Chapter 30
“Gwaya, why do you think Jeon Gyun was punished? Tell me.”
King Sejong asked again.
Yunseo, who had merely bowed her head, thinking it was a warning against speaking words that touched upon the royal taboo today, sensed that King Sejong wanted a different answer.
And she realized he would never let her go until she provided that answer.
“With my foolish mind, I cannot fathom the Royal Intention of Your Majesty, the wise king of all ages and the greatest genius of Joseon. Please enlighten me.”
Yunseo tried to seek Your Majesty’s help for now.
She didn’t expect much. Your Majesty was not that easygoing.
As expected, Your Majesty said,
“Ha! You spoke so eloquently just now, but what do you mean your thoughts are short? Tell me!”
“…Because I abandoned my duty as a Grand Audience Hall eunuch, serving Your Majesty at close quarters.”
“Again!”
“…I dared to tarnish the dignity of the East Palace where His Highness the Crown Prince resides.”
“Again!”
“…They plotted to kill me, a Palace Lady of His Highness the Crown Prince and the nanny of His Highness the Grandson.”
“Again!”
By this point, Yunseo’s temper, which tended to become impatient and sharp-tongued if she didn’t periodically purge the darkness in her heart through running, was starting to flare up.
“I am merely a lowly Palace Lady, so I cannot possibly fathom the Royal Intention of Your Majesty, the greatest genius, scholar, and wise king of Joseon. Just tell me!”
She wouldn’t die here today.
She had been ordered to start writing a childcare theory book tomorrow, was summoned to the Hangeul creation meeting that Suyang would also attend soon, and most importantly, was ordered to teach the Queen letters and care for her heart. Therefore, she wouldn’t be killed today!
“No matter how many times you ask, I don’t think my foolish mind can possibly come up with it, so please do not let this humble Palace Lady take up Your Majesty’s precious time!”
Even a sliver of mental relief she had clung to became a catalyst for her to dare to lose her temper without any filter.
“Ha! Gwaya, I warned you!”
“!”
Yunseo involuntarily straightened up and looked at King Sejong.
King Sejong glared at her with a stern expression and declared,
“It is because you, with your eloquent, babbling three-inch tongue, have bewitched the Crown Prince. You have bewitched the Crown Prince, who always acted with restraint and cherished not only his full siblings but also his half-brothers, with your great eloquence, and you are putting my sons in danger.”
“Your Majesty!”
“Mark my words, Gwaya. The day the Crown Prince, bewitched by you, tries to kill any one of my sons, you will be the first to die by my hand, just like Jeon Gyun!”
“!”
To threaten her with death like this.
She had already braced herself for death once during their first audience. There was nothing more frightening now.
Her true feelings, suppressed out of fear, burst forth from Yunseo’s lips as her patience ran out.
“Just as Your Majesty cherishes your sons with all your heart, I, as the nanny Palace Lady, also offer my whole heart and loyalty to our His Highness the Grandson. If anyone in this world dares to harm our little Prince, I will risk my life to stop them!”
“Ha! Good! That was the answer I was expecting!”
“…What?”
“Nanny Palace Lady Gwon Yunseo, kneel and receive my Royal Order.”
“…What?”
In the midst of utter confusion, Yunseo knelt and waited for the Royal Order.
“Today, in Cheonsu Hall, you must absolutely, absolutely keep your true feelings, your vow to protect Hongwi with your life. It is a Royal Order!”
For a moment, a chill ran down Yunseo’s spine.
So, all this pressure was intended to draw out her true feelings!
“Why no answer?”
“Yes, Your Majesty! I will protect Hongwi with my life.”
“Yes, even when you bear your own child in the future, you must not abandon today’s vow to protect Hongwi with your life and help him ascend the throne, do you understand?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Yunseo was so dazed that she didn’t even realize she had called the grandson by his name.
She also didn’t realize that King Sejong had raised his eyebrows in surprise, saying “Oh ho?” but had let it pass because he would eventually become his own child.
“And one more thing, do not push our Crown Prince away in the name of romance.”
“What? That, that is because His Highness is trying to see if I am a suitable match for him…”
“Ha! The whole Palace knows Hyangyi is already smitten with you, what are you talking about!”
“……”
“If you loved my son Hyangyi even a fraction of the love you have for Hongwi, you wouldn’t leave that exhausted child, who even sees state affairs in his dreams due to the myriad issues across Joseon, unable to sleep merely across the main hall.”
“!”
Yunseo’s jaw dropped in genuine surprise as she looked up at King Sejong.
King Sejong was looking down at Yunseo, his eyes gleaming with a mixture of sternness and mischief!
“Answer me, Gwon Yunseo.”
“…I will obey the Royal Order.”
“Yes, you may withdraw now. Hongwi becomes anxious if you are not by his side even for a moment, so hurry and attend to ‘your Hongwi’.”
“…Yes, Your Majesty.”
With her mind as bewildered as it had been on the first day, Yunseo walked out of Cheonsu Hall without knowing how, put on her shoes by the stone step, and stumbled across the courtyard of Sajungjeon.
Is this how it was supposed to turn out?
How did it come to this?
“Did something major happen? I was worried, hearing Your Majesty’s roars from time to time, thinking I might have to go fetch His Highness the Crown Prince again.”
Even Eom Sangjeon’s question didn’t register.
She too couldn’t sleep across the main hall, but to have that declared a Royal Order.
Truly, this was Hell Joseon.
