Chapter 3
Episode 3. Did you hit our baby?
For lunch, noodles with pretty, colorful toppings were served, and for dessert, candied lotus root and chestnuts simmered in syrup.
“Gwonga, the maid.”
The Royal Lady Sanggung was serving Hongwi respectfully, when Hongwi called Yunseo, who was kneeling in front.
“Yes, baby.”
“Here, eat.”
Not forgetting her promise to give the dessert earlier, Hongwi pointed to the plate with the candied fruit.
“···Yes, baby. Thank you.”
Such a good child, our Hongwi.
In the afternoon, the entire Palace felt as if it were in an uproar.
“His Majesty is returning to the Palace tomorrow. The entertainers from the Jangakwon, the singers and musicians, are preparing to greet him with all sorts of performances. They say people are flocking from Yukjo Street all the way to outside Dongdaemun to get a spot to watch the spectacle.”
What a shame we can’t go out to see such a wonderful sight. If it were my turn for night duty, I could go watch. Yun Ga told me with a face full of regret.
But to Yunseo, a modern person who had experienced everything from concerts to movies, and all sorts of wonderful, exciting, and bizarre things, the singing of courtesans or a clown’s handstand was nothing.
With an uninterested expression, Yunseo suggested to Hongwi.
“Baby, shall we play fishing?”
She felt like she might just collapse and fall asleep if she stayed still.
“Let’s play fishing. Let’s play tag, too.”
Hongwi hopped up and down on her short legs.
The headscarf she wore fluttered jauntily, and the child’s eyes sparkled like jewels.
Seeing the child shining with such vitality, something in her chest welled up again.
Yunseo deliberately muttered gruffly.
‘This kid, she’s incredibly cute.’
Still, whenever Yunseo had a moment, she would rush to the privy.
Once inside the privy in a corner of the East Palace, she would first open the mouth of the colorful silk pouch hanging from her waist.
And for the hundredth time, for some reason, she would take out a gold ring covered in sticky pine pollen and try to put it on her fourth finger.
“Damn it! Damn it!”
It seemed it wasn’t working during the day.
Come to think of it, she remembered Crown Prince Lee Hyang talking about ‘Jinsung’ last night.
He said the Jinsung star was shining brightly, so if she put on the ring when Jinsung shone brightly again, she would be able to return.
Without losing hope, she walked back to Hongwi’s quarters, dusting herself off.
“Ah!”
Seeing a group of Royal Ladies and Palace Ladies approaching, her back stiffened with tension, and cold sweat broke out.
It was a reflexive, fearful, tense reaction from the body of ‘Gwonga, the maid.’
What could it be that made this body so tense?
From the other side, a Palace Lady saw Yunseo and quickly hid behind another tall Palace Lady.
“!”
It’s that Palace Lady.
That was the Palace Lady who, yesterday afternoon, had given her a few Pine Pollen Sweets, saying she got them from the outer kitchen.
The gluttonous Gwonga, the maid, had put them in this silk pouch and eaten them with a muffled sound behind the sliding door after Hongwi fell asleep.
Feeling as if her stomach was burning, Gwonga, the maid, thought, ‘I’m going to die,’ and crawled to Hongwi’s side, wanting to see her baby’s face one last time.
As her consciousness faded, Gwonga, the maid, sobbed and murmured.
“My poor baby, ah, my poor baby.”
The sorrow of Gwonga, the maid, who had to die leaving behind the grandson, whom she loved like her own child, and
the resentment of the Crown Princess Consort in the ring, who wanted to prevent her son’s tragedy,
resonated across time and space,
and bizarrely pulled Yunseo’s soul into the body of the deceased Kwon Ga, the maid!
The group of Royal Ladies and Palace Ladies rushed past Yunseo.
A middle-aged Royal Lady in a green dangui shot Yunseo a glare for standing there blankly without even greeting them, and passed by.
It was a look that said she was letting it slide because she was busy.
‘Should I have them caught and punished?’
No.
There’s no evidence.
Well, there is evidence, but these crumbs won’t be conclusive proof.
‘But you will die by my hand someday.’
I will catch you, using all the knowledge I possess.
Yunseo glared fiercely at the back of the Palace Lady’s head, who was fleeing behind them.
And with a heavy heart, she realized that a shadow of death was already looming over Hongwi’s head.
“Let’s play fishing!”
Returning inside the pavilion, Hongwi, who had been standing on the main hall, exclaimed with delight.
Yunseo tied a thick thread to a long branch that a servant boy had fetched, attached a stone to the end for weight, and placed it in Hongwi’s hand.
“Throw it into the middle of the pond over there.”
The pavilion where Hongwi resided had a structure similar to the inner quarters of a noble family’s house.
It was surrounded by square walls, and the main building, with Hongwi’s bedroom and study, stood in the center of the north side, separated by the main hall.
The servant boys and female servants who ran errands and did various chores lived in small rooms in the covered walkway next to the main gate.
And to the east of the spacious yard was a small pond.
When Hongwi suggested playing fishing, not only her nanny Yun Ga but also the Palace Ladies in charge of cleaning, laundry, and lighting, and even the servants, all came out to watch.
Hongwi gripped the stick tightly, bending and straightening her short legs, preparing to cast the fishing line.
“Fishy, here I come!”
Shouting at the fish with a lisp, the grandson cast the line.
Then, colorful carp darted away into the aquatic plants.
Hongwi clapped her hands, saying, “Yay, yay,” and giggled with delight at the sight.
At the sound of the baby’s cute laughter, the watching Palace Ladies and servant boys cheered and clapped, saying, “You’re amazing, baby,” and “Cast it again.”
