Chapter 36
Chapter 36. The way to deeply understand the heart of a ruler (2)
<Half is the same as the previous story, the latter part is newly written>
"So, what was the outcome, Madam?" Did a better tax system emerge as time passed?”
“Whenever I take a history exam, there’s always one thing that comes up as Joseon’s greatest tax reform. It’s a tax system called the Great Equalization Law. There was one king, a foolish king who was deposed, but he is evaluated as a quite decent king in later generations for the reason of implementing this Great Equalization Law, so listen carefully. Ah, but before that, it’s too difficult!”
Yunseo pushed at Lee Hyang’s chest and twisted, breaking free from his arm.
Her posture was so uncomfortable that it was difficult to concentrate on recalling historical knowledge.
Standing with her arms crossed beside the desk, Yunseo briefly explained the Great Equalization Law, which collected tribute, a source of immense suffering for the people, uniformly as rice.
“It’s a law that collected tribute, which was imposed on every household, based on land units and gathered as rice, so there was immense resistance from landowners. However, with ministers who had a genuine will to serve the people pushing it steadfastly, it took root over nearly a hundred years, and thanks to it, the commercial economy and monetary economy flourished.”
“And when was that?”
“About 150 years after the Japanese invasion war called the Imjin War, it was implemented during the process of rebuilding the devastated land.”
“Wait, Yunseo! Don’t mix wars and taxes. I’ll organize the war history separately for you.”
Once she started explaining, Lee Hyang completely abandoned his previously languid attitude and became frighteningly serious.
He seemed to be listening attentively, taking notes, and simultaneously comparing it to current issues in his mind.
“And there was a term called ‘Samjeong Mullan’.”
Yunseo briefly explained the corruption of the land tax (Jeonjeong), the military service tax (Gunjeong) that had to be paid, and the state-sponsored loan tax (Hwanjeong) as they came to mind.
“What I remember is only brief knowledge, so regarding its practical application based on this, Your Highness should review and proceed with your outstanding ministers.”
“Hmm, very well. Even this alone is a great help.”
Nodding and admiring, Lee Hyang suddenly asked.
“In your world, who receives this kind of higher education?”
“It’s called compulsory education, where all citizens are required to receive a total of 12 years: 6 years of elementary school, 3 years of middle school, and 3 years of high school. And after that, they can go to a place called university, like I did, to study further.”
“12 years of compulsion! All citizens! Then do servants also receive education?”
“Your Highness, in my world, there are no servants, no kings, no yangban. There are only humans, all equal before the law. Of course, in principle, and since it’s a place where people live, there are divisions like upper, middle, and lower classes based on wealth and power, but this is not fixed; it’s fluid.”
“Aha!”
Lee Hyang nodded with eyes that seemed to understand Yunseo even better.
“Indeed, Madam, you are unsuitable to live merely handling the palace’s affairs as a concubine. So, let’s do this.”
“How so?”
“When our Lord of Pyeongchang comes, you will teach Hongwi basic knowledge in various fields for half an hour each day.”
“Ah, yes! That sounds good!”
Teaching our Hongwi, and the sister who cherishes him, is always welcome.
“And as I mentioned last time, at night, here in Bihyeon Pavilion, you will become my personal Hall of Worthies and teach me all you know in various fields.”
“···Yes.”
She was also told to write books with Princess Jeongui, teach the Queen letters while providing psychological counseling.
On top of that, she had to attend meetings for the Grand Princes and Princesses irregularly.
And she still had to make and sell Jaun-go and soap.
What on earth is my schedule…?
“There may be times when I send an eunuch to seek advice when I am stuck on something with my ministers. So, please provide answers each time. I will also provide you with a salary equivalent to that of a Hall of Worthies scholar.”
Something is getting a bit too overwhelming!
“Of course, I will repay your hard work by doing my best every night in the heated room for you, my Madam, who loves me so dearly.”
Lee Hyang looked at Yunseo with a meaningful smile lingering on his lips.
Yunseo’s heart fluttered at his smile, but she used this opportunity to bring up a carefully crafted story to eliminate the sense of humiliation she felt from Lee Hyang’s unrestrained displays of affection.
“Your Highness.”
“Speak, Madam.”
“Will the knowledge I possess be of help to Your Highness’s reign?”
“Of course, Madam. Such knowledge is invaluable, unobtainable from any book, ancient or modern. I can hardly believe my luck in meeting you!”
“Then, please treat me accordingly.”
This was her second request, to fully fathom the heart of the Crown Prince who cherished talent so dearly.
“Please treat me as befits someone who provides future knowledge that no book, no talent, can offer Your Highness.”
“···How so?”
Lee Hyang’s demeanor, which had been relaxed just moments ago, confident in his affection and Yunseo’s affection, began to show signs of anxiety and slight displeasure.
The Queen’s words, that a monarch is a being who gets angry, echoed clearly in her ears.
However, Yunseo turned her back on Lee Hyang and straightened her clothes, which had been disheveled by his touch, and re-tied her robe ties.
Then, instead of slowly turning to approach Lee Hyang, she walked to the conference table in the center of the study and sat in a chair facing him.
And while feeling excited by his touch, she began to explain in detail why it felt so humiliating.
