Chapter 100
The King’s Heart, the Queen Dowager’s Heart
A cup of poison was ordered for the Confucian scholar Yi Gwang-won of Andong, Gyeongsang Province. Yi Gwang-won’s life did not belong to him. It lay five hundred ri away, in Hanyang. His fate rested in the hands of a king who caught a cold every time the seasons changed at Changdeok Palace—and in those of the officials who shook that king like a scarecrow.
One day, as winter approached, the king shouted during the morning court audience that poison should be sent to the scholar of Andong. Yet when no one tried to stop him, he was taken aback.
The king stared down at the officials prostrated before him, puzzled.
Why is no one stopping me?
As autumn changed into winter, the king caught another cold. His body shivered, and he wrapped himself tightly in thick blankets.
“A cup of poison is hereby bestowed upon Yi Gwang-won, scholar of Andong, Gyeongsang Province.”
The royal command was the word of Heaven. Heaven’s will was absolute.
A royal inspector spurred his horse like lightning and arrived in Andong.
Receiving the king’s command, Yi Gwang-won respectfully placed the bowl of poison on the table, bowed four times toward Hanyang, then drank the bitter liquid. He soon vomited blood and died.
The entire nation rocked as if an empty boat had been thrown into raging waves.
From the Three Southern Provinces—Chungcheong, Jeolla, and Gyeongsang—to Gyeonggi, Hwanghae, and Gangwon, petitions condemning Yi Gwang-won’s death piled up like snowballs, forming mountains.
—The execution of the Andong scholar by poison is beyond tragic.
—Your Majesty has endangered the royal shrines by being swayed by private influence…
—When Heaven shows strange signs, there is always a reason…
—Your Majesty must heed Heaven’s warnings…
Among the officials, Vice Director Yi Se-in and others submitted memorials. They pleaded that if such a grave fault were concealed for private reasons, calamity would surely follow.
—A scholar’s life, devoted to propriety and righteousness, is worth more than ten thousand pieces of gold. Would Your Majesty truly cover up even such a life for personal reasons? Look to Heaven and Earth, the sun and the moon. Heaven is vast because it harbors no selfish concealment; Earth is broad, the sun and moon bright, for the same reason. Yet Your Majesty, child of Heaven, has allowed personal bias to cloud your heart and turn away from Heaven’s will. Thus calamities never cease, and the customs of the realm collapse…
Though frost settled upon the land, the world boiled like a cauldron.
The king was bewildered. After drinking medicinal tea, he lay muttering beneath thick quilts in the overheated ondol room.
“Why didn’t they stop me?”
“Why are they doing this to me?”
“When will this cursed cold finally leave me?”
Suddenly, he felt lonely. He found himself longing for Yi Un, the legitimate eldest son who had once visited him absentmindedly.
What if that child became Crown Prince?
But then he thought of the queen and her powerful maternal clan and shook his head.
They’re terrifying. I can’t let the legitimate son die. And I can’t die either.
Though he was king, his thoughts were pitiful.
“Unni, I bought apples!”
Baekmi, sent on an errand to the royal kitchen, rushed into the small back room carrying a basket. Inside were five plump, ripe apples.
“They’re big and firm. You chose well.”
Miyu had worried the shopkeeper might give poor-quality fruit since a child was sent, but her fears were unfounded.
“The shopkeeper tried to give me bad ones, so I picked again. He said I shouldn’t take only the good ones and tried to grab the basket.”
Baekmi scrunched up her nose.
“What do you take me for? When I was a beggar, getting yelled at was normal. That kind of scolding won’t make me let go of a basket.”
She stuck out her red tongue proudly.
Miyu felt a pang of sympathy, imagining the hardships Baekmi had endured.
“Wow! They look delicious!”
Bokshil, who had just finished tidying up and entered the room, stared at the apples with drooling eyes.
“These aren’t for eating.”
Miyu cut her off firmly.
“Then what are they for?”
“I’m making apple packs.”
“Apple packs? What’s that?”
Bokshil and Baekmi exchanged glances and looked back at Miyu, as if asking what kind of goblin trick she was up to now.
“Don’t eat them. Give them to your skin.”
They still looked confused.
Well, how could they know an advertising slogan from two hundred years later?
“An apple pack is something you put on your face like a mask. The good nutrients soak into your skin. I’m making it for Her Majesty the Queen Dowager.”
“So that’s what it was.”
Bokshil nodded in understanding.
