulmu—Job’s tears—a grain harmful to pregnant women.
As an herbalist’s daughter, she knew this better than anyone.
“How are you feeling these days?”
“Oh, come in. I’ve been waiting for you.”
The first wife had no idea what the second had brought.
Never did she imagine it could harm her unborn child.
She trusted the second wife completely.
Ah, sincerity can wound.
The second wife calmly offered the tea.
“I brought some tea. I hear it is good for pregnant women.”
“You’re the only one who thinks of me so.”
“Do drink. It’s fragrant and delicious.”
The first wife suspected nothing.
She trusted the second wife wholeheartedly—and so she drank the yulmu tea.
It was a taste she had never had before, and she emptied the cup quickly.
Exactly as the second wife had planned.』**
What did this cruel tale imply?
If Amang were a more trained psychological counselor, she would have found the hidden intention behind it.
So what exactly are you trying to say?
Amang had no idea.
Why tell such a heavy story?
This doesn’t sound like a casual bedtime story.
As Amang pondered, Geumjin’s hand quietly reached toward the tanghulu.
Yes. Sweets were the best for headaches.
“Did the first wife miscarry? Because of the yulmu?”
“Yes.”
“So the second wife’s scheme succeeded.”
Amang spoke with as much sadness and poignancy as she could muster.
A ten-year-old hearing such a shocking story—this was the best reaction she could give.
“The story isn’t over yet.”
What? It’s not?
What else could possibly happen?
The trusting first wife was tricked by the scheming second.
It resembled the palace—everyone clawing to drag each other down.
Is this to torment me?
A revelation that your mother did such a crime?
But in reality, it was Hwa-nyeong Consort who miscarried.
Amang had no knowledge that the Empress had ever conceived.
She had never witnessed that.
She had only seen the vision of Hwa-nyeong Consort screaming and writhing in Yeonyeong Palace, losing her child.
A sting spread through Amang’s chest.
“Guess. What do you think happens next?”
At first, Amang thought this story was about the Empress and Hwa-nyeong Consort.
But the further the tale went, the more familiar it felt—
As if it was a riddle with no correct answer.
“I want to hear both of your opinions.”
The Empress drank her cooled tea.
A faint, fishy smirk gleamed behind the cup—Amang prayed only she had seen it.
Amang looked at Geumjin.
You’re thinking the same thing, right?
After a fleeting moment of eye contact, Amang inhaled deeply.
Her lifeless eyes lifted to the Empress.
“She miscarried.”
“Oh?”
“The second wife.”
The Empress’s hand trembled slightly as she set down her cup.
