Chapter 7…..
After more than a month of deliberation, Consort Sun’s punishment was finally decided. In the end, she was spared from being formally deposed. The Crown Prince was enraged, but it was difficult to overturn the King’s decision once his mind was set.
However, since her crime of mercilessly assaulting the Crown Prince’s concubine—leading to the death of the royal grandson—was by no means light, a separate punishment was decreed.
“Consort Sun Bong shall reside in Hyeonsimgak (Hall of Virtuous Reflection) at the northern end of the Crown Prince’s palace until further royal command, where she is to reflect and once again learn the duties of a Crown Princess.”
Her residence was thus moved from Jaseondang to Hyeonsimgak, a small, secluded pavilion at the far northern end of the Eastern Palace. In winter, it was so tucked away that even sunlight rarely reached it, and it was arranged as a place for her atonement and study.
Everyone in the palace knew this punishment reflected the King’s desperate wish not to repeat the past, when he had already once deposed a Crown Princess.
“An edict! Lady Kwon is hereby promoted from Senior Fourth Rank Seunghwi to Senior Third Rank Yangwon.”
The victim, Lady Kwon, was also compensated.
With this promotion, Yangwon became the highest-ranking woman among the concubines. Moreover, she was entrusted with managing the Eastern Palace’s internal affairs in place of the Crown Princess, who would be in seclusion for a year. In other words, she now held the keys to the storehouses.
“Congratulations on your promotion, Lady Yangwon.”
“Congratulations? It feels rather embarrassing.”
“No, it is fitting! Until the Crown Princess returns, you will oversee the inner palace of the Eastern Palace. Truly an auspicious occasion!”
Lady Kwon’s face flushed red as she received congratulations from the other concubines. Unlike the calm Lady Hong Seunghwi, Lady Jeong Seunghwi uttered empty words of flattery.
“Well, it’s about time she took on such responsibility.”
Lady Kwon’s face darkened for a moment. Though the wounds on her body had healed, the pain of that day could not be forgotten.
“When the Crown Princess returns, I only hope it does not reflect poorly on me.”
For surely, someday, the Crown Princess would return. Her authority over the inner palace as Yangwon was only temporary. When that happened, she might face even harsher persecution than before.
Yet the position of a concubine allowed no freedom to voice such thoughts aloud.
After her mother took charge of the palace affairs, Hong-ah spent most of her time with her nursemaids or her young uncles.
Did the Crown Princess really handle this much work before? Hong-ah wondered, watching how busy Yangwon had become.
Hosting banquets, selecting the names of ladies from the outer court to invite, choosing return gifts, relaying the types of dishes—all these fell to her mother.
“That’s mine!”
Her uncles were only a year older than Hong-ah, just a few months apart in age, but at that stage of childhood, even a small difference showed. They weren’t adults yet, but they were beginning to act more like little people.
They squabbled over a small spinning top, something they would have ignored before. Now they noticed, coveted, and fought over the things around them.
“Still, isn’t this misfortune actually a blessing in disguise for Lady Yangwon?”
“How could you call it a blessing?”
“Because in the end, she was promoted to Yangwon. She may have lost one child, but she still bore two, and now she is ranked directly beneath the Crown Princess in the Eastern Palace. Surely that is fortune.”
Her uncles couldn’t keep her company in play, but sitting near the nursemaids remained a useful spot for Hong-ah. She soothed her boredom by listening to their conversations.
“Our lady is not ambitious; she finds the responsibility burdensome. In fact, she fears it.”
“Why would she fear it? Forgive me if this sounds irreverent, but the fate of a concubine’s child rests entirely upon the mother. Look at Queen Shindeok, the second wife of King Taejo. She was never enshrined in the royal temple, and though her son sat as Crown Prince, he was deposed in the end.”
“Indeed, and her daughter even took the veil in fear of being killed.”
“See? A child’s destiny depends on the mother’s favor. If the mother is powerful and favored, then the child, too, will rise to a noble position.”
The nursemaids sighed deeply. Every child gathered here was born of concubines, so none could feel secure. The lives of illegitimate children, relying on their mother’s favor, were precarious.
Trying to lighten the mood, Hyeon’s nursemaid spoke brightly.
“But wasn’t it satisfying, at least?”
“What was?”
“His Majesty’s decree to the Eastern Palace! Even the concubines outside whispered about it.”
Gon’s nursemaid nodded, chuckling, then lowered her voice in mock gravity:
“‘Consort Sun Bong shall relearn the duties of a Crown Princess!’”
