Chapter 2
Episode 2. Who says 'our' Hongwi!
“Hongwi. It’s Father.”
Lee Hyang whispered, his voice softening instantly.
“Abammaa? Abammaa!”
Hearing his father’s voice, Hongwi immediately stopped crying. His tear-soaked black eyes shone like obsidian as he hugged Lee Hyang tightly.
And he sobbed, ‘I missed you, Abammaa.’
“I missed you too. I missed you so much.”
“Abammaa, I’ve almost memorized the Thousand Character Classic.”
“The Thousand Character Classic, already? Seong Sammun must have taught you very diligently.”
“My teacher said I’m as intelligent as Grandfather.”
The teacher said he was as intelligent as his grandfather.
Well, with Grandfather being King Sejong and Father being Munjong, it would be harder to be stupid.
But still, he's not inferior to his grandfather.
To memorize the Thousand Character Classic when he seems barely two years old.
With that intelligent mind, could you ask your mother for a way for this older sister to return?
The resentment towards the mother, the 19th-generation ancestor Madam Kwon, was unfairly directed at the child.
“Gwon Ga, you! You'll have to explain about that ring later!”
Lee Hyang spoke sharply to Yunseo, who sat there stunned, and then hugged his son tightly again.
“I will return to the palace the evening after tomorrow, with Grandfather and Grandmother. Be good until then. We’ll see each other soon.”
After a tender farewell, Lee Hyang left the room in an instant.
“Abammaa, Abammaa. Where are you going, two nights from now.”
The child, whispering dejectedly, burrowed into her embrace again.
“Daddy, it’s not here. Daddy.”
After waking up, perhaps this isn't here.
Please tell me this is a dream, child.
The child’s warm body and wriggling movements offered comfort to her own body and mind, frozen in utter confusion.
Yunseo held the small source of comfort tightly and blew out the candle.
And when she opened her eyes again, she prayed to be in 21st-century Korea. No, anywhere was fine, as long as it was the 21st century world.
This was the day Gwon Yunseo was forcibly summoned to Joseon after trying on an ancestor’s ring.
The Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, King Sejong, Year 25, April 4th, Year Gichuk (1443, Ming Dynasty, Year 8 of the Zhengtong era) recorded the following:
[The Royal Carriage stopped in the western fields of Janghowon, Jinwi County.]
[In the early evening, Jinsung (the star) shone brightly in the eastern sky.]
[White mist brushed the moon.]
\\\
“Gwaya! Gwaya!”
After tossing and turning, unable to accept reality, dawn passed and she finally fell asleep.
This time, a rough, middle-aged woman’s voice woke Yunseo.
“Why are you on night watch again? Oh, you foolish girl. How will you last through the day shift!”
Yunseo squeezed her eyes shut, pretending not to hear.
“Open your eyes. I saw your eyelids flutter.”
It was Park Mallye Mama, the highest-ranking Royal Lady of the East Palace, who was in charge of ‘Kwon Ga, the maid.’
She wanted to pretend not to know, but ‘Kwon Ga, the maid’s’ memories in her head naturally provided the information.
Kwon Ga, the maid, trusted Park Sanggung like a mother and felt completely at ease just hearing her voice.
It seemed Park Sanggung had taken good care of the somewhat clumsy Gwa regularly.
“Be quiet, Park Sanggung.”
Hongwi, stirring in her arms, scolded her with surprising dignity.
“Oh, His Highness the Grandson, I apologize. I will bring the washing water shortly. Please get up.”
Park Sanggung soothed Hongwi in a voice dripping with honey.
“Gwaya, get up.”
Hongwi shook Yunseo.
Ah, I am Gwon Ga, but I am not a Palace Lady! I am not!
She wanted to get angry, but what was the child’s fault?
Yunseo sat up abruptly.
“What happened last night that you were on night watch, and His Highness sent someone to me?”
“What did he send?”
Did he tell me to take off the ring and chase her away?
If so, where would she go and how would she live in this strange, alien Joseon?
Tense, she asked, and Park Sanggung struck her hard on the back.
“There was no Palace Lady on watch outside the paper screen door, and you were alone. He demanded to know what kind of person I was. I’ve already reprimanded Park Ga and Han Ga, but you are the problem, you are the problem.”
“Yes, my existence is the problem, truly.”
“···What are you saying?”
Because she so readily admitted to being the problem, Park Sanggung looked at Yunseo with surprised eyes, thinking, ‘Why is this child, who always just giggles, acting like this?’
“Why are you like this? Are you sick? Shall I take you to the Royal Physician for medicine?”
“I really want to disappear from here.”
“No, you shouldn’t say that in front of His Highness!”
Park Sanggung glared sharply.
Only then did she notice the child looking up, lips pursed.
Seeing the transparent moisture welling up in eyes as dark as a moonless desert night, she snapped back to attention.
What was she doing in front of the child?
In front of a child who had lost his mother right after birth, whose primary caregiver, Madam Lee, was out of the palace with a cold, and who was already emotionally unstable.
Even babies who can’t understand words can sense their caregiver’s mood through their expressions and tone of voice and fear abandonment.
How much more so for the genius Hongwi, who had memorized the Thousand Character Classic.
Guilt pricked her heart, and Yunseo quickly apologized.
“No, no, Your Highness. It’s not because of you, Your Highness. It’s because I have some issues… I apologize.”
Then Hongwi, his lips trembling as if about to cry a few more times, stretched out his small arms and demanded.
“Hold me.”
Yunseo held the child as he asked.
The child’s warmth, fitting snugly in her arms, was a comfort.
