Last Days of the Morning Calm , livre ebook

Marshall Cavendish International - Jimin Walton Tina

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115 pages

English

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Korea, 1895: court intrigue and foreign powers threaten the centuries-old "hermit kingdom". In a prominent manor, Ji-nah, the sheltered fourteen-year-old ward, and Han, the seventeen-year-old servant, are left in the tight grip of Tutor Lim when Master Yi travels to Peking. The tutor strips Ji-nah's privileged life and crushes Han's future. When the two young people uncover the tutor's broader conspiracy with the Japanese to overthrow Queen Min, they determine to save the queen, whose fate seems tied to their master. Their plans go awry when the tutor sells them off as slaves: Ji-nah to the palace and Han to the missionaries. When Ji-nah learns her real identity as the master's daughter and the queen's kinsman, she stakes her life at the palace. Meanwhile, Han adapts to Westerners, learning strange customs that clash with his traditional world views. Ultimately, Han faces the tutor, Ji-nah, the queen, and the two reunite with their master, but Queen Min is assassinated. Despite the fallen kingdom, the two young people find hope in their new roles, determined to rebuild their lives and nation.

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Historical fiction

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Publié par	Marshall Cavendish International
Date de parution	28 mars 2019
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9789814841955
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

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2019 Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Private Limited
Text Tina Jimin Walton
Published by Marshall Cavendish Editions
An imprint of Marshall Cavendish International

All rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Requests for permission should be addressed to the Publisher, Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Private Limited, 1 New Industrial Road, Singapore 536196. Tel: (65) 6213 9300. E-mail: genref@sg.marshallcavendish.com
Website: www.marshallcavendish.com/genref
The publisher makes no representation or warranties with respect to the contents of this book, and specifically disclaims any implied warranties or merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose, and shall in no event be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damage, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
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National Library Board, Singapore Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Names: Walton, Tina Jimin.
Title: Last days of the morning calm / Tina Jimin Walton.
Description: Singapore : Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2019
Identifiers: OCN 1088421046 | e-ISBN: 978 981 4841 95 5
Subjects: LCSH: Korea--History--1864-1910--Fiction. | Korea--Kings and rulers--History--Fiction. | Min Pi, 1851-1895--Fiction.
Classification: DDC 813--dc23
Printed in Singapore
Cover illustration by Amalina Bte Mohd Naser
For my family
The quick susurrus of her skirt penetrated the sleepy midnight air as the lady-in-waiting rushed faster toward the inner sanctum of the palace. Clutching a set of tattered robes and a flickering candle, she flew down the maze-like corridors that led to Queen Min s chambers. Sudden shouts echoed outside the palace walls. It was only a matter of time before the royal guards would be overwhelmed by the mob orchestrated by Taewongun, the queen s bitterest enemy, and also her father-in-law.
For years as regent, Taewongun had ruled the kingdom with a tight fist, keeping Korea a hermit kingdom, closed to all foreign influence. He purged French missionaries, using the martyrs blood on the kingdom s shores to stave off further intruders.
The ruthless regent ruled through Kojong, his weak son, soft as clay in the hands of his father. To cement his control, Taewongun arranged his son s marriage to the orphaned Min girl, whose clan had little or no influence in court. With a weak son and an unknown daughter-in-law, Taewongun thought he had secured his power.
But he had underestimated the young girl who had plans of her own. Queen Min had her husband s ear, and when King Kojong came of age for the throne, it was she who demanded the regent step down. She amassed enough power by elevating her own clan members and exiled Taewongun from court.
The ex-regent bid his time, determined to access the throne once more. Times were changing, and the kingdom was opening up to foreign pressures under the new reign. Uneasy with change, many Koreans were upset with the court s concessions to modernisation. The old guards complained and Taewongun listened. It was the opportunity he was waiting for and craftily, he fanned the flames of the disgruntled soldiers. Now, waiting like a hungry wolf at the edge of the dark, Taewongun watched the mob finish their job. Soon, it would tear down the gates and storm the palace.
The lady-in-waiting reached the queen s chambers. Without announcing herself, she threw open the paper-screened hanji doors.
Your Majesty! Your Majesty! They are breaking down the main gate - it s a mutiny!
The queen woke with a start, but remained strangely calm, as though she had been expecting this moment, and changed quickly into the robes her attendant offered.
From the double pavilion, a bell tolled continuously, sounding an intrusion.
Now disguised in peasant clothing, Queen Min and her small entourage made haste toward the servants gate. Out through the North Gate, they slipped quietly into the dark foothills. There was only one safe place where she could hide. In a small hamlet, just outside the city, she would go to a modest home that belonged to her well-hidden and little-known younger sister.