“Haha, wasn’t that funny? As if to say she has no sense of duty now!”
Laughter filled the room. But Hong-ah, pretending to play with wooden blocks, grew tense.
Bong… that surname isn’t common.
She knew the Crown Princess was called Consort Sun, but she hadn’t known her family name. Had she heard Bong earlier, she would have recognized her instantly—because that woman was infamous.
King Munjong’s second wife, who was later deposed amid scandal, and then succeeded by another Crown Princess…
“Even if she holds her position for now in Hyeonsimgak, if another incident occurs, do you think she’ll remain Crown Princess?”
Dangerous words, but no one objected. The two young princes were still busy with their spinning top, and Hong-ah was too young in their eyes to matter.
“No matter how much the Crown Prince favors Lady Hong Seunghwi, by propriety and duty, opportunity must go to Lady Yangwon.”
“Ah, but if another scandal happens, our soft-hearted Lady Yangwon might never recover.”
Hong-ah already knew where that “opportunity” would fall. After Consort Sun, the next Crown Princess would be Lady Kwon—her own mother.
So my mother becomes Queen Hyeondeok… and my sibling yet to be born will be King Danjong?
Her tiny hands trembled.
Danjong. Every Korean knew his tragic story: the boy king who lost his parents early, only to have his throne stolen by his uncle.
So much for her dream of living out a long and easy life of luxury—how foolish that goal seemed now.
Come to think of it, she had already heard the name “Grand Prince Jinpyeong.” How had she failed to recall that Grand Prince Suyang, later King Sejo, had once been called Jinpyeong?
“If Lady Yangwon bears the Crown Prince’s heir, even the Crown Princess cannot oppose her.”
“Now that her health has recovered, we must wait and see.”
“It angers me still. That child might have been the Crown Prince’s heir, and yet he was lost!”
“Indeed. With no direct heir in the Eastern Palace, the court is troubled. Such an opportunity wasted…”
“And just imagine, if the Crown Princess herself bore the heir. Isn’t it dreadful? A royal consort treating another as though she were a mere servant! Beating a concubine with an official post—how could any child born of her be sound?”
Though spoken in hushed tones, everyone agreed.
It was remarkable that Consort Sun had not been deposed outright. If not for the precedent of already having removed one Crown Princess, she would surely have been expelled.
“I only hope Lady Yangwon truly bears the Crown Prince’s heir.”
Another sigh escaped Gon’s nursemaid. For princes born of concubines, relying on their mother alone was not enough. They needed allies—like the Crown Prince’s legitimate daughter who would someday become Princess Gyeonghye.
Listening to their lament, Hong-ah recalled history. King Munjong and Queen Hyeondeok had two surviving children: King Danjong and Princess Gyeonghye. She remembered also seeing records of a daughter who had died young, but only those two grew to adulthood.
So does that mean… I’m Princess Gyeonghye?
As she pondered, frustration welled up. She raised her wooden block and slammed it on the floor. Though bluntly carved for child’s play, the noise was loud.
The startled nursemaids turned to her, but her irritation didn’t fade.
If only her body were older, she would have realized it sooner. To think she only recognized her mother as Queen Hyeondeok after all this! She cursed her child’s body and the sluggishness of her mind.
“Oh dear, why is our little one so cross?”
A nursemaid scooped her up and patted her back. Hong-ah, sulking, thought grimly: Information. I need more information.
From that day on, Hong-ah demanded to see the Crown Prince whenever she could. If the nursemaids tried to distract her, she would cry so hard it seemed something was wrong.
But the moment she was in her father’s arms, she became calm and composed.
After days of this, the adults gave in. The Crown Prince was busy, but he was not so cold as to ignore the tantrums of his only daughter.
“Father must read these documents, so you must sit quietly, alright?”
“Mmhm.”
Hong-ah nodded, humming an answer. What she wanted was to see exactly what her father was reading.
It was the Gibyeolji—bulletins used to convey court news and policies to provincial governors, like a sort of official newspaper.
She already knew, even before realizing her true identity, that the Crown Prince read the Gibyeolji every day. What she needed now was one thing hidden within its lines: the date.
Pretending to play quietly at his side, Hong-ah sneaked glances at the pages. Her infant eyes were weak, so she had been attempting this for months.
She squinted hard, struggling to decipher the characters. At last, with enormous effort and concentration, she managed to read the top line.
The date.
