Chapter 12
Jang Un-chu was not an unreasonable woman.
She knew how deeply her husband cared for Gang Gye, and she knew that the relationship between the two of them was no different from that of a biological father and son.
She took a deep breath, then slowly said,
"Little Six is that man's child."
By "that man," she naturally meant her former husband.
When she saw Gang Jo-hang's expression darken with anger again, she hurriedly continued.
"Please listen to me first."
Gang Jo-hang forced down his anger and listened.
"The cost of educating a child requires Father, Mother, and all three of you brothers to work together. We can't use other people's silver to educate Little Six."
"If everyone knew that Little Six wasn't actually your son, who among them would still want to support his education?"
"And once they learned the truth, wouldn't they resent us?"
She paused before continuing.
"And Munsaeng... that child has always been quiet and sensible. The second branch clearly wants him to study, and Munsaeng truly is a good child."
"When compared to him, Little Six simply doesn't have the rightful claim."
The room fell silent.
After a long while, Gang Jo-hang finally asked,
"You've certainly thought this through. You've considered everything very carefully."
Then his voice turned colder.
"But in all those considerations of yours, did you ever consider Little Six?"
Jang Un-chu's face turned pale.
"We can have Little Six learn another trade. Then he won't starve in the future. He wouldn't have to work in the fields either."
Gang Jo-hang let out a cold laugh.
"So instead of studying and becoming an official, you'll have him learn a trade and scrape together a living."
"What an excellent alternative."
He stared at her.
"Does Munsaeng like studying while Little Six doesn't?"
"That child has spent the last two days pestering me to teach him more."
"He truly wants to study."
"And Little Six is also a good, sensible child. He always has been."
Then Gang Jo-hang continued,
"You keep saying that because Little Six isn't my biological son, he should always give way."
"But Un-chu, we've already been married for five years."
His gaze briefly moved toward her abdomen.
"And in all that time, you haven't become pregnant."
"There is a very real chance that Little Six may be the only son I ever have in this lifetime."
"According to your logic, does that mean my only son must always yield to every other child in this family?"
"Must he spend his whole life one step below everyone else?"
"And am I supposed to accept that as fate forever?"
"If the family knows that he may be my only son, are you still saying they shouldn't educate him?"
His voice grew firmer.
"Un-chu, I don't owe this family anything."
"When the eldest branch's son was studying, my silver was used too."
"I was also the one who contributed the most money to the common funds."
"When I supported someone else's child, I was prepared to support Daejang for ten years, twenty years, or however long it took before he stopped studying."
"I would never have complained."
"Now it is simply their turn to support me."
After saying that, Gang Jo-hang no longer wanted to argue.
He opened the door and walked out.
Jang Un-chu remained standing in the room with a blank expression.
They had been married for five years.
It was true that Gang Jo-hang walked with a limp, but...
It wasn't as though they had never shared a bed.
Quite the opposite.
They had done so many times.
Jang Un-chu had desperately wanted to give Gang Jo-hang a child.
After giving birth to Gang Gye and recovering, she and Gang Jo-hang had often spent intimate time together as husband and wife.
Yet after all these years, she had never become pregnant again.
Since she had been able to give birth to Gang Gye, didn't that mean there was nothing wrong with her body?
Then...
Could the problem be with Gang Jo-hang?
She had never seriously considered that possibility before.
After all, there were couples in this world who only conceived after more than ten years of marriage.
And Gang Jo-hang had never gone to a physician to have himself examined.
The rest of the family didn't know that Gang Gye wasn't his biological son.
As far as they were concerned, Gang Jo-hang already had a son, so nobody had ever said anything about it.
Jang Un-chu continued standing there with a complicated expression.
If Gang Gye truly was Gang Jo-hang's only son, then of course there was nothing wrong with letting him study.
But...
Could they really be certain that Gang Jo-hang was unable to father a child?
Could they really be certain that Gang Gye would remain his only son?
Jang Un-chu still couldn't change her mind.
While she stood there lost in thought, the bedroom door slowly opened a crack.
A small head appeared.
Gang Gye called softly,
"Mother."
Jang Un-chu had already decided to stand by her choice.
But the instant she saw Gang Gye, tears suddenly poured down her face.
Gang Gye froze in confusion.
Then he quickly recovered and hurried into the room.
"Mother, why are you crying? Did Father upset you?"
Jang Un-chu shook her head.
She lowered herself and pulled her son into her arms.
Burying her face against his small shoulder, she sobbed for a long time.
Gang Gye didn't know what to do.
Even so, he gently patted her back, trying his best to comfort her.
Gang Gye had noticed at the dining table that his parents didn't agree with each other.
The opportunity to study wasn't a small matter.
If that opportunity was given to Munsaeng, then Gang Gye himself would lose the chance.
He had thought his parents might argue over it.
That was why, even after going outside to play with the other children, he eventually became too worried and returned home.
But he had never expected his mother to cry like this.
Jang Un-chu couldn't stop her tears.
She had tried to consider everyone's position.
But she also understood that this fairness toward everyone else was, in a way, deeply unfair to her own son.
Because Gang Gye had been born as her child, he couldn't have the things that other children his age were normally allowed to want.
He had clearly been born with extraordinary talent.
He should have had a bright future ahead of him.
Yet because of her, that future might be destroyed.
A stabbing pain pierced her heart.
She continued crying.
"I'm sorry, Little Six. I'm sorry..."
"Mother is sorry..."
