Chapter 28
Episode 28. Second Meeting with King Sejong at Cheonsu Hall (1)
Those who knew of Yunseo's second audience with King Sejong at Cheonsu Hall all treated Yunseo with their own intense emotions throughout the day.
This was because the first audience had been marked by the shocking incident of Jeon Gyun, the highest power within the Palace, being beaten to death.
Before donning his red Dragon Robe and beginning his official schedule of meeting with officials after the morning greetings, Lee Hyang stopped by the Seoondol to embrace Yunseo tightly.
"His Majesty cannot tolerate contradictions in speech, so answer truthfully whatever he asks. And Yunseo..."
Trailing off, Lee Hyang pulled away, placed his hands on Yunseo's shoulders, and gazed at Yunseo for a long time.
From his intense gaze, as if wanting to engrave Yunseo into his eyes, Yunseo keenly perceived the hidden anxiety of the second-in-command, sending a woman who was not yet entirely his own before the highest authority.
Just as Yunseo's relationship with Lee Hyang was irrevocably unbalanced, Lee Hyang was also merely a subject to His Majesty, one among many sons, never able to be his equal.
Though acutely aware of their unbalanced relationship, Yunseo felt a pang of pity for the anxiety the man who shook her body and soul couldn't voice, so she wrapped her arms around Lee Hyang's neck, hugged him tightly, and whispered,
"I will be extremely careful, Your Highness. His Majesty is a wise king for all ages; he will not treat me harshly or coldly."
At those words, Lee Hyang finally chuckled in a low voice and whispered tenderly,
"Whatever happens, I will protect you, so don't be too afraid and go."
A little past morning, Noble Lady Yang arrived.
It was precisely when Hongwi had gone to study with Seong Sammun.
Noble Lady Yang looked around the Seoondol room with an intrigued gaze, then chided,
"If you've taken over the Seoondol like this, you should hurry and become an official Concubine, Seunghwi or something. You still have a nanny maid to serve you. The King's sleeping quarters are just across the main hall; what do you do on those long nights after the child falls asleep?"
She then shook her head and added,
"No. A man only cherishes a woman more if he's made to wait. Kwon Ga, you're more of a fox than I thought."
Then, suddenly, her expression turned serious, and she hesitated greatly, as if unsure what to say.
This was unusual for Noble Lady Yang, who always spoke her mind with sharp, unsparing words.
Then, as if making up her mind, she beckoned Yunseo closer and whispered quickly into her ear,
"His Majesty is very fond of women. He relieves the tension from his excessive work through dalliances. Go dressed simply and absolutely do not approach His Majesty. Do you understand what I mean?"
"!"
To Yunseo's startled gaze, she smiled languidly again, like an elegant cat, as if she had never said anything so frightening, and said,
"I look forward to the day you officially become the mistress of this Seoondol."
And then she left.
When Yunseo, surprised, went to discuss it with Park Sanggung, Park Sanggung shook her head.
"His Majesty does indeed have a fondness for women. He even slept with a Palace Lady who was tasting his food. But Kwon Ga, you? I'm always scheming to push women into his presence, so I think such vulgar thoughts. His Majesty is a man of extreme principle and strictness. Even if you danced naked before His Majesty, he wouldn't bat an eye."
She stated with certainty, then added with a hearty laugh, "No, no. He might look at you like a finely crafted ceramic. You are quite slender, aren't you, Kwon Ga?"
The eunuchs and Palace Ladies of the East Palace looked at Yunseo as if she were a three-legged crow.
The Palace Ladies who had secretly witnessed Lee Hyang's kiss on the main hall the previous night glanced at Yunseo with eyes full of longing, envy, and jealousy.
The eunuchs and Palace Servants who were secretly part of Jeon Gyun's faction openly expressed hostility and disgust, as if looking at an enemy.
Only Choi Ga and Yun Ga, who served alongside her, approached her kindly and said, "Congratulations on having a private audience with His Majesty. You'll soon be His Highness's official Concubine too. Even if you become so esteemed, don't forget about us who served with you," offering congratulations mixed with envy.
Sensing the subtle stirrings surrounding Yunseo that day, Hongwi stayed closer than usual, unwilling to let go of her hand for even a moment.
When she said they had to go to Cheonsu Hall to see His Majesty, Hongwi said,
"Let's go together. Grandmother also told me to come."
She remembered the words from the East Palace the other day, when she had been told to come along, and tried to follow.
Yunseo said they should go alone today and go together next time. Hongwi pouted and grabbed Yunseo's skirt,
"Come back quickly, come back quickly."
She said with a tearful voice, making Yunseo keenly feel the emotions of mothers who have their hearts torn when leaving their children for work every morning.
Eom Sangjeon personally escorted Yunseo to Cheonsu Hall.
She was accompanied by Maegumi, dressed as an apprentice eunuch.
"His Highness ordered that he accompany you."
When Yunseo looked at Maegumi in surprise, Eom Sangjeon said.
As they walked leisurely towards Cheonsu Hall, Yunseo, seeing her nervousness, shared what she had learned while serving His Majesty in her youth.
"His Majesty is always generous to those who put their heart into it. You just need to answer truthfully what he asks, so don't be too nervous. If you try too hard out of nervousness, he suspects you have some ulterior motive."
She said this, treating Yunseo with politeness, as if she were a future Crown Princess, unlike her friendly demeanor the previous night.
"Your Majesty, Kwon Ga, the Palace Lady, has arrived."
A rather young eunuch announced towards the inside of Cheonsu Hall.
Standing before Cheonsu Hall, the moment of frantic fear from six days prior, when she was dragged here like a dog, returned, and Yunseo closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
Then Eom Sangjeon approached her quietly and whispered,
"Maegumi and I will wait here, so go in with peace of mind."
