Chapter 12
12 The Royal Cuisine Master (1)
Yeonsangun, having seized Ji-young's wrist, gleamed with eyes as if he had captured a rare prey.
…Besides, ‘I’ve chosen you’…
This isn't Pokémon. What is he choosing?
What on earth is this psychopath trying to do?
Watching Ji-young's pupils tremble with anxiety, Yeonsangun slowly opened his mouth.
"Where do you come from?"
"...Pardon?"
Scanning Ji-young's face as if examining a curious object, Yeonsangun continued.
"That bizarre hairstyle, and that awkward way of speaking. You cannot possibly be from this land. I have encountered women from all eight provinces of Joseon, but I have never seen one like you. Moreover, you are..."
Yeonsangun stared at Ji-young with an utterly bewildered expression.
"Are you not making dishes I have never seen before?"
"..."
"Who are you?"
Ji-young was momentarily speechless.
What on earth should she answer?
Would he understand if she said she was a chef working in France who suffered an accident and time-slipped into this era?
Or would he accept it if she said she was a citizen of the Republic of Korea, a democratic republic of the future?
No matter what she said, she would undoubtedly be treated as insane.
In this awkward situation, unsure of how to answer, what spilled from Ji-young's lips was truly unexpected.
"...Is that important?"
"What?"
"Is it so important where I come from, who I am? Isn't what I can do from now on more important?"
Those words were, in fact, what Ji-young had blurted out to the head of the culinary school who had refused her admission on the day she first set foot in France.
It could be said to be Ji-young's own creed.
The problem was,
why did those words have to come out at this timing, in this situation?
And right in front of the infamous Yeonsangun.
'…I'm crazy.'
Ji-young closed her eyes, furrowed her brow, and mentally bashed her head repeatedly.
If that psychopath's mood were to sour, it would be a complete disaster.
But surprisingly, Yeonsangun seemed to like the answer.
"Ho, you speak quite plausibly."
Yeonsangun gave a strange smile, then uttered equally unexpected words.
"If you intend to take responsibility for those words, come to Geunjeongjeon tomorrow morning at Jinsi (7 AM)."
"...Yes?"
"I mean, attend the Sangchamrye (Morning Audience)."
"Sangchamrye...?"
Ji-young's eyes widened.
She didn't know the details, but she felt like things were escalating.
And so, she attended this gathering.
The Sangchamrye.
A court audience where civil and military officials of the 6th rank or higher gathered in the main hall to greet the King and receive his edicts.
It was at that very place that Yeonsangun made his explosive declaration, brandishing a sword.
And it was also at that very place, on the stone floor of the main hall, that Ji-young, who had been trembling, finished her long recollection.
"…Therefore, I have decided!"
Yeonsangun, wearing a red Dragon Robe, walked towards Ji-young, brandishing a gleaming sword.
"Immediately appoint this woman as Royal Cuisine Master of the Royal Kitchen.""
"From today, you shall cook for me every day without fail. However!"
"If you present the same dish even for one day, you will be severely punished. Be warned!"
The words she had heard a moment ago echoed and replayed in Ji-young's head.
She felt not as if she were kneeling in the middle of the main hall, but as if she were stranded in the middle of the desert.
Out of the blue, a Royal Cuisine Master.
'Am I… Yeonsangun's personal chef?'
Her mind reeled.
At this rate, she would be completely captured by the psychopath King.
Moreover, she had to present a different dish every day?
No matter that she was a chef from the modern era, creating new dishes every day with the limited ingredients of the Joseon era was by no means an easy task.
No, beyond easy or difficult, it was simply impossible.
'T, this is absurd. It's utterly impossible.'
But did Ji-young have the option to refuse that order?
Fortunately, Ji-young was not the only one troubled by Yeonsangun's sudden action.
A murmur began to spread among the ministers gathered in the main hall.
And finally,
"Your Majesty!"
A clear voice rang out from among them.