“But unni, do you really need five apples to make a natural face pack?”
Baekmi asked softly, eyes sparkling.
In truth, Miyu had planned to sell apple packs at the shop as well. But seeing the girls drooling changed her mind.
“If we need more, we’ll just buy more.”
She handed out the shiny red apples. The three of them sat side by side, taking crisp, sweet-and-sour bites.
“Wow, this is really good!”
“Apples are my favorite fruit!”
Bokshil and Baekmi shouted.
Miyu smiled warmly at them.
Though a storm of treason loomed ever closer, she decided not to worry about the future. Worry changed nothing. Instead, she would do what she could: make face packs for the Queen Dowager, sell goods diligently, and savor small happiness with children who felt like younger siblings.
She missed Yi Un dearly, but knowing their feelings were mutual was enough—for now. For the sake of each other’s safety, she could endure the longing.
“Could you not visit a bit more often?”
The Queen Dowager asked, pleased with her reflection in the mirror. She wanted to bring Miyu into the palace and summon her at will, but times had changed. Miyu was merely a merchant, yet she could not be crushed with power.
The world has changed too much. Money has become king, and public sentiment has become royal command.
Still, it was that very public sentiment that delighted the Queen Dowager.
The realm was in chaos. The king was suffocating under a flood of memorials from across the country. Imagining the Queen and the Andong Kim clan grinding their teeth in fury was deeply satisfying.
The Queen Dowager was shrewd. She quietly observed how the world was turning.
Perhaps—something she had always held in her heart but believed impossible—might truly come to pass.
Prince Yi Un could reclaim his rightful place and enter the Eastern Palace…
In high spirits, the Queen Dowager slowly nodded.
Just then, Miyu spoke.
“Your Majesty, now that winter is coming, I have more time away from the shop. If you wish to see me often, I can visit more frequently.”
“Oh? Is that so? Excellent.”
The Queen Dowager’s smile widened.
As Miyu packed her cosmetics into a box, she asked carefully,
“Your Majesty… are you all right?”
“What do you mean?”
The Queen Dowager asked coldly.
“Oh—it’s just that the market streets are in uproar. Noble and commoner alike are talking about the Andong scholar who received poison for submitting a petition about the deposed Crown Prince—ah, forgive me.”
The Queen Dowager’s eyes sharpened like frost. Under her piercing gaze, Miyu froze.
So the Queen Dowager really is behind the Thousand Men Association?
Her legs trembled.
But then the Queen Dowager’s rigid expression softened like spring.
“Hahaha, it’s fine. How could it be your fault to speak as one does when poorly educated? It’s how you were born and raised.”
Truly, she was a woman who toyed with people at will.
“I beg your pardon.”
Miyu bowed deeply.
“Go on. What are the common people saying?”
“N-no, Your Majesty—”
“Did I not say it was fine? I will not hold it against you. Tell me exactly what you heard.”
“Are you certain?”
Miyu raised her head slightly, gauging her mood.
The Queen Dowager was no easy opponent. Miyu felt as though she were standing on thin ice. But thinking of Yi Un steadied her.
“Yes. Speak.”
“They all say it’s tragic that Yi Gwang-won died by poison, and that his words were reasonable.”
“Reasonable how?”
Though she already knew, the Queen Dowager leaned forward with interest.
“That the legitimate eldest son should inherit the throne. Prince Hye-an, as the eldest grandson, has no flaw disqualifying him, and compared to the current Crown Prince—”
Miyu hesitated.
“I said it’s fine.”
“Yes. I’m only repeating what I’ve heard. They say Prince Hye-an surpasses Crown Prince Geon-ho in both character and ability, and even among past kings, his talent is unmatched—thus his ascension is the natural order of Heaven.”
The words flowed smoothly.
“That is what the people say?”
The Queen Dowager smiled silently.
“They also say that by defying this natural order, the realm and its people were ruined by the last two typhoons, and that it must be corrected without delay…”
“Hahaha! Foolish commoners spouting nonsense!”
Though her words blamed the people, her expression was pleased.
“But there’s another rumor as well.”
Miyu let the words fall casually.
“Another rumor?”
Her mind went ice-cold.
Now I’ll find out if the Queen Dowager truly stands behind the Thousand Men Association.
“There are groups spreading slanderous pamphlets and posting anonymous placards to frame the Crown Prince and the Queen.”
Miyu delivered her first probe.
“Oh!”
The Queen Dowager stiffened, clearly shocked.
