Chapter 43
Episode 43. King Sejong's Stance Towards Gwonga (2)
Yunseo thought anew that it was good she had come wearing a cotton inner jeogori and underpants.
Because there hadn't been a single day she didn't feel a deathly fear while entering Cheonsu Hall for an audience with King Sejong, Yunseo screamed inwardly that it was good she had prepared undergarments that could absorb sweat well, and prostrated herself flat again today!
King Sejong looked indifferently at Gwonga, who was prostrating and trembling, and asked.
“Do you have nothing to tell me?”
“If you mean what I should tell you…”
“These documents you wrote and then destroyed, did you truly just hide them?”
It was not a loud question, but a quiet one.
Yet, cold sweat was already pouring down Yunseo’s back like rain.
Her throat was dry.
To say, “Yes, I plotted,” now would be the same as saying, “Please kill me like Jeon Gyun.”
“I was simply so frustrated by what happened to His Highness the Grandson… I stewed in my anger… Please kill me.”
Yunseo prostrated herself flat again.
“……”
A moment of silence,
A silence that felt like death, flowed between the two like a slow, vast river.
Finally, His Majesty asked again.
“What should be done?”
“?”
Yunseo looked at King Sejong, not understanding what he meant.
“These are traces of an attempt to harm, beyond Buddhist scriptures, against the grandson. And from my investigation, there was no falsehood in what you, Gwonga, wrote. How should this be handled?”
This is maddening!
Why are you asking me, a mere Palace Lady?
You, the King, should just wield your axe or sword and clear it all away yourself!
“How dare I, a mere servant, mix my opinion into the affairs of my superiors? Please withdraw your question.”
“Do you truly think so?”
What was this supposed to mean now!
“Do you truly mean you will not mix your opinion into the affairs of your superiors?”
Oh no! Now I see. His Majesty was warning me not to meddle in the future.
Ah, this is truly terrifying.
“Your Majesty, I have heard that actions beyond one’s station lead to ruin for oneself and those around them.”
“……”
King Sejong, who had been gazing down at Yunseo, pressed on with a heavy voice.
“Can you promise me that you will not forget and will remember, for as long as it takes, what you told me today, and your promise to keep to your station?”
“Yes. I will do so.”
Yunseo answered without the slightest hesitation.
Her demeanor was different from how she had been flustered moments before.
Seeing Yunseo like this, King Sejong looked at her with a peculiar expression, then suddenly raised his voice.
“I will watch you. Is Eom Sangjeon there?”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
“Strip Hong Seung-hwi of his rank for looking down on His Highness the Grandson and for recklessly searching the grandson’s quarters and making a false accusation. Demote her to a Royal Concubine and confine her to a humble pavilion!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
“Furthermore, tell the Queen to find all those who have disrupted the discipline of the Inner Court and to strictly enforce order, so that such an incident never happens again.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
Oh, finally!
Yunseo, who had been holding her breath and prostrating herself, wanted to clench her fists and shout.
The plans she had made while tearing up the note were being realized through King Sejong’s words.
Lady Yun, Grand Prince Suyang!
You are both dead, count your blessings!
And Yunseo, while stealing glances at King Sejong, thought again.
‘I will keep my promise not to act beyond my station, Your Majesty. But from now on, I will not consider what I do to be beyond my station!’
How could plotting to destroy enemies to protect our Hongwi be an act beyond my station?
Sangjeon? A great King?
They do not exist in my dictionary.
I will live, protecting our Hongwi, and furthermore, protecting Lee Hyang, and I will live splendidly in this Joseon!
Yunseo, who had been feeling triumphant, suddenly felt a pang of unease.
“Your Majesty, may I make one difficult request?”
“Speak.”
“Please grant your royal favor so that Hong Sang-gung may continue to care for Princess Geum-a.”
“…Why?”
“The child, weak in body and spirit, will never understand why she must be separated from her birth mother now and in the future.”
It is too cruel to inflict the pain of separation on a life that is already too short and pitiable.
King Sejong, who understood the unspoken words Yunseo did not add, looked at Gwonga with surprised eyes, then suddenly spoke.
“Answer honestly what I ask.”
“…Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Tell me, what sorcery was it that you employed against the Queen?”
“It is not sorcery!”
Yunseo exclaimed reflexively.
Just when one hurdle seemed to be cleared as intended, why again!
If I get caught for sorcery here, death is the default, and if I’m lucky, I’ll be dragged to the Seongsucheong and live as a national shaman.
Then what about our Hongwi! And Lee Hyang, whom I’ve just begun to accept as my beloved!
“It may appear as sorcery at first glance, but it is merely a rare therapeutic method that shows dramatic effects on those suffering from the aftereffects of psychological shock.”
“Ha! If it’s not sorcery, how could something that couldn’t be achieved even after praying to Buddha for decades…”
“I will explain it to Your Majesty in detail.”
“Hm?”
“I will explain it to Your Majesty, so please try it yourself. It will take about this much time, and Your Majesty need not speak aloud the thoughts that come to mind.”
“Oho!”
This was precisely what King Sejong had been seeking.
King Sejong felt an urgent need to verify the source of Gwonga’s knowledge and its effects.
Gwonga, who had already captivated Hongwi, the Crown Prince, and even the Queen, who doted on Grand Prince Suyang’s wife, could wield immense mental influence over Joseon’s future if she set her mind to it.
If Gwonga were an ordinary person, it would be a welcome thing for her to be the beloved consort of the Crown Prince, but Gwonga’s conduct and knowledge were sometimes alien and strange.
