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Misaeng's mention of Paeksok had Chunchu's mind wander in the land of legends. The prince did not dismis popular depictions as bluntly as his companion did. Indeed, he was of opinion that the tales of simple people carried more truth than official historical accounts which were often written in service of ulterior reasons. Instead, folktales spoke of what people saw, registering the elusive aspects of characters that history preferred to leave unmentioned.
Legends surrounding Kim Yushin made no exception. They recounted less of what actually happened and more of the impression he left in the popular culture; less of how he really was and more of how he was perceived. While Chunchu would have described his brother-in-law as self-controlled and cultivating a detached attitude towards the joys of the flesh, for some reason folktales presented him in a very different light. Stories spoke of a humming bee lusting after the nectar of three beautiful flowers...
Three flowers! It was then that Chunchu suddenly realised that their tales intertwined, for his aunt has also received three flowers from the Emperor of Tang. Three scentless peonies, an insult directed at her inability to attract men, crudely reinforced in the painting which accompanied the gift. In it, there was no bee around the blooming flowers...
No bee for the flowers, no flowers for the bee... The prince began to see a pattern. His aunt had been associated in folktales with three peonies, whereas stories about Yushin spoke of his susceptibility for flowers. Three flowers, nonetheless. Almost as if the metaphor employed in legend was a suggestive symbol pointing at a very specific lady.
The natural order of the world is equally disrupted when lovers are unable to fulfil their love, as when bees refrain from gathering honey. In the tale, Yushin reveres the three beautiful flowers once he recognises their divine descent, much as he was compelled to do once he discovered Deokman's identity. He worshiped his lady as a goddess, and the woman withered as fruitless flowers.
As the prince put together the pieces of this puzzle, he had this small revelation. Could it be that their striking compatibility did not elude public conscience? Chunchu chuckled as he realised the people of Shilla shipped Kim Yushin and his aunt. To their simple minds it made sense that the two of them should be together, for no man and woman in their era have proved more impressive.
