Riyukju

Riyukju

Riyukju was a famous member of the Songmo species. They are most famous for being the mentor and teacher of Ri Ansu, today better known as by her posthumous title Ju-ui Taebugong. With Ri Ansu’s increasing influence in the Baek Dynasty court, they likewise rose in the ranks of the bureaucracy. Ultimately, they served as Prime Minister under Ju-ui Taebugong during her time as the head of the Regency Council and under her daughter the Daeshil Wang.

Early Life

Riyukju’s early life is obscure. Not originating in Baekhae, there is little record of them before they applied for the local government examination in the city of Jakrimsi. They excelled in the examinations. Good performance in the regional bureaucracy led to the local governor recommended them for a post at the capital in the Internal Investigation Bureau.
Riyukju was in the capital for less than a year before they stumbled across a major corruption scandal. Because of their junior status in the bureau, their overseer dismissed concerns and buried the investigation. Choosing honor of their career, Riyukju took their findings to the Director. This resulted in a shakeup in several mid-level ministerial posts with arrests and the end of the corruption, but because Riyukju went over their immediate superior’s head they were officially reprimanded. The Director of the Bureau was grateful and sympathetic to Riyukju’s plight. Instead of the ending the songmo’s career, the director assigned to a special assignment tracking the production and shipment of royal orange Haejik. There was concern that smuggling was occurring where it was made in the remote village of Gowonhang. This was to protect Riyukju by moving them out of sight until the crisis in the capital resolved itself and they could return. However, Riyukju saw this as an exile.

Meeting Ansu

This is where Riyukju first met Ansu . She was the apprentice to the village’s keeper of the Gongryeojeon and community leader, so Riyukju was in regular contact with Ansu as part of their job. Initially they had an antagonistic relationship with one another. Riyukju was dutiful to his reports for the Bureau, but listless and disengaged in life. This infuriated Ansu, who felt that he should help the people where he could. She was a bright student who had been self-educated from the keeper’s collection of philosophical texts, so Ansu and Riyukju regularly debated. This initially made Riyukju resentful of her, but they came to enjoy these events when they realized the satisfaction Ansu derived from practicing her skills. Riyukju came to be Ansu's teacher informally at this point and assisted the girl study the provincial government exams, which she passed with a notable score.
After about a year in Gowonhang, the keeper became delirious in a quick illness that killed her. Riyukju, snapped out of their self-loathing, investigated and discovered that exposure to large amounts of Eojo Dye fumes poisoned her. A new keeper, a former student to Risu’s teacher, arrived from a nearby village. She refused to continue teaching Risu, claiming that the girl was the reason the keeper died because she did not properly attend to the Shinseung and angered the spirits housed within.
Left with no prospects other than becoming a haejik maker like her parents and siblings after witnessing her teacher’s death being around it, Ansu turned to Riyukju for advice. The songmo then surprised the community and Ansu by offering to foster the now young woman and take her on as a formal student. This is when Ansu received the surname Ri.

Return to the Capital

Please see The Legend of Riyukju and the House of Ri

Following the Rise of the Ri Dynasty

After playing a role in the start of the Ri Dynasty, Riyukju served as the Prime Minister of Baekhae under Daeshil Wang. After several years of assisting the rebuilding and stabilization of the kingdom from the chaos that caused the decline of the Baek Dynasty, they left Baekhae for parts unknown.
They are last recorded returning to Baekhae in 617 after the foundation of Baekhae, where they agreed to become the chaeshim (guardian) for the mangyukshim (source of new songmo "seedlings") in the Capital. Riyukju lived their peacefully in the gardens and complex around the mangyukshim until they passed away in 651

Mental characteristics

Gender Identity

Presented as Non-binary; They/them

Sexuality

Although some songmo take on sexual characteristics and attractions despite not reproducing sexually, Riyukju was believed to be asexual

Species

Songmo

Year of Death

1299

Circumstances of Death

Old age following the chaeshim sacrifice

Aligned Organization

Baekhae

Other Affiliations

• Ri Dynasty