Sighing, she returned to the East Palace, and Hongwi, with his now quite swift steps, came running towards her.
“Gwaya Nanny!”
Yunseo reflexively scooped up the child who leaped into her arms.
“Little Prince! Were you waiting for me?”
“Yes, I waited without playing.”
Thinking of their Hongwi, who had forgone even his favorite fishing game and just stared at the door, her heart ached again, filled with emotion.
Still, one side of her mind was a tangled mess of threads due to the Royal Order she had just received, so Yunseo held Hongwi tightly and whispered in his ear,
“Little Prince, after your evening Royal Meal, shall we fly kites again? The wind isn’t great today, but if I run hard while holding you, it might fly a bit.”
“Kite flying good. Play long time.”
“Yes, Little Prince. After kite flying, I will wash you with very fragrant soap. I made something very good.”
Yunseo had finally filtered the ash of samphire through a fine cloth to make alkaline water, mixed it with camellia oil good for the skin that had been infused with medicinal herbs, boiled it for a long time, and then added lye, causing it to form soft, tofu-like curds of soap.
However, even after molding and drying the soap lumps, they didn’t seem to harden like modern soap.
So, yesterday and the day before, she had bathed and washed her face with the soft soap along with Chungbi and Sawol, the Servant Boys of Park Sanggung, who helped with soap making. Her skin had become very soft and clean.
Chungbi and Sawol loved it so much they begged to take just one lump home, and Park Sanggung also worried, “Oh, this is a good item. But soap made with camellia oil should be sold very expensively, or you might not even recover the cost of the ingredients.”
After a simple early dinner, Yunseo ran with Hongwi in her arms for nearly half a shichen without rest.
Hongwi, held by Yunseo, clutched the kite string and giggled, “It’s flying, Gwaya. It’s flying! It’s flying like a bird!” and later, he hugged Yunseo tightly and whispered,
“Gwaya, you’re tired. Let me go.”
He said he would get down because Yunseo was tired and run on his own.
Even though the kite wasn’t flying due to the lack of wind, Hongwi dragged the kite with his short legs and ran around, constantly giggling.
“It got a tail, it got a tail! Gwaya, my tail is long!”
What could be more fulfilling than the clear laughter of a child?
Though it wasn’t by choice, Yunseo’s eyes welled up as she confirmed that her time, struggling in this unfamiliar Joseon, was flowing into Hongwi and blossoming into such a lovely child.
With a child blossoming like this, wouldn’t it be worth living without having to swim across a river to escape?
Gathering strength and courage, wouldn’t it be worth dreaming of a life within this Palace?
Running beside Hongwi, ready to pick him up whenever he fell, Yunseo asked herself again and again through her blurring vision.
Finally, after half a shichen, when Hongwi stopped running, exhausted, Yunseo’s face was wet with tears.
Only then did Hongwi notice Yunseo’s tears. He pulled at her skirt, sat her down to match his eye level, and wiping her tears with his small fingers, asked,
“Gwaya, why are you crying?”
“…The wind got into my eyes, so tears came out.”
The intelligent Hongwi was not fooled by such a lie.
“…Did you get in trouble with Grandpa?”
“No, Little Prince. How could Your Majesty, the wise king of all ages, scold me.”
As she spoke, tears kept coming, and Yunseo finally hugged Hongwi and sobbed.
Then Hongwi also burst into tears, saying, “Waaah,” and patted her shoulder with his small hands, saying,
“Gwaya, I will protect you. Don’t cry, don’t cry.”
After crying and running, her mind became clear.
Yunseo first washed her face to remove the tear stains, then sat Hongwi in warm water, poured water over him evenly, and showed him the bar of soap.
“Little Prince, this is soap. It’s supposed to be harder, but it doesn’t get that way here. Still, Hyangyi, what do you think? It smells good, doesn’t it?”
Although it smelled more like a savory herbal medicine than fragrant, due to the various medicinal herbs, it was a luxurious scent compared to the fishy mung bean powder or unscented rice bran.
“It’s slippery.”
As she lathered the soap onto Hongwi’s body, who was holding and fiddling with the soap bar as if it were a marvel, Hongwi wriggled and giggled.
“It tickles, it tickles. Gwaya, it tickles.”
While holding the wriggling, laughing Hongwi, she washed him along with Lady Choi, and later, while coaxing Hongwi, who was whimpering because the soap water stung his eyes, she rinsed his face with clear water.
After drying him with a towel until he was fluffy and fair.
Exhausted from all the running and giggling during his bath, Hongwi fell asleep as soon as he was laid on the bedding, without even finding his robe ties.
Lee Hyang had sent word through Eom Sangjeon earlier that he would be discussing currency matters with Kim Jongseo and Jeong Inji in Bihyeon Pavilion late into the night, so she was told to go to bed without waiting.
Yunseo briefly went to Eom Sangjeon’s quarters and took out the most beautiful outfit made from silk gifted by the Queen.
A pale pink silk jeogori, which suited Gwaya’s fair skin, gracefully revealed her curves, and a voluminous skirt of light sky blue added to the length of her slender legs.
After meticulously brushing her hair and adorning it with the finest ribbon.
Yunseo returned to the Seoondol, spread white paper on the writing desk, and picked up a fine brush.
[A proper relationship cannot be established on lies.]
This was the first sentence Yunseo wrote.
[The duty that must be fulfilled before proposing marriage is to reveal one’s hidden secrets.]
This was the second sentence Yunseo wrote.
