Chapter 37
“This is a false accusation!”
Just when the palace courtyard seemed to calm down after the chamberlain and Homuja were imprisoned, it erupted into noise again.
Khan Astrahan and Empress Ayulshiran, who had been sipping tea, raised their heads at the commotion. Their eyes met with Argana, who was barely suppressing a laugh, her expression full of ridicule.
Oh no, I shouldn’t look too pleased.
Hurriedly fixing her expression, Argana gave a subtle glance toward the source of the loud voice—Turegen Bi—and said,
“So, she has arrived.”
The Khan’s eyes turned sharp as he slammed down his teacup.
“Bring her in at once!”
Turegen Bi had resisted, refusing to come, so the guards practically dragged her in. Her coiffed hair was in disarray, her ornaments loose, making her look like a deranged madwoman.
“Ah!”
When the guards released her, Turegen Bi let out an exaggerated scream as she collapsed. Seeing that the Khan gave no reaction, she instinctively began to cry.
“Your Majesty, sob… sob… What is the meaning of this? Why are you treating me this way, Your Majesty…?”
“Why, you ask?”
“…”
“You dare ask why? Turegen Bi, you and your son have mocked the order of the imperial court, and yet you dare wag your cunning tongue before me?”
“What do you mean, Your Majesty!”
Eyes wide, Turegen Bi knelt, staring up at the Khan. Only then did she glance around at those present.
When she spotted Argana and Ayur among them, her eyes bulged in shock, and she quickly lowered her head.
“Your Majesty! I do not understand what you mean. I know nothing of this! Yosmut knows nothing! To accuse us of disrupting the order of the palace—what greater slander could there be!”
“Slander? You call it slander? Do you claim that Yosmut frequenting gambling dens is mere slander?”
Gambling dens? Turegen Bi’s heart sank.
She had suspected as much, but for it to have reached the Khan’s ears—what in the world had her son been up to?
Still, to hesitate now would mean her son’s future was doomed. Her expression hardened with resolve as she nodded.
“Yes, Your Majesty. It is slander. Someone, envious of Yosmut, has conspired to bring him down!”
Argana barely contained a laugh as she replied.
“Mother Consort, your words are strange indeed. Even your close maid testified that she was threatened by Brother Yosmut. Pray tell, who is so envious of him that they would go so far as to make up such things?”
“What nonsense is this, Princess! My close maid? Since when do I have such a maid!”
“Surely you won’t claim you’ve never heard of Homuja.”
“H-Homuja…”
Turegen Bi’s large eyes shifted slowly. At once, her mind was consumed with betrayal and hatred toward Homuja.
That wretch dared! Dared to fawn at my side while plotting this treachery!
“Your Majesty, please listen to me! Yosmut is innocent! I am innocent as well! How could you believe the wicked tongues of lowly servants over your own son, over me, Your Majesty!”
“Mother Consort, you should be careful with your words. Brother Yosmut will be brought here shortly, but is it not well known throughout the palace that his gambling and indulgence in drink and women are not a matter of just one or two days?”
“Princess!”
“Who covered up the injuries he caused to others? Who paid for the money he squandered? Who cleaned up his messes?”
Turegen Bi’s body trembled. Still kneeling, she straightened her back and began pointing at Argana, screaming furiously.
“Ah, I see now! Princess, you orchestrated all of this! To trap my son! To ensnare him! Do you think you’ll get away with this? Do you think I will stand by idly?”
“Silence!”
The Khan’s roar shook the air.
But instead of cowering, Turegen Bi threw herself down, wailing even louder. She had to insist that Argana was targeting Yosmut—otherwise…
“Turegen Bi, your words are strange indeed.”
The Empress’s flat tone made Turegen Bi grind her teeth as she raised her head.
The Empress continued,
“What possible reason would the Princess have to slander your son? What would she gain by entrapping him?”
“That is…!”
The succession struggle.
Was it not obvious she wanted to remove rivals one by one?
But Turegen Bi could not say it aloud. No—more accurately, she dared not.
The matter of succession was a grave issue. To simply blame Argana might be overlooked, but to claim she was framing Yosmut over the throne?
If I said that, it wouldn’t just be Yosmut—our entire Turegen family would be destroyed.
The thought alone chilled her blood.
The Khan, who cherished Argana as if she were his own flesh, would never tolerate such slander.
With no choice, Turegen Bi once again broke into weeping that produced no tears.
At that moment, the guards dragged Yosmut forward and forced him to his knees before the Khan.
“My son!”
Turegen Bi cried out in horror, clutching him tightly, then glared with hatred at the guards who had thrown him down.
“F-Father…”
“Yosmut.”
His voice trembling, Yosmut answered softly, “Yes…”
“Where have you been until now?”
“Eh? I… that is…”
“I asked where you have been!”
“F-Father! Please forgive me! Never again—never again will I—!”
Just then—
“Y-Your Majesty…”
The trembling voice of Isoon, the court officer, drew everyone’s attention.
When Turegen Bi saw the papers in his hand, her heart stopped. She couldn’t see them clearly, but a dreadful premonition filled her.
“Your Majesty, the captain of the guards has delivered these to me.”
With deep unease, Isoon bowed low as he handed the papers to Khan Astrahan.
As the Khan slowly leafed through them, he suddenly leapt to his feet and kicked Yosmut in the shoulder.
“You wretched fool!”
“Ugh!”
“Your Majesty! Yosmut!”
Dozens of promissory notes spilled over the floor, fluttering onto the collapsed Yosmut and the prostrate Turegen Bi.
Fuming, the Khan clutched his head and shouted, pointing at Yosmut.
“Take that disgraceful wretch out of the palace and banish him to the outer residence! From this day forth, Yosmut is no longer my son! Strip him of his title as Prince and demote him to Wangun—a lowly rank given to children of the royal line!”
“As you command, Your Majesty.”
Before Isoon even finished his reply, Turegen Bi’s shriek pierced the air.
“Your Majesty! No! Please, reconsider! Your Majesty!”
“Turegen, consider yourself fortunate I have chosen to end it here, for the sake of your past service to me. If you utter one more word of nonsense, both you and Yosmut will be punished according to imperial law!”
“Your Majesty! You cannot! Please, I beg you—no! Yosmut! No!”
It was pure chaos.
Argana smirked inwardly.
Seeing Yosmut dragged away, struggling in vain, and Turegen Bi stumbling after him only to collapse—it was laughable.
Those who once trampled others without mercy were now rolling in the mud themselves. The sight was deeply satisfying.
“Your Majesty! A messenger!”
Khan Astrahan, who had just turned away with a dark expression, looked back.
A messenger, ragged as if from long travel, knelt with precise formality.
“Your Majesty, Tatullai of Jindan has been captured alive! The Grand General is on his way with the soldiers and seeks audience with Your Majesty!”
