Chapter 48
Chapter 48. In the black night, we (2) >
Yunseo's body mechanically cut through the water, advancing towards the center of the Han River.
When you swim for a long time, when you swim for a long time in deep water with a slow current, that moment suddenly arrives.
The muscles of the entire body relax pleasantly, breathing becomes comfortable as if walking on flat ground, and it's a moment when the sky above, the ground beneath, the water, the body, and the soul become one, becoming tranquil.
There are rare moments when absolute peace arrives, where it feels like one could endlessly swim and cut through the water like this, and even if one's breath stops while swimming like this, or if one sinks while cutting through the water, life would feel without regret, and many things in life would feel like trivial matters, not worth clinging to.
Yunseo, parting the water flowing over her body and swimming towards the white, shining sandbar in the south far away, was reveling in such a rare moment of peace.
The stifling daily life, confined mostly to a narrow space not exceeding a 2km radius even in the largest palace, the sorrow one had to endure by being positioned at the very bottom of a harsh social order—none of it mattered as her body and mind rejoiced in the pure harmony of movement.
As she was about twenty meters from the southern sandbar, having crossed the Han River, a taut pull suddenly came from her waist.
“!”
The cord tied around her waist pulled Yunseo backward.
In an instant, Yunseo straightened her body, propelling herself upright with only her legs and left arm, forming a straight line in the water. Her right hand instinctively moved to the cord at her waist and the dagger in the small pouch beside it.
‘Should I cut it.’
She had brought a small dagger in a pouch at her waist, just in case she got a cramp while swimming, her first time swimming since coming to Joseon.
If she took out the dagger, cut the cord, and then swam further southwest, found a suitable spot, and disappeared.
She was confident she could live well anywhere, rather than in the palace filled with the layered, complex rules, obligations, and the fearsome King Sejong.
Yunseo relaxed her entire body and floated comfortably on the water.
Her body, surrendered to the waves, slowly drifted downstream along the Han River, and the moonlight, like a temptation, flooded her eyes.
The moment she opened her eyes wide, capturing the slightly distorted moon in her pupils, her right hand instinctively gripped the dagger in her pouch.
At that moment.
“Yunseo!”
Lee Hyang’s voice broke the spell of the moon.
“Gwon Yunseo!”
Lee Hyang’s mournful, anxious voice, like a spell, turned Yunseo’s head in the direction of the sound.
A small boat, carrying a lantern, was rowing towards the center of the river, and the cord at her waist pulled even tighter.
Yunseo slowly turned her head again and looked up at the sky.
“!”
Then, she saw dark storm clouds rapidly gathering around the moon in a sky that had been clear moments before.
As if telling her to return.
Not to be entranced by the moonlight and flee,
To that Joseon man who was restless, unable to give all he could,
To our Hongwi, who slept without sorrow, clutching the hem of her skirt,
The dark storm clouds began to fiercely devour the moon, as if pushing her back.
It was a sign and a revelation, urging her to make a decision.
Yunseo closed her eyes and whispered to the moon being consumed by the clouds.
“The ring’s summons was forced, but this is my choice now.”
Lee Hyang, your wait is over.
Yunseo pushed herself up, began to move her arms and legs again, and started swimming towards the center of the river, towards the alluringly twinkling lantern light.
Yunseo’s heart slid across the water towards Lee Hyang, ahead of her body.
“Yunseo!”
As Yunseo, who had disappeared without a trace into the darkening curtain of night, finally reappeared, cutting through the splashing water.
Lee Hyang, overjoyed, stamped her feet and was chided by Cheon-ga, “Your Highness, the boat will capsize!”
“Your Highness!”
Yunseo straightened her body as if she were standing on land and called out to him.
“Yunseo. Come up here.”
Lee Hyang extended his hand.
But Yunseo shook her head.
“Your Highness, look at the sky. It’s storm clouds.”
Lee Hyang and Cheon-ga, who had been staring intently at the dark river, searching for Yunseo’s whereabouts, raised their heads to the sky.
“Ah, Your Highness! It seems the rain prayer is already showing its effects!”
Cheon-ga, seeing the dark clouds, exclaimed excitedly, nearly letting go of the oars.
“Let’s go back, Your Highness. It looks like it’s about to rain heavily.”