"I beg to inform you that it cannot be done."
A man of unwavering integrity who could speak frankly in this court, where everyone was preoccupied with watching the King's mood.
It was Seong Hui-an, the Vice Minister of Personnel.
The Royal Cuisine Master is the head of the many cooks belonging to the Court Provision Department. The reason that position has been hereditary for generations is because of its great importance."
"I am well aware that it is an important position."
Yeonsangun frowned as if disgusted at the sight of the stubborn Seong Hui-an.
But Seong Hui-an continued without paying heed.
"However, to elevate a mere palace maid, especially a newly entered servant girl, to the position of Royal Cuisine Master is not only inappropriate but also unprecedented. I fear it will degrade the dignity of the court, so please reconsider."
"Please reconsider!"
As soon as Seong Hui-an finished speaking, many officials echoed in unison.
Yeonsangun seemed extremely displeased by the chorus.
"What is the point of being bound by such words as hereditary and precedent? What matters is not who a person is, but what they can do in the future."
Yeonsangun brought up the words Ji-young had said last night.
Those words must have made quite an impression. Otherwise, he wouldn't be using them so verbatim.
But Vice Minister of Personnel Seong Hui-an did not back down and stood his ground.
"There must be soldiers before there can be a general, and there must be people before there can be a King. Similarly, there must be cooks in the Royal Kitchen before there can be a Royal Cuisine Master. How can other cooks look up to and follow someone who is not qualified?"
"What did you say just now?"
"…I said, how can others follow someone who is not qualified?"
The other ministers were terrified by that statement and lowered their heads, but Seong Hui-an's expression did not change.
The fingertips of the King's hand holding the sword trembled slightly.
"How dare you…"
To mention generals and Kings, and to talk about qualifications while discussing the position of Royal Cuisine Master.
In other words, wasn't he implying that the King's qualifications could also be questioned?
Yeonsangun, who had a pathological aversion to the disrespect of the King, could not have taken those words kindly.
"Are you trying to insult me?"
With a fiery gaze, he caressed the hilt of his sword and began to approach Vice Minister of Personnel Seong Hui-an.
But then, another voice was heard.
"Your Majesty!It was none other than Royal Secretary Im Soong-jae who had intervened in this precarious situation.
"Please reconsider. The Vice Minister of Personnel is merely speaking of principles and would never dare to insult Your Majesty."
Soong-jae turned and continued, addressing the other senior officials gathered in the main hall.
"As Your Majesty has said, there is no law in the Great Code of Governance compiled by the late King that forbids a palace maid from becoming a Royal Cuisine Master. Although it is unprecedented, everything must have a beginning. If we start anew, that will soon become a precedent."
Im Soong-jae, known for his flattery towards the King, once again defended Yeonsangun's eccentric behavior.
But he could not completely ignore the words of the Vice Minister of Personnel.
They must represent the inner thoughts of the senior officials gathered in that place.
"However, no one can know whether the proud cooks of the Royal Kitchen will sincerely follow that woman, as the Vice Minister of Personnel has said…"
Soong-jae's eyes gleamed strangely as he continued calmly.
He must have a plan to mediate this impasse.
"…I have presumptuously considered, what if that woman and the Royal Cuisine Master were to hold a cooking competition in front of everyone?"
"A cooking… competition?"
"Indeed. That way, everything will become clear."
A cooking competition.
That was the card Soong-jae had brought out.
If Ji-young could win the cooking competition against the Royal Cuisine Master, even the stiff Seong Hui-an would no longer have grounds to object.
Moreover, to suddenly elevate a strange foreigner, especially a woman, to the position of Royal Cuisine Master, something was needed to convince the other cooks working in the Royal Kitchen.
That was not a problem that could be solved by Yeonsangun simply issuing a royal decree.
There was only one way to resolve all of this.
Ji-young had to win a cooking competition against the Royal Cuisine Master who was in charge of the Royal Kitchen.