Hongwi, looking triumphant, bent and straightened her legs again, preparing to cast once more.
“When did you learn how to play so well with the baby?”
Palace Lady Yun Ga looked at Yunseo strangely.
‘You’re usually a bit slow, so how did your eyes become so bright? Did you eat something wrong?’ was the look in her eyes.
It’s because my soul has been swapped, she wanted to say.
Unable to speak, she just smiled and looked at Hongwi.
“What are you doing?”
Two boys, about five or six years old, entered from the gate, followed by Palace Ladies.
They were royal children, wearing deep purple robes and golden sashes around their waists.
“Princess Myeongnyegung, Princess Heerakdang, welcome?”
Palace Lady Yun Ga ran over and bowed deeply.
All the other Palace Servants also bowed deeply and paid their respects.
‘Who are they?’
As she wondered, knowledge related to them naturally surfaced in her mind.
‘Princess Myeongnyegung refers to Grand Prince Suyang’s eldest son, Prince Dowon, and Princess Heerakdang refers to the youngest son of Consort Shin, Prince Damyang.’
Consort Shin would later become Lady Kim Shinbin.
Lady Kim Shinbin was King Sejong’s most favored concubine, a figure who rose from a servant in the Naesiseo to the rank of Jeong 1-pum Bin.
Her ancestors were Crown Princess Consort Kwon and Danjong, so historical knowledge she had meticulously reviewed flashed through her mind.
‘I shouldn’t have studied so hard. They sent me here because I know too much!’
Annoyed anew, her body automatically darted towards Hongwi.
It was because she could clearly see Hongwi flinching at the sight of the two children.
“Our Hongwi is playing fishing. I’ll help you, older brother.”
Unexpectedly, Prince Dowon acted like an older brother and began helping Hongwi fish.
"Fish, here I come!"
Prince Damyang, the youngest son of Consort Shin, also ran to the other side and stomped his feet, sending the fish hiding in the aquatic plants towards the grandson.
Prince Dowon stood behind Hongwi, his hands overlapping Hongwi’s on the fishing rod, and swung the line with the stone in the air.
‘It doesn’t seem like our Hongwi likes this very much.’
Yunseo approached the two children, intending to rescue Hongwi from Prince Dowon’s hands if necessary.
The fishing line struck the surface of the pond with force.
“Wahahahaha.”
The children clapped their hands and laughed.
Hongwi’s eyes flickered, and the corners of her mouth twitched.
It was an anxious smile, completely different from the smile that had lit up her whole face earlier.
‘You must be the cause of this.’
Yunseo observed Prince Dowon’s expression.
‘Even his eyes aren’t smiling. This little brat is already putting on a fake smile with just the corners of his mouth.’
Prince Dowon was the royal family’s first grandson, and before Hongwi was born, he was a child who received immense favor.
Unlike Lee Hyang, who was unfortunate in marriage and had two chosen Crown Princesses deposed and expelled for jealousy and homosexuality.
Grand Prince Suyang married a girl from the wealthiest family in Hanyang, the Yun family, and presented the long-awaited first grandson to King Sejong and his consort.
‘What must that child, who had monopolized the affection of the royal elders, have felt when our Hongwi was born?’
Even siblings experience great stress when a younger sibling is born, regressing to infancy, but
in this case, the newborn cousin was the grandson who would eventually ascend the throne.
And Prince Dowon was the eldest son of none other than ‘Grand Prince Suyang.’
Even when playing together, boys of five or six instinctively try to establish a hierarchy.
If the hierarchical instincts of those two children turn towards our Hongwi!
Yunseo stood within a step of being able to embrace Hongwi, her nerves on high alert.
This time, Prince Damyang took the fishing rod from Hongwi’s hand.
“Watch carefully. This is how you swing it.”
Prince Damyang swung the fishing line high in the air.
“Oh my, the babies have arrived. Go and bring some refreshments and sweet persimmon drink.”
Royal Lady Park, who had appeared unnoticed, instructed a servant boy.
The children put down their fishing rods and began splashing each other with water from the pond.
With Gwonga, the maid, standing protectively beside her, Hongwi, shedding her initial anxiety, ran around on her short legs, splashing water with gusto.
“Here are jeungpyeon and surichwi tteok. Have a bite and play.”
As Royal Lady Park called out, the gluttonous ‘Gwonga, the maid’s’ body reflexively turned towards the small table with the rice cakes.
And in that sole moment she looked away, Hongwi clutched her head and ran to Yunseo, whimpering.
“Ana-jeo, ana-jeo.”
Her lips quivering sadly.
For a moment, Yunseo felt a burning pain in her chest.
“Baby, what’s wrong?”
Yunseo consciously tried to ask gently.
Yunseo, a psychologist with infinite patience, was known for her nickname, ‘Ms. Yunseo, who is excessively kind.’
However, the moment the baby whimpered, her mind went blank.
“Did Princess Myeongnyegung hit you?”
She asked through clenched teeth.
“Eung, ana-jeo.”
But Hongwi only buried her face in Yunseo’s chest and sobbed.
It seemed she had already been instilled with the terrible philosophy that a gentleman should not tattle.
Yunseo hugged Hongwi first.
The small body, less than a meter tall, trembled faintly.
“Haa!”
Yunseo’s body also began to tremble.
In her thirty years of life, this was the second time Kwon Yunseo had felt such a heart-wrenching anger.
“Princess Myeongnyegung, did you hit our baby?”
As she asked in a stiff voice,
the entire courtyard fell silent as if a mute button had been pressed.
“Did you hit our grandson’s head?”
Yunseo looked coldly at Prince Dowon, the son of Grand Prince Suyang, and asked again.
---------------------------------------