“If my words, spoken while trying to steady my quickening breath in Your Highness’s embrace and wanting to stay by your side, are half the truth, then the other half is that I find this situation humiliating, Your Highness.”
“Humiliating? I love you dearly, so…”
“I know, Your Highness. I know that this is the greatest form of affection Your Highness, as the Crown Prince of Joseon, can give me. However, for me, love means expressing affection in the form and at the time I desire, and sleeping where I wish, not being kissed in front of palace servants, or being brought to you by Royal Order as yesterday.”
“I did that to you deliberately!”
Lee Hyang’s tone contorted with anger.
“The woman I fell in love with happens to be a Palace Lady, and in this Joseon Palace, which is not equal as you say, you happen to be at the very bottom, a Palace Lady. That is why I deliberately kissed you where the palace servants could see, and embraced you so the entire Palace would know. So that no one would dare to touch a single hair on your head, knowing that the Crown Prince loves this woman so dearly. Was this affection of mine, this longing of mine, a humiliation to you, Yunseo?”
As if truly humiliated, Lee Hyang’s handsome face contorted terribly.
“!”
In that moment, Yunseo felt dizzy, as if struck on the back of the head with a heavy hammer.
It was the moment she confirmed that the two people from different eras and systems had such a vast chasm of misunderstanding between them.
Yunseo suddenly felt the historical Munjong, who was always described as ascetic, never loosening his collar, and who inherited King Sejong’s great achievements as Sejong’s perfect son, as a living, breathing human being for the first time.
Then, she clearly realized how much this noble man, so beautiful and noble that it was difficult to even imagine being able to love and be loved, let alone dote on him, loved her.
And how she had missed his immense, considerate affection with the implicit superiority complex of a 21st-century human, distorting his true feelings and misunderstanding them.
Without Lee Hyang’s protection, Yunseo would have been beaten to death long ago, just like Jeon Gyun.
Lee Hyang was loving Yunseo beyond his limits, yet Yunseo, trapped in the shell of a life she was forced into, refused to truly see him.
What had she done to the man who, like a pubescent boy, was thrilled to meet the first woman he truly liked?
Yunseo got up and ran to Lee Hyang.
Then, she knelt, bowed her head, and sincerely apologized.
“Your Highness, I judged your actions by the standards of my world and rashly deemed them a rude insult, failing to see the consideration and sincerity you offered me. Foolishly, only after hearing your words did I finally understand your heart.”
“······.”
“And through your words, I realized my arrogance and rudeness.”
Yunseo realized that while she claimed to be acting for Hongwi, she was actually endangering him.
If one had to choose just one person who truly loved and could protect Hongwi, it would be his father, Lee Hyang, not herself, summoned into Gwonga’s body.
Despite this, she had been arrogant enough to believe she could love Hongwi more than Lee Hyang, and as a result, using Hongwi as an excuse, she had misunderstood Lee Hyang’s deep affection without truly examining it, thereby endangering Hongwi’s safety and future with her own hands!
This painful realization led to a thorough reflection and apology.
“I was wrong, Your Highness. I will never again distort your heart with my own standards.”
Lee Hyang watched the woman bowing her head in apology.
He saw a woman from another land who shook his body and soul, who brought dazzling affection into his bland world filled with immense duty, and who possessed knowledge he did not know.
He saw a woman with a strong will and standards of her own, capable of truly swimming across the river beyond the palace walls and escaping far away.
He saw the woman he had carelessly misunderstood because he had tried so hard not to love her as much as he loved her, now apologizing with all her might.
And so, Lee Hyang finally voiced the question he had truly wanted to ask but had never dared to.
“···If Jinsung shines again and that gold ring allows you to return to your world, what will you do then?”
This question had finally come.
Would she return if given the chance?
Like the woman in the legend who became a woodcutter’s wife after her wings were stolen, if her wings were returned, would she fly away, even with two children tucked under her arms?
All folk tales and legends project fundamental human desires and fears.
Beings like Yunseo, who suddenly appeared with knowledge and vitality from another world, captivating someone, and then suddenly disappearing as they came.
Men who, believing they loved their wives deeply enough to have two children, defied the deer’s warning and handed over their wings, only to lose their wives.
Men who, throughout their love, must have been constantly anxious with the thought that their wives could fly away at any moment.
And Yunseo, who, though she had no wings, feared losing the Crown Princess’s ring, which was like wings, or having it stolen, had hidden it deep within the hem of her worn Jeogori, locked away in a chest, now realized she had to ask herself.
Revealing the secret was not the important thing.
The mindset she should have had when proposing to Lee Hyang was the resolve to be with him until death, the decision that even if she had the chance to return to the modern era, she would never leave Lee Hyang’s side!
Yunseo stood up and looked into Lee Hyang’s eyes.
“The ring sewn and hidden in the hem of my Jeogori, I will discard it, Your Highness. I will never, ever leave Your Highness’s side!”
“···Sigh.”
The moment the answer he had wanted to ask, and wanted to hear, flowed from Yunseo, Lee Hyang swayed with relief.
“I too have a secret to confess, Yunseo. Will you listen?”
Only after gaining a woman who promised to be entirely his did Lee Hyang dare to unburden the lonely feelings he had been unable to share with anyone throughout his long years as Crown Prince.
---------------------------------------