Because Gang Gye knew the plot of the novel, he understood what she meant.
He gently stroked Jang Un-chu, who was crying almost as though she had lost control of herself.
"Mother, you don't have to be sorry. Please don't cry."
"But..."
Jang Un-chu shook her head through her tears.
Wet strands of hair clung to her face, making her look even more exhausted.
"Mother was wrong. I'm sorry."
Her son had lost everything without even knowing it.
Gang Gye's hand paused for a moment.
Then he spoke again.
"It's okay."
"I'll forgive you, Mother."
His voice was small, but his tone was firm.
Hearing that only made Jang Un-chu feel worse.
The more mature Gang Gye behaved, the guiltier she felt.
She wanted to promise that she and Gang Jo-hang would work hard together so he could study.
But she couldn't bring herself to say it.
Because even she knew that such a promise would be almost impossible to keep.
She had no special skills.
Even if she went outside to look for work, she had no idea what kind of job she could do.
All the savings they had came from the money Gang Jo-hang had earned in the past.
And now that his leg was injured, employers looking for laborers outside the village probably wouldn't hire him.
She had truly blocked her son's only path forward.
Gang Gye had no choice but to continue stroking his mother's hair in silence.
It took a long time before Jang Un-chu finally stopped crying.
She wiped away her tears.
When she saw the worry in her son's eyes, her heart ached again.
She hurriedly looked away and sniffed.
"Mother is fine. Don't worry about me. Go outside and play."
Gang Gye waited until he was certain she had stopped crying before leaving the room.
At his current age, there was very little he could do.
Once outside, he looked around for his father.
This matter wasn't only making his mother suffer.
His father had to be suffering too.
But Gang Jo-hang wasn't as gloomy as Gang Gye had imagined.
He was still angry after arguing with his wife, but he wasn't someone who liked remaining trapped in his emotions.
Instead, he kept thinking about what he should do next.
Even though Jang Un-chu had said those things at the dining table, the matter hadn't actually been decided yet.
As long as there was no final decision, his son still had a chance to study.
However, Gang Jo-hang knew he genuinely had to consider the second branch's position as well.
At first, he had naturally believed his son should be the one to study.
After all, Gang Gye was clearly intelligent.
But after thinking about it again, he realized that nobody could remain completely selfless in a matter like this.
There were three brothers in this family.
Who would willingly watch the other brothers' children receive opportunities while their own child received none?
If their positions were reversed, Gang Jo-hang knew he would also fight for his own son's chance.
And after hearing Jang Un-chu's words, he began looking at the matter from another angle.
Their viewpoints were different.
To Gang Jo-hang, Gang Gye was the son of the third branch.
He deserved the same opportunity to study as any other child in the family.
Since the household could only support one child, even if Gang Jo-hang later had a biological son of his own, he would still insist that Gang Gye continue studying.
That would mean his future biological son wouldn't get the opportunity.
But Gang Jo-hang could accept that.
He already regarded Gang Gye as his own son.
Blood ties weren't that important to him.
Still, he wasn't ignoring the risks to the family.
After all, when an entire household exhausted itself supporting a single child, nobody wanted to lose everything in the end.
But Gang Gye had possessed an excellent temperament since childhood.
He was affectionate toward his parents and grandparents.
He was generous with his brothers and sisters.
He was obedient and polite.
Didn't people say that a person's nature could be seen from childhood?
Judging from Gang Gye's personality, even if he learned the truth about his birth one day, Gang Jo-hang didn't believe he would abandon the family and go looking for his biological father.
Besides, studying was no easy path.
Many people studied for decades and still failed the Imperial Examination.
The most beloved youngest son of the Zhao family, the man whom his wife's younger cousin had married, had already studied for more than twenty years and still hadn't become a xiucai.
Even if one counted their town and all the surrounding villages, there were only a handful of people who had ever managed to pass.
Gang Gye, however, possessed extraordinary talent.
If he took the examinations, his chances of passing were far higher.
Even if supporting Gang Gye could be considered a gamble, Gang Jo-hang believed it was a gamble worth taking for the Gang family.
In fact, calling it a gamble didn't even seem accurate.
It was more like finding money lying on the ground and simply bending down to pick it up.
But Jang Un-chu thought more like most other people.
If Gang Gye didn't carry Gang family blood, then he shouldn't compete with the Gang family's biological descendants for anything.
Yes.
Many people would probably think exactly as she did.
If the truth ever came out, the other members of the Gang family would almost certainly feel dissatisfied.
And if they pushed aside the second branch now and took the opportunity for themselves, it might eventually create resentment between the brothers.
Gang Jo-hang believed the truth about Gang Gye's birth would never come to light.
Yet for some reason, an uneasy feeling suddenly rose in his heart.
Back when Jang Un-chu first married him, she had been nearly one month pregnant.
But she hadn't visited a physician.
She had merely guessed based on the fact that her monthly cycle hadn't come.
After that, the two of them had married in a hurry.
By then, she had been a little over one month pregnant.
Once Gang Jo-hang decided to marry her, he had carefully thought about how to prevent anyone from discovering the truth about the child.
That was why he hadn't taken her to the physician in their own village.
After Jang Un-chu announced her pregnancy, he deliberately brought her into town instead.
They went to a medical hall far from their village, one that treated many patients, and asked the physician to estimate how far along the pregnancy was.
They needed to know the approximate number of months so they could prepare properly for the birth.
When they returned home, nobody even asked which physician they had visited.