A monarch, by instinct, could not help but be wary of knowledge and power that could not be controlled.
“Explain it.”
Yunseo sat up, took a deep breath, and lamented that she could not relax her tension for even a single moment in front of King Sejong.
Now she understood why Lee Hyang, as brilliant as King Sejong, had lived his life without ever ruffling a collar.
In front of the great King Sejong, who had lived his life with such tension, even his own son, the Crown Prince, she felt foolish for the past few days, feeling relieved that she had gained a strong shield with just Lee Hyang’s love, and secured a small favor from the Queen, believing Hongwi’s future was secure. Tears welled up.
No wonder.
The ring wouldn’t come off my finger no matter what.
The day after promising Lee Hyang that I would live as his woman here forever without returning to the modern era, Yunseo had gone to throw the ring into the well north of the East Palace.
I had put it on my ring finger to make it easy to carry, but it wouldn’t come off in front of the well.
As if it were a sign that it wasn’t time to be at ease yet, the ring, which wouldn’t budge from my finger as if glued on with superglue, slid off easily when I returned to my quarters.
So Yunseo put the ring back into the waistband of her underpants, sewed it in, and stored it well in the chest.
That must have been a rather kind warning from the ghost of Queen Hyundeok.
Even the formidable ghost of Queen Hyundeok, who was said in unofficial histories to have spat on King Sejo and made him a leper, and who caused the death of his son, Prince Dowon, was so afraid of King Sejong that she couldn’t even appear in a dream to plead.
If only she had wailed just once, shedding tears of blood, about how your son Suyang would kill my son Hongwi, I wouldn’t be dragged here and suffering this ordeal!
Her mind, which had just settled, was once again in turmoil with fear. Yunseo closed her eyes and bit the inside of her mouth hard.
Using the salty taste of blood spreading in her mouth as leverage, Yunseo slowly took seven deep breaths.
When she opened her eyes, Yunseo had regained the professional composure of a psychological counselor.
“Your Majesty, this therapy was devised from my own experience when I was going through a very difficult time. I was walking alone and happened to roll my eyes around, and at that moment, my fear and negative thoughts remarkably decreased.”
Yunseo borrowed the experience of an American psychologist who devised a therapy with the long name ‘Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)’ and presented it as her own.
When EMDR first appeared, it was indeed treated as sorcery or a strange art because traumas and dissociations that couldn’t be resolved with medication or talk therapy improved dramatically simply by moving one’s eyes back and forth.
“Please close your eyes, and while moving your pupils from left to right, recall the memory that was most difficult for Your Majesty, but it is fine to just think about it without speaking.”
Yunseo actually hoped King Sejong would not speak.
Although it was not a proper professional attitude for a counseling therapist, it was not the time to consider professional ethics in front of a 15th-century genius absolute monarch.
Would an absolute monarch spare someone who knew the painful moments he had buried deep within himself?
“……”
As expected, the absolute monarch King Sejong did not speak aloud the painful memories he recalled while performing eye movements, and his brow furrowed deeply as he sank into his own suffering.
“Your Majesty, when that painful memory arises, how did you cope? While performing that method, pay attention to the emotions and feelings the memory evokes.”
“……”
Although he did not answer, His Majesty straightened his shoulders and took a deep breath.
For about an hour, Yunseo explained the therapy, which involved eye movements and brief pauses, about ten times in this manner.
As a genius, he seemed to grasp the concept from the verbal explanation alone, so Yunseo summarized the therapy and said,
“Sometimes it works in a single session, and sometimes it requires multiple, longer sessions to be effective. The Queen, being a strong person who has successfully managed her duties as the head of the Inner Court while suppressing painful memories, showed a noticeable effect with just one session, but it is necessary to further convert the memories positively by performing it a few more times.”
King Sejong, who had been nodding vaguely at Yunseo’s words, closed his eyes and remained silent for a long time.
“……”
Suddenly, a thread of pity arose within Yunseo; King Sejong was also human.
Why would the unparalleled genius, the wise king of all ages, not have buried pain?
He must have endured greater suffering commensurate with his power, practicing self-control and propriety to achieve the rule of a wise king.
However, Yunseo was too insignificant to fathom King Sejong’s current thoughts; she was someone whose life was always as precarious as a candle flame in the wind.
Finally, His Majesty opened his eyes and suddenly said,
“What is the principle behind it?”
“I do not know well. I discovered it by chance while moving my eyes, and I merely confirmed its effectiveness by testing it on various Palace Ladies.”
It was difficult to explain without using modern knowledge terms, so she denied it for now.
“I am referring to the draft of the Yugabogam that you wrote with Princess Jeongui. You must submit the completed version now, so come to Cheonsu Hall when the draft is finished.”
“…Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Come and add your questions regarding the draft of the Yugabogam that I have raised, and produce the final manuscript.”
“…Yes, Your Majesty.”
King Sejong intended to personally uncover the source of Yunseo’s knowledge, piece by piece, rather than interrogating her immediately!
‘His Majesty will not let Lady Yun, Grand Prince Suyang, off the hook in the end!’
Yunseo read King Sejong’s intentions amidst her fear.
If so, despite all these schemes, if King Sejong ultimately does not suspect Grand Prince Suyang or Lady Yun!
Then King Sejong will do King Sejong’s work, and Gwon Yunseo will do Gwon Yunseo’s work!
Yunseo, who had been racking her brain, suddenly had an idea.
“Your Majesty!”
Gwon Yunseo’s strong voice, which seemed to belie her fear, shook Cheonsu Hall.
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