Yunseo, having spoken, began to swim powerfully towards the north bank, where Maegeumi and the other escort eunuchs were standing.
If her swimming had been leisurely and relaxed until now, from this point on it was a fierce arm stroke, a variation of freestyle.
Cheon-ga, watching Yunseo’s retreating figure as she rapidly charged towards the sandy bank, parting the water with her arms and splashing it with her legs, said to Lee Hyang, who was still staring blankly.
“Your Highness, if you were to have Lady Gwon Ga teach our Amphibious Army how to swim…”
Then, perhaps thinking it was a ridiculous idea, he resumed rowing diligently, following Yunseo.
Lee Hyang looked up at the sky again.
The heavy, rain-laden wind began to stir the tranquil river.
By the time the boat reached the ferry landing, Yunseo had also completely emerged from the water and was heading towards Maegeumi.
“Yunseo.”
Lee Hyang disembarked and walked quickly towards Yunseo.
“Yunseo, there’s a blanket on that pavilion to warm yourself. Let’s go there.”
The pavilion of Mangwonjeong, which King Sejong had built and bestowed upon Grand Prince Hyoryeong, now had a makeshift canopy erected, forming walls on all sides.
Lanterns had been placed, and a soft light flowed dreamily from within the canopy.
As Lee Hyang took Yunseo’s dripping wet hand and they reached the front of the pavilion, lightning flashed in the distance, followed by thunder, and then large raindrops began to fall.
“It won’t do any good to change, I think.”
With pale lips, Yunseo shivered, looking around the pitch-black surroundings where the moonlight had vanished without a trace.
Lee Hyang then lifted the canopy and ushered Yunseo inside the pavilion, whispering.
“You’ll catch a cold. Let’s dry off first, change into dry clothes, and then wrap yourselves in blankets before we go back.”
As Yunseo climbed the stairs into the pavilion, she suddenly stopped.
Lee Hyang stood frozen like a stone statue of a waiting woman where he had pushed Yunseo up.
‘This time, it’s my choice.’
Yunseo descended one step back down the wooden stairs, meeting Lee Hyang’s gaze at eye level.
“Your Highness!”
Yunseo reached out and cupped Lee Hyang’s face with both her hands.
Lee Hyang flinched, his body stiffening, which she could clearly feel.
“Your Highness!”
Yunseo’s voice lowered seductively.
“…Your Highness!”
“Yes?”
“Please, dry me off.”
“!”
“It’s raining. Can’t we stop being so careful about our conduct tonight, especially with the rain prayer, Your Highness?”
“…Yunseo.”
“Please stop waiting, Your Highness. Tonight, I have fully embraced you in my heart.”
Whispering, Yunseo took Lee Hyang’s hand and led him under the canopy.
In the center of the wooden floor lay thick blankets prepared at Lee Hyang’s command, three towels for drying, and a bundle of clothes Yunseo had brought.
Yunseo boldly untied the fastenings of her dripping wet Jeogori.
As her white inner Jeogori was about to be revealed in the soft glow of the lantern, Lee Hyang raised the blanket and wrapped it around Yunseo, looking bewildered.
“Your shadow will be visible.”
“…What?”
“It’s bright in here and dark outside, so your body’s outline will be cast as a shadow outside.”
“But Your Highness, you told me to stand with my back turned earlier…”
“I am inside here. Even if I am said to have no male desires, would a man’s instinct allow me to stand with my back turned?”
“……”
What is this guy!
Why were you so unreserved back then, but why today!
As Yunseo looked on, flustered, Lee Hyang whispered, gazing intensely at her white nape revealed beneath the blanket and the glimpse of her chest below.
“Thinking about it, Yunseo, you were right. I embraced someone as beautiful and dignified as you too ostentatiously.”
“…Your Highness.”
“So, Gwon Yunseo. I will cover you with this blanket, so hurry and change your clothes. Let’s go quickly. To the Ondol room, let’s go.”
Lee Hyang’s words quickened, as if tempting her.
Yunseo wriggled under the blanket Lee Hyang had wrapped around her and took off her wet clothes.
Under the gaze of the tall Lee Hyang, her shy bare skin was gradually revealed.
“Your Highness, please close your eyes too…”
“I’ve already seen and touched it all, Madam. Why are you so shy now?”