"There is merit in those words."
Yeonsangun, who had been lost in thought for a moment, opened his mouth.
According to Soong-jae, everything would be resolved naturally without complicated friction.
Of course, that woman might not win the cooking competition.
But if that were to happen, it would simply mean that that woman was not qualified to be the Royal Cuisine Master.
'I will not ask who you are. Just show me what you can do.'
Yeonsangun repeated those words inwardly as he looked at Ji-young, who was kneeling in the middle of the main hall.
"Immediately issue a decree to the Court Provision Department to prepare for the cooking competition!""Royal Secretary Im Soong-jae, I shall obey the command.""
Soong-jae bowed deeply and received the King's order.
Beyond him, the Vice Minister of Personnel's gaze, glaring fiercely as if dissatisfied, was piercingly fixed.
The Royal Kitchen.
Ji-young's head began to spin dizzily once again.
The makeshift reception for guests at the Gyeonggi Provincial Office kitchen, the cruel cooking competition held as entertainment for Jang Nok-su, and finally, even presenting the King's Royal Cuisine Table.
She had risked her life to cook so many times since unexpectedly landing in this strange era.
And now, the opponent Ji-young was about to face was the King's Royal Cuisine Master.
So, she was about to have a showdown with the best chef in the Joseon era.
'It never rains but it pours…'
Ji-young rubbed her temples, feeling a slight dizziness coming on.
"Don't worry. I clearly see that you have a chance of winning.Before she knew it, Im Soong-jae had followed her to the Royal Kitchen.
It must be a gamble with considerable risk for him as well.
He was betting on a strange woman to plant someone by the King's side.
But no matter what, the greatest risk was solely Ji-young's responsibility.
"What happens if I lose here?"
"…It will be difficult to survive, probably. So, if you want to live, you must win."
To utter such terrible words with such an indifferent face, he was truly a detestable human being.
At that moment, Ji-young's eyes caught sight of a well-built man on one side of the Royal Kitchen, wearing arm protectors and examining ingredients.
The Royal Cuisine Master.
The very person who had been helping to prepare the King's Royal Cuisine Table until yesterday.
He had a simple-looking impression, but he must undoubtedly possess the best cooking skills in this country.
The fact that he was still working safely under Yeonsangun was proof enough.
Moreover, there was one more thing that weighed on Ji-young's mind.
"Um, by any chance… what was that person's name again?"
"Are you talking about the Royal Cuisine Master? He is Jeon Se-ho, a Jaebu of the 6th rank. But why are you asking that? Isn't that not important right now?"
Soong-jae retorted curtly, as if she were asking about trivial matters.
But in Ji-young's mind, something that had been vaguely lingering was becoming more and more concrete.
"Earlier… you definitely said that the Royal Cuisine Master position was hereditary, right?"
"That is so."
"Then, by any chance, was that person's ancestor also a Royal Cuisine Master?"
"Of course. He was a medical officer named Jeon Sun-ui, who also served as a Royal Physician of the Royal Clinic and came from a family of Royal Cuisine Masters."
"...Pardon?"
Jeon Sun-ui.
Ji-young's eyes widened at the mention of that name.
There was no way Ji-young, who had been studying ancient cookbooks, would not know that name.
The author of <Household Essentials> and <Dietary Compendium>, known as Korea's first cookbooks.
Ji-young had studied the recipes in them countless times.
'So, right now… I'm in a situation where I have to have a cooking showdown with the grandson of Jeon Sun-ui, the man who wrote Korea's first cookbooks?'
Ji-young swallowed hard without realizing it.
※ Author's Note
Jeon Sun-ui (1400?-1468?) was a medical officer during the reign of King Sejong and the person who left behind Korea's first cookbooks.
Jeon Se-ho, his grandson who appears in the genealogy of the Jinan Jeon clan, was set as the Royal Cuisine Master during the reign of Yeonsangun.