She said this, reassuring her like she would a young Palace Lady, mindful of the gazes of other Palace Servants.
As Yunseo took off her shoes, her eyes caught a pair of silk danghye, looking very precious, placed beside His Majesty's Taisahye on the stepping stone.
It seemed a woman of high status was inside.
As soon as she entered, bowed, and prostrated herself, His Majesty's questions rained down as if he had been waiting.
"What was the reason you embraced and soothed yourself the other day? Why did you do such a thing? And after that, why did you become confident, as if you were someone else, and look me directly in the eye?"
Then, a lively young woman's voice was heard from beside him.
"Oh, Father. Please let me catch my breath before you question her. And look you in the eye? Kwon Ga, didn't your elder brother, the Crown Prince, teach you that you cannot look directly at His Majesty's Visage without special permission? Oh my, I should have told you sooner."
Yunseo, surprised, cautiously raised her head and saw a woman sitting beside His Majesty, looking at her with eyes sparkling with curiosity.
She wore a light green dangui with gold patterns, but without any particular head ornaments, yet her entire being exuded a noble cheerfulness.
It was the confident cheerfulness unique to women of the royal family, born noble, raised cherished, and destined to remain noble in the present, future, and even after death.
There was no trace of the desperation that women who became royalty through selection or Royal Favor possessed.
'It's Princess Jeongui.'
Lee Hyang had told her to say Princess Jeongui taught him how he knew that character, and it seemed he had brought Princess Jeongui to Cheonsu Hall himself.
Yunseo felt a prickling sensation in her nose, clearly sensing how meticulously Lee Hyang was looking out for her.
"On that day, I was brought here unexpectedly without prior notice, and I was so terrified that my mind was completely blank. So, just as I would soothe frightened children, I hugged and patted myself tightly to regain my senses. Even so, due to His Majesty's supreme safety, a trace of fear remained, and I unintentionally committed the rudeness of looking directly at His Majesty's Visage. I beg your forgiveness."
As Yunseo prostrated herself and explained, King Sejong said, "Oh?" and asked Princess Jeongui,
"Doesn't her answer sound too smooth, as if she wrote it down and memorized it beforehand?"
"How could that be? She is a very intelligent child. My elder brother, who usually doesn't even look at women because he thinks they are ignorant and not worth talking to, calls for her every night to ask her so many things."
Princess Jeongui replied very casually and chuckled meaningfully.
It seemed Princess Jeongui already knew about what had happened on the main hall the previous night.
Her face flushed, Yunseo vowed never to let Lee Hyang express his affection in front of others again.
Perhaps it was ingrained in him that a Monarch should be shameless, but Lee Hyang, who was extremely restrained in other matters, showed no hesitation in expressing affection in front of Palace Servants.
"Didn't you tell me last time that just as our bodies develop, our brains develop sequentially? Then what is the connection between that and lying? It must be uncomfortable to keep prostrating yourself like that, so sit up and speak."
Despite the commotion, His Majesty remembered precisely what Yunseo had rambled about last time.
Yunseo sat up and calmly began to recite modern theories about children's lies.
Since she had already explained the theory before, King Sejong would surely know if she were to fabricate something now.
"Sophisticated lies, such as telling the truth about time but lying about the place, require complex cognitive abilities. One must be able to grasp the intentions of others and, based on that, fabricate facts that are advantageous to oneself. This is possible only after the age of two, when one can accurately recognize and express one's own desires and those of others..."
King Sejong occasionally interjected with "Hmm" and "Oh?" and nodded his head.
Yunseo couldn't help but admire his astonishingly focused listening, even though he himself was a genius and a near-perfect king.
"Only after the age of six can one distinguish right from wrong, so from this point on, lying needs to be strictly disciplined."
When Yunseo finished speaking, an exclamation of "Oh?" echoed, and silence fell upon Cheonsu Hall for a moment.
It was a silence of curiosity, wondering how His Majesty and Princess Jeongui had come to know such things.
Yunseo's guess was correct.
"When I taught you a few new characters, you quickly learned to read and write them, so I thought you were no ordinary child, but you truly are amazing? How did you learn this?"
Princess Jeongui stepped forward first, asking half-jokingly and half-genuinely curious.
"My father passed away early, and when I was taken in by my deceased father's family, I took care of many children, not only the family's children but also the servant children. Through that, I naturally learned these things, but I am unsure if they are accurate with my limited knowledge."
"Ah! I see. No wonder. This is information you wouldn't know just by raising our Grandson, His Highness. You learned it from raising many children before. That's why you take such good care of our Grandson."
As if having received a secret order from Lee Hyang to go along with any story whose origin was unknown and steer the conversation appropriately, Princess Jeongui enthusiastically played along with Yunseo's words.
"Didn't you say the other day that in emotional development, if the primary caregiver, the mother, experiences extreme emotional distress, the fetus in the womb and the newborn baby are also affected?"
Fortunately, King Sejong asked about the emotional development aspect that Yunseo had briefly explained last time.
"Yes, Your Majesty. That is why, when carrying a royal heir, the royal family performs prenatal education by reading the words of sages and playing good music during pregnancy, isn't it?"
"That's a tradition we've always followed... but was there any basis for it?"
There were many bases.
Modern neuroscience has revealed that when a mother experiences stress, stress hormones like cortisol are released, affecting the fetus connected by the umbilical cord. Not only are there hormonal changes in the body, but the hippocampus, which forms short-term memory, also shrinks.
In other words, the mother's stress has a tangible impact on the fetus's brain.
However, it was impossible to tell King Sejong about this modern knowledge.
Yunseo racked her brain for a while and then exclaimed, "Ah!"