Mammals find comfort by huddling together in groups during fear and confusion, while reptiles endure fear by freezing motionless as if dead.
With Hongwi’s warmth, Yunseo could overcome the fear of the limbic system, the reptilian brain, and only had to endure the fear and chaos at a mammalian level.
Soon, her prefrontal cortex would function properly, and she would rationally find a way to escape.
Yunseo, a psychological counselor, held the small child and habitually assessed his emotions.
Hongwi’s emotions were more stable than she expected, but he had a slight separation anxiety disorder.
His unhesitating demand to be held and his peaceful acceptance of it were proof that his primary caregiver had provided stable affection and formed a secure attachment.
Since that caregiver was not present, clinging to Yunseo was likely temporary separation anxiety.
Madam Lee, the wet nurse, raised the child well. In place of my deceased ancestor.
She was mentally writing her counseling notes when Park Sanggung spoke to Hongwi.
“Your Highness, please wash your face. I will tell them to bring the morning meal.”
And she urged Yunseo with her eyes to ‘hurry up and wash His Highness’s face’ before leaving the room.
The door opened, and lukewarm water was brought in a black lacquered basin.
Yunseo wrung out a fine towel and gently washed the child’s face.
Lee Hongwi.
The pitiful child, who would later become Crown Prince, then King Danjong, and die at the young age of seventeen, closed his eyes, unaware of his fate, and calmly allowed his face to be washed.
His eyelashes were dark and very long.
His cheeks were rosy, and his forehead was roundly prominent, suggesting his frontal lobe had developed early.
Such a cute child, living only seventeen years…
As her thoughts reached this point, tears suddenly burst out like a sob.
She felt pity for the three-year-old child, destined to die at just seventeen, and pity for herself, dragged into this bizarre world by a single wrong ring.
“Why are you crying?”
“···It’s nothing.”
“Don’t cry, don’t cry. I’ll give you some jeonggwa later.”
A tear already hung at the tip of his long eyelashes, and the child, his lips quivering, tried to comfort her by offering jeonggwa.
It didn’t look particularly delicious, but her heart was touched by his gesture,
and her tears slowly stopped.
After the servant boy took away the washing basin, another Palace Lady, Yun Ga, who shared the day shift, arrived.
“Gwa, you really are something.”
Yun Ga flicked her tongue, her cat-like eyes narrowing further.
She glared at Yunseo for a long time, as if asking where she always got taken advantage of. Then, Yun Ga bowed deeply to Hongwi and smiled brightly.
“Your Highness, did you have sweet dreams?”
The daily routine of the nanny Palace Lady, whose main duty was caring for His Highness the Grandson, Hongwi, began again.
Bind Restrain Belt Proud Pride Valiant Straight Loiter Ponder Hesitate Wander Look Gaze Look Gaze.”
“You read it perfectly accurately. Shall we now connect the words and explain their meaning?”
A small building on the east side within the pavilion where Hongwi resided.
Yunseo’s shoulders shook with suppressed laughter at the lisping voice coming from inside.
Yun Ga, sitting by the paper screen door with her back perfectly straight, shot her a fierce glare.
It was a rebuke for daring to laugh while His Highness the Prince was studying.
“Yes, Teacher, sokdaegeungjang and baehaechumjohaya. Tying the belt tightly and holding pride, looking around various places.”
(Yes, Teacher, sokdaegeungjang and baehaechumjohaya, tie the belt tightly and with pride, look around various places.)
“You are perfectly accurate. ‘Tie the belt tightly and with pride, and look around various places.’ You remember the meaning I explained to you perfectly.”
The teacher instructing His Highness the Grandson, Hongwi, inside was the renowned Seong Sammun.
When Yunseo saw him ascending the main hall earlier, he had a full beard and a stern face, and his gait was as described: ‘sokdaegeungjang’ (neat and proper attire).
“This phrase comes from the classics of the Zhou Li, where a gentleman maintains a neat appearance in everyday life…”
Seong Sammun’s voice, explaining the origin of the phrase, rumbled and faded into the distance.
It was half a gak past shinshi (around 4 PM), still five hours before the shift change.
“···Snap out of it.”
“······?”
“Pull yourself together. His Highness’s lesson is almost over.”
Yun Ga, the Palace Lady, shook her shoulder sharply, waking her.
“Wipe your drool. Ugh, gross.”
Yun Ga, who had immense pride in serving the prince who would one day ascend the throne, glared as if she would devour her.
She rubbed her chin with her palm, and it came away covered in saliva.
Still, a short nap had cleared her head.
Wishing for nothing more than a cup of coffee, Yunseo stood up and followed Yun Ga, bending her back by the door.
The door creaked open, and Hongwi, dignified yet still waddling due to his three-head-tall body, came out first.
And then Seong Sammun, the historical figure, emerged as a living, breathing person.
“Your Highness, His Majesty the King will return tomorrow, so there will be no lesson. I will see you the day after tomorrow.”
As Seong Sammun bowed, our Hongwi also placed his hands on his navel and bowed at a ninety-degree angle.
“Goodbye, Teacher.”
Hongwi was still pronouncing the ‘s’ fricative sound as a ‘d’ plosive.
The ‘s’ sound is the last phoneme to develop among consonants, and it is a difficult pronunciation that can only be made accurately after the age of six.
However, it is also a sound that can be grasped by practicing by raising the tongue close to the hard palate, just behind the upper front teeth, and creating friction by exhaling air.
‘Our Hongwi, he memorizes the Thousand Character Classic so well. This older sister should help him with his pronunciation.’
Lost in thought, Yunseo was startled.
Our Hongwi. Who says 'our' Hongwi!