Ji-nah couldn t feel her legs, kneeling as she had for what seemed like an eternity. But the numbness of her deadened legs was nothing compared to that of her mind, frozen with disbelief. The red tassel on the corner of the floor cushion poked through now and then as the hem of the lady s billowing skirt rose in tandem with her animated voice.
Not even the day of your birth? Lady Cho asked again.
Ji-nah nodded, but bit her tongue, forcing herself to keep her gaze low on the tassel; she must keep decorum.
Ji-nah was born in the year of the dragon, an auspicious year, Tutor Lim offered with a nervous laugh, ingratiating himself to the lady, who seemed too haughty for a visitor of her station. The Cho family was far beneath the Yi name that belonged to her master. Surely her tutor knew this. Ji-nah cast him a sidelong glance that he couldn t have missed, but he ignored her.
You recall the story of the manor. Years ago, Master Yi took in the poor infant left at his gate, the tutor continued, blinking strangely at Ji-nah.
Wasn t it also the same year he lost his wife and child? I hardly call that auspicious, the lady huffed.
But this child brings her own good fortune, he persisted. She would have perished from her lowly birth if it were not for fate s mercy. Why, she didn t merely survive, but she s found favor! Look, she s a yangban s ward!
Yangban , the privileged class of noblemen. One was either born into it or in rare instances, men with means were known to take the state examination to test into the title, but never had it been heard of that a girl of ignoble birth be elevated to such status.
Ji-nah had heard it all her life that she was lucky, like a river carp picked to swim amongst the scarlet and golden koi in the royal palace. She was fortunate, but the reminder of her lowly birth still chafed.
Master Yi hired me to teach her. I can vouchsafe for her deportment. She is diligent with her studies. She reads and writes -
Ack! A good wife doesn t need to know her letters. It puffs her up and fills her head with all sorts of nonsense.
Nonsense? Ji-nah bit harder, filling her mouth with a salty tang. She stole a glance at the lady whose downturned mouth reminded her of a dried mackerel. This was nonsense - this discussion over her marriage suitability without Master Yi.
Four pillars, the lady insisted. The year, month, day, and hour of birth are crucial for divining such unions. My son is eleven -
A perfect match! She s sixteen - a dragon sign.
Tutor Lim s sparse whiskers moved comically as he defended Jinah s pedigree. Yet, the tight pull of his topknot above his narrow face gave him an austere and hungry look. The tutor seemed small and crumpled in his ill-fitting robe that hung loosely from his skeletal frame - like a child play-acting the importance of his role.
One at birth and thirteen years later - he certainly knew how old she was. What was he getting at? Unable to bite down any harder on her tongue, she corrected, You re mistaken. I am but fourteen this year. I was born in the year of the horse.
Lady Cho gasped. Why, Ga-mun is a rooster. A stubborn horse for my Ga-mun? Inauspicious! It would never work.
The lady stood abruptly, ending the fruitless meeting. When her back was turned, the tutor pulled a long thin bamboo switch from his sleeve and waved it admonishingly at Ji-nah. It was a small victory for Ji-nah s pride, but she didn t know then that she had let a valuable opportunity slip through her hands.
The following morning when her tutor neglected to show for lessons, Ji-nah had her desk moved from the study to the open verandah. She welcomed the break after the previous night s debacle with the tutor and Lady Cho.
The Master will have enough concerns when he returns. He will be pleased if we took care of Lady Cho s request for him, the tutor had said, convincing her that the meeting was mere formality and that she would be helping the master. But the tutor s sudden interest in marrying her off and Lady Cho s criticism of her lowly birth somehow managed to raise a cloud of doubt, disturbing Ji-nah s peace about her station as a yangban s ward. She had thought Master Yi would want the responsibility of arranging her marriage, but after last night, all sorts of doubts arose in her mind, as if someone had stirred the sandy bottom of a clear lake.
Master Yi had always treated her with kindness, and she never lacked for anything, except that of kinship, for he would constantly remind her that she was his ward, not daughter. Perhaps the master would be relieved to delegate such intimate matters to the tutor. The more she thought about the whole affair last night, the more distant she felt from her master.
It was ungrateful for her to have such self-pitying thoughts when she considered her fortunate lot. Here she sat in privilege reading poetry on a desk set up on the verandah, where she could hear the bamboo leaves rustle from the grove beyond the manor. Behind her ran a corridor that led to spacious rooms in the main house, and three wide stone steps led down to the open courtyard, the hub joining the servants and guests wings and the kitchen. W