“……”
Under Lee Hyang’s hot, overtly gazing stare, Yunseo, with increasingly trembling hands, took off her clothes that refused to fall off, dried herself with a towel Lee Hyang handed her, and then covered herself again with the dry clothes Lee Hyang gave her one by one.
When they lifted the canopy and stepped outside, the rain had begun to pour in earnest.
Yunseo, Lee Hyang, and the escort eunuchs and Maegeumi all mounted their horses and slowly made their way through the darkness back to the palace.
Unlike when they had ridden out, Yunseo held the reins in one hand and with the other, she firmly grasped Lee Hyang’s arm, which was wrapped tightly over the fur cloak, felt his body heat against her back, and acutely registered every contact as they pressed together and separated with the horses’ movements.
Three of the five escort eunuchs rode in front, and the remaining two, along with Maegeumi, escorted the Crown Prince and Lady Gwon Ga from behind, but for some reason, they seemed to need to maintain a distance from His Highness, so they rode at a wide distance, so far that their voices were inaudible.
“Your Highness.”
“Yes?”
“It is written in historical records that you do not enjoy women or music. Is that truly so?”
“…If my wife were to sing for me, I think I could enjoy it very much. Especially that one, the lyrics of that popular song you sent me the other day.”
“Which one? I sent you all the songs I know, so I’m not sure which one you mean.”
“The one that starts with ‘Your beautiful voice.’”
Ah!
He was referring to ‘To My Beloved,’ sung by Jeong Tae Chun and Park Eun Ok.
It was a love confession song she had heard once at a concert.
“Well, then I’ll sing it just for you to hear, Your Highness. This song was composed and sung by a married couple, so if it spreads carelessly, it will cause immense harm to their future copyright income. Therefore, only you must hear it.”
Lee Hyang chuckled, his chest heaving, and rested his chin on Yunseo’s shoulder, listening intently.
Yunseo cleared her throat and sang softly.
[Your beautiful voice made my heart tremble
And before I knew it, I fell in love]
Yunseo’s singing voice, whispered like a dark silk curtain amidst the heavy rain, blended quietly.
That night, the Ondol room was tenderly intimate.
Lee Hyang, with caution and persistence, indulged in the future woman who forged her own path with strength, without needing to protect her ostentatiously.
And in the darkness, with everyone else kept away, the sound of the heavy rain masking their moans of pleasure, Yunseo also accepted all of Lee Hyang without any reservation.
That night, the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, Sejong Annals, Volume 100, May 17th, Year 25 of Sejong’s reign, recorded the following:
[It rained. An order was issued to halt the rain prayers in various locations.]
And from that day on, secret rumors circulated in the palace.
“Lady Gwon Ga can awaken the Dragon God of the Han River and make it rain!”
Regardless of such rumors, Lee Hyang made arrangements for Yunseo to run in the early morning in an open space at the Geumwigun training ground at the foot of Mt. Eungbong, the back mountain of Changdeokgung Palace.
It was an opportunity created by controlling personnel under the guise of the Crown Prince practicing archery and physical training every morning with a small escort of eunuchs.
Watching Yunseo run barefoot for over half an hour without rest in the pale dawn light, despite having spent the night together until late, Lee Hyang thought deeply.
To create a path where she could run a hundred li without rest and then jump into the river to swim, a proper road would need to be built south of the Han River, in addition to the road connecting Hanyang, Gaesong, and Uiju.
Since a land route would also be needed to transport the tribute rice collected in rice instead of goods from the Gyeonggi region south of the Han River, he wondered if he could build it as a road for our Yunseo to run on as well.
There was the righteous justification of collecting taxes fairly to enrich the people.
Thus, the large-scale construction projects to pave roads across the country, which provided food and wages to the poor during the off-season, spring famine, and periods of scarcity from the late Sejong era throughout Lee Hyang’s reign, were actually initiated by the Crown Prince’s late-blooming love, who wanted to create a good running path for Yunseo.
\\\
Yunseo finally met Grand Prince Suyang for the first time on her third visit to the Royal Pharmacy, thirteen days later, at the end of May.
Chapter 48. 검은 밤 우리는 (2) > End
ⓒ Yoon In Soo
